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Issue 03: Summer Update, Summer in New Orleans and at CastleDay

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:47:24 GMT

ISSUE 03

WHAT'S HOT IN NEW ORLEANS.

Whoever told you summers are slow in New Orleans needs only to read this article. The heat can be oppressive but imagine you have a refreshing pool to dip into. Or two freezers to hold those bulk bags of frozen daiquiris. We've compiled a short but sweet guide of how to make the most of your summertime stay at CastleDay.

Summer is here!

Summers here are hot! We won't pretend its not. However, we fight against the notion that New Orleans Summers are "Slow" There are actually so many fun and incredible moments that can be had in New Orleans all summer long!! Whether you embrace the heat, or can't stand it, we have designed CastleDay to be an incredible place to enjoy a perfect, albeit sweltering New Orleans' summer vacation.

BEAT THE HEAT

With a claim like "Summers in New Orleans aren't slow" we need to back it up with cold hard proof (sounds kind of refreshing in this heat, huh?). Luckily, we are locals and know exactly where to find that New Orleans magic in the summer.

We've compiled a short list here for you to reference!

Music

Livewire

WWOZ's running calendar of who's playing where, every night. The list locals actually use.

Free Tips

Tipitina's free Friday shows. No cover, real bands, all summer long.

Balcony concerts at the Jazz Museum

Tuesdays at five on the balcony of the old Mint. Bring a chair, they don't provide them.

Frenchmen Street

Three blocks, a dozen rooms, something going on every single night.

Festivals

Essence Festival of Culture (July 3 to 5)

The nation's largest annual African-American event, with more than fifty acts a night across five stages at the Superdome.

Experience New Orleans

Tales of the Cocktail (July 19 to 24)

The international bar and spirits world descends on the Ritz-Carlton for six days of tastings, seminars, and special events.

French Quarter

Satchmo SummerFest (Aug 1 to 2)

A free festival honoring Louis Armstrong with live music, second lines, and food throughout the Quarter.

New Orleans

Red Dress Run (Aug 8)

A sea of red takes over downtown for a run, a walk, and a great deal of beer, all for charity.

New Orleans

Southern Decadence (Sept 3 to 7)

The last big hurrah of the season over Labor Day weekend, with parties, parades, and costumes in the French Quarter. New Orleans

Full summer festival calendar lives here .

Things around the city

Snoballs at Hansen's Sno-Bliz

The original, and worth standing in line for.

Crescent Park

River breeze and a skyline view, a short walk from the house. Now connecting all the way to the French Quarter for those wanting a nice and safe walk. Part of the wharf closes at 7:30pm, where you will have to take the bridge.

NOMA and the Besthoff Sculpture Garden

The National WWII Museum

A full day of air conditioning, very well spent.

A river cruise on the Steamboat Natchez

In August, the only dependable breeze is on the water.

More ways to beat the heat here.

Summer 20 26:

The Cold Plunge

We love summer at Castleday. It’s when New Orleans is at its most authentic self: the long days, the humidity, and the classic afternoon thunderstorms.

We find that our summer guests end up spending the most time on the property, which is exactly how it was designed to be used. While we love the energy of spring, summer gives you the time to really settle in and enjoy the amenities like hanging by the pool, using the outdoor showers, and watching TV under the fans.

The city also slows down. If you're coming with a large group, summer is the time to visit.

You can actually get a reservation for 12+ people at the best restaurants without a hassle.

We are also really excited to be adding a major wellness upgrade: Cold Plunges ! Arriving this summer and available for rent during your stay, they offer the ultimate remedy to the New Orleans heat.

The CastleDay Shop

Have you visited our Castleday Shop yet?

We’ve launched an online concept store featuring a selection of our own designs—including prints of the artwork found in our spaces and some fun apparel. While we are starting with the essentials, we will be adding more of our favorite things to the collection over time.

LOOKING

AHEAD

is nearly completely booked but for those flexible enough, consider enjoying a few days in paradise for a fraction of the price by booking during the week.

The Insider Move:

Weekends book fast, but mid-week stays still have solid availability and better pricing. If your group has flexibility, Tuesday through Thursday is how you get the full experience without the full price.

Direct booking

A quick reminder that you will always get the lowest rate by booking directly with us—guests often save $500+ per stay by booking directly with us.

Suggestions & Feedback

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any suggestions, feedback, or questions. We love hearing from you and are always looking for ways to make CastleDay even better.

Best,

How E.T. Deaux Threw the Adult Swimming III Listening Party

Tue, 26 May 2026 22:38:58 GMT

How E.T. Deaux Threw the Adult Swimming III Listening Party

Inside the 80-person golf-themed night at The Cocodrie

For the release, E.T. wanted an invite-only listening party for friends and collaborators, golf-themed end to end, and big enough to feel like an event without losing the intimacy.

He booked The Cocodrie at CastleDay. The artist and a small group of close friends stayed at the villa overnight; the rest of the guests went home after the show. The villa hosted everything: the listening, the food, the bar, the activities, and a slow recovery brunch the next morning.

Step 1: A villa as the venue

The Cocodrie's huge living room ended up being the heart of the night. E.T. did the full album showing there: video on, audience seated and standing throughout the space. The room fit so many people, and the sound carried beautifully. Room for everyone, yet very intimate. Exactly what you want for a listening party.

