Hello! I am looking into venues in the Baltimore area. My family and many friends are coming locally, but we will have invitees from NYC,Los Angeles, Florida, the midwest, and so on. About a third to a half of the invitees will be flying in to BWI-
including the bride and groom!
So it is important that guests be able to easily (and affordably) get to venues and hotels, including to and from the airport,without need for a car (cabs or hotel shuttles would work).
we are looking at the standard downtown hotels: both sheratons, monaco, pier 5, tremont, 1840s, harbor court, and maybe AVAM or something.the aquarium is on my list,but i am working to get a quote from their required caterer (classic,not my favorite) and a rental quote before i fully include them on the list.
I was wondering if you all had any suggestions, knowing that a fair number of guests are flying in (no backroads venues, we can't afford shuttles), just looking to see if anyone has any additional ideas. if it's not a hotel, thats fine, but something that has a hotel partner would be fine too!
again, doesn't have to be immediately in the city, but there should be some kind of shuttle service to help guests get around (primarily to/from airport), or near to the lightrail. downtown seemed easy because they can also visit attractions easily and make a vacation out of their weekend.
Guest count: 115-150
Budget for rental: up to $4000
Food budget if bringing caterer: up to $16,000
Budget if rental/food are included (hotels): $20,000
we have money to spend and will probably exceed these numbers, though i would prefer that no one spend that much, but i know we CAN, so... i'm willing to include those budget prices.
i also wanted to add:
I am in the business. I work as a catering event manager in LA, so I don't want "cheap" but I am also not high-end fancy. but i'll "know" when things are going wrong(because they ALWAYS do), so i want to feel confident that they can be handled properly.
But i'm looking for those venues that maybe people don't think of. Like the hippodrome or something...
I anyone used the hotels I am looking at, why did you pick them?Or, on the flip, why did you NOT pick one?
Did you find ease in negotiating some of those silly things out of the contract (I have such a pet peeve with these per slice cake cutting fees- as a cater-waiter in 4 states who myself has cut over 50 cakes, I have never once seen that $1.50 fee in my paycheck, so know that it's NOT going to the person cutting the cake or to dishes or anything except straight into the company's bank account, negotiate it out!!! they dont even charge for it in LA) and these $150 charges for bartenders in hotels... silly... OUT. oy...
but wondering what things you negotiated in or negotiated out, and which venues you did this in.
Many thanks!
hehe (hope i save people money there too)