Ok Mama's I need your experience and creativity here. I want a wedding to remember w/out spending a lot of money. Here is the thing, my wedding is going to be in Streamwood/surrounding area and half the guests are to be traveling (my side) from either CA or Tx to attend. All of my attendants are travelling including my MOH and we do not have a ton of money to spend on this but I also do not want to have a wedding at a Bingo Hall and people feel that they wasted money to attend the wedding. I know, I know it's my wedding they should not feel that it was a waste but poor people have poor friends! So, the money they would be spending on the flight, clothing (attendants) and hotel and other accomodations should be "worth it" to me. So, where are some INDOOR cool wedding venues that would be on the cheaper side of things? We are a rocker type couple, he plays bass - I sing we are musical and so are most of our friends so something more alternative would not be a bad idea. I would not mind finding a catering company if we need to cater - just looking for a venue idea that would be fun and less expensive than most. Guest List is 75-125ish (closer to 75 if I get my way) and I would rather a late afternoon evening event. I am also looking into doing on a 3 or 4 day weekend (labor day or something) and do it on a Sunday to lessen the cost I know some places do that. Please any help is appreciated otherwise I will have to hold off another year to save up more and it just does not feel right to hold off any longer we have been togetherr 8yrs now. So if you are familiar with the area and can give exact venues great and if you are not but can give ideas of places you have in your area that maybe we have here too all the better. Oh and Indoor because neither of us enjoy outdoors - and we are planning on having it in the fall season (typically too cold) in the Chicago Suburbs.
open bar is a gift from his parents - so far my parents have not said anything about assisting, my mom can't but my dad probably could I just feel selfish asking him to though. His side of the family is here in Chicago and takes up 60% of the guest list so Vegas is out and my sister is officiating, again Vegas is out and we are not religous so a Church would not reflect our personality (not yet mentioned I do not think). But I am investigating the option of a museum since it will be child restricted (our son, our siblings kids, 4,5,8,10,11,12,13,16,16,18) so I do not think that will be too bad, plus under 10 will be exused an hour after dinner (with a babysitter for mine and my siste'rs youngest two). I think I have to talk to my dad to see if he can put fourth any funds I just hate to since he is currently paying for my sister's divorce (for the second time).
Hoosier Grove in Streamwood. It's a beautiful hall to rent - owned by the park district. Inexepensive to rent, but you have to do the setting up. They provide the chairs & tables - you need to get the tablecloths, center pieces, provide for a caterer (they will give you "preferred" ones you can hire if you want). It's a very nice setting, near a park, etc. It's not like a typical VFW hall. You should look them up & call! Good luck!
I don't know the area so I can't recommend a place (although a few of the working farms in MN have BEAUTIFUL wedding areas - old converted barns, etc. But you don't like the outdoors so not god for you!!) BUT i did just want to mention that since you said most of your guests will be coming from out of state, out of consideration for them you may want to make your wedding on a Sat. OR have it finish up really early on a Sun. so that they don't have to take Mon. off of work. Just a thought.
I also (I was in 10 weddings prior to my own) hate it when people have weddings on long vacation weekends...the air fares are sky high as well as the hotel rooms and car rentals... such a pain to HAVE to travel on dates like that. Just a thought.
I found a book - 1001 ways to save money and still have a fabulous wedding. It's old, but you might be able to find it and it might help give you ideas.
Check with your chamber of commerce. See if there might be a museum related thing you can do. I know they have sleepover things for kids, maybe they have some sort of after hours evening thing? Put it out on facebook, maybe, what you're looking for - ask for ideas and see what happens.
Google, of course, can generate ideas. Good luck!
I would strongly recommend knowing what your budget is and then working backwards from there. Another helpful suggestion would be to not mention your festivities are for a wedding but an elaborate party. The mention of "wedding" sends the price of everything way up.
Determine in advance what you absolutely must have and let everything else be extra's. So if you must have fine china and table linens, then work that with the budget you have and let other things be not quite so important.
For decorating the table. Candles placed on flat mirrors add a beautiful glow without a huge cost. Another thing you will need to consider is who will be setting up and who will be cleaning up and your transportation from the wedding/reception venue to the honeymoon site.
Think of places like museums, concert halls, bontanical gardens etc. I know here where I live many of these types of places have dining halls or rooms for rent. So even will do some catering for you as well. I hope this helps.
*We got married on a Friday evening (cheaper). :)
*I looked everywhere...believe me when I say you can find a cheap venue
You just have to hit the pavement. Think outside the box: old victorians,
converted business buildings/garages etc.
*I googled wedding venues in my area when we got married, went thru
the list, crossed off what I knew was not going to work or my choice &
visited the top choices
*We found a place for cheap that included bar, food, dj & venue for cheap
You just have to look, look & look.
