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where are all my Newport brides?!? I'm from the Boston area, and am getting married in August in Newport. We have the majority of our vendors, but I'm curious to know who everyone is using? We're looking to get our guests to/from the hotels safely, and are looking into buses or trolleys - anyone have any advice on transportation vendors?
Also - what is the typical budget for Newport...?
I've seen some other threads about wedding budgets, and I was thinking that Newport budgets are 2-3 times other places in the county... is it just me, or is newport just really expensive??
THANKS!
Hi Britta7707 - another Newport bride here! Well, actually our ceremony and reception are in Bristol. But our guests and dinner rehearsal are in Newport. As you probably know already, planning a wedding in that area can be, shall we say, difficult??? The big stuff was easy as pie, venue, florist, dj/band, photographer... But the things I thought would be easy have not been. All of our guests are coming from out of town so I have rooms blocked at 4 different hotels...getting that set up was a nightmare and be forewarned...if you want to block rooms off in Newport proper, they will ALL require you to commit to a food/ beverage function with a minimum of $2k. We decided to just have our welcome reception at one of the hotels in Newport so it wasn't an issue for us, but is definitely something you will want to keep in mind. If being in Newport isn't a priority for your guests, I would recommend blocking hotels in Middletown which is just a quick drive to Newport and much less expensive (but not necessarily cheap) in peak season. As for transportation, I wanted to do something like a trolley or coach busses, but it would have run us upwards of 3 grand to do that. So, we've opted for school busses. YOu can rent school busses for about $600 per. I was concerned about how people would react to school busses, but with the difference in price, quite frankly, I don't care. I don't anticipate my guests even thinking twice about it, but if someone doesnt like it, they are free to drive themselves!
Here are my vendors, I have had a great experience with all of them. Let me know who you are using, I'd be interested in comparing notes:
florist- stoneblossom
photographer - krista handfield
dj- anthony crocenzi
venue- blithewold
caterer - McGrath's clambakes
baker - Sin Desserts
officiant - Victoria Burdick
Look forward to talking with you!
Wow, thats awesome to see other Newport brides! We are in the begining of planning, but we have a couple vendors. Newport weddings are definitely more than your average wedding. We don't have an actual budget, we just do lots of research until we find the best service for the price. We are October 2010, so lots of time for planning.
We are using:
Atlantic Beach Club for the reception
David Bibeault for photography
Bellevue Productions for videography
I used the Mole Hole for part of my Bridesmaids gift
Who are you using? I'd love recommendations!
As for budget, I was told a minimum of 60K by an event planner, we are hoping for less!
I LOVE the ABC...I wasted many a day there many summers ago when I was supposed to be interning! A Newport wedding could easily cost 60k, but it doesn't have to. I think when its all said and done, ours will be in the range of 35-40k (eek!) I can't even believe it because I had no intention of spending that much. We splurged on our venue and the rest is all nickels and dimes. I have had luck with vendors who don't have a Newport mailing address. If you find that what you are looking for is pricey in Newport, expand your search and you can probably do better in price. This has been true in my experience, and I haven't had to compromise on anything.
RI Bride, is your DJ reasonably priced? We re looking for DJs right now and would like to go with someone through as referal. Hve you seen him at any other weddings?
I have also heard awesoem things about Sin! I can't wait to set up an appointment with them!
Another Boston bride getting married in Newport here! Our wedding is coming up SOON (May 15). We've had all our vendors for over a year, which we're really thankful for because people book up quickly. We've definitely found places to be very expensive, but we've tried to find the best deals. Our most expensive vendor by far has been our reception location -- Belle Mer. It's beautiful, and waterfront on Goat Island.
We're Catholic and it was basically impossible to find a Catholic Church in Newport that would marry us. They all required you to be parishoners. One place that doesn't (but costs around $2K) is Salve Regina's chapel. It's a Catholic University, so the ceremony is recognized by the diocese. It's in an old mansion, waterfront and gorgeous! Unfortunately, our wedding is on their graduation weekend, and they don't allow you to rent it then. So, our ceremony is at St. Mary's in Bristol (about 25 mins outside Newport).
We are also using a hotel that's technically in Middletown, but in basically in Newport. It's the Newport Inn and Suites. It was just renovated and the rooms are very nice and much more reasonably priced. They also don't require you to hold a function there.
