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.)
I just thought I would give everybody a little heads up when it comes to planning the locations for your wedding ceremony and reception.
From experience, I have learned that the weddings that have had the smoothest transitions from ceremony to reception have been at the same location, or under ten minutes away. I know this sounds simple, but it doesn’t always happen.
I have seen many wedding receptions run late, due to, in part, the transition between ceremony and reception.
We already know that pictures typically transpire during this time, and that the bride and groom will be engrossed in what usually becomes a lengthy photo shoot. Depending on the circumstances, the photo shoot alone can be the cause of upsetting anxious guests and also end up running overtime charges by the hall and other wedding professionals waiting at the reception hall. To avoid further wait time, it really is best to plan for the ceremony to be very nearby the place of reception, whenever possible.
Rule of thumb; you really only want about an hour to an hour and a half at the very latest between the ceremony end time and the reception start, and that includes the cocktail hour within that window frame. Just keep in mind, that everyone is waiting to be with you on your special day.