How are these Buffalo venues?

aimeek420 · October 2011

We're running into a little snag with finding a venue--turns out most of the days we had in mind for next fall are booked at the venues I've already contacted! Boy, things fill up early... insane. Anyways, we're going to have to be a bit more flexible and are investigating other reception sites.

Can anyone give me their thoughts on the following venues (atmosphere, prices, quality of food, etc)?
-Millennium Hotel
-Brookfield Country Club
-Franklin Room
-Samuels
-The Como

Other suggestions are welcome. The Tonawanda Castle is totally unavailable with our schedule, which was where we were initially thinking. Thanks in advance!

AeroStyle · October 2011

I've only been to Millenium & Samuels before. Samuels is very nice. Its your stantard banquet room though.
Millenium's food was delicious. I had heard so much about their great atrium where cocktail hr is held. It was very nice with great skylights, it was on the other side of the pool though so you hear people splashing around which can be a little odd. The food did make up for it though

Yum. I believe they include a hotel & butterwoods cake also.

cgielow · October 2011

We are having our reception at the Millennium in the courtyard/atrium area. When you book your whole reception there they shut down the area to guests for the duration so that the pool cannot be in use. They comp your room for the night (honeymoon suite), you get free breakfast the next day, and a cake from Butterwood is included too. The staff there has been very helpful throughout the whole planning process.

LisaP13 · October 2011

Has anyone been to the Avanti Mansion for a reception? I am looking for something vintage, elegant and historic. I am up for any ideas for the Buffalo area. Suburbs are preferred.

cutypy0516 · October 2011

They didn't shut down the pool area for our best man's wedding at the Millenium. They had their entire wedding in the Atrium. It is a cool setting, but even if there aren't people at the pool, be prepared for the smell of chlorine when you first walk in and it will be warmer in there (for me that was a good thing, I'm always cold). I think you get used to the smell though, so it won't bother you after a while. The food was good, and we had a fun time hanging out on the gazebo.

degrea · October 2011

-Millennium Hotel- I looked here as well and liked what I saw. I had a friend of a friend get married here and they said easy to work with food amazing, yada yada. I didn't end up going with them for 2 reasons: the ballroom to me looked like any hotel ballroom and I wanted something different and I read reviews about the hotel rooms itself seeming my guest would be staying there and I didn't like what I read, bed bugs, dirty, etc.
-Brookfield Country Club- I have been to events here and it is very nice, food is good. I just don't personally like Brookfield. i grew up across the street and they are always very snotty to me. Like you can't wear jeans on the property. It is a personal thing; the place itself is beautiful!
-Samuels- I have attended several weddings at Samuels. Also good food and a good time. Like others said it is your typical banquet hall, but they do a good job. I really love the room upstairs but it was too small for my wedding.

I had my wedding at Rich's Atrium. I would recommend checking them out. The place is very beautiful. It is a mini Buffalo in one room. The food was AMAZING! People still are talking about it. They were very easy to work with and everything was done just the way I asked. I believe they are with in your price range as well, Good Luck!

peaches105 · October 2011

I agree with everything PPs said about Millenium. It was a little weird at first when you realize you're eating and drinking in the lobby where generally everyone can see you, but it was really unique. The banquet room was very spacious.

I had my high school prom at Samuels, which was really nice too. Good food and if the weather cooperates you can use the outdoor space.

@LisaP - I've heard not-so-great things about Avanti Mansion. I've heard the coordinator is very stand-offish, hard to get ahold of, and acts like she's doing you a huge favor by allowing you to have your wedding there. If you want that kind of look I would look at country clubs in the area - very similar. It is a really nice space, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice peace of mind just for a pretty space. Unless you or someone helping you has a backbone and will set her straight, in which case I say go for it

L&J2012 · October 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-york-western_buffalo-venues-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:622Discussion:ce05f18e-4be0-47c4-ac60-95d3d9a9a87fPost:b032ed75-a731-4301-9df4-62cb9d400ad3">Re: How are these Buffalo venues?</a>:
[QUOTE]Has anyone been to the Avanti Mansion for a reception? I am looking for something vintage, elegant and historic. I am up for any ideas for the Buffalo area. Suburbs are preferred.
Posted by LisaP13[/QUOTE]