Booking a villa instead of a traditional music venue meant E.T. controlled the entire experience: the lighting, the merch placement, the bar setup, the flow between rooms, even what people did in the off-moments. It never once felt like a generic event space.

He also provided guests with the experience of staying at CastleDay which was part of the appeal. For a night, guests could unwind and interact with the music in a leisurely way, which is the whole ethos of E.T.'s Adult Swimming series: luxury leisure for all.

Step 3: Friend vendors handled the rest

E.T. staffed the event with friends as vendors:

Catering: brisket from Oh Boy Po'Boys, a friend's New Orleans po'boy shop. Comfort food that fed 80 people without anyone hovering over a plated dinner timeline.
Bar: Adriana, friend and bartender. Custom drinks made for the night, themed to the album.
Merch table: run in-house. Album-related items for guests to buy on the spot.

A traditional music venue would not have allowed this level of customization without significant markups or vendor restrictions. Booking the villa let everyone bring their own people in.

Editor's note: Last July, rapper E.T. Deaux released Adult Swimming III, the third album in his summer sports series (swimming, tennis, and now golf). The invite-only listening party for around 80 people happened at The Cocodrie at CastleDay.

The weekend at a glance

Step 2: Lean into the album's theme

Adult Swimming III was the golf entry in E.T.'s summer sports series, so the whole event leaned into golf theming. A golf cart was brought in. Golf games were set up for guests to play between the listening and the hangouts. Album-themed merch was on display and for sale all evening.

The theming did real work. It gave guests something to do besides stand around with a drink, and it built a physical world around the album: the merch table, the golf cart, the games. People came for the music and stayed for the world around it.

Step 4: Build in a recovery day

E.T. booked The Cocodrie for two, not one. Set up the day before, take some exploratory pictures, then, the listening party. The next day was a recovery day for the artist and the small overnight crew. Slow brunch, coffee, recap of the night, gradual cleanup.

The big benefit was that nobody had to clean up the party at 2 AM. The villa absorbed everything overnight, and the next-day they handled the cleanup on a normal human timeline. For any event of this scale, the recovery day is nice to have. It's what keeps the artist from arriving at the next thing on no sleep, and it makes the close-friend overnight feel like its own intimate chapter of the weekend.

How E.T. Deaux Threw the Adult Swimming III Listening Party

Inside the 80-person golf-themed night at The Cocodrie

For the release, E.T. wanted an invite-only listening party for friends and collaborators, golf-themed end to end, and big enough to feel like an event without losing the intimacy.

The weekend at a glance

Step 1: A villa as the venue

Step 2: Lean into the album's theme

Step 3: Friend vendors handled the rest

E.T. staffed the event with friends as vendors:

Catering: brisket from Oh Boy Po'Boys, a friend's New Orleans po'boy shop. Comfort food that fed 80 people without anyone hovering over a plated dinner timeline.

Bar: Adriana, friend and bartender. Custom drinks made for the night, themed to the album.

Merch table : run in-house. Album-related items for guests to buy on the spot.

A traditional music venue would not have allowed this level of customization without significant markups or vendor restrictions.

Booking the villa let everyone bring their own people in.

Step 4: Build in a recovery day

Why this setup worked

The villa as the venue.

No event-space rental, no constraints on theming or sound. The living room handled 80 people for a full album showing with great audio.

Friend vendors all around.

Brisket caterer, Adriana on the bar, in-house merch. Personal, customizable, no third-party markups.

A built-in recovery day.

Booking two nights meant E.T. and the core team could decompress without same-night cleanup.

Creative Themed Activations.

Cart, games, merch. Guests had something to do between the music moments.

Privacy for an invite-only night.

A villa keeps the wrong people out and the right people in. For a private listening party, that's the whole point.

If you take one thing from this

If you're an artist, label, or creative team planning an album release, listening party, or private launch event, a villa with a living room big enough to show a full album is a better venue than most traditional event spaces. You control the theming, the flow, the vendors, and the morning after.

_______________

If you're planning a release event, the CastleDay team is happy to walk you through which villa fits your guest count and event format.

A Triple Birthday Weekend

Tue, 26 May 2026 20:47:52 GMT

A Triple Birthday at The Herald

How 20 friends used one CastleDay villa for three milestone birthdays

Three of us had milestone birthdays in the same stretch of April. Two of us turning 28 and me turning 34. We wanted to do it together rather than three separate parties, so we booked The Herald at CastleDay for the weekend and brought 20 of our closest friends in with us.

Here's how we used the space, and what we'd steal again next time.

The weekend at a glance

Step 2:

Cook everything yourselves

We cooked every meal of the weekend ourselves and it was honestly the easiest part of the whole thing. The Herald's kitchen has two of every major appliance, plus enough counter space that multiple people could be cooking at once without getting in each other's way. Breakfasts, lunches, dinners, all home-cooked, all doable.

Mornings were the best of it. Someone was on eggs, someone laid out a fruit spread, someone made coffee. By the time the late risers came down, there was a full breakfast already going. Every meal of the weekend ran like that. Total group effort.

We saved a lot of money skipping restaurants for 20 people, and the cooking became part of the hang. People helped, people grazed, people stayed at the kitchen island catching up.

