French Quarter ceremony site for 50-70?

Bestbank Bride

Hello, beautiful brides!

I have a question.  We are planning a trip next weekend to cram in as many site visits as possible, and I am having a dilemma.  I am finding TONS of places to hold a reception, but not so many options for the ceremony!

We are considering Jackson Square, Woldenberg Park, and the Artillery Park (although, I'll be honest about the last two- I love the view from the Artillery Park, but I think it will be too small, and the last time I was in Woldenberg Park, a man offered to pay me if I would let him rub my feet...so...not holding my breath about those two?).  We are considering the Pharmacy Museum courtyard if they would actually respond to my messages.  Other than that, am I missing something?

We are going to have anywhere from 50-70 people, so it needs to be large enough to accommodate that many.  Help!  I don't know what to do.  To make matters worse, we're on a budget (i.e., I unfortunately can't afford to spend $3500 to rent Preservation Hall for what will amount to a 20 minute ceremony).  

I know that City Park and Audubon Park are possibilities with tons of room, but we really wanted to have the reception in the Quarter.  I'm not ruling anything out, but suggestions would be tremendously welcome.  Is it ridiculous to make people drive all the way out to City Park for a 20 minute ceremony, just to drive ALL the way downtown for the reception?  I was really hoping to find both a ceremony AND reception location in the French Quarter, second-line from one to the other, and have people be within walking distance of their hotels.  Am I asking the impossible?

Thank you!  

SEJNC

I don't know how much you're willing to spend, but I got married on Sat. in the garden of the Beauregard-Keyes House with ~71 or 72 guests. It costs $2k to rent the house for 2 hours. I'm not sure if they offer any shorter options for less money. The house is so gorgeous that I wanted to take advantage of having it for more than 20 minutes so we decided to do a cocktail hour there in the courtyard. It was wonderful!!! The garden is pretty intimate and there is hedging covering a lot of the ground so you have to be creative with chair placement and you can't fit a ton of chairs in there so it's better for a smaller wedding. I think we managed to squeeze in about 65 chairs, all in the half closest to the "altar" so no one was too far away. I did zero decorating because of how beautiful the house and grounds are which helped offset some of the rental cost. 

We second lined to our reception at Muriel's. For 50-70 ppl you can easily fit in one of the two event rooms upstairs. I actually found it challenging to find a reception venue because so many had high minimums for a Sat. night that we couldn't meet with our guest list, but being able to rent one room at Muriel's kept the cost lower. Again, the size was perfect for us (with the balcony and the seance lounges). Also the second line distance was great. (We extended it just a little around Jackson Sq.)

I think your instinct to keep it all in the Quarter is a good one. 

Good luck! Getting married in the French Quarter is the best idea I ever had!

SEJNC

Oh and in terms of being within walking distance of hotels, I agree that's great for the guests. I originally wanted the Place D'Armes but their rates got too high so we ended up having most of our guests stay at Le Richelieu which is a block away from the BK House and a few blocks from Muriel's. Great hotel, totally reasonable rates, nice people - highly recommend!!

By the way I looked at the Pharmacy Museum courtyard and it's not bad but it's a little plain and I wasn't happy about how difficult it was to communicate with them or get a straight answer on pricing or other logistics. 

sfinnin

Check out the Irish Cultural Museum. They have a brand new courtyard on Conti St, right next to the Wax Museum. They can seat up to 125 for a ceremony and it's really beautiful if you're looking for a courtyard. I believe the rental price he quoted me was $1500, not sure about the chair situation because they were still figuring out all of that when I spoke with him. website: icmnola.com

Bestbank Bride

SEJNC, thank you for the Beauregard-Keyes suggestion!  I had completely fogotten about that place.  I've been scouring these posts for days and days and my eyes are starting to cross.  I'm on page 33. 

As far as the Pharmacy museum, they initially responded to my first inquiry, but I haven't heard back from them since.  I'm hovering over the line trying to maintain that slightly aloof air, but in reality I'm dying to email and phone the you-know-what out of them to get some answers.  Our trip is literally right around the corner and I was kind of hedging my bets on their courtyard (it seems perfect for what we want to do, honestly) but if this is the way they typically conduct business, I have a sinking intuitive feeling in my heart that it's just not going to work out.  

Amenter, I did check out the Cabildo and fell in LOVE with the space- so pretty!  Unfortunately, they require a $3000 donation on top of their other fees, and for a 20 minute ceremony, I just cannot justify this.  Heck, even for a reception, considering how narrow the spaces look, I can't justify that.  $3000 just to walk in the door?  No way.  We are paying for this ourselves, and that is just out of our budget.  I would much rather spend that money on something worthwhile (like food, or flowers, which my fiance insists are completely unnecessary...wrong...lol).

sfinnin, I will absolutely check out the Irish museum.  I already emailed them, as soon as I read your suggestion!  I saw pictures of their courtyard and private rooms on Facebook just now, and the courtyard looks tight, but we literally only need it for a ceremony, so I will definitely consider it.  I was hoping to find something suitable with privacy, but it's looking more like Jackson Square might be the winner in the long run.  How can you beat that affordability, picturesque backdrop, and central location?  I will beat a rude gutterpunk half-to-death with my expensive bouquet, if need be, but I will also pray that people are kind and respectful.  I certainly would be.  Anyway, will check out the museum courtyard for sure.  The private rooms they had upstairs looked nice for a small rehearsal dinner or luncheon, maybe?  Nice ambiance.  Wonder what they charge for those.

As for the foot massage, yes, that totally happened.  My MOH claimed at the time it must have been because I'd just gotten a pedicure (I was wearing flip-flops), but we both got propositioned while we were sitting there, looking at the river.  I have never had someone offer to pay me to touch my feet before, but perhaps I should look into that.  Weddings are 'spensive.  Needmoarcashplz.

If y'all see me down there with my shoes off, don't judge.  SOMEONE'S got to finance my dream macaron tower from Sucre, which I was told STARTS at $250.  Ouch.

Thanks for your help!  If you think of anything else, please let me know!  I'll check back.

louisianablue

Petite Bourbon has a pretty nice courtyard.

Bestbank Bride

I wrote to them the other day and haven't heard back yet, but I won't scratch them off of my list yet!  Thank you!

ngddvm1

We had our ceremony in the courtyard at Hermann-Grima house. It is right in the middle of the quarter, and comfortably fits 50. If you are going over 75, I don't think it would work. One bride did comment that the music from Bourbon Street interfered with the string quartet for her ceremony (on a Saturday night), but our ceremony was on a Sunday evening and it was perfect! HTH!