AYANNA-- Help me!

Ayanna, how did your meeting at Oheka go? I have my details meeting on Sunday so any helpful hints you'd like to share would be appreciated. Also, I just heard through the grapevine that Oheka changed chefs a couple of months ago. I guess I'd better get my butt to another food tasting! Any comments -- good or bad?

To The Rescue!!!!

Hey Gina!!! Yes, they did change chef's and I really loved Winnie, but I hear he's at the restaurant portion only of Carlisle on the Green. Anyway, the current head chef at Oheka has been with Oheka for about 10 years and worked with Winnie, so he is wonderful as well... The tasting was amazing! I have to say that our choices that we thought we liked before did in fact change... For example, the salad that we loved the first time was still good, but not as good as the one we chose this time! Our beef choice changed too... The one we LOVED last time was 'okay' but the one we chose was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I would definitely suggest that you have another tasting, b/c I really can't believe that we changed our choices so much! Honestly, everything is still wonderful! Believe it or not, we also decided to stay at the Castle! Originally we were going to the Garden City Hotel, but when we saw the suite at the Oheka, it was unbelievable! It's part of our contract anyway, and we weren't going to take advantage of it, but now we can't wait! Tom, the Banquet Manager, is wonderful! We also chose our cake and we LOVE Daniel! That was a great experience! I really believe that Oheka will do everything to make the day beautiful so I'm going to relax and enjoy being a Princess for the day, on in to the rest of my life!! I don't know the last time that you were there, but the have new draperies in the ballroom that are BEAUTIFUL!!! Anyway, any other questions that you have let me know and I'll oblige! Good Luck and Have Fun!!! Ayanna

To The Rescue!!!!

Thanks for all the valuable info! We definitely need to do a tasting again then. Did you ever get to taste any of the h'ors d'oervres? Tell me about how you got the suite -- the regular room is part of the contract, but I was really going to push for a suite if they weren't both occupied (highly unlikely anyway...). Knowing that other brides have gotten the suite will give me more leverage. My mom stopped in during the week and she told me that have beautiful new furniture in the entry...now I'll have to check out the curtains too. I am all set to be the princess too -- picked up my tiara yesterday! What is your date again? I think it's before mine, which means VERY soon!

To The Rescue!!!!

Hey Gina S.!! I have been to affairs there before (never a wedding) so yes I've had the stations and the passed hor d'vors (sp?) and they are out of this world!! That's why we planned such a long day b/c we want to BE at the Cocktail Hour w/ our guests!! The food is great!! And the dessert cafe is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! Really!! Choose that it will be amazing! Now the deal with the suite...Honestly I don't know how we got it, but all I do know is that I have spoken to a number of Oheka Brides and we ALL get something different. I think a lot of it may be based on what you're paying for. For example, for all I know, you could be paying a lower per person rate than I, or I paid for upgrades on my cake and you didn't. So, it really depends on how good of a deal you feel you got, if you got a deal at all. You could always see if they could cut the cost of the suite in half for you, or something like that. I've toured all of the rooms, and each of the rooms are STUNNING!! You can't go wrong with any of them. Take the tour and choose the one you love. They are gorgeous!!They're going to give you a suggested tip sheet and that it unbelievable!! Tipping everyone is a lot of cash too! They also have this beautiful new furniture in the library. Are you doing the Jazz hour at the end of the night? It's really nice. Hope this helps a little!! Good Luck and let me know if there is anything else! Ayanna

Ayanna, Hate to be a pain....

Ayanna, You have been so helpful! I have one more request: would you mind revealing the dinner choices that you switched from and to? You can e-mail me privately at [email protected] if you don't want to give it all away... Just so you know, our original contenders were the salad w/goat cheese, veal chop, stuffed chicken and sea bass. The dessert cafe was always in the plan :-). THANKS!

Gina, you are NOT a Pain:o)!

Hey Gina! How was your final meeting? Let me know! I hope it was great!! I will email you privately to tell you about the meal changes... Keep me posted and when is your wedding? Ayanna

Gina, you are NOT a Pain:o)!

The meeting went very well -- and got me excited about my wedding all over again! I can't believe how nice Tom is. I told him I loved a particular type of flower that was in the entryway arrangement and he actually called the florist right then and there to ask what type of flower it was! Anyway, we have scheduled a food tasting on 4/11 -- which is a little close since the wedding is 4/20 (!) -- but Tom assured me that it would be OK for me to give him the final menu then. I'd definitely like to get your opinions. We chose the gold tablecloths, went over the timing and seating arrangments. Picked a cake...so fun! And we got a suite too :-).

Gina, you are NOT a Pain:o)!

Ooh!! Which suite did you get? I am so happy that it went well! Which cake did you choose? Did you upgrade? I'll email you soon! Ayanna