To Extend or Not to Extend - CH & VH

Hello Fellow Brides,

The FH and I have been to too many places to count and yet the one thing that they all seem to have in common is the ability to either extend the cocktail hour by a half hour and the overall reception by an hour if we chose to have a Viennese Table set up...

So here are my questions:

1. Is it worth the extra money, (average we've been getting is $5 pp), to extend the CH by 30 minutes?

and

2. If we opt for the Viennese Hour should we include it in the original 5 hour package or extend the overall time frame of the party by 1 hour? (average savings to have the VH **during** the last hour of your wedding is almost half the price, i.e. $12 pp for extended time, $7 pp without the time extension) **extra time would include the open bar and service but not necessarily include DJ/Band time - that would be separate**

Let me know what you girls think :)

--If it helps at all, we are having a Saturday evening wedding which will start at approx. 7 pm and go until 11:30ish... 1 am if we have both 'extensions'

Thanks! <3

I really wanted to extend the party and add a VH hour but when it came to the $, it was too expensive once we factored in the DJ and Video/Photographer extension of time (I'm a MAJOR picture person, so even though the photo people can go early, I couldn't let that happen)

Also, we have sooooo much food that all those deserts will just stuff everyone overboard... I remember last wedding that I was in a sugar coma from the VH.

Extending the Coctail hour however, I haven't come across but since the Coctail food is my favorite part, I would definatly say go with that. It also gives your guests more time to arrive before the Reception if they are running late. And I feel more people mingle and talk to those they need to 'catch up with' during this time.

are you getting married at the RH not? if your getting married at the RH, you may want to extend CH by a half hour.. just so you, FH and family dont have to rush pics and miss CH. The 5$ per person is definatly a good price.

As for the VH it is completely up to you. FH and i are thinking about doing one but it will be a lot of extra money. Also if you do extend the party an hour, not only will you have to pay for the extra hour but usually Djs wont include the extra hour in your package. Many places we went to see allowed us to sign the contract and gave us up to 2 weeks before the wedding to decide if we wanted to add it. FH and i love VHs but it does add up in more ways than one

Yeah you're right, I have no idea how much it would cost to extend the time for the photography and entertainment so it probably wouldn't be worth it.

I hope the place we finally book it at will have some sort of platter of happiness for dessert then :P

Thanks for the feedback, I'm almost 100% sure we're extending the CH since we won't see each other before the ceremony and want to make sure we take all of our pictures AND actually enjoy the CH :)

we really wanted the 1.5 hour cocktail hour

we didn't want to pay for it

and luckily we didn't!

when you finally pick a place, you can negotiate it into your contract

we just asked for it and they gave it to us!

we are having VH, but we are not extending the party 1 hour

we got the extra hour...and are doing 1/2 hr extra to CH and 1/2 hour extra to party

i'd say wait until you book and negotiate it!!

a few places we looked at told us they would throw in the extra hour for free if we booked with them

ETA:
most photographers pkgs include 12 hours of photo time, no?

so you just make sure you time out your day so that so they dont have to leave early

and if you get them to throw in the extra hour for free, you wont have to worry about paying for the dj for an extra half hour

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Posted by LoveyDovey

we really wanted the 1.5 hour cocktail hour

we didn't want to pay for it

and luckily we didn't!

when you finally pick a place, you can negotiate it into your contract

we just asked for it and they gave it to us!

we are having VH, but we are not extending the party 1 hour

we got the extra hour...and are doing 1/2 hr extra to CH and 1/2 hour extra to party

i'd say wait until you book and negotiate it!!

a few places we looked at told us they would throw in the extra hour for free if we booked with them

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That really is just the best advice that I have been getting from people... Sign a contract with the bare minimum amount of money and then afterward negotiate the extras at a smaller amount...

My FH wants to use the old 'I will write you a check right now if you do ......' soooo bad!!! x 1000000 hahaha

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Posted by SoonToBeMrsONeill

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Posted by LoveyDovey

we really wanted the 1.5 hour cocktail hour

we didn't want to pay for it

and luckily we didn't!

when you finally pick a place, you can negotiate it into your contract

we just asked for it and they gave it to us!

we are having VH, but we are not extending the party 1 hour

we got the extra hour...and are doing 1/2 hr extra to CH and 1/2 hour extra to party

i'd say wait until you book and negotiate it!!

a few places we looked at told us they would throw in the extra hour for free if we booked with them

---

That really is just the best advice that I have been getting from people... Sign a contract with the bare minimum amount of money and then afterward negotiate the extras at a smaller amount...

My FH wants to use the old 'I will write you a check right now if you do ......' soooo bad!!! x 1000000 hahaha

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no no no, do what FH says!!!! he is on the MONEY!!!!!

