It’s no surprise that being a New York-based Event Company, we tend to focus our attention to New York-based venues. While that makes total sense and in an ideal world, everyone reading this will be hosting their next function somewhere in midtown, that is not the reality.

As you have probably learned, securing a popular midtown venue is not the easiest task. Many venues have waiting lists and dates book up fast. You’re not the only one who wants to be centrally located and in-between Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station. On top of that, if you’re lucky to get your date and your venue, you better have the budget.

Simple economics tell us that supply and demand affect price and on our very efficient island, you must pay. If money is not an object and location is key and your date is flexible, feel free to stop ready.

We’re not writing this to sway you away from a Manhattan venue but rather cognizant of all the options out there – starting with the boroughs.

Have you been to Long Island City lately? That is in Queens. There are tons of venues there for a fraction of the price and less than a 10-minute ride from midtown. There is also Brooklyn; probably not as cheap but very convenient and hip.

The goal of this rant is to remind you that we have neighboring states; some of which many of you commute from every day. There are beautiful cities that are convenient to get to from midtown and we think you’ll be surprise as to how many of your guests are coming from that area!

Some locations that we would consider are Stamford, Connecticut, Jersey City, New Jersey and even Hoboken, New Jersey.

All these cities are convenient, near public transportation and within an hour commute.  Heck, even if your guests are coming from the city, it’s not a big deal. Uptown to downtown sometimes takes an hour!

There are fabulous venues at a fraction of the price. Be realistic with your budget and get what you want at the same time. And, as always, we’re here to discuss!