Newport Yachting Center

EBROSNAN

Has anyone held their reception at the Newport Yachting Center?  Any reviews on this venue would be hugely appreciated,  Thanks

cicconesp

Our wedding is planned at NYC for Oct 23rd and I actually booked it site unseen.  I wanted an tented wedding that was reasonably priced with good food and I'm very excited about our choice.  The location is beautiful and although I haven't seen the tent I've seen enough pictures to know that its way better than average.  The venue is managed exclusively through Blackstone Catering which has amazing reviews. The same person who books the venue, plans the menu, works with the staff, and is onsite with you the day of the wedding.  I love the commitment and accountability.  (I've interviewed plenty of sales staff that you could tell would just tell you whatever you wanted to get you to book with them.)
We just finished our tasting with blackstone a few weeks ago and picked out our menu.  They truly treated us like royalty serving wine, champagne and mimosas the entire time.  Karen Conely is my event coordinator and we both LOVE her! She's amazing.  I interviewed a lot of places in the Newport area and they had the best prices even w/the venue fee,  they also beat all the full bar prices I was quoted by almost $10 a head.  Good luck!!

DansBride52911

Never been to an event there, but considered it for our wedding for the fact that you get to transform the all white tent into something of your own with lighting and decor. If it was in our budget, and there was a guarantee of perfect weather in May, we'd have booked it :-) So many amazing things you can do with that space!

Kelly8Jelly

I attended a wedding here last summer.  It's on the main street in Newport so parking was difficult to find and there were tons of people everywhere.  The tent is somewhat plain but I imagine it could be really pretty if you spend some money on decorations and lighting.  We are originally from Newport and have also been to weddings at Regatta and Castle Hill which were similar (tent - casual) and probably less work to decorate.

EBROSNAN

did the area where the actual tent was seem crowded?  I know there would be alot of people passing by - but I was under the impression the actual area where the tent was is a little more private.

amylydia23

I recently visited both the Yachting Center and the Regatta Place and I ended up booking my wedding at the Regatta.  The pricing is about the same and it's not as congested as the Yachting Center seemed.  Getting over to Goat Island is much easier than getting down to the Yachting Center also. 

My meeting for the Yachting Center was held at Blackstone Caterers, its beautiful in there and the event manager was extremely nice and offered us mimosas on arrival.  They offered a wonderful presentation and I had a really tough decison on my hands.
I ultimately went with the Regatta because of the location and the tent is nicer.  Which ever you decide to go with will be great but I suggest checking out the Regatta Place too.  Good luck!!!

EBROSNAN

Thanks for the suggestion! I actually have a meeting with both the Regatta Place and NYC this weekend.  I was under the impression that the Regatta Place was much more expensive.

cicconesp

Regarding pricing at Regatta I think it depends on your size.  For me NYC was better priced becuase I have over 200 people.  I think either location will be amazing.  Good luck!!

amylydia23

For me, on paper NYC looked cheaper but its because the 21% service fee was not added whereas the Regatta had already added that into my proposal.  I originally thought I would save money but once I did the math they both came out to be about the same price.  Plus I was going to rent different chairs and linens for the NYC which would have been a pretty big fee but at the Regatta already had the chairs I wanted.

It also depends on the menu you choose at the Regatta regarding the price but I do agree that depending on your size it will be more expensive.  I am only having 125 guests.  The ceremony and rental fees are the same though.  I would love to know which one you choose!

EBROSNAN

Hi everyone - thank you all for your feedback.  We have actually gone in a completely different direction.  We are booking the Towers in Narragansett.  We saw it on Saturday and fell in love with the venue.

Thanks again for the help though!

hjc8229

Would not recommend.

The food ranged from excellent to poor.  Great lamb chops to over cooked prime rib and fish.  We requested rare prime rib and were served excellent beef at the food tasting prior to the wedding..  The night of the wedding the prime rib was served medium(slightly pink).  The beef was excellent quality but cooked like pot roast!  I informed  the server that the beef was overcooked.  She said all the beef was cooked  to the same temperature.  She was not helpful.
   
Service was spotty.  Some of the wait staff were outstanding but many were inexperienced and not trained.  One of the bartenders was rude.  On the other hand the other bartenders were excellent. 

Dinner was served using stations with long lines.  They were not set up to handle 215 guests.  There should have been more access to the different food stations to match the number of people.  The stations and number of servers were  better suited for a wedding of 150 people.   

The banquet manager(who was very nice) was inexperienced and did not facilitate overall control, flow of the wedding and serving.  We recognized her inexperience during the planning stage and presented our concerns to the NYC.  We were assured that there would be experienced staff to assist her.  This did not happen.

The tent has no ventilation.  It was a beautiful night but about 15 degrees warmer(hot) in the tent.  The ability to exit the tent to the dock area was very nice and necessary.

Overall NYC  lack the experience, properly trained personnel ,consistent catering and attention to detail necessary to cater a quality function. 

We held our Daughter's wedding at the Hyatt Goat Island 5 years ago.   The event was slightly wore expensive and had some problems but it was in a whole different league compared to NYC.