Finally making some plans
Now that we're settling in to our new home, we're finally making concrete wedding plans. We have a reasonable estimate of how many people we'll invite, and long advance warning of some work deadlines that narrow our date range somewhat, so it's time to start looking at venues.
We are now looking at dates in September or October; preferably September because the weather's still likely to be good enough for an outdoor ceremony then. Our thoughts about venues are still quite vague, but we've been compiling a shortlist of places we want to actually see and talk to organisers at in order to choose one. I'm keeping a list of bookmarks, so if you want to know what we've been looking at, you can either see potential venues only or everything about the wedding. There's not much there yet, but it will grow.
At this point we could use some advice. From anyone married: what proportion of the people you invited actually came? I know it's going to be different in each case, but a few answers might help us estimate a little. And from people who know the Puget Sound area: have you been to an event at any of our shortlisted venues (and if so what was it like), can you think of anywhere else good with a capacity of around 100, and do you know about any of the other catering firms we haven't listed? So far Tom Douglas is the only one there simply because we're big fans of his restaurants so we at least know what kind of quality to expect.... It's not that we've looked at many others and ruled them out; we just haven't looked at caterers much yet because the priority is to choose a venue so we can confirm a date.
We are now looking at dates in September or October; preferably September because the weather's still likely to be good enough for an outdoor ceremony then. Our thoughts about venues are still quite vague, but we've been compiling a shortlist of places we want to actually see and talk to organisers at in order to choose one. I'm keeping a list of bookmarks, so if you want to know what we've been looking at, you can either see potential venues only or everything about the wedding. There's not much there yet, but it will grow.
At this point we could use some advice. From anyone married: what proportion of the people you invited actually came? I know it's going to be different in each case, but a few answers might help us estimate a little. And from people who know the Puget Sound area: have you been to an event at any of our shortlisted venues (and if so what was it like), can you think of anywhere else good with a capacity of around 100, and do you know about any of the other catering firms we haven't listed? So far Tom Douglas is the only one there simply because we're big fans of his restaurants so we at least know what kind of quality to expect.... It's not that we've looked at many others and ruled them out; we just haven't looked at caterers much yet because the priority is to choose a venue so we can confirm a date.
5 Comments:
Many Seattle venues only permit either their own catering or a short list of affiliated B-listed catering companies.
-Joanie
Chris and I invited 40 people (originally) to our wedding we had enough time after the RSVPs returned that we invited a few more people....In the end I think we had invited close to 50 people and had between 35 and 40 at the ceremony. But I think that our turnout was atypical. I think usually 15-25% of people will send their regards, but not themselves. The larger the wedding the more towards 25% you get. For a 100 person ceremony I would have a guest list of 115-130. Make sure the caterer is figuring in a few extra people (we almost ran out of food, luckily we had tonnes of leftover cheesecake and wine).
we invited 90, 70 came. make sure you save some spots for the people you *have* to feed--DJ, photographer, wedding coordinator person (if you choose to have one). obviously if you have any questions, just ask jose or i, we'll help you in any way possible.
We invited about 180, were expecting to get 120, and as of now (t-minus two weeks) we have confirmation from 105 (I have a huge Catholic family).
But I think ours is an a-typical situation in that Jason's family has the tradition that wedding invitations are like wedding announcements. People have no intention of coming, but they get offended if you don't send them an invitation. And I figured it best not to piss off the future mother-in-law, so invited they all were. And (surprise, surprise) most of them are not coming.
Also you should factor in how far people have to travel, if they have the money and vacation time to do so, etc.
Rest assured that at least a few people who you thought wouldn't come, will, and those who you thought would come, won't.
And finally, don't be surprised when people do not RSVP. I am absolutely astounded by the number of people who didn't! Perhaps they thought we have some new-found psychic abilities? Just be prepared for it to really piss you off, at a time close to the wedding when you really don't need any more stress, and be prepared to email/call/generally harrass them until they do. Or have your parents/wedding party/minions do it for you. Heh.
~Felicia
Yay! Congrats on setting a date. I've been meaning to e-mail you but have been super busy. I wanted to tell you to check out Little Eggplant Catering (http://www.littleeggplantcatering.com/). It's a catering company that's run by one of the people in my book club, and she is a very good cook from what I've tasted! She is professionally trained, and they just opened this business about 6 months ago I think. I don't know how their pricing etc. compares, but check it out!
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