Carmela’s Banquet House – An Affordable Venua Option For Small to Medium-sized Weddings
Carmela’s Banquet House located at 301 Washington Ave in Rensselaer, New York is a great place to hold a small to mid-range wedding. If you happen to be a bride or groom-to-be and have roughly 75-125 people on your guest list, this really believe that Carmela’s could be a super affordable option for you. At the same time, Carmela’s can provide quality in service for your special night.
LOCATION – Carmela’s location itself could be a positive when choosing your venue selection. This banquet house is out of the busy side of Albany and more layed back off the main drag of a Rensselaer residential area. This venue provides its own spacious parking lot, so that your guests have no parking issues. Logistically speaking, the location itself is only a few blocks away from Interstate Route 90, making for a smooth transition to and from the hall, overall.
A Nice Rounded Bar for More Guest Comfort
FACILITIES – The hall provides a separate place for the bridal party to gather and relax after photos for the soon-to-come grand introduction.
Additionally, in the corner of the bar, there is enough space for traditional wedding decorations/activities, like a wedding photo booth, an acoustic guitarist, or ice sculpture, perhaps. In the dining room, there is a spacious dance floor and great adjustable lighting. It is also important to note that there is a nice round bar off of the main dining room, which allows for more people to enjoy the bar experience.
FOOD – Recently, I was the disc jockey for a wedding that had a nice chicken breast, or strip steak, as well as a vegetarian dish available. The food is really tasty! The garnishes that the bride and groom selected were garlic smashes potatoes, and a great mixed vegetable medley of peppers, onions and cauliflower.
STAFF – I really enjoy the staff. they are good people; very friendly and easy to work with.
Overall, I give I recommend this hall for a small to medium-size wedding. Give them a drive by. It could be worth it!
Clifton Park Elks Lodge Wedding ~ Great for 80-120 people
Clifton Park Elks Lodge # 2466 – Wedding Venue Review
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of being the DJ once again at The Clifton Park Elks Lodge. Aside from some really good home-made cooking and tasty food, the people are very easy to work with at the lodge. They offer a decent nice venue at very reasonable pricing. They also really allow a lot of freedom to the bride and groom in the outline of the night’s events.
The Lodge’s facilities at the Clifton Park Elks are a great place to have the wedding of your dreams or enjoy a great barbecue. Guests can choose from their indoor facilities with 2 connecting rooms, dance floor and complete bar, or their out-door pavilion with a large grill and on-site sporting games. The Elks Lodge can also custom create a combination package of both.
The food really is great considering they cook all their own food without a cateror. It has a more homey-like feel to it, rather than the mass-produced feel that some of the bigger venues have, and I think that the guests appreciate that.
They do serve their guests the buffet food portions which slows down their buffet line to some degree. However, the hand-carved prime rib was high quality and great for a smaller-to-medium sized venue. The sides were really good, as well, and they even featured their own home-made sauces, like a great bistro horse-radish for the beef.
If I could change one thing, I would probably open the buffet line up to both sides of the table to speed up the serving, and set up a separate station for the hand-carving roasts. However, because it is a smaller venue, maybe 80-120 guests in full capacity for the dinning room, it is possible that space is an issue.
There is a nice little bar in a separate room for the drinking enthusists, as well as a small bar in dining room.
One more thing I really like is that they are super easy to work with. For example, the lodge doesn’t force the cake, or toast on you. In a lot of cases, wedding halls and catering venues really push to have the cake cutting activity very soon after the dinner. This helps them organize the employees’ duties in the back and an early cake activity can actually maximize employee potential and save the hall money. However, an early cake is not always in the best interest of the party, as many people leave right after the cake, and the activity can really slow down the fun. At the lodge, they are really cool with letting it happen later. I also don’t think they try and soak the bride and groom with a cutting fee.
The lodge is conveniently located at 695 Macelroy Road in Ballston Lake NY. This location is right on the border of Clifton Park and is an easy place to get to. It is still far enough away from the commericialism right off of the 87 exit.
If you are interested in booking your small to medium sized wedding there, the phone number is (518) 877-5200.
Waterford Banquet caters throughout the Capital District and surrounding communities, but handles weddings and special events at The Saratoga Elks.
As far as the food is concerned, Waterford Banquets offers some really good prices and some great wedding favorites on their menu options. I believe their Prime Rib, which I would classify as medium-sized cut of beef, is somewhere around $23 a head, which really isn’t bad! Check out their website above for the menus options – or click here.
The Saratoga Elks, conveniently located near Northway Exit 15, has a bright and modern look with great lighting. It features a bar and a suitable wooden dance floor. There is great access to hall with a nearby back door, making things easy for decoration purposes.
Lodge Facilities
250 plus guests banquet hall with spacious seating
Great bar/lounge area with seating for up to 100
Located in historic Saratoga Springs, near all activities
Patio and Gazebo area for beautiful ceremony
A decent-sized banquet room to fit 175 plus guests…
Overall, I would suggest that the hall is a great size; not too small and not too big. It seems ideal for weddings between 125-200 guests.
I would rate them about 8 stars out of 10, only subtracting a little for an unusable disco ball (people wanted me to turn it on as the DJ, but it didn’t work) and a few minor eye sores, like the Elks Logo sign in the banquet hall and what I believe was a bingo board on the wall covered by curtains.
(EDITOR NOTE: Since this blog in 2011, the disco ball is back in working order!)
Franklin Plaza of Troy, NY is located right across the street from Dinosaur BBQThe Franklin Plaza Banquet Hall is a great place to have a wedding, prom, or other high-end event demanding class.
