40-50 person Wedding in North NJ (Paging Celia! :))

Good evening, have you looked at the vendor tab on here?When I was looking I found 2 places I wouldn't of thought of without checking the tab.Welcome to wedding wire and good luck.

Keep in mind Saturday nights might have a higher minimum. My venue has a 100 person minimum for Saturday nights. No other advice but to keep searching and to use the vendor tab.

If you are at a minimum wanting 15-20 minutes north of Princeton, you are not in central New Jersey... you are in North Jersey and should expect north NJ prices.

Central/southern NJ is a hell of a lot cheaper then the rest of the state.

The Manor is lovely we go there every year! We luckily found a venue in northern NJ that would compromise and meet out minimum of 75, took a little negotiating though.

Sorry, I'm still terrible at geography North NJ it is! I will update the title. But yes, we don't mind paying a 60-70 minimum if its a great venue that wouldn't look silly with 40-50 folks. So any suggestions are super appreciated. I'm having a bit of a panic right now!

We love the Grain House at the Olde Mill Inn. I highly recommend touring that venue. We've had baptism parties and Easter dinner there, and my parents go there for dinner every once in awhile. It's always been a great experience.

Natirar at 90 Acres and the James ward mansion.

Those were my two favorite.

OP, you may want to put "Paging Celia" in the title and bump this in the morning. She has an awesome list of venues in Northern NJ.

All I can speak to is "The Manor". It's a legend in Bergen County, and the first time I was there was when my FH made reservations for my birthday, back in 1979. I've been there countless times after that. It's an amazing venue.

Celia will likely give you some great info...perhaps tomorrow morning or tomorrow evening, after she's finished her Northern NJ/ NYC weddings tomorrow evening. I've been to The Manor, multiple times, over the past 30 years. In fact, we held my brother's RD there in July, 1984, on a Friday evening, and a wedding was going on in another room. The food is delicious, the ambiance is what every bride is looking for, and the service is top notch.

I believe she's off tonight, you might put paging celia in the title and catch her tonight.

Haha I love it, I've seen Celia all over the boards, so I'm excited to hear what she has to say. I'll updated

Celia for whenever you read this: Thank you in advance for your help for this desperate bride A list of NJ/even westchester area locations that would be awesome for 40-50 people would be amazing.

I got married at the Inn at Millrace Pond with 40 guests, and it was perfect!

I'm getting married on a Saturday night at the Appian Way in orange nj with 50 guests. It's right on the west orange border. My brother got married there last year and everything was great.

The Bethwood and the brownstone I know have smaller rooms and smaller minimums. I went to so many places and they even said that 100 people was considered a small wedding in their eyes. The majority of places in northern NJ want 125-150 minimum. We ended up bumping up our guest list to 150 because we had the people and we fell in love with our venue. We are getting married at the Wilshire Grand in West Orange

Not sure how north you are but what about stony hill inn or a little non traditional but an intimate venue is park west tavern loft in ridgewood... 90 acres is also gorgeous as well as the manor, best of luck!!

Good morning! This is my list of most of my faves, but I've also worked at all the places mentioned, and I'll make some notes about them.

Part of your issue is going to be your date; it's a Saturday in September, and having called a number of venues for one of my site-less couples, I can tell you it's going to be tough; if you can consider doing a day wedding, that might help. Off season helps too, and honestly, November can be just as nice as September; I did a beautiful wedding outdoors on Nov. 19th. I could have done our wedding last week outdoors too, though I don't know that I'd want to take the chance...

I love, love, love the Grainhouse, and one of my officiants is there a couple of times a month usually. They have a smaller room in the Grainhouse too; I think you could fit 40 there. Talk to Marien and tell her I sent ya, lol...

I'm a little picky about who I recommend, so this is a pretty curated list. I've been at the Stony Hill Inn, and the people there are really, really nice.

