Connecticut

Venue help...getting discouraged

For the last two weeks I have been searching for a venue that would be able to accommodate up to 150 people (hoping for less) with a rustic look but have the price point around $65/plate (including everything). I'm really starting to think that this does not exist in CT unless I do it at a VFW (which I refuse!). 
It's hard to believe that my fiance and I are the only one's out there with a tight budget and large families who are broke. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any and all help is most appreciated as I'm at the point where I may just elope, even though my heart is set on a wedding :-/
I'm starting to have dreams with venue's auctioning off their space! lol  

Re: Venue help...getting discouraged

  • did you try villa bianca? 
  • hyechica81hyechica81 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment First Answer
    edited October 2013
    you wanted a rustic theme how rustic wood acre farms in terryville has a barn that they rent out it comes with tables and chairs and i think possibly linens it holds up to 150  but does not include food you have to find an outside person to cook and serve the food as well.. to rent the place is like 4 grand alone


    testas in southington testas.net is where i am having my reception they have a pacakges in your price range. but they have a complete package that includes a full sit down dinner, hot and cold appz open bar for 5 hours, it also comes with centerpieces for your tables ( flowers) a tiered cake and a dj the package we chose and the add on's dj cake and flowers its comes out to 75 a person with tax and service charge.

    we are doing a chicken dish 
    prime rib 
    and stuff lobster tails that did not cost us extra ( most places charge you extra per guest for fancy seafood 

    they have a promo going on right now 300.00 off  your total package price for 100 guests or more 


    basic package with dj cake and flowers sit down dinner open bar and cold appz is 59.95 a person 64.95 on a saturday 
  • We looked at so many different places and CT is just so expensive! Are you set on a rustic theme? If you are not looking for a banquet hall type of place, some of the most affordable we found were tarrywile mansion and wickham park. These require outside catering... But I think it may be possible to find someone within your budget. Then you can play around with things like having a limited bar, having it on an 'off day' like Friday or Sunday, to bring the cost down even more. I think it's possible, but def. requires creativity and flexibility. Pm me if you want some info on the places I looked at...
  • We're having a Friday night in November wedding and we didn't have much luck getting pricing below about 70 per person.

    When we had a guest list of 100, we met with Country House in East Haven and loved the place.  They have a package for 69.95 (all taxes and fees included) for a 5 hour open bar buffet reception including a cake and it is gorgeous there. There are gas fireplaces in the reception room and large windows.  The room where they set up the buffet is all marble, so not exactly rustic but gorgeous and that includes a player piano for cocktail hour.  If you book there you also pay half price for the DJ (Local Motion, 600$).  We figured that the money we saved on the DJ worked out toward a slightly higher per person price.  They made us two entrees to take home when we met with them, and the food was beyond incredible. We ended up not booking because we cut our guest list and are now expecting about 70 guests, and they have a minimum of 75 for a Friday and 100 for a Saturday.  Since we're inviting 80, I wasn't sure we'd make that minimum.

    We're booking at the Inn at Middletown, they were happy to work with our tiny guest list and our tiny budget.  We're paying a little more than we would be at Country House, but there's a 50 person minimum and I was much more comfortable with that. It's not rustic, but it's incredibly charming just the same.
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  • It's not rustic, but the Great Neck Country Club in Waterford, CT is very reasonable. I thought I'd add that in case other brides on a budget check this thread.
  • Thank you ladies, this is very helpful! I'm going to look into the mentioned places. :)
  • I don't know where you are looking but you can try Bill Miller's Castle in Branford (was about $72/person), Tyrone Farm in Pomfret. FYI, "bridal season" goes into October now & many places are discounted during off season. there is a pavilion at Rocky Neck State Park (we didn't see it) where you can rent cheap & bring in caterer. If you are looking during "bridal season" you will probably need to wait over a year to book a place. We started late 2012 to plan a 2013 wedding & places were booked so we are getting married in 2014 (on season) at Eolia Mansion!
  • Look at Oronoque Country Club in Stratford. They start at $75 but you can get 10% off if you do it on a Friday or Sunday I believe
  • I also had a friend who did a Thursday night wedding, it wasn't uber convenient for the guests (OOT needed to take Friday off, but it gave them a long weekend). They saved SO much money, I believe venues did like 30-50% off weekend prices. Food for thought.
  • Do you have a specific date in mind? I would consider an off season date like December or January. I got married at Woodwinds about two weeks ago and they have a very very reasonable winter wedding special, definitely give them a call to ask about it. They are also top-notch for service and food, everything was amazing. It's not really rustic, but I guess it depends if your rustic theme is more important to you than your budget....

  • MrsF0831MrsF0831 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited October 2013
    I just got married at the gallery in glastonbury, its a bit of a rustic feel and we had about 140 ppl only thing is 2 tables are  alitte off during dinner but who cares ppl are eating. The price we paid for sat  (we got a deal) was 41pp including open bar (in the upstairs area) normally it was 47pp but pam is  AMAZING!!!! she is great with communicating, everything turned out gorgeous(i told her how i wanted everything and she did it perfect) I was very happy with her, again its the Gallery in glastonbury. you should check it out. also we did a buffet package there are 3 different ones we picked the middle one so theres a little cheaper and a little more expensive but they also have inexpensive plated dinners.

    I added some of my personal pics of what she made the inside look like for us. The cake and sweetheart table had the lights underneath I saw a pic online, told her thats what i wanted she told me to purchase the lights which i bought during an after xmas sale on lights and she did a mock up for me. she usually has an event upstairs and downstairs at the same time you wouldnt even know(my friend got married there a year ago and apparntly they had an event down stairs) but for my wedding the downstairs was available so she let us hold cocktail hour down there 
    Hope all this info helps
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  • I'm having my wedding at Great Neck Country Club in Waterford. It is normally 75pp with an open bar but if you have it on a Sunday you get 10% off!
  • Wrights mill farm, in canterbury, is really nice and it's definitely rustic. you can actually get married in the woods. we were thinking about getting married up there but we actually thought it was too rustic for us (we're doing like a vintage 'down the rabbit hole' tea party by the sea type thing). Anywho i would definitely suggest them. http://wrightsmillfarm.com/

  • Have you looked at the Heritage Hotel in Southbury?  Their Eight Mile Brook room is rustic looking.  I'm not sure exactly on their pricing but they have different packages and I'm sure if you did a Friday or Sunday it would be cheaper and within your price range too.

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  • Thank you all so much for your suggestions! I did look into most of them but even the $70's was out of my price range. My dream place was to get married at The Heritage Hotel but that was around $90/plate, even on a Friday or Sunday.

    My fiancé and I ended up going with AquaTurf in the Wagon Room. As soon as Michael opened up the door we fell in love. They had a special for Saturday afternoon weddings - $50/plate. Can't argue with that!! Especially with centerpieces included!!

    Thank you again ladies!!!

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