Help me decide: Swan Club or Thatched Cottage?!

NOTE: Sorry this is long!

I simply cannot decide between Swan Club and Thatched Cottage. It’s causing a great deal of stress for me. I was hoping for help and advice!

We’ll be having an intimate affair which immediately limited our options- our minimum is a mere 75. We also needed an experienced and flexible caterer to deal with our large variety of specific requests. It’s a vegetarian wedding for philosophical purposes and non-alcoholic for religious purposes, but my FH and I envisioned a wedding where the food and drinks were so varied and delicious that no one would really notice. Thatched Cottage and Swan Club both greeted our annoying requests with a big smile and willingness to create and change their dishes for us and meet and exceed our needs. We also NEEDED beautiful gardens, nice outdoor spots, and a view from the RH, and both are offering us this as well. If anyone has been to both or one of these sites, you know just how beautiful their grounds are!

So, here’s my pro-con list for both. If anyone wants to respond or FM me with advice as to how to prioritize these things, that will probably save me some anxiety and many tears, since I’m so completely torn…

Thatched Cottage
PRO: One wedding at a time! This was a dream I had for my wedding a long time ago. I was so impressed that they could offer that to us!
PRO: Included array of linens to match the colors of my wedding at no additional fee. I’m on a budget, so this was great news. And the chairs are already the exact color my theme is going for so I wouldn’t need chair covers.
PRO: I didn’t feel like I was in a wedding factory, if you know what I mean. Churning out brides and marrying off the masses feel. It had an intimate, natural, secluded feel to it. And we checked the tides, the water level would be high for the whole event, so no drained space for us, just beautiful waterside intimacy.
CON: The outdoor space, while beautiful, doesn’t exactly allow for us to slip away for
photos during the cocktail hour. We don’t want to see each other before ceremony, so pre-photo shots are out. So I don’t know if that would be difficult or distracting for us to do.
CON: The ceremony space doesn’t create the “dream wedding” scenario that I had in mind like Swan Club’s location does. I wanted to be hidden until the moment everyone stands to greet me, but also wanted a sunny space. It’s hard to explain. It’s just a little gazebo in the corner of the garden. If a TC bride loved her ceremony spot I’d love to hear from you. I’m not completely torn yet by this.
CON: On our budget, they can’t provide us a weekend date at our minimum, but rather a Thursday evening. I want an evening, but I’d prefer a Sunday evening. They were also willing to consider a Friday afternoon.

Swan Club
PRO: Amazing grounds, more space for a wide variety of shots, and probably more space for full wedding party shots, too. Loving the fountains and little details in the gardens.
PRO: Even more friendly than Thatched on creating a beautiful vegetarian wedding. They have slightly more experience with this, although Thatched can boast having done a vegan wedding, and that is a true feat.
PRO: Oh my goodness, the ceremony room. It was the one I’ve envisioned in dreams. It was actually kind of creepy how beautiful it was. My FH just stood in it gaping because it was everything he wanted in a ceremony room as well.
PRO: They’ll do a Sunday for us, so since all our guests are out of towners it will mean less inconvenience to them as far as taking days off from work to come.
CON: MANY WEDDINGS AT A TIME! Brides bumping into each other? Wedding factory style? Wedding party traffic jams? Anyone want to prove me wrong and ease my anxiety over this? Because it’s a MAJOR issue for me. From the Contessa Room they offered us, we will be able to SEE the next ceremony going on, the other bride(s)… this makes me really nervous and worried about it not having the feel that it is OUR day.
CON: While they offered us a Sunday at the exact same price as Thatched for a Thursday, they will only give us an afternoon wedding. A serious consideration, of course.
CON: The color theme did not match what I had in mind, so coordinating around it will be a real challenge. My original vision was more of an earthy, eggplant, brown type of thing, and the room is yellow and gold with lots of mirrors.

So, what is more important? The ceremony of my dreams at SC? The reception of my dreams at TC? Intimacy at TC? Grandeur of SC? I have no idea.

Thanks for your help!

I went to a wedding @ the swan club. The grounds are very beautiful, and I do like how they have the ceremony space set up ... however I didn't care for the dining room.
I think the drop ceiling made the space look cheap, they should've gone with something else! (This was the Garden Room).
Food was decent, but I think I had spoiled melon in my appetizer.
Oh, and we had to stand in the scorching sun after the ceremony & reception for like 5 mins before we were able to get into the dining room. Not a big deal to me, but there were some grannies there who were complaining.
No experience with TC.
Have you looked at Crest Hollow? Their gardens are the major reason I picked them.

you might want to check Larkfield Manor before you decide - - it may give you everything you want.

they offer on their regular menu a vegetarian entree so they might be in tune to your needs already ( of course other rh's might do this too - - I don't remember from when we first were looking)

they do pics in the ceremony area but they also have a side garden with pond and gazebo that is away from the guests where more pics can be taken.

we were very happy with the place and the people who run it are super nice. our wedding had 75 guests and used the smaller room. they have a large room but try to schedule weddings 30 minutes or more apart so guests won't be arriving at the same time. the large room and smaller room are in opposite wings so they should be fairly private.

i'm seriously thinking of booking Thatched and just looked at Swan Club. I dodn't even think they compare. I agree with every one of your pro's. Plus, Thatched offers a ton more food/drink than SC does.

