Last time I discussed what we were looking for in a reception venue, and here are the venues I took the time to check out in person. My mom, sister/MOH, Nanny and I had a marathon day on a Friday I had off of work (
9/80s are awesome!) visiting all of these places. Sphinx got the rundown of each one later.
Let me start out by saying that all of these venues are great. If you're searching for a reception in New Orleans, any of these would be a great choice. I'll give you some of the main points of each, what I took into consideration to reach my reception decision. If you're looking for a venue in the NOLA area, hopefully this will help you learn a little more about some of my favorite places!
Race & Religious
http://raceandreligious.com/
This venue consists of two historic houses and the courtyard between. It's gorgeous in that very exposed brick, vintagey, antique details, and wrought iron kind of way. It's breathtaking in pictures and has been featured in Style Me Pretty and other big wedding blogs. You are open to bring in any caterer, which could be a big money saver. It does have indoor and outdoor areas like I wanted, but the only space large enough for a dance floor, band, and a lot of people was in the courtyard. If it rained, we would have to go with a tent. Also, this style would probably feel too cramped with the amount of people we were inviting. Race and Religious is very cool and trendy, and very New Orleansy - I think it's a great option for out of town brides. It's also available to rent for the full weekend. The location is a little weird as it's not walking distance to any hotels, so transportation might be in order.
Audubon Tea Room
http://www.auduboninstitute.org/events/private/venues
The Tea Room is connected to the Audubon Zoo, which is totally one of the best zoos in the country. They let you in during the reception to take some photos on the carousel which is adorable! The zoo and Tea Room are very close by St. Francis Church (uptown), and it has its own parking lot. This venue was the most expensive, and had a food and beverage minimum, but the menu is huge and has plenty of add-ons (like a martini bar!) to help you meet the minimum. They also have a patio to accommodate my indoor/outdoor request, but it cost extra to add chairs and tables out there. For brides looking for the ceremony and reception in the same place, there are several options for the ceremony site either on the patio or inside the zoo (like the Sea Lion Exhibit shown
here).
Board of Trade
http://www.neworleansbot.com/
The New Orleans Board of Trade was built in 1880 and operated as a trading floor for all of the goods that came into the port. It is located downtown, a couple of blocks away from the French Quarter. The closest paid parking lot is on the corner, which could be a problem for our older guests. This also includes a nice courtyard at the front, complete with fountain and provided tables and chairs. The indoor ballroom has very high ceilings, a dome mural, and a cool clock tower balcony (not accessible - I asked!). The catering is through a single company, which had several package options at varying price points. Most of the packages stayed within "reasonable" territory, but the coordinator said we could change anything out and sounded like they customized a lot for weddings. The tables,
chivari chairs, linens, and uplighting all came included. The space is naturally beautiful with the columns and wrought iron fence, but it is large and would look a bit plain without some decor in both the courtyard and ballroom.
Le Pavillon
http://lepavillon.com/
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| The ballroom set up for lunch/personal photo |
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| The adorable bar/personal photo |
I talked about Le Pavillon when I mentioned loving their
chandeliers in the lobby. So you know I didn't pick this location, but we did check it out that day. The prices were a little higher here, and the hotel provided the catering. It is a very fancy and beautiful hotel, and you get the benefit of getting ready and staying in the same place as the reception. It ultimately wasn't at the top of my list because the ballroom was a little small, and I couldn't visualize how to decorate it. I also found myself saying "I really love the bar!" but I didn't love the ballroom enough. The bar is in the lobby, just outside the ballroom, and I felt that a lot of people would end up sitting out there. The coordinator there was really great though, just one of those people you felt would have everything under control. The hotel is right on Poydras Street, so it's downtown and close to the French Quarter.
Federal Ballroom
http://www.federalballroom.com/
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| personal photo |
The Federal Ballroom was built in 1923 and was a Federal Reserve Bank, so it's definitely a cool, historic place! This is in downtown, very close by several churches, but no parking provided. The Federal Ballroom was one of the more reasonable options for a wedding in the city and everything came included with the price. The food was through one certain caterer - not a huge variety but it did sound good. The ballroom is on the second floor, with all those windows looking down on the streets below. I love the columns, and the ceiling had a very art deco feel. In the pictures of us walking around, it looks pretty plain. But add some uplighting and those details pop and not much decor seems to be required. This doesn't have any secondary location like a patio - if any guests want to step out they have to go downstairs to the sidewalk. The coordinator here seemed very on top of it too.
Riverview Room
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| personal photo |
The Riverview Room is located on the top floor of Jax Brewery, right on the Mississippi River. This is right in the French Quarter, and there are paid parking lots on either side of the building - they just might get crowded if there's something else going on in town that weekend. This only had two catering packages, but there was a
lot included in each of those, and they are flexible with the choices too. The Riverview Room was definitely roomier than a lot of the other venues - and it has several small porches that overlook the river and the city (shown in the photo above), which touched on my requirement for an outdoor area. The linens, chairs, and tables all came included - although using these straight up was a bit of white overload for me. This is a great New Orleansy option because of the views and the proximity to hotels and bars. My concern with it...does the ceiling look too low? I didn't notice it in person, but in pictures it kinds of looks like a something inside of a ship! It's a blank slate of a room that you could add a lot to, but I'd be worried about the decor coming together because of the size and the "U" shape of the room.
Pavilion of the Two Sisters at City Park
Through the years of our relationship, I always imagined our wedding at City Park. It is where we had our first date for the "Celebration in the Oaks" Christmas lights in the park. There are several venues in the park, but this one was the best match for our size and budget. The City Park catering has a couple of packages, and the prices are reasonable, but not too much variety. The ballroom is a good size, with lots of open space for dancing and it has some patio space that looks out onto the gardens. A great plus of using City Park is all of the places to take pictures - like the fountain above or the sculpture garden. Also, City Park brides are able to use the park for their bridal photo shoot for free - normally there is a cost for a permit. City Park does have its own free parking lot, but the park is about 15 minutes outside of the city.
At the end of the day, we each ranked the venues from favorite to least favorite and compared. We all had different choices on top, but everyone placed
my top venue highly. When we talked about pro's and con's of each, what was important, and then we were all in agreement on my top venue (and we got a Sphinx stamp of approval). It was a long and tiring day, but I had made a promise to myself that this would be it - we would have one really long day visiting and then make a decision. It worked for us, and I was able to have all of the venues fresh in my mind while making a decision.
The big reveal is up next time!
Did you go visit a lot of places back-to-back or did you take your time to visit? Which one do you think we picked (okay, I know the venue name is listed in my bio, but just play along!)?
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