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Newport RI Wedding

SScimecaSScimeca
in Rhode Island
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 :)
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Re: Newport RI Wedding

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    bethanylyn06bethanylyn06 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi! I am planning my newport wedding from NY, so I know how you feel. Here's some random advice to keep in mind- Something you should keep in mind for hotels in the area is that June is considered a "busy season" for newport, so all hotels in newport will be minimum 2 night stay and can be quite pricey for some guests. That was something I thought about a lot when I was booking my wedding as we have so many out of town guests. They usually dont get rates until a year in advance, so you still have time until you have to start doing that. 

    You mentioned transportation - a lot of people book a bus to transport their guests from the hotel to the wedding.. I think a fun and unique  transportation option besides a bus is the newport trolley.. http://newportweddingtrolley.com/

    As far as flowers and photography, there are so many amazing reviews on this board I would recommend searching through them, but I find it is best to meet your vendors in person before you make any decisions.

    good luck and happy planning :-)
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    AmandaLeigh1014AmandaLeigh1014
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats and welcome! Newport is one of the best places in Rhode Island to get married! I will be getting Married June 7, 2013! My FI and i are looking into Newport Yachting Center for our wedding, and will be paying for most of it ourselves, so i feel you on the not having unlimited funds thing!

    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! :o)

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    dberrettdberrett
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    As far as price goes, like pp said, summers are peak season which means the most expensive for you and your guests.  One way to trim your costs is to do a Friday or Sunday wedding. That usually knocks off a descent chunk of change with your vendors. When you decide on a venue, make sure you consider how close the nearest hotel is. Whether you provide transportation or not, you don't want a place that has a 15+ minute ride each way, and Newport traffic is a bear in the summer. Rosecliff may be such a case, but will likely be about 10 minutes each way. Unless you're totally in love with Rosecliff, I would recommend looking at a couple of other venues if you come back up in February.
    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!
    We're selling some things left from our wedding! http://weddinggoodsforsale.weebly.com/ Visit The Nest! Visit The Nest! Anniversary
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    URIsweetheartsURIsweethearts
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    hello and congratulations! i got engaged in august and am now planning my sept 2012 wedding. we are getting married at church in kingston and then having our reception in middletown  -right near newport. FI is from NJ and we met at URI. if you couldn't already tell by the screen name. rosecliff is beautiful and july will be nice, although busy like someone else said. what to do next would be to look for dress, photgrapher and hair and makeup people. the dress will most likely take a while to come in unless you order off the rack and once the good hair and makeup people are gone, like photographers that are good -they are gone and cant be double booked for the same day. we also booked our cupcake girl because we knew we wanted her so we figured why wait. we don't have a photographer yet - we waited too long on one and she booked, but I am going to RaNEW salon in newport for hair and makeup - great place. I also got my dress already at a shop in east providence, although you may get one in NJ. we are using sweet indulgence in warwick for the cupcakes. I would also do the room blocks you need too - as someone else mentioned - july is a busy time in newport and rooms fill quickly with tourists and weddings. this board is great! lots of advice and nice people - it's been really helpful and there are other out of state planners on here too!
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    URIsweetheartsURIsweethearts
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    ps - for flowers - look up the secret garden, in jamestown. (a short ride over the bridge) that's who is doing our flowers. it is a young guy that owns the shop - very nice and creative. familiar with newport venues and will work with your budget.
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    RoyalOrientRoyalOrient member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats and welcome to the board. When you have time please don't forget to introduce yourself in the sticky threads at the top - Knottie Introductions and check out the Knottie Booked Vendor Directory for list of vendors that brides on here are using for their wedding. 

    I got married on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in Newport last summer. We planned our nuptials for 200 guests on a budget. The link below is a budget breakdown of my wedding. Also for vendors including caterers, I suggest you also look into Atomic Catering and B & M Clamback and Catering. Rosecliff is a beautiful venue but definitely on the high side so you can save money in other areas including booking on a Friday or Sunday. If you are open to other venues in the area, you will have more less expensive venue options available too. Weddingwire.com and The Wedding Channel has great reviews on vendors too.


    My favorite vendors

    Florists - Whole Foods Florist University/Providence (delivery to Newport is inexpensive), Florals by Alisa (very popular), Blooming Blossom, Golden Gate, and Toni Chandler (based in Newport)

    Photography - Buget, Style, and Chemistry are 3 huge factors when determining the perfect photographer for you. My top picks include Hello Love Photography, Kelly Dillion Photography, Rebecca Arthurs, Lisa Rigby, Raw Photo Design, Melissa Stimpson (very budget friendly), and Visual-Obsession (my photographers)

    Videography - David Bettencourt, Jeff Brouilett Films, Mike Picard Videography

    Hotel - I used only the Marriot and Courtyard for my hotel blocks. I was very pleased with the ease of booking and the service they provided. The rates were reasonable for Newport.

    Transportation - Rockstar limo and Newport wedding trolley 

    FOR SALE

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    getaclue44getaclue44 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    As a native Newporter, I chose not to have my wedding in the summer months(November 2012)--it is crazy expensive and like it said in PP hotels will have minimum night stays.  We looked at a number of places, but chose Newport Beach Hotel and Suites--right across from Easton's Beach--we are working directly with the chef and he has been great.  They were the most flexible with the price per head.  Most places wouldn't let us substitute different entrees. 

    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!!
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    dribblejackdribblejack member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Cake: We had a "display cake" from Sin but served sheet cakes (nobody saw them) from Gregg's restaurants because they are DELICIOUS!!!  Both deliver to Newport

    Photographer: We were happy with Sabrina Scolari

    Band: Mark Greel Band

    Rehearsal Dinner: White Horse Tavern in Newport

    Day-after wedding brunch: We reserved 1/2 the upstairs dining room at Landing restaurant in Newport for their buffett (open to public, but we had our own area).  Food wasn't incredible but it got the job done for our out of town guests (basically everyone at the wedding)

    Hair: Kelly at Moss salon in Providence.  She travelled to Newport.

    Makeup: Jill DeGiglio from Cranston - also travelled. Cell #401-374-2733.
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