Weddingbee

Our first official site visit was at Cafe Amelie and the Princess of Monaco Courtyard.

From this photo, you have the view from the entrance gate to see the lovely courtyard and the brick carriage house/restaurant Cafe Amelie in the back. The name “Princess of Monaco” comes from the fact that an earlier American Princess of Monaco (not Grace Kelly) grew up in the large house (the grey structure to the right).

It used to be that you could bring in outside caterers to hold your event in the courtyard, but now all food comes from Cafe Amelie. It’s a historical structure, with a great French Quarter location, and supposedly is one of the most beautiful of French Quarter courtyards (or so the promotional material says). And dizzam, the food was the BOMB there. Seriously, it was the best food we tasted at any of the venues. So good, we couldn’t even take a picture of the food before it was all gone, eaten up by the two of us. I remember an amazing grilled sweet catfish dish, a quite spicy gumbo, and this bread pudding to die for. I could eat this food all day!

See what I mean?

We tasted the food indoors at the lovely Cafe Amelie, which is open for meals most lunches and dinners when not having a special event. My photos do not do the interior of Cafe Amelie justice. Basically, you can rent out the carriage house/Cafe Amelie for your event to put extra hi-boy seating inside and to set up the buffet. There is a really cute, classic wood panel bar inside where some drinks can be served. It has a second floor where additional tables can be set up, though I think that would break up your wedding party severely.

The main action would really be happening in the courtyard, like so:

And that was the rub. We visited in January, to get a feel for what the space might look like in December when we have the actual wedding. It was unseasonably cold for a New Orleans winter when we were there, but with the crazy state of weather, there’s no guarantee it will be any nicer next December! The grounds were perfectly fine, decently kept up, but 1) there wouldn’t be enough seating for all our guests, and 2) we were screwed if it rained, unless we rented a tent that would be set up the entire time.

The lack of seating is pretty normal for cocktail receptions so popular in NOLA, but with all the Northeasterners coming who were used to being able to sit, we wanted to make sure everyone would have seats. While our really sweet catering director kept assuring us we wouldn’t need a tent (and if we did it wouldn’t detract from the ambiance), despite his assurances, I just didn’t want a tented wedding.

Cafe Amelie was still on the short list, until we got the price breakdown a few days after our return to California…and it was WAY out of our budget! Silly me, thinking that linens and silverware would be included since it is a real restaurant with those items. Apparently, you’ve got to rent out everything—glasses, silverware, plates, linens, chairs, tables, etc. Those charges were enough to make this nearly double our budget! So, sadly, no Cafe Amelie in our future.

If your budget is a bit larger than ours (I hesitate to state our exact budget, but it’s definitely more than $10K to host a party at Cafe Amelie for approx. 80-100 people!), and you’re having a wedding in the spring or fall when the weather is a bit steadier and warmer, this would be a lovely venue. The food alone is worth it. And the catering manager, Gerald, is a sweetheart who was really helpful throughout the process.

But…it’s not our reception venue!

Next up: a Jackson Square disappointment.

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