The Upgrades

The Upgrades

September 10th, 2009 @ 1:52 pm by Mrs. Cowboy Boot
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Our “acceptance” percentage? The final tally falls into the 45% range. That means we have a total of around 65 guests attending our lil’ shindig. You’d think I’d be disappointed but, to be honest, I’m excited for the intimate experience it will now be. I’ve talked a little bit about our food-and-beverage minimum. That, combined with our lower-than-expected head count, means that we have to fill out our order to match the price minimum. Otherwise, we’ll end up paying a lot for very little, when we could be getting more.

So, what are we considering adding? Quite a bit.

1) Our BBQ menu now includes another dish:

The Upgrades : wedding food Colesla1 colesla

Cole Slaw (source)

And, since we last spoke about our menu, it’s also been updated with Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Aioli instead of BBQ chicken legs, and a tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad as our veggie.

2) On top of the above changes, we’ll be upgrading with a fairly plain “Field Green Salad”, which includes pickled leeks and Vermont cheddar, to either one of these:

-Bartlett Pear Salad with Bleu Cheese, Candied Pecans, and Banyuls Vinaigrette

The Upgrades : wedding food Pear021 pear02

(source)

-Heart of Romaine Salad with Blue Cheese Cream and Tomatoes and Lardons

The Upgrades : wedding food Romaine1 romaine

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3) We’ve added a light beer to our alcohol selection: Amstel Light, so our guests will have the choice of two keg beers (wheat beer and nut brown ale) and a bottled option.

The Upgrades : wedding food Amstel1 amstel

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4) We’re not only throwing in a signature cocktail, we’re upping the regular house tequila, Cuervo Gold, to Patron Silver. Yippeeeee for margaritas!

The Upgrades : wedding food Margari1 margari

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4) Our wines have gone from their cheapest level to their second best! Our choices?

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region in New Zealand

The Upgrades : wedding food Crawfor

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McManis Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma, California

The Upgrades : wedding food Mcmanis

(source)

5) We’ll now be having a champagne toast (it was originally going to be a toast with whatever our guests had in hand).

We’ll be serving Gloria Ferrer N/V

The Upgrades : wedding food Gf Bdb

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6) Late-night snacks. We’re thinking sliders (mini-burgers) and onion rings. Since we’re eating dinner at 5:30 PM, I figure we might be hungry right around 10 PM.

The Upgrades : wedding food Minibur

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The Upgrades : wedding food Onion

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Of the above, what is your favorite upgrade? What is your least favorite item? We may have to cut one thing and I’d love to know what’s least popular. Is the champagne toast unnecessary? Do we hang onto our original salad to save $5 per person on a more elaborate salad?

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71 Responses to “The Upgrades”

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Member

Gilneas (message) 1,393 posts, Bumble bee

The heart of romaine salad looks sooooo good.

9/10/09 @ 1:56 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Stiletto (message) 919 posts, Busy bee

Yummy, I’m all about the late night snacks!! So wish we could do little sliders and milkshakes or something

9/10/09 @ 1:57 pm (reply)

Member

MissPenny (message) 42 posts, Newbee

I would say either axe the champagne or the salads. (if I had to pick one to get rid of though it would be the champagne. Not everyone will drink it, or be drinking any alcohol for that matter) The burgers are a great idea. We had our wedding at an Italian venue, and we had them bring out stone cooked pizzas around 10 and it was a huge hit. Your food looks fab!

9/10/09 @ 1:57 pm (reply)

Member

kmattso2 (message) 1,046 posts, Bumble bee

That’s so awesome that you get to upgrade so many things…. but kind of sucks that you have to spend that money no matter what!

9/10/09 @ 1:58 pm (reply)

Hostess

tessabella76 (message) 3,122 posts, Sugar bee

Sounds yummy!

9/10/09 @ 1:58 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Peep Toe (message) 1,804 posts, Buzzing bee

The late night snack sounds awesome- I’d skip the salad upgrade if you can’t do it all.
PS Our guest list was 60 plus three kids- it was absolutely perfect. I heart small weddings!

9/10/09 @ 1:59 pm (reply)

Guest

We cut our champagne toast to save money. I don’t think it matters whether you have the champagne or not. I have noticed at other weddings that most people don’t tend to finish it. My fave is the late night snack - sliders & onion rings = awesome!
Your menu sounds delicious!

