Not Quite Engaged

That place looks lovely - if it includes the breakfast the next day I say it might be worth the cost.

Our place (with no breakfast) was $129/pp. 

That included open bar for 5 hours with beer, wine, unlimited champagne & premium liquors; a cocktail hour with passed champagne, open bar, 8 butler passed hors de oeuvres, 2 carving stations, chafing dishes of hot food, & 3 cold displays (fruit, cheese, Mediterranean, Italian antipasti, etc.); and, a 5 course meal which consisted of an appetizer, salad, champagne sorbet, entree & dessert (wedding cake + a Viennese display and a crepes Suzette station).

Plus there were no added fees - corking, cake cutting, etc.  That price included everything for the entire evening minus sales tax and gratuity.  Had we done breakfast it would have been an additional $17/pp.  We skipped it because the hotel already did a huge, free breakfast buffet in the morning with cold things like cereal and bagels, as well as chafing dishes of hot things like eggs, bacon and sausage.  That $17/pp would have only gotten us a private room and an omellete station - didn't seem worth it.

For NJ it was a pretty good deal!  I chose a place that was a bit off the beaten track for weddings, so we paid a little less than some of the more in demand locations.  Also, because I only wanted an 80ish person wedding, the cost wasn't much of an issue.

For all that your place says it includes, $141 doesnt sound bad.  But make sure you follow up on whether there are any additional fees. 

That place does look pretty amazing. I think it really depends on what aspect is most important to you - a big wedding in a good place, or a smaller wedding in a great place. Will your memories be more of the people joining you, or the location you're in? Its a question that each bride will answer differently. When I imagine my wedding, I imagine looking out into a large crowd of family, friends, cousins, long-time family friends...and FI is the same. We knew we wanted a large wedding with approx. 200 people, so we had to find someplace where that would be affordable.

We are paying $60 per person (keep in mind...its Kansas.) That gets us a full buffet (beef with carver, salmon, chicken, salads/veggies, etc); 5 hour open-bar (beer/wine/liquor); hordeurves on the patio beforehand and smaller add-ons like champagne for bridal party, etc. It also includes tax + gratuity which is huge, since that is generally another 25-30% of your bill (25% of a $10,000 bill ain't cheap.) For us, its an excellent deal. The venue has a wraparound porch, lake view, etc...so we feel like we are really getting a top-notch place and great price.

You're in the fun part of planning where you can check out all different places...but don't have to put the deposit down yet! :)

Wow... that is a lot of $$. Do they have a minimum number of people you need to have? (Also the dining room looked really crowded, maybe it is the angle the photo was taken at). But the price sure includes a lot of stuff.

Does that price include the tax and the tip? We have a 6.25% meals tax and an 18% gratuity to include in our final bill (but no corking costs, linen costs, cake cutting costs, etc).

With our change in venue last week we are looking at around $23 per person. That includes cheese and crackers, 2 passed hor devours, and our dinner (which is like 6 courses either to be buffet or family style). And our sparkling cider toast and unlimited soda and juice. We are having a cash bar as their are too many non-drinkers in our family to make it worth paying per person for.