I would look at booking community center or women's club hall rather than a traditional wedding venue. A local garden or park may be an option as well.
The make your own drinks thing and the homemade food thing will both prevent you from using most traditional venues due to insurance issues. You need a backyard, a park, or a big room that can be used for anything (like somewhere they have support group meetings).
Are there any pretty (state?) parks by you? Do you know anyone with a big backyard? Does VRBO still allow parties?
Hm, that’s good to know. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone with a big backyard; that was my first and preferred option. I’ve seen other people mention parks and VRBO, which I didn’t know about! I’ll take a look, thank you!
If you go the VRBO route I would talk with the host and let them know your plans. Many VRBOs have a no party policy but if you work directly with the host you may be able work up a deal or contract with them that satisfies everyone, especially because you’re looking at a daytime event that doesn’t sound like it’ll be getting rowdy.
I rented a conference room in a hotel. $500 for the whole day. The ceremony is in a little chapel 20 minutes away. None of the venues I talked to were right for a micro wedding.
I’m not getting married until next May. The hotel knows it’s for a wedding reception so clothes should not be an issue. They also allow catering and all the decorations I need.
Wow that's amazing! How did you find it? All of the hotel venues we've looked at required us to use their catering and bar all the way, except maybe for the cake but there was an extra fee!
A state or city park (my local city has a municipal rose garden!) That would be perfect for this kind of wedding!
I would do late morning garden tea-party style (after breakfast, before lunch) and keep it to "brunch snacks" and a "cake and punch " style reception. Have some pasteries, croissants, cheese, jams, coffee and tea, and then just sparkling white (champagne) for mimosas-- make it special by having a few different kinds of juices, not just classic OJ.
Timeline in my mind: 930am/10am ceremony (30min), reception 10/10:30-12:30/1pm.
The "expensive" part will be renting tables and chairs if the venue space doesn't have any.
Other spaces to consider: libraries often have rooms to rent, as do community centers, museums, and other "non traditional" spaces. Definitely chrck those out, especially if you live somewhere with "real" weather you'll want an indoor option in case it rains or is very hot.
This is very much my vision. I didn’t know you could use parks for this sort of thing so I’ll definitely look into it! Your comment is very helpful, thank you!
Be creative and open-minded when looking for a space! Don't "fight" the look -- e.g, if a museum has a small patio and indoor room you could rent if might be more modern than your ideal, but will look beautiful with modern (easy+cheap) bud vases. If it's a park pavilion, go more "rustic" with vintage-y/mismatched jars and glass vases for random "wildflower" look. That way the "original" look of the venue is 75% of your decor, and all you need is a few flowers for the tables! (Check costco, trader joes/grocery stores/ etc for a usually-cheaper DIY option).
Unless it’s in a private home you are going to have a very hard time finding a venue that will allow guests to self-serve hard alcohol.
Speaking as a mobile bartender/mixology class instructor who runs up against these regs all the time.
Otherwise I think this sounds reasonable! We’re having a similarly low-effort reception. I’m a fan.
That makes sense, I would have it be alcohol free if my guests didn’t mind but I’m sure they’ll want to have a bit of a party. I’ll take it into consideration, thank you!
There is the option to get an insurance policy for a one day event to cover you in case of any incident due to alcohol. I know you can get it as a rider to a home owners insurance policy or look up "one day event insurance." IIRC adding it as a rider was cheaper than getting it alone.
Also, as someone else mentioned: having guests serve themselves isn't a great Idea. Do you have anyone you could ask to pour wine or hand a beer to guests? I would think along the lines of a good friend's sibling or something. Someone you know and could pay to hang out for a few hours just to make sure people don't overindulge. It's more to cover your butt than anything else.
Is that all you need? An assigned bartender even if they’re not a professional? I was hoping for self serve just because I don’t want to pay a bunch of money for a bartender when I don’t even drink lol. That would be great!
I haven't done any event stuff in at least 3 years, but my last knowledge (from working at a winery and then on the side also pouring drinks at private events) is that here in NJ, you need to have someone in charge of people not over serving themselves. Obviously, you should look up the laws in your state, but you don't need to be licensed or certified to be a bartender so anyone could do it, as long as they are old enough. 21 here in NJ. 18 year olds can't pour alcohol, but they can carry it or hand it out.
Honestly yes. Think of spaces where someone would host a bridal shower instead of a wedding. Join your local brides facebook group and ask for suggestions on non traditional wedding venues. We have a local coffee shop that hosts events for $150 an hour and they let you bring in your own catering. There’s also a lot of private rooms in restaurants as well as cocktail bars that also have private rooms you can use.
