Reception at Beach House or Hotel?

OBX2011

Hi!  Planning a May 2011 wedding in Nags Head and having a hard time deciding if we are going to have the reception at the house or if we are going to have it an actual reception site, such as the Pier House or Village Beach Club?  We are only having about 50-60 guests and I have found the perfect event home and am thinking of a white tent in case of bad weather but I have also fallen in love with the Pier House.  HELP!!!  I wonder if a house reception would be less personal or if my guests would enjoy being able to move freely?  On the other hand, maybe a house reception would be more personal since its homier and everything??  Im open to any and all opinions that you may have on a house reception or having it at an actual event site?  The advantage to that is everything is already there and taken care of for me but the costs is higher too.  Keeping an eye on that....

ms_teach

I'm not familiar enough with the Pier House to compare.  Where is that?

I think it depends on your style too.  For us, the house option didn't feel "Weddingish" enough.   We're thinking of using our house for a dinner the night before since we won't really need a rehearsal and then maybe brunch the next day too.

The reception/restaurant option fit us best because there wasn't a need to transport items or worry about set up and clean up.   It's also budget friendly, which is nice.

OBX2011

The Pier House is the old Kitty Hawk pier that was purchased by the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk!  They completely rennovated it and its absolutely breath-taking and I just fell in love with it!  You can find it on obxweddingassociation, under Real Weddings and look at "Tina & Matts" Wedding, which is the 2nd one. 

ms_teach

Wow!  Looks great... doesn't look budget friendly though. Looks $$$.

dwfangirl

I am planning a May 2011 wedding too!!  We are planning for 50-60 people also.  We are going down at the end of June to find our "event home."  The Pier House is one of the few non-home venues that I considered because it is more unique than a hotel ballroom-type venue, but ultimately, we decided on an event home because our wedding is going to be more intimate and casual (as in not so structured and formal - not casual as in shorts and t-shirts).    We're leaning away from a sit-down dinner and more toward the idea of tapas/ food stations with smaller servings so people can graze throughout the night as they want.  And, it won't keep people off the dance floor and from socializing generally because they are stuck at a table.  If you are planning a sit-down dinner and more traditional, structured reception, you might be better off at the Pier House.

I think the vendors whose names you see cropping up on the boards have lots of experience in making an event home special enough to have your reception there if that's the route you want to go.  You might want to talk to a florist and/ or event planner to get ideas before you make your final decision.  

Happy to share ideas and plans off the board if you want - kelly_geisinger@yahoo.com

Good luck with your decision!

-Kelly

OBX2011

Hi Kelly!

Thanks for your input!  Its nice having another May bride to bounce questions off of.  Ok, so I would recommend looking at Big Mamas with Seaside Vacations....absolutely gorgeous and is a great event home!  I went ahead and pre-reserved it for May 2011 and I think she said there were still 2 other weeks in May left.  Its only $50 to pre-reserve and leases go out in Oct., so if you change your mind between now and then, you only lost $50.  I will e-mail you the event homes that I have found and share them with you since I am also having a 50-60 people reception. 

I do love the Pier House, but I think I have decided to keep the reception at the house for a more intimate feel.  Question:  are you doing your reception around the pool or getting a white tent?  I am thinking of white tent in case it rains.  What do you think?

Ok, so I will e-mail you later with some of the homes I have found.  If you dont already know this, make sure you ask them if they charge an event fee + a wedding fee on TOP of the deposit.  Seaside only charges a $1,000 refundable deposit, nothing else which is nice b/c hey, Im already spending a lot of mula as it is and dont think event fees or wedding fees are fair if you are advertising your home as an event/wedding home. 

Again, thanks for your advice and I am gladly here for you to bounce questions and ideas off of too!  YAYY!!!

Charlene
cm_alexander@yahoo.com

LRPardy

OMG!  Thank goodness for this thread!  I had NO idea that you needed to pre-reserve and found out my house that I wanted was ALREADY GONE for next April!!!!  I was having an awful day yesterday after I discovered that.  Found an alternative which of course is $1000 more but has the same number of bedrooms so there's that... Thank you guys so much for discussing this because I wasn't even considering booking my house til October when the new rates came out.

missdys

I'm also a May 2011 Bride to be. I just got off the phone with Village Realty and booked my beach house from April 30th through May 7th! I booked the house Park Place and we're going to be using a fun beachy/boardwalk/monopoly theme for the wedding.

As much as I love the Pier House and the other multiple venues, the beach house wedding and reception is more inline with my personal tastes of small, and simple. I'm having a hard time swallowing the extra $1000 event fee for my group as we're not having more than 30 at the house. Its basically who stays there is attending and we're doing most of the work. But better safe than sorry, I guess!

Glad to see several other May brides heading this way, too!

LRPardy

Missdys, I was going to book Board Walk!  Saw Beach Happy for the same price with two more bedrooms or we would've been two week apart neighbours!!

