Wedding Details

[SapphireDreams 71]

You would think that during these "hard times" businesses would really be catering to you and trying to get your business & $$. Well I'm trying to find a place to have our wedding next year, and I'm not being met with the best customer service at all. What is it with customer service!? Anyway, there is one place that seems really good but I have questions and have e-mailed twice with no reply. We met with the guy in person, he was nice but seems so busy and doesn't have time to answer questions or whatever. Well I'm not spending 8 grand on your facility if you don't give me the time of day! Then Glen's Mom went to a bridal shower at this other hall she said was super nice, so I e-mailed them for info. The price was right, so I called to see when we could come see the place in person. She was so rude and rushed on the phone and said "We're all booked up for a few weeks, sorry" and basically hung up. Didn't offer to make the appt in a few weeks or anything, just hung up. UMMMM hello you could be potentially losing alot of business and $$, why not cater to your customers and make an effort? I'm certainly not getting married at a place where the people are rude and can't be curteous enough to call me back.

I've had similar experiences for places in Toronto. Some people just never email back at all which is appalling to me considering we planning to spend a lot of money for our freaking venue - more than a freaking car! For that much money, I want to be treated with at least the decency to call me back! At one hall we went for an appointment to look at it we had to wait almost 30 minutes for the guy. It was redic. Then, he stuck us in a room and made us watch a video for 10 minutes. I was so mad!! I would've considered the place if they had been a little bit more respectful of our time!

I'm also finding that as soon as I say I'm only having 175 guests, a lot of places just tell me they can't accomodate me because their minimum is 220! I'm sorry, but isn't the world suffering from tough economic times? Its not like I'm looking to spend a lot less than someone with 220 guests. I'd even be willing to pay a room rental or whatever... but anyways that place wasn't worth the anger it caused me. LOL.

I think that everyone is booking so far in advance that we are at a disadvantage. A lot of the nicer, somewhat affordable places in Toronto are already booked for most June and September 2010 dates. That is just crazy.

This weekend we are going to look at 3 more places and I really hope that one of them fits our requirements and isn't going to be outrageously priced. I'm in love with one of them but she quoted high so I need to work it out to be less somehow. I'm even considering changing my date to later in the fall if I have to. I'm jsut really realizing how important the Hall Catering manager or event planner really is. Their service is sooo worth it, and I'm totally realizing that I want to avoid "wedding factory" halls that only care about your money. I mean they all want the money, but at least pretend you care for that much money!!

And, the sick part is that we're SAVING money by having our wedding in Toronto. NYC weddings are even more outrageous!! Our friends are paying almost $200/person just for the venue.

[JillA 2]

Wow, I cannot believe 175 people is "small"!! We are having between 80-100. Maybe that's why I'm not getting tha answers I want LOL!! Exactly, you are spending so much $$ the least they could do is show a little bit of courtesy. I'm not asking for a whole lot, just a call back would be nice or an e-mail

[SapphireDreams 71]

^^ I think my number is just awkward for some venues because the rooms are made for 200-300 people... but I can't find anything smaller because most of the smaller rooms or smaller venues are made for like 120 people. If I could have 100 people I totally would, I just have a lot of people I would really like to invite and a big family.

[July09Bride 1]

Here's another site that might be helpful, if you're doing your own invites.

Cards & Pockets have TERRIFIC prices for the newest trend in invites... the kind with the pockets. We ordered onyx (aka metallic black) and they're 5x7 and they were only $.78 each! We budgeted SO much more and we're going to truly end up saving more by doing them ourselves. HOwever, if we hadn't found this site, we probably would have spent the same or more than printing the "traditional" style of invites. I saw an invite like these in person, and I fell in love with the style! It SOOOO fits us more than what we had originally picked out. I like simple but classic with elegant lines with a touch of modern and being unique without being eclectic. Make sense? lol Anyway, that's how we ended up with invites similar to these.

Thought I'd share.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Cute invites! I went with white invites with bows... I just love bows

I can't believe 175 people is called small! I have never been to a wedding that large before. People in Toronto must really go all out! But I understand what you guys mean about communication... It doesn't matter if the venue is gorgeous and cost-effective, if the people in charge don't seem to care about you or want to work with you to put on the wedding you want, there's no way they are getting your business! Its sad that people either don't realize this, or don't care enough to go out of their way. You are giving them lots of money! The economy is bad! I don't get that at all!

A little update on my problems... I've been in contact with the Sheraton this past week and I have my issues resolved (mostly). Turns out she was trying to send me e-mails with big attachments in it, and hotmail was rejecting them. The food price is still high (or high based on some peoples standards, not high based on Toronto standards ) but they are willing to do whatever I want with the bar, which is nice. They are also letting me bring in my own table decorations and chair covers, opposed to paying $6 each to rent from the venue. She even offered to help me find a rental company to work with... funny considering me doing that means they get less money, but I won't complain. She offered to do a lot of things for me I wasn't expecting, so I'm going to stick with them and not change the venue. I just have to remind myself of why I liked the place to begin with! I think the fact I haven't seen it in 4 months is making me question things...

