Intro post

[brand_new_hope_]

Name and/or LJ userID:  Emili / brand_new_hope_

Wedding Date: June 19th or 26th 2010 - haven't quite decided yet!

Bride/Groom/Other (please specify):  Bride!

Age: 18

City/State/Country you live in: Norwich, CT

City/State/Country you're getting married in (if different): same

Your song/First Dance song: No decision yet.

Wedding Colors: Deep red is the

Comments

[unhappyunbroken]

as far as the cash bar deal... What we did was we paid for all the beer and wine, but if people wanted mixed drinks, shots, harder stuff in general then they had to pay for it.

congrats on the lil one :)

[katherinemarion]

This. We are buying all of the wine (approximately two bottles per table) and if anyone wants something that is not included such as mixed drinks then they have to pay.

[_lindz]

That's what we did too - put one bottle of red and one bottle of white on each table (which had 8 people). If they wanted anything else after that then it was on their own bill and not a single person complained. :)

[sweetfu]

What about a limited open bar? Beer, Wine, and a drink or something for the toasts---only available for a cocktail hour (should you have one) and dinner? It limits what's available and for the time period.

As for dress shopping, keep in mind that some dresses need tons of time to order, so when you go shopping ask for a dress that has an expedited shipping process. I don't have any suggestions to make it easier though :-(

Good luck and welcome!

[brand_new_hope_]

I like that idea, like a cocktail hour before the dinner and then maybe bottles of wine on the tables? And the toast of course. That sounds doable/reasonable to me.

[ferdelance]

Im from CT .. welcome to a very expensive state to get married in.. Our Photographer for our wedding was www.valmccormick.com. I cannot say enough good things about her.. her price range is from 2000-5000 dollars. Let me know if you need any other CT recommendations. Good luck planning!

[brand_new_hope_]

Ugh I know, CT is so expensive in general. When I go to other states I'm always shocked at the seemingly low prices haha. I'll definitely check out that photographer, thanks a bunch :)

[kayeyem]

Do a consumption bar?

Aka, give the venue a set amount of money...and once that amount runs out it turns into a cash bar.

[bessie_glass]

This.

[cuelight]

Seconded. We're toying with this idea as well. It means that we can treat our friends and family to a few drinks but if they want to get slaughtered then they can do it with their own money.

[dizzying_highs]

This is what we are doing, and "it means that we can treat our friends and family to a few drinks but if they want to get slaughtered then they can do it with their own money" was my thought exactly. The amount we have allotted toward the bar should be enough for the majority of the drinks, but if it isn't our guests will have to cover the rest themselves. We didn't want to open the bar completely, just in case the bill is through the roof, but we wanted to provide most, if not all of the drinks for our guests. This the most budget-friendly compromise for us.

[hybrid_element]

Congratulations on everything! (We're name and color twins!) =)

We're also doing a display cake and a sheet cake in the back. Our caterers sounded really familiar with this and didn't have a problem with it. Maybe just ask them to bring the cute little cake into the back where they're cutting the sheet cake? Then it'll look like the pieces are magically multiplying! Haha.

[brand_new_hope_]

I just went back and read what I posted and as I suspected it was kind of confusing lol. The caterers aren't staying to serve the food or anything, they're pretty much just setting up the buffet table for us and leaving so they won't be there when it comes time to cut the cake, thus my dilemma.

What ideas are you doing so far for your colors?? I'd love to know. Yay twins :)

[kaitl]

When we went to talk with the baker about a cake I was envisioning a small cute cake with sheet cakes to feed the masses... but it turned out that the bakery could do a gorgeous cake to feed everyone for basically the same price (it was ~$270 to serve 120).

Shop around for bakeries (check out weddingwire.com for reviews) and see if you can get a big, beautiful cake within your budget. :)