I agree with you about the event fee because they hold about 30ppl to begin with and my list is at the most 54 and I doubt all will show.  I am going to try to negotiate something.  I'd like to know what I 'get' for that money!  

Have you had the opportunity to see ParkPlace in person?  There are so many hotels within stumbling distance, it's awesome (if you were having non-house residing guests).

lmlo22

Getting married on the Outer Banks, you ALWAYS have to have a Plan B in the event that inclement weather occurs. Having a reception site that is indoors (must agree with you the Pier House at the Hilton is spectacular) takes care of weather concerns. Also, I know that from personal experience, a tent is waaayyyyyyyyy more expensive that you would think (not to mention all the decor, dance floor rental, etc.), so do factor in the cost of all the rentals for tents and fees charged for having an event at a rental home. If you love the Pier House - go for it! If you love the idea of a tented reception (as I did and still do) - go for it! Wedding day here you come!

OBX2011

Thanks everyone!  I have decided to have a tented reception as I feel its more romantic and gives a more intimate feel with my guests!  I am super excited!  I have received a quote from Ocean Atlantic Rentals and still after 3.5 weeks, have not heard anything back from Metro Rental.

p.s.  Plan B is the upstairs of the house as it has a very open floorplan!

misro2003

I love the idea of the Pier House, but we too have decided to go with the event home. I hadnt even thought of it but my fiancee brought up the idea of getting married on the beach and then having the reception at the home and I thought it was fantastic, i have been researching homes (we are having a little bit bigger wedding with a cap of 150) and weve narrowed it down to either the Grand Ritz Palm or the Ascension but I am trying to compare the pros and cons of each and we are also going to try and set up to visit the homes in the upcoming weeks which would be the deciding factor (our wedding date is set for June of 2011)

I was worried about the rain factor as well, and was contemplating a tent until i looked up the pricing, so luckily both these homes have large enough rooms indoors to accomodate, JUST in case  ...this thread has really reassured me in what i want to do and im glad theres some other outer banks brides out there considering the event homes!!

JenO24

We're going w/ a hotel instead of an event home like we initially were looking for because w/ an even home theres so many tiny details that you're going to have to pay for where at a hotel its always there...(tables, chairs, linens, glasses, china, silverware, parking, etc...)

abbyandgreg

Does anyone out there know the pricing on the pier house???? I'm looking at July 2011 for a wedding, weekend or weekday it won't matter.  Any help is greatly appreciated.  It looks so beautiful.   I'm hoping to get in contact with a sales person soon. 

canadianpeapod

I looked at the pier house and was able to speak with Miha Slegel, their event coordinator. This is what she sent me regarding price.

·         $4000 – Set up and Rental Fee for the Pier House (for Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening weddings, from the hours of 5pm – Midnight, based on a four hour reception)·         $3000 – Set up and Rental Fee for the Pier House (for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday day weddings, from the hours of 8am – 3pm, or Monday-Thursday evening weddings, based on a four hour reception time)·         $4000++ Food and Beverage Minimum to book Pier House(Extra hours are available for an additional $200 per hour, but may not exceed the hours listed for the Pier House.)

I believe that includes tables, chairs, linens, plateware and their arrangements. Unfortunately, that was a little over my budget to simply rent the venue so I'm now looking at 108 Budleigh. I would recommend getting in contact with them via the hotel's website asap. I had reserved the pier house in early June and was told there weren't many options left for July 2011.

Good luck with everything!

Are you planning on getting married on the beach?

kellycbrown

Hello to everyone with the above posts!  I am planning my wedding for next spring 2012 and considering the same options you all are discussing.  I loved the idea of the pier hose put am also looking into event homes.  Is it significantly cheaper to go the event home route?  Even with all the additional rentals that a hotel would already provide?  Any tips you have learned form this process will be much appreciated!  Since I basically have no idea what I am doing!!!! 

OBX2011

Actually for us, the event home was more expensive b/c you have to pay the weekly fee plus most of the mgmt. companies charge an addt'l event fee of $1000 t0 $2500 and then you have to determine whether or not the reception around the pool and finding a large enough pool area is quite the task and if not by the pool then can the house fit everyone and how do you set that up and then renting a tent....which some homes allow and some dont.  Dont get me wrong, you can certainly do the reception at an event home but determining your guest list is prioroty b/c a lot of these homes allow 50 max and a few others will do 75-100.  Like I said, for US the venue ended being the best way to go b/c it also serves as our backup plan (we are getting married on the beach), it includes all of our tables/chairs and I feel more relaxed tht once the night is over, we simply leave.

Have you been to outer banks wedding association?  is www.obxwa.com or obxbrides.com

Both of those are wonderful sites and the ladies here are always ready to help.  Give me some feedback on your headcount and I can give you few links to places I visited along the way