Michigan-Grand Rapids

venue ideas anyone??

Hi everyone! I recently got engaged and my fiance and I are looking for a venue in Grand Rapids, or possibly Holland/Grand Haven, where we can have our ceremony and reception. We are going to have about 200 guests and are already going to look at Frederick Meijer Gardens and Watermark country club, but I thought I would get some more suggestions. FMG and Watermark are at the top of our budget, so if anyone has any ideas that might be slightly less expensive that would be great!

Re: venue ideas anyone??

  • terrijasonterrijason member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    have you thought about The Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville.  http://www.thepinnaclecenter.com/ Other wise there are some bridal shows comeing up and those would be a good place too look for a venue.
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  • heather_rae90heather_rae90 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    It's a little different style than the venues you listed, but here's where we're holding our reception (they do ceremonies too):[url]http://www.hitchingpostevents.com[/url]It's more "country," if you will.You can bring in your own catering and beverages (HUGE money saver!).
  • erikagdamhoferikagdamhof member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We got married at FMG and it was amazing. We highly recommend it! although pricy, our pictures are amazing and the staff there did such a great job!
  • edited December 2011
    thanks for the ideas, I am going to the Bridal Expo at Devos next weekend so I'm sure that will be helpful too!
  • marcyjmarcyj member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Try the Eberhard Center.  It doesn't seem like much during the day, but it's beautiful at night.
  • edited December 2011
    Is there a place to have the ceremony at Eberhard too?
  • edited December 2011
    Just to update everyone (assuming you want to be updated :), we went to FMG on Friday and were a little disappointed! I got the feeling that the women who did our tour is not normally the one to do it, and it showed. There were a lot of questions we had that she couldn't answer, not a good start! Also, the waterfall ceremony was not big enough to fit 200 chairs, I don't care what they say. Our guests would have been packed in like you wouldn't believe. Also, our guests would have to take a tram to the site and we weren't crazy about that idea. So, we looked at the english perrennial gardens that are right outside of the main building and those were really pretty plus no tram; so things were looking up. Then they tell us that our guests will not be allowed to walk around and see any of the other grounds because of other events that might be going on, and also right after the half an hour ceremony everyone is ushered inside to the reception, where they don't have a deck or any way for guests to go outside and get some air. Now I'm thinking that the only reason we would pay so much money to have our wedding there is because of the grounds and pretty gardens, and our guests don't really even get to see them! So, we asked if we could have our cocktail reception outside in the gardens we were already renting and she said she would have to check and had no idea if it would be more money..... Also, once we started going through details there were some added expenses that didn't come in the price of the package including the dance floor, projection equipment ect. Also, you have to have your rehersal the day before at 4pm because they close at 5 so you have to be done by then (bad for all of the out of town guests); and you can't get in to set up until 4:30 on the day of the wedding because they might have other people using it. So you only get an hour and a half to set up because the ceremony starts at 6. Plus, they have to proof your invites before you print them to make sure that you put "Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park" and spell it correctly. All in all it is a beautiful place to have a wedding but unless you have a large budget and are willing to deal with all the hoops you have to jump through I don't think it's worth it for us.
  • edited December 2011
    I was really disappointed with FMG as well.  I also looked at Watermark, it was really nice, but the space was a little smaller than we wanted.  Depending on your guestlist size you should check out the University Club.  It's right downtown on the top floor of the 5/3 Bank building.  Katie was who we talked to and she was so nice.  The price was one of the most reasonable that we looked at.We didn't got there for a couple of reasons, one being available dates and two b/c of our guestlist size.  I looked at about 10-12 places in GR and can give you more info if you like!Good luck!!p.s. do you know how I change my name on here??
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