If you don't want to use school buses, try Bloom Bus. It's a charter bus service that we're using. They're working with us, and to pick up guests at the hotel, take them to church, then back to hotels, then to the reception (which is 3 hours later) and after the reception back to the hotels is about $1K. This was the cheapest we found for a charter bus.
Finally, here's a list of my other vendors:
Photography: Kristin Spencer
Videographer: Fresh Focus
Florist: Laurel Lane
Cake: Creative Cake Company
Rehearsal Dinner: Newport Cruise Company (dinner cruise)
The problem we had with transportation is that we are anticipating 150 -200 guests, all from out of town and all requiring transportation. Due to the distance between Newport and Bristol as well as the time restrictions of our venue (guests cannot arrive earlier than 1/2hour before the ceremony) we need a minimum of 3 busses. We priced a lot of other options and just couldn't justify that kind of money for transportation. My wedding is the same weekend as yours LNickle!
LNickle, if you don't mine my asking, about how much is the cruise for the rehersal dinner? My mom really wants to do something like that, but I'm worried it iwll be too expensive.
We're also using Newport Hotels and Suites! Have you gone into the rooms? They look mazing and they have the fire pit and jacuzzi on the top deck. It would make for a fun late night party with the wedding party!
Also, I'm not sure when you looked into Salve, but we are alumni and we were told it is $3,000.00 for alumni and $6,000.00 for non-alum. So needless to say, we will not be using them! We are havign trouble finding a place to marry us. We are both Catholic, but don't currently have a church.
My fiance moved to Boston, so he doesn't have one and I do not like my childhood pastor. We are looking for a church now that we both like, but to book a church in the area, everyone says our church needs to sign off and we need to go to pre cana with our own.
Does nayone know of any churches without this requirement?
Newport Nuptials -- we're both Catholic, and we're using St. Mary's Catholic Church in Bristol. I think it's a beautiful church (www.stmarybristolri.org), and you don't have to be a parishioner. Even better -- it's only $500 to rent, which is much less than many other churches we looked at.
We decided to rent out the entire boat/yacht for the 3 hour dinner cruise because we wanted to choose our own menu (from their options) and didn't want to worry about having "outsiders" around. So, I think for about 55-60 guests, it's going to be about $5000. I think that includes wine and beer and a sit down dinner (or buffet.. we haven't decided). But, I know that you can just rent out one deck and it's less expensive. The regular dinner cruise includes a buffet, so if you rent out the deck, you still get to have the normal buffet that they do. I can't remember off-hand how much it was though.
RIbride -- where are you getting married at in Bristol??
I LOVE that this thread has really started up!!
i am an August 1 bride - and LNickle - I am getting married at the Belle Mer too! Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm definitely going to call Bloom Bus.
tell me more! i want to hear all your detials!!
You girls are lucky, I am in love with Belle Mer!
Where else are you girls considering for rehersal dinners? I think clmbakes are very Newport, my mom loves the yacht/boat idea and I just love the food at 22's or the Mooring. Although, I may just leave the decision up to my in-laws ot give them mroe planning input.
I'm also tryign to think of a cool bridesmaid lunch. Any thoughts? I think the Viking does a tea. I want to go and get manicures and tehn lunch the day before the wedding with my girls.
Any thoughts on OOT bags? So far we are doing bags from foryourparty.com and filling it with water, area info., a snack and I'd love to add soemthing newport-ish.
We are actually having a "Welcome Reception" in lieu of a rehearsal dinner since 100% of our guests will be traveling from the NYC area. I don't think its right to ask people to come all that way and then exclude them from the rehearsal dinner. We are just having cocktails and hors d'oevres since we are expecting over 100 people for the welcome reception. We are actually having a clambake for the wedding though. The food will be served as a regular sit down dinner but will be prepared as a clambake. Its so New England and I figure if we are getting married there, we might as well! We also don't want a stuffy affair, so its perfect and I'm so excited for it!
The Chanler has an awesome "tea room" that you can use for a brunch or bridesmaid luncheon. It's a little expensive, though. I haven't decided what I"m going to do yet for the day after brunch. We're trying to do something low key and not too expensive, so I'd love any ideas!!
