Hotel Weddings
By Molly Tully
Besides providing breathtaking ballrooms, beautiful settings, gourmet
cuisine, and four- and five-star accommodations, hotel weddings can also
save you a lot of time, confusion, and money by housing a number of wedding
experts under one roof. You’ll have the expertise of a caterer,
wedding coordinator, and party planner at your fingertips, allowing your
decisions to go smoothly.
Your onsite wedding coordinator will guide you through your event, from
choosing your menu, table linens, and room decorations to recommending
a photographer, florist, and band. They’ll reserve blocks of rooms
for your guests, often at discounted rates, and then oversee the delivery
of gift baskets to welcome your family and friends once they check in
the day of your event.
They can set up rehearsal dinners and Sunday brunches in the hotel’s
other various lounges and restaurants to take place throughout the weekend
of your wedding. And they can even arrange for transportation to pick
everyone up at the hotel to bring to your offsite church or synagogue,
allowing everyone to arrive on time. Or if you’d rather have the
entire celebration in one place, your ceremony could be held on an outside
terrace or garden patio, then move inside to a formal dinner in the ballroom.
And there’s also the safety consideration. If everyone is partying
and sleeping under the safe roof, chances of unfortunate accidents are
highly minimized.
Plus there are the added benefits of hotel amenities for your guests,
including a concierge desk to help arrange activities during the day,
room service, pools, spas, transportation, etc. You’ll be providing
a mini resort for your guests to enjoy during their stay.
Some even offer complimentary bridal suites with their wedding packages,
such as The Bernards Inn in Bernardsville (908-766-1238; bernardsinn.com)
and the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands in Secaucus (201-348-6900; cpmeadowlands.crowneplaza.com).
Be sure to ask.
And it’s become even easier to scout out possible hotel locations.
Most hotel websites offer sample menus, pictures of ballrooms, and contact
names and numbers for onsite wedding coordinators. But Marriott’s
Seaview Resort and Spa located in Galloway (609-748-7660; seaviewmarriott.com)
has gone a step forward by offering a first-of-its-kind “walk-through” tour
technology, providing website visitors with a “real” perspective
of what they would actually see if visiting in person. “This interactive
experience is perfect for…a bride looking for the perfect ballroom…,
as it gives a true perspective of the vast amenities Seaview has to offer,
without having to be here,” says Tim Cahill, Seaview’s director
of sales and marketing. Can’t get much more convenient than that.