Where did you have your wedding reception?

[michaelskis]

Well as of this past Saturday, my GF and I are officially engaged. But being that neither of us are from here, and have not been here all that long, we have no idea as to where to have our reception.

So...

Where did you have your reception? What was it like? Any suggestions?

[zenstyle]

We were married in our living room in the Oakwood Manor. Our reception took place in the Browne Center on the Aquinas campus (corner of Robinson and Woodward.) The Browne Center is gorgeous inside and out...reminicent of Henry Higgin's library. Date of wedding: September 19, 1992.

[downtownGRguy]

Well as of this past Saturday, my GF and I are officially engaged. But being that neither of us are from here, and have not been here all that long, we have no idea as to where to have our reception.

So...

Where did you have your reception? What was it like? Any suggestions?

Let me be the first UP'er to say Congratulations!

We had ours at Bridgewater place, back when Rembrandt's was still there. Great setup with the hors d'oeuvres in the lobby area with grand piano playing etc. I heard that Gilmores had taken over the banquet area there, but not sure if they are still doing it.

[GRGridGirl]

Here's your new best friend Michael: the knot GR knot page.

After planning my sister's wedding this past summer, I was amazed at how many blog sites/forums I found. You know they all have the wedding day counter running & the craziest clickable smiles.

What type of place are you looking for?

How large is the reception?

Inside or outside?

Fall, winter, spring, or summer wedding?

What do you want your friends to remember about your reception?

Do you want to be close to downtown or in a country club setting? Where is the wedding?

Oh, and Congrats!

[grrwymg]

Congrats on the engagement.

We had ours @ Applause! It's a catering/banquet facility behind Pietro's on 28th St. We loved it. They were easy to work with and very flexible. I would hightly recommend them.

[AlexPKeaton]

My cousin had her reception at the Amway Grand. Of course, she married into some money from a local manufacturing company.

-nb

[egrguy]

Congrats!!!

I'm engaged so haven't had the reception yet, but it will be at Crystal Springs Country Club.

However, we liked the GR Musuem (i'm a nerd) but it was really cool and thought it a unique and fun place that's a little off the path of the regular reception places, although it was over our budget.

Good luck!

[Nitro]

When I got married we were poor and had no money. We had to be creative to have a great wedding. My grandmother made my wife's dress (huge cost savings), We were married in a very ornate church (no extra decorations), for the reception we rented the K of C hall across the street from Wengers on Leonard (cheap), we couldn't afford catering so we asked the family to bring a dish to pass (yummy family food!)

The moral of the story is this. You don't have to spend a lot on a wedding for it to be a great time. We spent less then $2,500 on our wedding and (coming up on eight years in Feb) people still say it was one of the better weddings they attended. Be creative, have fun, and don't go broke doing it.

Congrats!

[torgo]

Mine was in my in-laws backyard (its real nice). But my sister had her wedding and reception at Meijer Gardens, at it wasn't outrageously expensive either I don't think.

Congratulations!

[michaelskis]

The wedding will be in mid to late September of 2007, and we are going to limit the crowd to 300 people. Because of the time of year, we are thinking of an inside venue. The wedding will be at St. Andrew

[GRDadof3]

I know they hold receptions upstairs at St. Cecilia, but I don't know if it is large enough for 300 people. You could always call and see. I've also seen a lot of wedding receptions at the Grand Rapids Public Museum as someone else mentioned. I've been to a few non-wedding black tie events there, and it was pretty cool.

[Sunlover38]

Noto's in Cascade. Excellent food, excellent service, beautiful setting . . .everything was perfect . .except the groom . . haha . . .good luck!

[shopgirl]

Ours was at St. Cecilia in the ball room upstairs and it was a great place. Plenty of room for everyone, dancing there is great on the wood floor. I think they have a catering contract and you can have alcohol. It looks grand but isn't terribly expensive - or at least it wasn't back in the day (1993). Wow am i old.

[twoshort]

Unfortunately, most of the weddings I've been to this summer (including my own) have been out of town. I've been to Noto's.. very cool. If you're trying to stay downtown though it's kind of a hike. I'm going to a wedding at St. Patrick's and a reception at St. George's conference center in two weeks and another reception at Applause a month later, I'll check back if I remember and give you the scoop.

[FilmMaker]

Noto's in Cascade. Excellent food, excellent service, beautiful setting . . .everything was perfect . .except the groom . . haha . . .good luck!

Noto's in Cascade is easily one of the best options around. The Noto family just plain "gets" the notion of family gatherings and has created a spectacular facility for such events. The Noto family has become close friends of ours and nevers fails to impress us with their culinary talent.

