I am a Newbie!!! South Jersey Banquet Halls? The Merion?

mariantheb

Hi everybody!! I am recently engaged and just starting the planning process...I am probably going to get married next October or November on a Saturday...probably about 250 people...I would like to keep it somewhat reasonable, maybe 150-170 per head...I made an appointment with the Merion...any feedback on the merion and/or pricing???I was also thinking of:Hamilton Manor (my church is in Hamilton)Forsgate Country ClubEagle Ridge Golf ClubPines ManorLuciens Manorany suggestions for a big fat greek wedding?? Thank you so much!!!

lcalletta

Congratulations!! I am getting married next year, to the day. I am having my reception at Brigalia's in Winslow Twp. They are so accomodating and offer so much and are very reasonably priced.  It is newly remodeled and has gorgeous landscaping for pics. Check it out at Brigalias.com

njgal26

Congratulations and welcome to the board! I am not having my reception at any of the listed places so I can't help you but they are plenty of ladies on this board who can help you! Happy planning and good luck! :-)

joyangela

Congratulations! I am getting married next July in Toms River. My SIL had her reception at Eagle Ridge, and I have to tell you, it was beutiful. Everything was good from the food to the drinks, the cake, the decor, etc.. They have a really good coordinator there as well who really takes care of so much. I believe it is in your price range as well. Good luck with your search, Im sure wherever you pick, it will be beautiful.

Lalanav

I'm getting married at the Merion in June on a Sunday.  It was much cheaper and no person minimum.  Saturday nights in October I belieev run about $150/pp (including tax and gratuity), but there's a 150 person minimum.  Sunday was cheaper and there was no minimum, so that worked out much better for us.  It's a beautiful space, I fell in love with the Skylight Ballroom right away.  The perk of being in the Skylight is that you have the whole floor to yourselves; there are no other rooms on that floor, so even if there are other events going on, they're all downstairs.  Our bridal suite is ours alone too, which is nice.  Tons of options, and I feel like I'm really getting a lot of bang for my buck. There's no outdoor ceremony space.  The only ceremony space is downstairs in an enclosed room with no windows...not my style, personally, though it was pretty.  We're doing a church wedding, anyway.  So yeah...I can't give you actual feedback yet because we haven't had our wedding, but I'm pretty excited.  Oh, and a friend of mine was married at the Eagle Ridge Golf Club 1.5 years ago.  It was nice, but there were people playing through her ceremony, and after the ceremony it was a little confusing because no one told us where to go for cocktail hour.  It was also difficult finding the ceremony space; the staff was less than helpful in directing guests.If you check out The Mansion in Voorhees, personally I thought the space was a little old-fashioned/old-ladyish, and while the price was higher than the Merion, you still got less for your money, which I was really disappointed in.

Oct08Bride2Be

Congratulations!!  I was in a wedding that was held at the Merion.  I have to say its BEAUTIFUL inside, but I wasnt crazy about the food or how easily weddings got mixed up with eachother.  Everywhere we went to take pics there was always another bridal party there and we would have to wait.  Which got to be very time consuming.  I cannot comment on price tho.  I was also at a wedding at Forsgate Country Club...and my honest opinion...Dont even waste your time.  The food was very slim (not much at all at cocktail hr) and the dinners were nothing great.  I know it is pretty high in price.  I think around $150pp and to me for that price you do not get a lot.  Hamilton Manor looks beautiful as well although it may be hard to get reviews on it since it just recently opened.  I was at a wedding over the summer at Luciens, the place is gorgeous and the food was good.  I believe it is def in your price range...even lower actually.  Maybe around $120pp?  The room I was in I believe was the Venitian Room.  We were were looking at sites Luciens was on our list but because of our amount of guests (250) we would need to be in the Venitian room and they couldnt start our cocktail hr till 7pm because they already had other weddings booked.My reception was at the Mansion in Voorhees, and I cannot say enough wonderful things about them.  The reception was held in the 3rd floor room & cocktail hr was held in the room with the balcony on the 2nd floor.  because we guaranteed 240 people we were given both floors.  The food was out of this world, the workers were wonderful.  I worked with Robertta throughout the process and Rob and Donna were my bridal consultants.  They are both phenomenal...all workers wear ear pieces so they can communicate w/ eachother and let you know where to go for pics etc.  If you have any questions about the Mansion let me know I will be happy to answer them.

D&J1202

I had MY big fat greek wedding at The Savoy Caterer in Pennsauken and it was amazing! Not sure if it's to far from you. I have been to many wedding at Luciens not sure of the name of the room but it's the one with the waterfall in the cocktail hour room. It's allway amazing soooo much food and delish! I think there is also Renault Winery down that way for a different option. Let me know if you need any help with the greek stuff. GL

AandR1010

I'm getting married at The Mansion next October.  We are using the room at the top floor and that has a capacity of 300 people. Before deciding on The Mansion, we considered The Merion and Lucien's.   Ultimately, we decided to go with The Mansion because of their reputation and to take pictures by the pond and outdoor landscaping.  The Merion and Lucien's also have a nice area to take pictures but you are limited to that particular backdrop.  When it comes down to price, Lucien's is at the lower end while The Merion is at the higher end.  Since you have a high minimum of people, you may be able to negotiate the prices.   Hope that helps!  Contact me at aandr1010 @ yahoo.com if you have any questions. 

