December 2011 vs. March 2012

Kristina CT

Hello Future Brides to Be :-) !!

After enjoying our Christmas engagement for a few months, my fiance and I are ready to get married!  We're from CT, and are planning a New Orleans destination wedding - this board has been SO helpful! But now I have a question of my own...

We loved Christmas time in New Orleans last year (our 2nd trip to the city), so we would love a Christmastime wedding there, and think we can pull it off with only 5-6 months to work with.  We're thinking a ceremony in Jackson Square and Reception at Muriels.  On the flip side, we think it'd be nice to give our guests some additional time to plan (since this seems like short notice), so we are also considering March 2012.

Do you know of any conventions, festivals, parades, events, etc. that would make it difficult and/or more expensive for us if we go with March 2012?

Basically, I'd like your input on a December date vs. March date, especially considering we have nothing reserved yet (band/photog/etc).


Thanks so much!
Kristina

asd2011

Hotels tend to be more expensive in March because it's convention season.  You could reach out to the local CVB and find out if any major conventions are going on during the weekends.  Mardi Gras is in February and festivals start in April.  The only other challenge is that venues may  be a little more expensive because the weather is nice therefore lots of weddings are going on.

December tends to be a slower time in nola so you may get cheaper room rates.
Also depending on what day you're looking at, Jackson Square may not have availability.  I called for November and they didn't have any Fridays or Saturdays which was ok with me becaause I'm having only 60pp so I knew I'd have to do a Sunday.

Muriel's is wonderful.  My brother got married there a couple of years ago and the venue is very nola and the food is wonderful.

I'm trying to decide the same thing with a November vs March wedding, so best wishes to you!

wmh6

If you go with March, you may want to avoid the St. Patrick's parades.  Hotels could possibly be more expensive then.

saintsgurl

Are all your guests traveling to New Orleans too? If I was a guest, I wouldn't want to travel to a wedding in December with Christmas. I have too much going on with my husbands work parties and my own family travels during the holidays. Not to mention cooking and shopping. I would decline your inviation.

As a guest March would be a great time for travel to escape the long northern winter and enjoy some Nola sun. Sounds a lot more realxing to me.

March is great weather in New Orleans. It's almost perfect. December can be chilly.

You will also have more daylight in March. It will be dark by 5:00 in December. You will have to have an earlier ceremony if you have plans to have it outside.

saintsgurl

The St. Patricks parade is also uptown. If your wedding is in Jackson Square it would not effect you.

louisianablue

Honestly, March is a very busy time for weddings.  If you're looking to get married on a Saturday, the only date available at Jackson Square was March 3 and and May 5.

I looked at Muriel's for a reception and the space is nice for a small wedding, but I thought the prices were kind of expensive. There are a lot of places that have a similar feel for less.  They do have a really beautiful balcony though with a great view of Jackson Square and the St. Louis cathedral.

alyss21mom

My daughter is getting married in Jackson Square March 3rd late afternoon.  It books up fast.

wmh6

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_december-2011-vs-march-2012?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:84Discussion:9944b306-e98f-4cce-83e1-b2229ba09925Post:5d70654f-1e2f-48ce-ac2a-9559af568052">Re: December 2011 vs. March 2012</a>:
[QUOTE]The St. Patricks parade is also uptown. If your wedding is in Jackson Square it would not effect you.
Posted by saintsgurl[/QUOTE]

This is true, but I just mentioned it because I remember someone getting married that weekend earlier this year.  She posted complaining about hotels being booked up and more expensive.  Maybe some other convention or something could have been going on at the same time though.

iheartvanxx

It might be too cold in December to do it outside and if you do it in march just do it around st. Patricks day parades they are mostly in Metairie anyway or you could call the hotel you would stay at and ask them what is a good weekend to do it and they could just look at how this year went

iheartvanxx

You could also have your reception at the riverview room at jax brewery

Kristina CT

Wow, thank you all so much for the responses!!

Well, we did some research with flights/hotels, and it seems like prices are definitely increased in March, so we're looking at February instead now.  We are thinking about the weekend prior to Valentines Day - either Friday or Saturday.  All of our guests, every single one, will be from out of town, so I like the idea of a Friday night wedding to allow our guests Saturday to themselves so that they may explore the city while they're down there.  I'm hoping Jackson Square is available... I've already checked with Muriels. 

For those with OOT guests, how did/are you estimating an accurate (or even close) number of guests that will come?  Is there a polite way to gauge interest when we send save the dates?  I mean, we're inviting like 125+ and I have no clue how many will actually come. 

Louisianablue:  Do you have another suggestion maybe?  I'm all ears...   We like Muriels because of the low required minimum that they have and the coordinator there has been EXTREMELY responsive and helpful.

Saintsgurl:  Thank you so much for your input, it helps so much to hear stuff because that's exactly what we are/were afraid of...people won't want to travel around the holidays..


Thanks again ladies!
Kristina

wmh6

One thing to keep in mind is that Fat Tuesday is February 21st next year.  There will be parades every weekend before that in February which could possibly affect travel costs.  It may be fun for your guests to experience it though.

