Just recently got engaged this Halloween. We started to look at venues and whoahh talk about overwhelming. We need to stick to a lower budget and living in NJ that doesn't seem easy. Thinking of a November 2017 wedding but want to get ideas of what it will cost us. Looking more for a cocktail reception than a sit down dinner. Probably no more than 150 people. Any suggestions of lower cost venues would be so helpful!
Thanks!
Re: Venues in Central NJ for under 80 per person?
This is an international board and you will be better off posting this to the local board for NJ. Maybe a mod could move it?
If you need to keep your budget around $80 pp, you might need to stay away from a cocktail reception. They can actually cost more than the sit down dinner! The caterer or venue would need to create lots of little bites instead of bulk food, which costs you more in the long run.
To really save some money, look into a brunch wedding. Brunch or even a lunch wedding will be much cheaper than dinner. Also look for Sunday weddings as well. Friday can also be discounted, but it has become increasingly popular and may not offer as much of a discount as a Sunday can. If you do end up having a Sunday wedding, try to set the end time to be around 8 or 9 PM at latest, since most people will have to go to work the next day and won't want to stay out late.
Good luck in your search!
We ended up deciding that the wedding we wanted is not affordable in NJ so we're doing a destination wedding to VA instead.
Good luck!