So...this past weekend I got engaged. Neither of us are especially keen on spending an inordinate amount of time planning a wedding. I'd prefer to find a place that can be kind of a one stop shop for all of that mess, but I'm not looking for a place that will break the bank, either. Any suggestions on places in the Houston area that anyone would recommend? Thanks in advance.
Preferably east side of town though that is not a requirement. I'm really looking all over the Houston area for now. Number of people is a bit up in the air at this point, though it definitely won't be more than 100 people and probably be closer to around 50-60. Budget is a bit of an unknown. I would say trying to keep it under $5000 at this point is a good starting point.
Congrats man! Are you looking for just a venue for $5k? Or one that will have the food, music, etc as well? If it is the latter, you won't find anything close for $5k
Congrats mate! I don't have much advice on this as we blew close to $70K on our wedding. Good luck to you and yours.
Congrats RR. Got married last March. Venue choice is the toughest part, honestly. I will say that it is going to be very tough to find something for $5k that includes much more than just the venue and maybe chairs/tables. At that price you'd have to look at doing a lot of the setup and decoration yourself and maybe even having just light snacks instead of a meal (though with your guest count a meal might be do-able). Butler's Courtyard in League City is a one stop shop sort of place. I'm not positive but I don't think it's too outrageously priced compared to what some charge. But I'd bet it would be at least 10-15k. Safari Texas Ranch is another near Sugar Land, wife and I visited that one but got put off by them trying to up-sell. We spent a little over $20k on ours for ~125 guests, but that included some hotel/shuttle expenses since it was a bit out of town and also paid a lot for photo/video which is a place that you might be willing to sacrifice.
You'd be surprised by how many talented amateur and PT planners/decorators there are. Ask around with your friends. You'll definitely find a person who's passionate about this stuff and willing to help, without breaking the bank.
All inclusive for under $5K? Good luck. http://www.crystalballhouston.com/weddings We had our wedding/reception in the Crystal Ballroom, but if you want something smaller you can rent out the Empire Room. The ballroom was surprisingly affordable; we thought we were going to have to go way outside the city to get a nice place within our budget, but this was great and right in downtown. Their event planner was very helpful too. They provided the tables/chairs/dishes/lighting/basic decorations. They recommend Sambuca for catering, and offer an incentive for you to use them. Good food. We got the cake, DJ, and officiant. And we had some people in our wedding party do some decorating on top of what they provided, but it wasn't much. The ballroom is very nice as it is. Our cake was an A+. We used Alphorn Bakery. Odd looking building to say the least, but the cakes are legit and very favorably priced. They were great because we just went once, told them what we wanted, wrote the check, then never saw them again. Cake was delivered to the venue when we arrived and that was that. Our DJ/officiant were from the same place, DJ Brothers. I'd give them a B+. They have religious ministers (or whatever they're called) but we wanted a not-too-religious ceremony. They were happy to do whatever we wanted. We looked over what he'd say at the wedding, made a few changes (we wanted it short and only wanted to say 'I do'), told them what songs we wanted for this and that, and that was all. They asked how "involved" and active we wanted the DJ to be; we said not very much. They do whatever you want them to. http://www.weddingcakeshouston.com/Home_Page.html http://www.djbrothers.com/ Our budget was around $15K, all included (wedding dress, tux, rehearsal dinner, everything). But we had more people going, so that will shave some cost. But if you're able to get the wedding you want for less than that, you are my hero. Cheap-ish weddings FTW. If we had to do it all over again we would have a very small, cheaper wedding (maybe at the park or somewhere in Galveston) and would have used the leftover cash on our honeymoon.
Two of my cousins got married at this place in Santa Fe that was really nice. Part of the package is they shoot fireworks in the air for the first dance. I was impressed and they didn't pay a ton. http://www.thehiddenpalms.com/photo-tour
I am getting married at La Fontaine in a couple of months. They are located on the northwest side of town inside the belt. It's a one stop shop and I don't feel their prices were unreasonable. I'm spending a bit over 22k for 250 guest party. Definitely give them a call, really nice people.
Thanks for the advice, folks. Maybe I'm a bit out of touch. My first wedding we found a place that did the all inclusive thing and it was around $2k (Under the Oaks down towards Galveston, closed up shop now). Of course that was a decade ago.
50-60 people? You may have trouble finding such a small hall. You could do it at a clubhouse. Lol. My daughter's first bday party had about 130-140 people. Anyway, my cousins own Sterling Banquet Hall. It's pretty economical. Their main one is at 8 and Clay.
My X and I looked in to Brennans as we both loved the court yard and it was only about maybe a mile from where we lived, but even for a small wedding it would cost MUCH more than 5K.
congrats and good luck because venue shopping is a pain in the ass. From my experience the photographer/video people took a chunk from my bros wedding budget depending on what you want.
