Search for the Reception Site - Part III

So the third time we went reception site hunting, we were visiting three places: one I found, one B found, and one the head huntrer place found.

I was excited to visit the head hunter found one because I knew it was in our price range and I had read on certain blogs that it was hard to get someone to call you back and schedule a visit. I had a visit scheduled without even trying. Now this place is called 3 West Club as its address is 3 West 51st Street. It is right across from St. Patrick's Cathedral. Now, it is at this point that I will ask my aunts to stop reading for a few paragraphs and pick it back up a few paragraphs down. You see, the owners of this building have a difference in opinion with my mother's entire family. 3 West Club is a private club for the National Republican's Women Club of New York (please don't tell Grandma). I figure the least the Republican's can do is give me a good price on my wedding reception. However, to get over the difference in political beliefs I needed to really like the place. Also, we took B's mom with us to visit this place but left out the republican part and she saw the sign before we entered so I realized others would notice. And here we are met by Klaus (he told me he is like Madonna and only goes by one name) who is the cutest, funniest event managerwe met with. I loved him. We visited the Solarium which has a balcony with a view of the Cathedral - the bad news is that our guest l ist is probable too large for us to use this room. This is a bummer since that view was a major selling point to us. The other problem was that when you stepped out of the elevator, you were greeted with a large, and I mean large, potrait of a smiling Ronald Reagan circa 1986. The picture is centered with the elevator doors and when I saw it, I started to laugh. Luckily, the pictures of Ronnie and the Bushes can be removed. We go into the main reception area and it is on the smaller size. I think it is slightly larger than Moran's and it has lighter walls and a higher ceiling. The menu looks good and the price is good but in the end, I don't think it is the best place for us given the political leanings of the building.


The other place we visited with B's mom was the NYC Fire Museum which is located in an old fire house and the museum is open throughout the whole reception. We thought this was a kind of cool and different reception site. Before entering it we did find one snag - a lot of traffic as it is near the Holland Tunnel. So for those driving it could be a nightmare but our firends would love being in SoHo after the reception ends. The museum had really nice brick walls but it is T-shaped and I worried about flow. I also had some reservations about fitting our guest list in the space. It became a major contender. However, an outside caterer is needed for this space.












The other place we saw is the Prospect Park Picnic House in Brooklyn. We drive down Fourth Avenue (the same route we ran for the Marathon) and park outside the park. I notice that parking may be a problem in this neighborhood but we did find a spot on Prosect Park West near the entrance. (All the places in Manhattan had paid lots near by.) This place is a large converted park house so it is just one room - but a large room.

It also has a nice view of the meadow and if it is nice out, people can mill about outside.







So we have the second contender who also needs an outside caterer. In the next post I will show you how we made the final decision.