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Newbie planning a DIY Troy Wedding

pennyprettypennypretty member
First Comment
in New York-Upstate
Hi ladies! Just wanted to introduce myself. FI and I met at RPI and since I'm from Long Island and he's from New Hampshire we decided to get married in Troy since it's halfway between our two families.

He just propsed a week ago and we don't want a long engagement so we're trying to plan something 7/3/11. If anyone has any venues for receptions in Troy please let me know!

Franklin Plaza might be a little too expensive for us and I'd prefer a more rustic casual atmosphere but I'm still searching. Looking at Crystal Cove my family is concerned it will be too horribly hot in July without air conditioning in a pavillion. Has anyone seen/used the Carousel Ballroom?

Again we're trying to stick as close to Troy as possible, but I suppose we can branch out a bit from there.
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Re: Newbie planning a DIY Troy Wedding

  • salerno.ksalerno.k
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    just wanted to say congrats! my bf and I went to RPI also.. I've heard good things about Crystal Cove, maybe you can rent ac? I'm sure tent rental companies must have that. If you're looking for rustic, I suggest branching out from Troy and looking at Lake George or nearby

    good luck : )
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  • jnic0319jnic0319
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    See my post below on "BBQ/Pickniky event" about crystal cove.  HTH
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  • pennyprettypennypretty member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks ladies! I'm checking out Crystal Cove and an RPI barn next weekend. :) Lake George area is gorgeous but there's nothing in our price range, we're on a very tight budget.
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  • splint00splint00 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats! I kind of agree about branching out from Troy, things are pretty limited there and it's way too close to the riff-raff. I went to high school about 15 minutes away so I'm familiar with the area. My groom's entire family will be traveling from Long Island to Albany for the wedding as well. We're having ours at the Albany Country Club. Food is just okay but the view is absolutely beautiful and the rates are really reasonable, especially on a Friday night. Just another option for you. Good luck   :)  
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  • emankin9emankin9 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    What about Franklin Terrace on Campbell Ave.? Might be more in your budget. Not very rustic, though. Pruyn House in Colonie has a barn for receptions and garden for ceremony. Or Birch Hill in Schodack?
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  • tink410tink410
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Splints00.... I was looking at the Albany Coutry Club.  Is there anything else there that you dont like besides the food.  What about the food did you guys not like about the place?
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  • tink410tink410
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ok what I ment to say is there anything else about the place besides the food that you didnt like?  I am doing Sunday April 10,2011.  What kind of discount did you get for having it on a Friday?
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  • bebs415bebs415
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Have you thought about Emma Willard?  I know they do ceremonies at the chapel but am not sure about receptions but I bet it wouldn't hurt to ask.  If you haven't been the grounds are beautiful.  Even if you don't have the ceremony/reception there it's a great spot for pictures and def. a great representation of Troy.

    Also, the troy country club may have some pretty outdoor space.  I'm also considering it myself but am waiting for them to get back to me. 
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  • brittneyandadambrittneyandadam member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We took a look at Sterup Square...they're very nice there and the venue is great. We also looked at Crystal Cove...I absolutely fell in LOVE...until I found out that they don't serve alcohol. I don't want to sound like an alcoholic, but my fiance and I love to try different wines and our families like to celebrate with some booze. Birch Hill is nice, but a little expensive, even if you're trying for $100 a person...don't forget to ad the 20% fees and 8% sales tax!
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  • CourtAndDougCourtAndDoug member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Have you tried looking into local parks and resturants?

    FI and I are having our ceremoy at Frear Park in the Pagoda (just off the circle at the main enterance off of Oakwood) its $100 to "rent" that for the day and is 14' 9" wide by 41' 3" long. Make your arrangements at Kickerbacker ice rink off of 103rd.

    Our reception is a mere 5 minutes away at Daisy Bakers on 2nd ave. in the heart of down town Troy, accross the street from the music hall (and down the street from the caslte frat). They can seat up to 85 people (paking in like sardeens) and requre at least 40 people in attendance to shut the place down for your intamate use. Adam is the manager and he has been very helpful. Our meals (for a plated sit downt dinner) runs about $36/person which will run us at less than $50 with tax and tip. Jarrod is the bar manager, drink orders go though him.

    FI and I also looked into places like Grafton (the state park) and Peterburgh (the Veteran's/Municipal building and a local inn) before falling in love with both Frear and Daisy's. Grafton and Petersburgh locations are at most 30 minutes away from Troy and are close to the VT/MA borders
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  • splint00splint00 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Tink410-We did a tasting and I guess it was kind of typical wedding food. Not terrible but nothing amazing either. We did get a really good deal for the Friday night, it was $90 per head for an hour and a half cocktail "hour" and 5 hours of open bar. The inside is really beautiful with floor to ceiling windows however, the navy blue and gold color scheme didn't work for us. We're renting chairs from an outside company to go with our black, grey and white color scheme. The outside patio is great to use for the cocktail hour and you can really appreciate the view that way. Let me know if any other questions, I'm happy to help  :) 
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  • bssgroomsmombssgroomsmom member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi. I'm only the groom's mom in this situation, but I wanted to give you input from the "low budget-champagne taste" perspective.

