Wedding Blog

Here’s a look at the venue budgets of Bees who got hitched in major cities!  Part II will feature the venues of Bees who got hitched in small or medium cities.

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Miss Bruschetta’s Venue
Venue/Location: F.U.E.L. House in Philadelphia, PA
Venue Fee: $6,500 license fee, plus the cost of rentals and caterer
Rental Time: 24 hours

The F.U.E.L. House was, oddly enough, the first location we visited. Given the steep cost to reserve the space, we initially thought it was far beyond our budget; however, once we realized we loved so much about this venue — the option for movement throughout the evening (with cocktail hour, dinner and dancing each in a separate area), its placement within the city (in Old City, our favorite part of Philly) and the opportunity to hand-pick the caterer of our choice — we splurged on the bank-turned-art-gallery. The space is ours for a full 24 hours — not that we’ll be using it the entire time — and an on-site coordinator will be present the entire event to assist as needed.

How are we making it work within our budget? Our caterer — who I’ve raved about before in previous posts — has incredibly reasonable prices, and we’re selecting mostly “base” options for our rentals (no need for fancy goblets or lounge furniture at this reception!). All totaled up, our per person cost is equal to or less than what we would have spent at some of the other reception locations that were on our short list.

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Mrs. Avocado’s Venue
Venue/Location: Hotel 1000, Seattle, Washington. October 2008.
Venue Fee: Free (On-site catering required).
Rental Time: Noon-Midnight
Includes: 4th floor lobby, glass covered terrace, library/study, and dining room. The included a room off the lobby for our photo-booth setup at no extra charge.

Hotel 1000 waived the usual rental fees because I was an employee at a sister hotel at the time of booking, and because of there was no alcohol present at our event. Rental included chairs, linens, tables, extra decorative linens used on the cake display, dance floor, and a photo slideshow was displayed on the flatscreen in the library/study. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the complimentary night in a corner suite included with every wedding booking!

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Miss Beagle’s Venue
Venue/Location: Waterford House, South Austin, TX
Venue Fee: $4300 (Aug. ‘08 pricing)
Rental time: 5 p.m. - midnight, set up in the morning and we can drop off decorations the day before
Included: Tables (28- 60″, 6-rectangle, sweetheart, 4-cocktail), 200 Chairs, Linens for all tables. We also have to purchase all alcohol through them.

The primary reason for choosing our venue was space. It was hard trying to find a non-hotel venue that would accommodate 200+ people in the location we were looking. I came across Waterford House just after they first opened. For this reason, we were able to get our linens/tables/chairs included in our fee (I think they charge an extra rental fee for them now).

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Mrs. Bee’s Venue
Venue/Location: Westside Loft, a 9500 sq ft loft in NYC
Cost: $7000 (2005 prices)
Rental Time: Saturday evening rental for 10 hours
Included: Bridal Suite; Liquor storage drop off and storage until the liquor company of our choice picked up our unopened bottles after the wedding

The moment we visited this venue, we knew it was the one!  We got married in front of the fireplace, and had the reception in the large open space.  It was the quintessential New York loft, and perhaps one day we’ll have a vow renewal here.  The only glitch was… my parents got stuck in the elevator at the end of the night, and firefighters had to come rescue them!

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Mrs. Tulip’s Venue
Venue/Location: The Athenaeum, Washington DC
Cost: $150/hour, plus $100 to become a member of the nonprofit arts group that owns the property.
Includes: Folding Chairs

The folding chairs belonged to the Athenaeum. Our groomsmen and ushers set them up before the ceremony. As much as I drool with desire over a pretty Chiavari … these were free. And, after all, people just sit in them. (Or so I kept telling myself!)

When we visited a week before the wedding, the gallery was highlighting huge black-and-white paintings that were graphically striking but not at all in harmony with our wedding style. Luckily, the day before our wedding, they switched to charming, slightly-vintage-y botanical paintings.

Tip: Charity-owned venues can be relatively inexpensive. And your fees support a charity, so it’s win-win!

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Mrs. Pineapple’s Venue
Venue/Location: The Rivers Club, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: $500 for the room set-up at the Rivers Club
Includes: Dance floor, linens

After returning to the River’s Club after our portrait session, the boys headed to the men’s locker room, and the bridesmaids and I went to powder our noses. I wanted to get upstairs and hide away before the guests arrived, so Emily, the wedding coordinator for the River’s Club, took me through the coat closet and into the ballroom where the ceremony would be taking place.

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Miss Duckling’s Venue
Venue/Location: Rancho Bernardo Inn, San Diego CA
Venue Fee: $1800 fee for Ceremony Site on Aragon Lawn. Fee for Reception Site in Bernardo Ballroom and Terrace - free with ceremony site and meeting $17,500 minimum for food/bev
Included: Chairs for ceremony and reception, water station at ceremony, umbrellas at ceremony, champagne toast for all guests, linens for reception and cocktail hour, dance floor and sound system for ceremony, free parking, room for bridal party before ceremony and complimentary suite for bride and groom on the wedding night

Why we chose this venue? We really wanted to find a site that allowed us to have our ceremony and reception on the same property. With the amount of guests 220+ it left us looking at the major hotels in San Diego. Most resorts on the coast had close to $40,000+ minimums. By looking further inland we found the the RB Inn that had the same charm of places we looked on the coast with a much lower cost. The staff has been great so far. I’ve been working with our catering manager, Tricia and she is awesome. The grounds are beautiful and there are multiple locations to have your ceremony/reception all with a range of pricing.

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Miss Joey’s Venue
Venue/Location: Lake Union Cafe in Seattle, WA
Venue Fee: Free but you have to pay by the person and there is a 100 person minimum
Rental Time: 11am - 4pm

This was the last place we visited but we knew it was perfect considering Mama Joey’s requirements and our style.  We love the antique look and the views.  It was nice blend of our modern/vintage style.

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Miss Peep Toe’s Venue
Venue/Location: Hotel Vitale, San Francisco
Venue Fee: $1000 for the outdoor terrace and ballroom, with food and beverage minimum of $7,500
Included: Chair set up, with a bar and cocktail hour on the terrace, the a hospitality suite next to the Terrace (so our guests had a bathroom), the Almalfi Coast ballroom room set up with everything (although we did upgrade to specialty linens), and an AMAZING bridal suite the night of the wedding.

Originally we thought the minimum was going to be a huge problem, but after an exhausting search for venues in four different counties, we called in a big favor. Through a Friends and Family discount we were able to waive the food and beverage minimum for the terrace, which I think was another $5,000. Lesson learned: use your connections!!

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Stay tuned for Part II of this venue series!