New Orleans is undoubtedly one of the best cities to host your nuptials. In a city with so much music, culture, and vibrancy, your wedding day is sure to feel incredibly special when you tie the knot.
We put together a list of the top 10 favorite wedding venues in New Orleans, from ballrooms to outdoor oases and jazz halls. These venues will impress your families and friends alike while also serving as meaningful places to say, "I do."
The Balcony Ballroom can accommodate as many as 300 guests and is therefore one of the most practical places to hold a wedding in the city. It has extremely detailed crystal chandeliers, marble floors, high ceilings, and a pleasant balcony, which extends over the main area. For receptions, the venue provides high-end projectable lighting with more than 4.2 billion color options, a private bridal suite, a private photography mezzanine, and an on-site DJ. It prepares fully customised gourmet menus on location and will meet vegan, gluten-free, and other particular dietary requirements. Because of its wedding packages, the venue makes planning a wedding easy for both brides and grooms.
Marche is a historic and upscale wedding venue that offers both indoor and outdoor events and is situated in Dutch Alley, near the historic French Market in the French Quarter. The venue has restored Old World architecture, hand-applied Venetian plaster, antique gold mirrors, chandeliers, checkered tile, and provides scenic views of the Mississippi River and Dutch Alley. It can accommodate up to 300 guests when hosting reception-style events and up to 180 guests for seated dinners. The venue consists of the Main Room, the Terrace Room, a peach foyer, a bridal suite, three open-air balconies, and access to Dutch Alley. When it comes to nuptial dining, their in-house custom Creole Cuisine menus include authentic local dishes—for example, duck sausage gumbo)—as well as full bar packages and cake-cutting services. Guests who book the venue are also given a free two-hour photo session.
Chicory is a wedding venue located in the Warehouse District of New Orleans and has a fashionable, industrial look. It provides catering services of its own and features custom bar packages, which can be arranged for seated dinners, buffets, or cocktail-style arrangements, together with dietary options. The building has kept many of its original architectural features since it was first built in 1852 as a coffee warehouse; the name of the venue pays tribute to the New Orleans custom of mixing chicory with coffee. It has the capacity to accommodate between 300 and 400 guests. When booking the venue, the couple is given a dedicated wedding suite, event coordination, setup and teardown, tables, chairs, linens, china, glassware, and a dance floor is also available.
One of the most sought-after venues in New Orleans, City Park provides a diverse selection of both indoor and outdoor wedding ceremony and reception spaces across 1,300 historic acres. The park offers a picturesque setting for couples looking to tie the knot surrounded by some of the city's most recognizable scenery. Their indoor venues include: Pavilion of Two Sisters, the Arbor Room, the Parview Terrace, Filmore in the Oaks, and the Garden Study Center. Outdoor venues include Butler Memorial Fountain, McDonogh Oak, Peristyle, and the Rose Garden. The park operates a major in-house culinary team providing incredible dishes and custom menus.
Rosy's Jazz Hall adds a classic New Orleans charm to any wedding. The venue is beautiful and genuine, featuring exposed brick, hardwood floors, a two-story atrium, a French Quarter-style balcony, and an outdoor courtyard. Couples can exchange vows under the atrium's ficus trees or outside among gas lamps and greenery and then head inside for the reception. The venue provides in-house catering, with all-inclusive packages that include hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, tables, chairs, and linens.
The Audubon Tea Room, which is situated within the Audubon Zoo complex, offers both a traditional ballroom reception and a romantic outdoor garden setting. Its elegant indoor area has hardwood floors, high ceilings and silk drapes, and the Tea Room Garden serves as an outdoor alternative for ceremonies and cocktail hours. Dickie Brennan & Co. handles the catering, which makes the venue a very convenient choice for couples who would like to have both indoor and outdoor spaces in the same location.
If you are interested in celebrating your wedding in the centre of the French Quarter, then The Jaxson is an excellent option. The venue offers both indoor and outdoor areas with views of the Mississippi River. It is possible to have an outdoor ceremony for up to 250 guests on the private riverfront terrace. The number of guests that receptions can accommodate will depend on the arrangement of the space and will range from 100 to 500. Wedding packages can include custom menus, assistance with planning, tables, chairs, linens, lighting, security, and other essential details.
Il Mercato gives Magazine Street a European atmosphere through its beautiful and picturesque private courtyard, archways covered with ivy, an outdoor fireplace, and a large indoor reception area. The courtyard is especially suitable for ceremonies before the guests transfer to La Sala, the venue's main room that measures more than 3,000 square feet, for the reception. Weddings can hold up to 275 people at the ceremony, 400 at a cocktail reception, and 185 for seated dinners, while the catering is exclusively supplied by Joel Catering.
Instead of holding a traditional New Orleans ballroom wedding, Paradigm Gardens offers a more relaxed setting by locating the event in its extensive, fully outdoor garden in Central City. This urban garden can accommodate as many as 200 guests and is famous for its farm-to-table dining, wood-fired cooking, and custom menus. It must be mentioned, however, that couples should consider the New Orleans weather since the venue is completely outdoors and a deposit is needed in order to set up a tent as part of its rain plan.
If being indoors while having plenty of natural light is a priority for you in wedding planning, New Orleans Board of Trade might be the venue for you. The New Orleans Board of Trade was first set up in 1880 and now offers the historic architecture of New Orleans together with a recently renovated event space in the downtown area. Wedding couples are able to hold their ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception in separate areas by moving between the grand ballroom and the outdoor courtyards. This revamped venue includes Renaissance Revival features, as well as modern facilities, and Joel Catering is in charge of its food and beverage services.
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