LNickle, do you know the price for the tea room? Iwant to splurge on the bridesmaid lunch, there will only be 8 of us including my mom and his, so I am reaqlly interested! I love the Chanler!
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RIBride! I am so excited for you!! McGrath Clambakes were AWESOME!! We had a few issues with them because they seem to have a pretty old-school way of doing events (like no moving chairs between ceremony/reception and making all the tableware options a la carte, but for the clambake itself, I think they were phenomenal!!
And Jennifer at Sin Desserts is amazing! What flavor did you go with? We had the chocolate bourbon cake and ever single one of our guests said it was the best wedding cake they had ever tasted!
So glad this thread is here...best of luck to all you Newport ladies!!
--Mrs Corn
aka Miriam
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Hi everyone!
You have all given me such great ideas – thanks for responding! This thread is so fun!
My vendors:
Venue: Belle Mer
Rehearsal dinner: 22 Bowens
Post-wedding brunch: Marriott
Band: Hip Pocket Orchestra
Wedding Planner: Donna Kim of the Perfect Details
She is also doing our stationary
Florist: StoneBlossom
Transportation: tbd
Hotel blocks: Holiday Inn Express (Middletown)
Best Western, Mainstay Inn (Middletown)
Cake: Something Different Cake Couture (Providence)
Photographer: Nikki Cole (Boston)
Photo Booth: partybooths.com
Thanks Mrs Corn, thats so great to hear. I'm really excited about it, and love that its not a "typical" wedding meal. At least not in the way its prepared. I've had a really good experience with them so far. The one thing I don't like is that they don't offer tastings for hors d'oevres, but I will just have to live with that.
We are getting cupcakes from Sin, there are 6 different flavors and they are all deeeelish! I honestly don't even know what we picked... 
Its just not that important of a detail to us. She has been great to work with as well!
I'm open to all advice and suggestions!!
Hello Everyone! I am so excited to find other Newport Brides to discuss ideas and vendors with! I am getting married at the Belle Mer on May 30th, 2009 and am trying to finalize all my details, can't believe its almost 3 months away! The vendors that I am using are the following...
Florist -- Ray's Flower Shop -- Fall River MA
Cake -- Diane's Delectables -- she has been absolutely spectacular!
Ceremony Music -- Amari String Trio
DJ -- Murray Hill Talent
Photographer -- Denny Moers
Hotel Accomodation == we have room blocks at about 5 different hotels all in Middletown
Rehersal Dinner -- The Officers Club
Are there any other Belle Mer Brides that are getting married around May 2009? I am curious as to the details that the event coordinators have provided you thus far if so! Thanks!
I'm also a May Newport bride. Our ceremony and reception will be at the OceanCliff. Can anyone recommend ceremony music and how much it typically costs? Has anyone heard anything about Broadway Florist?
Thanks!
hm.. nothing about Broadway Florists. sorry!
Good luck!!
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Maybride2b: we're using Allegro Chamber Players (http://home.comcast.net/~acpmusic/) It's a string trio (Flute, Violin, Cello) with the option of also using a trumpetist and a soloist. We're using the string trio and the soloist (who is also a cantor for Catholic ceremonies) and it's $830. It's a little steep, but I feel in love with the soloist's version of Ava Maria.
Newportbride: I'm getting married at Belle Mer on May 15.
Also, anyone getting married in Newport after me, we ended up buying A LOT of the stuff we're using (apothecary jars for the candy buffet, scoops, vases, sheer table overlays, etc), so they will all be for sale after the wedding. Just a heads up! :)
Lnickle, my sister isdoing a candy buffet at her October wedding, I would definitely be interested in the apothecary jars!
This thread is super helpful, I was considering Sin desserts and now I will definitely have to meet with them after hearing all the great things everyone has to say!
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What is everyone doing for transportation?? We want to get busses for people to go to/from the hotels in Middletown, but cant find a reasonable company....
any suggestions?
andLNickle: i would be VERY interested in the apothecary jars, if NewportNuptuals doesnt need them!!
I just found out my sister is all set with apothecasy jars, so I won't be needing them.
For transportation, we aren't doign naythign for guests, because we are blocking rooms across the street from the reception. We will need transportation for the bridal party to and from the church and for pictures. I haven't gotten any reasonable prices yet, although I haven't been searching too hard.
