New Jersey

Future Hubby has some questions on il Villaggio

Hi Everyone!

I did a ton of research on places and gave a list to my fiance of some potential places. Some higher and lower on our budget so we could have a comparison on where the extra money was going to and whether or not it was worth it. We saw, English Manor, Crystal Ballroom, Bridgewater Manor, Richfiled Regency, Graycliff, Season's, il Tulipano and the Villaggio in the last few weeks. The last three really stuck out above the rest but of course they were higher in cost. I have to say I was very disappointed with the Richfield Regency and a little disappointed with the Greycliff.

Season's and Tulipano were very beautiful but they were to0 expensive for our Friday, Sept/Oct 2011 preference and they didn't seem to keen on negotiating much. (season's only had one date left and Tulipano did not mention their higher headcount guarantee over the phone. =(

However, Bob at il Villaggio is the nices guy on earth. We really clicked and we negotiated on a great price. We have a tasting this Friday but I wanted to see if anyone had a wedding there or have attended one there. There isn't a ton of reviews on the place so I get a little nervous since I'm such a review nut. Any help would be great!!!


Re: Future Hubby has some questions on il Villaggio

  • Reilly626Reilly626 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    All that matters is that you two like it! If the food is good, go for it... I picked a venue that isnt on here much at all.. its ok to be different. Good Luck!

  • edited December 2011
    I agree with Reilly, we got married at a venue that isn't mentioned much on here nor did I find a lot of reviews. We had a fantastic wedding and it was everything we could have hoped for.

    If it feels right for you and your fiancee, then I say go for it!
    ExerciseMilestone
  • edited December 2011
    I attended a wedding there over the summer. It was very, very nice. The place is gorgeous and the food was fantastic, the acoustics great. The only negative I saw was that there is no outdoor patio area, which is important for me for my wedding. Other than that it was an awesome wedding.
  • uppereastgirluppereastgirl member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Agree with the others -- we got married at a place that is never mentioned here (in all my time on The Knot, I haven't even heard of anyone visiting it, let alone booking it!), and it was fantastic.  Some places just aren't as well known.  But Il Villagio actually isn't that unknown here -- I think there just hasn't been anyone here planning a wedding there recently.

    Here's an older thread with reviews: http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_il-villaggio?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:10344946Post:61629780

    Welcome, by the way! 
    image
  • LuvOBLuvOB member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are getting married at Il Villaggio.  We met with Bob and loved him.  We did the food tasting and loved it.  So yummy.

    Il Villaggio was on TLC Four Weddings.  I saw it and was excited to see the room done up for a wedding. All the brides on the show raved about the food.

    Like you I was nervous because not many brides on TK have had their wedding at Il Villaggio.  After our food tasting we were sold!

    Our weding is 8/06/11. 
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Faith2730Faith2730 member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am an Il' Villaggio bride! :)  It was the first of 15 venues that I had visited and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  Therefore,  I knew it was the perfect place.  The inside and food made up for the lack of their outside space!  I went for a tasting and the food was delicious!  I have never attended a wedding there but did attend a hs reunion earlier this year.  The food and service was outstanding.  Let me know if you have any other questions! 
  • altimat873altimat873 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am also an Il Villaggio bride for Nov 2011! I looved it, it was the second place we saw and I fell in love, we saw a few after but I knew this was the place. Graycliff doesnt even compare (looks like it hasnt been redone since the 80's IMO and totally different menu and decor).
    I had a rough time with dates at Il Villaggio, we were looking for Sept/Oct but there were no dates available so we went with the first weekend in Nov. I have it taped when it was on Four Weddings because I have never been to a wedding there before (I am from LI and now live in Westchester) and was sooooo happy to see how beautiful it looked and how all the girls raved. Because we are getting married in Nov. an outside wasnt really a must for me. . .but keep in mind there is plenty of seating during cocktail hour, you will be the only bride and the bridal suite was the nicest one I have ever seen. We went for our tasting last month and it was phenominal!!! The staff is also really great, I am working with John. As previous posters said, please let us Il Villaggio brides know if you have any questions!
    I picked my top 3 must-haves for a venue prior to my search and never strayed. Welcome and good luck in your search!
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks everyone for the vode of confidence. We really felt at home with this venue. Bob's sincerity really won us over. He seems willing to do anything to make you happy and I've heard consistently good things about him. The lack of outdoor space was a negative but I went to the Venetian for a wedding in October and I didn't spend a minute outside. Even though our wedding is only going to be around 135 people, the Villagio makes us feel like we're having a grand wedding. Because of our size, most places were only willing to show us their second best room because our party wasn't big enough for their grand ballroom. It made us feel second best.

