Venue decisions - Ridge, Ballymeade, Willowbend, Coonamessett

harjuerin · March 2011

Hi all! My name is Erin, newly engaged and planning a wedding on the cape (doing this all from Los Angeles!) so it's been a bit challening. I am currently deciding between Ballymeade, Ridge, and Willowbend, and Coonamessett. Has anyone had or is planning an event at any of these places and would like to share any info on their experience? I'm wondering where to have people lodge if we do it at the Ridge, its a bit out there. Any info greatly appreciated!

lisaremmes · March 2011

There are plenty of options for hotels around the area. I'm a Coonamessett Bride so I might be a bit Biased but they have been great to work with so far. As far as Ballymaede I have heard that the room is a weird setup and I didn't want a country club so I pulled up and kept driving.

Coonamessett is known for it's great food and it is much prettier than the website shows. It's old cape cod feel but it's very classy. The grounds are beautiful and there is a pond in the back. I haven't heard a bad review about it yet..

shoreshotz1 · March 2011

Coonamessett is beautiful, the food is delicious, service is amazing & the room set up is fabulous. They have the Inn and it is accross from the Holiday Inn..perfect! Close enough to the Nobska Light house also for photos!

Karen's MOH · March 2011

We had our wedding at Ballymeade and have nothing but good things to say about it. You have to bring in your own catering, which means one thing to deal with but you also get just what you want and it ended up saving us a bunch of money. It was definitely a country club, which is what we wanted (H is very into golf). I wouldn't say the room set up is weird, but there was only one way to set it up really, and the dance floor is on the side, not in the center (which I read is better for dancing

I loved it, and Christine was great to work with.

Let me know if you have any other questions about it.

Oh, I went to a wedding at Willowbend this summer too-- it was very nice, food was good,, location was lovely. I think they have high minimums though, if you aren't a member, so we never looked into having ours there. And we had our morning after brunch at Coonamessett and it was lovely.

harjuerin · March 2011

Thanks for all the helpful information! For the Ballymeade reception, did you have a ceremony on site? Where did you suggest guests to stay in that area?

My only concern with Coonamesset is that they do 2 weddings a day. so one will be ending at 5 and mine would start at 6.... That makes me a little nervous

amylee545 · March 2011

The coonamessett is beautiful! My fiance's cousin had his wedding there and it was gorgeous and the food is delicious too. I'm having my wedding at The Flying Bridge, and it's run by the same owners and they are AMAZING to work with! So helpful and so nice.

The only bad thing I have to say about Coonamessett, is if you decide to have your wedding outdoors at the gazebo, it's literally RIGHT next to a main road and is really noisy. Fiance's cousin didn't use microphones for the ceremony, and I could barely hear anything and I was only like 4 or 5 rows back.

Karen's MOH · March 2011

We had our ceremony at St. Patrick's in Falmouth-- we knew it would be a catholic ceremony in a church so we did not look at any on site ceremony locations. People stayed at Inn on the Square, Mariner Motel, and Red Horse Inn, all along Main Street in Falmouth. They were pretty strict with 2 night mins, even in Oct (Columbus Day weekend though), except mariner, which was a little more flexible.
One nice thing about Ballymeade is they only do 1 wedding a day, so we were able to move ours up to 5 to lessen the Catholic gap and get a little more of the views before it got dark, but it doesn't sound like that will be much of a concern for you anyway, with an onsite ceremony.

Annakat1028 · March 2011

@ Karen's MOH I am going to look at Ballymeade next week - it looks beautiful from the website! I don't mean to sound intrusive, but was it expenive? We have a fairly large group (180 guests) and are also having a band. Christine has been helpful answering questions, but it's be nice to have a brides input!

@ harjuerin I inquired about Willowbend and was put off when I was told there was no choices of entree - you could only pick one (then of course if you have a vegetarian or special diet).

I don't know much about the Coonamessett - do you think they'd hold a larger wedding size?

Karen's MOH · March 2011

Annakat1028 : It really depends on your caterer. I thought that site fee was reasonable, and we had an open bar package that seemed to be pretty reasonable as well-- but of course it's all relative. Based on my research when we were looking, though, I think it was middle of the road. However, I think the ballroom would be really tight with 180. Christine said 176 was the max for the room. We had 120, and a DJ not a band, which takes up lass space, and the room didn't feel empty at all. I imagine over 150 would start to feel a little bit tight, and the room for the cocktail hour would definitely be a little tight with 180. They also do tented receptions, which could certainly allow for more people. PM if you have more specific questions, I'm happy to give you more details. Just put a note in this thread if you do PM since I don't often check them.

lisaremmes · March 2011

Coonamesset can 180 easily. They said the largest was about 300. I also am getting married at Saint Patricks, and they are awesome to work with. We are doing a 5:30 mass then straight to Coonamessett who are letting us do 6:30-11:30

midgemoto · March 2011

The ridge club is not that far from sandwich, which has the Daniel Webster inn, the painted lady guest house and the Belfrey Inn... also route 6a motels allover the place. No one big place but plenty to choose from. .Not much of an outdoor ceremony site though at Ridge Club.

from an elegance standpoint Willowbend is in a different category... also from a cost standpoint, Their outdoor ceremony site is only so so. Guests in Hyannis or Falmouth. very high brow...

