Some Venue Questions

Pharo47

Hi Everyone!!
Just had a quick question on some venues.

I love the look of the The Imperia in Somerset. However, it looks out of my price range and too large for my wedding. However, does anyone know the estimated cost per person on an off-night or month (no June date or Saturday nights)? An do you know of any minimum head count?

I also like Costa del Sol in Union. Similar questions to the ones I have above and over course, ANY REVIEWS would be great! Thanks

Danes983

I believe Imperia is in the $125 range.. Did you call there?  I believe Arlene is the ladys name.  I am sure if its an off night they will be willing to negotiate.

AnnPH424

Friends of ours were married at The Imperia. We loved it! They had the downstairs room and about 120 guests, not sure of the minimum but they paid $95 a head for a Friday night in May.

Pharo47

I didn't call yet. I was trying to get an idea before I spoke to my future wife about the venue. It's amazing looking but the $125 price tag is out of my range and I didn't want her to get disappointed.

Also, everyone uses a lot of acronyms here and I was wondering is someone has a keycode for me that explains all of them. haha. Sorry...I just got on here and don't know them all yet.

Pharo47

Is the downstairs room the one with all carpeting and the modern round chandeliers on their website?

misschristinec

 You may want to introduce yourself with a post. 
Where ya from..
How big your wedding is going to be..
What time of year you are looking to get married?

 Also the first post in the New Jersey board explains what to do when you're a newbie..

Lola Minnie

I think he did an intro, Christine

I checked it out because I liked the website alot.  The place itself wasn't for me.  But the prices were great from what I remember. 

I would just call and schedule an appt. Ask on the phone some price options too.  Think they have a few rooms so you may be ok with size of your wedding.

sgdc2011

I know you asked for places earlier.. I am just to lazy to look again..but did you mention you budget and minimum?   If not, you will get a lot of recommendations from the girls for places in your price ranges that way.

Pharo47

LOL..yeah I did an intro in my previous post but I'll make sure that I include the wedding stats each time so I can avoid any basic questions.

misschristinec

oopss sorry Pharo... Guess you did have your "first post"... I even read it which makes my oversight even worse!


The Imperia was really nice.  Went to a wedding there.  Cocktail hour was amazing..

AnnPH424

I'm not sure. I keep looking at the pictures on the website and I can't remember which room we were in. I believe it was the one with the crystal chandeliers, I only thing that b/c it was darker than the other one pictured. Also the glass doors behind the sweetheart table open up.We had the cocktail hour out there, they also left a door open during the reception and you could walk in and out.

JandP51212

I went to look at Solar Do Minho, the upstairs room is really big, I really wanted to have my reception there but my FI didn't like it much, we eat at the restaurant all the time, the food is GREAT! I have the menu with prices in an email if you want it just send me a PM with your email and I will email you the info.

Pharo47

Solar de Minho looks pretty nice on the inside but the surrounding area just brings it down a notch =(

Denise91980

What is the price range you are looking for, how many people and what time of year?

JandP51212

Oh I just noticed you said Costa del Sol lol sorry i don't know why i though Solar do Minho. My Friend had her wedding there  last April, she had 115p and it was a Friday night and she paid 98pp. GL

n&b9.4.2010

I am having my wedding at the imperia next month

We booked it when they were fairly new so they had a special rate and a bunch of things included such as tax and tip, we went there during a bridal show after booking to see things set up and they handed out a package that said the rate was 175 plus tax and tip we are paying much less than that for a saturday night wedding in September I would call and get some info

When we booked they told us the minimum was 150 for the downstairs room one of the upstairs rooms is bigger and has a a bigger minimum, but when we went to book a few months later they told us the minimum was 175 (we just told them they said 150 the first time and they changed it no problem)

The down stairs room is called the majestica room - I don't know if thats the one you were looking at when you ask about carpeting and round chandeliers, all the rooms have carpet

The downstairs room has a patio attached and round chandeliers

the upstairs rooms are the biggest and smallest rooms 

The biggest room has all the glass chandeliers and dark ceiling

The small room has round chandeliers and a curved ceiling (in my opinion it is the most modern room)

if you are having a small party and like the look of the imperia i would look into the small upstairs room, the only problem is it does not have a separate cocktail area, if you don't mind that I think it may be a great bargaining tool to get them to lower the price/ mimimum

