Any thoughts on Ocean Edge Resort?

rsmehta

Hello ladies!  I am from RI and was previously looking into having a wedding in Newport and then my fiance and I decided we wanted to do a destination wedding in the Caribbean- well long story short we have decided to try to fuse the two together and are considering a resort on/near the Cape that will be close to my home but also give us the destination wedding feel on the beach.  I came across Ocean Egde resort and it looks beautiful!  Since I am not familiar with it, I was hoping for some advice.  A few questions for anyone with any info:

Is it affordable?  Most places in newport were outrageously expensive for us and for our guests to stay.
Are they easy to work with and flexible?  We are planning an Indian wedding so I need them to be able to accomodate to this- including food!
Is the beach nice?  Nice enough to have a ceremony there?
Is it too cold for a wedding the end of May?
Is it as beautiful as it looks online?? Haha...

If anyone knows of any other places on the water in New England that can hold 250 people and give us the beachy destination wedding feel but also affordable, please let me know!  Thanks so much for all your help!

pudge27

Oceans Edge is beautiful and has several reception options, but if you are expecting 250 people it will limit your choices and what do you consider "affordable"? My guess is a 250 guest wedding at a very nice venue on the Cape will be as expensive as a Newport wedding.

Karen's MOH

Ocean Edge is as beautiful as it looks on the website-- it took my breath away. But I wouldn't classify it as 'affordable'. For that size you will probably need the mansion ballroom, which does book up early. I would recommend calling or emailing to get their prices and then determine if it would fit in your budget (bearing in mind the prices are "plus plus" plus tax and gratuity. I'm not so sure about the Indian food options, either. The beach is lovely and I believe they frequently have ceremonies there. Could be cold in May but it could also be really nice-- you never know.

Are you ok with a tent reception? That might open up your options more, especially if you could bring in your own catering.

rsmehta

250 is a large wedding party and the only places where we could have it at Ocean Edge would be the mansion ballroom or a tent in the front lawn.  I love the idea of a tent wedding so I like that Ocean Edge can accomodate for that.  Most places in Newport cannot even hold 250.  A wedding for 250 will definitely be pricey as we have expected but what I found in Newport was that there were no "resort type" places where we could have the destination- like wedding and our guests could afford to stay for a few days.  We will have about 3 wedding events (Thurs-Sun) so I wanted the guests to stay at the same location as the venue but in Newport the room rates are about $300-$400 per night, which is ridiculous!  Ocean Edge seemed more affordable than that...

Karen's MOH

I believe the Ocean Edge rooms are definitely less than that. Plus there are many 1-2 bedroom suites/villas where families or groups of friends could stay together to save a little. I would definitely call them and check it out. I completely forgot about the tent on the front lawn option.

jessicamutchler31

I'm getting married at Ocean Edge September 10, 2010.  We have a smaller list (120) but it is a lot more affordable than comparable resort type venues in the area.  They are three tiers of prices, so depending on what type of menu/extras you want, they will work with you.  I am not sure if they would be able to accomodate an indian menu, but it is worth asking.  Antonella Fernandez is the catering manager and she is very nice/easy to deal with and she seems to go above and beyond to make brides happy.  The beach on the property is very pretty.  It has a long boardwalk which is great for pictures.  The rooms are kind of pricey but if you plan to marry in May, I think you would fall into their off season room rate which is affordable at about $200 for the least expensive room.  Hope this helps!

Jessica

CCBelle

"Affordable" is very subjective, especially at your guest list size.  2 other places I would recommend looking at are the Wequassett and Chatham Bars Inn.  Both are pricy - but a date in May could be more affordable.  I got married at the Wequassett last spring on May 16th, and as it was the w/end before Memorial Day, the prices were much better.  Good luck!

amoire

I second working with Antonella.  I'm getting married at Ocean Edge in June, and she has been just amazing so far!  She's been incredibly accommodating to my requests and always replies promptly.

We decided to have our ceremony on the lawn at Ocean Edge since the water seems like it might be really far out at low tide.  

jislieb

I'm getting married at OE 5/29/10.  We were originally going to get married on the beach at 5pm but changed our minds b/c 1) It could be really cool at that time of day and time of year plus Cape Cod gets really windy 2) high tide does not allow enough room for a ceremony.  You could do it but you would literally have 3 rows of chairs on each side extending way out or if you have low tide the beach doesn't look that nice (and it could have that low tide smell to it).  Also where your guests park and where the beach is located is kind of a walk.  Also it is a pretty boardwalk style walk down to the beach but to get down to the beach you have to walk down steep steps. 

I am getting married at the Carriage House which is completely different from your wedding as you have double the # of guests.  What I can say is that during the tasting they were a bit flexible with the food to the extent that they allowed us to create our own salad.  However your menu is a complete change from their wedding packages so I would ask that first to see if they are flexible. 