I can't tell you anything about the Avanti Mansion, but if you're looking for vintage, elegant and historic there's the Butler Mansion downtown. I'm getting married thee and it's a beautiful place. They have their own catering and so far they've been very responsive and accomodating.

rkm6 · October 2011

We looked at Avanti and it was high on our list but after coming up with some questions and calling back to coordinator multiple times and never hearing back we quickly crossed them off of our list. Service is SO important to me when you are dealing with something as expensive as a wedding so we didn't want to deal with that.

cgielow · October 2011

@cutypy - Sorry if I posted bad information. I was just going by what they told us when we signed our contract.

[Deleted User] · October 2011

@cutypy - how long ago was his wedding? I know Millennium has been making changes to what they're doing. I was in there 2 days ago picking up my list of reserved rooms for my wedding next month and they had signs up at the front desk saying the pool was closed with times listed. I assumed somebody had the atrium booked but never asked.

@degrea- that also almost stopped me from booking there, but then I talked to my uncle. His daughter's wp and oot guests stayed there and said there were no problems at all and it was very clean. They did change owners and a lot of those bad reviews were from a long time ago. Plus, it is just random internet people, so I don't usually take those reviews too seriously. Our coordinator there said they've renovated many of the rooms and were still working on the suites.

OP - I know several people who have had weddings and other events @ Millennium and have only heard great things about them. Michael is VERY easy to work with and this is the only venue that let us change things (I was very tired of hearing "we don't do it that way" and Millennium said "we don't normally do it that way, but we can if you want us to"). I've also heard their food is some of the best banquet food in the area.

I'll come back after my wedding and post a review for you guys.

I'm not familiar with the rest of the places you listed, except Samuel's, but FI's family owns it so I don't post anything about them to avoid the vendor accusations.

Avanti Mansion - I went to a wedding there this past August. The ceremony was in the garden and was nice, but there is no shade over the seating area. We ended up standing in the back to be in the shade. The reception was in a tent outside and it was very nice. They did the stations and the food wasn't bad. Appetizers were awesome, but the people passing them would get swarmed because they were the only apps (no fruit or veggie display, not sure if that was the b&g choice or if that's how they do it). I loved the smores station at night too. It was such a unique receiption idea.

gymbugmj2k · October 2011

I wasn't impressed with Samuels from a logistics point of view. They have 4 banquet rooms which all have the possibility of being booked on your day. (Each has outdoor space as well) They also time all the rooms to have dinner at the same time/dancing at the same time, etc. Which is great for sound (aka you dont hear another DJ during dinner), but with only 1 set of bathrooms, we weren't crazy about the after dinner rush possibility. Also, ALL the guests enter from one door, so theres a lot of mixing/mingling going on trying to find the right room.

The woman we spoke with was very much a "we take care of eeeverryyythnig for you" which to some brides is great, but I LOVE to plan events, and when you tell me I have very little say about linens, place settings, centerpieces and doing a 'once over' of the room the day of to make sure everything is perfect.... i'm out.

all in all, i remember having my highschool prom there, and it was a nice event with your standard banquet food.

deburnin · October 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-york-western_buffalo-venues-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:622Discussion:ce05f18e-4be0-47c4-ac60-95d3d9a9a87fPost:c58ed118-d7ac-4417-8975-fb4b13949f33">Re: How are these Buffalo venues?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: How are these Buffalo venues? : I can't tell you anything about the Avanti Mansion, but if you're looking for vintage, elegant and historic there's the Butler Mansion downtown. I'm getting married thee and it's a beautiful place. They have their own catering and so far they've been very responsive and accomodating.
Posted by L&J2012[/QUOTE]

<div>How are they price wise, if you don't mind me asking? I called earlier this week and never got a response from them and I haven't been able to find any information online. We're having a smaller wedding (~75 people) and were told that it would be a good place, but I haven't found anything to back up that recommendation. </div>

How are these Buffalo venues?

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