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Affordable Southern Maine venues HELP!!

Knottie11612790Knottie11612790 member
First Anniversary
in Maine
Hi everyone!! I recently got engaged and now the fun of planning begins. I been searching here and there for the past few weeks now on venues and catering. My Fiance and I live in Massachusetts, but I'm originally from Portland, ME so we figured to make it easier on our friends and family we are thinking of Southern maine for our wedding. We are on a tight budget was looking to spend no more than 4 to 5,000 on the venue and catering together. I'm new to this so I'm not sure if that is possible. 150 is our guestlist. We wanted it to be an outdoor wedding in Fall of 2016, probably in September. Tent wedding would be lovely. Does anyone know any venues that would fit our budget?? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. We want a nice rustic wedding without having to break the bank. But from my research everything is so expensive and I'm getting a little scared that we can't pull this off. Help!!
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Re: Affordable Southern Maine venues HELP!!

  • juliamccarrierjuliamccarrier member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    I unfortunately don't have any information but am in the same EXACT situation!  My fiance and I are looking for a venue for about 100 in October, I'm totally fine with a Sunday or Friday location!  Any ideas, anyone?  
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  • lleblanc33lleblanc33 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Well- I will say that is pretty difficult. You may need to think outside the box a bit and decide what the venue must have and what you can live without. Also if you are on a strict budget like that you may find that you need to trim your guest list down a bit. I remember finding Mariners Church Banquet Hall to be reasonable in the portland area, as well as the Italian Heritage Center- but with both you will need a place for the ceremony- perfect though if you plan to get married in a church somewhere. My sister will be doing a wedding within that budget at a golf club in Auburn Maine, so you may want to see what golf/country clubs have for pricing in the area. Also, we found the pricing for the York Golf and Tennis Club to be reasonable as well- but still pretty unique and nice in its own ways. I would not recommend renting a space and having it catered, unless you plan a backyard BBQ, as you have to consider all of the place settings, tables and other things which add up fast! It would probably not be a good idea at your price point. 
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  • lleblanc33lleblanc33 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I should also add that I also was pretty thrifty when searching for venues, especially at first. I had the same numbers in mind as you did having not done this before. And then my fiance thought I was being too cheap, when results were coming up that we could not be proud of, and he did the math to show me that regardless we were going to spend $15k on a venue in order to meet our needs and keep our guests happy. We were not, however, flexible with Fridays or Sundays- so that could work in your favor so long as you are not putting your guests out.  I ended spending a bit more than that even for the venue/food/drinks alone. We ultimately decided that if guests were going to be expected to put aside a weekend for us, travel to our wedding, pay to book a room, etc. that the least we could do is feed them a decent meal, and provide beer and wine. And it honestly was a great deal considering what we got. 
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