kimikins79

Congrats and welcome!  I looked at the Merion, but the prices were higher than I wanted to spend.  By comparison, I decided on Lucien's Manor, which I think is very nice as well in terms of decor, etc.  Everyone tells me the food at Lucien's is great and our food tasting proved that. As for the Merion, I never went to a wedding there, but my sistyer has been to weddings there and said that it is very nice, and the food is decent, but she wasn't overly excited, in light of the cost.Good luck.

demarcosjd

Congrats! Welcome to the board. I think you can definitely find some great places in your price range. It is good that you already have an idea of where you would like to look.We looked the Merion for our Saturday June wedding and we were quoted $180 a head. I'm not sure if it is cheaper for the fall. I know they were getting a lot of push back on their prices so from what I read on the boards it seems like they have lowered them. I have also been to the Hamilton Manor and the place is very nice!! It is fairly new so everything is up to date there were no crazy carpets with funky designs, I believe they dark hardwood floors. The only thing with the manor, a bunch of us went to the bar there, the cellar for my birthday and there was a wedding going on upstairs. Since it is also a bar and restaurant there were a lot of customers peeking in the door to the reception and on a Saturday night the place as a whole was crowded.

SummerPastelBride

Welcome!  If your church is in Hamilton, what about the Grounds for Sculpture?  My coworker went to a wedding there and raved about it.  There are tons of places for outdoor photos.  If you aren't opposed to Phila, there a lot of places in CC that are in your price range.  Good luck!

miguelhilary2010

Oct08Bride and AandR I am so glad I finally found other posters who booked the Mansion. I did too, for August 2010! I have a much smaller party, maxing at around 100 guests so we'll be in the Windsor room on the first floor, with the cocktail hour extending out to the patio.

hennynj

Our reception was held this past May at Lucien's Manor. I honestly cannot say enough good things about them - everything was wonderful. From the beautiful room (we were in the Venetian room - upstairs all to yourself, waterfall in the room which made a gorgeous backdrop for pics, and a 'curtain' the separates the cocktail hour and reception room which made for an awesome "reveal"), the food was outstanding and VERY plentiful, the service was above and beyond...I could just go on and on. And the pricing is within your budget. If you have any specific questions, feel free to page me.Good luck with your decision - choosing the place was our most overwhelming decision, but we are thrilled with the choice we made.

Summer2008

Our reception was at Lucien's back in July 2008 and I can't rave about them enough.

southjerseybride

Our reception was last month at the Mansion and I can't say enough good things about it.  We worked with Samantha throughout the process and although she could have helped us a little more leading up to the wedding she kept telling us everything would work out and it did!!  We had Kim and Anna with us all day/night and they were fantastic, they were on top of everything before it happened so we were really able to relax and enjoy every minute of our day.  Our reception was on the 1st floor Windsor ballroom which has been redone within the last year and our cocktail hour was in the attached room and new patio which is perfect if the weather is nice.  Just wanted to offer some reassurance for those of you that have booked the Mansion, we considered the Merion and Lucien's as well but couldn't be happier about our decision to book the Mansion....good luck to all of you!!

dgiannotti

I was at a wedding at the Merion 2 years ago and it was great...the room was beautiful and the food was great. My first wedding (I am now planning #2, haha) was at Luciens in the Venetian room.  It was absolutely beautiful.  People have told me it was the best wedding they have ever been too.  The food is amazing and they are very attentive.

mhuesser2

Congrats and welcome to the board. Im getting married in May at Luciens. And i love it there. My wedding is about the size of yours im having about 260 people. It is on a Saturday in the grand ball room. They have a divider to split cocktail hour and the reception which makes for a good reveal. There is a minimum 200 people for the grand ball room. Our price is about 140.00 pp this includes taxs. im dealing with a lady named dee over there and she is the sweetest person ever. i highly recommend making an appt with her. My dad is a big potato guy and she threw in a potato bar for cocktail hour for free. There is a big stair case that you can walk down on and that was the selling point for me. I have heard nothing but good things about luciens. Congrats and good luck with your planning the ladies on this board are extremely helpful and nice!

mhuesser2

I also forgot I wanted to say that i went to the merion for a bridal show over the summer and the food was horrible. Also when i went for my tour they quoted me prices for my size wedding on a saturday about 180 pp i cant remember if that included taxes. But that was way out of my budget and luciens offered so much more and they are cheaper.

LisaLPharmD

I'm getting married at The Merion next year on November 6. With tax and gratuity included, it came to $145 pp for a Saturday for the Palazzo and Empire, and $160 for the Skylight and Palace. For fall dates, mostly the only rooms open for next fall were the Empire and Palace. I think I took the 2nd to last Palazzo date, and there were no skylight dates left. The place is gorgeous though! They brought us some food to snack on while going through everything, and it was delicious .The package includes 6 stations for a saturday in addition to butlered appetizers and your dinner and cake. I have been to Lucien's for weddings and they are really nice as well! Another amazing place is in Philly called Cescaphe, but they are completely out of fall dates and only have openings in the Spring 2010. They run about $155 a head