One of our biggest challenges in the weeks leading up to the wedding was issues with our venue. Specifically, with the event coordinator.
I am all for booking your wedding somewhere cheap that doesn't do a lot of weddings to save money, but I learned via our event coordinators that there are consequences. Places that don't do many weddings tend to not really know what they're doing. They don't put as much effort into it.
They also apparently cannot keep an event coordinator. At least, ours couldn't. We had four different coordinators in the 9 months leading up to our wedding. The person we originally talked to was gone before we even booked. The next one we had for most of the planning stage. When she left, no one even told us, and we just happened to stop by the venue and ask for her one day and found out they had just hired someone new. That person we never even spoke to, for she was quickly replaced by a fourth coordinator who our coordinator for the day of the wedding.
This was the only real problem we had with Guayma's. The lack of consistency was ridiculous. The fact that they didn't inform us of the changes was, frankly, unacceptable.
So we were pretty nervous when we met with the final coordinator for the first time a mere two weeks before our wedding. But what seemed like a disaster turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Rachel was great, wayyyyy better than the person we had been working with before. She was organized, efficient, knowledgeable, and most importantly, she understood how important this day was to us, something we had not gotten from anyone else at Guayma's.
We were glad to have her, but we really wish we had gotten to speak with her sooner (too bad she hadn't started working there until about three weeks before the wedding) because a bunch of things changed once we did. We had to redo the seating chart and couldn't finalize it until a week before the wedding because they weren't sure how many tables would fit how many people. We didn't know what time we could come to set up until the day before the wedding. And we couldn't go over things with her as much as we wanted because she was gone for three days right before the wedding. We literally only had the day before to go over everything, and there were definitely things I forgot about at that point that were done wrong. I really wish we had been able to get it all done sooner. Some of the things that went wrong that wouldn't have if we had had more time still bug the crap out of me.
Even though things mostly worked out, they would have gone much, much smoother if we had been able to plan with the coordinator farther in advance. Though your venue probably won't have as high of turn-over as ours, experience is definitely something you should think about when booking a venue. Because if we had had one of the other coordinators, things definitely would not have gone as smoothly even if we had had months to plan.
We wouldn't have picked a different venue. We didn't have the money, and doing the venue cheaply allowed us to do so much more. But if we had had the money, it would have been nice to perhaps hire a wedding coordinator or something to make sure everything got done right.
Did you have bad experiences with any of your vendors? Was your venue everything you thought it would be?
Showing posts with label venue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label venue. Show all posts
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
ABOUT FREAKING TIME!
I am here to announce that FINALLY, 14 months into our engagement and 7 months before the wedding, we OFFICIALLY have a ceremony location!
God, we are so sad.
In our defense, our initial plan fell through, so we had to wait until we could go back up there to find another one, and I had surgery right after that, so things were kind of working against us.
But being 400+ miles from our wedding will plague us no longer because Daniel got a job, and we are moving to San Jose in 2 weeks.
Much, much closer to the wedding. I am definitely relieved for that.
But for now, let me introduce you to our ceremony spot.
This is where I will start the walk down the aisle. Hopefully, my dress and shoes will get along with the stairs.
God, we are so sad.
In our defense, our initial plan fell through, so we had to wait until we could go back up there to find another one, and I had surgery right after that, so things were kind of working against us.
But being 400+ miles from our wedding will plague us no longer because Daniel got a job, and we are moving to San Jose in 2 weeks.
Much, much closer to the wedding. I am definitely relieved for that.
But for now, let me introduce you to our ceremony spot.
This is where I will start the walk down the aisle. Hopefully, my dress and shoes will get along with the stairs.
This is the main lawn where we will set up chairs.
*All Personal Photos
And this is the view our guests will have as we get married. Except the trees will not be dead during the summer, and we'll probably angle it away from the pier.
It's not the ocean, and it's not perfect, but it will do nicely. Especially because it is way cheaper than it could be. We like it.
How sad are we? Was there anything important that you could not seem to get done?
Monday, November 29, 2010
Proof That We Are Getting Married
Shoot, I thought I might be able to hold off until the 100th post for this, but as we mailed in the deposit today, it's time to tell you:
WE HAVE A DATE!
because...
WE HAVE A VENUE!
When we found out Catalina was going to be more expensive than we planned, our second choice became a much more viable option. In the end, we probably could have made Catalina work, but the number of things we would have had to give up to do it just wasn't worth it. While Catalina was the venue we wanted, Guayma's will allow us to have the wedding we want, and we decided that that is more important.
