Banquet Hall VS Hotel

IF I was able to find a banquet hall at a hotel I liked I would have chosen that...its makes for day of prep easier as well as for all the guests to not have to drive after the wedding and can stumble upstairs to their rooms. But the first thing I KNEW I wanted for the venue was for it to not be a cookie cutter ballroom or banquet hall AND I wanted to have windows....so we're getting married at a country club that over looks a golf course

I think it depends on what you want and where you are. I wouldn't use a hotel, but that's my personal opinion.

I also have written down some country club options but I am a bride on a budget so I was kinda looking at options that would be less out of pocket such as if I do have it at a hotel I won't have to worry about renting a limo

My sisters' weddings were one of each, I preferred the one at the hotel because it was easy to get back to our room after the reception.

However I think if you arranged mass transport to the hotel that would be fine too.

I think it mostly comes down to finding a place that you like. People will make arrangements as they need or you can arrange a group ride if there are enough people staying in the same place.

Thanks for that idea

As a guest I would prefer a hotel just because it is easier. I can just walk right upstairs to my room. As a bride though I didn't want to do a hotel or a banquet hall. I wanted something less cookie cutter. My venue is at a public park, the ceremony will be outside and the reception inside.

Another suggestion...set up a room block (its no charge to you) and ask if they have shuttle transportation...the hotel we have a room block at is charging us $250 for the shuttle but its ours all night until 2:30am (we have to be out of the reception at midnight) and it makes unlimited runs.

I would pick hotel, especially if you have many out of town guests. It just makes everything for everyone involved easier. If you forget something, it is so easy to run up to your room and grab it, rather than go without it.

My cousin had her reception at a hotel, and it was great for the rest of the extended family because we got more of a chance to hang out together the day before and after.

Depends. I attended a wedding at a hotel in downtown Baltimore. It was a busy place during a busy wedding season so they were rushing us out to get the next couple in for their reception. No joke, waiters were talking glasses and plates from us while we were reaching for them to take a sip and turning the other way. That's the thing I remember most from the wedding, is how rushed we were. But I know some party center's can be difficult to dress up for a wedding. Some are very nice already, like ours is.

I think it really depends on the hotel, whether you have a lot of OOT guests, and your personality. We recommend one 'hotel' here in Jersey, the Olde Mill, and it's really more like a big B&B; it doesn't have a hotel feeling. We also do a LOT of weddings in boutique hotels in Manhattan, and they are fantastic; totally different than a chain.

Thanks im going to look into the shuttle

It depends on your hotel, budget, and number of guests. I couldn't justify a $15k minimum at hotel, so we're doing our whole thing at Maggiano's in VA, in their banquet rooms. 4200 minimum- we were sold. Plus we are inviting 110, thinking about 80-90 will show, so it works for us. Do what's in your budget, and go with your gut about what you want. You don't want to regret your venue

I would have had the hotel because of the ease for guest and myself. Unfortunately there were none I found were my price range/ I liked. I wanted lots of natural light. The one's that had that had minimum spends of 20-30K on a Saturday, uh Bye Felicia! Ones in my price range were either not in the area I liked or were too banquet hall-y.

Originally we were going to go with a banquet hall and then I got a 2014 Farmers Almanac and it mentions a storm the weekend of the wedding. I quickly decided to look into hotels. I was able to find a nice hotel with a great package that was a good price. If we had 125 (we invited 110 and ended up at 89) the package would have included centerpieces, cake, DJ, limo, monogrammed cocktail napkins, cake knife and toasting glasses. As we didn't meet the minimum number of guests, they backed out the limo (not needed as we are getting ready at the hotel and having the ceremony at the hotel) and the DJ (but I found a great DJ that I really like so that isn't an issue). We are paying $58 per person which includes tax and gratuity.

They are the same to me in terms of what they offer for a wedding. Although I must admit it is really nice to just take the elevator upstairs at the end of the night instead of trying to get a cab.

Most hotels we looked at double book. You probably won't be the only wedding on that floor. I really didn't want random people thinking they could crash my wedding. Our second choice, behind the hall we chose, was a hotel. The hotel's hall was on the top floor and we wouldn't have to share our day with anyone.

It depends where you live. Down here in Miami banquet halls are mostly used for quinceaneras and some use them for wedding the thing I don't like is that they have packages like A B C D and the cheapest package is A but its has a certain style for the cake and if you want to upgrade to a bigger cake you need to go to package B or C and pay more money. I chose a hotel because of the reviews and that they have a standard package they just charge for the plate. It depends on what your going for and your style. I know we look at like 10 banquet halls but FH didn't like any at all because of the set up they had.