We had our reception at John Anthony's in Sept. 2001 .. you have nothing to worry about!! They were GREAT!!
Just like you, we were impressed with what we saw. They were the first and only place we looked at ... and actually the day we went to see them, we only intended on driving past the place for a quick look, but I was so excited by the views of the water, that I talked my then-fiance into going in to see if they could talk with us .. and they were awesome .. handled us so quickly and professionally, despite not having an appointment .. which also helped to sell us on the place .. the fact that they took care of us like that made me feel good about them. There were a couple of other times we just dropped in, and again, they treated us with the same courtesy.
I had the same concerns as you, about the two parties at one time, crossing paths, and the bathroom, which is on the first floor. We had our party upstairs, with the cocktail hour in the lounge. Honestly, I did briefly see the other bride, when we were at our cocktail hour, and it was time for them to go into their room .. but it wasn't really a big deal. While we were down in the bridal suite before heading up to the cocktail hour, I saw a couple of bridesmaids from the other party going into their suite .. not a big deal, to me, anyway ... and these were really just a matter of that I was standing at the right place, at the right moment to see these things that I saw. Had I been standing just a few feet this way or that, or had my head turned another way, I wouldn't have even had these two quick encounters. Believe me, this was not something worth finding somewhere else for .. because everything else is just TOO good, and we found the price just amazing for all we got .. to the point we can't even figure out what more they could have done for us had they charged more.
I was worried about people needing to go downstairs, and share the bathroom with the other party, but I haven't heard any negative feedback that that was a problem. I can't speak of the men's room, but the ladies room is pretty .. it was just redone with the downstairs in the winter of 2000-2001. The ladies room isn't very big, but again, I didn't hear there were problems .. I had also mentioned to a few people that if necessary, we could let people use the bathroom in our bridal suite .. which wasn't necessary .. that I know of.
It's all a matter of personal preference, but I am so happy I had my reception there .. I wish I could go back for something else!! The food is absolutely amazing!! And you get so much, especially at the cocktail hour. I can't recall the stations we picked, but I can try to go back and find it. I do remember we did a good variety, but not too much fishy stuff.
I believe the vendor list changed since the time we signed the contract .. at that time, I'm pretty sure the only place that we booked that was on their list was Flowers by Brian, who we LOVED!! and I highly, highly recommend checking them out. They gave us gorgeous flowers, that were just so incredibly fresh and everything we wanted. We dealt with Bobbi and Lisa.
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