First time looking at reception sites...

So Saturday is our first time looking at reception sites and I am freaking out. I mean, its 7:53 and I'm up and posting, but I don't even have work today!!! I couldn't sleep all night, but FH was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him, so i had to wait until he woke up for work.

I don't know how to act when we look at places...Do i act like I love it if i do, or pretend its alright/not that great? I feel like i'm buying a car and waiting for them to throw in a sunroof and bose speakers

And i know this was posted already, but what are the most important things that i have to ask? I'm so nervous!!!

Thanks ladies!!

*ETA* How long should I plan on being at each place? We want to schedule a few places in the same day and i want to make sure i set up the times correctly, so we won't be rushing around Long Island

Don't be nervous. Remember they want your business, at the end of the day they will work for you! I found if I was nice to them, I got the same in return. The more I acted interested in a place, the more they were willing to work with me and my budget. Good Luck - you'll find your place

Thanks Maryanne!
I'm flipping out over here and I needed some consoling

I was SO you!!! I didn't want to show too much excitement or else we wouldn't be able to haggle, etc... I showed excitement anyway and we were still able to get $$ off.

For me the most important questions to ask were how many people could sit at CH? what could guests do if they arrived early? what will you serve my guests upon arrival?

I spent about 1 1/2 hr at each place. Only b/c I was so nervouse myself. I just went through the motions and wrote down in a notebook what appealed to me - then for my final choice, I asked them to do everything for me that I liked at other places. For the most part they accomodated me....

I would tell you to not be nervous but it's impossible. Good luck!!! FM me if you have any specific questions!

we went to five places one saturday. george washinton manor, swan club, metropolitan, mileridge cottage, milleridge carriage house, and fox hollow. we could have went to other places but the places were not available when we originally wanted to book and fh had to go to work.

eta: most took 1 to 2 hours. cb took almost 3 hours. we tried not to be rude and seem interested for most of the time to see if we held out and asked a lot of quesitons if the price would drop

sorry if this annoys anyone who hates to read long posts!!!

I've only been on two trips so far..

Trip 1:
Jericho Terrace, Floral Terrace, Westbury Manor, then Coral House

Trip 2: (we started really late in the day)
Woodbury Country Club, Westbury Manor

On both trips we averaged about 1.5 hr per place. Some places walked us around and gave us a detailed tour, others just did a quick tour and sat us down in the BM's office for a while. My questions are below. I have it in .doc format if you'd like..just FM me to let me know. I bolded certain words in each question so that during the meeting if they mention one of the 'key words' I can find it easily by glancing through the sheet (you'll see the bolded words in the word document, not this post). I'm a freak, I know. I'm working on an .xls sheet with all of the questions and vendors listed so that I can compare their answers side by side.

I wouldn't stress out too much. The night before the first trip I was so anxious. After visiting a few places, though, you'll realize that they've done this so many times before that they can usually answer all of your questions before you even ask, and some of them give you really nice packets of information to take home so that you don't waste time writing while they're talking.

In terms of planning your trips, I used google maps (http://maps.google.com) because you can enter in multiple destinations. If you have a google account you can also save locations, which saves you time looking up addresses if you're visiting a place more than once!!

Good luck and have fun!!

--------------Questions-------------------
Site:

Date:

Name:

Phone:

Dates Available:




Maximum number of concurrent events:


Photos of the venue in different seasons available?

When is a final head count needed?

Renovations planned (what, when, completion date)?


Plowing or cancellation due to extreme weather?



Min/Max for Ceremony Room, number of chairs, dimensions:


Number of Chairs:

Dimensions:



Minimum for Cocktail Hour Room, table sizes, max number of tables, table shapes, dimensions:

Number of Tables:

Table Sizes:

Table Shapes:

Dimensions of Room:

What type of liquor?




Minimum for Reception Room, table sizes, max number of tables, table shapes:

Number of Tables:

Table Sizes:

Table Shapes:

Dimensions of Room:

Dimensions of Dance Floor:

What type of liquor? Champagne?





How long will we have the site? Is there an overtime fee if we stay longer?



How early can the bridal party arrive (pictures)?



Is there an in-house wedding planner? Free? How involved are they?




Will there be another party just before or just after ours? Enough time to clean up and redecorate before the next wedding begins? Are there separate restrooms?



Bridal Suite? Size and Location?



Are there decoration guidelines or restrictions?



Will there be, or can you set up, a coatroom? How many restroom facilities? How many elevators?




Do you have liability insurance? (If someone gets injured during the party, you don't want to be held responsible -- if the site doesn't have insurance, you'll need to get your own.)




Package/Cost:

What’s included? (valet, wedding cake, linens – colors?, ceremony, decorations, directions)

? Coat Check
? Linens (colors)


? Decorations



? Bridal Suite (overnight?)
? Directional Cards
? Bar Service (what kind of liquor, length of time, throughout entire wedding)



? Champagne Toast
? Cocktail Hour (number of choices, length of time)


? Dinner
Number of courses:
Number of entrée Options:
Tasting/showcases available:







When is the final menu set?

? Dessert (if just the cake, can we cut the price?)

? Wedding Cake
Limitations on flavor/filling:



Charge for outside cakes?

? If there's parking, is it free? If not, what are the rates and gratuities for valets? (You can and should pay this up front so your guests don't have to tip.)



Ratio of Guests/Servers:



Number of Bars and Bartenders:


Number of Coat Room and Rest Room Attendants:


Number of Valet:


How much are vendor meals?


Kids half price? Age range (limit on number of ½ price kids):


Are vendors or kids included in room minimums?


Gratuities – set fee? How is it distributed?

%







Deposit Amount:

Method of Payment:

Payment schedule:



What's the cancellation policy? Some places will refund most of your deposit if you cancel far enough in advance (often 60 days), since there's still a chance they can rent the space. After a certain date, though, you may not be able to get a refund -- at least not a full one.




Vendors:

Can we use outside vendors? Is there an extra fee? Do we need insurance for vendors?


When can vendors arrive to set up?


Photography/Videographer/Florist recommendations:




Hotel Recommendations:



Notes:

the very first thing i told my BM is that i can guarantee him at least 100 people cause you never want to guarantee them more than that. i mean cause what happens if you give them a 125 person guaranteee. then you get stuck paying for people that answered no. oh and always find out how much the extras are such as vieneze sushi bar raw bar chocolate fountain if you choose any of those things. and i always ask how much the matre d tip is if you google search the sentence what to ask when looking at reception halls that might help alot

oh here are the sites to some of the most reasonable places for our budget they were all really nice
brentwood cc- www.bccli.com
mediteranian manor- www.medmanor.com
sunset harbor of patchogue- www.sunsetharbour.com
west lake caterers of patchogue- www.westlake.com
smithtown landing- www.lessings.com
those are just a few of the places we loved i higly recomend sunset harbour for waterfront setting

---

Posted by maybride75

the very first thing i told my BM is that i can guarantee him at least 100 people cause you never want to guarantee them more than that. i mean cause what happens if you give them a 125 person guaranteee. then you get stuck paying for people that answered no. oh and always find out how much the extras are such as vieneze sushi bar raw bar chocolate fountain if you choose any of those things. and i always ask how much the matre d tip is if you google search the sentence what to ask when looking at reception halls that might help alot

---

A good BM should tell you all of that, at least i hope...We were given a price list of all the extras and maitre'd tip was written in the contract. Its good though to ask them to lower your minimum, but also can't go overboard either...Like i would never be able to request for 100, they would've just put me in a different room or something. I was told i have to guarantee 275