The average wedding in Connecticut or Massachusetts cost over $38,000 last year – and over $42,000 in Rhode Island, according to the most recent survey by weddings supersite The Knot.
And while a top reception venue like a hotel or inn can easily cost $10,000 or more, you can find some far more interesting – and far more affordable – alternatives.
Two that we focus on in this week’s Money Saving Mondays are the Multicultural Arts Center in East Cambridge and the Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham. You can rent the Multicultural Arts Center for 10 hours on a weekend day starting at $4,200, for up to 200 people, and the Charles River Museum of Industry starting at $2,800, for up to 180.
The Cambridge center is an old Middlesex County courthouse building with a grand and soaring marble-floored space and lavishly decorated walls and ceilings with a small courtyard park right outside where couples often decide to say their wedding vows, then come inside for the reception. You get access to two gallery spaces with art on display. “We have two galleries, one upstairs and one downstairs, and those are always on view, and that is included in your rental,’’ Multicultural Arts Center operations chief Victoria Hall said.
Just by word of mouth and no advertising, they book 40 to 50 weddings per year, but do have openings starting next July, she said.
The Charles River Museum of Industry, like the Cambridge center, also has an outdoor courtyard park space where couples often make their vows, and a different kind of grand, soaring space, 48 by 54 feets, with rafters they let you hang fabric and lights and decorations from. During receptions, guest can look over displays like a case full of watches and clocks from the mills that gave Waltham its Watch City name, pose for pictures on an old steam-powered fire engine, and play with some please-do-touch old pieces of machinery.
At both places, you aren’t just saving money – but helping a good cause. For the Charles River Museum, weddings and events have become an important source of revenue to fund operations and restoration of old machinery and equipment. "It's really hard to survive these days as a museum” without ancillary revenue, museum events coordinator Jill O’Shaughnessy said.
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The Multicultural Arts Center is devoted to creating exhibition space for “underserved artists” and supporting a broad range of artists and communities, which means the space is always full of unique collections of painting, sculpture, and more. “You’re getting more of an experience when you come to our venue,’’ Hall said, “than just going to a hotel or some other hall.’’
