DIY budget friendly wedding reception venues

For that price in that area you are probably looking at a VFW. Are you looking just in Boston or the north and south shore also?

$5000 is my total budget. I know its not realistic but its what I can afford I'm looking all the way from the north to south shore just not to far west.

If that's your total budget I think you need to drop your guest list way down

Hey! I have the same amount of people and the same budget. I'm still looking around with venues but in Jersey I can rent a space at an American Legion Post for $600 for 4 hours with kitchen access, tables and chairs included at no cost. Same for Fire department hall rentals

We were going to do backyard but rentals are super expensive for that many chairs and tables

I think your best option is to cut the guest list or book a restaurant for the reception. $5000 for 100-150 people means $33-50 per person for food and drinks. Or have a cake and punch reception between meal times.

ETA: Do not self cater.

There's a place in Lakeville called loon pond lodge that's very reasonable and they provide a list of preferred caterers but you have to do everything yourself, just like at a hall but they have a nice gazebo outside.

Also look into local high schools/elementary schools that will rent you their gym. My friend is renting a private school gym for $200. There's also churches that will rent their recreational spaces

What about a destination wedding? Those can be cheaper. The less guest you have the cheaper. Our 140 guest list is costing us $5,000 for the venue, food and open bar plus apps. It's actually a fantastic price but we live in Missouri. Boston is very expensive. Our venue included table clothes, center pieces, uplighting, chair covers and sashes, underlighing of both the head table and cake table and even a card box. Our total for everything else will dresses, rings, church, DJ, photographer, cake, flowers, and bridal party gifts will easily cost an extra $5,000. You definitely will have to cut your guest list. Please do not self cater or have a pot luck/dry wedding. You need to properly feed you guests and provide alcohol. Use fake flowers instead or real flowers. Maybe find your dress at a second hand store, get a small wedding cake and get sheet cakes in the back for them to cut, make your center pieces with dollar tree vases and flowers. There is a lot of ways to save money. In the end you either will have to cut your guest list or wait until you can expand your budget or just elope

The easiest solution would be to cut your guest list. Look into VFW halls. Often you can find something around $500 and they may have chairs included. Look for BBQ catering and maybe dessert from a local grocery store.

I have the same budget as you, also in the Boston area, but my guess list is at about 60 right now. Definitely consider trimming the guest list. Some of the more reasonable venues I've found are the Holliston Historical Society and Point Breeze restaurant. Eastern Mass is a pricey area, so it's tough to find places that fit in a small budget. Another website I use is wedding-spot.com, you can search for venues in your area and they list the average prices.

ETA: Also check out Mile Marker One

You're saying your guest list is between 100-150 people? Cut your guest list to AT LEAST 100, because those extra 50 people save you quite a bit of money.

Are there any state parks locally? They are usually very cost efficient. I got married in a state park & paid $600 for both ceremony & reception site & that was the most expensive state park I looked at.

Were renting a really beautiful pavilion at a local park. secluded from the rest of the park, thank god, and it can seat around 500 people so thats a big plus! maybe find something like that. Its only going to cost us $300 for the day plus it has a full service kitchen along with it. Granted Im not close to where you are located but maybe you can find something similar! The pavilion comes with tables so it cuts my cost down as well.

Either cut down on guests, or you will be the first to do what seems to be kind of impossible :/ ....if you want to do a wedding without any thing special. literally just any dress, white cake from a store (dont mention it being for a wedding) and dress it yourself. and literally keep every single thing to a minimum. Then MAYYYBE you can do it.

Let me know how it goes. id love tips for my own to save money

I live in Ma as well, in Norwood there is a beautiful town green with a great gazebo, call the town hall and they will send you the paper you need to fill out to request it, however it is free. Right across the street on the corner is a very nice place for the reception including the food and bar and unbelievable prices, if Norwood is not too far for you check it out. The food is also very very good. Names are Norwood Commons, and Olde Colonial Cafe. they are both on pinterest and just google pics too. Good Luck!

OP where did you go?

Do you want to host your reception in the elementary school gymnasium? I wouldn't -- not if it were free. I'd prefer to cut my guest list to 50 people so that our photos had lovely restaurant backdrops, not basketball hoops and bleachers.

Come to the realization that with $5K, 150 guests, and hosting in Boston, it's a cake and punch reception. If that's not your vision, then get out your pen and reduce that guest list by 60%, and start contacting fraternal organizations like VFW halls.

Keep this in mind -- it is far better to host a smaller group well then it is to host a larger group sparsely. You will need invitations, a photographer, a gown, his tux, an officiant, at least a modicum of decor, a DJ, a full meal for your guests courtesy of a caterer, linens, tables, chairs, a wedding cake, and alcohol -- and in a city like Boston, that's not happening with $5K.

You can't buy a Mercedes with a Ford budget, and if you try, you're wasting your time.

You want to invite 100-150 guests to a wedding in a very HCOL area, with a $5k total budget??

Not happening. Cut the guest list. 30-40 max. Then MAYBE you can find something. Otherwise your wedding is going to be the one guests remember because they couldn't wait to leave, or they got food poisoning because you tried to self cater, or they got bored because you went dry wedding because you couldn't afford alcohol.

You are setting yourself up for disappointment. Take that $5k and put it towards a smaller, yet nicer, affair. You can host a much smaller guest list at a much higher level instead of scrambling trying to find the bottom of the barrel cheapest caterer out there and ditto for the venue, photographer, etc.

Don't do this to yourself or your guests. Cut the list and host them properly, or have a super nice elopement.

Hey sweetie, Have you come up with any ideas? I know i mentioned the place in Norwood, however I just had a tour of 2 places in Foxboro that are within your budget and absolutely gorgeous. One is Lakeview Pavilion, and the other is Renaissance Boston at Patriot Place. Patriot Place has 2 options onsite and they are within your budget as well. My wedding will cost just over $5000 however i added extra things. These places both include catering, bar, bartender, DOC, event planner, set up, clean up, all linens etc needed, the only thing you would need is your officiant, DJ, and Photographer. Even your cake is included, at patriot place your cake and flowers are both included as well. They are worth checking out if Foxboro is not too far from you. And maybe if your FH is a Patriots fan he will love the stadium in the background of some pics if your into that. Also just as an added note, the off season and peak season are different at Patriot place due too football season, so if your wedding is normally peak season here it might be off peak and save you even more.

ETA: Patriot Place also includes a room for your wedding night as well. And remember their on and off season is different than others due to being part of Gillette Stadium.

We are doing a $5,000- $6,000 wedding with 100 guests. We are renting this amazing renovated train depot that we found on homeaway. I wanted a backyard wedding so I messaged about 50 people asking if they would be willing to host that many people in their rental home backyard for one night. Many...many said no until 4 said yes and we picked from there. I'm a firm believer that you can make the budget work. You just need to be creative and think about whats important to you. You could have heavy appetizers instead of a full meal, find somewhere where you dont need too many decorations because the landscape is beautiful, get your wine off of groupon ! (15 bottles for under $90 including shipping)!