Event Home Rental for Wedding 2013!!!

jonesne

Hi - Ok, so this is officially my first post on a wedding blog  I'm looking for some advice/opinions on the Event Home rentals in OBX.  Currently we are looking at The Grand Ritz Palm for 2013... with it's rental comes enought tables, chairs, linens, place settings for up to 125 guests.  They set up the chairs and tables and they have maid service for the day after the event.  We are using this as a vacation with our families too, we are stearing clear of the formal wedding!  I'm planning to attend their open house in 2 weeks, but wanted to see if anyone had any input on other event houses?  I can't tell from the websites if they include all the tables, chairs or if you have to rent all that stuff.  Also...  what about location?  We can't do the 4x4 area, that would be too hard for the people traveling with us.  Any input appreciated!

   

ksj10032782

Hello and welcome! We originally thought we wanted to go the event home option, but after looking at costs, (rentals, home, security fee), it was going to be way more expensive then going a different route. We ended up booking the elopement package at the Sanderling, since we're only inviting 40 guests. Most homes do not include those rentals, so that's one of the benefits of it. It's definetly a beautiful home, and if you have the budget for it go for it! There was a girl who got married there this past summer, if you search through the posts, or do a search for it, you might come across it.

llilley

Hi! And welcome! We looked at the Grand Ritz Palm for our wedding of around 125 people. Even though the house includes some of the extras, we didn't like how it would have to be set up outside. And the rental for the house itself is pretty pricey. There are very few houses that allow events of 125 people (and I would suggest just calling or emailing rental companies because you could spend days trying to figure out the event capacity of some of these places.) We booked Gertrude's Breakaway in Corolla for our wedding. It has a nice big yeard for a tent, which is more of what we were picturing than the GRP set up. It doesn't include any of the rentals, but I was able to book with Metro with a 15% discount during the special they usually run in January in conjunction with the expo. Hope this helps!

OBX2011

Hello and welcome!!

I too considered an event home but like PP said, with all of the extra fees and having to rent the tables, chairs, etc., it was wayyyy more than an actual venue would have been, so we booked 108 Budleigh in Manteo but had our reception on the beach directly in front of our beach house.  It's nice that the tables, etc. do come with that house though.

The Grande Ritz Palm is an amazing home and has great views of the Sound!  One thing to consider is the parking--since it's in Duck and has a narrow driveway leading to the house, parking can be tight. 

I know other brides have talked about this home before, so you may have to dig through some older posts to see what they have done.  You can also type in "Grande Ritz Palm" in the search box at the top of the web page and it will bring up lots of links for you!

llilley

I do think that it depends on how you classify the cost of the event home when determining the price. For us, most of the people who are staying at the house are paying for their room (about $560 for the week, which is much cheaper than a hotel room for the week, much cheaper than three nights at the Hampton for the same weekend even) so we're not including the rental price of the house in with our budget. There is a $1000 event fee that we're paying, plus not quite $3500 in rentals (tent, lights, partial tent sides, linens, tables, chairs, 20 benches for the beach, dance floor, plates, silverware, water glasses, etc). I don't know how this compares to places at the OBX, but I know that it's very similar to the cost of venue + rentals here in Durham (I have a friend that I helped out a lot who got married in October here).

mandafite821

I think it just depends on what you want.  Like the post before, we did not include the cost of the house into our wedding.  We have the house for an entire week, and most of us using it are also using it as a vacation.  On top of the wedding, we are using our rental house for all wedding related activites.  Our rehearsal dinner will be held there , as well as our brunch.  Our house does come with tables and chairs for 50 people.  But they are rectangle tables instead of round.  We are using these for the rehearsal dinner, but renting something a little nicer for the wedding and reception.  We booked through ocean atlantic, which gave us a 15% discount as well when we booked in jan. Ours did not have an event fee, and rents monday to monday, so that was a huge bonus for us.  I think if you want to go the even home route, go for it.  We have found other ways to cut cost to help save money.  We are not having a wedding planner, we are doing our on setup of everything, and we are doing BBQ for the reception.  We also are providing all of our own alcohol.  For the rehearsal dinner by dad is grilling out hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone, and we are opening up the pool, and having a bonfire and turing it into a backyard BBQ.  

SassyToez

OBX has some gorgeous event homes! We also thought about going that route, but decided against it once we found the Hatteras Village Civic Center. For $2000 you get a huge venue (big enough for 300 guests!), tables, chairs, full size kitchen, and a stage! If your looking for more of an elaborate venue, Budleigh is beautiful-- and not crazy expensive.

shaunapie

What event home are you speaking of, mandafite821?

keb2482

Mandafite821 is at the Love Boat in Hatteras?  Correct?  Sorry for speaking for you! 

jonesne

Thanks for all the great info!  And after researching some more because when it came down to it Grand Ritz Palm was over our budget... we have found many other Event Homes.  It is just sooo hard to plan because a lot of them you can not book until 1 year out and the 2012 renters get first right of refusal.  Did any of you or know anyone that had weddings/reception at Rendezvous (Twiddy) or Absolute Elegance (Carolina Designs)?  Thanks again!!

mandafite821

yep...your right!  The Love Boat....I've been MIA for a little bit, working too much over time...lol!