*Travel Tips>>>Philadelphia Travel Tips

Unique Pa/Nj wedding?

Travel Info
I am in the beginning stages of planning my spring/summer 08 wedding. Any suggestions for a UNIQUE venue for the ceremony/reception? I DO NOT want to do it at a hotel/catering hall! I want UNIQUE!!! :) I live on the outskirts of Philadelphia & do not want to spend a fortune...i am thinking 25K total.

Travel Tips

As a wedding videographer, several "unique" reception places come to mind:

1.) The Liberty Belle - a Mississippi-style Paddle boat
docked at The Philadelphia Naval Yard in Philadelphia.

The Ship features three climate controlled levels. Each level is equipped with a dance floor, private bar and bathroom facilities. The top level is completely open and is a great place for a ceremony or outside gathering.

All the levels are open to the outside enabling your guests to stroll and view the wonderful and historic sites on the Delaware.

2.) Elm Lowne - a twelve acre estate property nestled in beautiful Yardley, Pennsylvania. The Manor Home, built in the 1700's looks over the serene private lake that serves as the backdrop to your event. (Elm Lowne Has No Vendor Restrictions)

3.) Pearl S. Buck House - Originally built in 1835, the Bucks
County Pennsylvania farmhouse was home to Pearl S. Buck, a Pulitzer Prize winning author. Features a unique blend of Chinese and 19th century Pennsylvania traditions of art and architecture. Source(s): http://philadelphia.about.com/cs/photo_g...

http://www.livingplaces.com/pa/bucks_cou...

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_travel_landm...

Other Travel Tips
Don't know anything about PA or NJ- just wanted to tell you that you and I gave almost identical answers to the "pda" question- without me seeing yours first. Weird. But re: your wedding, I got married at 9 in the morning in the Denver Botanic Gardens. It was beautiful- hummingbirds and butterflies were all around us and we had a string quartet. We rented a mansion for the reception and catered it with fajitas. In 2000, the whole thing cost $10K
25K is a lot to me. I am also getting married in spring 08 and I am having my reception at an old train depot. It was originally built in the early 1900, and it has been fully restored. It has awesome decoration on the ceiling, huge chandeliers, great tile floors and out in front there are wonderful fountains. A lot of train stations do this, so they have everything that you need in them. Like a catering kitchen, nice tables and chairs. I think that you should look into train station in your area. I like in Kansas and this one will hold about 300 people seated. but in PA I bet they have larger station. Good luck!

The one that I have reserved was $1500 for 10 hours
you said that you live on the outskirts of Philadelphia , woodland outside or a small town on the outside of town, I'm thinking garden wedding with lots of sheer cloth hanging from trees with tons of twinkle lights everywhere, in the bushes, trees, lining the path, under and on the tables. I'm planning my own and these are things I'm looking at. :) i would put fake jewels and pearls and rose petals on the tables with fine china and crystal glasses to drink from and bottles of champagne in ice filled buckets on each table as the center pieces (:
If you can do a small wedding, look into renting out a B&B for the weekend. Try bandbfinder.com for places.

I like Cape May, NJ - but your guests may not want to go that far. You could probably find something nice in the Lancaster area.
I had a renaissance wedding in Warrington, PA for about $20K. I can recommend a few local vendors, especially Gina Meyers photography! She was great!

We ended up going with a country club package (they worked with our theme) but before that, we were looking at a few places in Doylestown, such as the Mercer Museum.

The links below helped me initially.

Best of luck!

FYI to others: $25K is enough for an average-sized wedding in the suburbs of Philadelphia, it costs even more in NJ.