Wedding Calling HudsonHawk, sap483, and other RI Brides and Residents

[Clairitek]

Luvbug''s thread on wedding downsizing got me thinking even more about the options that FF and I have for our own future celebration. The wedding I''ve always dreamed of is something along the lines of Sap had at Castle Hill with sweeping water views of Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. I know that this is totally out of the question with our full blown guest list unless we decide to save for 3-4 years. Neither of us really want to wait that long. We hope to be married by the end of 2010 and we have some rather big things to pay for outside of our wedding between now and then.

We had a talk last night about what we should do with the money we have now. We went over everything from discussing home improvements to my engagement ring. I would love to have a reception where I could invite everyone in our extensive families and all of our friends but its becoming more and more apparent that doing that probably won''t happen unless its something super casual (like a clambake in a state park on Jamestown). If I can''t have everyone then I would like to have something quite classy but small. I personally LOVE MaggieB''s Carolina wine cellar wedding reception.

I was wondering if any of you RI/Southern New England brides came across any particularly amazing waterfront restaurants when you were searching for a venue or even just looking for a picturesque place to eat dinner. So far the places that have come to mind are The Mooring and 22 Bowens. We are thinking about a 40-60 person guest list. It doesn''t have to be in Newport- anywhere on Narragansett Bay or the Sakonnet River would work. Bonus points if the restaurant has some sort of adjoining area (room, patio, terrace, whatever) to have a cocktail hour and appetizers prior to the sit-down dinner.

We are going to talk about all of this with our parents soon so we can make some decisions. Even though we aren''t engaged yet I know this decision will affect things that will happen sooner (i.e. how much FF spends on my engagement ring, whether or not we attend my cousin''s DW in Rarotonga, Cook Islands next September)

TIA for your help guys!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Check out the Coast Gaurd House in Narragansett. It''s right on the water-next to The Towers. It''s recently been renovated and they have a private function room upstairs as well as a deck with a bar. That''s the only place I can think of that''s nice and right on the water (other than Newport places).

Good luck, I''m happy to see another Rhody/NE bride on PS

 

[Clairitek]

I''m not sure why I didn''t think of that! Oddly, even though I went to URI and lived around the corner from Coast Guard my second year, I never went there for drinks!

I think part of my problem is that I also sometimes think that The Towers and Coast Guard House are the same thing so I thought that they only did larger weddings.

I''ll be up in a few weeks (currently live in Philly) so I''ll have to stop in and tour their private dining rooms.

Bonus points to you for this suggestion! Not to mention it has views of my hometown of Jamestown.

 

[sap483]

Bowens 22 is yummy, and so is the Mooring in fact! Umm how about a place in Bristol? The Bristol Yacht Club is right on the water, as is DeWolf Tavern. I'll keep thinking though. FYI Castle Hill does do smaller weddings at their restaurant and on their terrace. I believe it is less expensive too. You should reach out to Ellaila, as she did that! The coordinator at Castle Hill that I worked with, Nell Melanson was fabulous and I'm sure could give you some basic info to give you an idea if it's affordable.

ETA: I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but what about Sakonnet Vineyards? I was considering having my RD there. I believe they have waterviews, and the vineyard is just gorgeous!

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 10/1/2008 4:25:06 PM
Author: sap483
Bowens 22 is yummy, and so is the Mooring in fact! Umm how about a place in Bristol? The Bristol Yacht Club is right on the water, as is DeWolf Tavern. I''ll keep thinking though. FYI Castle Hill does do smaller weddings at their restaurant and on their terrace. I believe it is less expensive too. You should reach out to Ellaila, as she did that! The coordinator at Castle Hill that I worked with, Nell Melanson was fabulous and I''m sure could give you some basic info to give you an idea if it''s affordable.


ETA: I don''t know why I didn''t think of this earlier, but what about Sakonnet Vineyards? I was considering having my RD there. I believe they have waterviews, and the vineyard is just gorgeous!

I did ask Castle Hill for information on a smaller wedding there. Nell forwarded me the menus with pricing on them. Even if we didn''t do the 200 person tented wedding on their green I''m not sure we could afford it. Maybe I''ll write and lay out the details I have in mind and see what she says. I''ll also check out Ellaila''s experience here on PS.

Thanks for the suggestion of Bristol Yacht Club! I never would have thought about Bristol, which is odd because I love it there. I also have Sakonnet Vineyards on the list. I agree- the photos I''ve seen from some wedding there on photog''s websites were really lovely!

I''ve never eaten at 22 Bowens but its nice to hear a good review on it. I spent about 4 years working on a coffee shop on Bannister''s Wharf when I was in college and I''ve only ever eaten at the Clarke Cooke House and The Mooring but not 22 Bowens.

 

[sap483]

I just thought of another place- the Atlantic Beach Club. While they have a wedding menu for larger weddings, I believe they also have a restaurant and smaller function menu for their restaurants.

I also really wanted to get married at the Chandler, but my wedding was far too large for them to accomodate us. I believe they're pricey but oh so elegant.

Also, some of these places will give you a really great deal if you're willing to compromise on the date/time. If you can do a daytime or weekday/Friday/Sunday wedding for example, it generally lowers your costs a lot. Not sure if this is something you'd consider though.

 

[vetrik]

You can also look in the Warwick/East Greenwich area for waterfront restaurants.

I was at Chelo's on the Waterfront last summer, and there was a wedding going on there. They have a private upstairs room with water views. I would bet there are others in that area that do weddings also (personally, I'm not a big fan of Chelo's on the Waterfront, but I've never been to a wedding there).

I would have loved to have my wedding at Aldrich Mansion, but that was a little rich for my blood! Plus, my wedding ended up being only 70 people.