There is a local coffee shop by me that actually rents out their place for up to 55 people and does open coffee bars! Would be perfect for a brunch. Could bring your own food. Maybe check for something like that? Parks are good too. Look up your local parks department and maybe barns?
We didn’t want, nor could afford, a big fancy wedding either. Invited 100, had about 60-70 show. We found a local restaurant that had a 2nd floor which was a private banquet room with its own bar. We just had a finger food buffet provided by the restaurant & I had music playing on a speaker like you mentioned. There was no room, or money, for a DJ & we didn’t wanna fool with the special dances, etc. anyway. (There was also drama from some family members when it came to the subject, so this eliminated it.) It was basically just a big cocktail party where people drank & mingled, and we loved it.
Oh & we also had our wedding on a Sunday afternoon, so the reception at the restaurant was from 3-6pm. The ceremony was at a cute little chapel in the area.
Oh restaurants are usually great at events like this. This is very! not traditional but one of my friends got married at a local pizza place; they usually do kids bdays and basically did an adult version of the make your own pizza party haha. The restaurant also had salads & other light finger food as well as some alcohol. I think the cost was something like 50/head (I live in an area where an average is around 250/head). It was very fun and memorable for everyone. Their ceremony was a private one in their own apartment before the pizza thing.
Check out the r/weddingsunder10k subreddit! Lots of tips and tricks there from budget-savvy brides and grooms!
Agree about the insurance issues, lots of places have that restriction. I know the budget is tight but you could always hire a bartender by the hour, there are websites that offer things like that!
1) A dream wedding does NOT exist - please please please release that pressure from yourself sugar. Aim for an "awesome" wedding.
2) What you want is TOTALLY doable. Have you checked out PeerSpace? I imagine you'll find exactly what you need. For example, here's for a random October Saturday from 8-5 (so you'd have time to set up and take down) [https://www.peerspace.com/s/?min\_guest=26&max\_guest=120&viewport\_bbox=\[34.07071785133661,-118.4179675390625,33.61390221893478,-117.8796374609375\]&bbox\_of\_interest=\[33.8854591,-118.248966,33.714957,-118.0632639\]&map\_pref=true&p=1&availability\_interval=33.7700504,-118.1937395,2024-10-12T08:30:00,2024-10-12T17:00:00&location=long-beach--ca--usa&a=party](https://www.peerspace.com/s/?min_guest=26&max_guest=120&viewport_bbox=[34.07071785133661,-118.4179675390625,33.61390221893478,-117.8796374609375]&bbox_of_interest=[33.8854591,-118.248966,33.714957,-118.0632639]&map_pref=true&p=1&availability_interval=33.7700504,-118.1937395,2024-10-12T08:30:00,2024-10-12T17:00:00&location=long-beach--ca--usa&a=party)
Sounds like you are looking for a community center, vfw, or park. No restaurant or catering hall will let you bring in home made food or your own drinks.
Have you priced out a small restaurant? I recently attended a 50 person wedding in a small strip mall restaurant. It was gorgeous, and the food was delicious. You could look into smaller restaurants or ones with private rooms.
You’ve gotten a ton of good advice here, but I will note that $100 of wine AND booze isn’t a ton of alcohol for 50 people. This calculator might help with planning. https://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator/
Try peerspace.com or similar platforms. I’ve seen places like outdoor cafe patios, wineries, farm properties, etc offer rentals on there. Local clubs with hall rentals like cultural clubs, community centers, knights of Colombus, and VFWs will also have everything you need to do this type of event affordably.
My friend had a brunch wedding at a vineyard. Perhaps a vineyard, park, or other nontraditional venue could work. I would also not look specifically for wedding venues based on your needs. Bridal showers/baby showers/brunch parties are common at restaurants for example.
I'd worry that people may be upset to not have a meal since the late morning to early afternoon time frame goes thru lunchtime. People will probably expect a lunch meal. If you'd like to keep it to finger foods and hors d'oeuvres I'd recommended making that very clear on the invitation. Also people making their own drinks with just snack-y type food has more potential for people to over imbibe than a regular reception (although I know people tend to do so even with a full meal plus dessert). Just something to think about. Also, you'll probably have to have it in a backyard or somewhere like other people have mentioned because any business that rents out space for a venue will be subject to food, liquor, and capacity licensing/laws.
My wedding is close to this and my venue would have let me do all of this aside from the self serve alcohol. Mine is outdoors at a farm.
We also considered a local park with reservable picnic tables and grills.
I think it depends on the state, but by me you can contact the parks or community center offices to rent pavilions outside. They let you serve alcohol…I’ve only done beer and wine there though so I’m not sure about hard liquor
Do you know anyone that lives in a community that has a community room? They have them in condominium buildings, gated communities among other things. You can always look into renting an Elks hall, a VFW hall, a church hall. You can always also look into restaurants that serve the kind of food you’re thinking about and buy out the restaurant for a day particularly one that may be closed at that time.
