Hi all! I am new to the knot and very intimidated by it so this will definitely take some getting used to. I got engaged in September and my fiance and I have decided that we want to get married in Newport, RI. (We live in North Jersey) We went this weekend to Newport and looked at a church in Bristol, met with Plantation Caterers and also stopped to look at the Rosecliff. We are pretty sure we will be booking the Rosecliff for July 2013. We were impressed with the food at the tasting for Plantation... however, I have no idea what to do next! I am going to try to come up again in February for the wedding expo but I was wondering if any Newport brides could give me some tips/advice and suggestions for flowers, photography, videography, hotel, transportation, etc. My fiance and I will be paying for a large chunk of the wedding ourselves so we do not have unlimited funds by any means. I would appreciate any input at all! Thanks so much
Re: Newport RI Wedding
The one thing i could suggest to you would be to possibly hire a Day of Coordinator.. I think for you it would be good because you live far away and she would be able to have some piece of mind. She could help you alot with finding vendors within your budget. I hadn't planned to hire one, but after polling some of the girls on here, they convinced me to hire one! The one that i have chosen has so far been great! She is already doing so much more for me than I had originally thought. I had a change of heart with my original venue and I emailed her and she gave me a list of some great places. She emails me every so often to see how things are going and makes sure i havent lost my mind yet! lol So far, she is the best money I've spent, and she has yet to do what I have hired her for!
Good luck, and I am looking forward to being on the planning journey with you since we both have a decent length of time to pull it all together!
1) You might find a venue that speaks to you more than Rosecliff
2) You might find a venue that's more reasonably priced
3) You might find a venue that includes more in the cost (i.e. less things for you to coordinate)
If Rosecliff is the style you're looking for, consider Blithewold Mansion in Bristol, the Viking Hotel in Newport, or Ocean Cliff in Newport. All have that period charm and are gorgeous. Don't limit yourself!
Other caterer I would try: Blackstone! They're incredibly well known locally and do a fantastic job. Last year they had a booth set up at the Bridal Show so you could sample some of their yummies.
I local to Newport and got married here in October. I got my cake from It's My Party in Newport and she was amazing! The cost was $3.75/person and she was so easy and fun to work with. No delivery charge within Newprot, either. I strongly recommend her!
Flowers I got from Carlone's in Portsmouth (2 towns away). She was terrific and her work is amazing. She listens to you, truly, and works with your budget, whatever it is. I got all my centerpieces, coctail table centerpieces, bouts, corsages, and bouquets for $1,000 delivered to 3 locations - where my BMs and I were getting ready, the church, and the reception.
If you come up in Feb, I'd definitely consider making it a long weekend and scheduling some time to visit with a few of these vendors. Summers book quickly in Newport.
Sorry this is sooooo long! :-) Good luck, and welcome!
I highly recommend KiRa Hair Salon--the owner, Kim is amazing!! She has done my hair for three weddings I have been in and I have never been disappointed.
Cake--I am using Scrumptions from East Greenwich--it was the only place with the flavor we wanted (spice) and the woman was fabulous.
Flowers--Water's Edge--they did the flowers for my sister's wedding--it was beautiful
Video/Photo--captivation in Tiverton--Lori is great--is basically letting us customize a package to meet our needs
Transportation--Rockstar--we are doing a trolley
Rehearsal Dinner--Sardella's--we are getting our own private room and the food is amazing!
Happy Planning!!