- Bibiz Lounge in Westwood Ask for Ida

- Fish Urban in Ridgewood (ask for Karen) This is an old bank; very funky and cute

- The Plum and The Pear (ask for Alex or George) They have a private room and a tiny garden; there is a rose garden about 10 minutes away for pix

-Flemings in Edgewater, (ask for Shannon)**** stunning steakhouse. Shannon rocks.

-St. Eve's in Hohokus

-Orama in Edgewater (ask for Stacey) Stunning views of the Hudson

-The Madison Hotel, in Morristown (talk to Tim)

-Chakra in Paramus Absolutely fantastic food

-The Ho Ho Kus Inn Cute and quaint

-Pig and Prince in Montclair stylish, great food

-McLoone's Boathouse in West Orange

-Solar Di Minho in Newark fab Portugese food with a private room and outside space

-The Manor, in West Orange (Ask for Patrick)

-The Grain House at the Old Mille Inn; you could stay here as well (ask for Lindsay Stewart or Marien) This might be one of my faves. Having a hotel there is a bonus too. The food is great, the people there rock

-Bottagra, in Hawthorne (Ask for Dan)

-The Brickhouse, in Wyckoff (Ask for Michael) They have three wine cellar rooms for smaller parties

-Mohawk House, in Sparta (Ask for Rachel) Another fave; great artisinal pizza, outside and inside spaces

-Pintxo Y Tapas in Englewood

-The Charthouse, in Weehawken (Also dog friendly) Views of the Hudson

-Ninety Acres at Natirar. Peapack/Gladstone (ask for Meghan) Amazing farm to table food, set in a park so beautiful photo opps

-Amandas, in Hoboken More like a city brownstone space

-Saddle River Inn, Saddle River Sundays only, the best food ever, on a river gorgeous

-Le Jardin, Edgewater

-Highlawn Pavilion (ask for Chris) Probably not on a Sat night in Sept, but I've done small weddings there. View of the NYC skyline, great staff

-Ramapo College Spiritual Center (Linda Kavan, Coordinator 201-684-7094)

-San Cubano in West New York

-Fitzgerald's 1928 in Glen Ridge

-The Charthouse in Weehawken

-The Stone House at Sterling Ridge They have a small room in the main venue

-Park West, Ridgewood

-Desperate Soles Brewery, Jersey City

-Gladstone Tavern, Gladstone, NJ

-Bella Fig in Hawthorne, NJ (talk to Franco)

-Barnyard and Carriage House in Totowa

-Pines Manor in Edison (ask for Camille)

-Cypress in Kinnelon Ask for Theo

Meadowburn Farm in Warwick (border of NJ)

Valley Crest Farms in Lebanon

You might also contact Emily's Cafe and Catering; they work in a number of great, unusual venues like the Montclair Museum of Art and the Mountain Lakes House in Princeton. An offbeat venue might be your best bet in your timeframe, even if you have to work with a caterer; Emily's is beautifully run, and they take care of everything. The Mountain Lakes House is just gorgeous but if you start to think in that vein, think about the Reeves Reed Arboretum, Freylingheusen (SP?) arboretum, the Fortnightly Club, the Englewood Women's Club and Kip Castle.

Good luck, and if you need an officiant, lol......

Many of these would be perfect for a rehearsal dinner too!

Celia, you are amazing. I'm going to start calling your list RIGHT NOW. You have really helped someone out in a way you can't possibly know. Thank you!

Thankfully I still have Olde Mill Inn & The Manor as backups, and I have 3 days to see if there's anything else with slightly lower minimums. (I currently have 60 at Olde Mill Inn, and 60 at the Manor, but I'm going to come slightly closer to 40-45 maybe 50 I think).

Thank you!

Keep us posted! Honestly, you can't go wrong at the Olde Mill. If you are in the Grainhouse, you'll have Amanda as your Maitre 'd, and she is just wonderful.

I can vouch for the Madison. The conservatory is gorgeous !!!!!! I actually went with a different venue because for some reason the conservatory felt a little small. And I wanted more outdoorsy. But ! It sounds perfect for what you're looking for and the menu and cake flavors sound so so good. We met with Tim and he was very nice and helpful. good luck !