off- peak months in NJ?

VanessaB24

I thought off-peak meant any where in US... now i saw something saying that its different in every state? I'm clueless. So when is the off peak months for NJ?

soontobemrsdavis

from the various sales i have seen I would say Jan 2nd- March (some will go into the 2nd week of April)

I <3 Seabass

It varies by venue. Some consider December through April off-season. And for some, off-season doesn't start until January and could end as early as March. 

mbcdefg

Most places I visited said they give discounted rates from November-early April. Maybe it depends on the weather ... maybe warmer places with no real "winter" have different months that are slower. A friend of mine used to work in catering and said that they typically raised their prices right after Easter. My wedding's the weekend after Easter Sunday and we would've gotten a lower price from our reception hall if we were marrying two weeks prior.

reneel828

It is only Jan and Feb from what I have been told. But I think each venue or vendor might have their own definition. I got married in Jan and saved a ridiculous amount of money at my venue compared to the origin Dec date I wanted.

VanessaB24

ugh this stinks... i was under the impression that off peak was April - November... wow i was wrong. And now i'm annoyed because i've contacted like 6 places and now i'm down to 2 places that seem to be ok with us only having 50 ppl. the 3rd one hasn't contacted me back yet.

dominoe611

most of the venues i looked at (in the shore area) the offpeak dates were November - April.  i also looked at 2 venues that had no offpeak rates at all it was the same all year round

brad1431

November-April, with exceptions like NYE, valentine's day

0hkgbs

When we were looking, most of the places considered November the start of off peak and usually would go to march and some even early april.

uppereastgirl

Peak peak is usually May - September.  You'll probably see more bargains (particularly advertised bargains) during the real off-peak months.  But I'd bet that at venues that allow negotiation (which is most of them), the sticker price may be the same from March - December, but you may get much farther in negotiating for better price/add-ons/lower minimums with a November date than you would with a September date. 

pink_latte

It totally depends upon the venue. Ours had three tiers. The most expensive months were May, June, July, September, October and December, the second-tier months were April, August and November, and the cheapest months were January, February and March.

drod58

When I was looking for December for min. of 50 ppl. most places didn't even want to give me any  info when I said 50 ppl.  The first thing they said was:  December is a busy month with Holiday's Parties and the min. for the weekend is 100+ ppl.Then, I found The Cannon Gate at Picattiny Arsenal in Wharton, which their min. is 50 ppl. any day, anytime of the year.

uppereastgirl

Could you do other than December?  I bet holiday parties are taking up a ton of your options.

VanessaB24

i don't want to do a December wedding. i was going for May of next yr. of a fall wedding... but the fiance said that he thought that was too late lol who knows maybe he wants to marry me lol i think winter is too cold and summer is too hot.

I <3 Seabass

I was in your exact boat last year. Never in a million years did I think I would get married in the winter. I wanted to get married in October but was willing to do May because it's usually not super hot in May. Turns out the majority of places we looked at for sat night in May and October were completely booked.(started looking Oct 2008). So I suggest either being more flexible with your dates or waiting until 2011.

mrs.spunky1508

I got married in the winter too. Decembers aren't usually that cold, I got married in January and it was 45 degrees and sunny. This year, we had a HUGE snowstorm on March 1st. If anything, I was happy I wasn't sweating (as bad) in my dress. I am a nervous sweater who gets much worse in the heat. Ick!

Lola Minnie

have you considered renting out a restaurant or banquet room in a restaurant?

Sydney.O.Rutledge

I booked at the end of July for December this year.  Almost every place I called was open, and for small minimums.I attribute this to the economy and most places cancelling their holiday parties this year.  If the economy improves, I think December will not be off time any more, unless it is extremely close to Chistmas.

kle0113

i think winter is too cold and summer is too hot. There was no way that MH was going to get married in the summer and I did not want the spring so basically our only option was Fall or Winter.  We choose winter (March) and loved it.  Our Venue does a winter wedding package that is only January, February and March.  Most other venues were off peak November - April. 

dnldjtt

you may get away with the 50 crowd for some places if you were willing to have the reception done by 5:00PM, which means having an early moring wedding.  or you could consider having the reception on Sundays, which for some places they may not be as strict on meeting the minimum.

las1977

Hi. Off peak season now seems to be Jan-Feb I think vendors caught on that people were getting married in the fall versus the summer to save $$ but now the fall is very popular. If you want a wedding during peak consider a Friday night, Saturday afternoon or Sunday wedding to save $.

brad1431

It also depends on other factors, oddly enough, people want 9/9/9 or 10/10/10, 11/11/11, 12/12/12.   Not sure why anyone would want to do that, it is just a statistic, but places will charge more for those dates knowing that there is a demand for those dates for whatever the reason.

alliecarrie41

jan - mar