Carolyn Burke STL Blog

Questions to Ask When Evaluating a Location for Your Wedding The following list of questions and tips will help you navigate through your location search. Print them out and use them as a guide while you’re talking with a site contact or reviewing a site information packet. Make sure to get everything in writing in your final contract! Don’t forget to have a notebook or your planning binder handy so that you can record answers to all these questions. What dates are available in the month I’m considering? How many people can this location accommodate? What is the rental fee and what is included in that price? Is there a discount for booking an off-season date or Sunday through Friday? How much is the deposit, when is it due, and is it refundable? What’s the payment plan for the entire bill? Can I hold my ceremony here, too?  Is there an additional charge? Is the ceremony site close to the reception site? Is there a outfit changing area? How much time is allocated ...

Looking for the right venue to have a special event can be overwhelming. Details about the site's amenities such as capacity, fees, the size of the parking lot, accessibility and other specifics you may not have even thought of. Who has the time to call and check on availability; whether or not the location is even what you are looking for? Carolyn Burke can give great advice for a variety of wedding ceremony or reception locations. Mostly small and intimate, but large and extravagant too.  Looking for ways to save on wedding expenses is an increasingly common scenario for young couples, faced with hefty student loans, credit card debt, a tough job market, and ever-increasing living expenses. Many couples are choosing lower-cost locations and planning smaller weddings close to home for family and their closest friends.  To plan an event, your first impression is the first step along with the costs involved. The style or theme of the event as well as restric...

Press PLAY and see an interactive guide to ceremony and reception venues in St Louis. Are you having trouble searching the internet - looking for a wedding event location? Do you spend hours looking - only to find the same places over and over again? Looking for a venue that allows outside catering or alternative wedding places? Maybe you are planning a wedding from out of town and need help getting started. We find venues that match your budget, style, and capacity. CLICK HERE for more information. This Package Includes - - ~ Defining Your Vision of the Perfect Event and Providing Cost Estimates ~ Locating the Venue You Desire and Making the Initial Contact for You ~ Use the Interactive Resource Guide With Over 2,000 Photographs of Locations The St. Louis Resource Guide has over 600 wedding venues and more than 150 religious sites. You save time by letting us contact vendors for you that match your dreams and budget concerns. We help you find ALL the best resour...

The Royale Orleans Banquet Center located at 2801 Telegraph Road in South County has charm and ambiance to attract many types of events.  Three banquet rooms are available with the largest set-up being able to accommodate 400 guests.  The Lafayette Room shown above was set up for a wedding ceremony.  This set-up includes chapel seating with center aisle, archways, unity candle stand, and take down. This facility can include OVAL or OBLONG tables which I find very pleasing.  One is able to seat more guests comfortably and it brings a warmer environment - a family feel.  Plenty of parking is available and it is located close to I-255 (I-270) and the Telegraph exit. They offer tours of the facility during the week and by special appointment on Saturdays. Need Someone to Perform The Ceremony? Check Out Carolyn Burke - Wedding Officiant

Entrance to Shrewsbury City Center This wedding occurred at The Shrewsbury City Center; a great location with space to fit 240 guests.  A nice entry for guests to be greeted and exposed brick in parts of the ballroom.  Here is information taken from their website. " You’ve spent years dreaming about your wedding day and now you’re finally planning it.  When it’s all said and done, you’re not asking for much...Just the perfect day!  When deciding where to host your friends and family after the ceremony, consider this...Our ballroom can seat up to 240 of your closest family and friends.  It's elegance and character will wow your guests as they await your arrival. They’ll be seated at round dinner tables placed through out the room.  After dinner, your guests can dance the night away on our 15’x24’ parquet dance floor. Create memories that will last a lifetime. Reserve our ballroom and experience the elegance firsthand at your wedding celebration. " ...

Orlando Gardens Banquet and Conference Centers is a great location to have both a ceremony and reception for weddings in St. Louis. Erin and Todd brought in their own lighted arbor as a point of focus.  A microphone is important in a large room and I was happy to see it.  Now every guest in the ballroom could hear me and maybe even the couple when they repeat the vows. The guests sat around their tables instead of having them take up room in rows.  Their parents were sitting in the closest tables and chairs to the lighted arbor.  Sometimes I have seen up to a dozen chairs placed up front with the remaining guests at their assigned tables as well.  This gives special attention to certain family members that are important to the bride and groom. Erin and Todd were a delight to work with.  They made the decision to keep the ceremony short, sweet and simple and let the reception be the focal point of the event.  The colors were simply black ...