Planning a wedding - location search

Iziah · 5 October 2009 11:11

I am helping to organize a wedding for my brother in law, looking for a nice location. The date will be set in the beginning of December, depending on the place.

I am looking for an advice of a nice place to have a wedding of around 60 people:

- preferably in Geneva or Vaud

- close-by mountain resorts of Valais will be an option

- beautiful room with place for a band and a dance floor

- prefer to avoid hotels to be able to organize our own catering and drinks, but suggestions of spectacular hotels are more than welcome

Thanks in advance for your advice and perhaps also the advice on places to avoid

Cremme · 5 October 2009 11:19

Um, December this year?

Be aware this is extremely short notice for most places and being before Christmas won't help for weekend availability. Good luck!

Punja · 5 October 2009 11:34

We just had a great wedding in Chateaux De Chatelard in Clarens. Really spectacular setting and lovely day throughout. PM me if you want more details.

mike

johnstude_i · 5 October 2009 11:38

http://www.chillon.ch/fr/index-Tarifs-0-0.html looks great!

Dont know about availability, might be booked up for the next 10 years

usertra · 5 October 2009 11:43

there is no mention of budget but there seems to be an implied low-cost to this venture.

what about taking up space in the very early season of a ski resort? Rooms are usually cheaper up until the holiday season.

Iziah · 5 October 2009 12:19

I don't have exact budget figure, I guess 200 chf per person or about.

It's possible to find this in a hotel, but no drinks included and their menu is quite poor for this amount. I think that if we get just a nice room where we could bring our catering, drinks and music, we can get better more for the money.

A ski resort is a great idea, but do you know of a nice place? Lots of resort restaurants are not so neat, we are looking for a nice place still.

Iziah · 5 October 2009 12:26

THanks for the tip. I am hoping that there is less demand now, as people want to have nice summer weather.

Keeping fingers crossed...

Buzzer · 5 October 2009 12:27

Hotel du Parc. On top of vevey. Beautyful view over the lake and super location.

http://www.bsc-switzerland.ch/

They are a hotel school and do catering for weddings, plus al guests can sleep there.

Cheaper than normal hotels as the students do the service.

worth an appointment.

We got married there 2 yrs ago so not sure status now

Ciao

K

leophillalo · 5 October 2009 13:22

As MikeB said, we got married at the Chateau du Chatelard in Montreux recently, which was fantastic. It's a relatively small venue, we had just over 70 guests for the ceremony and meal with more guests in the evening. Accommodation is also provided. There was great flexibility in what they offered and what we wanted which allowed us to pick our own cake, band and photographer etc.

I know, as someone has already mentioned, that Chateau de Chillon is also available, but there are more restrictions imposed with getting married here.

Hotel Mirador ( http://www.mirador.ch ) on Mont Pelerin (above vevey) has just been refurbished and packages start at about 200 chf per person.

Wherever you do choose, be careful about bringing your own wines to places that already provide it... there is usually a corkage fee to pay.

Also, I think you will be surprised at how popular winter is to get married. Even though we got married at the end of Sept, by March earlier this year, when we were deciding dates, there was only one available Saturday in the space of about three months!

Good luck and pm me if you need more info.

Tola