Hi! As I am sure a lot of you can understand, I feel overwhelmed with the cost of food when wedding planning. Spending $10k on food alone (with tax and gratuity) is just not doable. My budget is about $25 per person, maybe up to $35. All of the venues that require you use their catering are well above that. I have found a few that are close, but when you add in the gratuity, fees and taxes, it goes up by another $2k.
I am thus searching for a venue that will let me choose the catering, or even bring my own food potluck style. I have fond a couple of churches, but believe it or not their ceremony and reception fees were at $2700. I also am not really religious so would prefer not to do a church. I am open to an Elks Lodge type of thing but haven't found any that are my style or nice enough. I am not looking for fancy, but it can't look like a hall where people play bingo. I live near Cambridge in MA.
I am also looking for cheap but good catering suggestions for if I do find the venue that lets me do it myself. My fiance is Vietnamese, so Asian inspired catering would be nice.
We think we will have about 110-120 guests.
Any thoughts on venue?
Thanks!