Upper Cape Venue Suggestions

love2nap · January 2010

Hi Everyone!

I am semi-newly engaged and I am a little overwhelmed with finding the perfect wedding venue... I feel like sometimes all the information blends together! Does anyone know a great place in the upper cape area that can hold an outside cermony and indoor wedding that is on the ocean (or at least has views of the ocean) that can hold around 130-150 guests. I would ideally like a place that has accomdations on property, but a nearby (affordable one-night only stay in border line off season) hotel wouldn't be bad either. Does a place like this on the Upper Cape exist? I would like to spend around 12,000-15,000 on a wedding venue.

Also, Has anyone had or been too a wedding at the Popponesset Inn or Brookside Club??? And how far away did guests have to stay from the venue!

Thanks!! Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

rachelewalsh · January 2010

I am not sure on prices, the cape is pretty expensive. You may want to try the Seacrest, I think they just renovated it! It really needed it. It is right on the water and all your guest cans stay there. Also try the flying bridge (little more casual) the Inn Seasons Harbor Walk hotel is walking distance.

kikibird · January 2010

My wedding reception is going to be at The Brookside Club (in April) and we've got guests staying at The Quality Inn in Bourne (only about a mile and a half away). The manager at the Quality Inn is a bit of a pain to work with, but the place is comfortable. My mom got married at The Brookside Club back in 2005 and guests stayed at the Quality Inn back then too (it was the Best Western at the time). It was great that it was so nearby the reception venue. For our wedding, we'll probably be renting a bus to shuttle people back and forth (we need to get moving on that, actually!).

The Brookside Club has views of the Canal, not the ocean, so if you're looking for a true ocean view, it may not work for you. I had a blast at my mom's wedding there, and enjoy working with the staff at Brookside now, so I'd say definitely check it out when you scout places.

I also looked at SeaCrest, the Aqua Grille, Beachmoor Inn, and the Pocasset Golf Club (you need to be a sponsored by a member there though), and Brookside fit our needs best. They can accommodate an outdoor reception up to 250 people I think (150 inside in the banquet room; ours will be inside).

Hope that helps, and happy planning!

nurselori · January 2010

Sorry to butt in, but I'm wondering what you mean about the Quality Inn being a pain to work with. I am planning on going over there to book a block of rooms for out of town guests. Please elaborate!!!!

Karen's MOH · January 2010

The Poppanessett Inn sounds like it would be right up your alley, but you would have to be flexible with time and date-- a day time wedding there might fit your budget but it would be close. My friend is getting married there this summer and is having some people stay in the cottages and having a shuttle for the rest to a hotel in Hyannis. You will have a hard time finding a hotel that will allow guests to stay for one night only, unfortunately. My wedding is in October and I only found one place that would take a handful of reservations for one night, the rest were al two night min.

Brookside was nice, the only part I didn't like was driving in through the Toyota dealership. It would be really convenient for people coming from off Cape since it's so close to the bridge.

kikibird · January 2010

True that the road up to Brookside is not a majestic entrance by any means, but once you're up at the clubouse and inside, all that is literally behind you, and it's easily forgotten. All views from the banquet hall face out over the golf course and canal -- and they have gorgeous sunsets! But I agree... some trees to line the road all the way up would do nicely to mask all the Toyotas!

@nurselori (or anyone) --- The manager there is just not as customer-friendly as I would expect of someone in the hospitality industry. His wife is a very sweet lady, but he's the one you have to negotiate with. It's been a little bit tedious to work out our contract with him. You can reach me at kikijbird at gmail dot com, or send me a private message here on The Knot, for more details.

Karen's MOH · January 2010

Kikibird-- very true that the view at Brookside once you get in is beautiful. We got there to look at it right after sunset and I was really disappointed we missed it. I love the deck outside too.

love2nap · January 2010

Great, Thanks everyone for all the suggestions!!! We looked a Brookside Club a little while back, and I really loved it! I thought it perfect for us. Unfortunately, my fiance just told me yesterday that it was the least favorite of every place we looked at! So, that one gets crossed off the list. We'll see...

BosMA510 · January 2010

The Flying Bridge is right on Falmouth Harbor, so it's a really beautiful location with great views. They recently renovated the upstairs function room and it looks great! We were there recently to finalize out menu, etc. It looks like a totally different room now.

As far as on-site cermonys, I've seen the deck at the Flying Bridge set up for a ceremony. It's not completely outside, but it's covered (which would take care of any weather concerns). I'm not sure if they do ceremonys anywhere else on site. There is a hotel about 1/4 mile away, and then the Holiday Inn and Inn on the Square are also close (but not really walking distance). Hope this helped!

raead · January 2010

yep!!!! Check out the Falmouth Yacht Club! Beach ceremony, great spot and reasonable. I LOve it! My hands down first choice. half the price pf the popponessett!

tropicanha · March 2010

Getting married at the Brookside Club this June... crossing our fingers that we get the amazing sunsets that we hear about! I don't get why they don't put trees up to block all the cars either, but once you're up on the hill and inside you don't notice!

Interesting to hear about the Flying Bridge being renovated... when we were looking last year in March, we were very disappointed by how run down it looked for the cost. I don't think at the time they were planning to renovate it because they didn't mention it... but glad they did!

MeaghanandMichael · March 2010

Just a word of warning about the Brookside Club. I was there for a a wedding in November, and while it is nice, the food and service were TERRIBLE. They had maybe one passed hors d'oeuvre, they never replenished the cheese and cracker crudite, the buffet lines were poorly run (mass amount of people running up at one time) and my water glass was never refilled once during the night. The worst had to be when we finally were able to get to the buffet, they literally had some one gaurding the steaks to make sure people did not take more than one. It was ridiculously tacky all around. Plus, the bathrooms were downstairs and across the way, which was annoying.

kikibird · March 2010

I'm sorry you had such a poor experience at Brookside, Meaghan. That definitely wasn't my experience when I was there for my mom's reception, and we eat there regularly, and think the food is great.

But you're right, that kind of service is unacceptable and hopefully we'll be able to guard against it happening at my reception there next month. I know we'll have to give the wait staff a head's up not to let FI's rambunctious little sister grab extra portions before her turn, but I think everyone else will be behaved.

Oh and there ARE restrooms upstairs, on the north end, around the other side of the bar (and the women's one has a nice ante room for primping).

But again, thanks for the warning, and I'll definitely share my vendor reviews in May, so if crappy service continues to be their new MO, you will all hear about it, to help future brides. But of course, I'd rather not have anything to complain about... wish me luck!

tropicanha · March 2010

Oi... this is making me nervous about the Brookside! I enjoyed the food when I went for the taste testing in January, but some of the comments make me rather nervous. kikibird, I would really love to hear your review after your wedding, especially if I should be addressing some of the concerns I'm hearing at the detail meeting...

kikibird · March 2010

tropicanha, I'll be meeting with Frank and/or Melissa in a couple of weeks to go over the last details, so I plan to check in with them then about how the wait staff will operate. Wouldn't hurt to go over this sort of thing, though I admit that I wouldn't have thought I'd need to worry about it. Overall I'm not all that concerned, as my family has known Frank for years and it's not like we're going to change venues or anything (or let fear ruin the day), but these things are worth discussing with him.

I'll let you know how it goes!

MeaghanandMichael · March 2010

Damn I wish I knew about that ladies room

Best of luck Kiki. I am really glad to hear you have had great experiences with your moms reception. I wish you the best on your wedding day!

kikibird · March 2010

Thanks, Meaghan!

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