2015 Private Ceremony & Honeymoon in New Orleans hotel, etc. Recommendations

jolieluv

My fiance and I will be traveling to New Orleans for the first time ever, Oct. 29th-Nov. 4th for a private wedding ceremony with close friends/family, then staying there for our honeymoon. We decided on New Orleans since we have both always wanted to go there and thought we would get married and stay for our honeymoon. We are planning on having our ceremony aboard the Creole Queen riverboat on Oct. 30th, then go to a celebration dinner later that evening versus having a reception on the boat.Trying to keep it simple but romantic and classy. We will also be attending one of the Halloween balls on Halloween(witches ball, vampires ball?) After that we will be on our own for our honeymoon. 

Any budget-friendly recommendations on where to have a celebration dinner for a group probably no more than 10 people? Also, recommendations of affordable accommodations for my fiance and I as well as our guests in the French Quarter? Also hotel recommendations in the Garden District to spend our honeymoon for the two of us? 

We also would like to do some tours, such as plantations, swamp, and cemetery. So any ideas on any good tours to go on would be fantastic. 

Thank you so much!

JoanE2012

Try posting this on your local board....you'll probably get a better response.  Good luck!

http://forums.theknot.com/categories/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans

CMGragain

Louisiana is not one of the easy states for elopements.  There is a three day waiting period after the license is issued, and one of you must apply for the license in person.

http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/louisiana/

mlg78

We loooooved Muriels. Prices weren't bad and the place would make for a gorgeous gathering after the ceremony.  Here's the website: http://www.muriels.com  It looks like ten people would qualify for a private party so you could select a menu which could help control the cost and you'd have a private room.  Beautiful décor and architecture!  Whatever you do -- don't do Commander's Palace.  Very expensive and overrated. 

AprilH81

There is a great restaurant called "NOLA" that is owned by Emeril Lagasse.  When I was there about 5 years ago entrees were in the $10-20 range.  Not cheap but not too expensive.

brunchbride14

We have been to Cafe Amelie a few times and it is delicious! It's a little on the pricier side but would be so pretty for a small group dinner. They have a beautiful patio, if it's not too cold and the inside is really sweet! It's in the French Quarter.

jolieluv

Thank you JoanE2012, I will try posting this on the local board as well. And thank you all for your recommendations so far, keep em coming!  

Also, CMGragain looks like you can get the 72 hour waiting period waived by a judge or the officiant that will be performing the service, according to what I have read. There is a waiver form that the coordinator at the New Orleans Visitor Bureau emailed to me as well. But she advised for us to call and find out the proper procedures, which we will do. Do you know if anyone has tried this waiver yet? 

Thanks again!

ccarwan42

I haven't been to New Orleans since before Katrina, but everywhere I went had amazing food (I'm a vegetarian and had no trouble finding great things to eat - without seafood!). I used priceline's name your price tool and ended up staying at the Intercontinental for about $100 a night. It was on the edges of the French Quarter, but gorgeous. When I went, the St. Charles streetcar was easy transportation to the Garden District, but all we did was walk around. For plantation visits, or anything outside the Quarter, I highly recommend having a car. Enjoy!

caitlinmca

jolieluv said:

My fiance and I will be traveling to New Orleans for the first time ever, Oct. 29th-Nov. 4th for a private wedding ceremony with close friends/family, then staying there for our honeymoon. We decided on New Orleans since we have both always wanted to go there and thought we would get married and stay for our honeymoon. We are planning on having our ceremony aboard the Creole Queen riverboat on Oct. 30th, then go to a celebration dinner later that evening versus having a reception on the boat.Trying to keep it simple but romantic and classy. We will also be attending one of the Halloween balls on Halloween(witches ball, vampires ball?) After that we will be on our own for our honeymoon. 

Any budget-friendly recommendations on where to have a celebration dinner for a group probably no more than 10 people? Also, recommendations of affordable accommodations for my fiance and I as well as our guests in the French Quarter? Also hotel recommendations in the Garden District to spend our honeymoon for the two of us? 

We also would like to do some tours, such as plantations, swamp, and cemetery. So any ideas on any good tours to go on would be fantastic. 

Thank you so much!

I have a friend who got married just outside NOLA a few years ago. She got married in Houma at the Grand Bayou Noir and highly recommends it.

I asked her okay!.2:0.0.0.0.0"> Then did you stay in the city as far as french quarter, or did you find that pricey?" and she said "We rented a HUGE antebellum home off homeaway.com for us and the wedding party. I think it was $2,400 for the week or something. We had 12 people in it though. It was in the Garden District. The Quarter shouldn't be too much more expensive. Rent a house though. Don't get a hotel. THEN you'll get raped financially."

I also asked about the marriage license thing, shes originally from Wisconsin, living in Nevada, hes from the Netherlands, and she said "Nope. We went straight to the courthouse, got our license, signed it the day we were married and kept it... I think... Yeah, pretty sure bc we took it to Holland with us straight afterwards to get it recognized internationally."

Edit--she was down there 8 days give or take.

MrsMelodyShah

My fiance and I have also decided to honeymoon in NO, so this thread is full of great information for us! We'll be getting married in Nashville, where we live, and plan to fly to NO and spend at least a week there for our honeymoon. I'm so excited! We're getting married in October 2015, too. Our date is the 10th so we'll be in NO right before you and your FI