Venetian / Il Tulipano / Valley Regency

jillhartman

I am looking at the Venetian, Il Tylipano and the Valley Regency for my reception. I am having an extremely hard time deciding and need some help. I have been to all three and they each have their pros and cons. The Venetian has that wow factor. You walk in and it's breath taking. It is over the top and I really loved it. My only issue is that for my wedding size I would have a start time of 7pm which I feel is late for cocktail hour to begin and they will not budge on the time. Il Tulipano has an amazing outside, the management is amazing and seem very willing to work with me to make it the wedding I want. My issue here is if it rains I am not crazy about the inside and didn't see anywhere inside that I would really like to take my pictures. Valley Regency has that same wow factor inside as the Venetian but on a smaller scale. My issue here is that unlike the first two places I do not know anyone who has been to a wedding here and they won't do a tasting until AFTER you book! This concerns me because food is a major point in picking a place - my family is Italian foodies! Any advice would be greatly appreciated !!

sgdc2011

I've been to the Valley Regency for a wedding.... The food was DELICIOUS!! However, the cocktail room was crowded with 225 people.

Jacky225

I have also been to a wedding at the Valley Regency and was impressed with all the food, decor, etc.  I believe my friend has less than 200 people so the cocktail hour was fine (and very pretty!).  I have also been to numerous weddings at the Venetian which is also amazing.  I don't think 7pm is too late but I guess that is a preference thing.  Its "normal" for weddings in my fam/friend circle to have the big gap between the ceremony and reception so 7pm seems normal to me if that is any consolation

Good luck- never been to Il Tulipano but I don't think you can go wrong with either Valley Regency or Venetian!

buttrflyah

Ive never been to either of them but wanted to comment on the 7pm start time at the Venetian.  I definitely don't think it is too late.  What would you have preferred, 6pm?  An hour really wont make a difference.  Go with your gut.

jillhartman

Thanks! We have a lot of out of town guests so all the down time between the church ceremony and a 7pm start time concerned me. We also are looking at 250+ people - do you think we would be cramped in the Valley Regency for cocktail hour?

Faith2730

I've attended a wedding at the Venetian and it definitely had a wow factor!  When searching for venues I did look at the Valley Regency. My husband had attended some events there.  The food is really good.  If your still contemplating places maybe you haven't found the right place yet.  When I found my place I absolutly knew.  I didn't even have to think twice about another place.  Just throwing this thought out there.  If your still semi looking take a look at Il'Villaggio.  We couldn't of been happier!  I agree with PP and go with your gut! Good luck!

jillhartman

Il Villaggio is amazing, my cousin got married there. Sadly, we are to big of a party for them. I think I know where the place is but I am a big second guesser with big decisions!

LissyM83

Out of the three you listed, I would definitely choose Venetian. 7pm is not too late of a start for CH... in fact, many of the weddings I've been to have started at that time.

Also agree with the PP's recommendation to check out Il Villaggio... the food is excellent there.

cdelrio10

If you talk with Danny at the valley regency hell let you do a food tasting prior to booking. My fiancé and I went in to a cocktail after it was over and were able to try everything. We didn't wind up booking there but it was helpful. The Venetian doesn't do food tastings if that helps.

sgdc2011

I think with 250 you will definitely be cramped with long lines at the Valley Regency Cocktail hour, but the main room will not feel cramped since it's so big.

lopezalonso

I like Il Villagio or Valley Regency better than Il Tulipano. We checked out Il Tulipano but we also did notlike the interior. We thought it looked a bit old. 

USER876

We got married at  Il Tulipano.  I didn't like the area around the Venetian and we couldn't meet their minimum anyway.  I also thought it was a bit overpriced.

The best part of Il Tulipano, besides the food and the outdoor Piazza, is that you have the entire place to yourself.  The whole downstairs, the whole upstairs, the dessert room, and the outdoor patio.  This was really important to us and really left an impression with our guests.  The cocktail hour proved to satisfy even my picky italian family.  Guests were coming up to us and saying "if the wedding ended here, it would of been enough" (we extended the cocktail hour to 1.5 hrs).