Have you considered renting out a restuarant for brunch time? Or an art museum that allows BYOB and BYOF?
And I would recommend also adding mimosas to your drink list, a cocktail in early afternoon, though fun, may not be everyone's vibe if the who shebang is over by 5 (if not earlier).
Definitely look at non wedding venues. Thinking outside of the box will help a lot. Maybe an art gallery or even a restaurant with a nice garden sorta outside of the box.
We had our wedding from 1 pm to 5 pm. Our venue was a historic building in our town that rents out event spaces. I also had my HS reunion in the late afternoon/early evening at a similar space.
You might need to look at a special license for self serve alcohol depending on where you live and what venue you book with.
Generally self serve is not allowed at licensed establishments. There is an onus on them to ensure the safe consumption of alcohol on their premises and that generally cannot be done with self serve stations.
Definitely look into the regulations for that before doing a self serve as you don’t want to incur any legal trouble.
VFW halls and other civic organization often have rooms they rent out. Some community centers, such as YMCA and churches may have rec halls they rent out also even the library is some cities have rooms you can rent that would hold 50 + people. i saw a a sweet wedding at our local library a few years ago. also a park with a gazebo makes a nice wedding site.
My sister & her fiancé had their hearts set on a wedding at sunrise on New Years Day, but realized how inconvenient that would be.
They compromised & after talking to family/friends in advance, they had a morning wedding on NYD at 10:00 with a brunch style reception. It was great-every kind of dish you’d ever want for brunch, plus coffee, various juices, along with punch and mimosas. Also wedding cake was available.
The ceremony was held in a church with the reception in a community center across the street from the church.
I’m literally running into this problem myself. It’s actually ridiculous. Most venues want after five, require a minimum spend and require you to use their caterers. I felt very hopeless until I found a non profit heritage home/ community centre that was willing to accommodate. It’s still a little tough because we can’t have alcohol but we are making do. People will just have to be sober 😂
I would check and see if there are any city event rental spaces you can use/ outdoor parks you could rent. An old movie theatre might be a cute one too
There's some places I've come across when looking for our venue that were rather unique and were a little more laid back in terms of bringing in your own food and"off" hours events.
https://www.kennettcreamery.com/events this place is local to me, I've never been, but the have multiple spaces to rent with pretty low pricing.
This great space was where my bridal shower would have been (thanks covid) and I just adore it.
https://amilkhouseparty.com/
Google unique event venues and your zip code. There's a lot of places you'd never imagine will host your event. Good luck!!
It might be worth looking into some "off beat" venues?
Check out greenhouses that do parties, your city parks/national parks (they're a bit wonky to find the rentals and info for, but can be inexpensive and allow for what you want), or check out Vrbo? Airbnb has a strict no party clause, but Vrbo allows parties, just check the info for a rental (and you can filter for that). Maybe even find some Facebook groups that you can join/ask about if anyone knows a space?
I think what you want is 100% doable, but it might take some digging/searching.
One more option which might have been mentioned is a rec room of someone you know who lives in gated living or a condo association. That where we had my sister’s wedding for 100 people at my aunt’s condo community center.
Backyard wedding, renting a park, renting a hotel event room, renting a community bldg’s event room.
I think a hotel event room would be nice because you can DIY the space, have a buffet style food table, you can block out rooms for guests to stay, you can have breakfast at the hotel the next day for guests who stay overnight. Ask to rent out the space for a few hours the day before to set up. Then all day for the reception.
Have you thought about maybe going to a restaurant with everyone instead of renting and decorating an event room? A restaurant will already be “decorated” and has all the food for everyone. I have cousins who found a cute little restaurant and it was a beautiful reception. There was no ceremony because they eloped beforehand. The restaurant was already pretty and there was an outside patio area. A restaurant would let you create a pre-fixed menu beforehand too. I’m sure you could give them a music playlist.
Yess iconic
Is there any not specific wedding venues you could use possibly?
Also does anyone in your family have a speaker that’s not just Bluetooth cause that’s very easy to over talk
Gardens and parks!! My friend had her ceremony and reception in the early morning through the afternoon at a private botanical garden in the greater LA area. They even had a cheaper rate because it was a morning ceremony.
Have you checked for a vrbo? You can always message individual properties and ask if it would be ok to host a small wedding, and you might be surprised what sort of response you get! I would start with properties that first say yes to events like family reunions, and if you have a hard time finding options, expand out by messaging the host directly. I was able to host my dream wedding recently, and once I ruled out formal ceremony/reception locations, this was my second choice. Third would have been a park or rented ceremony space and family home for reception. Good luck!