Step 4:

Small touches that made it feel like a birthday

A weekend trip can blur into "just a group hangout" if you don't build in moments that actually mark the birthdays. We did a few small things that did the work:

Friends who decorated the whole place. A few of our friends took it upon themselves to decorate the entire villa for the weekend. Walking into a fully decked-out house set the tone for everything that came after.
Matching shirts. We made matching shirts for the whole group so the trip felt themed and the photos had a through-line.
A jewelry gift moment. Our friend Lizzie brought her jewelry case over and let each of the three birthday celebrants pick a piece from it. Three of us, three pieces, very meaningful, zero pressure to shop in advance.

Use the Yard! The Herald has a pool and a basketball setup, so afternoons were spent just playing around in our private resort-like yard just outside!

Editor's note: Liz, Karen, and Jesse celebrated their milestone birthdays together at CastleDay in April 2025. Two of them turning 28, one turning 34. We asked Liz to walk us through how the weekend came together, including the activities, the small touches, and the one big party-bus night that everyone is still talking about. What follows is her account, in her words.

Step 1:

One villa for the whole friend group

We booked The Herald for the whole group. Twenty of us in one villa for the weekend. The point of a milestone birthday trip is being together, and renting one villa meant nobody had to split off into separate Airbnbs or coordinate breakfast across town. We were all in the same house, the same kitchen, the same pool, the whole weekend.

For a group this size, one villa is the move. The Herald has enough beds, enough common space, and enough outdoor area that 20 people coexist without it ever feeling crowded.

Step 3:

A party bus to the monster truck rally

The headline night of the trip was a party bus to a monster truck rally. We booked through We Live Bus Charters. They picked us up at the villa, ran us to the show, and got us home safely after. It was the highlight of the weekend, and probably the unexpected fan favorite.

Including a monster truck rally as your birthday activity is the kind of thing that sounds chaotic on paper and ends up being unforgettable on the night. Same with the party bus. Instead of coordinating who's driving and parking and being responsible, you all pile in together, you all get there together, you all get home together.

The Best Part

Honestly, the in-between time at The Herald was as good as the planned events. One morning we did a group yoga session on the patio. Afternoons were pool, basketball, and music straight from the TVs in the courtyard. We didn't even need to bring speakers. Evenings rolled into cooking, eating, and hanging in the living room before heading out (or staying in).

When you've got 20 friends in one house for three nights, the house itself does most of the work. You don't need to overprogram the weekend.

A Triple Birthday at The Herald

How 20 friends used one CastleDay villa for three milestone birthdays

Here's how we used the space, and what we'd steal again next time.

The weekend at a glance

Step 1:

One villa for the whole friend group

For a group this size, one villa is the move. The Herald has enough beds, enough common space, and enough outdoor area that 20 people coexist without it ever feeling crowded.

Step 2:

Cook everything yourselves

We saved a lot of money skipping restaurants for 20 people, and the cooking became part of the hang. People helped, people grazed, people stayed at the kitchen island catching up.

Step 3:

A party bus to the

monster truck rally

Step 4:

Small touches that made it feel like a birthday

A weekend trip can blur into "just a group hangout" if you don't build in moments that actually mark the birthdays.

We did a few small things that did the work:

Friends who decorated the whole place.

A few of our friends took it upon themselves to decorate the entire villa for the weekend. Walking into a fully decked-out house set the tone for everything that came after.

Matching shirts.

We got matching shirts for the birthday girls which were so fun to show off.

A jewelry gift moment.

Our friend Lizzie brought her jewelry case over and let each of the three birthday celebrants pick a piece from it. Three of us, three pieces, very meaningful, zero pressure to shop in advance.

Use The Yard

The Herald has a pool and a basketball setup, so afternoons were spent just playing around in our private resort-like yard just outside!

The Best Part

When you've got 20 friends in one house for three nights, the house itself does most of the work. You don't need to overprogram the weekend.

Why this setup worked

 Twenty friends in one villa.

Nobody was scattered. Everyone was around all the time.

A real kitchen for a real group.

Two of every appliance meant multiple people could cook at once. Big breakfasts, group dinners, kitchen-island hangs.

Built-in activities.

Pool, floaties, basketball. We didn't have to leave the property to make the day full.

The party bus night.

One signature off-property event gave the trip a peak moment without us having to deal with transportation, parking, or designated drivers.

If you take one thing from this

If you're trying to celebrate a milestone birthday, whether yours or a friend's, combine it with two other people's birthdays, rent one villa, bring 20 of your closest people, and add one big group activity. The math is simple, the memories are not .

_______________

If you're planning a milestone birthday weekend, the CastleDay team is happy to walk you through availability and recommend the best villa for your group size.

Our Wedding Weekend Playbook: How my family used one CastleDay villa as our wedding home base

Tue, 12 May 2026 21:42:20 GMT

Our Wedding

Weekend Playbook

How my family used one CastleDay villa as our wedding home base

We had our wedding weekend from Thursday, April 9 through Sunday, April 12, 2026. Our ceremony and reception were held at Promise of Justice Initiative's Promise Garden, a five-minute drive from CastleDay. But CastleDay is where my dad's side of the family slept, where we had a family dinner the night before the wedding, where the family got ready on the day of, and where we hosted a poolside farewell brunch for 150 people the morning after. We rented The Florentine, one of three villas on the property. Ideally we would have rented all three, to host both sides of our family and our friends, but the other houses were already booked. The weekend ended up being a milestone for my family, and definitely a once in a lifetime affair!