Hope this helps

 

Pharo47

Excellent feedback everyone. I'm praying to keep this wedding at 100 or less people. FMIL is getting that glisten in her eye and I can tell she wants to start thinking more. Keep in mind I can't even afford my friends to be there. I have my three best friends and that's it. All my other friends fall in the same tier, so inviting 1 means inviting 60. I'm going to do a separate function for strictly friends so I can actually hang out with them during my wedding affair. My fiance's family is just too large. I'm pushing to have the wedding for April/May 2012. June prices just aren't worth it to me. Unfortunately, my mind automatically calculates the cost of things (I'm in finance) which makes me the Debbie Downer when talking budget. Everyone else loves to spend spend spend and worry about it later. I just can't function like that....especially since I'm contributing a large portion to this wedding.

Denise91980

I totally hear your concerns as we are paying for our wedding ourselves. When it came to everything including our venue, I totally shopped around for what I was able to afford because otherwise we will be in a hole we cannot dig out. I'm not sure what your price range is but The Bridgewater Manor, Channel Club, Tides, The Manor and The Primavera may be willing to work with you, especially if you are doing April and you can guarantee 100 people. It does get expensive and scary, as I am less than 2 months away and thinking...How are we gonna do this? Take your time and do your research, and I am sure you will both find something you love and is within your price range.

JandP51212

Oh Pharo i forgot to say that in Costa's the 98 was ++ included... It was very lovely and the food was good. She has nothing but great things to say about the service and all the attention they gave her and her FI. She raves about that place!

Also you might want to try my venue, it's Ravello's in East Handover. I am paying 125 ++ included for a Saturday night in May. I'm sure the prices are less for a Friday wedding there. I loved this place cause it it one wedding at a time and that was a huge this for me.

I had a horrible experience with my previous place, it was The Bridgewater Manor, Rachel is one of the banquet manager and was horrible. She wounldn't answer my emails, and when I said i was going to talk to the owner she quickly shaped up for about a week, Then after the tasting we wanted to book the place so we gave her our info after 2 weeks she still hadn't sent the contract or charged us. When I spoke to the owner about it, it was like he didn't care so I told him to cancel it all and his response was "ok thank you for letting me know, good bye"


 

Denise91980

Ravello's is definitely less for a Friday and the prices do not go up for any particular time of the year...I am getting married there on 10/1

diamondx423

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_venue-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:23a3e918-d5f3-46bc-94d3-f8f839db9180Post:a4f2060a-ab05-4535-af8d-d6316cb6283c">Re: Some Venue Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]FMIL is getting that glisten in her eye and I can tell she wants to start thinking more.
Posted by Pharo47[/QUOTE]

if FMIL isn't paying for it, she doesn't get to make the decisions. by all means listen to what she has to say, but don't feel compelled to do it. it is too easy to go overboard with a wedding, but since you're planning so far and budgeting what you can afford things should work out

HobokensFury

I know you said you want to get married in April/May but might I suggest March.  FI and I are getting married in March 2012 and it was about 20pp less than 2 weeks later in April.

kristen8040

I agree with pp, you're not going to save anything in May for sure, and it would have to be early April for a venue to consider giving you off season prices.  I had originally wanted March to get lower costs at a nicer place (mom was concerned about the weather and was footing the bill so she got the final input.) Most of the venues were going down about $20 for March,  so I'd compare prices when you go.

smw42

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_venue-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:23a3e918-d5f3-46bc-94d3-f8f839db9180Post:002f5d36-a4d6-43f1-b0e9-41568ef2371d">Re: Some Venue Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh Pharo i forgot to say that in Costa's the 98 was ++ included... It was very lovely and the food was good. She has nothing but great things to say about the service and all the attention they gave her and her FI. She raves about that place! Also you might want to try my venue, it's Ravello's in East Handover. I am paying 125 ++ included for a Saturday night in May. I'm sure the prices are less for a Friday wedding there. I loved this place cause it it one wedding at a time and that was a huge this for me. I had a horrible experience with my previous place, it was The Bridgewater Manor, Rachel is one of the banquet manager and was horrible. She wounldn't answer my emails, and when I said i was going to talk to the owner she quickly shaped up for about a week, Then after the tasting we wanted to book the place so we gave her our info after 2 weeks she still hadn't sent the contract or charged us. When I spoke to the owner about it, it was like he didn't care so I told him to cancel it all and his response was "ok thank you for letting me know, good bye"  
Posted by JandP51212[/QUOTE]