    First, Albany Country Club is gorgeous, food is really top notch; but my friends who had a lovely wedding for 160 people there in fall 2009 ---- ceremony outdoors with gorgeous view of fall colors in southern Albany county, reception indoors, soup to nuts, including open bar throughout reception --- got a "Sunday night discount" and still spent more than $20,000 just for ACC. Naturally, they had to pay band, photographer, flowers, etc. in addition to this sum. As I said, lovely, but more than a bit too expensive.

    My son and his fiancel, who are incredibly wonderful people, and very considerate of our budgetary constraints (PLEASE don't ask how the groom's parents ended up paying for this whole thing!), took a very comprehensive look at locations throughout the Capital District, and settled on Carmella's (formerly known as Casey's --- name change occurred sometime between Dec. 2009 and Mar. 2010, but management remains the same) in Rensselaer. My son's fiance and a friend of mine who taught for years in the Rensselaer schools have both been to several affairs there & agree that Carmella-Casey's food is excellent. The banquet room is fine for at least 100 guests. Management is as nicer than I believed possible. And the price is totally reasonable. They are also located about 100 yards from the Washington Ave. exit off of I-90, a real plus when one is considering out of town guests who are worried about getting lost in an unfamiliar place. (Yeah, everyone has GPS, etc., but believe me, even in 2010, parents, parents' friends, and relatives in the same age group still worry about getting lost.)

    The only downside is that the physical location doesn't include a spot for an outdoor ceremony, and we all agree that for an Aug. wedding, outdoors would be best. We're still looking for a spot for the ceremony, so please, any ideas in this vein would be much appreciated. But Carmella's is really worth considering for the reception. Just having a nice, non-snooty, down-to-earth manager to talk to is, from my perspective, wonderful.
    So, in short, take a look at Carmella's.
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  • pennyprettypennypretty member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks for all the insight!

    I visited Crystal Cove, Sterup Square and Pat's Barn (in RPI's Tech Park) and I think we're going to go with Pat's Barn.

    The guy at Sterup Square was kind of nasty to us and almost even told us, "If you don't want this sort of place then don't waste my time" when we told him the other venues we were visiting. Very off-putting.

    Ruth & Frank at Crystal Cove were awesome. I agree, it's sad that they don't "serve" alcohol as part of their package but the place was beautiful and they seem to be doing a lot of very pretty renovations. I just wasn't too keen on the campy bathrooms and the lack of air conditioning worried my parents for a July wedding.

    Pat's Barn was clean, renovated beautifully: keeping a lot of the rustic exposed wood but adding modern conveniences like new bathrooms and air conditioning and April (the facility manager) is wonderful. She owns an Event Coordinating business on the side so since I'm an out of town bride planning from afar we might go with a package with her and the Barn. What's awesome is we're RPI grads so we get a slight discount for the affiliation (loves me some discounts!).

    Our next big step will be finding a church that will let us get married without being a member that isn't a huge ornate cathedral. bebs Thanks for suggesting Emma Willard, I never even thought of it but it's actually "on the way" to our reception venue if we stay in Troy. It looks intimate enough for the likes of me.
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  • notquiteblushingnotquiteblushing member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats on your engagement and finding a venue.  My FI went to RPI and the campus is beautiful!
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  • bebs415bebs415
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    No problem!  I went to school there and it's def. a pretty little chapel.

    I'm actually looking at Pat's barn next week and just read your post.  My grandfather and cousin are RPI grads as well.  If you have any tips or suggestions before we visit/meet with April I'd love to hear them!

    Congrats!
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  • angelsoffspringangelsoffspring member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I just saw a few pictures online of Pat's barn.  I would love to hear any info you soon-to-be's may have. I'm going to call on Monday to schedule a time to take a look.

    Do they have an outside locale to have a ceremony?
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  • humpforfreehumpforfree
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I had my reception at Sterup Square out Rt 7 past Brunswick 1/10/09 and LOVED it. Everyone raved about the food and they had very reasonable pricing. Also Bob, the chef, was very willing to work with me on the menu and anything else I wanted.

    I have pics in my bio.
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  • bobbienybobbieny member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Congrats on finding your venue!  I have been to the Pat Barn on many occasions and I just LOVE it there!  And April is absolutely wonderful to work with. Have you found a caterer at this point?  The reason I ask is because I am an special event planner for Birch Hill Catering.  If you are still looking let me know and I would be more then happy to meet with you. 

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  • BrenAndJoBrenAndJo member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I just looked at the RPI barn too!  Please let me know how that works out for you as it is a TOP consideration at this point!
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