I have the task of having a small wedding (appx. 80 people) and finding a venue. It's a bit of a long post, but I'd figure I'd post about my small wedding venue search, since there may be brides out there who have less than 100 people.
Places we've looked at: Restaurant Mario - Upscale Italian restaurant. FH has eaten there many times before and says the food is excellent. I wasn't keen on the catering space, which was in the basement and looked like it hadn't been updated in a while.
Gemelli's in Babylon - Another upscale Italian restaurant. Gorgeous, rustic looking place. They only do Saturday or Sunday day events. They seemed like the place to go, but I think the space may have been a tad small, since we may have dancing. But you get the whole restaurant for 4 hours!
Bergen Point Country Club - Gemelli's actually caters this place now. The outside is not pretty and you have to walk past the pro shop to get to the venue, but the event room is gorgeous! Hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings. Major downside: They only do buffet style. If you are looking for a place to have a nice buffet style event, don't count this place out.
Irish Coffee Pub - So far, this seems like a winner for us! They are very flexible and the person we spoke to told us straight up that they are all about food and service (which is our main focus). For the price, it seems like they give you a lot of food and more.
Three Village Inn - I loved the space. We also happened to show up on a day before a wedding of 50, which showed a set up example. However, I was not in love with what they were offering. The person we spoke to was very salesman-ish and we don't like that. They do have a package that is for a minimum of 50, but they were trying to up sell us on the big package and invite 100 people (the minimum for the complete wedding package). By the way, if you want to have your wedding between Jan-Mar, they have a package that includes a lot (limo, flowers, dj, etc) for a pretty great price!
Places I still have to check out (if the FH doesn't get mad at me lol): Captain Bills (they have a room that seats 60-100), The Snapper Inn (their min on Saturday nights are 90 outside on the Pavillion), Timber Point or Miller Beach Surf Club(min on Saturday night for MBSC is 75).
Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps any small wedding brides out there :). I'll update more when I check out the other venues.
Alimm729
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
My cousin was married at the Mansion at West Sayville and it was probably 50-75 people. It was a nice wedding, beautiful venue, and the food was excellent!
summerbridejen2015
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
Is Marios in Farmingdale?If so I love that place. We were going to go there or check Novita in Garden city,A friend of mine just got married there and they loved it. Our list went from 80 to about 130 in a hot minute lol...so we had to get a bigger place so we went with the Riviera.(That may be an option as well because it does accommodate smaller parties)
okellies
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
Alimm- Thanks for the suggestion, I might look into it, if the FH doesn't reign me in first lol
Summerbride- Mario's is in Hauppauge. There are tons of restaurants named Mario on LI, so there probably is a Mario in Farmingdale. I've never been to Novita, but heard great things when I was living over in that area.
rcotter90
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
I loooove Irish Coffee Pub! It's so cute and the food is amazing and it's perfect for a small wedding. If FH's family wasn't so enormous that would have been our place. So I vote there, if we're voting lol
booie135
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
Try The View in Oakdale! I fell in love with it, but it's a little too small for the size wedding we're having.
booie135
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
Try The View in Oakdale! I fell in love with it, but it's a little too small for the size wedding I'm having.
Melissa211
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
I just had my bridal shower at Gemelli's. The food & space is awesome...everyone raved about it. However I had a hard time dealing with the woman Patricia...she was not very friendly to the point where I don't think I would do another function there again...And there prices and info on the website wasn't the same as they charged me...so I was upset about that...
okellies
Posted:
Member since
Re: Intimate wedding venue search
Posted by booie135
Try The View in Oakdale! I fell in love with it, but it's a little too small for the size wedding I'm having.
I called the View and they said they had a minimium of 100 and they only do daytime weddings on Saturday and Sunday. The guy said he'd do 80 ppl, but I'm not sure if we want to do a daytime wedding.
It seems that with small weddings, places are more willing to give you more on Friday and Sundays.
okellies
Posted:
Member since
Re: Intimate wedding venue search
Posted by Melissa211
I just had my bridal shower at Gemelli's. The food & space is awesome...everyone raved about it. However I had a hard time dealing with the woman Patricia...she was not very friendly to the point where I don't think I would do another function there again...And there prices and info on the website wasn't the same as they charged me...so I was upset about that...
That stinks :(. We actually went down there and looked at the menu. It was not a bad price for a small place (I think it was about 60-70 a person). I just think it may be a bit too small for us.
okellies
Posted:
Member since
Re: Intimate wedding venue search
Posted by rcotter90
I loooove Irish Coffee Pub! It's so cute and the food is amazing and it's perfect for a small wedding. If FH's family wasn't so enormous that would have been our place. So I vote there, if we're voting lol
LOL, you can vote! FH loves the place and he says he 'has a good feeling'. I just like to see what else is out there and see if anything else compares to that place.
ICP's complete wedding package has an insane amount of goodies (ice sculpture - which the FH wants lol, centerpieces, linens, 5 hour event, ton of cocktail hour choices, cake). All for $95/person, with tax and service its $122/person. And since we are probably going to have our ceremony on site, ICP would eat the cost of the site fee ($350) if we had it on a Friday or Sunday.
Djswedding
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
Mario in hauppauge is yummy, however, I don't know that I would have a wedding there, only because of the surroundings.
My brother's wedding was at the Irish coffee pub last summer, at first I didn't know what it was... My initial reaction was 'you're getting married at a pub?' However, the food exceeded all of our expectations. He had about 90 ppl at the wedding. The service there was great, I had constant communication with the staff throughout the whole night. (SIL wasn't the cookie cutter bride, so I helped with coordinating day of)
My best friends sister was married at Captain Bills, great view since it is on the water, and good outdoor cocktail hour, dinner was okay, typical wedding menu. I had a great time because the room was spacious enough for 75-80 ppl, and it didn't seem like a small wedding, so it gave the illusion the room was full without being crammed.
mab30
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
Snapper Inn is beautiful but the pavilion can get pricey! Just a heads up! :)
MissToMrs
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
I went to a wedding about 75 people at Irish Coffee Pub about 4 years ago. It was fantastic!!!! :)
LibrarianJoyce724
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
I'm getting married in the bigger room at Captain Bill's so I recommend them. They are fantastic! I also looked at the Miller Beach Surf Club which we loved but it was too small for us. Their food is really good and the view is great. Really nice people
jenniepny
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
We had my parent's 30th wedding anniversary party at Irish Coffee Pub. It was fantastic, the food was good, room was perfect, and they were so easy to deal with. I definitely recommend that place.
okellies
Posted:
Member since
Re: Intimate wedding venue search
Posted by mab30
Snapper Inn is beautiful but the pavilion can get pricey! Just a heads up! :)
That's what I was afraid of. I looked at their menu and it's actually not too far off with what Irish Coffee Pub is offering, with maybe a couple things here and there. It looks really nice on the Pavilion, but I hear the inside area isn't as updated.
okellies
Posted:
Member since
Intimate wedding venue search
Thank you ladies for reconfirming my choices or giving me choices!
I'm having a small wedding with 60 people and getting married at Timber Point. I had such a hard time finding a venue with one wedding at a time that was affordable and willing to work with us. Miriam at Timber Point was great and very accommodating. Definitely check it out! Oh also, my rehearsal dinner is at the Irish Coffee Pub, amazing food and great service!
