disclaimer : this is really for those that haven't picked a place yet...unless you love to hear my ramblings so much that you can't pull yourself away from my posts and HAVE TO READ what i say, then please by all means continue, i love being on my soap box ...
disclaimer 2: these are my personal unprofessional thoughts and ruled by emotion to what i am looking for in MY perfect RH, please don't take into offense if i say something negative about your hall, it really would be my own personal pet peeve...
so nearly two months into being engaged, i still have no idea where i'm getting married and the little blank space next to location is still looking pretty lonely and sad... this is going to be a long one girls, so brace yourselves...
first place we checked out was harbor club - we both hated it, the lobby was too small and it just 'felt' small to us so we didn't even end up meeting with the bm, not to mention fh hates the idea of getting hitched near a marina/yacht club
then we saw fox hollow - first thing fh comment on was 'wow look at the HUGE PUMPKINS?! I LOVE THEM!', we loved everything about the place except the ceremony site... we felt it was too close to the main road so we're gonna keep this place on the maybe list, but everything else wouldve been PERFECT! not to mention the cute little stuffed fox they gave us...corny but it was a nice touch we thought.
swan club, we loved the location, loved the grounds, loved the chapel and ch room... i wasn't crazy about the ballroom...but the view of the grounds was very nice...and the big disappointment was the food selection...it just didn't catch us like the scotto bros places did...but they gave us an AWESOME deal if we moved up our wedding to the fall of 09, so good we are finding it a little hard to pass up... like THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, it came out to be way below budget for us which is a giant plus...but alas the food... its always about the food...
then off to westbury manor, and everyone was telling us beforehand we were going to LOVE it, and LOVE IT we did..the only thing stopping us from booking it, is the fact we can't have a pm ceremony on site...::sigh:: WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SEEK PERFECTION?
next was cresthollow, i've been to a wedding here before and they gave us a great price, the grounds were nice...but the fees to have our ceremony or ch outdoors were a bit of a turn off, and i didn't like how i had no control over what cocktail hour room we got if it was indoors? its too much unknown variables for this control freak bride...and the ballrooms itself didn't blow me away either... oh and fh thought the ch decorations for the stations was too corny... sombreros? and chinese fans? uh yea... there were more negatives than the pluses so we are moving along
larkfield manor - we checked this place out because its very very close to FH's parents home and it was just convenient to see... it was OK, i was underwhelmed and not blown away by it... so its obviously not where we're gonna get hitched...the food selection i honestly have to say looked pretty good... and they would give my deposit back to us if we did the food tasting and didn't like it.. but no windows to an amazing view and overall not romantic enough for us...so we're gonna have to pass... and the prices were OK, not expensive but not so cheap where i felt compelled to rethink it a few times...
last place we saw this weekend was the historical thatched cottage, one of my bm's called it 'interesting' so i wasn't having HIGH hopes for this being it... my fmil also pushed us to see this place because fh's cousin was supposed to get married here but had to change it because of military service...so we went, and honestly from the second i walked in, i felt very 'comfortable' the view of the lake(?) was very nice, the willow tree and set up lends itself to a very romantic feel for a ceremony... the renovated cocktail hour was nice, love the indoor/outdoor option, love the one bride only option, they would give us the twilight wedding i wanted for a sunday and an even more impressive price for a fall 09 wedding...the ballroom had a wonderful view...it feels almost perfect...but i was a little confused about the hors d' vours (sp) selection..so we're gonna have to really think about this one, but definitely a contender...
so over dinner last night, fh and i listed what were our top three and they happened to be the same, so we're both on the samge page..which is fab! 1. westbury manor 2. fox hollow 3. thatched cottage
we're gonna see north ritz club and watermill next weekend, i'd like to stop and just pick one already after next week because i'm like that and i don't like to sit on things.. but FH is insistent we keep looking and looking until we find wedding reception nirvana... so the search continues...
stinenandy2010
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Re: my rh saga continues
Posted by christophersgirl
Posted by SpringBride2010
I would say just go with what your heart is telling you. With the whole food thing, are your guests really picky eaters or do they like to try diverse dishes? I visited Fox Hollow and the food was excellent but i have alot of picky eaters so i decided not to go with Fox. It wouldv'e been overwhelming for them.Also if you pick a place that is too much money, will you be broke afterwards. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing for another. I chose my hall because the food was perfect for my event, the price was perfect and i loved the grounds. It's not perfect by any means but for me it is in my situation.
hmmm i don't know if its really picky per se, i honestly didnt find too much wrong with the swan club menu, fh just didn't like it...but we have weighed that point, because honestly, who the heck remembers food you have at a wedding 2 years from now...the only thing I really remember is who had scallops wrapped in bacon (my favorite appetizer food) besides that... it all kinda tasted the same to me.
but in general, i am a very fussy eater... so in a way its not important, but important at the same time... does that make any sense?
I think food is very important, at least in my family, we're italian so we have to have a lot of food. The one thing I usually remember at a wedding is the food. If its bad or good. That's how I started picking the places I wanted to visit and did not want to visit. For example, there was a particular RH that had horrible food when I attended a wedding there so I immediately crossed it off the list.
