30 days from today!!! Milleridge Tasting Sat...need advice

Well, a month from today is my wedding. All in all I feel like I'm pretty well planned. We go to pick out our menu on Saturday at the Milleridge. Would anyone have any advice or questions to ask??? We're also going to pick out our cake... My 2 biggest dilemma's have been (so far) the guest list and the reply cards. I guess I should've spent more time paying attention. We are going to be under our minimum guarantee of people by about 20. It makes me sick to think we'll have to pay for 20 meals that won't be eaten so I'm trying to figure out what we can do alternatively so that money does not go to waste. I hope the cottage doesn't look to empty (we'll have about 130) as our guarantee was only 150. As for the reply cards, we listened to the person we ordered them from and explained we had a ton of out-of-town guests and weren't sure how many would attend. Not knowing anything I listened to her and she suggested putting the reply date on the cards early. So, we requested a reply by July 2nd. My wedding is August 5th. The problem? It became too late to send out more invites b/c anyone that received them would see the reply date had already past! Did anyone else have this problem or am I the only lame-brain? Well, I just can't wait honestly for the day and to have fun. We haven't met with our DJ yet about going thru what we'd like and the list of songs etc. so I think I'll feel better once we do that. Thank you all for listening. :)

30 days from today!!! Milleridge Tasting Sat...need advice

I was just talking to my friend who is getting married 8/4 and she also put july 2. the funny thing is - she took a black pen and put in a '1' to make it a '12'...it might be bad and cheesy, but maybe the people won't notice and if they do - maybe they'll be thankful they were still thought of.

How exciting!

I thought I once heard something of vendor meals being counted toward meeting a minimum that is coming up short. Also, do you have people you`d like to be there but could not put on the original list because of budget reasons? We were stuck in that position and have several people who we would have liked to send invitations to, but just had to control ourselves. As it is, we went well over our target of 190. While it is short notice, I don`t think you should be afraid to ask people who weren`t on the original guest list because of the response date. Most people, hopefully, are understanding ... especially those who have been through the wedding planning process.

How exciting!

Several years ago I went to a wedding where something similar happened. At the last minute there was a huge shortfall in the guarantee. (The wedding was in February and there was a bad storm so people from out of town had a lot of problems getting there.) Anyways, they called people coming alone and pretty much begged them to bring someone so as not to waste all that money and food. I really think people will understand in that sort of situation. The turning the 2 to a 12 is a great idea too, with the right pen, not too many people will notice.

30 days from today!!! Milleridge Tasting Sat...need advice

Thanks, I do think putting a 1 in from of the 2 to make it 12 wouldn''''t be so bad. The print on my invitations is peri though so it might be a little obvious. I think anyone who has gone through this probably understands. We did want to invite additional people and although I know we still could, some of them like old co-workers I just feel too bad about. Anyway, my question..Kel, we have the same DJ and I was wondering do u plan on meeting with him before your wedding to sort-of firm up the way you want things to go and go over the announcements and specific songs? I feel this would make me very happy so I could relax and know it will all go smoothly. The music is so important to me. Thanks again!

Linda-Milleridge advice-long

No! Don`t put the 1 in front of the 2 on the response cards!! First, it is already July 6th so it`s too late anyway. But why not extend a few more invites by calling people. We did it and it was very well received. I think you are better off than sending an invite at this late date. You can always get an invitation to them so them have all the info if they say they can come. Also, if you prefer, have your parents or his extend a few of these last minutes invites since the people they will call will most likely understand that the parents of the bride/groom cannot invite everyone. People know how weddings work so I think you`re better off being up front. Afterall, you would have included these people in your first invites if you could, right? Also, don`t forget to count any vendors and children into the count at full price, rather than the 1/2 price they offer. And...don`t be afraid to ask them to add some things - like more food at the cocktail hour or an intermezzo (if you aren`t having it), I think they truly want to give you your money`s worth. Second, when you go to the Milleridge for your tasting, go hungry. I may be stating the obvious but they will feed you alot of food. I hope you are trying the crepe as an appetizer. We had it and it was a big hit, different. Also, if you are inclined to have them make a different dish, they can do that too. I asked them to make chicken francaise and it was really good. So you can substitute, same thing with the pastas. With the room, we had 15 tables and it was fine. I am picturing one less table on each side and you will be OK. They know how to position everything so it doesn`t look sparse. If anything, you will have some more room between tables and no one will be stuck too close to the speakers :o) Be sure to discuss anything you want in detail. I had Lesley and she spent the time making sure that we were happy with everything. I have yet to hear a bride be unhappy with the Milleridge and as someone who had their wedding there recently, I know from personal experience that they will do an unbelieveable job for you too. I hope you have Steve as your maitre`d. He was so great. In quite a few of the pics from our table cameras, you can see him waiting on the side lines with a glass of water for me or my husband or fawning over my mother, he is terrific. Remember that he is there to serve you that day so anything that needs to be handled, let him do it. Enjoy your tasting!