    Thanks again everyone!

    Hey Villagio Brides - We were thinking of getting pictures done at Lambert Castle before our wedding. Unfortunately, we don't know if we are going to have the ceremony at Il Villaggio. We don't want to use the ballroom for the ceremony (don't want to ruin the surprise) and the other room in the back may be a little tight. We would have to invest in some kind of stage and arch for the ceremony to really make it pretty.

    Does any one know of a pretty Christian church or historic place around there to have a ceremony? It stinks that the area isn't that great. Thank you!!
  • edited December 2011
    I agree w/ everyone else- if you love it and the food is good- go for it. I picked my venue about 5 months ago and couldnt find any info on it on TK. There were some reviews, all great, but I didnt know any real people who booked there that I could ask questions. We went w/ our gut, the food is awesome and since then I found out like 3-4 ppl I know have been to weddings there and loved it so I feel a lot better. And in the last few months a few ppl have started to mention it on here. My friend is getting married at il Villaggio and I saw it on Four Weddings too- it looks beautiful. I would have looked at it, but my FI was set against any wedding venue right by his office haha.
  • LuvOBLuvOB member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are getting married at St. Francis in Hoboken.  Since our photographer's style is journalistic, we are taken our pictures around Hoboken.  I look forward to using the Hoboken as our backdrop.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • altimat873altimat873 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are not religious and we ARE getting married in the back room at Il Villaggio, we also didnt want to ruin the ballroom grand entrance. It looks a bit tight but I was lucky enough to see it set up one day prior to someone elses wedding and its really not bad at all. We are planning to have 135-150 guests (not 100% set on guest list yet) and we have to leave space for a harp but I think we will be OK for the 20 min ceremony we have planned LOL BUT the bad part is, we are buying an arch/tressle (sp) thing and have the flortist cover is in tool, lights and flowers and renting bows for the aisle chairs. . . it gets kind of pricey since there isnt much decoration for a ceremony.
    Sorry no suggestions for local churches :(
    Lambert castle was nice, our photog recommended for our engagement photos but wasnt our scene, we decided on hoboken or NYC (still yet to take them lol).
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_future-hubby-questions-il-villaggio?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:bdbb2c0e-a2e6-4b38-b875-13601d708814Post:1b432c7d-47c8-42dd-ab76-4b372906333e">Future Hubby has some questions on il Villaggio</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hi Everyone! I did a ton of research on places and gave a list to my fiance of some potential places. Some higher and lower on our budget so we could have a comparison on where the extra money was going to and whether or not it was worth it. We saw, English Manor, Crystal Ballroom, Bridgewater Manor, Richfiled Regency, Graycliff, Season's, il Tulipano and the Villaggio in the last few weeks. The last three really stuck out above the rest but of course they were higher in cost. I have to say I was very disappointed with the Richfield Regency and a little disappointed with the Greycliff. Season's and Tulipano were very beautiful but they were to0 expensive for our Friday, Sept/Oct 2011 preference and they didn't seem to keen on negotiating much. (season's only had one date left and Tulipano did not mention their higher headcount guarantee over the phone. =( However, Bob at il Villaggio is the nices guy on earth. We really clicked and we negotiated on a great price. We have a tasting this Friday but I wanted to see if anyone had a wedding there or have attended one there. There isn't a ton of reviews on the place so I get a little nervous since I'm such a review nut. Any help would be great!!!
    Posted by Pharo47[/QUOTE]

    I'm just curious...why were you very disappointed with The Richfield Regency?
    September 2011 Brides Siggy Challenge: Reception Venue imageWedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    altimat873 - We were thinking of doing the same thing regarding purchasing an arch and having a florist decorating it but we also have concerns on how costly it will be. I just don't think we have the budget for it.