I'm surprised to hear a bad review of Bridgewater Manor- we're getting married there this October and have had nothing but excellent service. However, we haven't had any dealings with Rachel so perhaps she was the root of the problems.

mrs.spunky1508

SMW, she's talked about it before and I also was very surprised at how she said the Bridgewater Manor treated her as my experience could not have been more different. However, I never dealt with Rachel so that may be it.
My mom was there as recently as a few weeks ago picking up gc's for Tropea (they had a deal on 98.3 for spend $50 get a $100 gc or something like that) and she went into our coordinator's office and he remembered her. I got married there 2 and a half years ago!

Again Pharo, if you want to save money, May is not going to cut it. May is just as popular as June and April is only a little bit less popular. (Case in point, 3 of the last 4 weddings I've been to have been in May)
Off-season does not mean every month but June. June isn't even the most popular wedding month anymore, it's either September or October. Off-season is January-March, sometimes November-March. Getting married on March 31st isn't any different than getting married April 1, but there will be a difference in prices.

smw42

That's great to hear Mrs. Spunky!

Also Pharo- you can look at undesirable dates in prime months. We're getting a better deal being October 30th than other October dates because of it being the day before halloween. Granted, it's still more than the November price and we are still a Saturday evening in October so I don't know if that'd apply to other months/days.

JandP51212

Mrs. Spunky & SMW- I heard nothing but great things about the BWM, and we still do so i know it had to have been Rachel that made my BWM experience a horrible one. I would have loved to work with someone else but they never gave me that option and when i asked to use someone else they kept pushing me back to Rachel. In the end i think it just worked out for the best cause now i'm grateful for the bad experience because I love Ravello's much more!

Pharo47

Wow, this forum moves so fast. lol
I totally agree that May is a major month for weddings and there will be no price break (maybe I was hoping for an early booking discount lol)

I've seen a couple of places that give you breaks for April (i guess it depends on the venue) and off course you'll see a major difference in March. Unfortunately, as much as I want the big break for a March date, my fiance will just panic hearing the words "March." She loves the heat and I just know that March is a deal breaker. The unappealing dates in October would be something I'd be willing to look into but that means I would have to book the wedding for next year. My fiance was thinking Sept 2012 but I just don't want to wait that long. I just turned 28 and we've been together for 10 years already and I want us to start our lives together.

Glad to hear that the overall experiences with Bridgewater Manor are good because out of all the places that I sent my fiance some info on, that has been her favorite. I'll have to steer clear from this Rachel chick. No communiation with me will get me peeved off really quick.

In regards to the FMIL; My plan is to cover half of the wedding with the other half being picked up by the FMIL and my parents. So, everyone is contributing and I know that means stong input from both sides. I just hope they take into consideration that I'm not inviting my friends (to help accomodate her large immediate family) and this does not mean that it gives you more room to invite distant relatives and friends I'm not familiar with.

smw42

We've dealt solely with Michael at BWM and have had great experiences. I'll have a full review in less than 3 months!

mrs.spunky1508

Early booking discount is laughable. 2012 isn't that far away. Early 2012 is 18 months away. The avg engagement now is 16 months, so you're well within average. There are girls on here who were engaged 24, 26, 28, 30 months.
Honestly, what is the difference with getting married on 3/31/12 which is a Saturday vs. the next day 4/1/12, if it saves thousands of dollars?!
And coming from someone who got married in January on a 45 degree day - not a snowflake to be had - you don't want it to be hot when you're in your wedding dress.

Pharo47

Maybe I should schedule a sit down with all of you to have an intervention with my fiance. LOL  I understand her gripes about weather conditions (thank god she didn't pick a summer month)  but predicting NJ weather is absolutely impossible. Didn't June 2009 rain like 27 out of 30 days.

*smw42 - Can't wait for your review. I hope everything goes perfectly.

I guess I'm feeling completely overwhemled right now. So many question marks. I feel like I just need to get out there and start getting a taste of the venues and the people that run them. Maybe I'll check a few places on my own that I'm not too interested in just to get some practice in and start feeling comfortable.