The weekend at a glance

Step 2: Let the family cook

The first big event of the weekend was a family dinner on Thursday night, hosted at The Florentine. About 34 people came: the 14 of us staying there, plus around 20 more from my dad's side who drove over for the night.

We cooked everything ourselves. As a Puerto Rican family, this is just how we operate. The kitchen at The Florentine has two of every major appliance, which mattered a lot when a whole family wanted to pitch in at the same time. Everyone had a spot to help cook, and everyone had a spot to eat.

We ate everywhere. My aunts and uncles set up in the covered outdoor space. The younger cousins migrated to the hightop tables by the pool. My abuela soaked up the sun on the patio loungers. It wasn't formal at all, but the space could have easily been arranged for a formal setting if we had wanted that.

The only outside vendor we used for food all weekend was Gerald's Donuts, for the family's biggest weakness.. DONUTS! They showed up again on the brunch buffet two days later. Worth it both times.

Steal this idea: if your family loves to cook, the villa kitchen is set up for it. Two of every appliance means nobody is fighting for the oven. If your family doesn't cook, pre-order groceries or hire a private chef so everyone can enjoy each other instead of getting stuck on tasks.

Step 4:

A 150-person poolside farewell brunch

The day after the wedding, we hosted the entire wedding party at The Florentine for a poolside farewell brunch. We had 150 people on the property: everyone who came to the wedding, plus a few family friends who wanted to hang one more day.

Here's how we ran it:

For the food, my aunts and cousins put together the entire buffet themselves, on the outdoor grill. Fruit, cheeses, donuts (Gerald's again), bagels, bread, orange juice, coffee, and more. We did not hire a caterer.

For music, we ran our own playlist through one speaker. It was plenty loud for 150 people across the property.

For the bar, we used the kitchen as a self-service setup. Guests helped themselves.

We did not rent any furniture. The villa's existing tables, chairs, loungers, and patio seating handled 150 people, and everyone had a comfortable spot to sit, drink coffee, and catch up.

We didn't need portapotties or any extra anything. Even with 150 people on the property, the villa's bathrooms were more than enough. The biggest surprise of the day was how much space we still had with that many people around.

Steal this idea: the morning-after brunch is when the actual reunion happens. After the wedding-day adrenaline, this is when guests linger and catch up. And if your venue can handle the headcount without rentals or portapotties, the whole thing becomes simple to throw.

Editor's note: Karen and Danny rented The Florentine at CastleDay for their New Orleans wedding weekend in April 2026. We asked Karen to walk us through how they used the property: the events, the vendors, and the small decisions that ended up mattering. What follows is her account, in her words.

Step 1: One villa as the family-reunion base

We booked The Florentine specifically for my dad's side of the family. As a big Puerto Rican family, we hadn't all been together like this in years, and the wedding became the excuse to fix that. Fourteen of us stayed there: my dad and his wife, my abuela, my tíos and titis, and a handful of cousins.

Putting all 14 in one villa instead of scattering them across hotel rooms turned the weekend into a reunion that happened to include a wedding. Everyone walked into the same kitchen in the morning. Everyone hung out in the same living rooms at night. My abuela was never far from the cousins she only sees on big occasions.

Steal this idea: if your extended family hasn't all been together in years, your wedding is the excuse. Housing one side under one roof for a few days turns the wedding from a single day into a milestone weekend.

Step 3:
The villa as a getting-ready compound

On the wedding day, The Florentine turned into a getting-ready space for the whole family. We had music blasting from the large TVs in the common areas, and the whole family got ready together. The villa has plenty of beautiful spots for getting-ready photos, and Promise Garden was only a five-minute drive away.

There was plenty of room for a full glam team to work on multiple people at once. My family opted to skip pro hair and makeup, but the space is built for it if you want a team.

Steal this idea: skip the hotel suite for getting ready. The villa has the music setup, the photo backdrops, and the room to host a full glam team without the travel between locations.

Don’t overlook the time in between

Some of the best moments of the weekend weren't on the schedule. The kids were in the pool by 9am most mornings. Coffee was always going somewhere in the house. Afternoons between events meant naps, swims, and wandering between the villa's indoor and outdoor spaces.

We didn't organize a formal out-of-town guest activity. The cousins took the lead on their own. They hit the Bywater bars for live music (BJ's was the favorite), and of course strolled Bourbon Street like everyone does. It was unstructured, which fit the family-reunion vibe of the weekend.

The other underrated moment: late nights after the wedding, my cousins came home from the reception and recapped the whole night in the living room for hours, without bothering my grandma or my tías and tíos already asleep. The villa has enough separation between spaces that the night-owl crowd and the early-to-bed crowd shared the same house without conflict.

One personal note. Danny and I chose to book a hotel near the wedding venue for our wedding night, for extra privacy. That was a fine call, no regrets. But as soon as we woke up the next morning, we drove back to CastleDay to be with everyone. Being under one roof is what made the weekend a milestone instead of just a series of events.

Our Wedding

Weekend Playbook

How my family used one CastleDay villa as our wedding home base

The weekend at a glance

Step 1: One villa as the family-reunion base

Steal this idea: if your extended family hasn't all been together in years, your wedding is the excuse. Housing one side under one roof for a few days turns the wedding from a single day into a milestone weekend.

Step 2: Let the family cook

The first big event of the weekend was a family dinner on Thursday night, hosted at The Florentine. About 20 people came: the 14 of us staying there, plus a few more from my dad's side who drove over for the night.

