Reception at Beach House or Hotel?
Hi! Planning a May 2011 wedding in Nags Head and having a hard time deciding if we are going to have the reception at the house or if we are going to have it an actual reception site, such as the Pier House or Village Beach Club? We are only having about 50-60 guests and I have found the perfect event home and am thinking of a white tent in case of bad weather but I have also fallen in love with the Pier House. HELP!!! I wonder if a house reception would be less personal or if my guests would enjoy being able to move freely? On the other hand, maybe a house reception would be more personal since its homier and everything?? Im open to any and all opinions that you may have on a house reception or having it at an actual event site? The advantage to that is everything is already there and taken care of for me but the costs is higher too. Keeping an eye on that....
Re: Reception at Beach House or Hotel?
I think it depends on your style too. For us, the house option didn't feel "Weddingish" enough.
The reception/restaurant option fit us best because there wasn't a need to transport items or worry about set up and clean up. It's also budget friendly, which is nice.
06.24.11 OBX, NC
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06.24.11 OBX, NC
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I think the vendors whose names you see cropping up on the boards have lots of experience in making an event home special enough to have your reception there if that's the route you want to go. You might want to talk to a florist and/ or event planner to get ideas before you make your final decision.
Happy to share ideas and plans off the board if you want - [email protected]
Good luck with your decision!
-Kelly
Hi Kelly!
Thanks for your input! Its nice having another May bride to bounce questions off of. Ok, so I would recommend looking at Big Mamas with Seaside Vacations....absolutely gorgeous and is a great event home! I went ahead and pre-reserved it for May 2011 and I think she said there were still 2 other weeks in May left. Its only $50 to pre-reserve and leases go out in Oct., so if you change your mind between now and then, you only lost $50. I will e-mail you the event homes that I have found and share them with you since I am also having a 50-60 people reception.
I do love the Pier House, but I think I have decided to keep the reception at the house for a more intimate feel. Question: are you doing your reception around the pool or getting a white tent? I am thinking of white tent in case it rains. What do you think?
Ok, so I will e-mail you later with some of the homes I have found. If you dont already know this, make sure you ask them if they charge an event fee + a wedding fee on TOP of the deposit. Seaside only charges a $1,000 refundable deposit, nothing else which is nice b/c hey, Im already spending a lot of mula as it is and dont think event fees or wedding fees are fair if you are advertising your home as an event/wedding home.
Again, thanks for your advice and I am gladly here for you to bounce questions and ideas off of too! YAYY!!!
Charlene
[email protected]
I agree with you about the event fee because they hold about 30ppl to begin with and my list is at the most 54 and I doubt all will show. I am going to try to negotiate something. I'd like to know what I 'get' for that money!
Have you had the opportunity to see ParkPlace in person? There are so many hotels within stumbling distance, it's awesome (if you were having non-house residing guests).
p.s. Plan B is the upstairs of the house as it has a very open floorplan!
I was worried about the rain factor as well, and was contemplating a tent until i looked up the pricing, so luckily both these homes have large enough rooms indoors to accomodate, JUST in case
We're going w/ a hotel instead of an event home like we initially were looking for because w/ an even home theres so many tiny details that you're going to have to pay for where at a hotel its always there...(tables, chairs, linens, glasses, china, silverware, parking, etc...)
I looked at the pier house and was able to speak with Miha Slegel, their event coordinator. This is what she sent me regarding price.
· $4000 – Set up and Rental Fee for the Pier House (for Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening weddings, from the hours of 5pm – Midnight, based on a four hour reception)· $3000 – Set up and Rental Fee for the Pier House (for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday day weddings, from the hours of 8am – 3pm, or Monday-Thursday evening weddings, based on a four hour reception time)· $4000++ Food and Beverage Minimum to book Pier House(Extra hours are available for an additional $200 per hour, but may not exceed the hours listed for the Pier House.)I believe that includes tables, chairs, linens, plateware and their arrangements. Unfortunately, that was a little over my budget to simply rent the venue so I'm now looking at 108 Budleigh. I would recommend getting in contact with them via the hotel's website asap. I had reserved the pier house in early June and was told there weren't many options left for July 2011.
Good luck with everything!
Are you planning on getting married on the beach?
Actually for us, the event home was more expensive b/c you have to pay the weekly fee plus most of the mgmt. companies charge an addt'l event fee of $1000 t0 $2500 and then you have to determine whether or not the reception around the pool and finding a large enough pool area is quite the task and if not by the pool then can the house fit everyone and how do you set that up and then renting a tent....which some homes allow and some dont. Dont get me wrong, you can certainly do the reception at an event home but determining your guest list is prioroty b/c a lot of these homes allow 50 max and a few others will do 75-100. Like I said, for US the venue ended being the best way to go b/c it also serves as our backup plan (we are getting married on the beach), it includes all of our tables/chairs and I feel more relaxed tht once the night is over, we simply leave.
Have you been to outer banks wedding association? is www.obxwa.com or obxbrides.com
Both of those are wonderful sites and the ladies here are always ready to help. Give me some feedback on your headcount and I can give you few links to places I visited along the way