So meet our venue: Guayma's is a gourmet Mexican restaurant in Tiburon, CA in Marin County (just north of San Francisco and one of the most expensive places to live on the planet). If you live in the Bay Area and haven't been, you really, really ought too. It's a bit on the expensive side, but you can eat cheaply there if you make an effort, especially if you come for happy hour (half off appetizers -- get the empanadas/quesadillas/whatever they're calling them these days, they are fantastic).
The more I think about it, the more Guayma's really makes sense for us as a couple. It's a place we've been just the two of us to celebrate special occasions for years, and it's a place where we've made memories together. Also, as it's right on the bay, it almost has the ocean view that we wanted but also gives you a look at the beauty of Marin and the Golden Gate Bridge. As a reception venue, it couldn't be more perfect. Outdooors, gorgeous view, exceptionally good food, room for dancing, available and no more expensive for Saturday night, and very reasonable prices. And, get this, NO SITE FEE. You heard me, none, zip, zilch, nada....OK so they're implementing one next year, but even then it will only be $150 which isn't even noticeable in a wedding budget. We got really, really lucky.
So it's not the open ocean, and it's not my beloved island, but it is still a spectacular venue, and I think we'll be very happy with our wedding there...and with the money that has been freed up for other stuff...like a honeymoon. Plus, we'll have the world's greatest cake which frankly was a larger part of the decision to go for NorCal than I'm proud of (Katrina Rozelle, I am coming for you). Though as the last couple I know that got their wedding cake there said, "Katrina Roselle should have been the ONLY consideration in terms of where to have your wedding." Yes, it's that good. But more on that later.
For now, pictures (all personal photos)!
WE HAVE A DATE!
because...
WE HAVE A VENUE!
When we found out Catalina was going to be more expensive than we planned, our second choice became a much more viable option. In the end, we probably could have made Catalina work, but the number of things we would have had to give up to do it just wasn't worth it. While Catalina was the venue we wanted, Guayma's will allow us to have the wedding we want, and we decided that that is more important.
So meet our venue: Guayma's is a gourmet Mexican restaurant in Tiburon, CA in Marin County (just north of San Francisco and one of the most expensive places to live on the planet). If you live in the Bay Area and haven't been, you really, really ought too. It's a bit on the expensive side, but you can eat cheaply there if you make an effort, especially if you come for happy hour (half off appetizers -- get the empanadas/quesadillas/whatever they're calling them these days, they are fantastic).
The more I think about it, the more Guayma's really makes sense for us as a couple. It's a place we've been just the two of us to celebrate special occasions for years, and it's a place where we've made memories together. Also, as it's right on the bay, it almost has the ocean view that we wanted but also gives you a look at the beauty of Marin and the Golden Gate Bridge. As a reception venue, it couldn't be more perfect. Outdooors, gorgeous view, exceptionally good food, room for dancing, available and no more expensive for Saturday night, and very reasonable prices. And, get this, NO SITE FEE. You heard me, none, zip, zilch, nada....OK so they're implementing one next year, but even then it will only be $150 which isn't even noticeable in a wedding budget. We got really, really lucky.
So it's not the open ocean, and it's not my beloved island, but it is still a spectacular venue, and I think we'll be very happy with our wedding there...and with the money that has been freed up for other stuff...like a honeymoon. Plus, we'll have the world's greatest cake which frankly was a larger part of the decision to go for NorCal than I'm proud of (Katrina Rozelle, I am coming for you). Though as the last couple I know that got their wedding cake there said, "Katrina Roselle should have been the ONLY consideration in terms of where to have your wedding." Yes, it's that good. But more on that later.
For now, pictures (all personal photos)!
The restaurant. Our reception is on the upper deck.
The reception space.
And the view. Which I did not get the greatest pictures of, but you get the idea.
How did you know that your venue was "the one?"
P.S. Dana, I know you read this, so just so you know, vegetarian options will abound :).
Thursday, November 11, 2010
We Are Never Going to Get a Date
Eff my mothereffing life!
The coordinator at Catalina finally got back to us. Turns out they cannot do the dinner option we had originally planned on during the day...which means it will be $15 per person more expensive...for our already over budget wedding. We figured out a way for it to still be possible, but it involves making the guests pay an extra $5 to get there, bringing the total up to $35 for them. Plus, the buffet option we would have to do allows for only one entree which is a major problem for the vegetarian guests...and me! I literally would not like to eat anything on that menu except the prime rib which is $2 extra per person--not happening.
We have another venue option. It is in NorCal which would be a PAIN IN THE ASS to plan from 400 miles away and is not as cool as Catalina....but it would cost a lot less, allow us to have a lot more options, and have excellent food and cake for CHEAP.
