We are planning for an August 2020 wedding in Western Massachusetts (Springfield/Amherst/Northampton area) for 100-150 on a budget of $15k including everything. We want our reception to be fun and uplifted, not stuffy but not too casual. I was hoping for an outdoor-indoor venue with a sort of family picnic-becomes-dance-party feel. Outdoor (tent or covered patio, as I don't want to worry about weather) for cocktail hour, indoor for the rest of the reception. We also prefer to use our own caterer and either bring our own alcohol or for the venue to have a bar inexpensive enough that we can offer open bar at least for a few hours. Everything we've considered is either a wedding mill, or is too expensive. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!
Meanwhile, we have a hold on the Polish club in our hometown, which in some ways is perfect. My whole family is Polish and fiance's is Irish (we're having our Jack & Jill at the local Irish club he's belonged to since he was a kid). But the few people I've mentioned this to have either paused and then politely nodded "oh, I'm sure it will be nice" or outright groaned at the idea. Though the club has been renovated and we can pretty much do what we want with it, we've all been to weddings/dances/various events there and I guess our friends expect something more unique from us. It also just sits in a parking lot, so there isn't any outdoor feature at all. I think our family/friends expect us to come up with something more unique and interesting. We just want to throw a really fun party!
Has anyone dressed up a hall like a Polish club, VFW, Elks, etc.? I think it could be fun, but I don't want our guests to think "oh good grief, no" when they get the invitations...
