BIG FAT CAKE » BLOG » Posts Tagged ‘venue’

PICK A CATEGORY

Venues in Virginia!

April 2nd, 2010

Hi! New blogger here… and the topic is reception venues!

When we had started talking about receptions, we dreamed of an outdoor reception with white Christmas lights strung everywhere and lots of candles. Then reality hit. We realized that the table rental, plateware rental, flatware rental, linen rental, and other equipment rental costs for 650-700 people would be way out of our budget, too time-consuming, and too labor intensive. Just the thought of asking our friends to haul tables, put out linens, place centerpieces, plate tables and set out/ clean flatware made us very sad– it really wouldn’t be a celebration for our friends… it would be one more day to labor away.

So we decided to do 2 receptions– one for the 1st generation Korean guests (aka our parents’ guests) and another for 250 of our guests. Since 1st generation guests usually leave after eating (and take about 2 boxes of leftovers each!), we decided it would be financially unwise to have their reception at a hotel. But for our guests who would hopefully dance their socks off, we would want a hotel with a dance floor. That was our first criteria for a hotel venue, and was soon followed by our second criteria… permission for outside catering. You see, my parents had agreed to fund ALL of the food for both receptions! (same Korean food to 2 locations).

That narrowed the list drastically, but here’s what we ended up with:

  • Fox Chase Manor–loved it. The high ceilings were gorgeous and there was even a discount if we booked by Dec. 31st. Problem? tables, linens, flatware not included. :(
  • St. Joseph Parish– Super cheap and located close to our ceremony site. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was kind of high school prom-ish and since it was the banquet hall located in the Parish’s school, we thought it might be weird for our friends to get down to Jay-Z and Beyonce while staring at the crucifix on the wall. In addition, the cost of all those rentals would need to be factored in cause they would only provide the tables, chairs, and linens.
  • Crowne Plaza Dulles– I loved this venue. The location was about 5-10 minutes away from the church which was perfect. They offer a free shuttle for our out of town guests when they fly into Dulles Airport. They were so flexible, accommodating, and responsive. The price including taxes, service charges, tables, chairs, linens, flatware, soda/coffee, wait staff, buffet supplies, glasses, votives etc.= $30 per person! and then food costs.
  • Dulles Airport Marriott–expensive for us though it included everything we wanted: $35/ person + food costs for outside catering.
  • Continental Event Center– Again a discount if we booked by December 31st, and the price was reasonable… the total per person turned out to be $31.40 per person + food costs + linen rental + plate rental etc. That would just be way too much labor.
  • Holiday Inn Hotel (Alexandria)–loved the scenery around here and the staff was super helpful!! The price was really reasonable to: $30 per person + food costs. The problem was that it was 38 minutes away from the church and really out of the way for all of our guests.
  • Hyatt Fair Lakes– too expensive! and the dates I wanted weren’t available… it was $50 per person!!! yikes! That’s not even including food!
  • Hyatt Dulles– This was nice too and made it to our top venue selections. The problem was that with the tax and service charge, it became $44 per person not including food costs.
  • Westfields Marriott– don’t even get me started: $60 per person + a 22% service and tax charge. They’ve lost their minds.
  • Waterford at Fair Lakes– This included the opportunity to have Korean food catered through the venue. But including food costs, tax, and gratuity, it was $85 per person… again outside our budget.
  • Sheraton National Hotel– This was nice, but 30 minutes away from our ceremony site and the costs were too high: $59.35 per person + food costs.

So what did we decide?

CROWNE PLAZA DULLES!!!!! 

Source: gobluebride.blogspot.com

Source: gobluebride.blogspot.com

And they offered us a discounted rate of $26/ person if we booked before December 31st!!! They also gave us a discount on our dance floor rental and 2 free overnight rooms plus a free room for our wedding day. Lastly, they sent us the information card for our guests (in our wedding colors!) They have always been attentive, quick to respond, and easy to work with! We <3  the Crowne Plaza Dulles Airport!

by GoBlueBride | posted in General Planning, Reception, Vendors | 1 Comment »

So a couple that I know is planning a wedding in Atlanta for next fall.  They have been venue hunting for quite some time now. They’ve seen a few places they absolutely love and a few places that they don’t.  It’s down to three contestants, which they recently shared with me. All three either have a garden adjacent or is within a garden, which was the main aspect they were looking for in a venue.

