Newbie!

HollynBrad4414

I just wanted to introduce myself, My Name is Holly, my fiance Brad and I are planning a 4-4-14 wedding!  We just got engaged on New Year's Eve and are starting planning.  I am from East Amherst and Brad is originally from Rochester.   I went to Brides world today and now my planning juices are flowing.  Right now we're scouting locations and tomorrow I am starting my wedding work-out plan(at the new Y in Williamsville, its amazing if you havent seen it yet).  Any reccomendations for a great spring location or any other tips would be great!  Thanks! 

gymbugmj2k

it depends what you're looking for!
indoor/outdoor/combination? rustic, formal, nearby certain locations, etc? hotel ballroom, separate caterer, all inclusive, etc?

If you give a few more details, we can help a little better.  I got married 8.18.12 and visited at least 15-20 venues when I was looking!


as far as planning.. talk with your FI about what your visions are for that day. write down everything that you might possibly need (EVERYTHING) and then go back through the list and label 1, 2, 3.
1 = must have. super important.
2 = would be nice
3 = we can do without it.

1s are going to be the bulk of your budget
2s are going to be your 'on sale' types of things....cut corners to save costs
3s are things you might totally leave out of your day or the 'if we have money leftover' items

then go through and talk with your FI about what's important to him ,and whats important to you. my hubby wanted to take over on the music, photographer and cake design.  he wanted a lot of say in guys attire and registry items. so he took the lead on those, while i took the lead on other items. it was nice knowing what he cared about ahead of time, so i didn't have to be a bratty bride with "what do you think? talk to meee why aren't you interested in picking out napkinssss?" etc

we actually had  a lot of fun planning. good luck!

HollynBrad4414

Thanks, that was some good advice.  

Right now we are thinking indoors, since it can be chilly in April still(I Hope the nice weather continues like its been).  

We're having a church ceremony, so we just need a reception venue.  Something with a more formal/classic look, or slightly modern(just a little bit).  

A hotel might be nice, or at least nearby, but sometimes I think hotel ballrooms look too generic. If there was some awesome hotel I was unaware of that would be awesome!  

We're kind of thinking of a place like Samuel's, or a Country Club.  My sister was married a few years ago at Park Country Club, I really loved it but don't want to do the same.  We will probably have 100-150 people(he has a big family, but I don't).  I think in the Buffalo/East Amherst Area, but if there was somewhere awesome between here and rochester that would be cool too. 

15-20 places is a lot!!! Where did you end up going with?

gymbugmj2k

We went with Salvatore's.  Our wedding hovered around 200 guests.  Food was excellent, and each banquet room has it's own set of bathrooms (NO sharing! yay!) The room was perfectly set up, and they really were wonderful about working with us and our decor preferences.  For the price, we got a LOT of food and 'extra's.  Definitely go check them out.  Sometimes they'll be setting up for a wedding, and you can go nose around in the rooms

DO NOT go with Samuel's.  I attended a wedding there recently, and in my research, know that they're about the same price as Salvatores.  The room was a bit awkward for the size wedding, dance floor was too crowded, food was sub-par and you shared a bathroom with 3 other weddings going on at the exact same time...so the post-dinner bathroom run was a bit crowded...

I agree - i didn't want my wedding in a hotel ballroom or conference center.  If you like the atmosphere of Park, you might want to check out the mansion on delaware, Statler Towers, Lafayette Hotel, 31 club, tonawanda castle...and maybe even Pearl Street Grill (they just expanded their banquet facilities)
if you don't want something downtown....kloc's grove, milos on main street (they might be too small, but their upstairs room is really neutral and modern - good for a bridal shower too!). Ramada Inn (amherst by N Forest),  kotecki's, classics V, banchetti's, the creekside, Lucarelli's I'm sure there are others i'm missing!

out of that huge list, ive been to weddings at the 31 club and classics. both were great. my bridal shower was at banchetti's and that turned out to be a nice event too.  Klocs, Lucarelli's and Creekside were pretty spaces. Statler is gorgeous as well....and huge. haha

to narrow down choices, i made a list of qusetions to ask each place and wrote down notes.  get a copy of their banquet menu/planning guide, and price it out.  like i said, one of the best values we found with consistently good reputation for food was Salvatores.  good luck!

 

degrea

I thought I would add to your list Rich's Atrium to your list. I also found Salvatore to be the biggest bang for your buck but I had a family member who just had a wedding there and didn't want to repeat hers. I had my wedding at Rich's and I really can't rave enough. The food was amazing! They were super easy to work with and the day off stuff was great.

I would start as was suggested by going on website and making a spread sheet to compare process. Narrow it down to a few you think you would like and go visit them. Good Luck!

Honeybee685

Holly- first off welcome.  Second, if you're looking for a venue halfway between Buffalo and Rochester, look at Terry Hills Golf Course and Country Club in Batavia.  It's halfway between the two cities, beautiful new club and the food we had at FI's cousin's wedding there in 2011 was delicious.  Also in Batavia is Bohn's Restaurant and Banquet services.  I've heard good reviews on weddings there.  Just a couple suggestions for you.  Good luck!

buffalove428

Pearl St and the Lafayette are great options. I have been to weddings at Banchettis and Samuel's and was disappointed with both - the food wasn't great and there were other events going on so that was somewhat awkward. We did our reception in the courtyard of the Millennium Hotel and had a great experience - it was the best we found in our price range.

rock1cherry

Although my wedding isn't until June, I can't say enough good things about Pearl Street. They are fantastic to work with, they will email you the same day most times, their food is awesome and I've never heard a negative thing about weddings there. It seems to be one of the better places to go.

Our reception is on the 2nd floor as we're expecting 100-120 people, but they do have other facilities and floors that could better suit your group. I highly suggest giving them a call. They book fast and they just had a bridal show so they may be booking even faster at this point.

Good luck with your planning and Congrats!

HollynBrad4414

Thank you so much for your help!!!  We ended up completely changing the plan after visiting some places and although some strong front runners were Westwood or Samuel's our wedding planning took a complete 180 after I realized it might be freezing next April.  So we've put our wedding on a new crazy timeline and are getting married in June!!!  My FMIL was kind enough to offer their backyard up for the wedding and the whole thing is going to be outside!  I never imagined this a few months ago, but I'm so excited to run in this new direction!  Thanks ladies!