A Little Help?

A Little Help?

March 29th, 2010 @ 3:14 pm by Mrs. Starfish
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We recently learned that our wedding coordinator is no longer with our venue. She decided to make a career change, so we were moved to another coordinator at the Atlantic Beach Club named Elaine.

We were a little bummed about this at first because we really liked Jessica, our original coordinator. But after our first meeting with Elaine, we were super excited to work with her. She gave us so many great tips and has been with our venue for over a decade.

It was really refreshing because she gave us real advice. She knows we are on a budget and she was telling us ways to cut back without losing impact. One of her recommendations was to look at Shaw’s for a cake. We were originally looking into Costco, as we love the flavor of their cakes, but I was surprised to get this kind of recommendation from someone in the wedding industry. Typically it seems like all of the recommendations are to other vendor’s colleagues and friends on preferred vendor lists.

We clicked with her right away and we are both really happy to be working with her.

Due to our switch in coordinators, Elaine offered to let us taste six options at our food tasting in April, as opposed to the typical four. We thought that was really sweet. Then on top of that, she offered to add either a pasta course or extra hors d’oeuvres to our menu. We are going to get to try a pasta course during our tasting, but now we don’t know what to do.

Starfish Mom and FMIL Starfish both like the pasta course. They think people will appreciate an extra course more than an extra hors d’oeuvres. I agree, but… we were really hoping dinner would move quickly so we can get on to the dancing!

What do you think? Would you add an extra pasta course or throw in an extra hors d’oeuvres during cocktail hour?

Tags: newport, wedding-planner |

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21 Responses to “A Little Help?”

1 2 Last

Member

Ms. Library (message) 1,250 posts, Bumble bee

I think the extra pasta course would make a bigger impact. As much as I love moving on to the dancing, I think if you want people to remember dinner, the pasta is the way to go.

We actually just lost our wedding coordinator named Jessica too! We loved her a lot, but she moved out of state. The new one is nice, but her fabulous-ness has yet to be seen.

3/29/10 @ 3:19 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Cardigan (message) 8,645 posts, Bee Keeper

Extra pasta!
And the same thing happened to me - my original coordinator is no longer at the venue, and I don’t like my new one nearly as much

3/29/10 @ 3:27 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Hamster (message) 4,046 posts, Honey bee

Oh, tough decision, but I agree that the extra pasta course might have more impact. As far as the dancing, I think those that want to dance will get up on that floor no matter what!

3/29/10 @ 3:27 pm (reply)

Member

mandM (message) 187 posts, Blushing bee

sorry to confuse you even further but i had to give my 2 cents on this.
In October I went to a wedding where the dinner took more than 2 hours. By the time the dancing finally started, my feet were numb and I was so full of pasta and other heavy foods that all I wanted to do is go to bed.
If I were you i would skip the pasta and add more hors d’oeuvres.

3/29/10 @ 3:28 pm (reply)

Member

kayakgirl73 (message) 2,157 posts, Buzzing bee

More Hors d’ oeuvres.

3/29/10 @ 3:31 pm (reply)

Member

LittleSpitfire (message) 288 posts, Helper bee

I would do the hors d’oeuvres, no doubt. I also want dinner to move quickly.

3/29/10 @ 3:31 pm (reply)

Member

sambasoo79 (message) 76 posts, Worker bee

I would do the pasta course. As much as you want dinner to move quickly - it will! Our dinner went WAY too fast and there was still plenty of time for dancing.

It’ll be more impact and it’ll give you a few more minutes to chat with your guests!

3/29/10 @ 3:39 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Zebra (message) 1,044 posts, Bumble bee

Fun Fact: Elaine designed ABC after Ocean Cliff in Newport. She used to work there. Sorry… I’m only slightly obsessed PROMISE! If I were in your shoes I would go for the extra hors d’oeuvres. Cocktail hour is when people are most hungry. They might get too stuffed with the extra course and not fully enjoy the main course.

3/29/10 @ 3:43 pm (reply)

Member

alivoo01 (message) 2,622 posts, Sugar bee

Ooooo.. tough decision! I think I’d prefer the extra hors d’oeuvres.

3/29/10 @ 3:56 pm (reply)

10.

Member

silverbuggy (message) 49 posts, Newbee

i would definitely add an extra pasta course!! i think people remember it more, because honestly, who keeps track of the # of different types of hor d’oeuvres?

3/29/10 @ 4:08 pm (reply)

11.

Member

Ms. E (message) 132 posts, Blushing bee

I’d pick the extra hors d’oeuvres too.

3/29/10 @ 4:08 pm (reply)

12.

Member

thebriz (message) 448 posts, Helper bee

Had a similar circumstance; after talking to the caterer, he thought it would add to the elegance of the evening to add an extra course. Folks, imho, will remember an extra course for dinner than another of many choices for the cocktail hour. And I agree, we too want to have more time for partying. Fortunately, we have the caterers for a total of 5.5 hours and the DJ for 6, so I hope we can dispense with all the food, etc., and have a solid 2 - 2.5 hours of fun.

3/29/10 @ 4:29 pm (reply)

13.

Member

bridgetjones2010 (message) 167 posts, Blushing bee

i ALWAYS prefer more hors d’oeuvres. people will notice and appreciate an abundance of hors d’oeuvres during your cocktail hour. the weddings i’ve been to where there’s been a profusion of hors d’oeuvres have all seemed very classy to me. while people will also certainly notice a pasta course, it’s not really something that most people want/need. plus it tacks on another 20-30 min to your dinner.

3/29/10 @ 4:38 pm (reply)

14.

Member

eileen marie (message) 1,662 posts, Bumble bee

Hors d’oeuvres. I don’t know how many courses you’re already having, but that’s a lot of food! Pasta is often an entree. That being said, I had a delicious pasta course at a wedding I was in. If you are doing salad, entree, cake, then maybe pasta, but if you’re also having soup and another dessert, I’d do hors d’oeuvres. That’s a tough one, but at least you come out with all these extras and a great coordinator. Ours was fab, too.

3/29/10 @ 6:35 pm (reply)

15.

Member

ktbrady (message) 1,054 posts, Bumble bee

I’m in the hors d’oeuvres camp. This is soooooo not the same as a wedding, but one time I went to a beer festival, made the mistake of eating a lot of pasta, and then was tired and sleepy afterward. Maybe that was all the beers though, lol.

3/29/10 @ 7:21 pm (reply)

16.