Venues- the choices (part 1)

When Ant and I got engaged, the first and most obvious decision we had to make was where we were going to get married.  We knew we wanted summer of next year, 2014, and we wanted it to be close to home...either RI or CT shoreline.  The most important requirement was that the venue be near the water/on the water.  Being coastal has always been important to me- it made a huge impact on our decision when we moved into an apartment together, when we started looking at buying a house...and a wedding was no exception! The next thing was that I did not want a place that required a "cookie cutter" wedding.  I wanted to have the freedom to bring in any vendors I wanted.  That nixed a lot of options: banquet halls, event facilities, yacht clubs (although I did make a few exceptions)...The other thing to consider was size - we didn't have an official guest list, but based on our estimates we knew we needed a place that could fit at least 180.  Lastly - we are not going to be getting married in a church, so we wanted a space that could support a ceremony on site!

Things we quickly learned:

-150 is a max capacity for a LOT of locations (sometimes that # even includes staff!)

-While 12-15 months may be plenty of time to plan a wedding - it is NOT plenty of time to book a wedding. in the summer. on a Saturday. near the shore.  Most places we looked at that fit our other criteria also only had Fridays or Sundays available.

-There are way more factors to consider budget wise when it comes to venue than you might initially realize.

With all of my wedding blog reading - I was very aware of a lot of venue choices nearby that matched our criteria.  One of the BEST things that ever happened for our venue search was my discovery of this blog.  I think I literally searched in google "CT Shoreline wedding" and it popped up! Emily was planning her wedding in CT and had a number of posts about her venue search.  It was exactly the type of basic information I needed about some of the venues to get a sense of what made sense for us.  Plus it brought up a few I hadn't considered!

In any case - when Ant and I actually sat down to start looking at places, this was our initial list that we contacted for more information:

Connecticut:

-Jonathan Edwards Winery - Stonington, CT

-Salt Water Vineyards - Stonington, CT

-Guilford Yacht Club - Guilford, CT

-The Branford House - Groton, CT

-Eolia Mansion - Waterford, CT

-Eugene O'Neill Theater - Waterford, CT 

-Mystic Seaport (North Lawn & Boat House) - Mystic, CT

Rhode Island:

-Kinney Bungalow at Sunset Farm - Narragansett, RI

-Narragansett Towers - Narragansett, RI

-Westerly Yacht Club - Westerly, RI

-Various locations in Newport, RI

We crossed off both of the vineyards based on budget.  Jonathan Edwards has a site fee of $10,500 - just for use of the vineyard & the Sperry tents.  In addition, you can only choose between 2 caterers, and they estimate that at approximately $130 per person.  WAY over our budget.  Besides, while an absolutely beautiful spot, Jonathan Edwards did not really meet our #1 requirement of being on the water.

robertandkathleen

Saltwater Farm Vineyard is probably my favorite vineyard to visit in CT.  It is a beautiful building - an old airplane hangar, and there is a patio where you can sit looking at the vineyard which borders a marsh and Long Island Sound.  Saltwater has a site fee of $8000 on Fridays, $7500 on Sundays and $11,000 on Saturday.  There is an additional fee of $500 to have your ceremony there, and $500 if you have more than 150 guests.  You also must choose one of a specific # of caterers for this space, and events must end by 10pm.  

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I highly recommend either place for a good glass of wine or wine tasting! But ultimately, not for our wedding.

The next one we crossed off was the Westerly Yacht Club, they do hold weddings for non-members, but you have to have a member sponsor you....no go.

Kinney Bungalow at Sunset Farm in Narragansett looked beautiful - very flexible with catering and near the water in RI.  Rental Fee was only $2500 for a non-resident on a Saturday...but has a max capacity of 150 including all service personnel....not going to work!

sethjacobsonphotography

We ended up deciding not to look very seriously into Newport - generally locations in Newport are pretty expensive, and Newport isn't really convenient for anyone.  It's far for Ant's family in CT, and still about 35 minutes away for mine in RI! 

The last one we decided to cross off the list without visiting was Eolia Mansion.  Eolia is GORGEOUS - right on the water in Waterford, CT in Harkness State Park.  Site fee is $4,450 for 5 hours plus 2.5 hours set up time - and you can buy additional hours up until midnight.  However, Eolia also has a max capacity of 150 guests, and only allows you to choose one of 3 caterers.

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Next up: I'll go into more detail about the venues Ant and I DID go visit...