[minnew 4]

Oh my gosh invites! I have no clue where to start! DIY or pay someone to do them for me?

I cannot believe that kind of "customer service", absolutely horrible. My cousin is wanting August 2010 in Toronto as his fiancee has a huge italian family in Barrie, he said its turned out to be harder to plan than they originally thought. From the sounds of it they would probably have around 200, sheesh and 175 is small! Makes my 80 person max seem small! I wonder if they are having the same issues as far as customer service.

[Carlawarla 1]

What we did for our wedding might help people....

We had a lunch instead of a dinner or supper. We got married at 11 a.m. and had lunch from 12-4 pm We didn't do it deliberately, but thought about whether we wanted bar service or not, and thought that many people wouldn't be drinking so early in the day. The bartender was included in our "package" but that was as well to dispense pop, juice, coffee and tea. Actually only two people had a beer during the meal, the rest of the people didn't. So, those alcohol drinkers paid for it on their own. I think having an evening affair would have made a difference. Even after the meal, we had several hours of music, but again, because it was the early afternoon people just chose not to drink.

[JillA 2]

Speaking of the invites, July I love those! I got mine a few weeks ago, they're Martha Stewart and they were on sale at Walmart for $20 per pack.... It comes with 40 invites, RSVP cards, etc. They are white with lace detail and a little ribbon, so cute. I just feed them into my printer, pretty simple and way cheaper than paying a printing place.

[BermyCat 1]

This is a second marriage for both Phil and I so we decided to have a smaller, less traditional wedding. There's no pressure from family to invite a tonne of people and do things a certain way this time around.

The ceremony is at 2 pm so we're having high tea for our reception. It'll be in Dad's garden which is a mix of roses and tropical flowers with the ocean as a backdrop. If it rains, Dad's dining room can accomodate us since we've only invited 25 people. My MIL is excited since she's never been to a tea party.

We are going to have wine and beer available as well as lemonade for the kids. Picking the caterer was a no-brainer since my family has used the same one for every major event we've held for the last 15 years. They're doing Dad's massive wedding the following weekend so they've bent over backwards to accomdate me.

I'm really excited now that I've got less than a month to go.

~ Catherine

[SapphireDreams 71]

Here's another site that might be helpful, if you're doing your own invites.

Cards & Pockets have TERRIFIC prices for the newest trend in invites... the kind with the pockets. We ordered onyx (aka metallic black) and they're 5x7 and they were only $.78 each! We budgeted SO much more and we're going to truly end up saving more by doing them ourselves. HOwever, if we hadn't found this site, we probably would have spent the same or more than printing the "traditional" style of invites. I saw an invite like these in person, and I fell in love with the style! It SOOOO fits us more than what we had originally picked out. I like simple but classic with elegant lines with a touch of modern and being unique without being eclectic. Make sense? lol Anyway, that's how we ended up with invites similar to these.

Thought I'd share.

Thanks so much for sharing! That is an awesome price and they have nice colors!

And yes, 175 is considered small at a lot of the places I am looking at. It sucks! Mainly it's because the smaller more suitable venues just do not work for anything over 130 tops. I'm sure it will all work out and I'll find a place, but I'm not enjoying the search!

I can't wait to get started on my invites and other details.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I thought about the lunch option but then I really thought about it... I HATE the mornings The thought of having to get up really early and get ready for the wedding seemed awful to me. I decided to have a wedding later in the afternoon (4:30 pm) So I could sleep in and relax most of the day, opposed to walking down the aisle grumpy and half asleep. The nice thing about having a small wedding is that you don't really need to cut to many corners, you can really put on the event that you want without breaking the bank. I've always wanted to have a small wedding anyways (50 people) so I'm happy with the decision.

As far as invites go, I think we spent to much on ours... That's my fault. I saw them and bugged my fiance for several days to get them... then my soon to be mother in law and his grandma joined my cause and he eventually saw the light. $300 for 50 invites, reception cards, thank you cards, printed return envelopes... I thought about printing my own but I didn't trust my printing skills.

[SapphireDreams 71]

I thought about the lunch option but then I really thought about it... I HATE the mornings The thought of having to get up really early and get ready for the wedding seemed awful to me. I decided to have a wedding later in the afternoon (4:30 pm) So I could sleep in and relax most of the day, opposed to walking down the aisle grumpy and half asleep. The nice thing about having a small wedding is that you don't really need to cut to many corners, you can really put on the event that you want without breaking the bank. I've always wanted to have a small wedding anyways (50 people) so I'm happy with the decision.