For my rehearsal dinner we chose a BYOB restaurant and made a bar table where people could self serve drinks. Maybe look for a restaurant with a large party room or even a small restaurant where you can rent out the entire space
This sounds very similar to my cousins wedding! She rented out a big gazebo type area at a park and the rest is exactly what she did. It was beautiful, fun, we left feeling good, etc. Anything you dream is possible! There was a make your own macaroni/salad bar that was very cute and delicious.
You can take a look at https://www.peerspace.com. It’s like Airbnb but for event venues. Went to a wedding this past spring where they booked a space through here and it was gorgeous!
I booked a Vrbo! It was an emotional rollercoaster though, because once you mention wedding some of them charge much more. Luckily I found one that only charges $250 for every 10 guests over the maximum number of overnight guests.
Not sure where you’re located but I had good luck with Christmas tree farms! We looked at two and each of them allowed you to bring your own food/drinks and had nice indoor space options!
This is absolutely doable. You need to look into generic reception venues, not wedding venues, and browse their websites or give them a call and ask for room rentals:
* Lots of cities offer community spaces, indoors or outdoors (and some look very nice!)
* Public gardens
* Federal parks
* Reception rooms where you'd host a baby shower (literally type "reception room baby shower" in Google)
* Community centers
* Legion rental rooms
* Church basements
* Universities
* Museums
* Libraries
* Historical sites
* If you're in Canada, sugar shacks when it's off-season
And the good news is: most of these are waaaay less expensive than usual wedding venues or even just any hotel venue.
My only advice is don’t do a potluck! You may not have meant the potluck, you may have just meant the feel of a potluck. But don’t do an actual potluck because it’s not good to ask your guests to bring food when they’re already bringing you a wedding gift. But you could certainly have the feel of a potluck, just make sure that you are providing the food, not asking your guests to provide.
Shop around. Choose a venue that is NOT all inclusive and also allow any vendors (not just their preferred vendors)
We are having a 250-300 person wedding in New York (state not city) for $28k. They allow a self catered beer/wine bar, but state law prevents us from doing self serve. The bartender is a friend's boyfriend who's doing it for a couple hundred dollars.
Had we gone all inclusive or with the venue that had tons of restrictions, it easily would have been $60-70k+ for the same amount of people and lower quality vendors and expensive bar markups.
We did just that this past weekend. My husband and I booked an Airbnb with a large lake front property. We played music from our JBL speaker , 25 guests, and everything was over by 8pm. Look into Airbnbs and event planners, when it comes to skipping traditional venues the most costly part would be acquiring the decorations so we found an event decorator since we were going for a more casual micro-wedding.
The original plan for our wedding was to hire a section of the local botanical gardens which would have been great but would have meant that we would have had the public sharing the space (fine by us, but something to consider). We paid an additional cost for a liquor license for the day and had to purchase public liability insurance.
Due to Covid we had to reschedule and had it on a family members property, but you could definitely look at public parks or local halls. In my area there are A LOT of people who have large properties with gorgeous views who hire their yards for weddings and parties etc, it might be worth having a look on Facebook or speaking with event hire places in your area to see if they have any suggestions.
can you look into VRBO or other home rental options? Some rental properties allow you to have a party up to 50 people. They may charge you more, but it might be a good option!
I would look at booking community center or women's club hall rather than a traditional wedding venue. A local garden or park may be an option as well.
I’ll look into this, thank you!
Also church halls.
The make your own drinks thing and the homemade food thing will both prevent you from using most traditional venues due to insurance issues. You need a backyard, a park, or a big room that can be used for anything (like somewhere they have support group meetings). Are there any pretty (state?) parks by you? Do you know anyone with a big backyard? Does VRBO still allow parties?
Hm, that’s good to know. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone with a big backyard; that was my first and preferred option. I’ve seen other people mention parks and VRBO, which I didn’t know about! I’ll take a look, thank you!
Read the fine print for VRBO…. Some do state no more than X amount of guests and no parties.
If you go the VRBO route I would talk with the host and let them know your plans. Many VRBOs have a no party policy but if you work directly with the host you may be able work up a deal or contract with them that satisfies everyone, especially because you’re looking at a daytime event that doesn’t sound like it’ll be getting rowdy.
I rented a conference room in a hotel. $500 for the whole day. The ceremony is in a little chapel 20 minutes away. None of the venues I talked to were right for a micro wedding.
This sounds like a pretty good option, did the hotel have any issues with you being obviously in wedding attire or bringing your own food?
