As the community grows there currently is a shortage of wedding halls n the Lakewood area and newly engaged couples are finding it hard to find dates for the chasunah. The wait now is 5-6 Months out for most halls which is a serious issue as the general litvish community don't have long engagements. There are about 10 new halls expected to open within the next few years but it's not a fix for the current time.
People are booking halls outside Lakewood to make simchas
Several factors have contributed to the halls being booked up. Lakewood has become the prime destination to host weddings for the frum community due to affordability and location with many family members living there. Chasidim who have long engagement get to book wedding dates 9 months in advance and many are living in theakewood area.
As a result of the shortage the second half of sefira which was not typical to make weddings is now fully booked every night as rabbonim do not like long engagements for couples who get engaged after the freezer opens and can't find a wedding date until July or August.
B"H theses are challenges from bracha but still an issue that needs. Fixing.
- There is a apartment shortage as well now with couples desperate to find where to live.
Here's an idea, school halls should give priority booking to weddings that a graduate of the school is either the chosson or kalah. A better idea would be a takanah that a wedding can't be booked more than 3 months in advance. Just like theres takanah and cutoff dates for playgroups,high schools, mesivta, bmg registration.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea. This way, anyone who didn't go to that school will be without a place to get married instead of the person who did.
DeleteWhat problem did you fix???
That's a great idea, if you spent $100k on tuition for your child at a school, 10 years of elementary schooling plus insurance building fund and all other fees, is at least $100k, it would only be right to get priority booking for school's wedding hall.
DeleteIf everybody paid 10k tuitions ,then we would have more schools . The average yeshivishe girls school tuitions are lin the mid to upper 4k for elementary and low to mid 5k for high school . Even full tuition for these schools ,is maybe high 6k or low 7k. Nowhere near 10k.
DeleteWow. 10k .That's quite a bargain In North Jersey we pay over 22k
DeleteYou can't have it both ways. You all keep complaining every time they want to build a hall, then you complain that there are not enough halls.
ReplyDeleteI don’t hear people complaining both ways. Stop making things up.
DeleteWedding halls can be built in places that don't bother anyone or with suitable parking. The cheder hall parking is a disaster. People have to walk 10 minutes to the parking lots and not enough parking when there's 2 big weddings there should be shuttle buses and vallet parking
DeletePeople have no problem with simcha halls - as long as the school owners don't lie in order to get away without providing the necessary number of parking spots.
DeleteIf the owners were really interested in doing a chesed for the oilam they should provide enough space for parking. If they refuse to do that, then it's high time they start being required to build multi-floor parking garages. The rest of us shouldn't have to suffer every night of the year when they rent out their halls.
Perhaps this will be an impetus for the klal to go back to smaller, simpler weddings.
ReplyDeleteTell the out of Towners to make weddings in their respective cities unless one side lives in Lakewood
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is involved in the wedding business, I must say this is a little blown out of proportion...there is a wait time..but not so long, I know of a few halls that have openings at the beginning of August,which is a little more than 4 months away. not 5 or 6 months as stated.
ReplyDeleteThe good dates like Sundays and other dates are all booked up way past 6 months
DeleteIt seems that your not to involved
Out of towners and chassidim should not be allowed to book until 2.5 months before the chasuna. By then most Lakewood engagements will have already been booked.
ReplyDeleteOh really? You’re involved in the wedding business? Why do you charge so much?
ReplyDeletego to anywhere else in America...tell me if you find prices on the same level as Lakewood wedding prices...you won't find!
DeleteBut I thought all the school wedding halls,are terrible. They cause traffic. Bottom line is that our lifestyle of bli ayin Hora large families and thousands of weddings just makes for lots of traffic at certain hours . Just like in Boro Park near the wedding halls it's super traffic jams. There isnot enough affordable land in Lakewood to make halls with 500 parking spaces and still make affordable weddings. You can't have it both ways.
ReplyDeleteNo comparison, when bais faiga was built there was a deal with the neighbors to finish at 11 and there was limited traffic cuz ppl walked.
DeleteA wedding hall has to be in the right arra like industrial park or where everyone can walk like in BP Williamsburg and Yerushalayim.
Lakewood could have done so in Cedarbridge Corp Park but greed and money saw other plans
No one lives on that part of Oak Street. No one lives on Vasser. No one lives in Summer Ave.
