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r/weddingplanning•
ninjela

New England Venue?

My lovely fiance proposed just about a month ago, and while we expect our date will fall around Spring 2018 (we need the extra time to save up for the occasion), I can't stop looking at everything wedding-related >.<

Our first task, of course, is to find a suitable venue. I've scoured the internet and contacted quite a few locations, and... just about all of them that have what we want stand well outside our price range. So I thought maybe Weddit might help? (By the way, I giggle every time I see the word 'Weddit.' I love it.)

We are looking for something:

  • Located in Massachusetts, southern Vermont, or southern New Hampshire

  • With an outdoor ceremony site (with indoor backup) and reception site that can accommodate up to 130 people (ideally 150)

  • With on-site lodging for at least FH and me and our wedding parties (12 people minimum) and ideally also our immediate families (around 25 people?)

  • Most importantly... where the total cost (site fees + catering) comes to less than $7000 for aforementioned 130 (ideally 150) people

I've looked at a whole bunch of bed and breakfasts in New Hampshire that fit all these requirements except the price. I can't help but wonder if we're just asking for more than our budget can handle, but we've got the time to keep trying, so keep trying I shall.

Do you know of any venues in the New England area that fit these requirements? Or suggestions for new ways to search myself?

Posted Jan 20, 2016, 8:15 PM UTC

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wedding4807/03/16 MA•

Also a New England bride here. I think you will have a very hard time finding all of that for 130-150 for 7k. If you look at untraditional venues that do not have lodging on site you may fit that budget. We're not having an extravagant wedding and for 100 guests our venue and food alone (no drinks or anything else) is about $8k. I did A LOT of research on venues and catering too.

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whatchutalkabout89086/4/16 MA•

I think you might be hard pressed to find that in New England for that price. I'm in New England and our catering cost for $100 people alone is about $7k, including the service and linens. You might want to try to narrow down your guest list, or look for places that don't have lodging on site, but nearby.

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ninjelaOPSpring 2018 | Boston•

To clarify regarding accommodation, we are looking for a place that has it available, but we wouldn't be paying for it (except for our own lodging). We're accounting for lodging costs in another aspect of our budget, so that isn't included in the $7k.

We're also considering a cash rather than open bar, in which case we would only need to pay the bartending fee, which it sounds like in most places is $150-300.

So food, tables/chairs/linens/dishes/etc, and site fees.

We have found by chance a caterer or two that, based on their online pricing, can provide food for ~130 people for less than $5,000. So if there was a venue that allowed outside caterers and was close enough to them (the one I'm thinking of is out of Brattleboro, VT), I'm hoping that might be a workaround. But it seems like most places provide their own catering.

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dragonflytypeSummer 2018?•

I don't know if this is quite within the circle you're thinking of, but a friend of my boyfriend got married in September at Lareau farm in Montpelier VT, and it was awesome. OUtdoors, covered reception area with open sides, fancy pizza and salad buffet, really good drinks (mostly cash bar, there were some passed at the beginning), and a bonfire with s'mores. It was really beautiful there. Ninja edit- I think they have most of what you're looking for. I know the wedding party stayed there, not sure how many other people it could accomodate.

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hhhamsauce•

That's gonna be tough. How attached are you to spring? There's some decent deals for jan-mar, especially if you couple it with a non-saturday.

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ninjelaOPSpring 2018 | Boston•

We're pretty set on spring. We also considered fall, but I've found most places consider that peak season, and have prices to match. We don't really want to go earlier than April, because we're really hoping for an outdoor ceremony, and outdoors in March will likely be too cold for that.

Some places I've found offer the winter discount through April, so I've been keeping an eye out for those places.

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bukkitbat9-16-16 NH•

I am getting married this September in Portsmouth, NH. Fall is absolutely peak season in NE. Would you be interested in an early spring wedding? If so you can score some serious discounts for both mountain and seacoast venues. Also, our venue gave us a huge break for having our wedding on a Friday before a Saturday wedding that was already booked. So there are still ways to save during peak season. What I would mention is lodging can INCREDIBLY expensive during peak. Book it smart and book it early.

Sorry this isn't much help, but if you have any question about the NH wedding scene I would be happy to try to answer. My FSIL is a seacoast wedding planner so I get a lot of good advices from her. :)

Edit: I figured some numbers would be helpful. We are aiming for 60-70 guests. Venue: $1000 (outdoor with indoor backup on a colonial museum site), reception $8000 (buying out a restaurant so no rentals needed, open bar, plus 9% NH hotel tax and 20% gratuity), VRBO rental for 2 nights for bridal party: $900 (colonial house also will be used to get ready), but all other guests will spend about $250/night/hotel room. Everything in the area is walkable so we are spending $150 to rent a van to shuttle the older folks from ceremony to reception (0.5 mi, also doubles as rain plan for all guests for an extra $150). So those are the "practical" expenses that enable a wedding to take place. IMO almost everything else is "gravy"; some of our extra cost are photography ($3150), DJ ($1000), classical guitarist ($250), flowers, cake, and other crafty add ons.

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PackedSatisfaction8.26.17 | Planning in Philly, Wedding in NH•

I'm getting married in the seacoast NH area too, do you have any suggestions for a photographer? I'm looking into them now for 2017, but there's a lot of options and I'm still not 100% sure exactly what I'm looking for.

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TheLawIsiMarried! Bay Area Ca May 2014•

I don't know if you are still looking but my sister does weddings in NH.

http://www.caroljayne.com/

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bukkitbat9-16-16 NH•

We booked with Mon Petit Studio. They are on the higher end of our budget but I really like them. I also really like The Spragues but they are just a bit too expensive. Maine Tinker is reasonably priced and they provide a super cute vintage camper photo booth. If you want a best buy, I recommend checking out Melissa Koren. She did the photos for a bunch of people in my fiancé's family, but I am not totally satisfied with her style. She is under $1500 IIRC.

The other tip I would give is to look in CT. Some photographers service the seacoast and they are a lot cheaper than the average NH photographer. As a side note, my SIL is a fantastic seacoast wedding planner and I would totally recommend her if you are looking for one. PM me if you are interested :)

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loopsonflowersAugust 27, 2016 | Massachusetts•

So you're just saying site fees and catering for less than $7k?

Essex Conference Center and Retreat comes to mind. Their rain location isn't indoors, but they do have a tent on-site for rain, and they have quite a bit of lodging. I believe when we did the math, it was about $7k for site and food for about 200 people. I could be a little off, so you should definitely check with them.

It's a beautiful site! We ultimately went elsewhere for a couple of reasons, but when we were looking at it initially, I was almost sure it was where we would end up.

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ninjelaOPSpring 2018 | Boston•

I will go check them out now! ...as soon as I don't have a cat sprawled across my chest. It looks like they don't have much info on their mobile site, but I'll keep looking and probably contact them.

Update: just heard back from them. Apparently as of this year they aren't hosting weddings anymore. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

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PackedSatisfaction8.26.17 | Planning in Philly, Wedding in NH•

I think the lodging on site is what's hurting you here. As others have said, there's venues in your price point, but once you start trying to add in lodging options the prices go up. Maybe you could look into doing a house rental(s) for the people who need lodging? That might be a cheaper option.

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dugong_nom10.1.16 - Vermont•

I used this link from weddingbee northeast wedding venues to find my venue. I went with Echo Lake Inn which I think might be above your price point but I wanted all my guest to be able to stay over.

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