I work as a DJ and often an event planner, so I am used to managing every detail of big events myself. If you choose to book the Franklin Plaza, hopefully you will agree that they do think about everything, as they did for the recent prom that I did there in June.
One thing I wanted to highlight now, is that they have their own in-house dance lights now at the Plaza. The hall manager, Greg Cushman, told me that they put their custom light show up only a few months ago, and spared no expense in components and installation. The LED lights with programmable DMX technology are a great extra bonus for booking the hall, with no charge to the customer and they are up high in the corners of the dance floor, out of sight.
I would give the place 4 and a half stars out of 5, subtracting only a half a star for the homeless guy that I think spit on my car in the parking lot, because I didn’t have time to listen to his sob story setting up. (If you see him, shoot me an email so I can knock the last two teeth out of his head.)
Petersburg Memorial Hall; a decent place for a wedding with a budget, about 30 minutes from Troy.
LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE WEDDING HALL IN YOUR AREA?
If you are looking for a nice event hall for a small-to-medium sized wedding that allows outside catering, you probably know that your choices are limited. Many places today, have in-house catering, as this is a big money maker for the venues.
If you live in the Troy area, or nearby, and are working with a budget as many of us are, Petersburg might work for you.
LOCATION – “Petersburg, NY? Where the heck is that?” It’s funny. I’ve been a disc jockey for a number of years now and never heard of Petersburg Memorial Hall before, either.
I live in Wynantskill, off of Pawling. This is between Troy and Albany and I asked the same question. After I initially talked with the bride and groom about providing music for their special day, I had to run a Google map search to familiarize myself with a town that was less than 25 minutes away from me. (In case you are like me and are wondering, Petersburg is the next town down Grafton State Park.)
The reception I DJ’ed for was at a cute little place called “Petersburg Memorial Hall,” located conveniently on 71 Main Street. The venue is located right before the Petersburg Town Library. The hall provides plenty of parking and does work out to be a great little place for a great little wedding to take place.
AFFORDABILITY – Someone looking for a smaller wedding with the potential to meet affordability restraints can benefit considering this venue. While many halls in and around the Capital District that house wedding receptions also provide their own dinning packages, at the Memorial Hall, this is not the case. Here, you can book any catering service that you like and also make provisions to set up your own bar. This means an incredible amount of savings, as these two expenses are quite often the largest for any wedding.
SPECIFICS – The Memorial Hall can seat 80-100 people fairly comfortably. It has two side access doors to allow easy access for vendors and also any decorating purposes you may have. It has plenty of chairs and tables and a decent linen selection resource, along with seat covers. The hall also has very high ceilings and also a great little stage with draw curtains that could easily be used for your DJ or even a small live band.
There are a few little facility points to note. There is a decent kitchen, but it is not very large. It is probably, however, suitable for your outside caterer to make due with for what the hall can comfortably occupy. Also, it is import to note that there is only one shared bathroom. It is, however, handicap accessible, I believe.
On a technology note, the town of Petersburg is out in a rural area. It does not provide any Sprint cell phone coverage, but it does have Verizon cell phone coverage. Internet access is also provided to the hall through a wi-fi hub in the town library, nearby.
I would give it a three out of four stars for a good affordable wedding venue/hall option.
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of working with the good people at The Inn at Saratoga, right off of Broadway Street.
The Inn is a nice little place and I thought I would chime in about it for those of you who may be planning a small wedding celebration soon in the Saratoga area.
While a huge guest list event probably won’t work well there, if you are planning a laid back smaller wedding of 80-90 people or less in this area, The Inn at Saratoga m
ight be right for you. Their accommodations were comfortable for about this many friends and family, in my estimation.
Tent Ceremony in Courtyard
CEREMONY – The Inn at Saratoga has a nice little courtyard with a tent, suitable for smaller outdoor weddings safe from the elements. (On this past Saturday in particular, the tent turned out to be a useful option for the bride and groom, due to the drizzle and wind.)
COCKTAIL HOUR – This faciltiy also has an inside dining hall with an outside porch leading into it from the bricked courtyard. Both the porch and the inside area have bars and room for cocktail hour goodies and snacks, however, my estimation is that the outside bar on the porch by the tent would be the best bet, when weather allows. Outside there is more room for cocktails and appetizers. The inside bar option feels more like a hallway between the restaurant and the wedding dinning hall.
The Inn also has a complete public bar in the front, to compliment its actual restaurant. The public bar serves for a great hiding place for the bride and groom before their grand introduction into the dining hall, while the people are seated and waiting.
Banquet Hall
THE BANQUET HALL – The dinning hall, again, is a venue not made for guest lists of 100 +, however, it is a comfy and fun place at around 80 people or less. There is a small dance floor and enough space to fit eight people comfortably at about ten round tables. They have a little fireplace, as well as a huge victorian-like decorative mirror by the doors that lead to the courtyard.
FOOD – I had the prime rib. It was a pretty tasty hunk ‘o beef, garnished with wild rice and a mixed veggie blend of peppers, green beans, and broccoli. (A little over-cooked for me personally, perhaps, but then again, I like my cow still mooing and running.)
PARKING – Is a little cramped there, as it is many places on Broadway in Saratoga. The Inn makes up for it, however, in that they do provide a free valet service that parks your care and retrieves it upon exit.
HOTEL ROOMS – It also helps that it is an actual functioning Inn and that guests can stay right there, if you they choose to do so. The hotel is located in a very convenient place, right near the nightlife of the city. Nearby is Canfield Casino and Congress Park and the hotel provides free wireless Internet to everyone. Being the DJ for the event, I had no problem downloading an oddball music request. (It’s great when you don’t need a wifi password.)
All in all, this hall is not a bad option if you are looking for 8o-90 people as your guests, at most.