1. Piedmont Room:

Pros: Great view of the city, In house catering, Tables chairs & linen provided

Cons: No real outdoor ceremony space, Venue can hold multiple weddings at the same time

piedmont

The Piedmont Room

2. The Atrium:

Pros: Pretty, outdoor ceremony space, In house catering, Tables chairs & linen provided, Great garden view from ballroom

Cons: Not a pretty building exterior

The Atrium

The Atrium

3. Cator Woolford Gardens:

Pros: Beautiful outdoor garden and ceremony area

Cons: Rent own tables chairs & linens, Hire own caterer, Reception hall is minimal and plain (not the couple’s style)

Cator Woolford Garden

Cator Woolford Garden

I came across this picture from the Cator Woolford Garden’s blog and just wanted to share it. I love the color, the sequence, and the energy in this series of photos.

Photo from http://www.cwgardens.blogspot.com/

Photo from http://www.cwgardens.blogspot.com/

Which venue do you like the most? Cast your vote with a comment!

by Mel | posted in Ceremony, Reception, Vendors | 1 Comment »

Venue Search, Part 1

May 6th, 2009

Today, we begin our short series of venues considered, but ultimately not chosen. We’ll start with one of my favorite settings – lofts.

We looked at several loft spaces in Manhattan. Nearly all of them made my fiance and I drool, with volume of saliva varying depending on the space itself.

Sun West Studios

This place, like most of others on this list, is usually used for photo shoots during the week, and events on the weekends. It’s on the far west side of Manhattan, and looks west towards New Jersey. If you check out the virtual tours on their site, you’ll get a better sense of the space.

sun-west

The coolest things about this space was that you’d be able to see the sunset from the reception area, a neat little terrace that looks out to the NYC skyline, and these giant metal gates that can be brought down to separate the different rooms. It had a pseudo-industrial feel to it (especially in the building’s lobby area, which is g-h-e-t-t-o), but both of us were okay with that rawness, though me more so than the little lady.

Gary’s Loft

I had heard about this place from a blog. Again, this space is usually used for photo shoots. When we went to visit, there were a few location scouts there scoping out the place.

This space actually has two floors – the 11th and 12th floors (penthouse). They’re connected by a stairwell, but the layouts of each floor are the same. We actually thought the space was really cool. They had a kitchen, bathtub and shower all incorporated into the physical space. Also, the roof was really rough looking, which I loved. :) Plus, it had these skylights that had a full-on view of the Empire State Building.

garys-loft-1

garys-loft-2

Still, as much as we liked it, the layout just didn’t work for the number of guests/style we were thinking of doing. The weddings they’ve done in the past usually had long rectangular tables. Since we want to do round tables, it would’ve meant that half the party would’ve been invisible to the other half (wrap-around corner, you know).

The Westside Loft

This space was near the other lofts. Unlike the others, it didn’t look like it was used much for photo shoots – mostly events. The space was very open, which was a plus. But, it was on the 4th or 6th floor of the building, which meant there really wasn’t much of a view (unless you count the under-construction building across the street).

westside-loft

Of all the loft spaces we looked at, this produced the least enthusiasm, as evident from my dearth of words. :)

Studio 450

In contrast, this space, which is also owned by the same people as Westside Loft, was probably our favorite. It’s actually in the same building as Sun West, but it had the top floors.

I’ll have to admit, I was, um, VERY excited the moment I walked in. You see, this space actually had two floors. The first floor had windows on three sides, looking west, south and east. The other thing that jumped out at us was the space was white. Really, really white. The floor, walls, window trim, ceiling, furniture, etc., were all white. We got there a little before sunset, so the space was bathed in light, and we loved it.

The amount of space was huge. On that floor, there was more than ample room for a ceremony and to have the reception. For the cocktail hour, there was actually another space — upstairs on the roof lounge. The roof lounge had windows on all four sides, and had a wrap-around deck as well. So, if you could imagine it – you could see the sunset, and then look up into the lights of the NYC skyline at night, relax in the lounge, or out on the deck.

(I know I’m sounding like an infomercial, but I really liked the space. :) )

studio-450

studio-450-2

In the end, though, we didn’t choose this place for a number of reasons. First and foremost was cost. Also, since everything was white, there was the danger of my fiance blending in too much. (It would’ve been like watching a floating face. Scary!) That meant we’d need to spend a lot to create a decor (though I’ve heard the argument to just keep the space raw). Nevertheless, if I ever find the excuse and money to one day do another event, I will want to do it here.

On the next edition of Venue Search, we’ll talk about spaces near Union Square.

by David | posted in General Planning, Reception | 1 Comment »