Ceremony/Reception Location Help

[Deleted User]

Hi All! I'm new here and just starting to plan my wedding in New Orleans I live in Houston, so it's a bit hard to find a venue. I went in this weekend to look at a few venues and had a few issues with each one Hopefully you ladies may have some suggestions! Maybe there is one you can suggest I haven't looked at!

Here's the want list: (approx. 100 guests)
-Walking Distance to the French Quarter/Entertainment
-Lower Minimum ($10,000 and under)
-Prefer a place to have Ceremony and Reception in separate rooms/locations
-Open Room large enough to fit everyone for the reception (not outdoors)
-New Orleans style room, love chandeliers!

I really liked Le Pavillion and Royal Sonesta. Problem with Royal Sonseta is the courtyard may be way too small for a ceremony. At Le Pavillion I liked the Deschaund room ($9,000 min), but it may be on the smaller side for 100 guests and the hotel is a bit further from the Quarter. Harrah's was ok, nothing special, but the layout works. Hotel Mazarin, was ruled out because he didn't want strictly courtyard for the reception. Chateau Bourbon is undergoing renovations and would be nice, but I'm afraid the design is too modern.

Or are there any places for just a ceremony that is not a church? Thanks so much for any help!

NO2012

Did you check out Musee Conti (Wax Museum)? I think it fits all of your criteria, except I believe separate rooms for ceremony & reception.  If you contact Beth there, ask her about the neighboring courtyard (owned by someone else but they can coordinate) as a possibility for the ceremony. 

louisianablue

You might want to check out the Bourbon Orleans.  I looked at several different venues, and I think they have the prettiest ballroom in New Orleans.  Lots of windows, chandeliers and a balcony overlooking Bourbon.  A lot of the ballrooms didn't have windows, which really bothered me.  I'm not sure about the ceremony space, but it's possible you can get married by the pool.

SEJNC

I had a lot of the same criteria as you, and I am also from OOT so may not be the most helpful or knowledgeable person, but I chose Muriel's for my reception. A major factor in my decision was that you can rent just one of the two large private event rooms upstairs which cuts the minimum way down. I believe it's $5500 for the smaller room and $6500 for the larger room. That appealed to me because while I'm hoping for about 75 guests, I'm very unsure what our turn out will be and knew I would be very frustrated if we had to pay a 10k+ minimum and did not end up having enough guests to make that a "fair" price. That said, with 100 guests, you may not end up being under $10k after all (would have to crunch the numbers depending on what food and drink package you selected). Also, you couldn't have a sit-down meal for 100 guests unless you rented the whole second floor. I believe the cap for a sit-down meal in the larger (Plantation) room is 75. I prefer food stations anyway so this wasn't a concern for me.

I think 150 is the stated max for the Plantation room for a non-seated dinner but I have a hard time envisioning that many people in that space. It's not a HUGE room but I'm hoping it can comfortably fit 100 people in case my turn out is higher than expected.

The rooms at Muriel's are exactly as you're describing -- chandeliers, balconies overlooking Jackson Square, etc. I think OOT folks will find the space VERY "New Orleans." I was also attracted to Muriel's because, IMO, the space needs NO decorating. I'm not planning on doing a thing, decor wise.

My one fear is "competing receptions" if there is a hopping party going on in the room next door, but I was willing to risk it to get everything else at the right price point.

 

There are plenty of options for a non-church ceremony venue; it just depends on whether you're willing/able to pay the separate venue rental fee. I will have my ceremony at the Beauregard-Keyes house. I plan to do the ceremony in the garden, but the BK House offers a back-up optoin for rain (inside the house), which is one reason I picked it. I also looked at the Pharmacy Museum courtyard, which I believe is pretty inexpensive (they never quoted me an exact price), but no rain option unless you rent a tent. Also looked at Cafe Amelie -- not sure if you can do just the ceremony there as that is a restaurant. Some people just get married at Jackson Square in the open, but I don't know anything about the logistics of that. There are so many courtyards in the French Quarter that I'm sure there are other ceremony options out there, but I only had time to see so many places when I went venue scouting.

Brooke4377

I second the Bourbon Orleans!  I am having my reception there and am in LOVE with the ballroom and the balcony.  There are beautiful double doors that open up onto it also.  I am expecting the same number of guests, and it is the perfect size.  The minimum is $12,000, but I found them to be extremely flexible and I was able to negotiate a lower minimum.  It will depend partly on the month and day of the week you are looking at as well.  The Terrace at the Omni is beautiful as well, and offers several rooms for your use, but I am not sure if they are as flexible about the minimum.  The Riverview room was a very close second for me also.  I was glad they didn't have my date so I didn't have to decide....they quoted me $11,600 or so for 125 and that includes EVERYTHING- bar, tax, tip, chair covers, linen, food...and the food stays out all night.  The views are beautiful, and you can have the ceremony on the front balcony.

mnols

I second the Wax Museum.  You can also check out the Board of Trade, Leah is awesome, that's who we're working with.  

Also, Pat O's on the River and the River Room might be able to work with that minimum, especially if you can do a Friday night or a Sunday