BYO caterer reception venue

Oy, I can't speak for Chicago, but our reception is costing 14k for 150 people, and our venue was one of the cheaper that we found. 200 people on an $8,000 budget is going to be very tricky.

Is there a significance to the date you picked? If your date is something you don't mind changing, you can usually find venues and vendors at a discounted rate during the off season- in my area off season prices usually apply to dates from November-March. Sundays/Fridays vs a Saturday also can be less expensive. Our venue has a minimum, which is $11,000 on Sundays, $17,000 on Saturdays.

Good luck!

I'm pretty sure my cousin did his fairly large wedding for under 10000 in Chicago at the IUOE local 399 building on the south side. They had simple BBQ.

Check out the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation. One of their rooms is 3,000 square feet and includes a prep kitchen. You can contract all your own outside vendors. They ask $620 for a 4 hour block but I don't know about extended hours.

I've officiated there before and everybody had a blast. Best wishes!

Astoria Banquets & Events in Buffalo Grove offers specials from time to time as well. I hope this helps.

@Garry -- I give you a lot of credit for the positive response and open mind after getting the quick flood of "not gonna happen" responses. I think a lot of us start out in the same spot, "Yeah, maybe the national average for a wedding is an insane amount of money, but we're more practical and creative, and can do better." It's a rude awakening when you realize that "national average" likely isn't for some crazy extravaganza, but a fairly basic, well hosted wedding for 100 people.... After a little research, we doubled our budget (now at ~ the national average... , and are working really hard to stay there! Hang in!

I thought at first I could do a wedding for 15k in Philadelphia . . We have moved the budget to 25k . My venue for 80 guests is 12,000 for drinks , cocktail hour and dinner .. everything else needs to be purchased by us ... we also need to pay for valet parking because it's in a city

Check out the Viking Park Dance Hall in Gurnee.

https://www.gurneeparkdistrict.com/parks/facility-rentals#Rentals-RoomRentals

Randall Oaks is relatively inexpensive.

Don't forget to factor in tax rates. Cook County is going to be 9% and service/gratuity is usually another 18-20%.

Fire house hall, italian caterer, beer and wine, simple diy centerpieces, costco cake

My parents did this for our engagement party of 100 for about 1000. There will be extra expenses for a full wedding though to keep in mind.

I am getting married in July, 2018. Check out Rumpoles in Twin Lakes. Really nice guys to work with. Can bring in your own caterer or they have really reasonable prices to cater it. We are using someone else to cater and we are also doing NO alcohol. People on this site freak out when they see that. Yet they have no idea the religious or personal background. It's ok to do NO alcohol.