So everyone has given me some good tips but I am still deciding on either Venue and going through so much confusion I am driving my Fiance nuts! I like both venues They are offering me so many different things. I am worried that if I choose one I will regret the decision and wanted to have chosen the other..in cases of bad service or them overcharging me once they have me locked into a contract. My first love was the Castle Hill inn but I saw Belle Mer and fell equally in love! I need to make my decision soon and I keep tossing up the ideas. Belle Mer seems to come out better in pictures so everyone that sees it automatically picks it. What is better if it rains that day...for reception? How is the service? How is the food? Anyone regret anything. How is food pricing at Belle Mer? I need eveyones opinions and ideas and advice. Has anyone gotten married at either of these two. This will be destination for me so everyone will be from out of town.
Re: Need more Advice Belle Mer Or Castle Hill Inn?
In the end I chose Belle Mer. While I'm not trying to convince you one way or the other, I can share some of the big things that helped me make my decision.
- Rain Plan - While this was hard for me to think about since I am so hopeful for a nice sunny day, it is important. If I remember correctly, at the Castle the rain plan is to have everyone sit at the round dinner tables that they will sit at during the meal. Belle Mer utilizes the dining room area as well, but then flips the room during cocktail hour, so it will look different when they are seated for dinner.
- Out of Town guests - The Castle and Belle Mer are both beautiful. I liked the private and off the beaten path feel of the Castle. However, if youre planning on out of town guests (as we are) they will have further to travel to hotels and the happening areas of Newport and need to valet if they choose to rent a car. Also, the Castle needs to end by 11 PM, which depending on your guests might be considered early - and they are far from an after party location for them to reconvene.
- Flexibility - The shop that sold me my bridal gown also provides wedding planning services. While I did not use them, I was discussing the venue choices while trying on dresses, and she said that the Castle runs a very tight ship - their weddings are always extremely well executed, but they are also very similar.
The biggest deal breaker for me was the rain plan. I like the idea of having a big reveal of the dining area, as opposed to having it be set up the same during the ceremony. I recommend asking them to both re-describe their rain plan and provide pictures of rained in weddings.I also requested menus from Belle Mer at lower price points to see what they could serve for $100 / person. Not sure if you had the same experience, but the sample menus they sent me originally were $125 - $200+ / person. We were looking to come in at under $125 and wanted to ensure that we liked the options.
Try to think of what the most important aspects of the wedding are for you. Is it the price, the decor, the rain plan, the OOT guest experience, etc? If you can identify your 1 - 3 most important aspects, then go back and compare them on those alone.
I kept getting hung up on the little things, like the Castle's base rates include linens. In the end Belle Mer can also supply linens, and depending on your food choice, match or beat the per person rate at the Castle.
Good luck!
I do think that Belle Mer is a more unique place. Castle Hill is beautiful and has some great views from the ceremony area but once you get inside the tent, it isn't much different from a tent anywhere else.
Regarding pricing of menus, I can tell you that we will be having 5 passed hor d'oeuvres, a chef attended food station at cocktail hour, plated salad, choice of three entrees (filet mignon, salmon or chicken) and late night sliders and french fries and our pp menu cost is $120. Open premium bar is $45 pp.
I think that you will get great service at either of these places!!
I must say that I was also concerned about pricing with Belle mer and was afraid they would get us to sign and then everything would end up costing more than we thought it would. I am happy to say that that has not been the case thus far so we have been pleasantly surprised and impressed with the Belle Mer event coordinator.
[QUOTE]We actually picked our menu before signing the contract so that we could lock in pricing. I was very nervous about that as well. Of course we can change things on it and the price would be re-evaluated but we spent some time looking through their sample menus to pick what we thought we might like and then asked them to give us a guaranteed price on it. We are sticking pretty close that that for our menu. I must say that I was also concerned about pricing with Belle mer and was afraid they would get us to sign and then everything would end up costing more than we thought it would. I am happy to say that that has not been the case thus far so we have been pleasantly surprised and impressed with the Belle Mer event coordinator.
