r/NewEnglandWedding

hi everyone! we are looking to get married in May or June of 2028 and looking for venue recommendations. we will have around 100-110 guests and are hoping to spend under 30k for reception, ceremony, food and beverage. we would prefer a venue with a view of the water but are also open to garden or golf courses… really anything that’s pretty and within budget.
Some venues we like so far are eastern point yacht club, the beauport hotel, misselwood events, and the poppanesset inn tent, and shining tides
thanks!!

I am the maid of honor for a wedding the coming fall and need to plan a bachelorette party for a long weekend this summer. It is only for a small group of people, myself, bride, and one bridesmaid. The bride wants to be able to go to the beach, and also have a cute town to be able to walk around, good restaurants with frozen drinks. I have never had to plan anything like this before and I don't want to drop the ball!!! I need help with finding a location (somewhere either on the cape/islands, or coastal Maine), and I don't know if it is better to try and find a hotel or air bnb. Please help me before I freak out lol

Anyone have any good wedding bands you could recommend that are less than $5k?? Wedding is in Rhode Island, but would definitely pay a travel fee if needed. Thanks in advance ☺️

I'm looking at estate venues under an hour drive outside of Boston for an outdoor wedding (during peak season, hopefully May/June). At this point I don't want to compromise on a non-Saturday date, which I know ups the budget significantly.

But everywhere I've inquired about pricing or seen it online, it seems like for the venue, catering, and open bar (again, I know that's a non-insignificant expense) - it's all upwards for $35K-45K. And then you have to think about photographer, DJ, dress, etc.

Is it even possible to find an estate venue and catering less than an hour from Boston for under $30K all-in? Or is this just a case of me having to compromise either on day of week (no), month, open bar, and/or everything else? (Or just being ok with paying $50K+ for my wedding)

If it would be helpful for me to lay out my expected/hopeful budget to see whether that's even remotely accurate, I can add that

I am new to this wedding world and the first in my small family to get married. My fiance and I are looking for a planner. We are open to any planner who is willing to travel with us! Budget is minimum $20k for a plnner.

Hi everyone! My fiancé and I are getting married in Concord NH on September 5th, 2026! We are getting married at a beautiful barn. There will be about 75 people, an outdoor ceremony, and a semi-indoor reception. Our budget is $2,500 ish.

We are looking for a dreamy, film-esque (could be film or digital) style. We love the 1973 film "Robin Hood" and the wedding is the color and vibes of that movie!

Would be interested in paying a bit more for a super 8 film video as well, and we are open to people newer to wedding photography if it seems like a good fit. Let me know if you have someone (or yourself) in mind!

Hi all!

I’m planning on having my wedding in Sep 2028, but am really struggling on finding an affordable venue.

I’m looking for an estate/garden vibe but everything I’ve seen so far is way over my budget. I’m waiting on Glen Magna prices which will be cutting it close but would like any other suggestions that are $10k or under for around 150 people.

I’ve checked out Willowdale (out of budget) & Lyman Estate (don’t allow guests in the house during outdoor ceremony).

edit: we are looking for a more whimsical, fairy garden party vibes. we would like to avoid anything farm-ish.

I’m getting married in a year and half to my partner. I’m not from the US and I’ve never been to a wedding in the US.

I would love to hear what are the different aspects of a wedding ceremony and reception, the dos and donts, things to keep in mind with vendors and so on.

My partner and I want to host only the wedding reception as we want to do a a civil ceremony with our parents. If there’s any venue suggestions for New England, I’d appreciate that too!

Would love to hear people’s experiences with Eolia Mansion or Glen Manor, especially if you’re willing to share your overall budget and guest count. We’re also very open to other venue suggestions in New England with a similar vibe.

Our total budget is around $60k, so we’re trying to figure out whether venues like these are realistically doable, or if we should consider something more affordable like Lyman Estate instead.

We love mansion weddings with garden ceremonies and/or ocean views, and ideally would prefer to avoid a tented reception if possible. We also loved Hildene, but it seemed out of budget pretty quickly.

Eolia is probably our favorite aesthetically, but we have mixed feelings about the public park aspect and the rain plan. Glen Manor seems a bit easier logistically, but we’re unsure whether the cost difference is worth it.

We also have a personal connection to Newport and the Gilded Age/New England mansion style, which is why we keep coming back to these venues.

Would especially love to hear:
• What your actual total wedding cost ended up being
• Whether you felt it was worth it afterward
• If anyone kept a mansion wedding in this style close to our budget
• Any similar venues we should look into

Hi all! I know I'm a little ways out (wedding date is 9/3/28), but I need to talk this out. I'm getting increasing frazzled when people ask me if I've started planning and when I tell them I am thinking of using a wedding planner, I immediately get shushed and people say I can handle it.

