When i signed my contract to reserve the date, the planner (who is actually the cook, as the venue does not have a planner currently!) said we could work out all the details at a later date. (as far as food package, alcohol, dessert) I was lost and wasn't ready to sign up for anything specific yet...I just needed my date reserved.
So i ended up signing incomplete contracts, which has been hanging over my head since November. This was the most hasty decision of my wedding (and probably the biggest! yikes). I'm stil not completely sure I made the right decision with this venue, but there is no going back now...so I am determined to transform the place into the fairy forest wonderland I imagine for my reception.
But what will we eat and drink?
Dinner
family style. Easy peasy, once i heard my options. Too many people for a buffet, and I am not a fan of the pre-made plate that gets dropped in front of you. I am waiting until E comes out to do the tasting and pick two meals, a potato and two veggies.
Drinks
My original thought was open bar. Looked at the price tag, and for my 180 guest wedding-no can do.
Then, i thought, oh look! they have a beer and wine package. Wait a minute, what? If you break out the food and the alcohol...the beer and wine package is hardly any cheaper. My eyes have glazed over to two big $ $ signs.
Mr. LL wants to just have wine at each table...and I'm still strugglin' with the price tag on each bottle of wine and champagne. So I'm going to try to renegotiate and see if they will allow me to bring in my own wine and just charge me a corking fee. I could live with that, stll saving myself $5-7/bottle of wine x 3 at a table x 20 tables = $300-$400. Relief.
That would leave me money for the...
Chocolate Fountain
This was E and I's first wedding decision after picking the date. We both hate cake and love chocolate fountains. So maybe it's not as orginal as i first thought (we came up with the idea while on our engagement dinner cruise)...but I don't care, it's not a cake!
Only, our venue charges $5/person/hour. And we're anticipating 180 or so guests! That adds up to close to $1000, which is pretty much way out of our budget for dessert!!
So what do I do?
- Ask if we can bring a chocolate fountain in (we have a friend who has a small one they might lend to us)...and work out a price for them to pay for the 'dippings'?
- Ask for 2-3 hours for the price of 1 hour?
- Just ask for a come-down in the price and only offer it for one hour (how long does a chocolate fountain need to be served anyway? until the dippings run out?)
HOLY crap!
Who is still reading this?!
My hands hurts from blogging so much today....you all HAVE to be sick of reading it!
Go, go take a break. I am. I'll see you next week!
My eyes are tired.
ReplyDeleteI think it's fun that you are using a chocolate fountain INSTEAD of a cake. I'm not big on huge wedding cakes-- but I couldn't talk my mom into NOT having one. So we are doing a small cake and then sheet cake for the guests (my main goal was to save $$!!).
yikes $1000 for a chocolate fountain seems crazy!! but the idea is great, and everyone loves fruit and chocolate! good luck with negotiations!!!
ReplyDeleteHi, just found your blog yesterday, sorry if it is weird to have a complete stranger (with the same name) start commenting - anyway, I had a chocolate fountain at my wedding 2 years ago. It was a huge hit, to this day it is all anyone can remember about the wedding. I think you would be better off using the "professional" machine over a small one for several reasons. I have seen both in action and the small ones don't run very well, and they can be pretty loud for their size. The bigger ones use a much better chocolate, (ours used Belgian and we got to keep the leftovers.) Plus, it was a huge weight off my shoulders to have someone there running the fountain who knew what they were doing so I didn't have to ask a friend to figure it out. Everyone is going to be gathered around the fountain all night and a professional one allows more access than a small one. I think we paid around $300 for ours, but our reception hall allowed us to compare prices and pick the company we wanted to use. I think you should see both fountains in action before you make a decision! -Katie
ReplyDeleteWhoa a grand for a chocolate fountain?! That seems like a lot! But every time I'm at an event with them people go nuts for them!
ReplyDeleteI love angel food cake or pound cake cubes with them..yum!