Wedding Blog

I’ve been MIA for a good reason - working on my massive, tri-lingual invites! I promise I’ll write about them after they have been mailed. In the meantime, I wanted to share information on the component of the invite that required the most research: accommodations.

With the average rate of hotels at about $300/night, finding affordable accommodations for our guests in Manhattan is no easy task. Although our wedding and reception will be held in Westchester County (which is 20 minutes northwest of Manhattan), the majority of our out-of-town guests will be visiting for the duration of the weekend and so prefer to stay in Manhattan for all its attractions.

Of course, there are inexpensive options for your stay in Manhattan, such as the New York Youth Hostel located in the upper west side. At about $30 a night this is probably the most economical way to go, aside from crashing at a friend’s or relative’s. You do not have to be a youth to use it, but you do have to be a member of Hostelling International or the American Youth Hostel Association.

Another option is shared-bath hotels which usually run for under $200. If your guests do not require private bathrooms, this is definitely the way to go. My favorite of the bunch was Hotel 31.

However, Mr Peony and I decided that a full-service hotel would be the best for us, and I set him to work. His mission: to find a decent hotel for under $300/night that is near major attractions, and offers suites where we can hold the traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Since this was such a long process for us (waiting for hotel managers to call us back, negotiating, etc) I decided to share our list with Weddingbee. Please note that these are the quotes we received for our wedding in April 2008 - the prices may fluctuate depending on season, availability, etc.

New York Marriott Financial Center
$259 for a deluxe room, $309 for a view room
The price is right, and Marriott is a fairly respectable brand. However, the Financial District isn’t the most tourist-friendly area.

Ameritania Hotel
$269 for standard room, $319 for deluxe room
I love this hotel….but they don’t have suites.

The Time Hotel
$285 for queen, $315 for king, $345 for double-double, $495 for a suite
Another good option, but Mr Peony thought the decor was too modern and sleek to hold our Chinese tea ceremony.

The Mansfield Hotel
$339 for queen, $399 for king, $479 for a suite. 10-room minimum required.
Probably our favorite of the lot, but the price was too steep.

In the end, we ended up going with the Affinia Manhattan, at $279 for a studio w/ 2 beds and $344 for a 1-bedroom suite. I work right near this hotel so I pass by it all the time and have even been inside a couple of times (FYI, I highly recommend their restaurant, Niles). The location is great and the decor/mood was exactly what we were looking for. We will also get a free upgrade to a suite if 75% of the rooms get booked. The best part? There are no penalties for unbooked rooms!

Now for the bad part: they are only willing to block a maximum of 10 rooms. However, we figure that should be sufficient for our guests as many of them will be staying with friends and family. We will also be providing a long list of alternatives in a wide price range on our website.

The next part of my DYI invitations - how to draw a map using Adobe Illustrator! Stay tuned…