MrsGRod09
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Re: my rh saga continues
Posted by christophersgirl
Posted by SpringBride2010
I would say just go with what your heart is telling you. With the whole food thing, are your guests really picky eaters or do they like to try diverse dishes? I visited Fox Hollow and the food was excellent but i have alot of picky eaters so i decided not to go with Fox. It wouldv'e been overwhelming for them.Also if you pick a place that is too much money, will you be broke afterwards. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing for another. I chose my hall because the food was perfect for my event, the price was perfect and i loved the grounds. It's not perfect by any means but for me it is in my situation.
hmmm i don't know if its really picky per se, i honestly didnt find too much wrong with the swan club menu, fh just didn't like it...but we have weighed that point, because honestly, who the heck remembers food you have at a wedding 2 years from now...the only thing I really remember is who had scallops wrapped in bacon (my favorite appetizer food) besides that... it all kinda tasted the same to me.
but in general, i am a very fussy eater... so in a way its not important, but important at the same time... does that make any sense?
I totally understand, you have to choose food that will satisfy you, you fh and your guests it's a tough decision. Good luck hopefully you will find a place that will meet what you desire
angelatp
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Re: my rh saga continues
Girl you said it, FH and I have been looking for quite some time now, without any luck. It was one thing or the other. They don’t offer the ceremony on the date we want, the minimum is too low, etc. I am by no means picky, but there was not one place that I felt was the one. If I loved it there was no way of them accommodating a small reception such as mine (100-125), or I just did not like certain aspects, or food was not great, FH and I REALLY into food, it just had to be perfect.
This should not be so darn difficult, I understand I have a small wedding, but why can't I find a place that I can actually work with? I just want get this over with already, because it’s starting to feel like I am never going to find the PERFECT place. Does it even exist? I'm beginning to have my doubts.
christophersgirl
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Re: my rh saga continues
don't worry! we will find rh nirvana, you just gotta believe
JenBill61210
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Re: my rh saga continues
Posted by christophersgirl
Posted by JenBill61210
wow you were quite the busy one! Well at least you know now what you like and what you don't like. I know it gets tiring after a while but my suggestion to you would to be keep looking- you will know when the right RH is for you.
Keep us posted!
what made you pick fox hollow jenny? btw - can i mention how much i love your name? its like i've found a kindred spirit haha...
LOL.. yeah Jennifer is my full name but my friends have been calling me Jenny forever (and my mom named me after a soap opera character named Jenny lol...but thought Jennifer was a 'full name')
Anyway to get off my tangent..
I picked Fox Hollow because i thought it was very pretty, it has a good reputation, and plus the #1 reason i picked it was because they were giving us SO MUCH MORE for our money out of other halls we visited. Fox Hollow was the 3rd hall we visited and we visited like, 5 more after that but we didn't get that 'excitement' feeling like we did when we were at Fox Hollow.
I only say to look around because i felt like i did rush a bit myself and would have probably liked to look at more halls, but at that point FH was gonna kill me LOL...
Good luck hun!
Its2Snappy
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Re: my rh saga continues
I think it's very difficult to find the 'perfect' place or RH 'nirvana'. The reality is that you can probably always find something that you would change. I think it's more important that you and FH have the majority of things that you both want, and especially the things which are most important to you.
I really wanted to get married at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, but the Palm House, was WAY TOO much money. FH fell in love with the Westbury Manor. And while I LOVE it, it was not still not my number 1 pick. Even it its not 'perfect' it can still be the best for you. After all, are our FHs perfect? Are we?
Nurse12985
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Re: my rh saga continues
We saw so many and I still am not 100% thrilled with JT
DWKSwed
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Re: my rh saga continues
Check out Land's End. I looked at like 10 other places and had some problem with all of them, didn't feel right, etc. and we had thought that Land's End would be out of our price range but they have all kinds of promotions if you get married in the off-season, and we're getting married on a Friday night in the summer which is more affordable too (but definitely not cheap!). They are out on the water and have a really nice space for outdoor ceremony.
We also liked North Ritz Club until the BM ran away with our quote list to 'get us a better price' since we were referred, and came back and UP'ED the charge by $40 pp! So we left, haha. But it was a nice place definitely. You will find your place, don't worry! Go back and visit the ones you like a second time, that made a huge difference to us, our previous #1 choice we HATED when we went back, and Land's End was a close #2 and we fell in love even more the second time. It's hard when you go the first time, you're so rushed, you want to love everything, you miss some things.
christophersgirl
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Re: my rh saga continues
you girls are so supportive, i'm all misty eyed!
jch8
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Re: my rh saga continues
aw you will figure it out!! I am still searching for a RH also...we have looked at 10 in the past week.
We think we narrowed it down to the top 3. So hopefully this all works out!!!
I dont know if you are ever 100% positive...Because even my favorite at first, im like wait, maybe its not the best, etc. I am always second guessing these places.
SummerBride10
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Re: my rh saga continues
Good luck with you search! Sometimes you have to look at soooo many RHs before you find the one. If you didnt get the 'this is the one' feeling about any of them yet- keep looking. There are soo many RHs to look at on LI!
Goldie39
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Re: my rh saga continues
You're doing a great job with your RH search. I know it gets tiring but at least your not being impulsive. Of course you know I am biased of WM, but I've heard nothing but great things about Fox Hollow as well. A lot of the other places you mentioned, I've never been to so I don't have much of an input. You're gonna find the perfect place soon, I just kow it!