More importantly, the management there is top notch.  They don't skimp on employees and service, and our bridal attendant was like our personal slave.  I don't think we saw one guest up at the bar because the servers kept providing refills to guests on the move or at their tables.  I saw guests tipping them 10s and 20s at the end of the night. 

Out of the dozens of places we visited, I got the feeling there that if something crazy went wrong on the day of, it would be taken care of, and I didn't get that feeling with a lot of other places (we felt like a number).

Il Tulipano dated?  Got me on that one, you must be confusing it with another place for they are continuously updating it (recently had our baby shower there and so much was changed since we got married).

Last, think about what the average person remembers about the wedding.  Not the million dollar entry way, or even the flowers, or as much as you don't want to hear it, the brides dress.   It's typically the food, service, and music....three areas I don't recommend skimping on.

odonnellalys

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_venetian-il-tulipano-valley-regency?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:6cfb52fc-cc5f-4f3d-869a-f0707faddc78Post:73ce6b77-c7a3-4507-a0ee-b07d20f81d82">Re: Venetian / Il Tulipano / Valley Regency</a>:
[QUOTE]We got married at  Il Tulipano.  I didn't like the area around the Venetian and we couldn't meet their minimum anyway.  I also thought it was a bit overpriced. The best part of Il Tulipano, besides the food and the outdoor Piazza, is that you have the entire place to yourself.  The whole downstairs, the whole upstairs, the dessert room, and the outdoor patio.  This was really important to us and really left an impression with our guests.  The cocktail hour proved to satisfy even my picky italian family.  Guests were coming up to us and saying "if the wedding ended here, it would of been enough" (we extended the cocktail hour to 1.5 hrs). More importantly, the management there is top notch.  They don't skimp on employees and service, and our bridal attendant was like our personal slave.  I don't think we saw one guest up at the bar because the servers kept providing refills to guests on the move or at their tables.  I saw guests tipping them 10s and 20s at the end of the night.  Out of the dozens of places we visited, I got the feeling there that if something crazy went wrong on the day of, it would be taken care of, and I didn't get that feeling with a lot of other places (we felt like a number). Il Tulipano dated?  Got me on that one, you must be confusing it with another place for they are continuously updating it (recently had our baby shower there and so much was changed since we got married). Last, think about what the average person remembers about the wedding.  Not the million dollar entry way, or even the flowers, or as much as you don't want to hear it, the brides dress.   It's typically the food, service, and music....three areas I don't recommend skimping on.
Posted by USER876[/QUOTE]

Ditto to Il Tulipano. I have been to both the Valley Regency and the Venetian for weddings. Both are beautiful and have great food, but at the Valley Regency, cocktail hour was cramped, and at the Venetian, I felt lost in a sea of people and food. The place is just too big. To be quite honest, I felt  uncomfortable and "stuffy" at both places...as though I did not belong there.

I recently attended a showcase at Il Tulipano. There were 400 people there and my FFIL said that he couldn't believe how miraculously this place handled the large crowd....as if with ease. The food was top notch, and the management is just awesome. Every time I ask a question or for something that isn't in my contract, I am simply told "Whatever you'd like" and without hesitation, it is written into my contract with no questions, comments or extra charges. There was no need to negotiate my contract....they are fair and are not out to rip you off. As USER said, you have the whole place to yourself, and you feel at home there from the moment you walk in the door. I couldn't ask for a better place to trust my wedding to.

Anyone that has been there for a wedding that will be attending ours (which is not many) tell us that they are thrilled to go back there and have nothing but the highest praises about Il Tulipano. I think old is the wrong word to use for the decor of this place, as I feel that this place has the perfect balance of traditonal and modern decor....but that it my opinion.

CaramelBride973

I second Il Tulipano that is the place we chose because they are so nice. Whenever I call and speak to the person that I am working with he always remembers me which for me personally is a big deal. Everyone is friendly when I call with question.  I think Il Tulipano is a secret gem and they have been there for years and are constantly updating the place.