Hello everyone,
I'm operating on an extremely tight wedding budget, and I would really appreciate any suggestions. My fiance is a recent college graduate, and I will be graduating in several months from now. We're both grappling with substantial student loans, and will be paying for the wedding ourselves. Therefore, we need to keep the entire wedding within a budget of between $6,000-$8,000 maximum, if at all possible. We're planning to get married next summer (2012). It has been my dream to have a wedding close to the ocean, but I've found it difficult to track down any reasonably priced venues. I also adore the Newport area, but I realize that most venues in Newport, itself, would be well outside of my price range.
We're looking at having a small wedding of approximately 50-65 guests. My fiance's family and friends will be flying/driving out from the midwest. Thus, we'd like to try, within our means, to have a destination-style wedding, as it will be a vacation for them (and most of them have never been to New England). I'm interested in knowing if anyone might know of a) any locations where we might be able to have a reasonably priced, outdoor wedding ceremony by the water and b) any affordable reception venue ideas. I have done some looking into the Quidnessett for a reception after it was recommended. The grounds are lovely, and they appear to be quite reasonably priced per-plate, however, I have been unable to tell if any spending minimums apply. Any additional information or recommendations would be very helpful.
Thanks so much!