Ouch, don’t expect me at any NY weddings.
LOL, I don’t blame you a bit. 23 years ago, I was planning my wedding at the same time as one of my cousins. We were to be married 2 weeks apart, with the same level of formality, i.e., FORMAL Catholic Nuptial Mass, and approximately the same number of people (mostly family): 300.
Bottom line: His wedding was in rural Vermont and the cost per head (for the reception) was $16.00. My wedding, on the other hand, cost $67.50 per head for the reception — PLUS, to save costs, I did not have a Saturday wedding. Mine took place on a Friday night. It was the first time I’d ever heard of such a thing, and had to check with my priest to see if I could even do it. (I could.) Had I gone with the Saturday date, it would have cost $110/person.
You may ask, why not have it in the church hall? Good question. The answer is: Our parish did not and does not rent out the hall for private events. There was one Knights of Columbus hall that was large enough for our family, but they wanted $45/person JUST for the hall rental: No food, no tables and chairs, no music, no bar...JUST the hall. It was actually cheaper to go to a large catering hall. So I did.
Regards,