Cathedral OOT Bride Question

fhplyer01

I want to be able to walk from the Cathedral to the reception site but need a space large enough for 75 people.  Any suggestions???  Also can I please have feedback from any brides working with the Cathedral, I just called yesterday to set the wedding date for Spring 2013!  Thanks so much for your help!!

NO2012

As far as reception space, you have lots to choose from within walking distance of the Cathedral, so you will need to give us some more parameters of what you are looking at (inside, outside, budget, ballroom, more New Orleans feel, etc.).  My reception is at the Wax Museum, which is 7 blocks away, and that is still considered "walking distance" for a second line.  Let us know what you are thinking and we will help!  Many helpful girls here.

As far as the Cathedral, did you actually speak to someone to set the date or leave a message?  If you just left a message, here is my advice: have patience- they will call you back, but it could take a week or so;  leave detailed messages and tell them to leave the available dates and times on your voicemail in case you miss their return call; be ready to ask as many questions and get as much info as you can out of them when you do speak live on the phone (i.e., get all of the dates and times available for March and April...not just the Saturday 7pm dates you think you want right now- get all of your options upfront because if you start leaning towards a 3pm mass instead you willl be reinventing the wheel with your phone calls to them); determine if your priest from home will be marrying you in NO or will you need a local priest to do it- if using your priest, have him ready to call them and leave a message to confirm this (this has to happen before they will confirm your date anyways and I found they took me more seriously when I had all of my ducks in a row).  I felt very frantic during this process because I knew with every passing day someone could be taking my date (*alarche* did take my October 6th date by literally a few hours .  If you have your heart set on a date and time, make this a priority. 

Also, when you do book and confirm your date, don't forget to book your rehearsal date and time!  They book this like the wedding (first come, first serve), but they didn't mention it to me- I had to ask.  I got the last slot for Friday evening rehearsal- otherwise I would have been stuck with Thursday rehearsal for my Saturday wedding! 

Good luck and HTH!  I know this is long, but I wish I had known all of this back in July!!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the shoutout NO2012 ; )
Our reception is going to be held at the riverview room which is only about 1-2 blocks from the Cathedral. I considered the fact that in the french quarter, you only want to pay to park once, so i wanted people to be close to their cars before and after the event. The riverview room is the 4th floor of Jackson Brewery. There is also Pat O's on the River in the Jackson Brewery.

sbelle85

Our reception is also at the Riverview Room.

Alicat416

i am getting married at the Cathedral at 1 pm on March 23rd and it has been quite complicated to get set up.  just stay persistant and be available at all times to answer your phone cause if you miss there call back you need to start all over and call back and leave another voicemail.

on a bright note: there are still saturday time slots available for spring ceremonies though nothing past 1 pm .... a couple of weeks ago there was a Saturday 3 pm sometime in may as well.  Dates that were available as of a cpl of days ago that i can remember are May 16th (my original date that i just gave up) Last Saturday in April (also the first weekend of Jazz Fest) and June 22nd (the only 1 pm time slot left in June though all 11 am ones were available). we were not interested in getting married in the new orleans heat so i dont know anything about july and august. Also i remember her saying that almost all of the saturday time slots are available in October which will not be the case for long seeing as this is the most popular month to get married. 

If i were you and able to get married on March 16th I would be able to have my dream wedding with a reception following at Galvez (they are booked for the 23rd)  you should definately check them out.  this is by far my most favorite venue in the french quater. gorgeous.. beautiful views... delicious foods...only  couple of blocks from the cathedral... have i mentioned gorgeious... and incredibly affordable.  and best of all I KNOW THAT THEY ARE AVAILABLE FOR THAT DATE cause i just let it go (in order to not have a war in my family... its a long story) i can give you any info as i am knee deep in planning my March wedding and researching everything from venues to photographers. let me know. good luck

Brooke4377

Yes, as everyone has said, have as much detail as possible when calling the cathedral!!  I have always called on Friday, and my messages have always been returned Saturday between 6 and 7 pm.  They return calls in order, and only on Saturday, so if you call Monday you will wait til the following Saturday, and I imagine you'd be called early in the morning.  I try now to always call on Friday afternoon so that I can (somewhat) know about what time to expect them to call me back on Saturday.  It is also true that you have to REQUEST that they leave you a detailed message if you miss them.  Otherwise you will get a message saying that they are returning your call and that is it.....then you will call and leave a message and wait another week!  As for time slots, if you are open to a Friday wedding you will pretty much have your choice of date/ time slot.  I think Fridays are a great choice for OOT brides as your whole party is travelling (and likely taking off a workday anyway) so it can really open  up the calendar.  I chose Friday, and I had my choice of dates throughout October and November of 2012, and I only started calling in January.

For reception venues, as others have said, you really have your pick of probably 100 places in walking distance!  It will really depend on the feel you are looking for.  We are having our reception at the Bourbon Orleans, which is pretty much directly behind the Cathedral.  We also considered the Riverview Room, but their minimum is 125 people.  Granted that only means you have to pay for 125, and the quote I got was for $11,680 or something and included tax, so it actually put it at cheaper than some of the other places I looked at.  Lots of bonuses there as well, such as food out all night, and if you add an extra hour you only pay for the guests that are still there which I thought was a great deal.  They didn't have our date, so it made my decision easier!  The Bourbon Orleans is a ballroom, and will end up costing us more than the Riverview Room, but it is beautiful and I am so in love with it.  We also looked at the Omni Orleans, which I also loved.  It was even a little more expensive and didn't have our date for the terrace, which is what I wanted.  We looked at the Wax and St. Louis hotel as well, and the Benachi House, Race and Religious as well, but I didn't like that we would need transportation to those.  Muriel's, the Cabildo, and Pat O's are all other popular venues nearby.  Good luck!

fhplyer01

Thank you so much for all information!  I will keep you updated and yes I missed the call back from the Cathedral!