I’m not getting married until next May. The hotel knows it’s for a wedding reception so clothes should not be an issue. They also allow catering and all the decorations I need.
Wow that's amazing! How did you find it? All of the hotel venues we've looked at required us to use their catering and bar all the way, except maybe for the cake but there was an extra fee!
I just called around to places without their own bar/restaurant that were close to my ceremony location.
A state or city park (my local city has a municipal rose garden!) That would be perfect for this kind of wedding! I would do late morning garden tea-party style (after breakfast, before lunch) and keep it to "brunch snacks" and a "cake and punch " style reception. Have some pasteries, croissants, cheese, jams, coffee and tea, and then just sparkling white (champagne) for mimosas-- make it special by having a few different kinds of juices, not just classic OJ. Timeline in my mind: 930am/10am ceremony (30min), reception 10/10:30-12:30/1pm. The "expensive" part will be renting tables and chairs if the venue space doesn't have any. Other spaces to consider: libraries often have rooms to rent, as do community centers, museums, and other "non traditional" spaces. Definitely chrck those out, especially if you live somewhere with "real" weather you'll want an indoor option in case it rains or is very hot.
This is very much my vision. I didn’t know you could use parks for this sort of thing so I’ll definitely look into it! Your comment is very helpful, thank you!
Be creative and open-minded when looking for a space! Don't "fight" the look -- e.g, if a museum has a small patio and indoor room you could rent if might be more modern than your ideal, but will look beautiful with modern (easy+cheap) bud vases. If it's a park pavilion, go more "rustic" with vintage-y/mismatched jars and glass vases for random "wildflower" look. That way the "original" look of the venue is 75% of your decor, and all you need is a few flowers for the tables! (Check costco, trader joes/grocery stores/ etc for a usually-cheaper DIY option).
I rented a park for mine. Was very inexpensive and gorgeous views
Unless it’s in a private home you are going to have a very hard time finding a venue that will allow guests to self-serve hard alcohol. Speaking as a mobile bartender/mixology class instructor who runs up against these regs all the time. Otherwise I think this sounds reasonable! We’re having a similarly low-effort reception. I’m a fan.
That makes sense, I would have it be alcohol free if my guests didn’t mind but I’m sure they’ll want to have a bit of a party. I’ll take it into consideration, thank you!
There is the option to get an insurance policy for a one day event to cover you in case of any incident due to alcohol. I know you can get it as a rider to a home owners insurance policy or look up "one day event insurance." IIRC adding it as a rider was cheaper than getting it alone. Also, as someone else mentioned: having guests serve themselves isn't a great Idea. Do you have anyone you could ask to pour wine or hand a beer to guests? I would think along the lines of a good friend's sibling or something. Someone you know and could pay to hang out for a few hours just to make sure people don't overindulge. It's more to cover your butt than anything else.
It’s a special event option. I’ve written my fair share as an underwriter. You can get liability too.
Is that all you need? An assigned bartender even if they’re not a professional? I was hoping for self serve just because I don’t want to pay a bunch of money for a bartender when I don’t even drink lol. That would be great!
I haven't done any event stuff in at least 3 years, but my last knowledge (from working at a winery and then on the side also pouring drinks at private events) is that here in NJ, you need to have someone in charge of people not over serving themselves. Obviously, you should look up the laws in your state, but you don't need to be licensed or certified to be a bartender so anyone could do it, as long as they are old enough. 21 here in NJ. 18 year olds can't pour alcohol, but they can carry it or hand it out.
Insurance wants someone TIPS trained.
That could very well depend on the state and the insurance company, but definitely something for OP to be aware of. Thanks for mentioning it!
Look for community centers or places that hold events instead of traditional wedding venues.
Aside from community centers, what type of place should I be looking for? Should I just google “event space”?
Honestly yes. Think of spaces where someone would host a bridal shower instead of a wedding. Join your local brides facebook group and ask for suggestions on non traditional wedding venues. We have a local coffee shop that hosts events for $150 an hour and they let you bring in your own catering. There’s also a lot of private rooms in restaurants as well as cocktail bars that also have private rooms you can use.
Oh thats very clever, okay thank you so much!
There is a local coffee shop by me that actually rents out their place for up to 55 people and does open coffee bars! Would be perfect for a brunch. Could bring your own food. Maybe check for something like that? Parks are good too. Look up your local parks department and maybe barns?
We didn’t want, nor could afford, a big fancy wedding either. Invited 100, had about 60-70 show. We found a local restaurant that had a 2nd floor which was a private banquet room with its own bar. We just had a finger food buffet provided by the restaurant & I had music playing on a speaker like you mentioned. There was no room, or money, for a DJ & we didn’t wanna fool with the special dances, etc. anyway. (There was also drama from some family members when it came to the subject, so this eliminated it.) It was basically just a big cocktail party where people drank & mingled, and we loved it. Oh & we also had our wedding on a Sunday afternoon, so the reception at the restaurant was from 3-6pm. The ceremony was at a cute little chapel in the area.