Ballyemeade is almost as nice and the ceremony room is gorgeous, Christine . their coordinator is also amazing...but you need a caterer, which is pretty easy and Christine will help. Guests would stay in Bourne, at the Seacrest in North Falmouth or Falmouth. Elegant but not stuffy

Coonamessett is a lot of fun and the staff is great, and oricing very reasonable... the ceremony site is right by the road... and the place really does do a lot of weddings really well... easiest accomidations of all of them. fun, family like and pretty casual.

Having worked them all (a wedding professional) My pick would be Ballyemeade because Christine is fabulous. There are also amazing caterers in the area. ( Ron Goldberg of Jacquelines is an excellent one and no , I dont work for him but his food is 5 star!)

Hope it helps a little and congrats!

harjuerin · March 2011

All of this has been so informative, and I appreciate all of the insight! I think we will be making a decision this weekend (hopefully!)

There are aspects of each one that I LOVE, I wish I could take bits and pieces from each! Coonamesset has easy lodging but start time is a little late for me....Ridge has the grounds I am looking for, and Ballymeade has that great round deck with options to bring in a caterer.... Decisions decisions!!!

midgemoto · March 2011

You can also have everybody stay at the Seacrest if you use Ballyemeade...Its big, beachfront and self contained. Plus they are redoing it and the rooms will be much nicer than they used to be. Close and easy from Ballyemeade/

capecayman · March 2011

I just wanted to throw in some more love for Ballymeade! We had our reception there in August... we had about 130 people and a 9 person band and there was plenty of room for dancing the night away! If you are worried about that "country club" vibe... that was one of my concerns, too and I really didn't feel like we were at a country club at all. The decor is so clean and bright, not stuffy at all. As everyone says - Christine is AWESOME to work with. We used Chef Roland as a caterer and couldn't have been more pleased. He was willing to work with our budget, too.

I've been to many, many weddings at Coonamessat and it is a lovely place. Being from Falmouth, I wanted to do something different since Coonamessat seems to be the go-to venue for everyone I grew up with

Happy to help answer any questions!

kmurph286 · March 2011

I had looked at Coonamessett, Ballymeade and Flying Bridge and ultimately ended up going with Ballymeade for our wedding next June. I fell in love with the round bar and deck outside as well as the simplicity of the room and how the cocktail hour was in another room. The flying bridge was nice. I did not like the Coonamessett at all. I thought that the room was too tacky with the gold chandeliers and red carpeting and the seats were just plain wood. It seemd to much like a typical function hall with those things.

tropicanha · April 2011

Just wondering if you looked into Brookside at all, as it is a very similar venue to the ones you listed above. Most similar to Ballymeade (have not seen the Ridge or Willowbend due to them not having the date we wanted, so can't compare on that end) but an even better view. Brookside gets gorgeous sunsets over the canal. Last I knew Coonamessett was for 200-250 guests in the evening so I think a big determining factor will be the size of your guest list.

Did a day after brunch at the Coonamessett and it was awesome!

And we have the same name

ndruley · April 2011

Kelly! I knew that was you when I read this post and the name Cape Cayman! Hope you are well!
-Nickey

PS Balleymeade has been renovated so the upstairs room isn't awkward like it was when we were in high school and had prom there! It's VERY nice now! I am doing my rehearsal dinner there and my wedding at Coonamessett!

cbutler06 · April 2011

i'm getting married at the Ridge Club. the wedding coordinator has been extremley helpful and the grounds are beauitful. we reserved a block of rooms at the cape cod resort & conference center in hyannis. we're using a bus service so that our guests don't need to drive.

Jeanneh87 · April 2011

We also had our wedding at Ballymeade in 10/10 and I can't say enough about Christine and her crew there. Everyone loved the venue. We had our ceremony in one room, cocktails (and dessert later) in a 2nd room and the reception in a 3rd room. People loved that they had room to move around. The open bar cost was very reasonable and the choose your own caterer option makes it as expensive as you want!

Venue decisions - Ridge, Ballymeade, Willowbend, Coonamessett

Re: Venue decisions - Ridge, Ballymeade, Willowbend, Coonamessett

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