SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

Hi ladies!

I'm considering Watermill (in Smithtown) as the venue for my 2015 wedding. Aside from the fact that it's pretty and affordable, it's one of the few places that still has Saturday nights left for next year in the months I'm lookng for. Would you ladies please, please let me know any and all expeirences you've had with this venue - I want to hear it all! The good, the bad, the ugly, the pretty and the outsanding. Did you have a day wedding, everning wedding, astor room or vanderbilt? Who was your contact? Etc. I'm cutting it close with my decision but I'd really like to get some input as I've gathered some mixed reviews for the places from various sources. Thanks so much for sharing!

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

I've never attended a wedding there, but I did attend a few installation dinners. We had cocktail hour in the large room to the left when you walk in, and the 'reception' was downstairs in the big room. I have no idea about outside space because the dinners were always in Jan/Feb. The food was always delicious and everyone had a great time. The woman who did all the planning for the event always had great things to say about the place and people she worked with there. Definitely a beautiful venue and would have been a contender for us if we hadn't been there quite a few times before.

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

Oh, and the Viennese hour, if you can afford it or get them to throw it in, is really really good. It's huge and they do the whole big show thing and everything.

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

Like rcotter, I haven't been for a wedding but I have been for an installation dinner. I haven't had my event yet but I love the renovations they are doing and everyone there has been a breeze to work with. I've been working with two of the BM's (it seems they don't really assign you one) and they've both been great. We booked with Brian and were able to negotiate the price, so that was a plus. We are doing a night wedding and in the winter they decorate indoor and outdoor beautifully. We are in the Astor room upstairs which I like because it has direct access to outside if you have any smokers, decide to do cigar bar or want to get fresh air, if you are in the basement room, people have to go upstairs and out the lobby door to get outside. Unfortunately thats all the information I have for now. Good luck on your search!

Re: SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

I’ve been to a few weddings at the Watermill, the last one about 3 years ago. Let’s just say that after that one, I vowed to never have my wedding there…but it’s totally a personal choice.

I think they can have 2 events going on at the same time (there’s an upstairs room and a downstairs room).

I hate how they serve their food during dinner. I’ve never seen it done before, and not sure if they still do it this way. Try to imagine this:

During dinner service, someone (banquet manager/captain?) sets up an 8' rectangular table covered in tablecloth in the MIDDLE of the dance floor. Then the food is delivered to this table all at once. The servers queue up to pick up a few plates at a time and deliver them to your table and get back on the line to pick up more plates. It’s like they’re putting on a show that no one wants to watch.

I also didn’t like that they hired a lot of young (looked like high school) servers, and I wasn’t a fan of the food.

One of the weddings was at the beginning of May. The cocktail hour was outside, and it was FREEZING! They have heating lamps but no one thought to turn one on? And where were the forks?!? Had to ask several staffers, and it turns out they forgot to set out forks during cocktail hour.

Again, this is several years ago, so I hope they got their act together.

The people that own the Watermill also own Chateaubriand in Westbury (I didn’t consider either but I’ve heard good things about it) and Fox Hollow in Woodbury – which was my other top contender. They seem to do things a lot differently at the Fox Hollow, however, I've never been to a wedding there. I would suggest checking them out.

Good luck!

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

The day we decided to visit the Watermill, we were on our way back from East Wind and really disappointed because we thought it would be our venue. We googled venues & decided to just go there. We had never heard of it so I didn’t know anything about price, reputation, etc. When we walked in we fell in love. We wanted to have an on-site outdoor ceremony & their gardens are beautiful. They also do a really nice outdoor cocktail hour which we got to see because there was a wedding that day. Then we walked into the ballroom (astor suite) & it was so pretty. Nice and big, hardwood dance floor, fire place, large bar, the lights were included, we liked the chairs (because I hate chair covers) and they were okay with our 100 person minimum. Then they showed us their options for indoor ceremony & cocktail hour (just in case it rains) & it was just as pretty. They have separate rooms for both so we won’t be getting married on our dance floor like at other halls which is important to us. They went over the menu & threw in a couple of free things, I was holding on to my seat because I was sure we wouldn’t be able to afford it. My fiancé kept telling me to relax lol. once he gave us the price my face dropped. It was actually under budget. We visited a couple of more places but it was the lowest quote (other than smithtown landing because that’s all inclusive) & the nicest in our opinion. We booked in July and went to a bridal showcase in October and got to taste the food. They had quite a large selection and everything tasted good. My fiancé especially loved the mashed potato bar. If you aren’t sure if it’s right for you visit a couple of more places and make your decision that way. I did the same but kept comparing everything to the watermill

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

I have heard great things about the renovations they did somewhat recently there! I know a girl who is planning her wedding there for the end of this year and she has so far had a wonderful experience with them!

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

I wasn't thrilled with Watermill just because of the traffic noise for an outside cocktail hour. I also wanted something really unique and different than a regular ballroom. I remember liking the mahogany bar in the room we saw, and the entrance was inviting. I loved the watermill itself and the outdoor space, but not that it was on Jericho turnpike. Prices were great though and they seemed to have a smooth handle on how they do things.

I just wanted to note that the owners are not the same Scottos as Fox Hollow and Chateau Briand, I thought so too at the time, but they're actually different families.

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

i went there recent looking for venues. they were almost done remodeling and from what i could see the remodel was really nice. their outside part was my favorite.. the gardens were so pretty. I went to a wedding there last november and the food was okay.. not fabulous but not terrible. We ultimately decided to go elsewhere but it was a contender for us.

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

My uncle is a MC so once I got engaged I asked him where I should look since he clearly knows who has good food, service, and everything else. Watermill is one of his favorite venues (along with many others) so once FH and I went in there we fell in love esp when we saw the remodel (which to my knowledge won't be done until Feb 2015 since they are completely redoing the cocktail hour room) So far they have been amazing to work with!

Re: SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

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Posted by kaselyn

I wasn't thrilled with Watermill just because of the traffic noise for an outside cocktail hour. I also wanted something really unique and different than a regular ballroom. I remember liking the mahogany bar in the room we saw, and the entrance was inviting. I loved the watermill itself and the outdoor space, but not that it was on Jericho turnpike. Prices were great though and they seemed to have a smooth handle on how they do things.

I just wanted to note that the owners are not the same Scottos as Fox Hollow and Chateau Briand, I thought so too at the time, but they're actually different families.

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While not an issue for us since we are doing an indoor cocktail hour, I did hear from a friend of mine that the outside cocktail hour can get noisy. She went to a wedding at Watermill and said while they were at the outdoor cocktail hour, they could hear the music from the other event that was going on. I'm sure it might not happen to everyone but I agree that it's something to keep in mind if you want an outdoor cocktail hour.

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

Thanks everyone for the the feedback! Keep it coming as you continue to work with them or hear about them!

SEEKING ALL THOUGHTS ON WATERMILL CATERERS!! (I want to hear it all!!)

FH and I went to a wedding there last year. It was very nicely decorated and I like the fact that they had seats for everyone during the cocktail hour. That being said, the room for the reception was downstairs and the structural poles around the dance floor got in the way of seeing a lot of things. Also, there werent any vents for the bathroom being that it was in the basement so unfortunately the front of the hall smelled like septic. I have heard that they have done renovations since then, so hopefully they fixed that problem.