Does anyone know how much renting the Newport trolley costs?
I used distinctive limo and its $400 for a 10 passenger limo ($325 + $75 driver gratuity)
Thanks RIBride, that actually fits in our budget! I'll have ot contact them! :)
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Hi Everyone!
This is my first post ever! So here it goes!
I'm an August 1st 2009 Newport bride! We are getting married at OceanCliff and our rehearsal dinner is at The Mooring. We are super psyched! But I am having problems with booking hotels for our guests. Are you ladies blocking rooms for 2 nights or 1? I have a lot of guests from Massachusetts who are only interested in staying for the night of the wedding. Is that possible? I've already taken most of the rooms at OceanCliff for both nights. Even in surrounding towns t seems like 2 nights is required....HELP!
Here are my vendors if anyone still needs ideas:
Ceremony- Channing Memorial Church
Reception- OceanCliff
Photographer- Kristin Spencer (Love Her!)
Florist- Toni Chandler (great with a budget!)
Cake- Confectionary Designs by Mark Soliday (Best cake I have ever tasted!)
DJ- David Pettengill (He's from the Boston Area but soo great!)
Letterpress Invitations- Glidewell Press ( Great deal compared to PaperSource)
Hi Care,
I am having trouble blocking rooms for only one night too! Everywhere we checked has said two nights. My family got rooms at a place in Mioddletwon for graduation for just 1 night, but even they are sayign they only do 2 night room blocks. For guests who don't want two nights, they may need to wait until last minute and find a room. Soem willl let you do only one night if it is a last minute request. I have lots of friends who have stayed at the Newport Marriott, The Viking and places in Middletown for only one night, but if you mention wedding or room blocks, they say you have to do two. It is kind of crazy!
We are still looking for a church, has anyone had a good experience finding a catholic church? We can't find one that waill marry us without our own priest or our own church signing off on it, and we are in a weird sitution, long story, where we don't have a church right now. But it means alot to us to get married in a catholic church.
Newport Nuptials,
What hotel did your family stay in Middletown? At the very least, I'd like to post a list of hotels that will book one night in August, on our website . If anyone is stuck, last minute, it's good to know that the Marriot or Viking may allow a one night stay, but most of our guests are looking to book soon, and I haven't found a hotel that will book one night in August.
As far as the church goes, I found it very difficult to work with the Catholic Church. We tried to have our ceremony in a Catholic Church and it proved to be too difficult- between the 2PM Ceremony time (We are booked at OceanCliff at 7PM and that time gap is brutal!) and trying to get his "own" church to send a letter to the Newport Church- we gave up. But my fiance's cousin joined a Catholic Church in Boston last year, before her wedding, and was able to get a letter from that church so she could get married at St Thomas Moore Catholic Parish in Narragansett. I obviously don't know your situation but could you join a church now? Or have you thought about using a resigned Catholic Priest? Shoot me a message if you want to discuss it further! :-) Good Luck.
I am getting married in Newport this September! I actually just got engaged a few weeks ago and am stressing about everything as it seems so late in the game. We are having a huge issue with lodging. We are hoping to rent out entire B&Bs for our family and the bridal party. But, for everyone else we are running into the issue of 2 night minimums. We are most likely going to give our guests the Middletown hotel suggestion but also urge them to stay at the various amazing B&Bs/Inns that are in downtown Newport.
Does anyone know of an Inn that will allow you to rent it out in its entirety??
Hi Newport Bride from NYC, Pearls of Newport will rent out their entire B&B. It's actually really cute, composed of 3 different buildings sharing a courtyard. We were going to go that route, but have since decided to use Newport Beach Hotel and Suites in Middletown/Newport (it's across from the Cliff Walk on the beach). There is no two night minimum (at least there wasn't for me in May). It's also newly renovated and very nice.
As for Catholic Churches, as I mentioned previously, it's really hard to find a Catholic church in Newport proper that will marry nonparishoners. We're using St. Mary's in Bristol, which is about a 20-25 min drive, but it's worth it considering the rental fee is only $500 and they're VERY flexible. We can use the priest there (who's GREAT to work with) and you don't have to leave your flowers at the church. Additionally, they're open to many things other Catholic churches won't allow you to do -- ie Unity Candles, song choice (pretty much anything), readings (open to things other than the traditional ones) and they'll let you incorporate your own vows.