As far as invites go, I think we spent to much on ours... That's my fault. I saw them and bugged my fiance for several days to get them... then my soon to be mother in law and his grandma joined my cause and he eventually saw the light. $300 for 50 invites, reception cards, thank you cards, printed return envelopes... I thought about printing my own but I didn't trust my printing skills.

That's actually a really good deal if you ask me. We're looking to spend about $4.00/invite and then I'm doing my thank-you cards with my photographer and those are $2/each but I really loved them.

I think I have a problem when I 'love' something I just *have* to have it... but I seem to love a lot of expensive things And then my justification is, well we're only doing it once... what the h.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I thought about the lunch option but then I really thought about it... I HATE the mornings The thought of having to get up really early and get ready for the wedding seemed awful to me. I decided to have a wedding later in the afternoon (4:30 pm) So I could sleep in and relax most of the day, opposed to walking down the aisle grumpy and half asleep. The nice thing about having a small wedding is that you don't really need to cut to many corners, you can really put on the event that you want without breaking the bank. I've always wanted to have a small wedding anyways (50 people) so I'm happy with the decision.

As far as invites go, I think we spent to much on ours... That's my fault. I saw them and bugged my fiance for several days to get them... then my soon to be mother in law and his grandma joined my cause and he eventually saw the light. $300 for 50 invites, reception cards, thank you cards, printed return envelopes... I thought about printing my own but I didn't trust my printing skills.

That's actually a really good deal if you ask me. We're looking to spend about $4.00/invite and then I'm doing my thank-you cards with my photographer and those are $2/each but I really loved them.

I think I have a problem when I 'love' something I just *have* to have it... but I seem to love a lot of expensive things And then my justification is, well we're only doing it once... what the h.

I don't blame you for that! I'm the same way. Or I say, "well we are already spending a lot of money, whats another couple hundred dollars to get this, and this." One of these days my fiance is probably going to have a heart attack. I think it feels like a lot because we agreed to spend no more than $200 on invites, but that wasn't even possible! Not for anything I liked anyways. The invites were $37 for 25, but then once you added in the personalization, the reception cards, the thank yous, the extra envelops and everything they ended up being about $6 an invite... But, we're only doing it once right? I can't even imagine the costs if I had 175 people, holy schmokes All I know is that our wedding budget seems to increase each day. Originally I wanted to spend 5k... That didn't happen.

[SapphireDreams 71]

I thought about the lunch option but then I really thought about it... I HATE the mornings The thought of having to get up really early and get ready for the wedding seemed awful to me. I decided to have a wedding later in the afternoon (4:30 pm) So I could sleep in and relax most of the day, opposed to walking down the aisle grumpy and half asleep. The nice thing about having a small wedding is that you don't really need to cut to many corners, you can really put on the event that you want without breaking the bank. I've always wanted to have a small wedding anyways (50 people) so I'm happy with the decision.

As far as invites go, I think we spent to much on ours... That's my fault. I saw them and bugged my fiance for several days to get them... then my soon to be mother in law and his grandma joined my cause and he eventually saw the light. $300 for 50 invites, reception cards, thank you cards, printed return envelopes... I thought about printing my own but I didn't trust my printing skills.

That's actually a really good deal if you ask me. We're looking to spend about $4.00/invite and then I'm doing my thank-you cards with my photographer and those are $2/each but I really loved them.

I think I have a problem when I 'love' something I just *have* to have it... but I seem to love a lot of expensive things And then my justification is, well we're only doing it once... what the h.

I don't blame you for that! I'm the same way. Or I say, "well we are already spending a lot of money, whats another couple hundred dollars to get this, and this." One of these days my fiance is probably going to have a heart attack. I think it feels like a lot because we agreed to spend no more than $200 on invites, but that wasn't even possible! Not for anything I liked anyways. The invites were $37 for 25, but then once you added in the personalization, the reception cards, the thank yous, the extra envelops and everything they ended up being about $6 an invite... But, we're only doing it once right? I can't even imagine the costs if I had 175 people, holy schmokes All I know is that our wedding budget seems to increase each day. Originally I wanted to spend 5k... That didn't happen.

I know what you mean. We haven't gotten down to the knitty gritty of the budget, but everything so far is a bit more than we wanted it to be. I'm sure we'll make it work. I'm an optimist! My fiance not so much, he's always bringing me down to earth!!

Luckily all of my guests/relatives give cash gifts, so technically we aren't really paying for our entire wedding. We'll make back a lot of what we're spending, not all of it, but a fair amount. Makes me feel better about our cost. That's another way I justify!!

[BermyCat 1]

I need ideas for some sort of memorial for my mother at our service, something beyond just mentioning her in the wedding program. She passed away after losing her fight with cancer two years ago. I don't want to dampen the mood but I also want to acknowledge the fact that I miss her and wish she could be there.

A candle is traditional, but it can pretty breezy right on the ocean.

Does anyone have any ideas?

~ Catherine