And yet...Catalina still really appeals to us.
What should we do? What would you do? I don't know what to do. Someone just tell me what to do.
The coordinator at Catalina finally got back to us. Turns out they cannot do the dinner option we had originally planned on during the day...which means it will be $15 per person more expensive...for our already over budget wedding. We figured out a way for it to still be possible, but it involves making the guests pay an extra $5 to get there, bringing the total up to $35 for them. Plus, the buffet option we would have to do allows for only one entree which is a major problem for the vegetarian guests...and me! I literally would not like to eat anything on that menu except the prime rib which is $2 extra per person--not happening.
We have another venue option. It is in NorCal which would be a PAIN IN THE ASS to plan from 400 miles away and is not as cool as Catalina....but it would cost a lot less, allow us to have a lot more options, and have excellent food and cake for CHEAP.
And yet...Catalina still really appeals to us.
What should we do? What would you do? I don't know what to do. Someone just tell me what to do.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Scary, Scary Budgeting*
Happy Halloween!
And in honor of the day, we will move on from the happy time of picking a venue and into the scary stuff.
The Budget.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
No seriously. As soon as we worked out how much Catalina would cost, we completed the first draft of our budget.
It ain't pretty, but I'm going to share the run down with you because frankly there is just not enough budget-friendly information out there.
Ceremony site fee: $700
Reception site fee: $500
Food: $2,600
Alcohol: $1,000
Splitting the cost of getting to the island with our guests: $2,250
Our hotel room: $500
Tax and tip: $1,080
Cake: $420
My dress w/ alterations: $1,400
My shoes: $40
Undergarments (including slip): $200
My hair: $60
Make-up: $0
Wax/manicure/pedicure (perhaps not all): $100
Tuxedo (buying): $300
Daniel's shoes: $50
Rentals: $660
Flowers (DIY): $500
Music (DIY): $200
Photography/Videography: $1,060
Invitations: $300
STDs: $0
Rings: $600
Attendant gifts (i.e. hotel room during wedding): $700
Decorations/miscellaneous (including marriage license): $800
Total: $15,840
This puts us slightly over budget just for our estimate. Obviously, this is not good though I do think I over-estimated some things and that we'll be able to get them cheaper. So hopefully it will even out, but even so, we're going to end up paying for some things out of pocket.
For instance, notice anything missing? Like the rehearsal dinner? And any sort of pre-partying (bachelor/bachelorette parties, etc.)? And, oh, I don't know, our honeymoon? The first one we don't mind skipping, especially since logistics for that were going to be ridiculously difficult anyway. And the second one won't be hard to do out of pocket, especially if we do small things. But then there's number 3. We were always going to do a honeymoon registry, but our dreams of Sandals are so, so gone. At this point, we'll be lucky if we can leave the West Coast. But I'm hoping that we will have been working long enough to save up some money at that point and that we'll be able to do something cheapish, maybe a cruise. And I'm putting a lot of hope into our honeymoon registry.
How fucked am I? People who have gone through this, is there anything I'm underestimating to an impossible degree? Or forgetting altogether? Please let me know, we haven't actually booked yet. What budgeting tips can you share?
*I will give you a dollar if you get this literary reference. Hint: it's holiday appropriate.
And in honor of the day, we will move on from the happy time of picking a venue and into the scary stuff.
The Budget.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
No seriously. As soon as we worked out how much Catalina would cost, we completed the first draft of our budget.
It ain't pretty, but I'm going to share the run down with you because frankly there is just not enough budget-friendly information out there.
Ceremony site fee: $700
Reception site fee: $500
Food: $2,600
Alcohol: $1,000
Splitting the cost of getting to the island with our guests: $2,250
Our hotel room: $500
Tax and tip: $1,080
Cake: $420
My dress w/ alterations: $1,400
My shoes: $40
Undergarments (including slip): $200
My hair: $60
Make-up: $0
Wax/manicure/pedicure (perhaps not all): $100
Tuxedo (buying): $300
Daniel's shoes: $50
Rentals: $660
Flowers (DIY): $500
Music (DIY): $200
Photography/Videography: $1,060
Invitations: $300
STDs: $0
Rings: $600
Attendant gifts (i.e. hotel room during wedding): $700
Decorations/miscellaneous (including marriage license): $800
Total: $15,840
This puts us slightly over budget just for our estimate. Obviously, this is not good though I do think I over-estimated some things and that we'll be able to get them cheaper. So hopefully it will even out, but even so, we're going to end up paying for some things out of pocket.
