A Place to Party, Part 2

Previously, on Miss Potion's Blog,

-My mom is awesome
-The internet is your friend, especially when researching wedding stuff
-Did I mention my mom is awesome?

Last time, I hinted that our venue hunt ended a la Goldilocks- one venue was booked, one venue was just not our style, and one venue was juuuuust right.  So exactly how did things pan out?

photo by Micah Jones

Sterling Castle, while beautiful, was already booked for our date :(  That's probably for the best, however, as initial inspection of the packages offered on their website suggested they are slightly out of our price range.

photo by BM BabySis

photo by Mom Potion

CreekSide Lodge was really cute on the outside, but on the inside...meh.  I don't know, between the carpet and the generic "Italian bistro" paintings, it just didn't have that charm we were going for.  Plus, it seems that the main room is so small that you really have to host most of the reception outside- and we didn't want to bank on an outdoor reception in case the weather is crazy.

For those folks playing along at home, you'll know that this means...

photo by Mom Potion

SpringHouse is juuuuuuuuuuust riiiiiiiight!  I mean look at this place- the exposed stone walls, the wood floors, the comfy-yet-modern chairs...it's charming, it's kind of casual, and best of all- it's within our budget!

photo by Mom Potion

 Normally, when renting a place for a reception, you pay a fee for the actual rental of the building and then pay for food and beverages on top of that.  When renting a restaurant, you pay the rental fee, and then the contract entails that you have to purchase a minimum amount of food and beverage- to ensure that the restaurant doesn't actually lose money by hosting your wedding.  However, we're having a daytime wedding-and SpringHouse makes most of its profit in the evening.  As such, we don't have to pay any rental fee at all, just a minimum amount of food and beverage- at the very reasonable price of $3000.  With a planned ~200 guests, it definitely won't be hard to hit that minimum- we'll probably go over that and still stay within our budget.  Plus, they have an on-site baker that will make our cupcakes- a fee which can be factored in to the food and beverage minimum.  Plus they have a well-stocked bar, built-in sound system, wait staff, dishes, silverware, and plenty of room...all built in to the food and beverage minimum.  Score!  So my mom headed back out to SpringHouse, put down a deposit, and signed the contract.


Was it difficult to choose your reception venue?  Did you go with an all-inclusive option?