Looking at venues tomorrow!

[robbie3982]

Fi and I are headed to Pittsburgh for the weekend and we''re looking at venues! We have appointments set up with The Bradley House of Catering (South Hills location) and the Fort Cherry Golf Club. I also want to check out two of the country clubs around us. I called one to set up an appointment, but the guy never called me back and FI''s sister was supposed to be getting info on the other since she belongs.

I really like the Bradley House. Their prices seem awesome (buffet for $26.50/person) and their ball rooms look nice in the pictures. I was reading over the package info they emailed me, though, and it looks like they don''t include silverware or plates?! Does that sound weird to anyone else? Maybe I''m reading it wrong and you can just get special silverware and plates for an additional charge...

The Fort Cherry Golf Club is even cheaper at something like $15/person, but it doesn''t look like the venue is as nice. We''ll have to see if it''s something that could be fixed w/ decorations.

I think the local country clubs are out of price range, but my mom is so stuck on them that we may as well go and look and get information. Perhaps they''ll give a discount since FI''s siblings belong (his brother to one and sister to the other)?

Are there any specific questions that I should ask these places that I might not think of?

I''m really excited

and I''m hoping that we can decide on one this weekend and set a date!

 

[anchor31]

Yay!

Your venues look really great! My FI and I are going to visit two places on Saturday of next week, so I''m pretty excited too! We have appointments at Hotel Mont Gabriel and L''Estérel (we live in the Montréal region).

I''ve been putting together a "question to ask" list as well. So far I have these:
1. What packages are available?
2. How much does it cost?
3. What does it include?
4. Can we choose our options (custom package)?
5. What services are offered/included (planning, coordinator, etc.)?
6. What are the menu choices?
7. Is the cake included?
8. What accessories are included (matching napkins, etc.)
9. Is there a nice spot for the wedding pictures?
10. How long in advance is it recommended to book?
11. Is there a complimentary honeymoon suite?
12. What about the alcohol licenses?
13. Is the hall rental included in the price, and is there a guests minimum for free hall rental? (One of our perspective venues had this, so we had to cross it off our list...)

That''s all I have for now, I''ll let you know if I think of anything else.

 

[robbie3982]

Both of those places look really nice Anchor! Thanks for the list of questions!

 

[RoseAngel04]

How exciting Robbie!! Good luck and can''t wait to hear/see the results!

FI and I are also going venue looking again this Saturday afternoon, and this coming Tuesday! I can''t wait to set the venue so we can have a date set in stone!

 

[anchor31]

Oh, and don''t forget to bring a camera! I hope we won''t...

 

[labbielove]

hi there,
one of the caterers we are looking at has great prices too,
but they do list that china, glassware and flatware are $4.50 per person
they still come out very reasonable,
and it may be that way just to give folks that don''t mind paperware (outdoor wedding or bbq)
the option to cut out that cost

an even more important reason to read all the fine print in contracts- would hate to assume china and end up on paper plates or vice versa!

good luck!

 

[anchor31]

So, how was it?

 

[robbie3982]

It went well. We looked at 4 places and put a hold on one! Our possible wedding date is 9/29/07! We liked the Bradley House a lot (the one we put on hold), but there''s one more place we didn''t get to look at that seems nice and comparable in price. It''s called the Great Hall and apparently they''re only open on Saturday and Wednesday. Too bad my mom told me about them on Sunday. So, we''re going to check it out next weekend.

It turns out that FI''s parents actually got married at the Bradley House, so that would be kind of cool if we do go with that one. His mom said the food was great, but his dad said it was bad, so we''re going to test the food (they''re only letting us, though, because I told them what FI''s dad said) and see the other place before we decide.

They let us reserve the date for 10 days with no deposit, but the food tasting won''t be able to happen w/in that time frame so they said they''d extend the hold for us until we can taste it. I took pics, but I''ll have to upload them tomorrow.

I''m really excited!

 

[robbie3982]

There are only 2 things that I''m not so crazy about with this place. The outside looks really nice, but it''s in this mini shopping center. Not that big of a deal since I love the inside and that''s where we''ll be during the reception anyway. The other thing I don''t like is that if we want to get married there (we were leaning towards having the ceremony and reception in the same place so as not to have to pick a church or synagogue) we would just rent the same room for an extra half hour. They said that they''d set up a few chairs to form an aisle on the dance floor for immediate family and everyone else would sit at their table. I''d kind of always pictured walking down a long aisle, so I''m disappointed with that. Also, our immediate family would be quite a bit more than a few. There would be 18 on FI''s side. We''re looking into other places to have the ceremony now. Here''s the exterior:

 

[robbie3982]

Here's the complimentary bridal suite that we would wait in before they announce us. We'd also get complimentary champagne. They'd just had a cake testing in there which is why there are plates on the table.

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s another angle of the bridal suite:

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s a pic of the buffet table. We were originally leaning towards a seated meal, but FI likes the idea of being able to eat as much as he wants and the buffet table was really pretty:

 

[robbie3982]

Here''s a picture of the room. The dancefloor is underneath the tulle and lights hanging from the ceiling. The place was actually much prettier in person. I''m just not that great of a photographer

 

[robbie3982]

I want the tables to look like this, with the sheer overlay in black, the chair bows in red and the napkins in red. I figure we can just by organza or some other sheer material and make the overlays ourselves instead of renting them. I need to find a cheaper way to rent the chair covers though. The Bradley House wants $5/chair which is way too much. They rent from someone else right now, but are planning to buy sometime this year, so hopefully their prices will go down significantly before our wedding.

 

[robbie3982]

Here is the other place we want to look at next weekend:

I really like the gothic architecture, and if they''re willing to set up chairs and then move the tables back during the cocktail hour, it would be an awesome place for a ceremony.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I think chair covers are SOOOO worth it. Ours were $3.50 a chair because we tied them ourselves (I think it was another $2.00 for them too). That is sweet that your future in-laws got married there. Just take your time and make sure you are 100% sure on your location.