    cindy91788 - I had extremely high hopes for the Richfield Regency. It came highly recommended from a friend of the family, people on TK, and the website had some really beautiful pictures. However, when we got there it did not live up to expectations. The overall decor did not fit our taste. The person we worked with was super nice and really listened to what we had to say so I can definitely give them the thumbs up on that one.  However, we originally were only shown the upstairs. We had told the person that we had a 125 person guestlist with some possible additions. However, the upstairs cocktail room looked like it would be extremely tight if we fit even 100 guests in there. The upstairs bridal "suite" was not desireable to us. It was extremely small. Too tight for even 4 people.  Eventually we were shown the downstairs cocktail room (after we said we could guarantee a certain headcount) and the larger ballroom. It was a pleasent upgrade to the other rooms we had seen. However, we struggled with the layout of both rooms. The downstair's ceiling felt very low to us but the modern decor was kinda cool. The "L" shaped cocktail room made us question how the flow would be. We also had a little bit of an issue with how we had to walk up the curved flight of stairs that entered you straight into the ballroom. No big double door entrance so that you were like "Ooooh and Ahhhhh." The other issue that we had was the fact that the ceremony room could only be accessed through the ballroom. They said that they would put up a "tunnel" through the ballroom so nobody can see it before hand. The "tunnel" idea scared us. The chandalier in the main ballroom felt dated to us and it dwarfed the room with its size. The bridal suite for the larger ballroom was MUCH nicer than the one upstairs. Overall, we just didn't get that feeling inside our bellies saying that his was the place.  The layout didn't work for us and the decor wasn't our taste. Sorry for the lengthly response but I figured I would give you a detailed response so you know that we thought things through.
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_future-hubby-questions-il-villaggio?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:bdbb2c0e-a2e6-4b38-b875-13601d708814Post:6100d25f-71b7-43f0-9977-92d2dab53b41">Re: Future Hubby has some questions on il Villaggio</a>:
    [QUOTE]altima t87 3 - We were thinking of doing the same thing regarding purchasing an arch and having a florist decorating it but we also have concerns on how costly it will be. I just don't think we have the budget for it. cindy91788 - I had extremely high hopes for the Richfield Regency. It came highly recommended from a friend of the family, people on TK, and the website had some really beautiful pictures. However, when we got there it did not live up to expectations. The overall decor did not fit our taste. The person we worked with was super nice and really listened to what we had to say so I can definitely give them the thumbs up on that one.  However, we originally were only shown the upstairs. We had told the person that we had a 125 person guestlist with some possible additions. However, the upstairs cocktail room looked like it would be extremely tight if we fit even 100 guests in there. The upstairs bridal "suite" was not desireable to us. It was extremely small. Too tight for even 4 people.  Eventually we were shown the downstairs cocktail room (after we said we could guarantee a certain headcount) and the larger ballroom. It was a pleasent upgrade to the other rooms we had seen. However, we struggled with the layout of both rooms. The downstair's ceiling felt very low to us but the modern decor was kinda cool. The "L" shaped cocktail room made us question how the flow would be. We also had a little bit of an issue with how we had to walk up the curved flight of stairs that entered you straight into the ballroom. No big double door entrance so that you were like "Ooooh and Ahhhhh." The other issue that we had was the fact that the ceremony room could only be accessed through the ballroom. They said that they would put up a "tunnel" through the ballroom so nobody can see it before hand. The "tunnel" idea scared us. The chandalier in the main ballroom felt dated to us and it dwarfed the room with its size. The bridal suite for the larger ballroom was MUCH nicer than the one upstairs. Overall, we just didn't get that feeling inside our bellies saying that his was the place.  The layout didn't work for us and the decor wasn't our taste. Sorry for the lengthly response but I figured I would give you a detailed response so you know that we thought things through.
    Posted by Pharo47[/QUOTE]
     Thanks for the explanation.. I understand what you're saying. I was curious because I am booked there for my wedding next year and was more worried that you had a bad experience with the venue.We worked with Jude, not sure if that is who you dealt with, but he was very helpful and friendly, etc

    I completely understand what you mean about walking up that staircase instead of coming through doors for the entrance. We are using that larger ballroom and that was definitely a bummer, but overall not a deciding factor for us in the end. We're also not having our ceremony there, so the location of the chapel is not a problem - although I completely understand that concern as well. And yes, the larger ballroom is much better than the upstairs one, and that upstairs cocktail hour is nice but extremely small. Some other girls had also commented how the ceilings in the downstairs cocktail room seemed low, but we honestly didn't feel that the 3 times we saw it, so it wasn't a problem for us. And we loved the feeling of that cocktail room - feels like a lounge, which is the overall feeling we were aiming towards for our wedding.. so in the end, it was exactly what we were looking for.  Thanks for the details! They are appreciated!
    September 2011 Brides Siggy Challenge: Reception Venue imageWedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    The downstairs cocktail room definitely had that lounge feeling. It felt like it was a little unknown swanky place in the city. It had a cool vibe to it.  I hope everything goes great for you!! Trish was the person I talked to. She was an absolute trip. She's very sweet and has a boat load of energy.
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