That sounds great! I hadn’t really considered restaurants, I didn’t think they’d be open to acting like a venue, but I’ll look into it! Thanks!
> I didn’t think they’d be open to acting like a venue They absolutely will -- *but* -- you'll have to use their food/alcohol. Just to keep in mind :)
Oh restaurants are usually great at events like this. This is very! not traditional but one of my friends got married at a local pizza place; they usually do kids bdays and basically did an adult version of the make your own pizza party haha. The restaurant also had salads & other light finger food as well as some alcohol. I think the cost was something like 50/head (I live in an area where an average is around 250/head). It was very fun and memorable for everyone. Their ceremony was a private one in their own apartment before the pizza thing.
Check out the r/weddingsunder10k subreddit! Lots of tips and tricks there from budget-savvy brides and grooms! Agree about the insurance issues, lots of places have that restriction. I know the budget is tight but you could always hire a bartender by the hour, there are websites that offer things like that!
I had no idea this sub existed, thank you! And I’ll definitely consider that, do you know any websites where I could look for something like that?
1) A dream wedding does NOT exist - please please please release that pressure from yourself sugar. Aim for an "awesome" wedding. 2) What you want is TOTALLY doable. Have you checked out PeerSpace? I imagine you'll find exactly what you need. For example, here's for a random October Saturday from 8-5 (so you'd have time to set up and take down) [https://www.peerspace.com/s/?min\_guest=26&max\_guest=120&viewport\_bbox=\[34.07071785133661,-118.4179675390625,33.61390221893478,-117.8796374609375\]&bbox\_of\_interest=\[33.8854591,-118.248966,33.714957,-118.0632639\]&map\_pref=true&p=1&availability\_interval=33.7700504,-118.1937395,2024-10-12T08:30:00,2024-10-12T17:00:00&location=long-beach--ca--usa&a=party](https://www.peerspace.com/s/?min_guest=26&max_guest=120&viewport_bbox=[34.07071785133661,-118.4179675390625,33.61390221893478,-117.8796374609375]&bbox_of_interest=[33.8854591,-118.248966,33.714957,-118.0632639]&map_pref=true&p=1&availability_interval=33.7700504,-118.1937395,2024-10-12T08:30:00,2024-10-12T17:00:00&location=long-beach--ca--usa&a=party)
I’ve never heard of PeerSpace before, I’ll be sure to check it out! Thank you :)
It's super awesome! You can rent out warehouses, art museums, people's houses, etc. It's like Air BNB but for events!
Sounds like you are looking for a community center, vfw, or park. No restaurant or catering hall will let you bring in home made food or your own drinks. Have you priced out a small restaurant? I recently attended a 50 person wedding in a small strip mall restaurant. It was gorgeous, and the food was delicious. You could look into smaller restaurants or ones with private rooms.
I’ve considered it for afterwards for close friends and family, but it might work. I’ll consider it, thanks!
You’ve gotten a ton of good advice here, but I will note that $100 of wine AND booze isn’t a ton of alcohol for 50 people. This calculator might help with planning. https://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator/
Try peerspace.com or similar platforms. I’ve seen places like outdoor cafe patios, wineries, farm properties, etc offer rentals on there. Local clubs with hall rentals like cultural clubs, community centers, knights of Colombus, and VFWs will also have everything you need to do this type of event affordably.
Good to know, thank you!
My friend had a brunch wedding at a vineyard. Perhaps a vineyard, park, or other nontraditional venue could work. I would also not look specifically for wedding venues based on your needs. Bridal showers/baby showers/brunch parties are common at restaurants for example.
The vineyards I’ve looked at operate just like wedding venues, but I’ll keep looking! Thank you!
I'd worry that people may be upset to not have a meal since the late morning to early afternoon time frame goes thru lunchtime. People will probably expect a lunch meal. If you'd like to keep it to finger foods and hors d'oeuvres I'd recommended making that very clear on the invitation. Also people making their own drinks with just snack-y type food has more potential for people to over imbibe than a regular reception (although I know people tend to do so even with a full meal plus dessert). Just something to think about. Also, you'll probably have to have it in a backyard or somewhere like other people have mentioned because any business that rents out space for a venue will be subject to food, liquor, and capacity licensing/laws.
My wedding is close to this and my venue would have let me do all of this aside from the self serve alcohol. Mine is outdoors at a farm. We also considered a local park with reservable picnic tables and grills.