Others mentioned Meijer Gardens and, having done several big corporate events there, I can attest to its great potential for splendid ambiance, especially if the weather is nice.

Me and my wife? We got married with only immediate family - so the reception on the day of our wedding was a very small, somewhat casual, intimate catered affair at my parent's home. Felt like a very comfy but very fancy family holiday gathering. Turned out just right. A few months later, we had a big Fall bonfire gig at our house in the woods for about 200 friends. We had Joey G bring out Gilmore's old wood-fired pizza oven on wheels (looked sort of like a pop-up camper with an oven instead - don't know where that thing is these days but it was cool). Everyone could eat cooked-to-order individual sized gourmet pizzas, we provided plenty of beer and wine and everyone just hung out all night at our place. It was perfectly informal and allowed my wife and I to actually socialize with all our friends versus trying to accomplish the usual chaotic reception agenda activities. And it was cheaper than a big catered gig as well. Everyone loved it!

[PBJ]

Noto's in Cascade is easily one of the best options around. The Noto family just plain "gets" the notion of family gatherings and has created a spectacular facility for such events. The Noto family has become close friends of ours and nevers fails to impress us with their culinary talent.

If you want to spend the money, I'm with everyone on Noto's.. GREAT place with GREAT food.

With 300 people most restuarant d/t are out of the question. McFaddens can do up to 185 I think with pretty much anything you want as far as food. I'm sure you could do something on one of the floors at the BOB, but with the way they've split the building up in recent years, it may be tough.

[twoshort]

I'm sure you could do something on one of the floors at the BOB, but with the way they've split the building up in recent years, it may be tough.

Top of the BOB works quite well I hear. Plus, I give credit to places with good on-line catering menus.. it takes some of the stress out of it. You can tell pretty fast if you can afford it or not.

http://www.thebob.com/tob.html

/not affiliated.

[GRDadof3]

Top of the BOB works quite well I hear. Plus, I give credit to places with good on-line catering menus.. it takes some of the stress out of it. You can tell pretty fast if you can afford it or not.

http://www.thebob.com/tob.html

/not affiliated.

That's a good idea. I've been to a couple of events in the upper banquet rooms (5th floor?) and they are quite large, and there were probably 300+ people. It says they can accommodate up to 600. The guests also feel like VIP's because you have to take the elevator to get to the upper floors. You can also probably book a block of rooms at the Courtyard Marriott across the street at discounted pricing. Then people can go bar-hopping after the reception, and walk to their hotel room instead of driving drunk down 28th St.

[michaelskis]

Wow

[twoshort]

Wow

[jayblogger]

I always think the non-traditional places are best for receptions. It's more memorable.

My wedding reception was at the Steelcase University Learning Center. It's a very cool building with a large Dale Chihuly sculpture in the courtyard that is lit up at night.

I had some friends have their reception at the UICA museum main space downtown on Sheldon. Theirs was the first wedding reception there. I was going to do mine there, but then the SULC idea came up.

[Veloise]

I know they hold receptions upstairs at St. Cecilia, but I don't know if it is large enough for 300 people. You could always call and see. I've also seen a lot of wedding receptions at the Grand Rapids Public Museum as someone else mentioned. I've been to a few non-wedding black tie events there, and it was pretty cool.

I checked out St Cece during their open house a few weeks ago. 300 people, no way. 100 if they sit down.

[ModSquad]

Our daughter was married this past summer. We had the reception at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art. It was an incredible reception. We brought in a caterer who did heavy hors d'oeuvres. We bought our own beer and wine and had friends serve it. We rented tables, chairs, and linens from Baker Rental. The staff at the UICA were great to work with.

All in all I would imagine we spent about the same as we would if used a trraditional venue. It was quite a bit of work setting up and taking down. However, the uniqueness of the setting made for an unforgetable wedding reception. Our family and friends are still talking about it.

[Weallneedhistory]

Our reception this past August was at the Alumni House on GVSU's campus. I wasn't sure when my wife first told me about it, but the main room was very elegant and beautiful...lots of windows which I like. And it's still brand new, so everything looks great, and not everyone has been there for receptions, unlike the Pinnaclel (which is also nice) in Hudsonville. Unfortunately, they won't serve more than a 150 people (although I know the room could hold up to probably 180.) We paid for almost everything ourselves, and it was an average price compared to some of the other places I called. The food was great.

For 300 people though (Wow thats a lot of people to invite and serve, not to mention the Thank You cards you'll have to write out) I'm not sure where you would want to go.

[michaelskis]

Maybe we will have to cut our list down and invite a lot of people what we know will not attend.