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I think we also visited seven places, but I spent months and months scouring the internet and whatnot for possible location ideas that I could be missing. I would suggest still checking out a few more places before making a decision. Have you looked at Partyspace.com?
After a TON of research, we visited 4 in one day and picked our place! It helped to have a family memeber who knew the area and the venues well, because we ended up only looking at 1 I thought we would, the other 3 (and the one we went with) were his picks.
We did a lot of research too and we ended up visiting 8 of them. I was so neurotic about this part. I wanted to make sure we were choosing the right place. I was a nightmare! And in the end we just went with our gut which happened to be the first place we saw anyway lol.
Our wedding will be at Glen Foerd...you can have ceremony and reception there and its right on the river!! WE love it! :) Good luck.
congrats on ur wedding! i looked at sooo many places and ended up going with cescaphe ballroom, which is a reception hall in northern liberties.
it sounds like you may be interested in something with a little more historical charm and romantic character. one of my other choices that i really really loved was the Hilltop House in Devon but my FMIL didn't understand the concept so we didn't go that route. it is about 10 mins away from the willows, the have 1 big room that can seat up to 90 people, a garden for your ceremony and a gorgeous view from the covered porch. here is the website link http://www.hilltopdevon.com/history.htm
the willows is very beautiful too. i grew up in the area so i had a couple of events there and went to a fall wedding there and it was gorgeous! good luck :)
we actually looked at 3 and fell in love with the pyramid club..very intimate and unique..you should check it out..has awesome views of the city as well...good luck=)
We looked at the restaurant at my old college (not as great as it was when I went there), Tyler Arboretum (was already booked on our original date and had an exclusive caterer we didn't necessarily want to use), and Ridley Creek State Park (which we used). DH and I absolutely fell in love with Ridley Creek -- we saw it late on a Friday afternoon and booked it the following Monday. I think it's really worth checking out, especially if you love The Willows. The mansion is stone (looks more like Graystone than The Willows) but it has a lovely park atmosphere and the ballroom is perfect for a 75-125 guest wedding. Everyone will be in one room, which was a big reason we didn't look at The Willows (which we already knew from going to that park regularly, even though we didn't visit it as a potential wedding venue). However, I'm sure it's already booked for 10/10/10. Unfortunately, I think you're going to have a hard time booking that date because it's really popular and most of the better-known venues in the area will have been long taken.
One venue I might suggest because it's relatively new is the Community Arts Center in Wallingford (near Swarthmore/Rose Valley). I didn't actually go there, but I briefly corresponded with the manager and she was really nice. From the pictures, it looks beautiful, though!
I always feel totally crazy since this does not seem to be the norm, but I chose the 2nd place (out of a total of 2!) that we visited. And it was only the 2nd place we visited because the other one was further away and we figured we'd start far out and make our way down our list into the city. I wanted to visit this place first because I just KNEW it was the place for me.I actually booked our hall before going inside to look. Lucky for me because I got one of the last available dates! Plus, the inside turned out to be more spectacular than the outside!
My friends down in Chicago booked their reception site without ever stepping foot inside too. He said,"That lighthouse on the beach near where I propsed would be neat." and within an hour had booked the place. (When they finally went on a tour, she said it was the most beautiful space she'd ever been in!) Sometimes, you just know and jump for it and hope everything works out.
Thanks Ladies!
HL - We love the pictures we've seen of Ridley Creek. We're going to see it this Saturday (we won't be able to tour the mansion since it's only open during the week, but we should be able to get a good feel just by looking at the park), it actually is available for 10/10, which really surprised me. When you had your wedding, did they provide tables and chairs?
We have The Willows on hold for 10/10 and we're going to meet with them this Saturday, too. We're also going to look at Merion Tribute House, but it isn't available on 10/10. I'm flexible on the date but FI really has his heart set on it.
I think we're going to end up with The Willows, I can't wait to see it again!
@rabbit - we only visited 2 as well, and picked the 2nd. :-) The first was gorgeous, but wound up being out of our price range ($150-plus per head for a lunch reception is nuts). The 2nd was perfect and in our price range, so we went with it on the spot!
Don't feel bad! We visited TEN places in and around the Philadelphia area. Even checked out a few in tax-free Delaware! My FI was the one who insisted we see "all that is out there!"
If you like historic places with charm, we really loved Manor House at Commonwealth. It was definitely one of our front-runners. We got the package details on Pen Ryn Mansion and Belle Voir Manor as well, but it was out of our price range. It looked beautiful though. Good luck!
We only visited four and picked the fourth. It was one of the few times in this process where I felt like we found "the one."