The only outside vendor we used for food all weekend was Gerald's Donuts, for the family's biggest weakness.. DONUTS! They showed up again on the brunch buffet two days later. Worth it both times.

Steal this idea: if your family loves to cook, the villa kitchen is set up for it. Two of every appliance means nobody is fighting for the oven. If your family doesn't cook, pre-order groceries or hire a private chef so everyone can enjoy each other instead of getting stuck on tasks.

Step 3: The villa as a getting-ready compound

There was plenty of room for a full glam team to work on multiple people at once. My family opted to skip pro hair and makeup, but the space is built for it if you want a team.

Steal this idea: skip the hotel suite for getting ready. The villa has the music setup, the photo backdrops, and the room to host a full glam team without the travel between locations.

Step 4: A 150-person poolside farewell brunch

Here's how we ran it:

For music, we ran our own playlist through one speaker. It was plenty loud for 150 people across the property.

For the bar, we used the kitchen as a self-service setup. Guests helped themselves.

We did not rent any furniture. The villa's existing tables, chairs, loungers, and patio seating handled 150 people, and everyone had a comfortable spot to sit, drink coffee, and catch up.

Steal this idea: the morning-after brunch is when the actual reunion happens. After the wedding-day adrenaline, this is when guests linger and catch up. And if your venue can handle the headcount without rentals or portapotties, the whole thing becomes simple to throw.

Our favorite moments

Some of the best moments of the weekend weren't on the schedule. Impromptu salsa sessions. Coffee was always going somewhere in the house. Afternoons between events meant naps, swims, and wandering between the villa's indoor and outdoor spaces.

Why this setup worked

Privacy and a real home base. No strangers in shared hallways, no shared lobbies, no noise complaints. Just our family, in our own space, for the long weekend.
Multi-generational coexistence. A villa big enough that the late-night cousins and the early-rising grandparents shared it without getting in each other's way.
Capacity that doesn't feel like capacity. 14 family members for three nights with bedrooms to spare. 150 people for brunch and I was still shocked by how much space we had.
Everything within five minutes. Promise Garden was a five-minute drive. Bywater and Bourbon Street, an easy ride. No logistical headaches.
No event venue needed for the family events. The Thursday family dinner and the Sunday brunch both happened on the property. The villa's existing furniture, kitchen, bathrooms, and outdoor spaces handled everything. We didn't rent a single table, chair, or portapotty.
DIY without losing your mind. We planned the whole weekend ourselves. The CastleDay team made it easy to connect with the vendors we needed, which kept the planning manageable.

If you take one thing from this

The thing that made our weekend feel like more than a wedding was having my people under one roof.

Even though our ceremony and reception were elsewhere, treating The Florentine as the headquarters meant the celebration didn't start and stop with the wedding day itself. My family arrived Thursday and didn't really leave until Sunday afternoon. That's three full days of being together for a side of the family that almost never is.

I would not hesitate to book CastleDay again. Ideally we would have booked all three villas to fit both sides of the family and our friends. Even with just one villa, it was a milestone.

_______________

If you're thinking about a wedding weekend like ours, the CastleDay team is happy to walk you through availability and answer specific questions about hosting events at any of the three villas.

Our Wedding Weekend Playbook: How We Used All Three CastleDay Villas

Tue, 12 May 2026 20:21:07 GMT

Our Wedding

Weekend Playbook

How we used all three CastleDay villas — from a 45-person family dinner to a 150-person pool party.

We had our wedding weekend from Wednesday, September 17 through Sunday, September 21, 2025. The ceremony and reception themselves were held elsewhere in the city on Friday the 19th, but CastleDay was our base of operations for the rest of it — where everyone slept, where our families had dinner the night before the wedding, where we threw a pool party the day after, and where most of the in-between hours unfolded. We rented all three villas (The Herald, The Cocodrie, and The Florentine) for the long weekend. It ended up being one of the most fun stretches of our lives, and our guests are still talking about it.

The weekend at a glance

Step 2:

Let the families have their own night

A number of relatives on both sides flew in a day or two before the wedding. Once my mom realized how many people would be in town early, she decided to organize a Thursday night family dinner. My family (her included) was staying at The Cocodrie, so it really felt like she was hosting everyone at her place — Gigi’s family walked over from The Herald, where they were staying. She planned it a few weeks ahead, hired a private chef, and that was essentially the whole production: no rented tables, no rented chairs, no real decor. About 45 family members came.

Like all three villas, The Cocodrie’s indoor dining area opens directly onto a covered outdoor patio through full sliders, so she opened them up and let the dinner spread across both spaces. The villa’s existing dining tables seated everyone comfortably.

Gigi and I stopped by to say hello to both families, but we ducked out fairly early to meet our college friends at Parleaux, an outdoor brewery a few minutes away. That evening ended up being one of our favorites of the entire weekend — just the two of us with the people we don’t see often enough.

None of that would have worked in a hotel-block-plus-restaurant arrangement. Either our families would have been waiting on us to play host, or we’d have felt obligated to stay. Because the dinner was at the villa and on our families’ terms, our parents got to host their own night, the cousins got to catch up properly, and we got to slip away without being rude about it.

This is one of the underrated benefits of renting all three villas: more than one thing can happen at once. Families can host themselves. You can peel off. Nobody is waiting on the bride and groom to make an entrance.