While I loved the SC's ceremony site, i didn't care for anything else. The gardens were beautiful BUT it was so freakin buggy it's a big turn off to me (this was just on Tuesday night). Plus the CH looks cheap (plastic chairs?) compared to Thatched's inside/outside CH.

Did you get to take a look at Thatched's upstairs chapel? Very pretty for an indoor and they're supposed to remodel it starting in the winter

I'd say go with Thatched. Plus set up a tasting if you haven't. The food is seriously delicious

I was also married at the swan club 10/13/07, check out my review for pictures. The place is amazing. I also had a daytime event, there was another event going on at the time, and i didn't even notice. The ceremony room is just breathtaking and the grounds are flawless! I 100% recommend them, i don't have a bad thing to say. I think because we had a daytime event we didn't have as many 'brides bumming into each other' like you had mentioned.
I'm sure you'll have your dream wedding with whatever place you choose. Good luck and congratulations!

i have never seen thatched cottage so my opinion is completely biased but i really wish i could jump up and down and do a big stupid dance and beg you to go with the SWAN CLUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we got married there in may and had our reception in the contessa room and i promise you it was PERFECT. i know all brides say that but really their service is flawless. our matre'd and my bridal attendant were just outstanding, the food is EXCELLENT and not one thing went wrong. and you are right, the pavilion for the ceremony is breathtaking.

as for your cons--there were definitely other things going on there during our wedding, but i PROMISE you, you will not notice. you are in your reception room most of the time and even if there is another wedding outside--you will not be paying attention--you will only pay attention to your DH and your friends and family. the day FLYS by--you hardly get a chance to absorb what is going on at your own wedding, you won't notice another one.

we got married on a sunday afternoon too and this was a big issue for me at first. everybody imagines their wedding in the evening, but i honestly thought it was lovely to have an afternoon wedding. the grounds were GORGEOUS for picture taking and we would've lost that if we had an evening wedding. also they dim the contessa room so it really feels more like the evening--i was actually surprised at how well they could create that 'intimate' feeling. plus, since your wedding will end early it will give you a chance to hang out with OOT guests after or just chill with your friends. we hung out with some friends at the hotel after and it was TONS of fun!

the coloring of the room was really not even a concern of mine and i did bright pinks and green flowers! i guess if you think about it--it didn't match the room at all, but NOBODY notices that stuff. they notice the flowers, the food, the music.

i feel like i'm always gushing about the swan club so i'll stop. but i seriously LOVE that place! here are some pics from our day so you can see. i have lots more in my review!

feel free to FM if you have questions!

sorry this is sooooo long!!!

I have not been to either... but my BM was just at a wedding at Thatched and she said the food was awful and was unimpressed with the wedding in general. I have heard nothing but amazing things about Swan Club and it looks so pretty. It was one of my top choices but I feel in LOve and booked CLM before I even got to see it.

Good luck!!

I was a SC bride & i loved it! but the last wedding i went to was at the TC & that was nice too - i can see why youre having such a hard time
here were my pros for SC (when I was looking)
-the price ( i had a sat daytime, it is perfect for a day wedding)
-the staff, very helpful, accomodating, attentive
-food (CH was soooo good)
-of corse the grounds, our pictures were so nice(you can see some in my album

it didn't seem like a wedding mill, i can see how you would think so but you don't even notice whats going on anywhere else because of how they time it

definately do a taste test at both places, good luck
FM me if you have questions

You have to decide which is more important for you - I like you wanted to be the only bride , and that was super important in selecting a hall. IMO swan club has beautiful gardens BUT it is a bit of a factory ( sorry just my impression) .

Thatched cottage's food did not impress me ( neither did swan clubs for that matter) but perhaps their vegetarian menu would be better .

You might have to give up one of the requirements you had insisted on before in order to accommodate most of your needs.

I say keep looking ....

Hey, in response to all the great feedback:

I did look at Larkfield and thought it was very nice, but the price was a bit too high for what we can afford. We're definitely a big budget couple. But it is a very pretty place!

As far as other suggestions go, I think we're pretty much decided it's going to be one of these two! I don't think other places are going to be able to meet the low price we desire.

Anyone have advice on the time of day issue? Is a Thursday night okay to do? My FH's mom was concerned for some of the out of towners, but I felt like they'd have to take time off from work anyway (many are coming from Hawaii! FH is Hawaiian)

I am loving all the positive feedback. I'd love to get some already married at Thatched brides into the mix, too! FH and I remain sitting on a painful fence for the meantime! I will definitely set up tastings for both locations.

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Posted by melodicharmony

Hey, in response to all the great feedback:

I did look at Larkfield and thought it was very nice, but the price was a bit too high for what we can afford. We're definitely a big budget couple. But it is a very pretty place!
.

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Larkfield compared to Thatched price wise?? Thatched is QUITE a bit more (at least what I got quoted)

I've never been to TC, but I've been to a million events at SC (I grew up near there). It honestly never occurred to me that it's a wedding factory. I've never noticed another event going on while I was there.

As for the day night issue: I'm doing a day wedding. I preferred that to a night because we liked the garden party kind of feel - and you can't see the garden when it's dark out . Also, Sunday night might be harder for people than Sunday afternoon - people usually want to be home early for Monday morning. I've only been invited to 2 Thursday night weddings and unfortunately couldn't attend either because of work - you definitely might lose some attendees if you choose that.

A friend recently went to a wedding at TC recently and said it was very nice though. Good luck!