Reception Hall Hunting..Reviews on Each

Phew so that was a busy and long weekend since found out need to pick a new reception hall due to BCE being stupid and not finishing renovations. i figured this may help some of you looking for a place (note prices are skewwed due to Thursday night wedding and plus the fact less than 4 months away til June!!)

Soooooo on to the reviews. We saw MANY places...some we didnt go in but most we at least stopped by. Here are my opinions.

Stop #1: Old Field Club: The place wasn't open, however, when we pulled up from the outside we could tell it wasn't for us. It reminded me of Windows on the Lake partly only because the outside needed to be renovated (severely). The shutters were old..the siding needed to be powerwashed and painted..and there was no landscaping. We peered inside the windows and from what we saw it seemed nothing special. Hence, we decided to quickly go elsewhere.

Stop#2: East Wind Caterers. Okay soo this place was gorgeous of course. Regal in every aspect. When we first arrived they showed us some room on the second floor of the main building since our party was a smaller one (90-100). I was not impressed with the room. The dance floor was one of those they laid on top and wasnt built into the floor and the room was pretty bland. The next room they showed us was a lot nicer. They called it the Northhampton ballroom. It was clean and slick. The chairs were nice and it was mainly their big ballroom cut in half. The menu was great adn the price was reasonable (70pp) for a Thursday. However, I did not like they didnt give u champagne when you came in and also the cocktail room was the same as the reception room (since they cut the room in half) minus it didnt have a dance floor. So for me it could ruin the surprise of the reception room. In addition, cocktail hour did not have any views (but at least they did have an outdoor patio).

Stop#3 (this is where i might go out of order): Fox Hollow: We stopped by but there was an event goinig on. Because I did not like the location or the outside, I decided to move on elsewhere. Also, I noticed online the Winter Pavillion room that there were giving us was set up weird. I felt like there was not a wide enough walk way in b/w tables. We scratched this one off the list.

Stop #4: North Ritz Club. It was okay..there was something about it that I did not like. It did not have the 'wow' factor I was looking for. The room was nice and it was nice that there was one wedding at a time. The location I did not like at all off a main road and the fact could see the hospital from the outside patio bothered me. Plus felt like wasnt getting money's worth since it was on upper end of price range ($70 pp).

Stop #5 (getting tired yet of reading?) Chataeu La Mer: The place wasn't as impressive as I thought it was going to be. Especially since there are a lot of people getting married here. On top of that because we have a small party, we would not get the main room. We would of gotten the upstairs room which was pretty bland and not enough windows for my liking. Plus I felt as if that place was not big enough to hold two weddings at the sametime. I felt as if the lobby would be way too crowded and you'd run into people every two seconds.

Stop#6: Riviera: The place was cute and cozy, however, the outside of the building itself was not too impressive and the fact that I would of had to change my date just to go there was not too great (especailly since would of had to change it to a weird date in July). It didnt seem like anything special when I peered into the main room (there was an event going on).

Stop #7: Venetian Yacht Club: The rooms were beautiful. again i felt as if having two weddings at a time might have been cramped. Also, they did not have any dates in June, only July and the fact that the one date they had I would not have access to the outdoor cocktail hour was a major turnoff. Also, I felt as if the food might have been a little too fancy for my taste and I felt you didn't get that big of a choice.

Stop#8: Thatched Cottage. The outdoor cocktail hour was amazing. However, if it rained the indoor cocktail hour was in a basement and there was no elevators so my handicapped aunt would of had to walk outside and around to enter (which would not be good in rain). The indoor cocktail hour room was way too big for our party (would of been awkward). The main reception room was okay..nothing special. They had many good personalized options though (which is a plus). I didnt like the fact our head table blended with rest of room. Also they only allowed 12 per table and we wanted to have 8-10 per table. They charged more if u were to change table sizes to add waiters (i didnt like that). Also, they had food stations for cocktail and it seemed like you werent getting too much. I did like the fact they had cute personalized options though like banana foster table and also wine service before dinner included. Overall, it was a top contender because of price. thought french style food might have been too much though since not used to it.

Stop #9 (LAST ONE). Lombardi's on the Sound: The place on the outside was impressive..on the inside even more impressive. It was very beautiful and the view from the cocktail hour was amazing. The fact that we had access to the cocktail room entrie evening was nice since it keeps people flowing if they do not like the loud music. and always have access to patio. The food menu was absolutely amazing (10 chaffing dishes!!) from a choice of like 40..wow. You also got cookies which a lot of people werent offering. The main reception room didnt have a view of the water, however you could open up the sliding doors to the cocktail room and see the patio and water from there (or the curtains). Also there had no restrctions on what we did for tables. The linens were nice as well adn the place settings i loved the silver platters underneath. The price was very reasonable (65 pp). Also, I loved Bob the manager. The place was far enough off the main road and it is a nice drive there past nice houses. I didnt like the fact that the bathrooms were downstairs or the fact that there was a restaurant in the place but at least it is separate adn only one wedding at a time. I also liked access to beach for pictures.

MY CHOICE....LOMBARDIS ON THE SOUND!. And i am happy with it. Was tough choice bw East wind Lombardis and Thatched cottage but I think I made the right choice.

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