E2 - Inside Wedding Planning: Venue Tours, Bar Packages, and Preferred Vendors

Want the insider scoop on creating an unforgettable wedding experience? Join us as we journey through the anatomy of a wedding with our very own venue director, Stephanie. She'll be giving us a guided tour through our two enchantingly unique ceremony spaces, and the lively cocktail room and the grand ballroom. We'll explore the flow of these spaces as well as our variety of bar packages, with a special highlight on our most popular choice - the Premium package, favored by most couples for its mix of variety and value.

But that's not all, we also dive into the crucial role preferred vendors play in making the wedding day an effortless delight, with our venue manager and coordinator steering the ship. Stephanie also sheds light on our comprehensive booking process, while revealing our online portal, your one-stop-shop for everything from bar packages to vendor selection tips. And lastly, don't miss out on our secret weapon – a Facebook group for booked couples, a treasure trove of advice and tips from couples who've walked your path before. So, buckle up and join us on this wedding planning adventure with Stephanie as your guide.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:10

Hello everyone, welcome to the Bridge-Lamont wedding podcast where we talk about all things wedding related to provide knowledge and information to couples planning their wedding to help make their wedding day the best it can be. This is our second episode and we do have Stephanie here with us. She is our current venue director and so we are going to do a little introduction with her. We'll talk a little bit about how the bridge is structured and our packages, what we basically offer, kind of going in a little bit hitting on how choosing vendors works, and then what our booking process is, from start research to inquiry tour, so on and so forth all the way through the wedding day. So, stephanie, if you want to do a little intro of yourself, talk about yourself, pipe yourself up, yeah hello, so I started with the bridge.

Speaker 2 1:15

What was that? Maybe like eight months after you guys opened it was quick.

Speaker 3 1:20

We opened in June and we were hired, I think, in a little bit before April but you started, I think, in April.

Speaker 1 1:30

So it was almost a year, but we were pretty slow in the winter months anyways, yeah, it was like right after we found out we were going to be having our first child.

Speaker 3 1:39

We need some help in here, please help us.

Speaker 2 1:43

Yeah, so I came from, I worked with events on a much larger scale out of McCormick Plays and the Sheridan downtown and I used to help with their like electrical and doing trade shows and all of that. So this is a much more personal experience now and I love it. So I get to work with couples one on one from start to finish when they come in for tour and then just kind of throughout the process, so much more personalized and I like it a lot better. I love our couples and I'd love to hear that.

Speaker 3 2:22

I remember, when you applied, I think you put on there like oh my gosh, this sounds so perfect for me.

Speaker 2 2:28

Yeah, because I had just had a baby myself. I had a little one year old at that time running around. So, yeah, it was just, it was perfect, it was absolutely perfect. Timing and everything worked out well. Worked out for us too. Yeah, here we are.

Speaker 1 2:45

Because it's, have you been? Oh, so you? Yeah, you've been here over a year now. So it's you're coming up on your second year.

Speaker 3 2:51

Yeah.

Speaker 1 2:52

Yeah, like timelines, just like it all bunched up in my head. So, so do you want to talk a little bit about how we structure, like, what we provide as the venue? Yeah, since you hit on that during your tours. Yeah, all the time.

Speaker 2 3:08

So we, when our couples come in, you guys are going to be renting the venue and we provide the alcohol and the bartenders as well. So you guys will come in, do a walkthrough of the space and and we will go through all the packages that we offer. So we have two ceremony spaces. We've got an outdoor space, we've got a new indoor ceremony space that we just started this season and you guys have your choice. I have guys.

Speaker 1 3:43

Yes, it's gone. Yes, it's gone. You're fine Gone. I think Steph's a little nervous. It's okay. Yeah, so there are two venue spaces.

Speaker 3 3:52

Just remember that nobody knows what they're doing here. No, no, no, no.

