Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

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Posted by Rina

Did you consider the distance of the hall and where your guests are travelling from? I'm debating going to go see Villa Lombardi's/Giorgio's and Majestic Garden because of the distance. Also, I'm afraid that I'll probably end up really looking something miles away and then having everyone tell me it's a bad idea...including my FI. They do have a point about distance because people will want to drink and then people may leave early because they have to travel. How would you handle this?

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If you are looking on the east end, most of the catering halls out there have deals with hotels to provide shuttles. I know Giorgio's has a deal with the Hampton Inn and Best Western in Riverhead to provide transportation and discounted rooms. I wouldn't rule them out if you don't mind your guests staying in hotels and using shuttles.

I looked at over 12 halls and fell in love w/giorgio's. It had the garden I wanted, the room is beaufiful, I have access to the beach and golf course for pictures. It had EVERYTHING I was looking for.

The ballroom is where you will be spending most of your time, don't go with one you don't like. I would look out east, it's the best way to decide it's too far or maybe you'll fall in love w/one you look at.

Good Luck!

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

i looked at 15 halls and i picked my top 3 and brought my fh back to them. my #1 choice we decided was just way tooo far for a friday night in february (giorgios) so we went with my #2 choice the fh which offered everything and was a great price too. and the convinence of having the hotel next door too. that was another deciding factor. we are having our ceremony at the fh and we are taking all of our picts before hand at the hotel which is gorgeous.

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

I fell in love with Villa's instantly and booked on the spot. I can't say that I dislike anything at all about it. ummm, well, actually the prices of the extras are a little high!! $10pp for a chocolate fountain? I don't think so!!

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

I looked at one hall. And booked it on the spot. If there had been things I didn't like about it, I probably would have continued to look at other places. But it was perfect for the kind of wedding we wanted

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

I looked at about 15 places with my mom. The Crescent was probably #13 on the list. I wound up bringing DH back to see it and we put the deposit down. I had only taken him to see one other hall of the bunch and that was because they offered sooo much food for the money, but there were other things that just wouldn;t have worked for us.
The Crescent just felt different than any of the hall I'd been to. It was a little less weddingy, which I really liked. I loved that they do only one wedding at a time and I was impressed with their menu.
The only thing I slighlty second guessed was the price. I know that most of the halls on LI are less expensive so that was the only thing. I felt bad that my parents spent so much money, but in the end it was well worth it.

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

we booked the 4th place we went to see. We just fell in love with it's beauty and charm immediately!

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

We booked Westbury Manor right away...we had looked at one other place an hour before...as soon as we walked in we looked at each other and smiled...we knew we were booking...we LOVE that it doesn't have a feel of a 'catering hall' its sooo warm and cozy...no gold and and marble for us...

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

East Wind was the first place we looked at and the few others that we went to after, did not even compare!!! We knew we were wasting our time looking at other places because East Wind had everything we wanted...No detail is left untouched there!!!! The grounds are spectacular, the food is incredible and the service is wonderful!!!

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

I only looked at two halls before finding the one that FI and I loved. Every other hall we looked at, we just kept comparing to that one. I ended up cancelling the rest of our appointments and went back and booked them.

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

bump

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

Flowerfield was the first place I saw and I wanted it immediately, but looked at 15 places to see if I would want something more affordable. In the end FF was the perfect choice!

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

there were a few places that i saw in suffolk that i really liked but eventually i just had to say no to them because they were too far. I really liked villa lombardi, flowerfield, and the bourne mansion, but they were too far and the last two were way to hard for people that are not familiar with long island to get to.


i also had the same dilemna, everytime i went into a hall there were some things that i liked and some things i disliked and the things that i disliked kept weighing on my mind. it is a hard decision to make.

i took a few weeks off from hall shopping to clear my mind and make a decision, which helped.

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

I'm such an odd-ball! We only looked at 2 halls...booked the second. We thought the small reception room at Fox Hollow was perfect for our summer evening reception, they gave us a great deal with a ton of food, and it is convenient for us(we're going to stay at thge hotel) and our guests.

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

for me it was pretty easy because i couldnt have the hall i wanted it was booked for every friday in jan and we didnt want to wait another year so we went with chateau briand because we really liked our banquet manager and they gave us a great deal. i think we made a good choice everything went well and my guests had a great time. my husband always says its the best wedding he ever went to lol.

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

We only looked at one other place....
But we knew the Carlyle was for us....

One wedding at a time, the room with all the windows, the piano in the CH, all the room for our guests......over lookin the golf course...great for a summer day!!!

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

Keep on looking until your heart tells you it's the one.

It happened to me. After looking at different reception halls we got an idea what we are looking for. We had different views but when we found Woodbury Country Club, we knew it was the one. Plus, the affordable price.

Best of LUCK

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

I love you all. Thanks for the advice. This is soooo hard. You know I really, really liked Marina Del Rey...but I can't get over the room...if you ask me what it was....I'm not sure. I really felt like I could get married there until I saw the room. My mother said the dance floor was too small and my FI didn't go crazy over the room either. I'd be the only one showing up to my wedding. I feel like 'my hall' is out there, but I guess I gotta keep looking. It's so stressful. This is going to be one of the most important day of your life and I'm trying to find something as close to perfect. That's impossible..but I don't want to get married at a hall if the things I don't like are things that I can't get over.

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

Rina, don't get discouraged yet. It just sounds to me like you haven't found 'your hall' yet and you need to keep looking. You're right to hesitate about booking a place where you don't like the reception room. That's where you'll be spending most of your time, so you should love it!

There are so many halls out there, and you WILL find the right one for you. Just be patient! And come to vent to us anytime. We're all here to listen.

Best of luck!

Re: Do you love everything about your hall when you first booked and would you book a hall if it lacked a few things you wanted?

I fell in love with Carlyle.... I was back and forth with the small cocktail hour room and the price was higher than I preffered but the ballroom totally made up for it.... Not crazy about their pricing but totally worth it!