Help with my wedding in SAN JOSE or close to San Jose?

Question

Ok this is the deal

we have 34 guests...we want it to be only family and friends.

We ONLY want to spend 3000-4000 TOTAL.

I can't get married in my church because he would have to be baptized into it(Orthodox Christian). We live in different cities and....its in Jan 10 2009. HELP I'm so freaked out I can't find a reception area and I have no idea what I am doing. We're both finishing college so it was on the back burner and now we're behind and ahhhh lol HELP HELP HELP lol

Answer 1

With a guest list of 34 it shouldn't be that hard. You could get married in another church, if you are comfortable with that. There are plenty of churches that will marry you without having to be baptized. If you would prefer not to get married in a church you could always go down to the courthouse, then have a nice reception afterwards.

Here is a great website that you can check out.

http://www.herecomestheguide.com/locatio...

I would suggest that you contact a lot of these venues. Most of the time the prices that they quote on the website are for their main ballroom - you will find that you might be able to get an absolutely beautiful place for a great price just by using one of their smaller rooms. Just contact as many people as you can. Tell them the size of the guest list, your budget and that you possibly want to hold the ceremony there. They may be able to work with you.

Also, check your local yellow pages - that is a good resource...and because you have a small guest list you should check into some restaurants in the area. They may be able to accomodate your party.

Good luck!

Answer 2

3-4 thousand is a little tough... only because you said TOTAL so I assume that includes the dress and the rings.  I would try to hold the reception at a nice restaurant that maybe has an area you can use for the ceremony? January is a bit cold for garden ceremonies but there may be a place that has an indoor courtyard area that would be beautiful.   Check out http://www.herecomestheguide.com they have great resources but again, that gives you lots of large facilities.

www.davidsbanquetfacility.com  is one of the cheapest places I saw on there and with only 34 people you have lots of choices. (not the prettiest exterior but some of their rooms look more beautiful than many other places... no tacky RED walls or carpets to clash with your color choices).

Order your flowers from a website like http://www.freshroses.com and have family arrange them/assemble bouquets (make sure they strip thorns from the roses...there are cheap tools that will make this easy plus make sure they have gloves so no one gets stabbed with thorns.. they can get an infection).  There is a video that shows you how to make a bouquet. http://video.about.com/weddings/Make-a-W...

The BEST book to help you plan/keep things cheap is Bridal Bargains.  You can order your dress from china..I've heard great things about www.1koo.com and gianinarbridal(on ebay).  Just stay away from too much applique or fitted dresses (go for the ballgown style and ask them to replace the zipper with a lace-up style).  You can get a dress for $100-200.

Some places have coordinators on site who can help you plan the details but they will be pricier.  I loved the options at http://www.wedgewoodbanquet.com/gilroy/w...  they're in Gilroy which isn't too far away and they let you customize what you want to include in packages.  However they may charge you more for having so few people but its worth asking.  They may not mind since January isn't as popular a wedding month.  I'm hoping to use them myself if they're available and I can afford it.