PM me if ya'll have any other questions!
Thank you, LNickle. Great suggestions but it looks like both are a little higher per night then we were hoping for... do you know if either do discounted rates for groups??
We have a church!!!! :)
We are getting married at St. Lucys in Middletown, I'm so excited, we just found out!!!
As for hotels, my family stayed at Seaview Inn for one night during May:
Newport Bride from NYC, there are two hotels across from the cliffwalk, right next to Newport Hotels and Suites
The Quality Inn:
http://www.qualityinn.com/hotel-middletown-rhode_island-RI021?promo=gglocal
I think there is a comfort inn too, but cant remember which it is.
There are a few smaller places in Middletown super clsoe to Newport for less than $100 a night- most of the time. Like when I went in October last year SeaView was only $69.00 a night. It isnt the best, but it is really nice for the price.
We have a church! We are using St. Lucy's in Middletown! We just got told today that we can have it!
As for hotels, SeaView in Middletown did one night stays for my family 2 years ago. They were $69 a night when I visited last October. They also do room blocks with discounts I believe.
Also in Middletown, next to Newport Hotel and Suites is the Quality inn, it is really nice and way cheaper. They also do discounted rates if you guarantee rooms.
Everyting in Newport and Middletown has two night minimums... if they call at the last second they MAY be able to get a one night stay - but i dont know that i would want to recommend that...
We are getting married on August 1 at the Belle Mer, and we have set room blocks at the Holiday Inn Express and the Best Western...and we also suggested other hotels in the newport area for our family, etc. who dont want to stay at a 2-star hotel.
Another thing that were doing renting a house for the whole week in newport before the wedding. im sure you can ask if you can rent it just for the weekend for your family? it will actually end up being cheaper to rent for the week for a big group of people, than paying for 6 hotel rooms for 2 nights. Just throwing it out there.
Best of luck to everyone!!!
I'm so glad I found this post. This is awesome! And it's so nice to see a lot of Belle Mer brides. I'm getting married at the Island House on 5/22/10.
Newport Nuptials... is the Newport Hotel and Suites the one on Memorial blvd and Wave ave? I am planning to stay there and block rooms for my guests as well. I haven't seen it but I'm glad to hear it's beautiful. I wonder if they allow a private party on the top deck you mentioned.
newportbride5.30.09... how is your experience with Murray Hill Talent? They're one of the vendors I'm looking at. BTW, I'm from NY too!
britta7707... I was recommended www.firstcharterbus.com. They're school buses and I was quoted less than $600 for the big bus with 3 destinations (Belle Mer and 2 hotels)'
LNickle... thank you for the bus recommendation. I'll look at Bloom Bus as well.
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@ Aylee bits- That is the one! The deck is somewhat small, so if you do a private party I would say about 15 people, if they allow it.
Has anyone had any experience with Larry from Engagements? We just met with him last night and we are planning on booking him. One more vendor checked off the list!
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Hi Newport Brides! I am so excited this thread exists!!
I live in Los Angeles, but grew up in RI and am getting married in Newport in August 2010! Planning a wedding long distance is SO hard.
My ceremony is at St. Barnabas Catholic Church in Portsmouth. Those looking for a Catholic wedding, did you try there? They are letting me do my pre-cana and paperwork in L.A., and then send everything over. The church fee is $1000. It's right on East Main Rd in Portsmouth, not too far for my guests to drive.
Our reception is at The Officers Club. Here's my dilemna - the ceremony is at 2pm, but the reception isn't until 6pm! I am so worried about that 3 hour chunk of time in between. Any suggestions of where to send my guests?
Also, my photographer is a friend from L.A. so she is not too familiar with picture spots. Any ideas of places to go for the wedding party for pictures? I've heard Second Beach and The Elms so far. Does anyone know if you need to reserve picture time at The Elms? What about a picture spot if it rains?
How are everyones plans going?
We now have all of the big things, other then flowers and the cake! Anyone have good recommendations?
Venue: ABC
Church: St. Lucy's
Photographer: David Bibeault
Videographer: Bellevue Productions
Room blocks: Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Newport Hotel and Suites and the SeaView
Transportation: Newport Trolley
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