Alvirine Chapel or Searles Chapel??

nikkiellis1234

I'm getting married next January, and we may use one of these chapels instead of our reception venue. Any thoughts or good/bad experiences at either??

Of course it's a winter wedding so do you know if either has any sort of decorations or anything else special to winter time??

Any idea on cost/ what's included/ the people I would deal with??

Also, we have about 130 people and someone said they thought Alvirine only held 100..?

I know there have been other Knottie posts regarding Alvirne especially, but I couldn't really find any good details.

Thanks girls!

FireDancer04

I do not know if Alvirne holds winter weddings. I'm guessing they do not. Alvirne has seating for 95 I believe, then standing room after that. My wedding was there yesterday, while the chapel is beautiful and comes at a great price the caretaker can be cranky. 

cg-pm52111

I used Alvirne as well.  If I recall correctly, there are 92 chairs.  However, some of your guests, such as the wedding party would be standing.  That being said, I invited 150 people to my wedding expecting only 120 to come.  I had 137 people who all came to the ceremony and people had to stand outside.  Just something to think about.  I would say you could fit 100-105 comfortably.

Biotechick620

We had checked out the Searles Chapel way back when we started planning.  The coordinator there was very sweet and informative.  They have two rooms that you could have your ceremony in, which both have different capacities (I want to say one can hold 100 and the other 140ish?

I don't believe that the chapel is used for anything other than private functions so I would think they wouldn't have much in the way of decorations for the holidays.

We didn't go with the chapel bc we changed wedding locations but we had a pleasant experience checking out the chapel.

Also, I would plan on 100% attendance.  Some people could decline, but you don't want to be in the position where you can't accomodate all of your guests.

JennLaura

I'm using Searles Chapel.  It's been an enjoyable experience so far.

tresim36

Quick question, does Searles provide chairs or did you have to rent them from an outside vendor? Just trying to see if chairs are included in the rental rate. Thanks for your help :)

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-hampshire_alvirine-chapel-searles-chapel?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:101Discussion:005ceccf-d1d3-44db-9936-ba292c584567Post:6fc1c830-cf6b-443d-b8b9-69d6eecd050f">Re: Alvirine Chapel or Searles Chapel??</a>:
[QUOTE]We had checked out the Searles Chapel way back when we started planning.  The coordinator there was very sweet and informative.  They have two rooms that you could have your ceremony in, which both have different capacities (I want to say one can hold 100 and the other 140ish? I don't believe that the chapel is used for anything other than private functions so I would think they wouldn't have much in the way of decorations for the holidays. We didn't go with the chapel bc we changed wedding locations but we had a pleasant experience checking out the chapel. Also, I would plan on 100% attendance.  Some people could decline, but you don't want to be in the position where you can't accomodate all of your guests.
Posted by Biotechick620[/QUOTE]