Friday, October 28, 2011

Tasting

This past Tuesday we had our food tasting with our venue for the wedding. We have been pretty excited for this, not only because we were excited to taste the food, but also because it got us out of work for the day! Score! A few weeks ago we picked out the menu items that we wanted to try and when we arrived they had everything ready for us.



We started off with a Caprese Salad. It was delicious!! We were very pleased with it and were glad that we chose a smaller salad to start the meal off with because what came out next was a whole lotta food. Next was the entree. The entree consisted of a Sirloin Strip Steak and Chicken Medallion Marsala. With the caterers that we are using, you don't have an option of Chicken or Beef. They give you both on the same plate and if you don't want one, you just don't eat it. I like this much better than having to ask our guests ahead of time. I feel like it is less of a hassle. Along with the two different meat options there is also a vegetable and a starch. They were both delicious and yummy as well!! We were also able to discuss a vegetarian option for our non meat eating guests and also a menu for younger kids that will be attending.

Once we had all of the food details pinned down, we sat down with the manager, Sonja, and started discussing more of the details that will be going into our reception. We of course went over the basics like overlay and underlay colors and napkin colors and how many people we would have per table. Something else that we discussed was our head table. We decided to do a head table instead of a sweetheart table because we figured that we wouldn't be sitting at a table for very much of the night so it just didn't seem like it was necessary. Not only that but the head table is only going to be up through dinner and then after dinner it will be taken down because it sits on the dance floor. It was either on the dance floor where we would be front and center, or on this long wall where not all of our guests would be able to see us. We discussed both options and having it in the center of the room just seemed to make more sense.

A few other things that we were able to discuss is when we will be able to get in the venue and start setting up everything that we are bringing in. Luckily they don't have any other events going on the couple days before the wedding, so we are able to get in on the Thursday before to set up everything that we need to set up. I am very excited about this because I was worried that we were going to have to go in on Friday night after the rehearsal dinner to set all of this up, but now, we don't have to do that and hopefully we can just relax.

I wanted to share with all of you a few things that I found helpful during this process and that I hope that you can use during your own meetings with event planners and managers.


  • First off, don't be afraid to ask question. I went into our meeting with an entire page of questions that I  wanted to make sure that we addressed. Some of them I didn't even have to bring up, but it was still good to have them.
  • Ask about items that you can use that your venue may already provide. For example, we needed an easel to put our photo booth sign on and I was actually just going to buy one, but I didn't know what we would do with it after. So when we were at our meeting, I asked if they had one there that we could use and if it would cost extra. Luckily they had one and they aren't charging us any extra. That alone just saved me $35. Score!
  • Ask when you can get into your venue to start setting up. If you can get in earlier rather than later, it could be a less stressful situation for you. 
  • If there are any special instructions that you have for the staff for your big day, make sure to let them know. For us that included letting them know that we absolutely have to have the columns and cake plates back from our cake once they cut it. We had to put a deposit down specifically for those so in order to get our deposit back, we have to get those back and people tend to throw them away after they cut the cake not thinking about it. 
  • Ask if you can make suggestions for drinks for the night. We asked that they have the supplies for White Russians since it is one of Aran's favorite drinks. 

Photo Booth sign that I want to try and
make but will be putting up on a
photo easel
Via stylemepretty.com

Our meeting with the event manager went so well and it just seems to make everything that much more real. I can't believe how close it is getting. I really hope that the tips that I have given here in this post can help some of you that are still in the planning process. 

For those of you that have already gone through this process, is there any advice that you would give myself or other brides that are in this stage of planning? What were some things that you asked your event manager? Or what are you going to ask?


Photobucket

4 comments:

  1. Questions are key!
    Great job!!! :)
    The photo booth will be SO fun!

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  2. Hey! sorry, I didn't know how else to contact you, but to answer your question, I got our pashminas from Etsy seller Beautyplus. Thanks for stopping by!!

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  3. So first of all, the food sounds delicious! Secondly, I'm so glad the meeting went well! Doesn't it make everything seem so much closer and that much more real? I definitely agree with your tips, too, especially special instructions! Don't be afraid to delegate!

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  4. Great advice! I also had a list of questions to ask when we went in to speak with our event manager! And I had wished I had waited before purchasing a few things like an easel and votives for the tables because they already had all that stuff!! I may try to return some of the stuff but that just adds one more thing to my ever GROWING checklist!

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