Speaker 1 3:58

It's all of our first times podcasting, so it's just a learning process. But yes, we do have two ceremony spots our outdoor and our indoor and then we have and if you do your ceremony here, you can choose one or the other. It's the same cost either way if you do your ceremony here and the indoor space would also be like the backup option if the outdoor space doesn't work out Otherwise, we have our cocktail room where cocktail hour typically happens. There are doors that like huge barn doors that split up the cocktail room and the ballroom. So when those get opened after cocktail hour or you can have them open the entire cocktail hour and then guests go and sit down and then they have their dinner and reception there.

Speaker 2 4:39

So which is nice. It just separates the space up, especially if you're here all night. So kind of give guests something to look forward to. So you're here for the ceremony, it's a separate space. You come in for a cocktail hour and then you do like a grand reveal of the ballroom, which is nice.

Speaker 1 4:55

And you always have access to the outdoor space too. Even if you don't do your ceremony outside or ceremony at all, you have access to that space, so guests can go out there and hang out. We have fire pits, or like they're what the gas fire pits, and then we do usually have a couple heaters if it's winter time.

Speaker 3 5:14

So yeah, I think people have really liked the progression from like either outdoor pergola area to cocktail rooms or reception or like the hall. So I think it's a good way to have your ceremony and reception on one place but yet feel like it's kind of progressing through the evening.

Speaker 1 5:34

Yeah, and you still have access to the cocktail room after cocktail hours over. So that ballroom cocktail space is the same. The hall is part of the same building but it is a separate space with a separate entrance. We have a hallway that connects the two, but guests would go out, like through the hall front door and then out that door around to the cocktail room, and we always have signage that helps people, like to guide them where to go. So, but yeah, otherwise, with the alcohol in the bar, I don't know. Kevin, do you wanna talk a little bit about that?

Speaker 3 6:09

Yeah, so with the bar we have different packages, so it's kind of tiered based on the quality and the duration of the alcohol. So we have basic, standard premium and superior Premium. I don't know, steph, what do you think? Do you think it's like 70, 80% of people go with it?

Speaker 2 6:27

Yeah, definitely, premium is the most popular option.

Speaker 1 6:30

Yeah, and so we have three to six, I think superior, then right, like premium, and then superior yeah, so standard not such yeah so we have three to six hour packages.

Speaker 3 6:39

So most people go with the five hour package and have it closed during dinner, but some people want the bar open the whole time. So kind of just depends on the structure of the wedding and what you're looking to do.

Speaker 1 6:51

It also depends on the timeline, because we include a five hour event Correct if they add. And then a lot of people I would say 80% of people, maybe 70% add on the extra hour to have a full six hours. And we usually really suggest that if you have a guest count of 150 or more, just to kind of give you enough time for a lot of dancing and fun at the end.

Speaker 1 7:13

Yeah, I think five hours, it just kind of flies by no matter what, I mean the wedding day is gonna fly by no matter what, but With a smaller wedding, I think that it could be perfect, but when you have a bigger wedding, it definitely. I always try to push the six hours, for sure.

Speaker 3 7:27

Especially if you're gonna be traditional and do the thing where you have to say hi to everybody. Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1 7:34

Or you have like long speeches People never realize how long the speeches are gonna take. People like to talk.

Speaker 3 7:40

Yeah, I think Liz has said that the biggest thing that gets a timeline behind is the speeches.

Speaker 1 7:44

The speeches going on. Liz is one of the coordinators we recommend, so yeah.

Speaker 3 7:50

So in terms of other things, with the bar package we provide bartenders based on the guest count so anywhere between like 100 and 170,. We have two bartenders and then we kind of split into a short shift.

Speaker 1 8:05

It really just depends on the wedding itself and whatnot, and like what they're having with their bar package, like some people do a champagne toast or a what is it called wine service table wine service. So that also kind of plays a little bit of a role into how many bartenders we staff. But couples are always able to hire their own bartenders Like from us they can hire an extra bartender as well Guarantee an extra bartender for the evening.

Speaker 2 8:36

Yeah, so we're pretty usually right on the money with staffing.