For instance, notice anything missing? Like the rehearsal dinner? And any sort of pre-partying (bachelor/bachelorette parties, etc.)? And, oh, I don't know, our honeymoon? The first one we don't mind skipping, especially since logistics for that were going to be ridiculously difficult anyway. And the second one won't be hard to do out of pocket, especially if we do small things. But then there's number 3. We were always going to do a honeymoon registry, but our dreams of Sandals are so, so gone. At this point, we'll be lucky if we can leave the West Coast. But I'm hoping that we will have been working long enough to save up some money at that point and that we'll be able to do something cheapish, maybe a cruise. And I'm putting a lot of hope into our honeymoon registry.
How fucked am I? People who have gone through this, is there anything I'm underestimating to an impossible degree? Or forgetting altogether? Please let me know, we haven't actually booked yet. What budgeting tips can you share?
*I will give you a dollar if you get this literary reference. Hint: it's holiday appropriate.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Where It All Begins
I know, I know, I've already broken my promise to post regularly, but I actually have an excuse this time! You see, I was going to wait for confirmation to tell you guys this, but as our coordinator is on vacation, I'm just going to go ahead and spill it.
WE HAVE A VENUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the end, it really wasn't that hard of a choice. The more we thought about it, the less we could imagine having the wedding anywhere but Catalina.
We had a great experience with the coordinator when we went to visit in September and loved what we saw. But the thing that really sold us is how amazingly unique our wedding would be there. It is the foundation for the kind of wedding that we and our guests will never forget.
Since I've already given you guys an intro to Catalina, I'm going to keep it simple and get on with the gratuitous photos :).
When you get off the boat, you walk into this:
Classic Island.
As our guests continue toward the ceremony, they'll catch a glimpse the Banning House, the hotel where we will be married.
In all likelihood, the view as we get married will be here:
Though if we can figure out a way to do it, I'd love to have this as our background:
This will be where the guests sit:
And I don't have pictures of the reception space, so how about some views of the island?
:D
So, it only took us about 10 months to find a venue. How long did it take you? How did you know you'd found "the one?"
WE HAVE A VENUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the end, it really wasn't that hard of a choice. The more we thought about it, the less we could imagine having the wedding anywhere but Catalina.
We had a great experience with the coordinator when we went to visit in September and loved what we saw. But the thing that really sold us is how amazingly unique our wedding would be there. It is the foundation for the kind of wedding that we and our guests will never forget.
Since I've already given you guys an intro to Catalina, I'm going to keep it simple and get on with the gratuitous photos :).
When you get off the boat, you walk into this:
Classic Island.
As our guests continue toward the ceremony, they'll catch a glimpse the Banning House, the hotel where we will be married.
In all likelihood, the view as we get married will be here:
Though if we can figure out a way to do it, I'd love to have this as our background:
This will be where the guests sit:
And I don't have pictures of the reception space, so how about some views of the island?
*All Personal Photos
:D
So, it only took us about 10 months to find a venue. How long did it take you? How did you know you'd found "the one?"
Friday, October 1, 2010
Award for Worst Customer Service Ever
And the winner is...Angel Island! Not only did you make us wait 2 hours to meet with you even though you had said you were available at 1, but you also did not tell us about the $4,000 in fees that would be added on to your site fee and food. But what really got you into this category was how much you did not want us there. I'm sorry we burdened you so with our desire to give you money. Angel Island, you may have a nice view, but I don't really want to get married on a patch of dried grass anyway. Thanks for wasting our time.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Venuepalooza
...also known as the Day I Drove to Six Venues. I went home to Southern California last week for my brother's high school graduation and took the opportunity to get our venue search started for real. I visited six venues across Orange and San Diego counties, spanning about 100 miles. It was quite the day, and it was totally worth it because we may very well have found our venue.
I won't bore you with the ones we're not going with. There were only two that really stood apart, and they were sisters.
Daniel wasn't able to come with me unfortunately (can you say expensive plane ticket?), but based on the many, many pictures that I collected and my experience, the one both of us like best is Tivoli Too.
It's in Laguna Beach though oddly not actually by the ocean, but it is still beautiful.
I won't bore you with the ones we're not going with. There were only two that really stood apart, and they were sisters.
Daniel wasn't able to come with me unfortunately (can you say expensive plane ticket?), but based on the many, many pictures that I collected and my experience, the one both of us like best is Tivoli Too.