We just got married at Musee Conti Wax Museum.  There is a room upstairs above the museum.  We loved it and so did our guests.

zoopsiedaisy

I know you are looking into February now, but I wanted to let you know partly why March is going to be rough next year.  New Orleans is hosting the NCAA Men's basketball tournament is that month.  It's the actually championship game so that's why the prices are high already.  Just thought I would offer that up in case you were wondering!  I got married in March this year the weekend of the elite 8 in New Orleans and things were crazy...until the team and their fans staying at out hotel lost and had to go home!  I hate to admit this but I was sooooo happy they lost!  

Also, we had our rehearsal dinner...reception style...at Muriel's and it was wonderful!  Everyone loved it.  Espescially our out of town guests because they got to sit on the balcony and enjoy the views of Jackson Square, the Cathedral, etc, etc...  It was wonderful!  Plus, the food was great!  You can't go wrong with Muriel's!  Good luck!  

RYLZ

We're from NYC and getting married in New Orleans February 11, 2012.  We went through a lot of the decision-making highs and lows you are!

At first, a few vendors warned against doing anything the 2weekends before Mardi Gras, but after a lot of research, we decide our date was fine.  Its sounds like the greatest difficulty, will be trying to cross a parade street to get to and from the wedding.  To solve that, we have reserved room blocks only inside the French Quarter and within 10 blocks of the wedding venue.  All of our guests with be OOT.  We;ve put a warning on our website and STDs that staying outside of the FQ could cause them to experience great delay.

The room rates are definitely a bit higher that weeknd, but we were able to negotiate fairly good roomrates with a couple hotels ( as low as $129).  It should be a fun time of year for our guests to visit, and we plan on sticking around until Mardi Gras ourselves

Re: Muriels.  We love their private floor and the coordinator is lovely to work with but with a sit-down dinner for 72 or more, she didn't think we could also have a dance floor so that completely ruled them out for us.  If you have the $ though, she said we could also rent the room next door but it would have tacked on another $5K in minimums that didn't seem worth it to us.  We do hope to be having our rehearsal dinner there though.

If you're still condering alternate dates, MLK weekend seems to be wide open in terms of reasonably priced hotel rooms and available venues, but we decided it might be too soon after Christmas, in terms of guests' budgets.

Hopefully, we can trade some tips, as you get further into your planning :-)
Good luck!

louisianablue

If you're really set on getting married at Jackson Square, I suggest that you call them first to see if the date is available.  The woman told me that most dates get booked over a year in advance.

As for reception locations, I think it just depends on your budget.  Emily, the coordinator there did seem very nice though.

Kristina CT

I didn't realize that there are parades even on the weekends leading up to Mardi Gras (obviously we avoided that week all together), but ultimately, I think it might be nice for some people to get to experience, especially since ours will be a mostly "younger" (25-30) crowd as we aren't expecting some of our parents/aunts/uncles,etc to make the trip.

Bezlu, are you the couple getting married in jackson square on Feb. 11th?  When I called the Dept of Parks/Parkways the lady informed me of a wedding the day following ours (Feb. 11th)... Well, Fri Feb. 10th was still available, so I just faxed in my form!!  The only thing concerning was that the lady I spoke to on the phone was quoting me a different cost than what they show online (she said $400 for 40 people, when online clearly states $100 for 26-50 people).  That said, she stated it wasn't her that would be handling my request.  I have so many questions for you (or anyone else who's gotten married there).. Will the company I rent chairs from be delivering/setting them up/taking them down for us?  I guess I should ask them directly, but figured you may know. Also, how did you determine how many of your guests would legitamately be able to make it?  We have a guest list of 150+ but I feel like most people wouldn't travel to go to a wedding (?)

Heidiman, I would have been the same way (as mean as that sounds!) - just wanting them to lose already so that they'd leave

Kate504

We were going to be getting married on 3-17-12 but I'm glad we pushed it up. We wanted to avoid all of the fests, hurricane season and mardi gras. We have been engaged for over a year and a half so waiting until late in the year really wasn't something that we wanted to do. I'm finishing school in December so I didn't want it to mess with that too much and I didn't want it too close to the holidays, so we went with 1-14, but I don't know how much that is going to affect people since there might be a Saints game if we get a home town playoff game it will be that day and a lot of my family has season tickets including my parents!!!!

Don't forget in December all of the college football games that happen in the dome.

The BCS naitonal Championship is going to be the weekend before my wedding (1-9-12) lucked out I didn't pick the week before like I almost did!

RYLZ

Kristina- sorry, we are not the couple getting married the next day in Jackson Square so I can't comment on the pricing but with regards to the chair rental, I have spoken to a lot of different rental places and it seems their delivery fee (I've been quoted from $55-110) often includes set-up and break-down but I would confirm everything on the phone and also in writing, and again the day before or day of.

