Halloween Weekend Wedding

melle1228

Is Halloween weekend too crazy of a weekend to get married in New Orleans?  About 90% of our guest will be from out of town, so would a wedding on Oct 29 in the French Quarter be a good time or scare them - never to return?

Queen Jane

I would take into consideration that Voodoo Fest will most likely be that weekend. Maybe check with hotels now, their rates might be considerably high that weekend.

eamcardle

I'd also check to see if the Saints are playing at home that weekend. This year Halloween, Voodoo and the Saints at home all fell on that weekend -- would have been crazy to plan a wedding in the quarter.

If Voodoo is the weekend before (sometimes it is) and the Saints are away, I think it's a great weekend in New Orleans. You could probably pull it off if either Voodoo or the Saints are the same weekend, but I would avoid it if all three converge again!

Random aside: I went to a cool Halloween wedding once and their centerpieces were craved pumpkins! I loved it!

hollybee92

Yeah, that time is super crazy in NOLA. I would advise against it.

melle1228

Thanks for the input!!!!

Queen Jane

Does anyone know when the dates for Voodoo come out? We are planning pics at city park 10/23 and that will be virtually impossible if it happens to be that weekend...

eamcardle

I don't know when the dates come out, but I would try asking the Tourism Bureau. They might know before the rest of us...

Leslie Straughan
Tourism Sales Manager
New Orleans Metropolitan
Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc.
2020 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA  70130.5319
504.566-5018, 800.748.8695 Phone
504-566-5002 Fax
lstraughan@neworleanscvb.com
www.neworleanscvb.com

AngeleMarie

Hey Melle,

I'm in the same boat with you.  I absolutely love Halloween and scheduling our wedding the same weekend sounds like an amazing experience!  My mind is racing with all of the potential ancillary wedding activities and decor!  However, I'm also worried it just may be too much commotion going on.  I have a hold on the Riverview Room on October 29th and just learned from the Catering Manager that the Krewe of Halloween rolls right infront of JAX that day!  Could be a nightmare (pun intended) but I'm also a little excited about all of the hooplah.  My mother, on the other hand, is NOT.  lol.  There's a good possibility the route may change so keeping fingers crossed (on just one hand)

About half of our guests will be traveling to our celebration so I'm going to start looking into hotels now.  The girls above are right - with all of the special events scheduled it will certainly drive up the hotel rates and demand for room blocks.  The Saints schedule hasn't been released yet but I know that the Voodoo Experience will be October 28-30.  Even if we can get some sort of discount in account for the parade and make some crazy amazing memories from this day, I will also have to weigh the possibility that it will be very expensive for our guests to attend as well as chaotic and maybe a little stressful - especially if some of our guests are stuck in traffic and can't find parking. 

Keep us posted on what you decide!

NOLAbridealmost

It will be an absolute mad house in New Orleans/FQ on Halloween and the days leading up to it (Friday/Saturday). 

There are parades, enough people reveling in the French Quarter to rival the crowds of Mardi Gras, and extreme problems getting a cab.  You'd be crazy to do it in the Quarter on Halloween.  The crowds are especially bad on Bourbon (duh) and Decatur/Frenchmen.  

If you're looking into Uptown locations you'll be fine (minus the cabs thing).