FH took out his CC and told the lady '$XX at 150 pp with A B and C and we'll sign right now'

thats the best way to do it!

do NOT sign the contract first and then add in the extra hour

id try to get the things you REALLY want when you sign

and of course you can add some extras later

for ex: we knew we wanted VH and Seafood bar - those were our 2 must haves

so we negotiated those
we got a few other extras too(martini bar, roast pig and extra CH station)

buttt we plan on trying to upgrade a few more things closer to the wedding

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Posted by LoveyDovey

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Posted by SoonToBeMrsONeill

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Posted by LoveyDovey

we really wanted the 1.5 hour cocktail hour

we didn't want to pay for it

and luckily we didn't!

when you finally pick a place, you can negotiate it into your contract

we just asked for it and they gave it to us!

we are having VH, but we are not extending the party 1 hour

we got the extra hour...and are doing 1/2 hr extra to CH and 1/2 hour extra to party

i'd say wait until you book and negotiate it!!

a few places we looked at told us they would throw in the extra hour for free if we booked with them

---

That really is just the best advice that I have been getting from people... Sign a contract with the bare minimum amount of money and then afterward negotiate the extras at a smaller amount...

My FH wants to use the old 'I will write you a check right now if you do ......' soooo bad!!! x 1000000 hahaha

---

no no no, do what FH says!!!! he is on the MONEY!!!!!

FH took out his CC and told the lady '$XX at 150 pp with A B and C and we'll sign right now'

thats the best way to do it!

do NOT sign the contract first and then add in the extra hour

id try to get the things you REALLY want when you sign

and of course you can add some extras later

for ex: we knew we wanted VH and Seafood bar - those were our 2 must haves

so we negotiated those
we got a few other extras too(martini bar, roast pig and extra CH station)

buttt we plan on trying to upgrade a few more things closer to the wedding

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That's awesome!

LOL I'm just going to let the FH have the reins on this one then :)

I like the idea of maybe getting the extra hour and splitting it 30/30

thanks for the feedback ladies!!!

IMO I would extend the CH but not add the VH.

You have to take into consideration what time your ceremony is that day. Then remember that you will have a photographer with you earlier then that & you have to get your hair & make-up done earlier then that.

So you can see the time table this is what my day looks like:

7:30AM Wake-Up
8AM-9:30AM Hair
9:30AM-10:30AM Make-Up
11AM Photographer Arrives for Pictures
1:30PM We leave for Church
2PM Ceremony
3:45PM-4:45PM Pictures at Botanical Gardens
5PM Arrive at hall for more pictures
6PM Family arrives at hall for more pictures
7PM-8PM CH
8PM-12AM Reception

So from start to finish the day is really 15.5 Hours.

Just keep that in mind.

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Posted by christine2010

IMO I would extend the CH but not add the VH.

You have to take into consideration what time your ceremony is that day. Then remember that you will have a photographer with you earlier then that & you have to get your hair & make-up done earlier then that.

So you can see the time table this is what my day looks like:

7:30AM Wake-Up
8AM-9:30AM Hair
9:30AM-10:30AM Make-Up
11AM Photographer Arrives for Pictures
1:30PM We leave for Church
2PM Ceremony
3:45PM-4:45PM Pictures at Botanical Gardens
5PM Arrive at hall for more pictures
6PM Family arrives at hall for more pictures
7PM-8PM CH
8PM-12AM Reception

So from start to finish the day is really 15.5 Hours.

Just keep that in mind.

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Oh my gosh this is THE BEST response everrrrrrr.... I really needed to see a time table, and it helps even more that you and I are pretty much starting everything at the same time.

I give credit to the brides that have afternoon weddings... I can't even imagine how early they are waking up :/

If anyone else has a time-table like this please share!!!!!!!

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Posted by jmgoncal

I think we're going to add the VH with the extra hour. I think if you're going to do it, you should do it with the extra hour otherwise you're going to lose an hour of 'dancing time' when people are lined up for the VH stations. I know someone mentioned the DJ/Photo for an extra hour and I know this has just been my experience, but both of ours threw in the extra hour at no additional charge - I think when you're spending that much $$ what's another hour to them?

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Oh that would be so great! Thanks for the advice!

I would really love to extend the CH just so we can get ALL the pictures done and still enjoy a full hour of it but FH and I talked it over and to extend the CH 30 minutes more means people eating that much more food and they may not be as hungry when the dinner is served and no one will eat.

And to extend the reception 30mins at first didn't seem like a great idea only because we were planning on going on a cruise the day after but now that we are not, it's a possibility we may extend it an extra 30mins. We are not planning on doing an after party so why not throw in a little extra dancing time.

I think CH more than an hour is too long.

I feel like they start to drag and people are anxious to get the party started already.

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Posted by LoveyDovey
no no no, do what FH says!!!! he is on the MONEY!!!!!