They do have lots of accommodation options.  Do not pick a holiday weekend as they only give you limited number of blocked rooms at a minimum of 1 night then all the other accommodations require 3 night minimums (might not be a probem for you as you are having a 3-day wedding).  I found it very discouraging. 

I know one thing in the ballroom that they do now allow you to bring in your own chargers, they have to be rented.  Also, they traditional spot for the cocktail hour is on the outdoor terrace but it is not private for your cocktail hour.  You share it with other hotel guests but I do think they put up a privacy wall.

Just make sure you add up all the taxes, gratutities, and admin fees to make sure that is what you want to spend per person.  That goes along with the hotel rooms as they charge an $18 resort fee in addition to the room charge and taxes.

Good Luck with your decision making and let me know if I can answer any other questions!

jislieb

PS I think the food and beverage minimum (you can factor in the ceremony fee as part of the minimum) for the ballroom is $25,000 or might be more than that.

Karen's MOH

When I looked, the food and bev min was $25,000 for the Bay Pines Pavillion on a Saturday night. For the mansion ballroom it was $40,000 min. No clue about the tent.

jessicamutchler31

The mansion ballroom is a $40k minimum on a Sat or $25K on Friday/Sun. Bay pines pavillion accomodates 220 (I think) and that is a $15K min on fri/sun and $25K on a Sat. 

Jislieb-good to know they are flexible on menu.  I am not to thrilled with salad choices either.  I just want a normal salad, lol. Did you make any other menu requests and were there additional charges for those minor changes? 
You must be getting excited....wedding date is coming up soon!

Jessica

jislieb

Jessica - As far as I know they are not charging extra for the salad.  I would be surprised if they did and/or did not mention it to me b/c I am always asking if there is an additional charge.  My salad is very simple and more "springy" compared to what they offered at the tasting.  If you are curious it is a spinach salad with fress rasperries with a poppy seed dressing.  Very simple and not using ingredients out of the norm.  During the tasting we were able to swap the sides from the entrees that we tried.  I loved the assorted veggie side.  The veggies were very fresh and nicely grilled. 

Are you getting married at OE? When is your wedding date? 

I am getting excited but nervous at the same time as I feel I have so much to do in the next 3 months.

Jen

jislieb

Jessica - oops nevermind I see where and when :-)

jessicamutchler31

LOL.  That's okay!!   We kind of decided last minute to do the ceremony at the OE beach.We are actually local and  planned to get married at the beach where we met in Dennis but it would have been kind of a pain (renting chairs, etc). I think you mentioned you are getting married on the lawn.  I bet that is going to be a gorgeous spot, especially since your wedding is in the spring.

That is great to know about the salad.  I basically like everything on the menu-just want some minor changes.  I think you are right about extra charges.  I feel like Antonette has been very up front about all fees, etc.  Good luck with the rest of your planning.  I bet the next three months are going to fly by!! Do you have a lot left to do?

Jessica

jislieb

Jessica - I have been working with Jennifer at OE as well as Larry for blocked rooms. 

I am currently trying to finish the invites.  I am making them myself so it is very time consuming especially since I am doing the pocketfolds with all the extra inserts, using ribbon and a monogram square attached on the outside.  It is a lot do!  Plus I have to address them all.  I am still trying to figure out what jewelry and shoes to wear.  I need to do a fitting.  I have my hair and makeup trial in April.  My fiance is really into the music and making videos so he is taking care of the entertainment side of things working with our DJ.  We need to learn a dance routine at some point.  All the little details left to do in addition to what I mentioned above.  Fun fun! 

I cannot believe it is only 3 months away.  Oh and we still need to book our honeymoon to Aruba....just waiting to catch a good deal since it is kind of off-season for Aruba.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.  GL with your wedding planning!

Jen

elizabethandken

They are not inexpensive, however, on March 6, 2010 - next Saturday, Ocean Edge is hosting a wedding showcase put on by Wellwed magazine.  Sounds like the perfect excuse to go check it out.  Go to www.wellwed.com for more info.  Good Luck

podz80

Hi, I know I'm kinda late to the party so to speak with this blog, but I was just looking through these postings and wanted to get your opinion on the OC Carriage House since you got married there. My fiancee and I are getting married their this Sept and are a little worried that the Addison room may be a little small for our the 100 or so guests that we invited. I know you mentioned that you had about 120 at your wedding so I wanted to get your opinion on whether you had enough space and how did you arrange the rooms. Our thoughts are that with a 100 people in the Addison room for a sit down dinner we would have to have the dance floor in the adjacent room because the Addy room would be too cramped. We're so concernced to the point where we are trying to change the dinner/reception to a tent on the front lawn. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much