Wedding Blog

This past weekend, Mr. Plumeria and I paid a visit to the hotel that we are using for our reception to meet with the on-site catering coordinator. Since the initial booking last May, we have not really had a chance to talk with her about wedding details. Granted, the facility did provide a very informative packet with menu options, etc. but there were host of other things I wanted to know about: decorations? Extra fees incurred for certain things? A/V setup? Lighting? And the list goes on.

One might think that I should have done all of this probing before we booked a location, but I think at the time we reserved the place, we were just glad to find a decent place that could comfortably fit our 420-person wedding in a banquet-style arrangement, had enough parking, and wouldn’t leave us completely destitute. (Don’t get me started on the amount of people. I have a large, large family, all of whom must be invited. My parents are helping to pay for their meals, so no objection from us, but, admittedly, the number of people made it that much more difficult to find a reception venue.)

I took a list of questions with me to ask and receive answers to, and I was glad that I did, because if I hadn’t had that slip of paper with me during the meeting, I know I would have forgotten half of my questions. Even so, I’m sure there’s some things I missed. Here’s some of the questions I asked, among others ;-):

- What are the decoration limitations, if any? In the case of dÆ’©cor items that need to be plugged in, are there ample outlets/strategic locations for these items?
- For external decorators, what time will they be able to enter the site to set up?
- What are typical table arrangements for an event of this type and size? Floorplan?
- What is the deadline for final headcount? What is the deadline for seating charts and menu choices, if different from headcount?
- How will different menu choices be denoted so everyone will get what they ordered?
- Do you have photographs of past similar events in the space that I can see?
- Chairs and/or chair covers: if I want to bring in an outside vendor for these, may I do so? Is there an additional fee for not using the internal vendor and existing chairs?
- A/V equipment: bring my own or provided? Certain items extra?
- Timing of food service: are there cooking/serving timing issues that need to be addressed because of the volume of meals that would affect the program schedule?
- Any outside vendors used frequently by prior customers and already familiar with hotel’s policies recommended?

What are some other important questions to ask a caterer/venue coordinator?