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.
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!
This!! My wedding is bigger than 80 people but Steve, the BM there, is SO accommodating and I have loved every moment of planning my wedding with Steve and Annie there!
Amanda2022
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Intimate wedding venue search
I've been to many events at Irish coffee pub and captain bills, never have been disappointed. I have quotes for timberpoint, they are from last summer so they may have gone up
JaimeLin
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Intimate wedding venue search
I love captain Bill's!
lizzyro
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Intimate wedding venue search
Bellport Country Club is affiliated with Irish Coffee Pub and can accommodate an 80 person wedding (which is what we are having)
Chels
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Intimate wedding venue search
did you def want to do a restaurant? my min is 85 at westbury manor...
Holly87
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Intimate wedding venue search
Miller beach Surf club! ...I loved this venue, but it was too small for me and FH family size
okellies
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Re: Intimate wedding venue search
Posted by Chels
did you def want to do a restaurant? my min is 85 at westbury manor...
We are definitely doing a restaurant. FH is adamant about not doing a catering hall. I will see what happens, but right now it looks like Irish Coffee Pub is our place
We are checking out The Snapper Inn tomorrow and going back to ICP on Thursday to get a peek at what our set up would look like (there's a wedding of 90 being set up).
okellies
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Re: Intimate wedding venue search
Posted by Holly87
Miller beach Surf club! ...I loved this venue, but it was too small for me and FH family size
I like that place too (from what I saw on the website) and if I get the chance to look at it, I will.
Kpiligra
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Try the Coral House in Baldwin. They have a bunch of different sized rooms and you can dance in them. That's where I'm getting married.
okellies
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Re: Intimate wedding venue search
Posted by Kpiligra
Try the Coral House in Baldwin. They have a bunch of different sized rooms and you can dance in them. That's where I'm getting married.
I actually grew up not too far from the Coral House. Personally, I was never a fan of the place. It's kind of like how some people I talked to lately about growing up in Copiague, Lindenhurst and going to the Riviera or Chateau Le Mer; they grew up in the area and have been to lots of events there.
Kpiligra
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Yeah I totally understand! It's actually much nicer than it used to be. It's under new ownership and they've done a lot of renovations. But yeah I totally know what you mean about going somewhere out of where you grew up!
okellies
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Checked out The Snapper Inn yesterday.
It's a pretty place. Lots of options for where you could have your wedding. They seem very flexible on the menu too. Main Dining Room - minimum of 100 ppl The Connetquot Room - minimum was 45 for one room and for the two combined rooms was 75. The Pavilion - Separate building, Minimum on Saturday is 90 ppl, but she was willing to work on a smaller minimum on other nights.
Cermony site fee is $500 plus $2 per person (for the chairs). The chairs that came with the Pavilion were beach chairs (as the FH said, 'they didn't look coolie friendly'). Other chairs could be used, but for a price.
Price: The Riverside Wedding (4 hours)- $97 pp (w/ tax ~ $123pp) - this is a cocktail hour and buffet package. Buffet can convert to sit down at no charge if less than 130 people. You would choose from the chafing dishes as your sit down choices. The Vanderbilt Wedding(5 hours, this is the whole shebang) - $130 pp (w/tax ~ $160pp) There are other party packages that could be done for weddings, but they don't have all the add ons that the wedding packages have.
tl;dr: The Snapper Inn is too pricey for us, since we get a lot more at Irish Coffee Pub. The person we spoke with (Lori) was very nice. If you are someone who likes a nautical or beachy atmosphere, The Snapper Inn looks like the place.
