Ballroom at the Ben or Cescaphe

teacup0618

Hey everyone!! Has anyone had their wedding, or been to a wedding at Ballroom at the Ben or Cescaphe ballroom in Philly? If so, just looking for some feedback. I think we have it narrowed down to those 2 places. I also posted this on thePhilly board.
Thanks for your help!!

campergrlsugar

Cescaphe is absolutely amazing!! One of my good friends got married there and OMG it was wonderful...the food was FABULOUS!! They didnt have a bad thing to say about it!! Good luck

lynzy333

Cescaphe is booked forever so if you are thinking there make sure you know a good date. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about that place. 

campergrlsugar

you are right lynzy...my friends had to book almost 2 years in advance and they had their wedding on a sunday!!!

teacup0618

Thanks girls!! There are a couple dates available that would work for us, but they def were way more booked than other places. Nobodys been to the Ben?

angel33284

I've been to The Ben and I prefer it to Cescaphe. They have a great lobby at the Ben for taking pictures. Cescaphe is not in a great neighborhood. It's only a few blocks off Girard Ave and there is a bowling alley next door. Because the Ben is inside another building it's difficult for the guests to go for a smoke while at Cescaphe it's very easy, in fact, part of the cocktail hour is outside, which I found very annoying. I wouldn't want my guests to spend my whole wedding hanging outside smoking and talking. When you pay a lot of money for your guests you want them to enjoy the wedding and not just smoking.

I think the decor of The Ben is much more attractive. It's got that classic ballroom feel. I also think The Ben has a lot more room. Cescaphe seemed kind of packed to me, and the dance floor was very small.

janeannRN

Just went to a friends wedding at the Curtis Center in Philly (Historic area); it is the other site that Cescaphe caters at. It was the MOST amazing wedding I have ever seen. The food was absolutely amazing (they served lobster tails at the cocktail hour and had a breakfast served at the end of the night!). The service was impeccable and the maitre d was off the charts incredible. Can you tell I like it? LOL! I would definately recommend them and I would recommend the Curtis Center if you are trying to stay more in the city center. Good Luck!

teacup0618

Thanks! We havent looked into the Curtis Center at all. We live in Pittsburgh, and we want to get married in Philly or NJ because its closer to where my family is, so when we were home last weekend we looked at 10 diff places and narrowed it down to these 2, but i think we want to make a decision before we get back to that area again. Ill check it out online though because if its really worth it maybe we will just drive back for a day to take a look.

danagigs

I have been to the Ballroom at the Ben and I think it was beautiful! I loved the fact that cocktail hour over looked the ballroom. They positioned the cake on the dace floor so you could look down and see it. Then the grand stair case was amazing for the couples entrance. The food was good. I dont recall it being anything completely amazing but it was good, granted I had a really bad cold at the time, so it could have been better then I realized haha.  The wedding I attended was a full black time affair and honestly, I dont see how it couldnt be. It was very nice.

The only upsets I had were the vallet parking was not marked, so finding it was extremely hard. Basically it was a man dressed nicely but not recognizable as a vallet service so my FI and I wound up parking 2 blocks away and paying $20. Then when we finally walked up to the Ben there were just a line of cars parked on the street with there keys in them waiting to be parked (personally, i wouldnt want to leave my car unlocked and keys in the ignition in Philly). And the desert, although very good, was very unorganized. by the time I was aware that they opened deserts, there was like nothing left. 

Good luck with your planning :-) 

leahg12

I got married at the Ben and my best friend is going to be getting married at Cescaphe.  They are both excellent choices.  Do you have a lot of out of town guests?  If so, I would choose the Ben and stay at the Loews hotel or Omni Hotel.  Both are close to the Ben.  Cescaphe is in a not so great area, and there aren't any hotels in walking distance.  Most choose to stay at the Sherton Society Hill - you would need a shuttle to get your guests there if you have a lot staying at the hotel.  Just something to think about.