Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone knew of any venues in Boston that I could do 180 people for 12K or under? I'm open to any type of venue, but would prefer to stay away from a VFW hall or church hall.
Thanks!!!
Affordable Boston Venue
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Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/15/2011 7:32 AM EST
- Klee3
- Posts: 6
- First: 2/15/2011
- Last: 5/3/2011
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Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/15/2011 7:32 AM EST
- Klee3
- Posts: 6
- First: 2/15/2011
- Last: 5/3/2011
BTW...we're getting married in January, so it's the off season. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/15/2011 10:37 AM EST
- venforknot
- Posts: 101
- First: 12/20/2010
- Last: 8/17/2011
Are you looking to do a full plated dinner or just cocktails and hors d'oeuvres? It'll depend a lot on the type of wedding/reception you're thinking of. Are you looking a t Satruday night or will a Sunday afternoon work. Also is the 12k just for food or does that include DJ, flowers, etc etc. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/15/2011 10:42 AM EST
- laryan
- Posts: 2850
- First: 1/28/2005
- Last: 1/7/2012
are you looking within city of boston limits, or are you open to the area around boston as well? what kind of "travel distance" are you looking at for your guests?
180 people for $12K is going to be a difficult stretch...
you may want to check some hotels, as you may be dealing with the "snow factor" in January and guest safety may be an issue.
have you thought of hotels? -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/15/2011 12:50 PM EST
- Leila32
- Posts: 121
- First: 2/2/2011
- Last: 11/18/2011
I can't think of anything in Boston for -12K, or any hotels in the surrounding area for that price (at least I didn't find any when I was looking 3 years ago).
If you are willing to go North of Boston, Oceanview in Nahant may work for you.
http://www.oceanviewofnahant.com/home.nxg -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/15/2011 12:55 PM EST
- venforknot
- Posts: 101
- First: 12/20/2010
- Last: 8/17/2011
I agree with you, laryan. That's going to be hard to find in Boston proper. But if it's just 12k on food/beverage alone, that's probably more doable...Hotels are a good option and the other thing that came to my mind was the Skywalk at the Pru. You can actually rent that out for events and have a caterer in but the rental fee alone would chew up a bit of a 12k budget (between $1800 and $5000 last time I checked depending on how much space, what kind of reception you're thinking of) You might be able to pull that off at Spinelli's (God, I feel like they should pay me for the amount of times I bring them up on here! lol) in East Boston. I'm also trying to think of restaurants in Boston that have function rooms or space large enough to accomodate that many people but I'm drawing a blank. I'm not too familiar with Southie area though...maybe someone knows something down that end? Maybe some the universities offer space? I know BU has a couple of spots for weddings/receptions but I'm sure, like everything at BU, they're probably pretty pricey. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 10:09 AM EST
- pinkkittie27
- Posts: 3467
- First: 7/5/2009
- Last: 1/24/2013
You can do it, you're just going to have to think outside of the box.
Community Rowing rents their facilities for $3k on a Saturday, $2.5K on Fridays and Sundays. That included tables and chairs with basic linens.
https://www.communityrowing.org/special-events/special-events-2/
What's going to make the big difference is your caterer. You're going to have to find someone who can feed 180 people decent food on your budget. I've heard good things about Kelly's roast beef. I'd also check out Salvatore's (www.salvatoresrestaurants.com)- you could do a pasta and salad buffet.
You can skip a DJ and use an iPod and a speaker system. Community Rowing rents a sound system for $125, so you could just do that and save a bunch of money.
You can get flowers through a grocery store, or you could skip flowers and make your own centerpieces. There are so many wedding DIY sites now, there's a ton of ideas out there. Check out OffBeatBride.com and The Ruffled Blog.
You can do it! Figure out what's most important to you, and then budget accordingly. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 11:38 AM EST
- laryan
- Posts: 2850
- First: 1/28/2005
- Last: 1/7/2012
Spinelli's does have yummy food! One good thing about Spinelli's is not only can you get the food, but they do cake too! I'm thinking they may do "offsite catering" as well...In the Southie area, I'm thinking of Phillips Old Colony House. Not sure if they can hold 180 people, but the food is good and they're right off the x-way. Phillips Candy House next door makes awesome chocolates, which can be used as favors, or if you wanted a chocolate table @ the reception.
Alot of times with the colleges you need to be a student or alumni to rent the space.
edited to add: there are comfort inn/ramada inn in short distance to the phillips old colony house. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 11:50 AM EST
- pinkkittie27
- Posts: 3467
- First: 7/5/2009
- Last: 1/24/2013
UMass Boston has large event spaces in its Campus Center that are available for rent. I coordinated an event there for work. I don't know what the rates are or what they include, but the ballrooms have a nice view of the ocean.
Bella Luna/The Milky Way in JP hosts weddings.
$3k for rental, and their catering runs $12-$24 per person, depending on whether you want just apps to a full buffet. Even if you go $24 per person, that's less than $5k in total for food.
http://www.milkywayjp.com/parties/ -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 12:00 PM EST
- RedFishBlueFish
- Posts: 275
- First: 7/13/2010
- Last: 10/16/2012
The UMass Boston ballrooms are great for a wedding. Friends of mine were married there a couple of years ago, with a ceremony outside by the ocean. It was my understanding that you had to be affiliated (student or alum) to get the space, though it might have just been that they got a sustantial discount for being students.
