All of the Venues We Looked At

When deciding on your wedding venue, lots of information has to be clearly thought over. Does it fit your budget? How many people do you plan on having? What are all of the policies (there's always sooo many)? Will this fit my theme? And the list goes on and on.

Now originally, I had been planning on a beach themed wedding and only looked at venues that were by the water. Luckily, the Jersey shore has some of the most beautiful waterside venues to choose from... but most of them come with extremely high price tags!

There was only one venue (the Addison Park) that I looked at that wasn't near the water and I fell madly in love with it and ultimately that is the one that my fiance and I booked this past October. Below is a list of all of the venues I looked in chronological order and some notes regarding them...
Most people look anywhere from 5-10 sometimes even more places. We fully toured the six gorgeous places above with appointments where we discussed prices, menus, and all of the polices.

1. Avenue - Long Branch: This is actually where we got engaged on Valentine's Day 2010. It sits directly on the beach and has a chic vibe inside. This was the first venue we toured and what I really disliked was that during the summer season, you had to host your wedding upstairs in the nightclub portion of the restaurant and it was only a four hour cocktail affair. This wasn't right for the type of sit down dinner I had in mind.


2. Addison Park - Aberdeen: This spot we popped into on a whim because it's very close to my aunt's home. It's newly renovated and when I walked in my mouth literally dropped wide open! It's stunning inside with a black and white colored motif and lots of elegant sparkle. Ultimately, I personally viewed this venue four times (just goes to show how much I loved it) with four different groups of people. Ultimately, the lovely Addison Park fit our budget and we book it in October!


3. Bonnet Island Estate - Long Beach Island: Talk about breath taking! This is my absolute dream wedding location! It's a beach mansion in lovely LBI and it has it's own ballroom and chapel. You rent the venue at over $20,000 and it's yours for the night - it actually has several rooms inside to sleep your most loved guests. The only downside to this venue is it's extreme cost. Now it a budget was not an option than this would've been the place hands down. But it costs over $20,000 just to rent the spot, then you must use their caterer which rounds out to $120+ per person - this doesn't even include the alcohol which also has to be brought in. So roughly this stunning spot would've cost us over $500 per person!


4. Mallard Island Estate - Long Beach Island: This venue is the sister site to the Bonnet Island Estate. We viewed this place on the same day during the LBI Wedding Weekend and it's beyond beautiful. Like Bonnet, the only downside is the cost... it would be the same, if not a little more, than the sister site.


5. Clarks Landing Yacht Club - Point Pleasant: If we stuck to our beach theme, this was going to be our place. My fiance and I viewed this stunning spot twice... once by alone and once with my family. It's break taking and completely redone. For the money, you get an obscene amount of food and centerpieces included. It's definitely one to view if you plan on having a wedding by the water here in Jersey!


6. Crystal Point Yacht Club - Point Pleasant: This venue was also waterside and it had a hotel nearby which was a nice feature. What I disliked was that it was a bit in need of an upgrade (my parents have friends who married there and it looked the same as it did over 20 years ago) and there could be three weddings going on at once.