Poll: Reception choices

Bigsurprises

What were your runner up reception halls and why did you end up choosing the one you booked?

BwayDani

Runner Up:  Oyster Point in Red BankWinner:  Molly Pitcher in Red BankReason:  We loved the outdoor space/photo ops at the Molly.  Also preferred the style/decor over the other. 

Kelly&Timothy

we chose our place because we loved the feel of the  place. but things that made it different from the 2nd choice were... 1. one wedding at a time (runner up had 2) 2. freedom with vendors (runner up had specific people you had to use) 3. we were comforatble with the manager  (runner up's manager was arrogant.  i did not want to work with someone like that for a year of preparing the wedding)

ballandchain10

Winner: Berkeley Hotel, Asbury Park Runners up: Addison Park (Keypoet) and Ocean Place Resort (long Branch) We liked the freedom of using our own caterer (which the Berkeley requires). We really wanted a hotel venue, and the Ocean Place worked out to be way more expensive per person than the Berkeley. We also like that we will be the only wedding going on...Addison does two weddings a night.

itsme32985

Winner: Seasons, I fell in love with the decor and the places to take pictures outside, and their awesome reputation.Runner up: I was fond of the other two halls I looked at I would of kept searching, next probably would have been Florentine Gardens.

30may09bride

Runner up: Crystal Point Yacht ClubWinner: Battleground CCReason:  1 wedding at a time, beautiful grounds (even though Crystal Point does have the marina right there), and more extensive/better food selection.  Battleground was more money (probably ~20/pp more), but we thought we got a nicer affair for the extra money. 

stapletond

Winner: The RockleighRunners up:  NY Botanical Gardens, the Wainwright House, Tappan HillWe chose the Rockleigh because it could accomodate our guest list comfortably, offers the most for your money, has a really wonderful reputation as far as service and food quality, and has an outdoor ceremony space.  It still is fancier than what I originally wanted, but I'm excited to have our wedding there!

uppereastgirl

We actually booked at the first one we saw.  We loved it because it is not a "reception hall"-- we didn't want to get married in a ballroom at a hotel or reception hall because we we wanted something a little different.  If we didn't book there, the next places we would have looked at were Bonnet Island Estate (which seemed lovely and unique, but we didn't love that the reception was held in a nice but pretty standard ballroom), some loft spaces in the city (although we didn't want to have a city wedding necessarily), vineyards on Long Island (which seemed far away), or destination of some sort (also far for our guests).  It is hard to find places in NJ to get married at that aren't reception halls or hotel ballrooms.

newgate309

Winner: Westmount Country Club Runner-ups: Rockleigh, Madison Hotel, The Palace We fell in love with the Westmount the minute we walked in. It's such a gorgeous place. We looked around at a bunch of others and kept comparing them to Westmount... so we realized we have obviously made our decision.

laurenlacey

Runner-Up: The Brick House in WyckoffWinner: Canon Gate Club at Picatinny Arsenal, NJWhy? Because Canon Gate is like 100$ a head cheaper, and you can only get married there if family (in this case my uncle) works there. Like an exclusive club, only more strange. The Brick House is BEAUTIFUL though, I highly recommend it, if you have a large budget.

kathymarie

Winner: Radisson hotel freehold Runner up: didnt really have one. We only looked at one other venue and booked with the Radisson bc we loved it, it was very close to home, a hotel, and what you get for the money just couldnt be matched in our area.

mbcdefg

Winner: The Tides EstateRunners-up: Costa Del Sol and The Bridgewater ManorWe both walked out of the Tides saying, "Wow, I really liked this," rather than immediately saying, "This place was nice, but blah blah blah" like we did with the other places. I really liked the outdoor glass room at Costa Del Sol and the idea of an outdoor cocktail hour, but I kept thinking of what would happen if it rained, and I didn't really like that it didn't have a lot of property outside. Plus we felt that we weren't getting as much food on the menu as we did with other places (and it was mostly seafood). FI liked the staircase at BWM but I saw bugs on the ceiling in what would've been our ballroom and that turned me off. And they didn't seem horribly flexible on a lot of things. Still a nice place and a great value.

Laurms15

Winner: Ridgewood Woman's ClubRunners up: Glen Ridge Woman's Club, Montclaire Art Museum, Ramsey Golf and Country Club.Reason: We wanted to bring our own decor and caterer so Ramsey GCC was out. And the art museum and Glen Ridge were just too far from church/my parents house. We wanted to keep travel time shorter.

JeannineG122

Winner - The Newark Club I didn't look at anything else, it was the one I wanted. I wanted an urban location.

jaimelody

Winner: The GraycliffRunner-ups: Mayfair Farms and The LandmarkWe're on a tight budget. FI's friends were married at the Landmark and divorced a year later. I loved the look of the larger room there (just redone), but no convincing could break him of a superstition. Mayfair was a little outdated for us, but I still loved it - FI insisted we needed something a little "newer." Graycliff's people SOLD their location to us. Everyone is professional and accommodating. The menu goes above an beyond what we thought we would get for the money we were willing to pay.

