Hi! I’m new to the Richmond area and recently engaged. We are looking for a venue that will hold around 150 people (seated) for under $3000. Anyone have any ideas? I have seen quite a few suggestions for Pocahontas state park but was wondering if there was anywhere else.
We would also consider somewhere all-inclusive for $10,000 for 100 people. I think hotels are the best option for this?
We are looking for something indoors, not under a tent.
Thank you so much in advance!
We were looking at $10,000 for 100 people as far as venue, tables and chairs, glassware, food and drinks. We have allocated separate space for photographer, dress, etc in our budget. I did account for the 20% service fee and I think 6% taxes and we are okay with the subtotal being $10,000. Thank you.
Hey there bud. I'm a former event planner that now works in marketing with some of my clients being planners, caterers, and venues. You're gonna need to adjust your budget unless you plan on having catering done by Jersey Mikes. Food, bev, rentals (flatware, linens, tables, glassware) are gonna cost about $100/person and up. NOT including venue fee. There are a couple caterers in town that will go lower than that but I cannot confidently recommend any of them and I've worked with/for them all, and trust me that isn't where you want to skimp, strictly from a logistics point of view. Feel free to shoot me a DM if you need some guidance or specific recommendations, but yeah, tl;dr weddings are fucking expensive.
This. Bingo.
The Knot and Wedding Wire are easy search engines that often have basic pricing listed on each venue so you can get an idea and narrow your list. I also remember the Renaissance being "reasonable" in cost.
When we planned our wedding we went with the Marriott in Short Pump off Dominion Rd and had a great experience. I wanted an indoor venue in case of weather and it so happened Hurricane Matthew came through so it was a good call. I am going off memory but I think for our 80-ish guests it was $12-13k for the hotel package which included food, a basic bar, and all the infrastructure setup (tables, tableware, servers, etc) and that did include the 20% service fee and taxes.
Wonderful!! I’ve checked out both the knot and wedding wire as well as here comes the guide and eventive. A lot of what I found was charging around $6000-$8000 just for the venue :/ even when I put a price range. But I definitely think I’ll check out some hotels. Sounds like best bang for your buck (and definitely safe for weather reasons). That’s also why we want an indoor venue!! That sounds like a story that will never get old!
We had an Old Hollywood themed wedding at the restored Art Deco Henrico Theatre in Highland Springs and it was only like $500 to rent the whole theatre since it’s technically a Henrico County park. We moved to Main Street Station for the reception and that wasn’t very expensive to rent either.
We got locked out of the chapel between rehearsal and day of, due to the old wooden door swelling shut. As the bride i had to bring a crowbar from home so some helpers could pry it open. We got in!
Hahahahhaha omg. Not funny but also kinda funny!
The only reason it was so urgent is literally everything wedding was in there except my dress. We could not just walk away from it
I was quoted by Brenner Pass $10k to buy out the restaurant on a friday night for 100 people
I also know Heritage does buyouts for $4k? Maybe the price is more these days.
That's just totally unrealistic. You'd be lucky to get food + drinks catered for that.
Thank you for the input
If it helps, I was shopping around for quotes for a 120 person wedding a few months ago. What I found is below. tldr: it's going to cost at least 30k
Venues within 30 min of Richmond that could accommodate 120 people (most were just venue fees although some of the more expensive ones included more) $3-$20k
Rentals (tables, chairs, basic linens and dishes) were $3-4k
30x60 tent (labor, permits etc included) $3.5-5k
Catering (chicken + beef with one veg, one starch, soft drinks, no apps or desert including labor) $6-15k - we didn't consider BBQ but that's the only cheaper alternative
Bar Service (BYOB just cost of servers, liquor license and the physical bars) $2.5k
Wow we have been quoted at a much lower price. Good to know.
Granted this was a couple years ago, but a couple friends of mine had their wedding at the Hofgarden. I don't know what the price of the venue itself was, but I know they were able to have their wedding under $10k all in all. Also it was a great time!
I think Poe Museum is also under $2k, and the Valentine might be worth checking out as well.
Great! I will check those out thank you so much!!
We toured the valentine and it was super affordable. It was too small for our party. Also, try Publix for desserts. Random I know but we had a full dessert table for $150 for over 130 people. We just used our own displays/ serving dishes to dress things up. It looked and tasted amazing. No one knew it was Publix.
I have been told Sam’s club but publix cake is delicious!! I should’ve thought about that. Thanks for the recommendation!! The valentine got back to me and said they are closed for construction.
Pocahontas state park works as a venue for up to 120 ish guests. It's a public park so the fee for the weekend is like 800 bucks.
Here to say public parks are a great way to budget
I am the event sales manager at the Acca Shrine Center just off Hermitage Rd in Northside. If you would consider Friday or Sunday for your wedding, We can work with you. We can easily hold your guests in our ballroom. You can use the caterer of your choice, and bring your own alcohol, which is a huge way to save. I am glad to show you around and help you with a caterer that will fit your budget.
Love this! And they are definitely correct-find a place you can bring your own booze and you can save SO much money while still having a great bar if that’s your thing.
We spent 25k for around 100 people and that was very difficult to do. You need to elope or cut your number by half.
I think the state parks have very cheap venues
You should check out Hanover Tavern.
If the $10,000 includes alcohol, I don’t think you will find that in the area. Also be aware that places that seem like a good deal but don’t come with chairs/tables/tents/plates etc may not actually be cheaper once you add in those rental costs.
Additionally, if you DIY it all in a place like Pochohantas, you need to factor in the setup and cleanup staff, unless you want to be cleaning up yourself at the end of the night.