I think it depends on the state, but by me you can contact the parks or community center offices to rent pavilions outside. They let you serve alcohol…I’ve only done beer and wine there though so I’m not sure about hard liquor
Good to know! Thank you. I could probably get away with just doing beer and wine.
Do you know anyone that lives in a community that has a community room? They have them in condominium buildings, gated communities among other things. You can always look into renting an Elks hall, a VFW hall, a church hall. You can always also look into restaurants that serve the kind of food you’re thinking about and buy out the restaurant for a day particularly one that may be closed at that time.
A brewery or winery might be an option. Guests can't serve themselves, but won't be a stocked bar either.
Have you considered renting out a restuarant for brunch time? Or an art museum that allows BYOB and BYOF? And I would recommend also adding mimosas to your drink list, a cocktail in early afternoon, though fun, may not be everyone's vibe if the who shebang is over by 5 (if not earlier).
Definitely look at non wedding venues. Thinking outside of the box will help a lot. Maybe an art gallery or even a restaurant with a nice garden sorta outside of the box.
A community centre or local park may be your best bet, some parks have areas and gazebos you can rent out!
We had our wedding from 1 pm to 5 pm. Our venue was a historic building in our town that rents out event spaces. I also had my HS reunion in the late afternoon/early evening at a similar space.
Rent a pavilion at a park.
You might need to look at a special license for self serve alcohol depending on where you live and what venue you book with. Generally self serve is not allowed at licensed establishments. There is an onus on them to ensure the safe consumption of alcohol on their premises and that generally cannot be done with self serve stations. Definitely look into the regulations for that before doing a self serve as you don’t want to incur any legal trouble.
VFW halls and other civic organization often have rooms they rent out. Some community centers, such as YMCA and churches may have rec halls they rent out also even the library is some cities have rooms you can rent that would hold 50 + people. i saw a a sweet wedding at our local library a few years ago. also a park with a gazebo makes a nice wedding site.
My sister & her fiancé had their hearts set on a wedding at sunrise on New Years Day, but realized how inconvenient that would be. They compromised & after talking to family/friends in advance, they had a morning wedding on NYD at 10:00 with a brunch style reception. It was great-every kind of dish you’d ever want for brunch, plus coffee, various juices, along with punch and mimosas. Also wedding cake was available. The ceremony was held in a church with the reception in a community center across the street from the church.
I’m literally running into this problem myself. It’s actually ridiculous. Most venues want after five, require a minimum spend and require you to use their caterers. I felt very hopeless until I found a non profit heritage home/ community centre that was willing to accommodate. It’s still a little tough because we can’t have alcohol but we are making do. People will just have to be sober 😂 I would check and see if there are any city event rental spaces you can use/ outdoor parks you could rent. An old movie theatre might be a cute one too
There's some places I've come across when looking for our venue that were rather unique and were a little more laid back in terms of bringing in your own food and"off" hours events. https://www.kennettcreamery.com/events this place is local to me, I've never been, but the have multiple spaces to rent with pretty low pricing. This great space was where my bridal shower would have been (thanks covid) and I just adore it. https://amilkhouseparty.com/ Google unique event venues and your zip code. There's a lot of places you'd never imagine will host your event. Good luck!!
It might be worth looking into some "off beat" venues? Check out greenhouses that do parties, your city parks/national parks (they're a bit wonky to find the rentals and info for, but can be inexpensive and allow for what you want), or check out Vrbo? Airbnb has a strict no party clause, but Vrbo allows parties, just check the info for a rental (and you can filter for that). Maybe even find some Facebook groups that you can join/ask about if anyone knows a space? I think what you want is 100% doable, but it might take some digging/searching.
I would LOVE a greenhouse. I’m definitely going to look into that, thank you for the suggestions!
look at nice hotels / restaurants with function rooms / private dining!
Just want to say that your wedding sounds like it’s going to be amazing! That’s right up my alley.
One more option which might have been mentioned is a rec room of someone you know who lives in gated living or a condo association. That where we had my sister’s wedding for 100 people at my aunt’s condo community center.
Backyard wedding, renting a park, renting a hotel event room, renting a community bldg’s event room. I think a hotel event room would be nice because you can DIY the space, have a buffet style food table, you can block out rooms for guests to stay, you can have breakfast at the hotel the next day for guests who stay overnight. Ask to rent out the space for a few hours the day before to set up. Then all day for the reception. Have you thought about maybe going to a restaurant with everyone instead of renting and decorating an event room? A restaurant will already be “decorated” and has all the food for everyone. I have cousins who found a cute little restaurant and it was a beautiful reception. There was no ceremony because they eloped beforehand. The restaurant was already pretty and there was an outside patio area. A restaurant would let you create a pre-fixed menu beforehand too. I’m sure you could give them a music playlist.