@ shoop -- Wow, I can't believe it's available! Definitely have a look at it, and even though they say it's only open during the week, we walked right in on a weekend day. No problems at all. Especially if there's a wedding going on later in the day, it will be open. And you can certainly peek into the ballroom and possibly the bridal chamber (if the curtains aren't drawn) from the outside. I wish I had my pro photos so I could send you a link, but I won't have them for another week or two!
Ridley Creek does provide tables and chairs for indoor use only -- we had to rent folding chairs for the ceremony. It was really wonderful to be able to choose ALL our own vendors, too. We had such an excellent experience there. BTW, your wedding will be one year from ours -- 10/11/09 was the Sunday before Columbus Day this year. So tell your FI, good choice!!
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about Ridley Creek :)
Thanks HL, you're awesome! I just called Ridley Creek and put the mansion on hold for 10/10, all without even seeing it yet. I'm sure I'll have questions for you after we see it tomorrow.
Oh I'm so excited,
We visited seven over the course of two days. First trip was Independence Ballroom, Cairnwood, Marriott Downtown and the Westin. Second trip was Pen Ryn, Knowlton Mansion and Elkins Estate. Elkins Estate won.
So now it's down to Merion Tribute House and Mansion at Ridley Creek. The Tribute House was amazing with fantastic architectural detail, very castle-like, but we'd have to change our date and it doesn't have the grounds that I've become accustomed to in our venue search. Ridley Creek is gorgeous outside but we didn't get to see the inside (there was a big wedding taking place and we would have looked totally out of place in our jeans getting anywhere near the mansion).
But we've got Ridley Creek on hold for our date (we put the Tribute House on hold for 10/17 until we make our decision) and it definitely has plenty of outdoor space. But the Tribute House is more private and has a cool stage for the band. But Ridley Creek is more scenic and guests wouldn't have to battle heavy traffic to get there. But... But...
We won't be able to make a decision until we tour Ridley Creek (hopefully the Tuesday after Thanksgiving). FI is leaning toward Tribute House and I'm leaning toward Ridley Creek, it's going to be a tough call.
And just to stay on topic, that's 10 places for us. If FMIL suggests one more place, I may lose my mind.
Shoop, I'm so glad that you liked Ridley Creek! It's too bad that you couldn't get close enough to see inside, though. Have you looked at their website: www.mansionatridleycreek.com? It's not great but it does have a couple photos of the ballroom. I hope you're able to see the whole building soon!
HL - Yes, the interior shots on the Ridley Creek website (and your praise, LOL) keep me thinking it might be the right place for us. I love the dark wood walls, the details on the ceiling, and the bay window(s). I've googled for more pictures and one couple posted pics from their venue search but then said that they thought the place was too gothic for them. Did you find it to be gothic?
I don't think gothic is necessarily a bad thing, it would make for beautiful pictures.
Did you see Merion Tribute House? www.tributehouse.com/
hi guys. i havent looked @ the willows are know. mansion yet. are they nice? i am getting stressed -- its been 2 months and still nothing. i want ceremony & reception @ same spot with gardens, water. i looked @ several in poconos, DE, ace, etc. thanks
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We're looking for somewhere that we can have both our reception and ceremony. There are so many options in the Philly area that it's overwhelming. We've seen 7 venues so far and we're not sure if we should pick our favorite from those or keep looking at other options.
So far we've seen, in Philadelphia, Colonial Dames, the Free Library, and Bartram's Gardens. Of those, Colonial Dames is our favorite, but it seemed a bit dirty and we're not sure if we want to make our guests pay for parking. Ditto for the Free Library. Plus the Free Library wasn't very convenient for the handicapped (my father). Bartram's Gardens was beautiful but not in the nicest area of town and I worry about our guests getting lost after the reception, especially since most of them will be from out of town.
Outside of Philly, we've seen Greystone Hall, Appleford Estate, The Willows, and Bolingbroke Mansion. Greystone was breathtaking but it's way out of our price range. Appleford and Bolingbroke were both very nice but we didn't get a good feel for either because there was a wedding at Appleford when we saw it and Bolingbroke was closed. Bolingbroke is out simply because I don't want to get married at a place with "broke" in the name.
We all fell in love with The Willows, everything about it from the grounds to the interior of the estate was gorgeous. And having a lake right in the middle of everything is absolutely amazing. I'm at a loss for words on how much I loved this venue. The only drawback is that the rooms are small and even though our wedding will have at the most 75 people, we'd have to divide the tables into two rooms and I'm not sure how that will work. Plus someone already has a hold on the place for our wedding date.
If you were me, would you keep looking? Any recommendations on other venues?