Glorious!

Since we lost our venue and it was too close to the date to find something that fit our first vision on our current budget, we had to change our vision instead.

I'm beyond pleased to say that this is working out 5000 times better than we imagined it could.

We're now having food at the formal reception and a cocktail after-party at the hotel where all of our out of town guests are staying. We get to use the indoor pool and hot tub and we'll be using the suites directly across the hall from the conference room where the dj and bar will be, the pool is on the same floor and end of the hotel as the conference room and suites, as in so close that the doors to the pool room are adjacent to those rooms doors!


We'll have a party going throughout that part of the hotel me thinks! teehee!!

For the food we're going roast and carve up two turkeys before hand, add ham, roast beef, veggies and cheeses and we have a sandwich board . This would allow us to have a smaller budget, and not have to have too many things need to be hot. I've always enjoyed those, since people can make their own sandwiches according to their diets, we just provide the different kinds of food to go on the sandwich plus different kinds of salad. Have a hot appetizer, like the meatballs and lil smokies and maybe a chili or soup. I can make chili and soup by the gallons without breaking a sweat.

I'm meeting with the women of both families next week to finalize the menu and delegate who's in charge of what dish, we're making everything ourselves and friends of mine in the service industry will take care of making sure everything stays stocked and passing out the champagne for the toasts.

At the hotel, the space is big enough for 80 plus the indoor pool area and two suites across the hall for $330!! O,O (Really?!? WOOOOHOOOO!!)

That should be more than enough for an after-party and it means that we'll be spending about the same amount between the fee and the bar, as we would've if the Pub had stayed open for us. The hotel doesn't have a restaurant and bar, so we get to bring everything in ourselves and have a friend bartending - taking care of the extra expenses much more cheaply than one would normally wracked up at hotels which provide everything for you. It's perfect and I'm glad it happened this way. Now I don't have to worry about drunk drivers coming from my party; anyone who cannot drive can either crash in one of the suites or get one of their own at the front desk.

The older I get the more I appreciate my community and how much easier life is when one isn't set in a specific vision with all the details just so. If it's a bit hazy and nebulous on the edges magic is able to flow and things work out so much better than you ever imagined possible!