Linda-Milleridge advice-long

First off, I was married at the Milleridge in September 2000 and you will want for nothing. They did an amazing job. We were also short on our guest count. We were married in the Carriage House and the count there is 75. We only had 66 guests confirmed, so kids and vendors were at full price. At the last minute, an uncle who had said no called and asked if he and his family could still come, so you never know. The day of the tasting we chose our menu but the day of the wedding, we ended up getting twice as many Horsedoeuvres than we had ordered. Even thought we paid for vendors and kids full price, we totally got bang for our buck. And everything else was perfect. They are pros, so feel free to ask their advice. Good Luck and enjoy.

Linda

I am so jealous-- I would love to attend a wedding at the cottage ;-) hopefully somone will get married there as for the tasting--try everything even the things you dont think you will pick-- def try the crepe-- it was amazing as for the cake- dont be surprised about the book of pictures--they do a great job-- do you have an idea of what kind of cake you want? good luck Laura

To Linda D. re: Eddie w/ Parameters (LONG)

Definitely do not hesitate to call him if you have any questions. He`s been so helpful to me and my fiance regarding our music since we booked him last fall, and we still have just over two months to go! He`s got such a great sense of music, and is straight forward about what works and what might not. Just recently I mentioned to him how I thought Van Halen`s 'Top of the World' was a good song that we might like worked into the wedding, and he just started rattling off ideas on where to use it. In our initial meeting with Eddie, he assured us he would go over the correct pronounciation of everyone`s names for introductions, and believe me, we`re certainly going to need it for some of the last names! LOL Since we`re still a little ways out before I really need to think about this, I`m not really sure of Eddie`s exact procedure. I just planned on sending the names (and pronounciations) and titles of everyone on an index card along with our final song list, which will go to him about two to three weeks prior to our date. Before sending out the song list though, I`m sure we will go over it with him for any last adjustments, rather than stressing over this in the final days before the wedding. Maybe 1 1/2 weeks before the wedding, I`ll call to confirm that he received everything and go over the names with him. Like I said, I don`t exactly know his protocol on the final steps to the big day, this is just what I`m thinking of doing. But definitely I know the song list he requests two weeks prior. When we first met with Eddie, we already had a music list and we went over it with him back then, and since, we`ve discussed it several times. Basically it`s just up to us to figure out exactly what we want as the intro song and maybe the cake cutting song (which we thought we had figured out!). We just have too many ideas that we like ... but to me that`s better than having none, I guess. :) All I know is that the music list for me has been the most fun of the whole planning process.

you girls rock!

Thanks all for responding. In regards to the cake...we haven't really give it tons of thought other than having the 3-tiered stacked and my FI wants yellow cake no matter what but I'm gonna definitely push for chocolate filling. I may give and go with strawberry but it's not too big of a concern for me. I'm also using the Florist at the Milleridge who was just the nicest guy. I'm very excited about that. As for the tasting, I'll have to give a full report. Leslie is who we are dealing with and she has been incredible so far. I am very excited that we were able to afford the Milleridge and they have truly been very accommodating thus far. Kel, as for the dj, I'm going to do what you stated and just mail him all the announcment info and go over it with him and perhaps discuss over the phone. Thank you all, your taking your time is truly a help!

Song lists

That is the one gripe I have with SAS, almost a year dealing with them and still no song list!!!!

really? I got one right away last year *NM*

SAS - song list

We got one from Tom White when we met w/ him. We ended up booking another DJ so we returned it to him. It's huge - it has to be over 30 pages. Just call him and ask him to mail it to you.

SAS & song lists

When we met with Spin Around Sound, we got a song list, but it wasn`t 30 pages. He promised us the complete list after we signed with them, which we didn`t. But at that time, back in the fall of last year when we met with Tom White, he had told us the music list was in the process of being added to their website .. however, it still says 'Coming Soon' after all these months. Try doing a search through google using variations of wedding music or wedding songs and see what comes up. Google searches have been extremely helpful for us.

SAS & song lists

We made a copy of his list before we sent it back (shhh, don't tell him). I just took it out of he 'DJ file' since I've been meaning to seriously work on our song list (right, Kel?) LOL Anyway....it's 58 pages. Yikes. I'm not sure what Kel got from him. He has it broken up by genre. Quite comprehensive!! For the record (no pun intended), the song list our DJ gave us is about 5 pages - just the most 'popular' songs. Good luck!!

SAS & song lists

I think the list he gave us was just a basic list ... broken down into some sort of categories .. I think stuff like 'mushy love songs' and whatever else. I`m not really sure. I haven`t looked at it in a while, but it sure wasn`t over 10 pages. Anyway, at the rate I`m going, I`m gonna need to cut songs off my 'Play List.' :)

Kel? Are you here?! :) *NM*

I was ... guess I missed you! :( Talk to you soon! *NM*

SAS & song lists

When we met him last Fall we looked at a list while we were there but he didn't let us take it. He said we could have one after we book. Well we booked and then he said he was doing a major update to the list and it would be ready by the new year. Uh huh, well its seven months later and I asked him where this list is and he said he was still working on it. I'm starting to get annoyed.

To Linda D. re: Eddie w/ Parameters (LONG)

Kel You've already sent out your invites? You are getting married when in Sept? When should I send mine out? My wedding is Sept 29th. Jen