Parkview Terrace - New Orleans City Park

emuni04

Hi there!

I'm newly engaged and just starting this whole wedding planning process! Exciting but overwhelming - I know you all can relate! Anyway, I am in love with City Park in New Orleans and my fiance and I are considering getting married and hosting our reception at the park -- specifically at the Parkview Terrace facility. The price is definitely reasonable and I've heard great things about the food.

Both my fiance and I are originally from the MIdwest (I'm from Iowa, he's from Chicago) but we live in Thibodaux now. Because 75 percent of our guests will be traveling from the Midwest, we've decided to host our wedding in New Orleans since there's more to see and do.

Has anyone had their wedding at City Park? Any recommendations for me? Thanks in advance !!!

-Emily

erin_alane

I'm getting married at City Park in October. I looked at the Parkview Terrace. I really love it (and the prices). However, my guest list is too big, so we're doing our reception at the Pavilion of the Two Sisters.
City Park's food is fantastic!!

Where in the park are you thinking about doing your ceremony? My ceremony will be in the Parterre Rose Garden. The garden on the opposite side of the Pavilion is lovely too.

Congratulations!!

emuni04

Congratulations to you as well!

I'm not sure where in the park we will be having our ceremony. That's one of the many things on my "To-do" list! I have a call in to April at the City Park Sales Office to set up a tour of the facilities, so hopefully I will have a better idea in the upcoming weeks! I've been to City Park a number of time, but I have never went there with the "wedding mindset" so I have no idea at this point!

I'm torn between Parkview and the Pavillion as well...if I were a betting woman, I'd put my life savings on the bet that we won't have more than 150 people show, but who knows? We both have HUGE families, so we may end up opting for the Pavillion.

Are you bringing in your own cake to the reception? What about decorations?

pearson35

I'm getting married three weeks from today and having my reception at The pavilion in City Park with about 200 guests. The food is great and I recently went to a tasting so I would know what I wanted to order for my wedding. If you use City Park catering, I believe they use Haydel's bakery for their cakes, but i ordered my own form a bakery in Hammond.  I am hoping they credit me what the cake would have cost.  I am going Monday to pay my balance(my heart is already palpitating thinking about writing that check) and will find out last minute details then.  Hope this helps and Best of luck to you.

emuni04

That helps A LOT! Hmmmm....if their cake is from Haydel's, maybe I would just go with it...do you know if you are given the option of cake and cake filling flavors?

Also, Luke (my fiance) and I just went out to City Park today since we had friends in New Orleans staying there on business. I love that park, but my concern is the CROWD! I realize it is the beginning of spring/summer and a lot of people are coming out to enjoy the day and things will be different in November, but are any of you concerned with parking out there? The only reason I ask is because Luke and I got stuck in a traffic ZOO after turning left onto a street adjacent from the carousel. Cars were parked on both sides of the street and NO ONE's car could fit through. Tons of honking, swearing, etc. It made us a little nervous....does the park tend to calm down closer to the evening hours?

jamijeff

Something to consider is that if most of your guest are out of town, City Park will take a little more effort for those not familiar with the area.

emuni04

That is definitely something that we are keeping in mind. A thought we have is to rent some buses to take people from their hotels to the reception/ceremony that day. I have a few friends back home that did something similar. We plan on keeping every other activity in the Quarter that weekend (rehearsal dinner, etc.) to minimize travel for our guests. I'm not concerned with travel to our wedding rehearsal because our bridal parties consist of our siblings only, so we can just drive them over to the rehearsal site and then back to the Quarter for dinner.

AustenNut

I used to live about 3 blocks from the park and would frequently go over there with my dog.  The traffic snarl you saw by the Botanical Gardens and carousel is common on the weekends during the daytime when the weather is nice.  And to be honest, if the weather is nice enough for you to want an outdoor wedding then it probably nice enough for people to have picnics and family gatherings at the park too.  Which means traffic.  Definitely something to consider, unless you do an evening wedding, in which case there isn't really any traffic to speak of.

erin_alane

I think I'm going to have Haydel's do the cake. I live in Hammond and LOVE the cakes from The Cocoa Bean, but I'll already be in New Orleans and I don't know if The Cocoa Bean will deliver, etc. I need to do a tasting at Haydel's to be certain.

I'm nervous about the traffic too. We were planning to start a bit before sunset so we could do photos after (we're not doing a first look).

If your ceremony is in the Botanical Garden, you have privacy (but parking will still be a nightmare). We're thinking about using buses to transport our guests too.

nola 1017

Hi!  My husband and I had our wedding at the Parkview Terrace last October.  It was FANTASTIC.  The venue does most of the setup and the park itself is beautiful so your pictures are gorgeous.  People are STILL commenting on the food. 

They were super helpful and complied with everything that we asked.  For example -- instead of having our ceremony on the terrace, we had it on the First Floor -- underneath the terrace.  I made my entrance down the stairs and through the doors.  And then the reception was upstairs.  It really helped with the flow and then we were able to escape and take our photos while our guests went upstairs.

There were only two problems that I can think of.  First, there isn't a bridal room so you either change in the restroom there OR you get a hotel room and get dressed at the hotel instead.  We went the hotel route -- the Roosevelt.  Second, the location of the Parkview is a bit confusing.  We didn't realize it and so we didn't include a map to the venue.  A LOT of our guests were lost that day and had to be directed in by phone the day of the wedding.  But so long as you include a map/directions, you should be fine.

If you want a more in-depth review of the Parkview, please feel free to email me. Sjcastag@gmail.com

PS - my contact there was Cathy Persica. She was GREAT

laurajhill

What did you end up ordering, if you don't mind me asking? : Thanks!!

MJ4205

What is the difference in price between pavillion and terrace? I have yet to hear back from the sales person and I'm a curious bride! Thank you!