Just Visited Carlyle

and I loved it!

I am still a little worried that the room is too big for 175, and that the cocktail hour room is too small.

Any thoughts?

We are comparing it to Port Jeff CC, Lands End and Watermill.

Didn't seem like they were open to knocking the prices down or throwing things in so I guess we will have to do a Sunday there.

didn't visit the others you mentioned, but we thought the room was way too big for our needs (~100). Is 175 your 'min' or 'max'? i can't remember all that well, but i don't think 175 would be as 'bad' as 100.

do you plan on having a band? if so, they will take up space (i know i am worried our band will not fit on the stage at our smaller venue). i would think also with 175 you could perhaps have more tables with less people per table (maybe 10 vs. 12, or whatever sizes they have)...

just a thought

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Posted by Bride2005

Any thoughts??

We are comparing it to Port Jeff CC, Lands End and Watermill.

Didn't seem like they were open to knocking the prices down or throwing things in so I guess we will have to do a Sunday there.

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WOW!!! they are ALL SO different!
on another post you mentioned about 150$ a person

the only hall that will be about that is Land's End
what day are you looking at? Fri, sat or sun day or evening?

we got quotes way under $150 for all of those except Land's End

I know, they are all a bit different.

FI loves PJCC, but we feel it is a bit small and wern't thrilled with the new renovations. I love the Watermill, but it has more than 1 wedding at a time.

My parents love Lands End. We were quoted 120 for a Sunday night there. FI likes that it is on the water. THe ballroom is nice, but I prefer Carlyle's. Plus we know the food is good b./c my sister was married at Flowerfield.

The Carlyle is a amazing !!!! My cousin got married there and it was one of the best weddings my family has been to.

Food is great. The chappel is great.. ballroom is great. And the people seemed real nice.

We liked the furniture and the Hall area which they give you for coctail hour as well as outside.

I agree the only other one I would consider is Land's End. I originally wanted a water location but felt the location was way out of the way, although it was beautiful.

A friend of mine got married at PJCC and the only thing nice about it was the water. Everything else was very ordinary. I do know it's been redone and maybe it will be better but I doubt it compares to Carlyle.

As for Carlyle, I promise you 175 is fine. I had
190. You will have 8-10 at a table. Regarding the cocktail room being small, they set up tables in the hall and so there is plenty of room. They even put some of the stations outside.

Good luck with your decision!

Thanks Novemebergirl. I know I am horrible at making decisions! I can never decide what to order at a restaurant for dinner, forget about choosing a hall to hold my reception!

I think you should be fine there with 175 people, we only had 150 there and it was fine.

People STILL talk about our wedding!!!

I know what you mean... I fell in love with it too.
We're having 150 people and I didn't think the cocktail room is too small. You can have the long corridor outside and the room with the bar too.
We were quoted $125 for a Friday night in November. I just loved teh ballroom. Not a speck of marble in sight...which is more my style.
Sorry I haven't been to the otehr ones but I've seen pictures of Land's End. I had considered some of their manhattan sights too.

I have been to both Carlyle and the Watermill as a guest, so here is my point of view. The Carlyle was lovely. The food was excellent and the service was superb. I am sure you could talk to the staff there and they can help you with the table arrangements so the room doesn't seem so big. The place is just beautiful!

Now for the Watermill. I just went to a wedding there. It is soo pretty. The lobby to take pictures is so nice, I loved the dark wood and the look of the rooms. However, I thought the food was ok. The cocktail hour was ok, lots of variety but quality was so so. As for the actual dinner, pretty bland. I had one bite of my meal and most of the folks at my table and my parents table hardly ate there meal and those that did later said the food was ok. Not that I would pick a place just for the food. I just didn't think it was anything special.

I know a few folks who work in the business and they said that the Scotto brothers are moving towards quantity, no longer quality.

Thanks for the advice....

Any comments about the food there??

I loved the room the cocktail hour was in.. very homey- the bar is really nice... it just had a great feel.

I thought the food was EXCELLENT. People are still raving about the cocktail hour. We had the mashed potato bar, italian cheese and antipasta, pasta bar, carving station with ham and corned beef, hot seafood (mussles, stuffed clams, shrimp), peking duck and asian pot stickers and 10 passed hor's- all home-made- no frozen pigs-in-a-blanket.

The dinner food is fabulous- every choice has different veggie & side:

we had napoleon of chicken marsala w. portabella mushrooms served with mashed potatoes.

Chateu Briand with roasted potatoes

Red Snapper with Risotto...

DH ordered the steak, I ordered the fish- so delish...

edited to say- we were able to negotiate price, we were married in January and took all our pictures inside.

I have never been to flowerfield- but it is too 'showy' for me- I personally like understated elegance- no streams, fountains, sparkle lights, chandelieres or mirrors or ugly carpets.. which is why I went with the Carlyle

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Posted by jessnyc711

In my opinion, I would seriously consider checking out Flowerfield. I think it is much nicer than the Carlyle and the Watermill, I haven't been to the other ones, but for the prices that Carlyle charges - you should check out Flowerfield. I felt that the Carlyle didn't have a nice cocktail hour location and having it in the dark hallway, yuck! The Ballroom is the only thing in my opinion that is nice, you cant really take pictures on the golfcourse, (I don't think-it's been over six months that I was there) there are golfers there during the day, you have to pay extra for valet parking, they do not budge on the prices.

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My sister was married at Flowerfield so that is out.

Thanks for the opinion!