I <3 Seabass

Winner: The Imperia Runner Up: The Palace I still love the Palace but we chose the Imperia over the Palace because it was more 'us & our family'. If we had gone with the Palace it would have been a completely different wedding (i.e. bigger, more formal, showy, etc.) and ultimately that's not the direction we really wanted to go in. The Imperia still has the formal atmosphere, but it's also a more intimate, modern space and just fit the overall feel that we really wanted for our reception.

grace_ann

winner - clarks landingrunner up - channel club reason: we really liked the channel club but clarks landing had an elevator and we have some elderly and handicap guests. Also since clarks laning is brand new we really liked the decor even tho it was more money  

jen629

We only looked at 2 places I did Like the BIrchwood Manors property very pretty but it was out of our budget and the decor was not my style  and they wanted to charge for everything extra....the only other place we looked was The Atrium....I loved the tasting, the room was very pretty , the cocktail hour room was big  and the  people who worked there were always available for my questions. I also liked that with the Atrium everything was included  the cake,the linens, centerpieces,vienesse hour,hot cookies and pretzels when you leave............ and thats why we picked them..in the end it was the best decision my wedding was great and that day they made sure everything was taken care of

brad1431

choice, The Greycliff, most value for our money, tons of food, nice room, nice bridal suite, good food and lots of it, close to church.  runners up  The woodcliff manor, one wedding at a time, beautiful grounds, but small CH room, small dance floor with support poles on it, and they wanted $30 more pp than the Greycliff and were offering as much foodThe empire club also 1 wedding at a time, awesome bar, but it was outside the main room and most people gravitate there, so that is a negative, plus it is in a residential neighborhood which is odd, and there is basically no where for pics on site, one small area, but you could see houses between the trees

chrissy31805

runner up: branches in west long branch winner: south gate manor in freehold reason: i was originally dead set on having a place near the shore to take pics on the beach so i was looking at all places near the shore. branches was the biggest and the one we liked the most. i didnt know about clark's landing at the time and the crystal point yacht club had 2 many events going on at one time. we saw south gate and it completely blew away branches. plus it was affordable and only about a 25 min ride to the beach

misskris927

Winner: The Venetian Runner up: Seasons Why? We loved both, but the look and atmosphere of the Venetian was more along the lines of what we were going for.

AlmostLoCo

winner: Liberty Houserunner-up: none really, Stone House was closestWe saw Liberty House first and couldn't picture getting married anywhere else once we saw it. We liked Stone House as a backup but probably would have kept on looking if we didn't love LH so much.

neilly18

Winner: Woodcliff Manor   Runners-upLake Vallhalla - we wanted a band and the entertainment is placed on a balcony above the dance floor.  There is enough room for a DJ but definitely not a band.  Also we wanted an October wedding and they had only Sept. dates but we would have been flexible. It really was the whole balcony thing.Smokerise Inn - It really is very charming and the cocktail hour room is awesom (an indoor gazebo), but the reception room is not as formal as we would have liked. Also the banquet manager was a little off-putting and did nothing to extend herselfWhy we chose the WoodCliff Manor. It has a non-reception hall feel, it is very charming and fits my style perfectly. David has been amazing to work with. I fell in love with it the first time I stepped into it and love it more and more everytime I go there. I also like that the layout is one big room so whether a person decides to spend all night at their table, on the dance floor or at the bar they are part of the reception in its entirety

DS0305

Our reception will be at Florentine Gardens. We also looked at Seasons, Chanticler, and Atrium Country Club.  I wouldn't say that any of them were runners up because we didn't really consider them.  There were pros and cons to all of them.  But as soon as we walked into Florentine Gardens, we all had that "omg" moment.  We all could not find one thing we didn't like about it.  We had planned on visiting more places but stopped our search right there because we loved it so much.

DiorAndKisses

Winner: Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack, because I loved the elegant feel and the fact that there is one wedding at a time. Also loved the catering manager, Bob, and his can-do attitude. I know that sounds cheesy...but I don't know how else to describe it. Runner Up: Macalusos, because although their reputation for food is fabulous...I didn't like the feel of it. FI and I are both Italian, but it was just too much with columns and spitting fountains etc. etc. Still beautiful though, if you like that feel.

mrs.spunky1508

Winner: Bridgewater Manor Runner Up(s): Price-wise, The Westwood in Garwood. Otherwise: Sunset Ballroom at Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty in Pt. Pleasant. Why the Bridgewater Manor was the "winner": Price. 6% gratuity (now it is 8% but still less than half of most places!). Tasting prior to booking. After that, excellent food, service, incredibly accomodating staff. Why the Westwood was a runner-up: Their price was fantastic - $60pp for a Saturday in January, including gratuity. They offered a tasting before booking, but when we went my H was not impressed AT ALL. The people were really nice though! Why Jack Baker's was a runner-up: No separate cocktail hour room. Price was a little high for our budget, but they did provide centerpieces so we would have saved money in that aspect. As it turns out, as a part of a promotion, we got free cp's anyway at our venue. However, my shower was there so I did get a taste of their awesome food & service!

leffyinoc

Winner: The Mansion at Bretton Woods, Morris Plains, NJ Runner-up: possibly the Madison Hotel. I only looked at these two places. LOVE the outdoor gardens at Bretton Woods and the victorian house is so pretty and it feels like we're at someone's house. Love the town of Morristown too

justkris10

Winner: The Tides (because it had great outdoors area and we wanted an outside ceremony - they were ridiculously favorable with negotiating compared to every other place we looked) Runners Up: Hawk Pointe Golf Club and the Stone House Didn't pick Stone House because flat out we couldn't afford it - at all Didn't pick Hawk Pointe because overall, it wouldn't have fit with my look/feel for what I wanted

ButterflyTiff!

Winner Mayfair Farms
Runner Up Birchwood Manor

Mayfair won hands down - they were willing to do a min. of 75 (we stated our wedding would be 75-100 ppl) They were willing to work with us on everything. They had a great banquet manager to work with (Mike) They included so much - Viennese Hour and 4 tier cake!!  And it is beautiful and close to the wedding site (getting married in SO). They also made us feel so comfortable and just at ease. Love it - can't wait for Sept. 19th!

Birchwood was our first choice (great price - and after we booked Mayfair he actually called again and sent an email willing to work on the price further - but Mayfair was by and far less).  It was beautiful - but further away from where we were having the wedding.  If we hadn't seen Mayfair -we would have booked them.