Help! unique and affordable wedding venue in the southern NJ/Philly area?

Thank you all for your responses! It's helping a lot. So what I'm getting out of all your responses is that I need to 1) cut my guest list 2) consider different days of the week/times of day 3) find an all-inclusive venue 4) shoot for off-season.

I've also read that DIY backyard weddings with tents turn out to be just as much $ as a venue...is this true too?

It's sad when $20,000 for about 8hrs of one day isn't enough. I need to get in the wedding business!!

Yeah, Chelsea, no. People think we all make tonnage of bucks, but it's really not exactly true......

But kudos for listening to all this great advice!!!

Hey Chelsea!

I'm a young bride with student loans creeping on me as well so it was very hard to find a place in NJ because it is so expensive!!!!!!! And we have a HUGE family. I would check out the Radisson hotel in Freehold if you are ok with going up to central NJ.

I looked at many places and I ended up booking my wedding there. In comparison they had the best price AND best things for your buck. They had a great deal and they usually have specials every month - you can customize your wedding. Their packages were really affordable and included a cocktail hour and open bar. I'd DEFINITELY recommend it because I looked everywhere!

Another thing that I forgot to mention is that you should play around with days of the week Sunday's were cheaper and I have no problems with Sunday's. You can even get a better price by doing a brunch but we didn't want that. I really hope this helps.

Days of the week are key; in my area, Thursday is the new Friday....

And just because you have a huge family, doesn't mean you have to invite them all....seriously.

We got married at the Allentown brew works in Allentown pa. It's a little far from philly, but everyone felt it was really worth the trip. It was a little different of a venue, they had great menu options, we booked hotel blocks at the hotels within walking distance. They took care of a lot, including center pieces! The on-site coordinator was so helpful, and I think for 141 people the total venue, bar, food bill was under 15,000.

The magic gardens on South street in Philly is beautiful and unique. I love visiting there and their wedding packages are pretty affordable, but they only accommodate 75 guests max, which is below your minimum. The only catch is working it around their schedule as it varies. The area spans a good section of the street and has areas inside and outside to use.

http://www.phillymagicgardens.org/rentals/private-event-f-a-q-s/

Depending on how large /small their private space is... iron Hill brewery is in cherry Hill and would make for an interesting venue.

The william penn inn ( its on the venue list on wedding wire) i would look into, it was resonably priced, looks gorgeous, and everyone raved about the food.

We had planned on getting married there in january ( things changed for us) but it was defintiely the top of our list.

Also, peddlers village looked pretty promising when were looking.

Hi Chelsea, welcome to WW! Change your avatar-- the rings are associated with spam/trolls

How far are you from Delaware? My sister married there and all her vendors were there, except for apparel. She saved thousands, since they don't charge sales tax. S/T is 8% in the city of Phila. and 10% on the alcohol portion, I believe. It took most of the guests less than 45 minutes to get there - straight down Rt. 95 - which compares to the 1.5 hours it took to get to a center city wedding one Saturday night last spring, in heavy traffic.

Average wedding budget in my area of NJ is about $30,000 for 120 people, so you're a little under budget. You can definitely make it work, though! Get creative, negotiate your pricing, decide on MUST-haves. Your budget is TOTALLY doable. I've worked with less for more people, so I know it can be done. It will be tough, and it will be a lot of work, but you can do this.

This was my second choice for a venue. It is in Phoenixville which might be a little far north for you. But it was all inclusive, reasonably priced compares to others nearby, and unique because it is a converted train station with a real caboose onsite that serves as a bridal suite:

http://robertryancatering.com/columbia-station/

Still salty that I didn't get those train track pictures