DeleteYou haven't explained why the simcha hall owners don't build parking garages either above or below ground level. That would solve a lot of the parking crisis they create.
DeleteAnon 340pm you're right no one lives directly near those halls but they live around the corner maybe not from the cheder halls and the overflow and traffic coming and going isn't appreciated.
ReplyDeleteIf wedding halls were not part of schools, them the price If weddings woukd be double . Then everybody woukd talk about the wedding price crisis .
ReplyDeleteChasdei lev hall just opened in brooklyn and will definitely offer some relief , yes the lakewood halls are the cheapest , yes we need to make it easier to build , if you want cheap copy brooklyn where it's not its own building rather lower level
ReplyDeleteIn north Jersey you have two kids so 22k tuition is not bad. In Lakewood that would add up to well over a million dollars for a few kids.
ReplyDeleteIn North Jersey, they learn some math. They know that if two kids cost $22k, then ten kids would cost $110k, nowhere near a million dollars.
DeleteTwo kids? I'm telling you about a fact regarding tuition and your answer is a speculation, not a fact. A wrong one at that. You know not of what you speak. Di kenst gorisht oif vast di rets, just in case you think the North Jersey people with two kids don't speak yiddish
Deletei booked my son's aufruf 2 months ago at the closest shul (where I do not daven) so that the grandparents would not have far to walk. it's now 6 weeks before the aufruf and a member of the shul's son just got engaged snagged a cancellation and his aufuruf is now scheduled for the shabbos I had booked. As a member and regular mispallel the shul took the stand that he has precedence and cancelled my booking. I am now scrounging to find a shul. So to the suggestion to give precedence to talmidim/talmidos fine if you are talking about two parties wanting to book around the same time but is it right if someone booked two months ago????
ReplyDeleteThis is not acceptable. Go to a Rav.
DeleteRishus dressed as yashrus
DeleteBell Works has a few openings left this summer
ReplyDeleteEven using a cheap caterer in bell works is still double a Lakewood wedding.
DeleteDid you call Bell works ? They recommend you a choice of 3 caterers. I think they each provide a decent price for what they offer.
DeleteMost local people who are just friends but not close friends or family just come to say Mazel Tov, go for a quick tentzil with a Mechuton and leave. The don’t eat.
ReplyDeleteThat creates just a parking problem not a issue of a big wedding.
Thus. You can turn the wedding meal into a buffet style meal where people serve themselves which would make the wedding cheaper ( less food and less labor). Then the halls outside Lakewood would be cheaper and a bit more affordable. Also one can think about using a smaller hall such as hall which are used just for Brissim, Bar Mizvahs and Shevah Brachos.
You can also go to the European style weddings where the Chupah is in the afternoon for family and very close friends then coms a meal for the same people and then everyone comes in evening to Simcha’s chassan vekalah.
We have a similar Simcha’s choson vekallah today as well but it is a bit late for most people especially young mothers.
The best eitzah is to have much smaller weddings and other simchos. As my eighth grade rebbe put it so well "Don't have a big bar mitzvah because all the people who WANT to be there can fit into your parents living room and dining room anyway" And that was back in the 80s when people had smaller expended families and less simchos to go to, very few people made vorts and l'chaims for engagements etc.
ReplyDeleteBut people make a big splash to show off to others how all the whos have to come running for their events
DeleteOne quick fix would be having smaller halls. Many ppl don't have enough ppl to fill up these huge halls. The chupa room is more then enough big
ReplyDeleteThere is no apartment shortage anymore. Masa Umatan has 10 pages of rentals
ReplyDeleteIf that’s true did rent go down or is it still $2000+ for a 3 bedroom apartment?
ReplyDeleteDuring Covid there were no lack of halls due to backyard weddings. If you’re really desperate and can’t wait and don’t want to book a cheap hall that has more availability, then set up a tent in your backyard and make a lavish wedding to your taste. Also, maybe it’s bashert that in our day and age Chosson and Kallah can use more time to get ready. Mazel Tov!
ReplyDeleteDuring Covid there were backyard weddings. If you’re really desperate and can’t wait, set up a tent in your backyard and make as lavish a wedding as you wish. Maybe it’s Hashgacha that the Chosson and Kallah need more time to prepare for their future lives together. Mazel Tov!
ReplyDelete