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quick planning advice

durhamdukiedurhamdukie
in North Carolina-Raleigh-Durham
hello knot posters!
my fiance and I just got engaged and are hoping to get married in May 2011 - I am looking at ceremony and venue locations and have really found pretty much everything booked up (not a big surprise), and everything else in a pretty high price bracket. Any ideas? I've found some options for ceremonies, but having a much harder time with the reception - I'd like for it to be outside and not too formal. I saw that the state parks don't allow amplified music or alcohol, so those would definitely be less ideal. 
Also, has anyone done wholesale flowers through a local farm? I'm looking into pricing that out.
Catering that wouldn't be booked? Music? Other DIY ideas? Thanks!
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Re: quick planning advice

  • KateeamberKateeamber member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My wedding is in May and I just started planning. We just picked our location. I have a ton of information on places so let me know if you find somewhere that you are interested in. Rock Quarry farm looked nice and the Barn at Valhalla was ok. 
    I am not going to go through a florist because my friend is going to help me. Let me know if you find anything out about the local farm prices.



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  • NcsuPsychNcsuPsych member
    Combo Breaker First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    Hey!

    What kind of style are you going for for your wedding? How many guests? Price range?
    May is one of the most popular months for weddings so while most times, you'd want to wait to book, I'd go ahead and try to find the bigger items soon :o)

    Another suggestion. . .I'd have your ceremony where guests could possibly go inside. May in NC is rough as we've all experienced this past year.

    My DH and I got married at "The Rand-Bryan House" this past Feb and it was amazing. They've got plenty of room for indoor or outdoor ceremonies and receptions. Martha is also a dream to work with!

    As far as flowers through a farm. . .talk with some of the vendors at the farmers market. They may not have much selection now, but come May, they'll have tons! Plus, its great to support local growers :o)

    Catering depends on what you want to eat / style of reception

    I can highly recommend my cake baker. She's a mom that works out of her home and the cake was excellently priced and sooooo tasty!
    http://www.cakesbycaren.net/wedding_shower2.html (ours is the hedgehog cake)

    DJ . . All the Right Grooves. . based out of Charlotte, but they travel are board favorites. We had Bethany and I couldn't say enough amazing things about her. They're also extremely resonably priced! They book up VERY quickly, so I highly recommend looking into them soon.

    DIY. . check out the NC Bride Bio http://www.ncbridebio.com/
    Also. Michaels is amazing and coupons are awesome. 


    Most importantly though, enjoy your engagement and have fun with everything! :o)

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  • maureenk26maureenk26 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    @ NCSUPsych, what's the pricing like at Rand-Bryan?

    Thanks!
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  • mrgyllmrgyll member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Nantucket Grill and Cafe (Durham, NC on Fayetteville Rd.) is doing my wedding cake. I will let you know how it turns out.

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  • KateeamberKateeamber member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    It  is around $3000. 
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  • NcsuPsychNcsuPsych member
    Combo Breaker First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I think pricing went up with the new year, but pricing can be worked with if you talk with Martha.

    Instead of booking the whole day. . we booked like a 5 hour slot that came with 3 hours for pictures. I didn't do bridals so I asked if we could add those 3 hours to the wedding day (we had ceremony and reception at the venue) and she did allow this, but again. .I think that's going to vary on how booked the month is and what you're looking to do.

    I know we didn't pay 3k though (Again, rates probably go up over seasons). Our whole budget for the wedding, including EVERYTHING (well. . minus a honeymoon) was just under 5k

    We also had an "Off Seasons" -Feb- so you can always wiggle with vendors on off peak seasons.
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  • ChickenOnSundayChickenOnSunday member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I used Nantucket for my wedding on 9/11/10. SOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!

    Best part, we stopped and got some additional cakes to take with us to PA the week after our wedding. My husband's g'pa couldn't make the trip for our wedding...so we brought fresh wedding cake to him.

    Our two tiers were  lemon delight and the red velvet. We also had a sheet cake of the chocolate bliss.
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  • ChickenOnSundayChickenOnSunday member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Have you checked Snipes Farm in Chapel Hill??? You get the venue from Friday morning until Sunday at noon for $2k.

    The wedding was under the large oak tree. Reception is in the dairy barn.

    We used Thrills from the Grill for the catering. Both the location and the catering comapny allowed us to bring in our own beer and wine. This saved us a ton of money.

    We did the reception music ourselves. We set up my laptop in the corner and played a song list we created.

    I had live music for the wedding ceremony.
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  • ChickenOnSundayChickenOnSunday member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Oh, and we got the bouquets from Chapel Hill Florist. We did the centerpieces ourselves. We got the flowers from Fresh Market.
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  • NcsuPsychNcsuPsych member
    Combo Breaker First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    Cost for Rand-Bryan House when I booked = $1200 + $500 refundable deposit

    I've also heard good things about Snipes Farms!
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  • kellya01kellya01
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If you don't mind coming North of downtown Durham, the Arrowhead Bed and Breakfast has a beautiful site for doing an outdoor wedding/reception.  It's a great bed-breakfast too, so if you want an all-in-one site, this could be a real winner. Just north of Durham City Limits off of 501 (roxboro rd at Mason rd)

    I also really wanted to have my reception at Rigsbee Hall (it's on Rigsbee Ave right by the downtown post office).  Great loft-type space and it's very unexpected.  You'd have to have outside vendors, which can be a plus to save $$.  I think the address is 208 Rigsbee St.  www.rigsbeehall.com (I think).  Something worth checking into.  
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