With respect to how many to expect:  we have 150 on our list.  I initially thought a lot of people would decline, so I budgeted everything based on 75 guests.  We haven't even sent out the STDs yet but just in casual conversation, it has become clear, a lot more people plan on coming!  So the formula I'm using now, is we counted 60 we already know are absolutely coming, and then applying a 50% acceptance rate to the remainder, which brings us to about 105.

For budgeting purposes, plan for 70% and then adjust up or down as you start getting feedback.  Our STDs encourage guests to book hotel rooms ASAP, so I'm hoping to also be able to use hotel reservations under our room block as an indicator.

Have you settled on the reception venue yet?  Rehearsal dinner venue?  Are you doing welcome packages for OOT guests?  These last 2 are what I'm working on now.

carolemb

December all the way!
We're getting married in March and it's proving to be almost impossible! Our guests will be paying $270+ a night for rooms and sooo many reception halls are already booked. It's going to be a much more expensive wedding for us and our guests than either of us anticipated because of all the basketball stuff going on (march madness on the 10th followed by the final four on our big day- yikes!)
If I'd had know I'd have picked another month. But we've got the church booked so we're just going to make the best of things and try not to get too stressed! 

palrmt

I am getting married the last weekend in March and downtown hotel rates are obscene.  Of course I had to pick the weekend of the Final Four!  So far I have been quoted around 200 a night for any hotel downtown.  That being said, I love March weather in New Orleans and springtime so we are just gonna deal with it.  Luckily I am from here so I only have a few OOT guests.  Weather in February can be a little nastier and unpredictable but it could ppour down rain on my beautiful March spring day lol  I try not to sweat the stuff I can't control and the weather most definitely falls into that category. 

 Good luck and Happy Planning

NatMarie2689

Honestly, I would avoid the early part of the year at all costs in New Orleans.  We have so many festivals going on that it is very tricky to plan around them all.  I would NEVER have a wedding during Mardi Gras season.  You will not be able to park, parking prices are increased, and traffic is a nightmare.  I tried taking my bridals in the French Quarter yesterday and could not because it was so crowded with Essence Fest goers.  I would try for fall or winter down here.  It does not get freezing down here and if you are having an indoor wedding, it would be fine.  The hotels are gorgeous during Christmas and would make a wonderful backdrop.

March is one of the busiest wedding months, and many things have already been booked.  From the experience of a local...Go with DECEMBER!!!!

Good luck!

iwinn001

Picking the perfect date for a NOLA wedding is really tough!  We were married in May and 100% OOT. If we had been more patient, October or even November would have been a better time of year. The weather is nice and it's not as crowded. 

We avoided the city events, but the conventions booked up the hotels, and that was a real challenge for us. Definitely check with the local CVB. I would suggest securing the hotels before you sign with venues and set a date! I recommend looking into the Windsor Court - it's a nice hotel and has reasonable prices.

We initally planned the exact same wedding...Jackson Square and Muriel's!  We decided against the Square and got married at the Cabildo which overlooks the Square.  If you are getting married late afternoon/early evening in JS, check out the sunset time to avoid having the sun in your eyes before it sets behind the buildings (who wants sunglasses?!) It does sound like the price you were quoted may have been a mistake... we were told $500 for 100 people.  As for the chairs, the delivery/pick-up fee is usually a little higher for JS because they will literally wait and pack up immediately after the ceremony.

As for estimating a guest count, it was really a shot in the dark for us. Our experience with OOT (especially NOLA) is that everyone WANTS to come and confirms, but in the end many people can't afford the trip or something unavoidable comes up.  At one point we thought we'd have 80% turnout but only ended up with 50-60%. You can send your invites out earlier with a destination wedding...ours went out about 10 weeks before the date so we could get responses earlier which helped a little with the final arrangements. 

We had our reception at Muriel's. I agree with the bezlu about the size being tricky. Their max reception #s are based on standing room only (think of a very busy cocktail hour). But it really depends on what kind of reception you want. I thought the seated #s gave a better indication of the size. We rented the entire floor to have enough room for a band, dance floor, buffets, and about 60% seating inside. We had invited about ~150 and only had about 85 attend. We both agreed that one room would not have worked for us and all of our indoor seating was filled. I will say it was very expensive, but from the feedback we received it was worth every penny. The food was extraordinary and the ambiance really offers that NOLA experience we wanted our guests to enjoy. I'm happy to answer any questions you have as you work out the details...just message me. 
Good luck!!

plrscott

My daughter is getting married March 10, 2012 in Nola. We've already booked the church, the reception venue, the photographer, the band, and the florist.  My nephew manages a hotel on St. Charles and he called to tell us that hotels are expensive that month.  Final 4 is the last week of March, so we didn't book that weekend or St. Patrick's Day.  Mardi Gras is in February, so we thought hotels would be cheaper.  We were incorrect . Good luck.

MIZ443

I am also getting married on March 31st but when I called hotels all they told was that they were completely committed ... meaning they wouldn't even give me rates or let me book/block rooms! Did they let you block or book rooms?? if so where??