Step 3: A 150-person Pool Party

Saturday afternoon, from two to six, we threw a pool party at The Florentine. There were about 150 people on property — our 65 overnight guests, plus friends and family staying at hotels nearby, plus locals joining for the day. Because the three villas sit next to each other and Ubers drop right at the gate, the logistics were close to nothing: no shuttle coordination, no hotel block to wrangle.

The formal event wrapped at six and the vendors broke down, but a contingent of guests stayed on, and the party rolled organically into informal hangouts across all three villas.

Here’s how we ran it. For setup, we rented a few circular tables and chairs from the local True Value and bought a couple of 10×10 tents from Walmart — the whole thing worked surprisingly well. A reasonable reminder that you don’t need a full event-rental package to host 150 people.

Step 4: Stack the day

Gigi’s family organized a swamp tour for the out-of-town guests on Saturday morning, before the pool party. On paper that should have been logistically tight — a swamp tour ending around one, a pool party starting at two. But the tour dropped people back at their own villa, which is of course next door to The Florentine, so guests could walk inside, change, and stroll over to the pool party with time to spare.

That ease is the underrated thing about hosting events on-site. When the day’s next event is a hundred feet away, you can program more into a single day without anyone feeling rushed. A swamp tour and a pool party on the same Saturday is unthinkable if your base is a hotel downtown. From CastleDay, it’s just two things in a row.

If you have out-of-town guests, organizing one local activity (swamp tour, food tour, cemetery tour — the specifics matter less than you’d think) is worth the small effort.

Editor’s note: Sam and Gigi rented all three CastleDay villas for their New Orleans wedding weekend in September 2025. We asked Sam to walk us through how they used the property — the events, the vendors, the small decisions that ended up mattering. What follows is his account, in his words.

Step 1:

One villa per side of the family

The single best logistical decision we made was giving each side of the family its own villa. Mine in one, Gigi’s in another, our friends and overflow in the third.

The practical reason is capacity: one villa simply isn’t enough to house both families comfortably. Spreading across three solves that, and once you do, you find it also solves a lot of softer problems you didn’t know you had. Each side has its own kitchen, its own living room, its own pool. When the families wanted to be together, they walked next door. When they didn’t, they had somewhere to go. If there’s a single argument for renting all three villas at once, this is probably it.

Food: Three small vendors instead of one large caterer. Southerns, a popular local food truck known for its award-winning fried chicken, served fried chicken sandwiches and hamburgers. Mr. Snowball Catering set up a tent outside with a full snowball cart. And because it was really hot, we had someone inside cutting fresh fruit for guests all afternoon. People grazed across all three. No seated meal, no buffet line, no formal service moment to schedule around.

Bar: One full open bar — beer, wine, cocktails — staffed by Movers and Shakers, a local woman-owned mobile bartending company that handles a lot of New Orleans weddings.

Music: We ran our own playlist through two large Bluetooth speakers linked together — plenty loud for 150 people. Then, halfway through, Big Fun Brass Band marched in and played a one-hour set. It became the moment of the day. When they finished, the playlist picked back up as if nothing had happened.

Activities: Cornhole on the lawn, plus two cold plunge tubs we bought just for the party. The cold plunges were the sleeper hit of the weekend — guests kept circling back to them all afternoon.

Decor: Pool floats and a few props. No florals. The Florentine’s own design carries most of the weight.

Restrooms: We rented portapotties as a precaution. A few guys used them, but they were barely touched — the villa’s bathrooms handled 150 people without issue.

Cost: All in, the whole event came to a little under $11,000. Roughly: food (the truck, snowballs, and fruit station) was about $4,500. Bartenders, including mixers, were about $2,000. Big Fun Brass Band was another $2,000. And everything else — furniture rentals, cold plunges, alcohol, ice — was another $2,000 or so. For 150 people, that comes to under $75 a head, which is dramatically less than a traditional wedding caterer’s plated dinner would have run us.

Don’t overlook the time in between

Some of my favorite moments of the weekend weren’t on the calendar at all. Each family had its own slow mornings on its own patio. Kids were in the pools by nine. Afternoons between events meant naps, swims, and wandering between the houses. Late nights after going out, we ended up back at the compounds rather than paying for an after-party somewhere else.

Because everyone was within a block of each other, the weekend never lost momentum. No one disappeared back to a hotel at ten and stayed gone. Something was always happening at one of the three villas.

Why this setup worked

Privacy. No strangers in shared hallways. No noise complaints from the neighbors. Just our people.
Three pools, three outdoor spaces. One villa served as the party hub, but having three full compounds meant nobody felt crowded.
Everyone in one spot. Family and friends within a block of each other. No shuttles, no group texts about where to meet.
No venue rentals for events. The 45-person family dinner and the 150-person pool party both happened on property. Two events, zero venue fees.
 Cost. Once you add up 65 hotel rooms for four nights plus venue rentals for two events, the comparison stops being close.

Editor’s note: Sam and Gigi rented all three CastleDay villas for their New Orleans wedding weekend in September 2025. We asked Sam to walk us through how they used the property — the events, the vendors, the small decisions that ended up mattering. What follows is his account, in his words.

Our Wedding

Weekend Playbook

How we used all three CastleDay villas — from a 45-person family dinner to a 150-person pool party.