* You can cut corners on anything you want: decorations, music, favors,
type of alcohol.
* We served wine & beer w/a few mixed drinks. All bought at discount places
*My girlfriend gave me the wedding favors as our present.
*One friend took professional photos (all of them) for us for our present.
*A family member did the cake (she was a prof cook/baker & it was
gorgeous).
*Bridesmaids bought their own dresses in the color of my choice
*sis made our bouquets & floral arrangements for the tables. Beautiful.
bought the flowers @ a floral discount store
*bought my bridal gown @ discount designer store
*You can make it as inexpensive at you want it. Decide what you want to spend the $ on and what you are willing to give up/skimp on to save $
*I did not attend bridal fairs (ugh) but searched for any inexpensive way to do anything & I found tons of ideas.
I'd say the most important things are (your dress, pictures, music & food)
Enjoy, search the internet, scour deals & have fun. Enjoy & congrats!
Well I guess it depends on how much money you have to spend? What is more important to you to have? As for decorations again if you go to a place where its all inclusive then they give you everthing. Like villa olivia over in Bartlet on Lake street if I remember. It's a ski resort slash wedding venue and is a very nice place. You can do it at Goeberts farm, they have a farm house looking venue and will hold everyone that you want to invite and is nice inside. Also there is another one on irving park road in Streamwood or Bartlet which is another good place it is a pumpkin farm, animal etc. I just can't remember the name right now but can find out for you if that's something you would want to do. O yeah at villa olivia or any other places they shuttle people to the hotel at no charge if needed. The more people you get at one hotel the cheaper it is. But call ahead to get the lower rate and tell your guests. How about the Seville on Barrington road? There are the vfv's all over the area but you have to provide the food, decorations etc. But the hall is cheap. The hotels around the area are nice. What about catigny gardens they. Have a nice venue inside and they can walk the grounds which is beautiful, they have meuseums right in the venue area along with a military meuseum. It's really nice and different. You can go to Hobby Lobby out here and they have a wedding section that is very nice and you could get all of it half off when they have the wedding section at 50% off. You can do your own wedding invitations that look so great like someone proessionally did them. I did this all for a friend along with the table center pieces. Candles did up that they lit during the reception which was very pretty. We gave away cd's as part favors with the couple's picture on it. Since you both love music express.it that way. And do it yourself. If you are willing to go outside of Streamwood there are a lot of nice places, like mansions, little mueseums in grayslake, etc. If you provide me with more details I could probably help you out a lot more. What and who are you planning on for music? A dj, live band? I have done many weddings for people on a lower budget most of it was making things ad gtting it all together for them. We dj'd for the couples also. Let me know. If you provide me with more information on your budget, what you want it to look like an we can go from there. You can send me a personal message if that helps. Congradulations also.
I agree with SN about having it over a long weekend. It will be more costly for you to you to rent out a venue and more costly for those that travel to have to pay for everything over a holiday weekend. I know when I got married in the MD/DC area May and September were the most expensive months to get married and November was one of the cheapest when it came to renting a facility. Surprisingly we got a really great rate from a Country Club. It was actually a lot cheaper than a hotel. Our location was the best looking, but for us it didn't matter, we went cheaper so we can have all our friends there. Don't worry so much about the location, if you have good food and music there will be a good time and your friends and family will appreciate what you have done. Check your city or county recreation centers, I know in MD/VA and TX, you can rent out halls in the recreation centers and then decorate them nicely.
When I was planning my wedding I was looking for alternative places because I hated the idea of hotel or ballroom type reception places. So I found the South Shore Cultural Center and Promontory Point. Both are part of the Chicago Park District, beautiful places right off the lake and super cheap (i.e. Promontory Point was only $ 1,200). And they are gorgeous in architecture that you really don't need a lot of decorating. The down side is that they may be in high deman because they are so cheap and gorgeous. But if you're open to a Friday or Sunday then you may have good luck. Also look at the Harold Washington Library's Winter Garden. Really cool, open space with complete window ceilings. Also very affordable since its the Chicago Public library. My last suggestion is the Danada House in Wheaton, using their tent facility on their grounds.
Good luck!
This isn't really in regards to the venue (sorry!!), but for your attendants, pick a color scheme and have them pick their own dress with the color your prefer that is within their budget...? So they can save money for the trip and not the dress - your pictures will be awesome with each attendant expressing their own style.
Flowers - Pick your favorite bouquet from an upscale grocery store.
If you can find a venue to BYO beverages, that can save a lot as well, but they would have to hire their own licensed bartender (that's what we did).
Happy wedding - happy marriage!
If you can bend a little, I bet you could have a great Sunday afternoon (or evening) wedding at a retaurant. Many restaurants will close on a Sunday for a large crowd. Also, look in your area for restaurants with party rooms.
