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Just starting... venues

jamie5482jamie5482
100 Comments
in Maryland-Baltimore
Hi! I just got engaged on New Year's Eve so my fiance and I are just starting this wedding planning thing - it's exciting but already I can tell it's going to be stressful as well. We're having the wedding in Maryland since my family is there and cannot travel but we're stationed in Kansas until December. It's difficult planning from afar since we can't go visit venues as easily but we're planning to make a couple trips back to MD to check things out. Now if only we can get our list of venues narrowed down... 

We are hoping to find a location where we can have the ceremony and reception AND have accommodations at the same place. It's a bit of a tall order but we're hoping to have at least the wedding party and close family members stay at the same place. My fiance loves the idea of having everyone be able to hang out after the wedding as well. We're looking to either have the wedding on a Saturday evening or Friday evening. 

I was hoping for somewhere that has a view of the water and will be a good location for pictures but we're open to other ideas too. Should be maybe around 100 guests or less (at least with the list we've come up with so far). Any help would be appreciated! 
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Re: Just starting... venues

  • browner3browner3 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    A few questions that might help everyone help you:

    when were you looking to have you wedding?
    Baltimore has turned into more of an area than the city when most people talk about it; do you want your wedding in the city of Baltimore or surrounding?
    What is the feel you want for your wedding?
    Do you have a preliminary budget for what you want to spend/think is reasonable for what you want?

    sometimes just poking around the board helps; to see where other brides have gotten/are getting married. :)
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  • jamie5482jamie5482
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Oh, ha, didn't realize I forgot to put WHEN we'd be having the wedding!! Posting while under the influence of a fever is not the best idea... :)

    We're looking at September 2012 - I wouldn't mind being in the city but I would prefer the surrounding area. We've been looking a lot at areas just over the Bay Bridge; I don't want us to get too, too far from Baltimore because of the logistics of travel (my mom can't travel far and I'm not sure if her and my dad will stay overnight at whichever location we choose because my mom has dementia and gets out of sorts when her regular routine is disrupted). The overall feel that we want is elegant and classic but still fun. 

    I think our budget is going to be around $30k total so I guess at least half of that would be for venue, food, beverages, ceremony, any decorations, etc. We've looked at a few places online and we really liked The Oaks but it may be a bit out of reach. I just think it's going to be difficult to find a place that works within our budget that also has accommodations onsite (I've been trying to convince my fiance of this but I don't think he'll believe it until he sees the actual numbers). 
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  • kira&jakekira&jake
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    If you'd like to be in the city, many of the Inner Harber hotels could accomodate a ceremony and reception, and will have a pretty good view of the water, with the opportunity for pictures in the city. I went to a wedding at the Intercontinental in November that was realllly nice. No idea what the pricing was though.
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  • smange10.10smange10.10
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I would start with hotels.  Like PP said - any of the Inner Harbor hotels would be perfect.  My sister got married at the Renaissance...it was beautiful.  There's also the Pier 5 hotel that's really nice too.
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  • blondeintgeragrlblondeintgeragrl
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    My budget is just a tad under that and we are getting married at Gramercy Mansion which is outside of the city. Its a historic mansion that is a B&B now, so there are some rooms there but not a ton (like 10). The ceremony will be held outside and recption inside the mansion.

    I also looked at Herrington on the Bay, Swan Harbour, and Chesapeake Beach Resort and Spa. 
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  • missnaptownmissnaptown
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    We were married at the Kent Manor and it was great--not too far for our guests who were mostly from Baltimore, plenty of hotels on the island and 24 rooms at the Inn for our families from out of town. On the water (but not the bay) with a dock for pictures and beautiful grounds--and the Garden House will fit 150! Email me at missnaptown at gmail dot com for more questions or if you want any pictures :) Good luck!

    http://www.kentmanor.com/weddings.html
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  • amberb19amberb19 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We got married at the Tremont Grand and loved it. 
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  • brittneyumdbrittneyumd
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    The 1840s ballroom would allow you to get all three...ceremony, reception, and a really cute inn. The Engineer's Club would give you space for a ceremony and reception--and the Peabody Court Hotel is right next door.

    Happy planning!!!
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  • kmartini1021kmartini1021
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    My sister got married at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club in Stevensvile just across the Bay Bridge. They have several reception sites which are gorgeous! They do not have a hotel attached to the venue, but you can always have a bus or shuttle to provide transportation for the guests from the hotel to the venue.

    There's also Turf Valley if you don't mind overlooking a pond with fountains rather than the bay. They have nice rooms, and plenty of them, and they're rather low budget from what I gather.

    1840s ballroom, like PP said, is an excellent venue for a wedding.

    If you like Annapolis, the Inns of Annapolis look very nice. There's also the Admiral Fells Inn if you like a little bit of old world charm.
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  • angeepangeeangeepangee member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    My fiance and I just booked our reception at the Mansion at Valley Country Club. I found them to be extremely reasonably proced and very pleasant to work with.  Best of luck!!
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  • tayylor65tayylor65
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Our wedding's being held at Gramercy Mansion--about 15 minutes from downtown Baltimore.  There's no water view but it's a gorgeous garden/elegant atmosphere.  It's a little pricey for people to stay overnight who are on a budget ($150-300/room) but they're worth the cost, in my opinion.  
    Just a heads up if you do have any interest in Gramercy, they book relatively fast--we booked last May wanting a September 2011 wedding but had to bump it back to October.
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  • msconnolly1974msconnolly1974
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    edited December 2011
    The Admiral Fell in Fells Point is gorgeous! It's quaint and romantic with accommodations and the room in which the ceremony/reception would take place has an incredible view of the Inner Harbor.  It's part of Harbor Magic.

    Good luck!
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  • sbharkness83sbharkness83 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Try the Maryland Science Center. They have an amazong view of the the city and the water on their roof top where they have an awesome tent sent up. You can have the Ceremony infront of the the Science Center and then go up to the roof for dinner and dancing. Or you can have the ceremony and the cocktail hour on the roof and do dinner and dancing in the main lobby. It is really cool and super unique.
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