I have a real mental health condition. It is well managed and supported, but it is truly out of my ability and skillset to plan a wedding. I've accepted this and I'm willing to work with my friends and family to get on the same page.

Okay, now that the background is out of the way--can anyone share suggestions or recommendations for a miracle worker who can potentially accommodate the following envisioned wedding?

• Date September 3, 2028 (ideally mid-morning)
• Ceremony: a southern Connecticut synagogue. Would need help finding a reception venue
• Jewish wedding, kosher-reception. So would need someone familiar-ish with Jewish customs and working with a kosher caterer
• Size unknown--ideally larger because I want to be inclusive but I'm sure that will get winnowed down as we learn prices
• Someone sensitive to mental health conditions and anxiety around long-term planning (no actually wedding jitters about the groom!)

I don't know, perhaps I just needed to get this out. Maybe just have a conversation around other people who used wedding planners and had success stories about preserving their mental health and allowed them to enjoy the day. Wishing everyone all the best on their beautiful weddings!

Hi! I am looking for a photographer for my wedding on the first weekend of October of this year. We are getting married at a summer camp on the south shore of Massachusetts and want someone who can capture the fun/spontaneous moments and also help us pose for some more traditional photos. Hoping to spend under $6k. If anyone has any recommendations I would love to hear them! Thank you in advance for the help!

(P.S. I know this is a bit late! I was finishing my grad school which took a lot of the focus away from wedding planning over the past few months for both of us.)

Looking to hire a photographer for an elopement at Portland City Hall in September. We would love to work with someone local who’s just starting out or looking to build their portfolio as we don’t need a full “wedding package” like most commercial/established photographers offer. We want an intimate and candid vibe to the pictures. Any recommendations for folks to reach out to?

I’m getting married this October on a farm in New England, and we’re doing a 10am ceremony with a brunch reception, and the event will end around 3pm on that Sunday. I was wondering if folks have advice for either 1) budget friendly entertainment ideas for reception (we’ll have a Spotify playlist but figured not many people would be up for dancing in the daytime with limited booze, as our only alcohol is mimosas) and 2) If I should host any informal events that evening, or if it’s ok to let people do their own thing? I haven’t planned other events for the weekend, and I want the out-of-town folks to feel entertained.

Thanks so much — any tips and advice are much appreciated!

My fiancee and I are having a big lesbian wedding this August, and we're looking for a drag queen to act as am officiant! We'll already be legally wed, so no certificate would be needed, but we've been having trouble with response rates.

So, I've got two questions for y'all:

1. Does anyone know of any Providence or Boston queens who you think would be good for a gig like this?

2. The inquiry we've sent out to a few queens (with no response yet) has been the following. If you think we're missing anything that contributed to a non-response, let us know!

"My fiancee and I are having a big lesbian wedding on [date] in [location], and we are hoping to have a local queen marry us! We would love to hear if you have interest and availability :)

As a queer couple, we're doing our best to prioritize hiring from within the LGBTQ+ community for our celebration. And we're not religious, so we got thinking about who a standard officiant generally is - someone who is a leader in their community, can project for a crowd, and can entertain during even serious moments. So we thought, who would be better than a drag artist? We'll be legally married before the actual wedding day, so no extra paperwork/credentials would be needed!"

Hello!! I grew up super catholic and so did my partner, but we are not particularly religious ourselves so we are not getting married in a church- but we would like our officiant to be Christian in some way. I think it would be nice to have a bit of our history and also it would make our families happy. Where can I find an officiant that will sprinkle in religion without having a full on mass?

Hello! I live in Portland, Maine and am looking for a dress under $1,000 with a romantic fairytale boho vibe! We are getting married in October at an old barn theater on the coast so I want something that fits well into that vibe. I have looked at online options, but I’d also love the chance to try dresses on to make sure I like the fit and style on me specifically. Any recommendations for where to go in the area? I’m willing to travel if the store has the right things I’m looking for!

Hi! My fiancé and I are looking into having our ceremony at Mount Auburn and then a reception at a nearby restaurant in Cambridge for around 40-50 people. Has anyone done this before and can share some insight? Or does anyone know any good spots in Cambridge for a wedding reception? Nothing super fancy. We’re mostly looking for a spot with good food and drink that we can play music and have a good time. Any suggestions are appreciated!

A schoolbus company in Vermont just quoted us $2290 for two buses for our wedding. This seems insanely expensive to me. Does anyone have a price point I could compare this to (or recs of something closer to 1000)?