Posted by SummerBoston10[/QUOTE]
that is great you were able to choose your menu now...do they do that for all of their clients? I was able to do that with Castle hill which had me feeling more secure with the venue because I was able to see the price as a whole.
I don't know how many clients they do that for but I was very uncomfortable signing the contract without having a clue about what our food costs would be. I explained to them what my concerns were from the beginning and I asked that they do this. They gave me the menu price "today" and then a maximum price that it could be at the time of my wedding. I'm sure that if you told them that was your major issue with booking them, that they would accomodate that request.
I also want to second what a PP said about the water views. That was another turn off for me at Castle Hill. You can't see the water from inside the tent, plus once it gets dark out the view is kind of gone. At Belle Mer you are RIGHT on the water and the Newport Bridge will be all lit up right there which is so pretty.
One positive though for Castle Hill...the tent has A/C. We are getting married at the Island House and there is no A/C there. We have heard though that there is almost always a nice breeze there.
tough choice for sure! selecting the venue was the hardest for us too. we were down to castle hill, belle mer, and glen manor. I am a Castle Hill Bride.
You really can't go wrong either way as they are both gorgeous venues. Belle Mer is directly on the water which is great if that's what you want, on the other hand Castle Hill is more of a grand view with cliffs. both have views of the bridge in the background and both are amazing.
Some of the pros that Belle Mer offerred was that it was walking distance to the hyatt which we liked for our guests. Castle hill has valet parking but we did end up booking a shuttle bus for our guests from a few hotels (we're getting two buses all day for 1280 so it wasnt that bad). I do think that Belle Mer also had a better rain plan.
Ah yes the rain plan....that was my hesitation in booking castle hill. what i liked more about castle hill was that they only hold on wedding at a time there. once i knew belle mer had two weddings at once I moved on...that was just a personal preference for us as we wouldnt consider a venue where there were two at once. we also chose castle hill because the food is top rated and we felt like it was more secluded....we feel in love! the tent also has AC and heaters which si good.
we're putting a second tent "on hold" for a rain option. if it ends up raining we have that second tent to hold our ceremony this way we get married in a seperate area and our guests have proper seating. our florist is on call to set up accordingly. the view is still fantastic even if we have to do it under the tent.
one thing you have to think about is if its rainy and foggy the view at both places could potentially be gone. on really gray days you can't see across the water at either location.
a friend of mine was married at belle mer and loved it and i'm having a fantastic experience with castle hill. knowing the pricing ahead of time is key for our budgeting and planning since it's a pricier option. good luck!!!
Our menu is $70/pp + consumption bar. We are having a family-style meal, so we have less items. This is our menu, which we tasted a few weeks ago. It was delicious!
HORS D'OUVRES
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Filet w/ Sweet Corn Relish
Mini Pulled Pork Sandwich, Papaya-Mustard Salsa
Watermelon & Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Feta Cheese
Frizzy Aged Gouda Macaroni & Cheese with Crispy Leeks
COCKTAIL DISPLAY-Summer Salad Display
Sweet Corn Salad with Red Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Scallions
Watermelon & Heirloom Tomato Salad with Vermont Farmhouse Feta
Grilled Peach Salad with Sliced Almonds, Mache & Mascarpone Dressing
Haricot Vert with Shaved Red Onion, Black Truffle & Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette
Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream & Dill
Field Greens & Herbs with Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette
Watercress Salad with Apricots & Buffalo Mozzarella
FAMILY STYLE APPETIZER-Deconstructed Guacamole
Grilled Hass Avocado, Pickled Red Onion & Pear Tomatoes
Creamy Lime Dressing & Cilantro Oil
Garnished with Crispy Corn Tortilla Strips
ENTRÉES
Roasted Free Range Chicken & BBQ Leg
North Carolina Barbequed Pork Shoulder
SIDES
Jalepeno Corn Bread
Creamy Savoy Cabbage Slaw
Baked Beans
Corn on the Cob
The fact that we could create a menu like this was the deal maker between Castle Hill and Belle Mer. That and the proximity to everything just couldn't be beat. Castle Hill is amazingly gorgeous and has great locations for photographs. Ultimately, BM just worked best for the type of party we envisioned.