Friday nights are also less expensive than Saturday and are still lots of fun. So look into that, to.
I agree that you should set a budget and haggle, haggle, haggle. Ask for free apps, tell then to throw something in. If you don't ask, you won't get.
I'm not in your area but since everyone is paying to travel and you want to have it "fun" and memorable and worth their money, why not consider somewhere like Las Vegas? We had the same situation with family coming from CA and ND and we are in AZ. So we had a 4 day wedding weekend in Laughlin and got married on a big riverboat while touring the river, so fun! And we got group rates for the hotel, I think it was only like $40 per night or something. And people were able to either hang out with us or do their own thing. So just something to think about. I hope you find something that works for you...good luck!!!
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I'm not in your area but since everyone is paying to travel and you want to have it "fun" and memorable and worth their money, why not consider somewhere like Las Vegas? We had the same situation with family coming from CA and ND and we are in AZ. So we had a 4 day wedding weekend in Laughlin and got married on a big riverboat while touring the river, so fun! And we got group rates for the hotel, I think it was only like $40 per night or something. And people were able to either hang out with us or do their own thing. So just something to think about. I hope you find something that works for you...good luck!!!
I would recomend contacting the Visitors Bureau in Streamwood for help. I got married in Naperville, but the visitors bureau had a wedding coordinator who was very helpful. I told her all the information about what type of wedding I wanted to have and what my budget was and she was able to find six venues that were available on my date that could meet my requirements. It really saved some time and effort and I ended up having our wedding in a exclusive golf club I never dreamed would fit in our price range. We had a Saturday morning wedding with a lunch reception following all at the same venue (White Eagle Golf Club), which saved us 15%. In addition, the visitors bureau also helped me find a hotel for guests and sent gift packages to all visitors giving them information on activities and things to do in the area. Good Luck and Congratulations.
You could go to one of the many business parks and find a building that has been vacant and call up the owner and ask if you could rent their space for 3 days on the cheap. Let them know you'd be willing to do your own clean up afterwards. You could then decorate the blank slate as you wish. Use freecycle, rummage sales, craigslist, goodwill, thrift stores, and hardware stores(like getting boxes of mirrored tiles to place candles on). You could get tables, chairs, fabric, and even plates and glasses and decorations then for cleanup the next day you will have put everything on freecycle and people will come to you to pick up the majority of the stuff. You could create a stage there and ask anyone who wants to jamm to bring their instruments, ask everyone to bring their favorite music on their ipods and have a speaker to hook them up to. You could have everyone enter needing a passcode and make it either speakeasy style(think prohibition) or rave style(underground party). Catering could be done by one of the smaller places that bring in a buffet or you and parents and siblings could do the cooking, even making a cupcake wedding tower isn't hard or a hostess(twinkie/ding ding) type cake has easy instructions on the internet. If you do the actual wedding cake through a bakery it tends to cost money. Have fun with it, you don't have to spend a lot of money to create a special memory.
I would highly recommend Chandler's banquets at the Schaumburg golf club. They have great food, awesome venue and amazing prices. Please talk to Kim Panzarella and tell her that M. from her networking group recommended you - she will give you a great deal! Their phone number is ###-###-####. They are remodeling 2 of their rooms right now - they wil be done March 1st - so the venue will be even better.
Just food for thought, and I don't know what sorts of prices your local market commands, but we found it was actually cheaper to have our wedding reception at an all inclusive sort of place where they do the hall, the tables, the linens, the appetizers, food, the cocktails, the dj, the cake, the centerpieces, the menus, the seating cards, than it was to try to go a la carte. we also used a one stop shop for the limosines, the invitations, the photographer, the flowers, and they would have even done the wedding dress, the bridesmaids dresses and the tuxes.
having said that, think outside of the box, how about a cupcake shop, a bank, a mechanic shop/ jaguar show room, a greenhouse/ florist, a theater, a piano factory, a school, hospital, hotel, a bar, a restaurant, a bowling alley, a firehouse, the lobby of a commercial building, a coffee house, a wine shop, a brewery, a train station, an old slaughterhouse, a public library.
I am sure, wherever it is held, it will be memorable.
Hi. Do you need to have it in the burbs? I think you'd love the Mars Gallery in Chicago. It's relatively reasonable because you can bring the catering and alcohol in yourself. http://www.marsgallery.com/ Check out "Gallery rental", it's pretty cool.
Good Luck!
It sounds like you really should reconsider the size of this wedding esp since money is an issue and so many are traveling. I was just talking to a friend who has a relative getting married out of state and they are not happy about having to travel so far with the added expenses. They feel guilted into attending. I think you might want to put yourself into their shoes and see what they may be feeling and move from that vantage point. I know I haven't offered any solutions, but maybe it's something to think about...
