Weddingbee Blog

The reality of wedding planning finally set in. Venue daydreaming was over; it was time to get to business. After countless weeks of phone calls and emails, perusing rate sheets and crunching numbers, we had 2 final contenders. Both of these venues have been featured on Weddingbee by two beautiful brides, Mrs. Swan and Mrs. Latte! Let the fighting begin!

Ok, so it wasn’t that dramatic

First, Battery Gardens.

Battery Gardens is a restaurant venue on the southernmost tip of Manhattan. It is right on the water and looks out on some of NYC’s most famous landmarks – Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, New Jersey (LOL, come on). I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

2nd floor reception area

Reception, food, cocktails, outdoors

My favorite things about Battery Gardens are the indoor/outdoor cocktail area overlooking the water, and the intimate size of the reception area. And for New York weddings, it’s easily accessible by the subway.

Then there was Stage 6 at Steiner Studios. In the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Stage 6 is on a movie studio lot and is Abigail Kirsch’s newest venue – Abigail Kirsch being the catering queen of New York.

Indoor Ceremony (pic by Bonnie Tsang Photography)

Reception with Views of New York (pic by Bonnie Tsang Photography)

View of the Manhattan Bridge Nearby

My favorite things about Stage 6 are the industrial view of New York City, the elegant and modern décor, and the great reputation of the caterer.

From the get go, my interactions with the staff at both venues was awesome. Alex at Battery Gardens quickly answered all my initial questions via email and then walked us through every detail in our appointment. Erin at Stage 6 was also great. She was proactive and followed up on our questions as well as offering us information we didn’t even ask for. Both pitches were no pressure and both venues sounded very willing to work with our budget.

In the end, here were our top priorities:

1) Lower guest minimum. In prime wedding season, many NYC venues require a minimum of 200+ which would preclude our guest list of 125-150.

2) Excellent food + drink. My family is food obsessed. My mom still talks about the freshest oysters she had when we lived in New Orleans… 25 years ago. If we had mediocre food at our wedding, I’d never live it down. Can you imagine my mom? She’d say “Oh, you had such a lovely wedding… except the food was just OK,” at our child’s college graduation.

3) Style. I wanted something that reflected our style as a couple. Kind of modern, non-traditional, but not too crazy.

So which would it be? Water views in a classic venue? Or urban views in a contemporary newcomer? Find out next time in my venue reveal!