Update

Hey there!

I no longer actively blog here, but I do check it enough to know that there are quite a few people who have found their way here by searching for Yorktown Freight Shed Weddings. My wedding has come and gone, but I am now a wedding photographer who blogs here. If you’d like to ask me a question about my wedding or about the Freight Shed, feel free to email me with your questions at katiesphotoblog@gmail.com.

Our Yorktown Wedding was recently featured on 100 Layer Cake!!!

Bulk Floral

Flowers can be one of the biggest expenses when it comes to planning a wedding.

 

Take your venue into account. Are you getting married outdoors? By the water? Somewhere that nature has already decorated? If you are, you can probably go light (if not eliminate) ceremony or reception flowers.

 

Think about alternatives to the traditional centerpieces that are full of flowers. Candles are a romantic idea if your venue allows. So are clusters of photo frames with pictures of you as a couple or other things that are significant to you.

 

If you’re creative and have a few crafty friends, consider making your own bouquets using bulk flowers.

 

You can find a lot of good deals on bulk flowers online. For example, at samsclub.com you can get 125 roses for 79.73. http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=431559&pCatg=4072

 

They also have these wedding packs. I was looking into this one because it has the right amount of attendant bouquets for me.

 

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=441570&pCatg=4077

 

For 293.68 you get a bridal bouquet, four bridesmaid bouquets, a toss away bouquet, 3 bouts, 3 more bouts with filler, four corsages, a box of white rose petals, floral clippers, and floral food packets.

 

That seems like a really great deal to me. Especially for the thrifty, but scared of being pricked by roses like myself.

 

Buying bulk flowers online is a great way to save some money. Especially if your bouquets and arrangements are going to be fairly sinple to design and create.

Some Hampton Roads Venues for the Bride on a Budget

I was doing a lot of research on cheaper wedding venues in the hampton roads venue and I thought I would create a list to post here and share with other HR brides. All of these are venues that were on my list of places to check out.

Williamsburg Community Building

http://www.ci.williamsburg.va.us/Index.aspx?page=233

The Williamsburg Community Building is owned by the city of Williamsburg and is located just outside of Colonial Williamsburg. It has a beautiful interior with high ceilings and polished wood floors.

2007 Legacy Hall

http://www.jccegov.com/legacyhall/

Legacy Hall is in the New Town development in Williamsburg . It has a full catering kitchen, wood floors, and enough room for 300 of your closest friend and family. You can rent out all or part of the facility.

The Yorktown Freight Shed

http://www.yorkcounty.gov/freightshed/

I already talked about the freight shed in my post about my own wedding venue. The freight shed is a beautifully restored historically significant building that overlooks the York River . Rental of the Freight Shed from April to October includes free use of the 2000 sq ft tent set up outdoors on the Riverwalk Plaza . Rates are cheaper on weekdays and Sundays.

The Fred Heutte Center

http://www.fredheutte.org/

Possibly one of the cheapest garden wedding venues in the area, the Fred Heutte center is located in an upscale neighborhood in Norfolk . I called about rates and was quoted 275 to rent the facility for the ENTIRE day for up to 100 guests. For more than 100 the price was 375. For an entire day!!!! The gardens are beautiful and the price is great. The only drawback to me is limited parking and the building onsite is rather small. But if you are going to have a tented reception, this venue may be perfect for you!

Suffolk Planter’s Club

http://www.suffolk.va.us/parks/rentals.html

The Suffolk Planter’s Club is a beautiful facility that is owned and operated by the city of Suffolk . The Planter’s Club is on the waterfront and has a huge catering kitchen. You could have your ceremony out on the water or in front of the woods.

I also looked at the Historic Chapel at Hampton University, the school that my fiance attends. It’s a historic building that overlooks the water and is a great location for any wedding. If you or your fiance have a college affiliation, I would check with your school to see what kind of prices there are on your school chapel. Another local chapel that is absolutely gorgeous, is the Wren Chapel at William and Mary. You have to have an affiliation with William and Mary to be married there, but if you have one, it’s worth it!

This list is just a few that I have visited in person. I may post again with a list of other good locations, but for now, these are some great ideas!

Some Ideas on Saving Money on Your Venue

 

Source: http://www.bridalwave.tv/Interior2_01082007143626.jpg

When I set out looking for my wedding venue, the first thing I thought was “It has to be CHEAP”. Not only cheap, but beautiful as well. During my search

1. Book on an “off peak” day like Sunday or Friday. Saturdays are the most popular day and are often more expensive. I have chosen to book ours on a Sunday because the price difference between Saturdays and Sundays is almost three hundred dollars! You could do a really cute cocktail/dessert reception on a Friday night really late or a morning ceremony and a brunch reception. The possibilites are endless.

2. Look at the venues offered for events by your city and state. City/State run venues are going to be a lot cheaper than privately owned places because privately owned businesses are in place to make a profit off of you. A lot of City owned property is actually FREE to use. The Performance area (and beach, picnic area, etc) at Yorktown Beach is actually free to use. You only have to fill out a reservation form!

3. Consider having both ceremony and reception in the same location.  You can save yourself and your guests hassle and gas and make your day a little easier (and cheaper) by holding both the ceremony and reception in the same location or adjacent to one another.

4.  This kind of goes with number one….Book your venue out of season. Rates will be a lot lower during winter months when venues do not have a lot of events scheduled. They may offer you a deal or throw in some extras that you may not have gotten during the busy summer season.

5. Always ask for a deal! It never hurts to try and the worst you can hear is no.

My Venue

When I first got engaged, I knew NOTHING about weddings. The last wedding I had been to before being engaged was the wedding of my Dad and stepmom back when I was about eleven years old. I wore a stiff yellow cotton dress and had a terrible bowl shaped haircut. They wed beneath a humid summer sky in a casual affair with a lot of extended family in attendance.

I don’t really remember much about the wedding other than chasing a frog around the yard with my cousins and sister and eating chocolate cake. I was really at a loss on where to start when I started planning our wedding back in November of 2008.

The first thing I decided to do was pick a venue. After all, there really can’t be a wedding without a location, right? I googled a lot of different sites and had a really difficult time nailing something down that was beautiful, non-religious, and INEXPENSIVE!!

I had thought about using the Yorktown Freight Shed http://www.yorkcounty.gov/freightshed/index.html for a while because of it’s location, price, and beautiful waterfront location. However, I was not sure where to hold my ceremony because I was not really fond of the idea of traipsing across the beach in my wedding gown so I kept this idea on the back burner for a while.

On Sunday, my sister, John and I took a ride out to Yorktown beach, walked around and people watched. We passed a wedding set up at the Yorktown beach Performance area and I FELL IN LOVE.

The performance area is parallel  to the waterfront. It is a green, grassy rectangle that leads up to a small brick stage. I wish I had a picture of the ceremony setup, but I didn’t have a camera with me. I loved how it looked. John and I agreed the setup was beautiful and my search for a venue was finally put to rest!