It's in Laguna Beach though oddly not actually by the ocean, but it is still beautiful.
ceremony location
Dining Area
Elevated Dining...Classy
Our Awesome Ceremony Backdrop
All Personal Photos
:) : It's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. More beautiful than I would have dared imagine for what we're paying. Tivoli Too has the feel of a magical fairy-like garden while still maintaining an air of elegance. The setting is meant to be Italian in style which works well for me (though there could be fewer angels for this atheist bride and her Jewish groom. Oh well). It's outside which we both really wanted, but it still feels enclosed which is also nice, and it is covered in twinkling lights which eliminates the problems with lighting that I had envisioned. It is nothing like what I was looking for, and yet it is still perfect for us. Even in pricing. This place definitely fits our budget, and for all of the things that are included, it's downright cheap. Plus, we really wouldn't need decorations, and that would cut costs as well. And the summer is actually their off-season (weird I know, explained below), so we would be able to have the wedding on a Saturday night which I had pretty much given up on but would definitely be nice. Overall, this is a great find. Definitely worth checking out if you're planning to get married in Southern California (but you can't have the last weekend in July 2011 because it's mine).
:( : There are a few little things that bother me. This place is a little small, and while it would be fine for the ceremony and dinner, the small space for the dance floor is a bit of a problem. I'd have to see if I could expand the area by pushing tables back a bit. Also, the reason it's cheaper during the summer is that the Art-A-Fair, the venue's main exhibition for the year, occurs during July and August, and the people attending it would be able to watch our wedding. That doesn't really bother me, but it could be irksome. The main problem with Tivoli Too, the reason I am not rushing to book it now, is that the management seems a bit difficult to work with. The person I talked to was very nice and seemed willing to listen to our wishes, but their regulations contain quite a few caveats. The big one for me is that you have to use a DJ (no ipods or prerecorded music allowed) that you pick off of their vendor list. I REALLY don't want a DJ. I'm picky and have been to way too many events with crappy DJs, and with iTunes at my disposable, spending money on a DJ seems stupid. Plus, I really want my brother to play a set at my wedding. He's quite the talented musician (check him out!: http://www.myspace.com/codythomasofficial), and it would mean a lot to my whole family to have him play at least a song. So I'm going to have to look into their vendors and see if they'll let Cody play and go from there. There are other things, like you can't bring your own flowers or decorations, but mostly it's just the feeling that they're going to be inflexible and difficult. It worries me. We'll just have to talk to them about our concerns to see how much of a problem that will be.
But regardless of the issues, we could definitely make this place work for us and be happy with the result, and that's a relief to me. It's just so good to know that there is an amazing venue out there that we can afford! We probably won't book until we move back to California because there are some other places we want to check out still, and I don't want to book a venue that Daniel has never seen in person, but Tivoli Too is definitely number one on the list right now.
What are the most useful questions you asked about your venue? What criteria did you choose to pick it?
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Doing the Destination Thing
Sorry I've been a bit MIA lately. Daniel has been going through some stuff, and I've been trying to figure out a bunch of logistical things. One of the most important things that has come out of this is that I will not be moving back to California in June. In fact, I probably won't be back until the end of the summer.
This presents a problem for my wedding. You see, part of the point of having a long engagement for us was having time to look at venues and make a decision over the summer so that we would be able to book at least a year in advance. Now, that ain't happening.
I'm not 100% sure what to do about that. Currently, I am planning on looking at a bunch of venues when I fly to CA for my brother's high school graduation. But if we don't find something then, I guess we're going to have to wait until we get back to find something.
Unless we decide to do this destination-style. Which scares the shit out of me. I'm a little bit of a control freak, and the venue is the most important thing to me, so I REALLY want to see it before we book....but the thing is, if we want a beautiful cheap venue, we really need to book early.
I don't know. What would you do in my situation? If we don't find something we like while we're there, would you book something that looked awesome on paper or wait until you could look at venues in person?
This presents a problem for my wedding. You see, part of the point of having a long engagement for us was having time to look at venues and make a decision over the summer so that we would be able to book at least a year in advance. Now, that ain't happening.
I'm not 100% sure what to do about that. Currently, I am planning on looking at a bunch of venues when I fly to CA for my brother's high school graduation. But if we don't find something then, I guess we're going to have to wait until we get back to find something.
Unless we decide to do this destination-style. Which scares the shit out of me. I'm a little bit of a control freak, and the venue is the most important thing to me, so I REALLY want to see it before we book....but the thing is, if we want a beautiful cheap venue, we really need to book early.
I don't know. What would you do in my situation? If we don't find something we like while we're there, would you book something that looked awesome on paper or wait until you could look at venues in person?
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