Categories
Updated 3-08

Reception & Event Facilities

Pieces of Knowledge
in Amanda's opinion

There are essentially two styles of event facilities - mansion or banquet.  A mansion style facility is generally ornate, beautiful, and full of medium to small sized rooms where different pieces of the event take place.  (Make sure your DJ is well-equipped to handle such diverse spaces.)  They often have lovely outdoor grounds as well. 

A banquet style facility can be anything from a sheet-rock-box that needs a lot of decorating, to a refurbished old building with loads of character, to the Davenport's ballrooms.  The allure of these type of facilities is that your guests will all be in one room, with no one missing any of the festivities.  They also tend to have slightly larger indoor capacities than mansions, and to cost less in most cases. 

Whichever style appeals to you, make certain when shopping for your reception facility that you have a fairly solid notion of your guest count.   Fire-codes are serious business, and while no facility would ever want to turn away some of your guests they will have no choice if you seriously underestimate the number of guests who decide to join you. 

RSVPs may not work well, but they at least help you get a handle on your guest count.  This is helpful when it comes time to let the facility (and the caterer) know how many guests to plan for.   We've had events that didn't ask for RSVPs, wanted us to set up for our full capacity, and ended up looking like half of their guests just didn't show up - it's not pretty.  They also paid for a lot of unnecessary food! 

Location Location Location!  If you choose to use separate facilities for your ceremony and reception remember to keep them less than a
15 min. drive apart.  This keeps you from losing guests in between, and helps retain the momentum of the event.

Parking.  This is a huge issue for many groups when booking a facility.  Keep in mind that while many locations have some free, dedicated parking few will have enough to accommodate 200+ guests.  People are resourceful, though.  This is a special event and many of them understand that they may have to pay for parking.  It can help if you encourage them to carpool as well, or utilize a hotel's shuttle service.  If you reserve a block of rooms for out of town guests, and the hotel is fairly close to the location (ceremony & reception in the same place) it is often possible to arrange drop-off and pick-up service for a nominal fee.  This is also a nice gesture for out-of-town guests who may not know their way around town. 

Hours.  Some facilities are located in residential districts, meaning that the party has to end by 10pm.  This suits many couples just fine, but others with a later ceremony need a later reception time, so inquire before you book. 

Smoking.  Remember that this is Washington, and no smoking is allowed indoors in public spaces, or within 25' of an entrance. 

What facilities offer varies greatly from turn-key do-it-yourself venues to full-service, we do EVERYTHING venues.  Most fall somewhere in between, so ask.  Good vendors don't want you to be misled, which only creates bad feelings.  They want you to choose their venue based on the value for the price and how happy the place makes you feel.