My fiance and I are looking for our wedding reception site for our wedding in September (reception only, ceremony to be in church). We want somewhere affordable, not too far ~<15 miles from NCSU. Ideally it would provide both a beautiful outdoor setting with a convient covered area in the case of bad weather. We are expecting about 150 to 175 people.

Anyone have a suggestion of somewhere that we may not have found yet. We are aware of all the most common places and have done a lot of web searching, but are sure there must be some gems of places out there that we have not yet come across.

Anyone want to offer up their farm or land just outside of town?

THANKS.

2/2/2006 9:58:23 AM

waffle house

2/2/2006 10:18:21 AM

I know someone who had theirs at the Science museum downtown. It was cool.

2/2/2006 10:34:53 AM

Check with Parks & Rec.

2/2/2006 11:48:28 AM

Do your friends a favor and make sure the wedding does not coincide with a football game.

2/2/2006 11:55:55 AM

Are you planning on having alcohol at the reception? If so, having it at a location operated by Parks and Rec, while both beautiful and affordable, may mean that you have to jump through a lot of hoops in order to be able to serve alcohol. I was going to have my reception at a location operated by Durham Parks and Rec. In order to just serve beer and wine (no liquor) they required a temporary alcohol permit (about $100-150) issued by the city as well as an off-duty police officer (at $50 an hour paid by us) to be at the location the entire time alcohol was being served. I didn't even get into the amount of stuff you had to do in order to serve liquor, as we were not planning to do so. Needless to say, we decided not to go for that location. However, if you will not be serving alcohol, all of the above is null and void.

2/2/2006 12:10:32 PM

my wife and i had ours at the Rose Garden. it worked great.

2/2/2006 12:15:56 PM

A public beach.

2/2/2006 12:38:22 PM

Quote :

"Do your friends a favor and make sure the wedding does not coincide with a football game. "

You're only going to get that if you either schedule it for a Sunday or Sept. 30. Don't take that advice. Choose the date you want - my wedding was on a Sunday and it was a freak game day - they're usually on Saturdays. Sure, some guests were disappointed they were missing it but it was much more important for them to share our day with us.

Plus when planning so far in advance, people aren't concerned with what guests could be missing in sports

[Edited on February 2, 2006 at 1:01 PM. Reason : ]

2/2/2006 1:01:22 PM

They should damn well be, if a large number of their friends and/or family are as obsessed with state football as ours are, and pay for their tickets and traveling plans months in advance. It's called not being a selfish bitch and being considerate of others' obligations.

My wife and I planned our wedding well over a year in advance and had no problems ensuring that we would not conflict with a football game.

2/2/2006 1:41:00 PM

^ what he said



although,

it could work if you were having it on a Sunday following a home game. people who come into town could go to the game and the wedding. the rehearsal dinner would have to be on Friday though.

[Edited on February 2, 2006 at 1:51 PM. Reason : although]

2/2/2006 1:44:07 PM

Our sorority semiformal was on a night of a game. Needless to say, we bought in a tv.

2/2/2006 3:19:31 PM

Quote :

"They should damn well be, if a large number of their friends and/or family are as obsessed with state football as ours are, and pay for their tickets and traveling plans months in advance. It's called not being a selfish bitch and being considerate of others' obligations. My wife and I planned our wedding well over a year in advance and had no problems ensuring that we would not conflict with a football game."

Ditto, we waited until the reg season was over for ours, for a site that's not a primary outdoor facility but has outdoor areas try http://www.trianglemls.com/111place/

2/2/2006 3:50:58 PM

Quote :

"waffle house"

ahahah

2/2/2006 4:01:50 PM

What about somewhere on NCSU's campus--centennial has to have somewhere nice??!!

[Edited on February 2, 2006 at 4:03 PM. Reason : oh wait you said outdoors....okay nix my idea]

2/2/2006 4:03:15 PM

Chuck E Cheese

2/2/2006 4:30:51 PM

Check out Delightful Inspirations at the corner of Avent Ferry and Tryon. Not primarily an outdoor setting but they do have a big patio a large outdoor area.

2/2/2006 5:47:44 PM

im having mine at players retreat

2/2/2006 5:53:41 PM

My aunt and uncle had a wedding celebration party (their wedding and reception were in Virginia) at the Dogget Center on Bilyeu Street. It's the NCSU Catholic campus ministry location.

2/2/2006 7:01:15 PM

Try the Raleigh Little Theater. Close to campus. They have a nice garden area that's beautiful, which they do rent for occasions. Not sure about cover if it rains, though.

