Wedding Planning...Northern New Jersey...HELP

kimmy0169

Cathlete
Hi All,

I was wondering if you any of you folks that live in Northern New Jersey can recommend a place to have a wedding reception. My Fiance' and I are on a tight budget, so I am not looking for the anything too expensive. Many of the places I have found are so... expensive and I am trying to not get carried away by what I see and stick to the budget.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Kay
 
Hi Kay,

My cousin is getting married tomorrow and having the reception at Don Pepe Restaurant & Caterers in Newark. I believe it is in the Ironbound section, so it isn't a bad area of the city. My mom said it isn't anything special from outside, but is very nice inside, can accommodate up to 300, and has amazing food. Last year, another cousin had her reception at L'Affaire Fine Catering in Mountainside. It is on RT 22 and looks like your typical wedding/party hall from the outside. My mom said it is about as inexpensive you can get, but the food isn't as great as it is at the other place.

Here are the names:

Don Pepe Restaurant & Caterers
844 Mccarter Hwy, Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 623-4662
(no website)

L'Affaire Fine Catering Web Site
1099 US Highway 22, Mountainside, NJ 07092
(908) 232-4454
http://www.laffaire.com/

Congratulations, and good luck!
Gina
 
Kay,

I just thought I'd throw in a good word for Don Pepe's. I haven't eaten there personally, but I work for Verizon, and we have an office in Newark, and that's the place that a lot of the work groups go to when there's a luncheon or celebration of some kind. I know a lot of people that really like it. HTH!
 
I grew up in Northern NJ. You don't need to have a wedding at one of those big wedding halls. My aunt and uncle were married at an inn in Montclair and it was lovely. There are a lot of lovely inns in NJ that are less expensive than the big halls. (I saved a lot of money myself by getting married at an inn in Westchester in 2001, avoiding New York City which is where I live.) The restaurant idea is great too.
 
Thank you to all. This has been by far the hardest part of planning as me and my fiance do not want to go broke for this wedding, or spend 2 years paying it off. I believe the Inn you are speaking of is the Marlboro Inn in Montclair and I am awating a call back from them.

Kay
 
Yes, that was definitely it. The wedding was a long time ago, but was lovely. Hope the prices are right.
-Nancy
 
Also, keep in mind that Jessica McClintok makes lovely dresses for less than $300. It was a great way to save money for me when I was married in 2001.

Another BIG saver was having a daytime wedding instead of evening. You really should consider it. It worked well for us. We were married in a beautiful garden. To this day, people still tell me ours was one of the nicest weddings they've ever been to, so we don't feel anything was sacrificed.
 
I would suggest looking into The Cotillion in Garfield, NJ. I know someone who had their reception there and they were very pleased with the banquet managers, the food, the room, and the price was much more reasonable than other facilities they had looked
into.
Another way you can sometimes save some money is if you want to or are willing to get married during non-peak times of the year ( for ex: January - March except for Valentines Day). This couple got married in March and the price was more reasonable for a Sat. evening reception than it would have been in April, May, June, etc.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
 
Hi Kay,

I agree with Jill about having a wedding off season to save money. I live in central NJ so I don't know much about what is in Northern NJ. We had our reception in March and received a 40% discount for being off season. It was in Lambertville at the Inn at Lambertville Station. We saved on other things and were able to get the photographer etc because it was a slow time for weddings. There are several good books on ways to save money while planning a wedding. I would suggest taking a look at the bookstore. We got a lot of great ideas from those kinds of books.

By the way you have a great mindset. I commend you for not going crazy. It's so easy to get carried away and spend SO much. I see so many people spending years trying to pay off their wedding instead of having a good down payment for a house or saving for the future etc. Good luck and enjoy the planning!

Alison
 
Thank to everyone for their advice. It looks as if I may have the reception at Snuffy's Pentagis in Scotch Plains if I can get my fiance to review the information in a timely manner. :)
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top