The weekend at a glance

Step 1: One villa per side of the family

The single best logistical decision we made was giving each side of the family its own villa. Mine in one, Gigi’s in another, our friends and overflow in the third.

Step 2: Let the families have their own night

Step 3: A 150-person Pool Party

The formal event wrapped at six and the vendors broke down, but a contingent of guests stayed on, and the party rolled organically into informal hangouts across all three villas.

Food: Three small vendors instead of one large caterer. Southerns, a popular local food truck known for its award-winning fried chicken, served fried chicken sandwiches and hamburgers. Mr. Snowball Catering set up a tent outside with a full snowball cart. And because it was really hot, we had someone inside cutting fresh fruit for guests all afternoon. People grazed across all three. No seated meal, no buffet line, no formal service moment to schedule around.

Bar: One full open bar — beer, wine, cocktails — staffed by Movers and Shakers, a local woman-owned mobile bartending company that handles a lot of New Orleans weddings.

Music: We ran our own playlist through two large Bluetooth speakers linked together — plenty loud for 150 people. Then, halfway through, Big Fun Brass Band marched in and played a one-hour set. It became the moment of the day. When they finished, the playlist picked back up as if nothing had happened.

Activities: Cornhole on the lawn, plus two cold plunge tubs we bought just for the party. The cold plunges were the sleeper hit of the weekend — guests kept circling back to them all afternoon.

Decor: Pool floats and a few props. No florals. The Florentine’s own design carries most of the weight.

Restrooms: We rented portapotties as a precaution. A few guys used them, but they were barely touched — the villa’s bathrooms handled 150 people without issue.

Cost: All in, the whole event came to a little under $11,000. Roughly: food (the truck, snowballs, and fruit station) was about $4,500. Bartenders, including mixers, were about $2,000. Big Fun Brass Band was another $2,000. And everything else — furniture rentals, cold plunges, alcohol, ice — was another $2,000 or so. For 150 people, that comes to under $75 a head, which is dramatically less than a traditional wedding caterer’s plated dinner would have run us.

Step 4: Stack the day

If you have out-of-town guests, organizing one local activity (swamp tour, food tour, cemetery tour — the specifics matter less than you’d think) is worth the small effort.

Don’t overlook the time in between

Why this setup worked

Privacy. No strangers in shared hallways. No noise complaints from the neighbors. Just our people.
Three pools, three outdoor spaces. One villa served as the party hub, but having three full compounds meant nobody felt crowded.
Everyone in one spot. Family and friends within a block of each other. No shuttles, no group texts about where to meet.
No venue rentals for events. The 45-person family dinner and the 150-person pool party both happened on property. Two events, zero venue fees.
 Cost. Once you add up 65 hotel rooms for four nights plus venue rentals for two events, the comparison stops being close.

If you take one thing from this

This was the most fun weekend of our lives. Our guests are still talking about it eight months later — the brass band parading into the pool party, the cold plunges, the way each side of the family had its own villa, the fact that the swamp tour and the pool party happened on the same Saturday and nobody felt rushed. People keep telling us it was the best wedding weekend they’ve ever been to, and a lot of that comes down to the property itself.

If you take one thing from this: even when the ceremony itself is elsewhere, treating one location as the weekend’s headquarters — where everyone sleeps, and where the events surrounding the wedding happen — is the move. For us, that meant booking all three villas at CastleDay, and we’d do it again in a heartbeat.

If you find yourself trying to assemble a hotel block, a family dinner reservation, a welcome event venue, and a brunch spot from separate parts of the city, consolidating into a single property is a simpler answer than it sounds.

_________

If you’re thinking about a wedding weekend like this one, the CastleDay team is happy to walk you through availability and answer specific questions about hosting events at any of the three villas.

Issue 02: Spring Update, Wedding Season, Festival Guide

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:57:17 GMT

ISSUE 02

EXCITING THINGS ARE BLOOMING.

Spring in New Orleans means the azaelias are out, the smell of jasmine fills the air, and the perfect weather for dining outside, catching a show, and, of course, festing and getting married! The two things New Orleans is simply perfect for.

Spring at the Castle

Spring in New Orleans is its own thing. The weather is warm but not yet brutal, the city is fully awake, and there's something going on almost every weekend from March through May. It's our favorite season on the property—the courtyard is in full bloom, the pool is perfectly warm, and the evenings are long enough to actually enjoy them.

For groups, there is genuinely no better time to be here.

The CastleDay Shop

We are thrilled to announce that the Castleday Shop is officially live.

FESTIVAL SEASON

Jazz Fest. French Quarter Fest. Hogs For the Cause. Wednesday's on the Square. Crawfest.

Spring in New Orleans runs on a festival calendar, and CastleDay puts you close to all of it without the chaos of staying in the Quarter.
You can be at the Fair Grounds in under 15 minutes, back at the pool by late afternoon, and at dinner with a reservation by 7.

That's the move.

LOOKING

AHEAD

Summer is nearly completely booked but for those flexible enough, consider enjoying a few days in paradise for a fraction of the price by booking during the week.

The Insider Move:

Summer 20 26:

The Cold Plunge

We are already starting to get booked for our summer season.

We love summer at Castleday. It’s when New Orleans is at its most authentic self: the long days, the humidity, and the classic afternoon thunderstorms.

The city also slows down. If you're coming with a large group, summer is the time to visit.

You can actually get a reservation for 12+ people at the best restaurants without a hassle.