9/10/09 @ 2:01 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Guinea Pig (message) 1,367 posts, Bumble bee

Love the late night snack idea! And the Bartlett pear salad sounds delicious. If you’re going to have champagne available anyways, it would definitely be fine to have guests toast with whatever they want. Maybe give them a heads up that toasts are coming so if someone really wants to toast with champagne, they can go get a glass, without you having to provide everyone with a glass?

9/10/09 @ 2:02 pm (reply)

Member

MissCamera (message) 770 posts, Busy bee

As a guest I would be completely excited about the late night snack! The pear salad sounds scrumptious as well, and certainly plates better than the hearts of romaine salad.

I think you could save a bit by forgoing the champagne toast. I think it is completely unnecessary, and if you were going to skip it anyway, than the decision should be easy.

I would also suggest maybe cutting out the baked beans side option on the original menu. Would that help? You have so much food!

9/10/09 @ 2:04 pm (reply)

10.

Member

mrstye (message) 78 posts, Worker bee

I think the champagne toast can go — people will be fine w/ toasting w/ whatever they have on hand, and probably a lot wouldn’t change drinks even if the champagne toast were offered.

I’d keep the light beer, because people seem to like to have a light beer option. The late night snacks look super yummy. Upgrading the wine seems like a not a bad idea assuming there’s an actual difference ($10 to $20 bottle? yes. $40 to $50 bottle? maybe not so much).

The salad could also go either way. While field greens may seem a little plain, you’re pretty much gauranteed everyone will like it. However, the bartlett pear salad looks delish!

9/10/09 @ 2:04 pm (reply)

11.

Member

Gerbera (message) 4,481 posts, Honey bee

My fav is the Patron Silver upgrade (altho I do have to admit it seems a waste to put that in margaritas) only because it’s a huge price jump from Cuervo to Patron. I would either cut the Amstel Light or the Heart of Romaine Salad dependant on if you have another “simple” salad.
Yay for menu upgrades!

9/10/09 @ 2:06 pm (reply)

12.

Bee

Mrs. Perfume (message) 2,254 posts, Buzzing bee

Fantastic menu! It’s like stylized laid back. We love Kim Crawford Sauv Blanc and buy it in cases. Gloria Ferrer sparkling is very nice (have you been to their wine caves in Sonoma?). Great choices on everything!

9/10/09 @ 2:10 pm (reply)

13.

Guest

suzanne

I recently went to a wedding where they had the late-night snacks — it was a HUGE hit. Your guests will love it.

Personally, I would suggest getting rid of the champagne. It’s lovely, but not everyone likes it — often times, I see a champagne toast where people take one sip of the champagne during the toast and go back to their original drink.

I’m so excited to see your recaps!! Your wedding sounds like it’s going to be wonderful.

9/10/09 @ 2:11 pm (reply)

14.

Member

KathyQ (message) 138 posts, Blushing bee

I think your original salad sounds pretty good, and it sounds like the most universally-appealing one, so I wouldn’t bother upgrading that.

The black bean burgers sound great!

9/10/09 @ 2:11 pm (reply)

15.

Member

alohababy28 (message) 468 posts, Helper bee

Yum yum yum! Can I come??? If it were me, and I HAD to cut something out, it would probably be the wine upgrades- very few people can tell the difference, so unless you have a lot of big wine drinkers, I don’t think anyone would notice. I would keep the champagne toast- I think it’s very elegant.

9/10/09 @ 2:14 pm (reply)

16.

Member

KtobeC (message) 103 posts, Blushing bee

LOVE gloria ferrer, keep that for sure! I would probably cut the salad upgrade if you had to cut something. I’m hoping to do the late night snack as well, I think it’s really thoughtful to your out of town guests.

9/10/09 @ 2:15 pm (reply)

17.

Member

tea (message) 7,278 posts, Busy Beekeeper

my fav upgrade? burgers and onion rings! and i say go for the bartlett pear salad.

9/10/09 @ 2:18 pm (reply)

18.

Member

thefuturemrsjewell (message) 1,829 posts, Buzzing bee

love all your upgrades, i’d probably axe the salad though. With the added side dishes, i think a field greens salad would be plenty! Love all the beverage upgrades though!

9/10/09 @ 2:19 pm (reply)

19.

Bee

Miss Spaniel (message) 6,809 posts, Busy Beekeeper

If you have to drop something, drop the champagne toast–a lot of people don’t even like champagne/won’t drink it. But I agree that it’s nice to have! I would have said the salad, but the upgrade salads sound soooooo good.