 

[ellaila]

I did, I did! We had a very small wedding at Castle Hill - I think we had 38 people total? We used the front room in the inn, which is just a small dining room - no dancing or anything like that. I''m pretty sure the room holds 42 people tops. We had the ceremony outside in their gorgeous little outdoor area, had the cocktail hour outside as well on the patio, and then had our dinner in the dining room. It was intimate, and it was gorgeous, and I wouldn''t change a single thing about it

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Castle Hill!!! We''ve gone back for brunch for our past two anniversaries, and I swear the sun is always shinin'' in Newport because even wedding planning, we never had anything but bright sunshine and blue skies!!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask (though since I''ve had two babies since the wedding, my brain is a little foggy on life prior to them!)!

OH, and for the record, Castle Hill is known for having five-star food - it''s *incredible*!! I had some foodies at my wedding, and they still talk about how fab the food was there. So it''s really got everything: the view, the ambience (classy and elegant yet not stuffy at all), the food -- all just perfect!

(Can you tell that I recommend it?

)

 

[sap483]

Date: 10/2/2008 4:48:00 PM
Author: ellaila
I did, I did! We had a very small wedding at Castle Hill - I think we had 38 people total? We used the front room in the inn, which is just a small dining room - no dancing or anything like that. I''m pretty sure the room holds 42 people tops. We had the ceremony outside in their gorgeous little outdoor area, had the cocktail hour outside as well on the patio, and then had our dinner in the dining room. It was intimate, and it was gorgeous, and I wouldn''t change a single thing about it

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Castle Hill!!! We''ve gone back for brunch for our past two anniversaries, and I swear the sun is always shinin'' in Newport because even wedding planning, we never had anything but bright sunshine and blue skies!!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask (though since I''ve had two babies since the wedding, my brain is a little foggy on life prior to them!)!

OH, and for the record, Castle Hill is known for having five-star food - it''s *incredible*!! I had some foodies at my wedding, and they still talk about how fab the food was there. So it''s really got everything: the view, the ambience (classy and elegant yet not stuffy at all), the food -- all just perfect!

(Can you tell that I recommend it?

)

I absolutely agree, the food there is incredible. Plus when you book your wedding you get to go there for a 3 course meal, as your tasting! Our guests also still talk about the food there- they have a provencial style and everything is so fresh. The scallops wrapped in bacon were the largest scallops anyone had ever seen, and the foie gras melted in your mouth. Sooo yummy!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Okay, so my suggestion is way down on the cape, but my friend had a very small wedding at the Wequasset and it was amazing (http://www.wequassett.com/)

We really wanted a small wedding and searched around the cape and islands for the perfect location. In the end, we decided to rent an oceanside estate because we figured that if we were going to pay a hefty "rental" fee for an oceanside wedding, we may as well rent a gorgeous, private home where our guests could stay. We had the ceremony and reception at the house and had a formal (but still fun!) clam bake catered in--the whole thing was so much fun and was such a hit that we are planning a similar event (minus the vows) for my family next summer. Anyway, I know it''s not something that is traditional, but it saved us some dough and was a really great option (not only for us, but the whole family).

There are so many options! You''ll find something perfect!

 

[Clairitek]

I hadn''t checked PS all day and look what I come back to! All these lovely additional ideas.

Castle Hill certainly is tempting. I can imagine that the food is the best amongst the best in Newport.

I agree about the Chanler too. That place IS totally dreamy. Maybe we''ll check that place out too... might as well if we look at Castle Hill too.

NEL- A clambake is on our radar for sure. There is a really inexpensive picnic pavilion on my hometown that can be rented and used for weddings. The problem is that its quite informal and would require some creative decorating to make it wedding-y enough. I found this website from some other couple who had their clambake wedding at Fort Getty. You can see from the pics that its a prime location but needs some dressing up.

We''ll have to look into a home rental as well. I can see where you''re coming from with the home rental vs site rental for a few hours.

Ahhh choices choices... We''re not even engaged yet but I know its coming soon! Thanks again for your input guys.

 

[ellaila]

I hope for your sake that the Chanler has drastically improved since we looked there two years ago, but back then they were a *nightmare* to deal with. We had planned on getting married there, and - thankfully! - it didn''t work out and we went with Castle Hill instead. I know that the Chanler was renovated and under new management back then, and clearly they didn''t have a clue what they were doing. It was a dreadful experience. And I know that others had similar experiences there too (not nec. on PS but IRL). So like I said, I really hope they''ve gotten their act together because the place is gorgeous and a lovely venue for a wedding but it was definitely not worth the aggravation of dealing with their total incompetence!!

Just my two cents

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 10/3/2008 9:52:32 AM
Author: ellaila
I hope for your sake that the Chanler has drastically improved since we looked there two years ago, but back then they were a *nightmare* to deal with. We had planned on getting married there, and - thankfully! - it didn''t work out and we went with Castle Hill instead. I know that the Chanler was renovated and under new management back then, and clearly they didn''t have a clue what they were doing. It was a dreadful experience. And I know that others had similar experiences there too (not nec. on PS but IRL). So like I said, I really hope they''ve gotten their act together because the place is gorgeous and a lovely venue for a wedding but it was definitely not worth the aggravation of dealing with their total incompetence!!

I''ve heard the same thing about the Chanler from other people and I read something similar on The Knot. I tend to worry too much about things and overs-tress as it is so I really wouldn''t need to tack on doubts about the competence of my venue on top of that. Once were engaged (withing the next month or two I think) we''ll make a list of all of the possibilities and sort it out. I want to get a place booked as soon as we can after getting engaged because I feel like RI wedding venues will book up fast. Then well have anywhere from a year and a half to two years to nail down the rest of the details.

I''m sure I''ll be posting again after were engaged looking for suggestions on caterers (if we go with a venue that doesn''t have their own on site) and photographers!