Affordable Events...Scott's awesome!

One of our (many) ideas is to use our dear friend's backyard for our reception.  She lives right by a beautiful lake in an old, gorgeous farmhouse...an ideal setting!


Since we live in Maine and the weather can change in an instant, we would absolutely need a tent.  One bummer about doing online tent research is that nobody posts their tent prices online.  I get it, they want you to touch base with them so they can make a personal connection and increase their sales.  And actually, this totally worked for me with Scott, the owner of Affordable Events.


Scott called me on a weekend within an hour of requesting information through their online form.  I was not prepared with any specific questions but he walked through everything with me!

Affordable Events

Here's the gist:


-May is the most affordable month for tents.  June, July, and August are the most expensive.


-His company is 300-400 dollars higher than other companies because of the service level he provides and the fact that his tents are all only one or two seasons old.  (This honesty was very refreshing!)


-They do ALL of the set up, including tables and chairs...the whole nine yards.  AND they have a computer program that helps him work with his clients to create the perfect space.


-With 150 people and a sit down dinner, we'd a 40' X 80' tent.  His price of $4,000-$5,000 would include a dance floor, standard chairs, tables, lighting, disposable plates.  (With disposable tablecloths $3,500-$4,000.)


-Scott said that other companies will tell you to get a 40' X 60' tent for 150 people but he says we'd all be sitting on top of each other with a sit down dinner!


-If we were to have 160 people, we'd need a 40' X 100' tent.


-With 150 people without a sit down dinner (10 lower tables and some cocktail tables) we could do a 40' X 60' tent so we'd be looking at around $3,000.  


Additional nuggets of info: 
-chairs are $2.50 each
-getting cocktail table drops the number of chairs (more cost effective)




He was so nice, helpful, and genuine and I could hear his wife in the background piping in with info and happy comments!


http://www.affordableeventsllc.com/

hmm...Black Tie Catering

As we looked for a venue, Black Tie Catering kept coming up as the exclusive caterer for many places we liked.

Because of this, I emailed just to see what it would cost to have them. OMG!

I spoke with Kathleen from Black Tie and she started talking about $15,000 for 150 people.

Portland Club

She did say that we could do a cocktail hour and restrict the amount food passed around to keep within our budget. She also suggested we use them for our venue to save money.

Black Tie has two venues available: the Portland Club in the West End of Portland and Camp Hammond in Yarmouth. Kathleen said since we live right in town we could call and come check out the Portland Club anytime.

Camp Hammond

Last Friday I called and left a message for Kathleen, who was on a phone call. We were seriously considering using one of their venues and the next day I called to check out the Portland Club on a whim. I was called back in about an hour and told that no one was in the office and Kathleen was gone until Monday but would call me ASAP. It is now a week later and I have not heard a peep from anyone at Black Tie.

If I hear anything more from Black Tie, I will share it here but until then, they are not high on my list of caterers!

Heart Set on The Portland Company

We went to a Brew Fest held at The Portland Company this past summer and I fell in love with the space.  It is made up of a bunch of old brick warehouses right near the water on Fore Street as you drive towards the East End.  I emailed and got a quick response with more info about renting out rooms.

The Portland Company building layout

Their choices for rooms are:

Rustic Room – street level with old-fashioned charm in Building #3 for $600
-This is described by them to hold 200 for a banquet and 300 for a reception, however when speaking with Joanna from The Portland Company, this room has a lot of 1/2 walls so it's "not good for a reception" and "doesn't have enough room."



Designer Room -- Unique room, few windows, all brick in Building #11 for $600
-This is described as able to hold 290 for a banquet and 400 for a reception, however Joanna discouraged this room as well saying that it is carpeted and has very few windows.



Room With A View -- Rustic elegance overlooking the Portland Harbor Waterfront in Building #6 $900
-Varnished floor and brick walls
-This room is said to hold 110 for a banquet or 200 for a reception.  When I mentioned that we would have 150 and would be happy to change to more of a cocktail type reception, I was told that it would be too crowded.

Room with a View

This only left...

The Blue Room -- Warehouse style accommodations in Building #2 for $1,500
-Blue walls and a grey painted floor
-This room can hold 480 for a banquet and 900 for a reception.

The Blue Room

Unfortunately this room is out of our price range, especially considering absolutely NOTHING comes with these prices.  We would still have to rent tables and chairs, a PA system (which they offer for $200 extra), one of their employees ($35/hour), a bartender, a caterer, and get liability insurance!


Overall, I love these buildings but the only room we could fit in is way out of our price range.

Compiling the List

When we talked about who we'd invite in the past, we had no idea how crazy long our list was going to end up!

We started a list and a quarter of the way through realized we needed to start over with a little more organization.  We made a family list for me, one for him, and a friends list and...

ended up with 175!!

Background

Just for a little background, here's a bit of our story.  We made this video hoping to win a contest for a free wedding...sadly, we didn't win. :(  ...or even get to be finalists!

Is a 5k wedding possible? An intro...

We are trying to plan a wedding in Portland, Maine on a $5,000 budget.  So far, this has proved a major challenge and I thought sharing what I have learned with others might save some legwork.  


Oh, did I mention that we are trying to pull all of this together by October 6th?! And that we have a guest list of around 170?! And that I'm finishing up my Master's Degree, work full time, have an internship, tutor, and coach?!


In my next few posts, I'll give a background of what I've done over the last month to catch you all up.