Ashford Estate Brides! I need your help!

Clattarulo626

Hi girls, 

I am looking into wedding venues and the only venue that really wows me from start to finish is the Ashford Estate.  

Given the prices on the website, we visited with Laura and tried to negotiate with her since well we have a limited budget and would like enough money to pay for everything else.  

Did anyone have success negotiating with them?  If anyone can give me a general idea of the pricing for everything, I'd appreciate that so much!  

Also, how is merri-makers.  I'm concerned with the mixed reviews on the internet and it seems like there is a lack of food compared to other venues I've seen.  I'm also not crazy about the separate liquor charge. Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

msmirnow

Hello!

I felt the same exact way about Ashford as you, definitely the only venue in NJ that has wow-ed me so far. I met with Kevin last month, and really fell in love, but it was a few $$$ over our budget. After trying to negotiate with Kevin over email, I was pretty much told that the prices are fixed and nothing was negotiable. So unfortunately I had to pass on Ashford.

Did you have any luck with Laura??

bereasonable2

The Ashford Estate is one of the premiere venues in NJ. You don't go to Neiman Marcus and haggle them down to Walmart prices.

LJN414

Hello, there! I was married at The Ashford. bereasonable2 is correct - there wasn't any negotiating. I would've married Hubby on a street corner with a Ring Pop, so I feel really lucky that we got to have our wedding there (we dated for a long time and saved $$$ once we decided that we wanted to celebrate with our families). I'm biased, of course, but although the price for the food/rental for the entire day and overnight is very high (okay, pretty absurd, but this is NJ after all) we wouldn't change a thing. It was worth every penny. 

The division of Merri-Makers that handles their catering is a different branch than the one who provides food for their other venues). My in-laws are straight from Italy (as were many of our guests) so food was a HUGE (!!!) priority for us. It was the BEST wedding food I've ever had (I feel like a lot of people say this about their venue lol but it's true - people ordered seconds and tried to order thirds). The amount of food was beyond! So, so much! Is it cheap? Not even a little. Are there more affordable, beautiful places around? Absolutely! Tons of them! But we wouldn't change a thing. We had an incredible experience. 

Feel free to PM me for more info. I'm always happy to help other brides since the venue was so new when we got hitched (2012) and I didn't have anyone to fill me in on things. : )

*edited because I haven't had enough coffee to spell properly yet : )

Vern718

I would LOVE some suggestions !!!! I loved the ashford estate but it is a little over our budget. I want something comparable. I also love the venetian! 

Knottie83763949

Hi,

I have an appointment in two weeks to "re-tour" and book this venue because we were in awe of how beautiful this venue was. I suddenly just got very nervous about the food since I'm see mixed reviews. Can someone send me any info they have on merry makers? There platinum package is now $165 pp and the liquor is close to $5K. We will have many off the boat italians at our wedding and food will be number 1 since the venue is absolutely beautiful. Info on the Ashford would be very helpful as well!!

Thank you so much!