Direct booking

A quick reminder that you will always get the lowest rate by booking directly with us—guests often save $500+ per stay by booking directly with us.

Suggestions & Feedback

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any suggestions, feedback, or questions. We love hearing from you and are always looking for ways to make CastleDay even better.

Best,

Issue 01: Winter Update, Mardi Gras & The Shop Launch

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 18:11:54 GMT

ISSUE 01

WE'RE STARTING SOMETHING NEW.

This is the first edition of our quarterly update—just a simple way to keep you in the loop on what we’re changing at the property, new projects we’re working on, and what’s happening here in the Bywater. We’ll keep it short and sweet, four times a year.

Winter at the Castle

We are in the heart of winter right now, which looks a little different here than the rest of the country. We’re seeing temps in the 50s-70s with cooler nights.

At CastleDay, we keep the vibe lush and tropical year-round. It's nice to wake up early and see the steam rise off the heated pool against the palm trees when the air is crisp. It’s a really specific atmosphere that you only get from December thru February.

For those finalizing travel plans, we still have select availability for the Sugar Bowl . We are just a short drive to the Superdome—close enough to the action, but removed enough to properly recharge. It’s a great place to stay for the game.

Introducing:

The CastleDay Shop

We are thrilled to announce that the Castleday Shop is officially live.

CARNIVAL SEASON

One of the best parts of living in New Orleans is that while January and February are dark and cold for most of the country, here, it is Mardi Gras season .

It's not just a single Tuesday; the season spans nearly two months of parades, parties, and celebrations.

Staying at Castleday puts you in a great spot for the season. We are just a very short ride over to the Marigny for our favorite neighborhood walking parades like Chewbacchus and Krewe du Vieux, which are intimate, satirical, and full of local character. And, of course, the St. Ann’s Parade on Mardi Gras morning remains one of the best moments of the year in New Orleans.

LOOKING

AHEAD

Spring is shaping up to be our busiest season yet. With festivals and crawfish boils on the horizon, our weekends are nearly sold out.

The Insider Move:

We still have excellent availability and discounted pricing for mid-week stays . It’s a great opportunity to experience the city—enjoying the festival energy by day and securing tables at top-tier spots for a fraction of the price.

Summer 20 26:

The Cold Plunge

We are already starting to get booked for our summer season.

We love summer at Castleday. It’s when New Orleans is at its most authentic self: the long days, the humidity, and the classic afternoon thunderstorms.

The city also slows down. If you're coming with a large group, summer is the time to visit.

You can actually get a reservation for 12+ people at the best restaurants without a hassle.

Direct booking

A quick reminder that you will always get the lowest rate by booking directly with us—guests often save $500+ per stay by booking directly with us.

Suggestions & Feedback

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any suggestions, feedback, or questions. We love hearing from you and are always looking for ways to make CastleDay even better.

Best,

castleday-zy11

Issue 03: Summer Update, Summer in New Orleans and at CastleDay

ISSUE 03

Summer is here!

Summer 20 26:

The Cold Plunge

The CastleDay Shop

Direct booking

Suggestions & Feedback

How E.T. Deaux Threw the Adult Swimming III Listening Party

Inside the 80-person golf-themed night at The Cocodrie

Step 1: A villa as the venue

Step 3: Friend vendors handled the rest

The weekend at a glance

Step 2: Lean into the album's theme

Step 4: Build in a recovery day

Inside the 80-person golf-themed night at The Cocodrie

The weekend at a glance

Step 1: A villa as the venue

Step 2: Lean into the album's theme

Step 3: Friend vendors handled the rest

Step 4: Build in a recovery day

Why this setup worked

If you take one thing from this

A Triple Birthday Weekend

A Triple Birthday at The Herald

The weekend at a glance

Step 2:

Cook everything yourselves

Step 4:

Small touches that made it feel like a birthday

Step 1:

﻿ One villa for the whole friend group

Step 3:

A party bus to the monster truck rally

The Best Part

A Triple Birthday at The Herald

The weekend at a glance

Step 1:

One villa for the whole friend group

﻿

Step 2:

Cook everything yourselves

﻿

Step 3:

A party bus to the

monster truck rally ﻿

Step 4:

Small touches that made it feel like a birthday

The Best Part

Why this setup worked

﻿ If you take one thing from this

Our Wedding Weekend Playbook: How my family used one CastleDay villa as our wedding home base

Our Wedding

Weekend Playbook

The weekend at a glance

Step 2: Let the family cook

Step 4:

A 150-person poolside farewell brunch

Step 1: One villa as the family-reunion base

Step 3: The villa as a getting-ready compound

Don’t overlook the time in between

Our Wedding

Weekend Playbook

The weekend at a glance

Step 1: One villa as the family-reunion base

Step 2: Let the family cook

Step 3: The villa as a getting-ready compound

Step 4: A 150-person poolside farewell brunch

Our favorite moments

Why this setup worked

If you take one thing from this

Our Wedding Weekend Playbook: How We Used All Three CastleDay Villas

Our Wedding

Weekend Playbook

The weekend at a glance

Step 2:

﻿ Let the families have their own night

Step 3: A 150-person Pool Party

Step 4: Stack the day

One villa for the whole friend group

monster truck rally

If you take one thing from this

Step 3:
The villa as a getting-ready compound

Let the families have their own night

One villa per side of the family

Don’t overlook the time in between