Wedding Reception Venues and Ceremony Ideas...?

Question

My fiance and I are trying to plan our wedding for August 3rd 2009 (our 5 year anni) and want an outdoor ceremony and possibly indoor reception. Our budget is tight and we can't think of many places we'd like to look into.

If you have any reception venue & ceremony location ideas for the Cinci Tri-State area, PLEASE feel free and let me know. It'd be much appreciated :)

Answer 1

I just had my wedding at Mary Nelle's Windswept Farm just north of Lebanon, OH.  It was absolutely perfect!  We had the ceremony outside under the trees by the pond and waterfall and the reception inside the barn (which also has a loft).  It is a privately owned farm that they have recently started to rent out to weddings and parties.  The people who run the farm are wonderful, very nice and so helpful.  The price is actually pretty good too (It's by the hour and I want to say it was something like $900 for  8 hours).  Check out their website: www.marynelleswindsweptfarm.com  If you have any other questions or want recommendations for other vendors in the area feel free to email me ([e-mail]).

Answer 2

I am not from America so I can't help you with specifics - but here are a few options!  I actually got married in a rose garden that was part of a nursery - it was so beautiful and specifically set up for weddings.  The wonderful thing was that the lady who owned the nursery and garden set all the chairs, tables, etc up for us before the wedding as part of the cost.  (It would have ended up costing the same just to rent everything she offered, let alone have someone there to set it up).  Maybe there is something similar in your area?  A nice private garden that you can rent out for the day?  (Or a few hours!)  Other than that - the best other places are the local parks.  You can talk to the local council about rules and costs and book your wedding with them.  It does not cost much but take into account that you will have to hire chairs and other decorations.  And you will have to allow time for setting up.  The other (and cheapest) option is to use someone's backyard!  Do you know anyone with a nice backyard that would be willing to let you have your ceremony there?  I found a few restaurants with nice gardens so you could have the ceremony and reception all in the one place - but in my area this seemed to cost a lot more than the options I mentioned above.

For an indoor reception what we found to be the cheapest and easiest option was actually a restuarant.  (We had a minimum of 80 people as our agreement and we basically had the whole restaurant to ourselves).  Have a look around and get quotes from anywhere you like.  If you find that catering is cheaper in your area then check out all the local halls (they don't cost much to rent).  You can also check out how much a tent/marquee would cost to rent - however I found this to be expensive where I live as you have to add the cost of chairs, tables, extra decorations (the beauty with restaurants is that they already have all that stuff and there is minimal work for you as it is already basically set up), toilets, etc.  Again, if you have someone you know who has a large house and is willing to open it up for your wedding then that is going to be the cheapest option - but it depends who you know!

I suggest you and your fiance take a day or two to drive around and have a look at places you like.  That is how me and my hubby found the rose gardens!  And if you have any spot or restuarant that is special to you both or that you both really enjoy going to then make sure you check those places out first.  (That is how we chose our reception restuarant!)

Answer 3

I can't help you, but you need to provide more info if you want good suggestions. For instance, how many people?  And by tight budget, do you mean $2000 and less, $5000 and less?

Answer 4

If you have a tight budget then I suggest you look at your local city websites. You can rent park space for the outdoor ceremony - then rent a hall, etc. for your indoor reception. Cities usually have fairly good prices on their rentals; and most of the time they allow you to bring your own food - which can also save some money.

You can also look into Veteran Halls, Elk's Lodges, Women's Clubs, etc.

Here is a link to the city of Cincinnati parks and rentals.

http://www.ci.cincinnati.oh.us/cityparks...

Hope it helps! Good luck!   :)

EDIT:

Have you tried going on theknot.com message boards? They have message boards for different states/areas - some of those brides might be able to help you out.