PARK wedding.. what to do after? Kind of long!!

bdrcheney44

Hey Ladies
     I need suggestions and/or ideas!
 
My FI and I are getting married outdoors at Jetton park in Cornelius. We moved to NC from OH in May, so we are fairly new to the area... We live on lake norman and I wanted to have a venue that showed not only our love for the outdoors, but kind of commemorate the fact that we moved here together    Not only that, but since we are paying for the wedding ourselves, we wanted to save money on the ceremony and reception --- the park was extremely affordable, so I couldn't pass it up. Plus, it's gorgeous!

 Anyway, I am stressing over what to do afterwards. Our ceremony takes place at 4:30 and the reception is immediately after (at the park as well). Our plan was to just have a light dinner with a guitarist afterwards - no real room for a DJ and full out music anyway. We have the park until 9pm (or 11pm if we would like). I just don't want the party to stop after 9! Our family is coming from out of town and I  want them to see the city, too.

What I am wondering is:
     Should we ....come back into the city and rent out a room at a club or the like for actual dancing and more fun? OR possibly rent a "boat cruise" until late. I like the idea of going back uptown, but want everyone to stay together (even the grandparents and my younger sisters/brother). The boat is fun, but I'm thinking cold and possibly makes more sense to get on RIGHT after the ceremony instead of after dinner.... hmmmm.... 

Please, any thoughts/ideas would be amazing. Are there any places uptown that we could rent out a space just for drinks and dancing? HELP! 

Thank you so much 
    

amandaandkyle

Jetton Park is beautiful   But that's a side note!

There are plenty of restaurants (and I'm sure clubs, if that is more the feel you are going for) that rent out rooms in the uptown area.  It will depend on how many people you are having, and at least with restaurants a lot of them will have food/beverage minimums to book private rooms (I do not have any experience with any other sort of space).  There may be other girls who have more info than me. 

I know the Catawba Queen and the boats up there at Queen's Landing in Mooresville so the lake cruise's and have a variety of packages (again, depending on how many guests you have) to fit into various budgets.  My parents have been to several weddings/receptions with them and have enjoyed themselves!  We looked at them for our wedding, but we have too many people. 

sunnysarahinNC

yay, you must live near my office! i work off of exit 30 it's so pretty up here!

i think your best bet is to stay in the area. maybe you could do a semi-cocktail hour after your ceremony - like you said, guitarist and some appetizers- and then head to a second location for your full dinner/dancing. or, you could do all food at the park, and then head somewhere else with a dj or band.

i love the idea of the dual locations! my ceremony and church are very formal, traditional, etc....but my reception is modern, funky, fun and at a museum! but i would rec finding something up this way, since the drive + parking into downtown charlotte is 30+ minutes.

do you have a budget in mind for the second location? I could make some recs. we do a lot of client lunches up this way!

alliegator8

We had our wedding on the beach at 3:30 in the afternoon and the reception right after at the community building on the beach. So we ran into the same problem.  Since we rented a huge beach house, we invited everyone over for an after party at 9pm. A lot of our friends and our siblings came over, but no other family did. I think after a long, emotional day, a lot of the older people were tired. With that said, I would opt for the in town idea rather then a boat.  If people want to leave, they can.  I think the idea of being on a boat and not able to leave when they are ready might discourage some from even going in the first place.  So I say find a nice place in town and have fun with everyone who does show up. But don't be suprised if not everyone is up for an after party.  Hope this helps!

bdrcheney44

Girls,
   Thanks so much for the suggestions!
 

alliegator8 : It's true that some of the older family members will opt out of the boat ride. My FI and I ditched that idea today after discussing our options. As of now, we want our wedding + reception to be at the park --- reception as in just light music and dinner. Then, we want to head "out". I just need suggestions as to where.

sunnysarahinNC : I live off of exit 30 We love Davidson! We would like a place to dance (without renting a DJ) and have a good time. What are some of the places you have in mind? Glad to hear from someone familiar with our area!

FutureMrs.Volk

Who did you contact to reserve Jetton Park? What area did you reserve there? I am looking into having my ceremony/ reception there as well. Do they allow alcohol? Any information you have Jetton Park would be extremely helpful!!!

As for your after party I recommend Downtown. I would go the Epicicenter. There is several locations to choose from for dancing and its def a party atmosphere.

bdrcheney44

FutureMrs.Volk

      Go to www.parkandrec.com. There is a brochure that give's you all the details and pricing information There are a lot of different options as far as a ceremony location in Jetton Park. We chose the "Sunning Beach". The "waterfront beach" is more clay like and we were looking for more of a sand feel. Also, there is a garden and a gazebo!

   You can call 311 to reserve the park. At first, I was a little worried that we could only have the park until night fall, but you can reserve it until 11pm. Even better! It's a beautiful location especially since it's on the water. Some of the other lake front venues we looked at were priced at $7,000!!!!!! WOAH! haha The park is defiantly a more affordable option. The ceremony price is $77/hour and the reception was $250 for 5 hours and an additional $35/hour after that. Not too shabby.

Hope this helps! I'm happy another Knottie shares our love for the park