It’s hard but definitely possible!
Also if you go DIY you should check out Mi Hacienda for catering. Budget friendly and very tasty
My partner and I got married at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture a few years ago and I remember the rental fee was pretty affordable. I don’t remember specifically how much it was but I think it was less than $3K. Good luck and congratulations!
Looking into museum options now, don’t know why I didn’t think of it before!
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Science museum!
Science museum apparently stopped bookings due to being under rate compared to other venues. Per our planner, they're bumping up their rates now.
When I was looking the quotes I got from them were 7k+ and that was just the venue
Try VMFA
The VMFA is $$$$ I believe
How about this? Ginter Park Community Building
I think they only allow 100 but we will certainly check it out. Thank you!
Check out the Manor House at Kings Charter. We paid about $2500 for a Sunday in November for the venue.
Main Street Station can be used for weddings. It's about 2K. Capacity is at least 100 people but you will need to arrange for all your own stuff like tables. Went to a wedding there once and it was great!
All inclusive: check out the Renaissance Conference Center. Looked at this as an option for my own wedding a few years ago and I know 2 people that did use it. I can't remember the exact price but I remember it being under 10K and we were looking at 100-120 guests. Www.renaissanceva.com
That's blatantly a lie- they're the most expensive venue in the area. Here's their current rate sheet https://mainstreetstationrichmond.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MSS-Rate-Card-2.pdf
It’s gone up a huge amount over the last few years. When it first reopened it was reasonable.
Ok. When I got married 10 years ago it was 2K I believe. No reason for me to check it since, just remembered it was cheap back then.
We are definitely looking for somewhere that includes tables and chairs because I have seen that can get pretty pricey on its own. Perfect, we will check out the renaissance :)
We used the Hanover Arts and activities center.
My sister had her wedding there and it was $1500, tables and chairs included ane my friend did the Robinson center for $900
No idea what it costs, but the renaissance?
Henrico county has some great facilities but none allow alcohol anymore.
Oh man :/
My cousin just got married at Hanover Arts & Activities Center weekend before last. I'm not exactly sure of the cost but much of their wedding was DIY to save money and his new wife said the venue wasn't that expensive. They had theirs outside in front of the building owing to how nice the weather was that day but would have done it indoors had it not been.
We just went to a wedding in Pocahontas state park. The actual wedding site was nice quiet and secluded but the reception hall probably would not fit 150. But that was just the one we were at they might have larger dining halls.
Amber Grove out in Moseley is nice and has quite a bit of room, but not sure of the pricing.
Also ask Maymont park owners for their rates.
Edit: didn’t read the indoors part. But I’ll leave my suggestions.
Check out the Robinson theatre in church hill.
Check out the Lewis ginter recreation association, not to be confused with the Lewis ginter botanical gardens. It fits your budget and it has a great stage for a band/DJ.
Just emailed them today! Thank you!!
Check out Blue Atlas they have a food/drink minimum
I don't know much about it, but I noticed that henricus historical park does private events
Thank you! Unfortunately they can only accommodate 100.
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We eloped at Maymont last year and only needed like, 8 chairs total, but I'm almost positive the larger packages included the tables and chairs as well
Science Museum has some affordable wedding venues.
The barn in Cumberland. Went yesterday for a wedding and its a great venue.
The Barn at Timber Creek. Is the full name. Just googled it.
It is absolutely beautiful and I loved it. But it was over $6000 not including food or drink :(
Hofheimer Building-say Anna West referred you.
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Common House is all-inclusive (room rental, F&B). I've seen many weddings around $10k there. You don't need to be a member to have an event there.
I’m a wedding planner and can say that’s totally off base. I just pulled up an 89 person wedding I did there with very basic food and beverage and their food and beverage spend plus rental plus service and tax was $21k.
Depends on the day of the week and time of year.
Not really. Food and Bev is what it is. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Monday or a Saturday. The room rental fee was only $1000 of that since my client were members.
Yep.. catering was the most expensive part of my wedding by far. same guest count as OP. Now we did not skimp on it, but I had alot of options presented and all of them were above 10k for catering alone. Idk how you do an all in wedding for 10k
I talked to them too- was looking like 27-30k for a 120 person wedding as a non-member. That's when it first opened, they've likely raised prices since then.
Ooh I’ve never heard of this. Definitely checking it out. Thanks!
Depending on how you feel about the venue there are some lovely Plantation venues in and around the Richmond area that could easily accommodate your guests and budget. Some couples are leery of the term Plantation but the venues are very nice.
Do you know where I’d find more info about this?
I did a quick Google search for plantations in Richmond area and came up with a ton of sites. Here's an example:
https://caratsandcake.com/venue/tuckahoe-plantation
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with a little more digging I'm sure you can find more to your exact needs.
Good Luck and Congratulations. May your marriage be blessed with children and happiness.
Thank you!
>Thank you!
You're welcome!
blueskieslemontrees t1_itl8d67 wrote
So if you do the math you are looking for $20/person for space only or do you include anything else like chairs, tables, plates, silverware? To $100/person all inclusive. I will be honest - 6 years ago that was extremely hard to come by and with inflation I don't think you are likely to find it without having some inside connections and really digging around. The exception is if you are open to a non weekend day during midday. You might find a deal that way. Keep in mind whatever place you get priced at, expect a 20% "service fee" on top of the cost. So really you need to find an $8k venue for 100 people all inclusive. Also its almost non existent to find a venue where that price will also include cake, dj, photographer or flowers, as a heads up. Add those costa to your budget separately.