2/2/2006 7:25:01 PM

My fiancee and I really like the site of our reception, Matthews House in Cary.

Nice old house with a well manicured grounds and a banquet hall in the back. Not a very out in the country sort of place, but while there you don't feel like you are in some banquet hall in a random building. I was also at a reception at I think it is called the Poe House??? It is a bit behind WakeMed off New Bern, but the grounds are very secluded and very nice. They have a house and big back yard where a tent was set up.

I'm not paying though, so I can't comment on affordability for either.

2/2/2006 8:05:53 PM

friends don't let friends plan a wedding on a football Saturday

A guy I used to work with had to miss his team's homecoming game b/c his girlfriend's brother was getting married. His team was 5-0, playing an in-conference team that was 6-0. The worst part is that the bride & groom were alums of the same school.

2/2/2006 11:51:15 PM

Yeah we had our wedding on the day of the State & UNC game.

Saved a bunch of money on the alcohol because most poeple went to the game and then came to teh wedding and reception. :-)

2/3/2006 1:30:47 AM

Wedding >>>>>>>>>>>> sports

I can understand if the vast majority are die-hard NCSU fans/alumni/students, but only a few friends and a few family members are, so get off my case.

2/3/2006 9:39:24 AM

^^^^My brother and sister-in-law had their wedding and reception at the Poe House. It's absolutely beautiful both on the inside and all over the grounds. However, I imagine that the price is pretty high since her family is in the money.

2/3/2006 10:52:04 AM

Quote :

"Do your friends a favor and make sure the wedding does not coincide with a football game."

jesus christ yes. i made that mistake (state vs. carolina) last year. been paying for that ever since.

2/3/2006 11:08:41 AM

lake johsnon park

2/3/2006 1:44:50 PM

Thanks to all the suggestions and chatter. Last time I looked I couldn't find the football schedule yet. It is avaiable now and our current date of choice is an away game against Southern Miss, which is about as good as we could hope for in the middle of football season. Thanks and keep the comments/suggestions coming!

2/3/2006 5:23:45 PM

Our current top choices are:

The Velvet Cloak Inn - glassed in pool area
The Royal Ballroom - in the building with Edible Art on Hillsbourgh across from Merideth, has a deck area, but it is practically on Hillsbourgh.
The Haywood Hall - Just East of the Capital an 1850s house with gardens
deck area at Regency Park Ampitheatre - seems interesting but I can't get anyone to return my calls

2/3/2006 5:33:15 PM

I vote Velvet Cloak. We stayed in one of the poolside rooms on our honeymoon night. It was awesome. Would you have issues with random ppl staying in those rooms though?

2/3/2006 10:07:32 PM

at the Velvet Cloak we would be able to get all the rooms by the pool as a block and have wedding guests in all of those rooms. Anybody else have any experience with the Velvet Cloak. Someone PMed me to say here she thinks it is a great spot, especially for the money, and that we can get the 'Queens Suite' if we book 15 rooms, which I didn't know previously.

2/4/2006 11:24:44 AM

maybe you could do it at/in the jc raulston arboretum SP?! but it will be fall so i guess it won't be as pretty. maybe a shriner's club or smthg. there is one off of leadmine that i went to that has wedding receptions.

2/4/2006 12:01:38 PM

I wanted to do our whole thing in Reynolds Coliseum but of course they don't rent out to private parties

2/4/2006 3:56:36 PM

Quote :

"Yeah we had our wedding on the day of the State & UNC game."

That is so cute! Did you mean to?

2/22/2006 3:07:35 PM

The Borden Building at Fletcher Park.

It is off St. Mary's Street, not too far from Campus. It is used for a lot of weddings and receptions. My cousin-in-law is the co-ordinator.

2/22/2006 4:16:35 PM

I would not stay at the same hotel your guests were at. Thats just me though

2/22/2006 4:25:27 PM

i am not sure if this is at all possible, but can you rent what is it teh biltmore mansion or something that huge building near the museum? i may have the name wrong.... im not sure

2/22/2006 4:38:44 PM

my brother had his reception at "Sister's Garden"...it is bout 15 minutes from state and was exquisite

2/22/2006 4:42:10 PM

its not outdoor - but they do have a patio attached - Exploris

2/22/2006 5:21:06 PM

what's affordable, drug tester?

website: http://www.thebridesbook.com/marketplace.php?sectionid=65&id=

in case you haven't considered some of those

[Edited on February 22, 2006 at 6:22 PM. Reason : parks]

2/22/2006 6:13:37 PM