FH took out his CC and told the lady '$XX at 150 pp with A B and C and we'll sign right now'

thats the best way to do it!

do NOT sign the contract first and then add in the extra hour

id try to get the things you REALLY want when you sign

and of course you can add some extras later

for ex: we knew we wanted VH and Seafood bar - those were our 2 must haves

so we negotiated those
we got a few other extras too(martini bar, roast pig and extra CH station)

buttt we plan on trying to upgrade a few more things closer to the wedding

---

ITA! DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT WITHOUT EVERYTHING THAT YOU WANT IN IT.
They will only charge you piece-meal later on! This happened at my Sweet 16 (at Verdi's of Westbury). My mom added a candy table later on, which was originally $250 at contract signing, but $900 a few weeks before the party! If you negotiate it from the start, you will probably get it for free (or pay a lot less for it).

My scenario: We were quoted $76.00pp (plus tax and grat) for a Friday night in November at CHCC. We really wanted a VH with extra hour and also needed a hospitality hour BEFORE the CH (TONS of OOT guests). They wanted to charge us $12pp for VH w/ the extra hour and $3pp for the hospitality. We also really wanted to add a pasta course and intermezzo to our meal. Those were $4pp and $3pp extra. We also wanted a mashed potato bar at our cocktail hour and wine on the tables during our reception. Mashed potatoes was $2pp and wine was $3pp. We also wanted one type of pasta w/ two sauces at the CH, which was an additional $2pp. We also negotiated a third rolling bar ($300) and got them to make the hospitality open bar (which was $5pp instead of $3pp). They also wanted to charge us something like $500 for an outdoor cocktail hour (which we won't know if we're doing until the day of, obviously).

We got ALL of that. And we're only paying $86.50pp (plus tax/grat). So that's $31pp and $800 charge for the rolling bar/outdoor CH that we got for a total of $10.50 more pp. Based on our guarantee of 150 people, that's only $1575 more and look at all the stuff we got?! DEFINITELY NEGOTIATE. Remember, THEY WORK FOR YOU.

IMO, You're spending so much money on your wedding, what's another $1500?

The only problem we did run into was with our band (Code Bleu) - they wanted to charge us $200 per musician for the extra hour but I got them down to $75

Photographer (Duet) didn't seem to have a problem with it but they're going to take some shots of the VH and jet about 15 minutes in.

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Posted by jme78

I think CH more than an hour is too long.

I feel like they start to drag and people are anxious to get the party started already.

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ITA with this. I personally hate CHs and plan on getting all of my 'hellos' done during that time instead.

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Posted by leesah85

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Posted by LoveyDovey
no no no, do what FH says!!!! he is on the MONEY!!!!!

FH took out his CC and told the lady '$XX at 150 pp with A B and C and we'll sign right now'

thats the best way to do it!

do NOT sign the contract first and then add in the extra hour

id try to get the things you REALLY want when you sign

and of course you can add some extras later

for ex: we knew we wanted VH and Seafood bar - those were our 2 must haves

so we negotiated those
we got a few other extras too(martini bar, roast pig and extra CH station)

buttt we plan on trying to upgrade a few more things closer to the wedding

---

ITA! DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT WITHOUT EVERYTHING THAT YOU WANT IN IT.
They will only charge you piece-meal later on! This happened at my Sweet 16 (at Verdi's of Westbury). My mom added a candy table later on, which was originally $250 at contract signing, but $900 a few weeks before the party! If you negotiate it from the start, you will probably get it for free (or pay a lot less for it).

My scenario: We were quoted $76.00pp (plus tax and grat) for a Friday night in November at CHCC. We really wanted a VH with extra hour and also needed a hospitality hour BEFORE the CH (TONS of OOT guests). They wanted to charge us $12pp for VH w/ the extra hour and $3pp for the hospitality. We also really wanted to add a pasta course and intermezzo to our meal. Those were $4pp and $3pp extra. We also wanted a mashed potato bar at our cocktail hour and wine on the tables during our reception. Mashed potatoes was $2pp and wine was $3pp. We also wanted one type of pasta w/ two sauces at the CH, which was an additional $2pp. We also negotiated a third rolling bar ($300) and got them to make the hospitality open bar (which was $5pp instead of $3pp). They also wanted to charge us something like $500 for an outdoor cocktail hour (which we won't know if we're doing until the day of, obviously).

We got ALL of that. And we're only paying $86.50pp (plus tax/grat). So that's $31pp and $800 charge for the rolling bar/outdoor CH that we got for a total of $10.50 more pp. Based on our guarantee of 150 people, that's only $1575 more and look at all the stuff we got?! DEFINITELY NEGOTIATE. Remember, THEY WORK FOR YOU.

IMO, You're spending so much money on your wedding, what's another $1500?

The only problem we did run into was with our band (Code Bleu) - they wanted to charge us $200 per musician for the extra hour but I got them down to $75

Photographer (Duet) didn't seem to have a problem with it but they're going to take some shots of the VH and jet about 15 minutes in.

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Hospitality before the CH is great, that's really the main reason that we wanted to extend it by the half hour... And you bring up a great point, I think we'll be able to raise the minimum in order to guarantee a better price for things. Thank you so much!!!