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.
The Edison Club could be up-to-par for your wedding day needs.
Saturday was a busy day for me as I had three different gigs at three very different venues; all with different set ups. I had a mid-day wedding at The Edison Club in Rexford, a 30th karaoke/birthday party at Patroon Inn, and a music video dance party in Wynantskill. Incidentally Maria DJ also had a birthday party at Villa Valenti Pub. Busy as usual for TheDJservice.com and everything turned out really well, in the end.
Of course, the most important gig was the wedding. A real nice military guy named Dustin married a girl from the Philippines in a Champagne and Appetizer celebration reception. (There was no real meal, but a lot of fancy finger foods to graze on.)
The Edison Club is a well-kept wedding secret in Rexford. I guess, however, anybody one could argue that most everything that is any good in Rexford is kept quiet, due to it’s low key profile. (I few years ago, I had no idea where Rexford even was. Neither, by the way, does google maps.)
The Edison Club of Rexford New York is in fact a nice golf course, with a great backdrop of a lot of green. (Green is always great for outdoor wedding pictures. It brightens everything up much better than inside wedding church shots. Keep this in mind when planning!) It is not near any other businesses and inside the club house, it has a sizable layout for weddings.
The Edison has a giant space that is sectioned of into three different sections. One area becomes the ceremony, the other is a cocktail hour bar setting and the third is the dinning space for the reception. The dinning area actually has a stage with a very large square dance floor, with tables all around the outside edges. Recently remodeled, it is a pretty good place to have a wedding ceremony without having to go very far for the reception.
My complaint is really only a wiring issue that probably nobody notices, anyhow. (The stage doesn’t have outlets. Therefore as the DJ, you have to run a cord off the stage and out where it can potentially be seen. Besides this, it really is a nice hall.) If your disc jockey knows what he is doing, this shouldn’t be a concern.
If you are planning a smaller wedding, they do have means for you, perhaps, if you are not looking for much of any dancing. There is also a smaller room in the back of the building utilized for banquets that do not involve dancing, as there is no dance floor. It is a nice round room with a lot of windows and an ambient fireplace. (This facility does not provide a lot of access for guests or wedding professionals to move their bigger packages or gear into, but then again, it probably isn’t used for weddings much anyhow, due to the lack of dance floors.)
If you are looking for a decent place to have your reception, it’s worth giving a call.
