Questins to ask Reception locations

I am making a list of questions to ask the coordinators of the locations and I am asking for any ideas. Thank You

Questins to ask Reception locations Here's top 8

1.What Month's And Day's Are Discounted 2.How Many Event's going on At Same Time 3.What's your minimum Guarantee for this 4.Are you allowed to bring own vendors 5.How Long have you been in Business 6.References can they supply 7.Do they Have a cdRom of their Location 8.Do they allow propects through their wedding when your event is going on. that one you'll have to test yourself.

Windows on the Lake: You CANNOT post here as a vendor *NM*

Questions-Long

I looked at about 15 halls last year. Here are some questions off the top of my head: - minimum guarantee - how many affairs at a time - what is included in the menu, is it customizable, what can be changed without a charge, with a charge, price of add-ons such as seafood, dessert - can you use your own vendors or do they have a list of vendors - tax and tip charges - can you take pcitures on the grounds, how much earlier can you arrive -bridal attendant? how long is she/he there? split time between other events? is other staff shared with other events? - number of staff per table, # of bartenders - what is included with open bar? types of beer and alcohol -renovations? current or planned? -can you pick your table linens? - are centerpieces included for reception and/or Cocktail hour? - are the trays at cocktail hour refreshed? how often and for how long? as well are there a limit to the pass-arounds? - look at the bathrooms...do they look like they can accommodate your affair as well as other affairs that may be going on.... - is there a party earlier in the day and the time of the affair...you want to make sure your room will be ready when you need it and it will be clean. - food tasting? I am sure there are a million more that can be asked... I saw sooo many places and found pro's and con's with everyone. I started getting soo confused....There are sooo many nice places in LI. so what we did is ranked what was important to us and found a place that was close to that. We liked not too many affairs at one time (preferrably only one), nice inside, lots of good food esp in the cocktail hour, not too stuffy/yuppie that people would want to party! We weren't tooc concerned with grounds (late-fall wedding) and with price.

Questions-Long

How much do they charge for vendors' plates? If you're having children, find out if they're free under 5 and how much for over 5 years of age. If you want an ice sculpture, find out if it's included. Is wine on the table included? Valet Parking? GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING!!!!! And I mean everything!!!!

Bridetobe & bearsbabe_113

Thanks I missed some that you guys mentioned. The kids thing bearsbabe_113, was perfect b/c my FH has a klan of kids in his families and I don't want to pick and choose which ones will attend since some are in the wedding party.

cw0904

I've posted before about this, make sure they don't charge you for any children under 5. It's ridiculous because they don't eat, they're only sitting (for 2 seconds at a time) and besides, they can eat something at cocktail hour or from their mother's plates. For the children over 5 and under 12 (usually that's the cut-off age), they should only charge you half-price. I got married at the Sand Castle and I paid 1/2 price but only once I met my guarantee!!! That's another thing to ask, what happens if you don't make your guarantee, especially with your vendors. ALWAYS LOW BALL YOUR GUARANTEE NUMBER!!! For instance, we originally said around 175, so we guaranteed 150. We invited 215 and only ended up with 160 and that was including 2 kids (under 12) and 2 children (under 3) and 6 vendors (but only charged for 3)!!!! You do not want to 'eat' all those plates!!! So make your guarantee lower than you anticipate! You can always add more, but once you have to subtract, it'll cost you.

bearsbabe_113

Thanks! Just when you think you have it all something else is a great idea to consider! My fear is I will be paying way too much for what I am getting. How is the Sand Castle by the way? I am thinking about visiting next weekend. Thanks for advice!

bearsbabe_113

Oh I loved it! One of the reasons I wanted to look there (it was my first place and choice) was because nobody in my family (or my friends) had gotten married there, so it was 'original'. The prices were comparable to every other place, but I felt like we got more for our money. The photo ops in that place are great (my pics came out excellent). I've gotten nothing but compliments about the wedding from the place to the food to the service, so I was very happy overall with everything. And even though there was another wedding going on downstairs (ours was upstairs w/the cocktail hour in the downstairs room), you never knew it because their reception started during my cocktail hour. I dealt with Stavroula, very nice. My second choice was Jericho Terrace, but my sister had gotten married there and my DH didn't want the same place. Floral Terrace is really nice also, same owners as Sand Castle. When are you looking to get married?

bearsbabe_113

Not till March 2004. I want to book asap so we save a little on the reception and use our budget for other things.