The Hunt for the Perfect but Cheap Venue

Prior to my decision to send out the haphazard "save the date" email, Charlie and I had been to a few venues in Southern California. Long story short, we would have had to pay upwards of $15,000 for one venue and a $20,000 minimum for the other. Well, as you know now that we don't have that kind of money, we disregarded those venues and did not look into cheaper places. Also, if you follow my other blog http://adventuresofaphd.blogspot.com/ you know that I work about 60 hours a week, including weekends so I don’t have time to go to a billion wedding venues or spend time meeting with vendors about each little piece of our day. So, a few weeks ago I started researching all inclusive wedding venues. Will I find my dream venue and be able to afford it? Probably not but it doesn't hurt to try!

What’s an all inclusive wedding venue? Well, they charge you a fee based on the number of guests that covers everything including: ceremony, food, cake, booze, flowers, invitations (in some cases), linens, chairs, tables, set up and take down. The only thing they don’t cover is an officiant and photography. The three places I have looked are: Sterling Hills Golf Course in Camarillo, CA, Green River Golf Course in Corona, CA, and The Storybook Inn in Lake Arrowhead, CA. Each of these venues promises beautiful views, all inclusive prices, and no muss no fuss. Basically, I can show up with my photographer, someone to do the ceremony and future husband and we can have a party for 100 people on a Sunday or Saturday for prices ranging from $10,000 to $12,000. It’s the perfect place to hold a wedding if you are poor and busy. I am visiting the Lake Arrowhead site tomorrow and I hope that it is everything I’ve ever wanted in a wedding venue because it’s the cheapest, but who knows!?

The Corona venue was gorgeous, but it was under construction, next to a trailer park, and the most expensive of the three.

The Camarillo venue was not gorgeous outside and it was next to a youth correctional facility, but had a great banquet center that would be all ours- private for the wedding reception.

The Lake Arrowhead venue seems just a little bit country for my taste in the pictures but maybe when I get there I will love every pine tree, wooden deck, and dirt filled parking lot! I’ll know for sure tomorrow when I drive there and meet the planner.

Custom Search

The insanity that is my mass-email "save the date"

A few weeks ago I sat down at my computer and I decided that if I was going to have a wedding, I needed to have it sooner rather than later. That sounds crazy right? With no input from my future husband (FH), I wrote a mass email to my friends and family and told them to prepare for a wedding on the weekend of July 31, 2010. Um... that's less than 6... 5... 4.5 months away. Yep. "Oh!" You say, "You must have been saving up for this then!" Nope. I had a moment of insanity and I told my FH that we have been engaged for over a year and if we can't have a wedding soon then I'd rather not have one at all. I wasn't telling him that I didn't want to marry him if is doesn't happen, I was telling him that I would rather do a courthouse wedding by ourselves then wait another year.

What does this mean? It means that I have prepared everyone of my friends and family for a wedding that we can't afford, haven't saved up for, and haven't planned. We are planning a wedding on "less than" a budget. So every time people ask me what our budget is I just get uncomfortable and look away. It's awesome. I think that the average wedding costs $27,000 (we definitely don't have that) and people usually plan them for at least a year. Here is where I am in my planning three weeks after the email:

1. I have a weekend that I want to have the ceremony and reception, but not a specific date in the weekend. This is based on cost and location- Friday and Sunday are obviously cheaper and most Saturdays are booked already but I would prefer Saturday because it's more fun!

However- I have looked at two all inclusive venues and I will be looking at a third on Saturday. So- all hope is not lost.

2. We do not have: A venue, a photographer, a caterer, a DJ, a date, wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, tuxes reserved, an officiant, um, anything except our love. Greeeaaat! Except that most businesses won't accept love instead of cash so...

3. My friends are desperately trying to help me find bridesmaid dresses and plan stuff- so when I get my stuff together at least I will have them.

4. We have our rings. Yay! One thing down!

5. We have applied for two reality television wedding shows which will help pay for the wedding if we are interesting enough. The two shows are: Battle of the Wedding Planners and Whose Wedding is it Anyway?

Wish us luck!

Custom Search