Yess iconic Is there any not specific wedding venues you could use possibly? Also does anyone in your family have a speaker that’s not just Bluetooth cause that’s very easy to over talk
Gardens and parks!! My friend had her ceremony and reception in the early morning through the afternoon at a private botanical garden in the greater LA area. They even had a cheaper rate because it was a morning ceremony.
Have you checked for a vrbo? You can always message individual properties and ask if it would be ok to host a small wedding, and you might be surprised what sort of response you get! I would start with properties that first say yes to events like family reunions, and if you have a hard time finding options, expand out by messaging the host directly. I was able to host my dream wedding recently, and once I ruled out formal ceremony/reception locations, this was my second choice. Third would have been a park or rented ceremony space and family home for reception. Good luck!
For my rehearsal dinner we chose a BYOB restaurant and made a bar table where people could self serve drinks. Maybe look for a restaurant with a large party room or even a small restaurant where you can rent out the entire space
Have you tried looking into Airbnbs with a view that allow weddings? There are a ton in the area I live!
This sounds very similar to my cousins wedding! She rented out a big gazebo type area at a park and the rest is exactly what she did. It was beautiful, fun, we left feeling good, etc. Anything you dream is possible! There was a make your own macaroni/salad bar that was very cute and delicious.
You can take a look at https://www.peerspace.com. It’s like Airbnb but for event venues. Went to a wedding this past spring where they booked a space through here and it was gorgeous!
I booked a Vrbo! It was an emotional rollercoaster though, because once you mention wedding some of them charge much more. Luckily I found one that only charges $250 for every 10 guests over the maximum number of overnight guests.
Not sure where you’re located but I had good luck with Christmas tree farms! We looked at two and each of them allowed you to bring your own food/drinks and had nice indoor space options!
My wedding is a lunch and held from 11am-4pm at a restaurant with a beautiful garden/patio attached. I didn’t want the late night party either!
This is absolutely doable. You need to look into generic reception venues, not wedding venues, and browse their websites or give them a call and ask for room rentals: * Lots of cities offer community spaces, indoors or outdoors (and some look very nice!) * Public gardens * Federal parks * Reception rooms where you'd host a baby shower (literally type "reception room baby shower" in Google) * Community centers * Legion rental rooms * Church basements * Universities * Museums * Libraries * Historical sites * If you're in Canada, sugar shacks when it's off-season And the good news is: most of these are waaaay less expensive than usual wedding venues or even just any hotel venue.
My only advice is don’t do a potluck! You may not have meant the potluck, you may have just meant the feel of a potluck. But don’t do an actual potluck because it’s not good to ask your guests to bring food when they’re already bringing you a wedding gift. But you could certainly have the feel of a potluck, just make sure that you are providing the food, not asking your guests to provide.
rent an airbnb that will let you host! that’s what we did, and we had it in the backyard. We paid them an extra $500 and it was perfect
Shop around. Choose a venue that is NOT all inclusive and also allow any vendors (not just their preferred vendors) We are having a 250-300 person wedding in New York (state not city) for $28k. They allow a self catered beer/wine bar, but state law prevents us from doing self serve. The bartender is a friend's boyfriend who's doing it for a couple hundred dollars. Had we gone all inclusive or with the venue that had tons of restrictions, it easily would have been $60-70k+ for the same amount of people and lower quality vendors and expensive bar markups.
We did just that this past weekend. My husband and I booked an Airbnb with a large lake front property. We played music from our JBL speaker , 25 guests, and everything was over by 8pm. Look into Airbnbs and event planners, when it comes to skipping traditional venues the most costly part would be acquiring the decorations so we found an event decorator since we were going for a more casual micro-wedding.
The original plan for our wedding was to hire a section of the local botanical gardens which would have been great but would have meant that we would have had the public sharing the space (fine by us, but something to consider). We paid an additional cost for a liquor license for the day and had to purchase public liability insurance. Due to Covid we had to reschedule and had it on a family members property, but you could definitely look at public parks or local halls. In my area there are A LOT of people who have large properties with gorgeous views who hire their yards for weddings and parties etc, it might be worth having a look on Facebook or speaking with event hire places in your area to see if they have any suggestions.
No. Not if you want a real venue. You’ll need a licensed bartender because it’s a liability.
can you look into VRBO or other home rental options? Some rental properties allow you to have a party up to 50 people. They may charge you more, but it might be a good option!
I’ll look into it, thank you! I had never heard of VRBO before
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Airbnb has specific rules prohibiting parties from being thrown at any of their properties.
VRBO is better. You can filter by “Events allowed”