I do remember that they later said the wedding ended up being way more expensive than they'd planned, because they had to deal with so many other vendors. Some of their choices, however, were not the most financially prudent, so take that with a grain of salt. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 12:29 PM EST
- kargiver
- Posts: 21719
- First: 10/17/2005
- Last: 5/25/2013
What are the line items that $12,000 needs to cover?
Example:- Rental fee
- Food
- Flowers/Centerpieces/decorations
-
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 12:31 PM EST
- Leila32
- Posts: 121
- First: 2/2/2011
- Last: 11/18/2011
pinkitty has good suggestions...you can definitely do it but like she said, just get creative. Our wedding was just under 13K and I found a place with a low rental budget and brought in all my own vendors. If you can find a place that is BYOB that should help save a ton. For example, we spent around $900 on alcohol delivered from Kappy’s for 80 people, with plenty left over.
For catering, I suggest Pasta Lina’s in Medford. They have North End worthy Italian for a fraction of the price. We had our rehearsal dinner there and we spent less than $400 on 25 people.
Pink – I love Bella Luna’s! I didn’t know they did weddings there...that would be so fun. Do they let you bowl? -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 1:06 PM EST
- pinkkittie27
- Posts: 3467
- First: 7/5/2009
- Last: 1/24/2013
In Response to Re: Affordable Boston Venue:pinkitty has good suggestions...you can definitely do it but like she said, just get creative. Our wedding was just under 13K and I found a place with a low rental budget and brought in all my own vendors. If you can find a place that is BYOB that should help save a ton. For example, we spent around $900 on alcohol delivered from Kappy’s for 80 people, with plenty left over. For catering, I suggest Pasta Lina’s in Medford. They have North End worthy Italian for a fraction of the price. We had our rehearsal dinner there and we spent less than $400 on 25 people. Pink – I love Bella Luna’s! I didn’t know they did weddings there...that would be so fun. Do they let you bowl?
Posted by Leila32
I believe so- you are renting the entire facility, so I would assume bowling could be included.
BYOB liquor is an awesome way to go! Bella Luna has its own bar, so they probably don't permit that, but you could do it at most other venues. Usually the only stipulation is that you can't have kegs.
*ETA: the rental fee at Bella Luna includes Wii bowling on the big screen and an iPod sound system hook up. They don't have regular bowling at their new location. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 3:09 PM EST
- venforknot
- Posts: 101
- First: 12/20/2010
- Last: 8/17/2011
Just a note about BYOB, check the venue's insurance coverage adn/or requirements. Some places that are BYOB require you to provide your own. You don't want someone having too much fun and ending up on the raw end of lawsuit if they fall on the dancefloor or worse! The good news is single event coverage is pretty cheap :-) -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/16/2011 6:46 PM EST
- Klee3
- Posts: 6
- First: 2/15/2011
- Last: 5/3/2011
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all your suggestions! We would designate 12,000 for food and venue rental, but we have a different amount of money for photographer, centerpieces, invitations, ect., ect.
Let me know if you guys have any other thoughts!
Thank you! -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/19/2011 5:03 PM EST
- DWR1
- Posts: 85
- First: 11/8/2009
- Last: 4/24/2011
In Response to Affordable Boston Venue:Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone knew of any venues in Boston that I could do 180 people for 12K or under? I'm open to any type of venue, but would prefer to stay away from a VFW hall or church hall. Thanks!!!
Posted by Klee3 -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 2/19/2011 5:03 PM EST
- DWR1
- Posts: 85
- First: 11/8/2009
- Last: 4/24/2011
Check out Omni Parker House Hotel
Roof Top Ballroom -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 11/14/2011 12:10 PM EST
- ribs1982
- Posts: 16
- First: 4/18/2007
- Last: 11/18/2011
In Response to Re: Affordable Boston Venue:pinkitty has good suggestions...you can definitely do it but like she said, just get creative. Our wedding was just under 13K and I found a place with a low rental budget and brought in all my own vendors. If you can find a place that is BYOB that should help save a ton. For example, we spent around $900 on alcohol delivered from Kappy’s for 80 people, with plenty left over. For catering, I suggest Pasta Lina’s in Medford. They have North End worthy Italian for a fraction of the price. We had our rehearsal dinner there and we spent less than $400 on 25 people. Pink – I love Bella Luna’s! I didn’t know they did weddings there...that would be so fun. Do they let you bowl?
Posted by Leila32
Leila32 - where were you married? -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 11/14/2011 12:51 PM EST
- ALF72
- Posts: 3254
- First: 5/30/2008
- Last: 5/14/2013
Look at restaurants w/ private rooms. Most restaurant private rooms have ample room for a dance floor. You'll have the bonus of better food than a hotel or 'reception venue', cheaper bar options [restaurants are more likely to permit a consumption bar as opposed to a flat fee per guest], and cheaper prices overall. GL.
If you want a more traditional reception venue, I've heard good things about the Commonwealth Club in Back Bay. -
Re: Affordable Boston Venue
posted at 8/23/2012 4:24 PM EDT
- godio13
- Posts: 1
- First: 8/23/2012
- Last: 8/23/2012
Can you tell me the name of the venue that let you bring in your own cater and booze?Thanks!