Speaker 3 8:41

We really are. Yeah, we nailed it down over the last year or so.

Speaker 2 8:44

Yeah, it's more personalized than it seems. It's not like that strict. One per hundred guests. So we try to make everything accommodating for guests as well as our employees.

Speaker 3 8:56

Yeah, that's the biggest thing is we don't want to be understaffed and have people overwhelmed for the evening.

Speaker 1 9:03

That's never ideal.

Speaker 3 9:04

Yeah, and I guess the two things, and not to get into the things we don't allow in the negatives, but we don't do shots, we don't allow shots. It's a pretty industry standard, for an open bar Definitely gets dangerous, depending on the crowd and whatnot. So we kind of like to.

Speaker 1 9:24

It's just not a good idea with weddings Not needed.

Speaker 3 9:27

If you want to do shots after the wedding by all means. Right, you guys go out and do that, but not in our space.

Speaker 1 9:33

And that is helping the couple, because if something does happen where someone gets sick, we do keep that security deposit because we have to clean that up.

Speaker 3 9:43

And we have to pay the employee to clean it up.

Speaker 1 9:45

Yes, they get a little bonus if that happens. Knock on wood. It's been a while.

Speaker 3 9:51

And then we usually allow two specialty drinks. Sometimes we'll do a third, but usually it's just two. And then they're kind of basic specialty drinks like Moscow Mule and Old Fashion Manhattan stuff, like that we don't do.

Speaker 1 10:05

We do margaritas, we do margaritas?

Speaker 3 10:07

yeah, Like stuff like mojitos and crazy shaken drinks and stuff like that is something we don't really, and not really martinis either.

Speaker 1 10:15

The craft cocktails.

Speaker 2 10:16

Yeah, stay away from that.

Speaker 3 10:17

It's just one of those things where if you've got a 200-person guest count and then a drink takes 90 seconds two minutes to make.

Speaker 1 10:26

You've got three bartenders, it's just not. Their entire time is taken up. The math ain't mathin'. Yeah, yeah, it's a very high output situation for weddings.

Speaker 3 10:35

Especially at the beginning of the year.

Speaker 1 10:37

Yeah, especially during cocktail hours it's hard to do those craft cocktails Well, and then we so With us. Then we just do the venue itself and then we do the bar. So our staff, what we have is a venue manager always on staff throughout the entire day. Usually we have two chefs, so like a morning venue manager, slash afternoon, then the evening venue manager and then we have our bartenders. Besides that, sometimes we have a coach-backed person if it's winter time and then sometimes we have other staff come in to like help clean up chairs outside or whatever. Besides that, everything else is just about outside vendors. So that would be our caterers, coordinator, dj, band, music, whatever you go with for that Flores slash decor, and your photographer and videographer, if you do a videographer. So those are like the outside people that you would have come in. And with the caterers it's, you know, their cook obviously is usually on site, and then they have their service staff. Yeah, they have like a lead person generally as well.

Speaker 3 11:49

Yeah, we do require a day of coordinator.

Speaker 1 11:53

Which is the best thing you can do for your wedding right, steph, absolutely yes, so they will be the point person for all of your vendors.

Speaker 2 12:02

They'll help keep your timeline on track throughout the day, throughout the night, and then they're usually just really helpful with set up and clean up the stuff that you're not going to want to do throughout the day, so you don't necessarily have to be here in the morning getting ready. Your coordinator can help set that up. They should have staff if needed and then same at the end of the night. So we do have an hour at the end of the night for cleanup, designated just for cleanup for your vendors and for you guys as well. And yeah, they'll usually.

Speaker 1 12:31

So anything you bring in and set up and have here has to be taken out by the end of the night. So that's what. That's why that hour is very important to have. And, yeah, the coordinator is such an asset for you guys and for us and every other vendor working in the space, so they're kind of like, yeah, the point person for your wedding.

Speaker 3 12:51

Steph, how would you describe the difference between the venue manager and a coordinator, because a lot of people do get confused with that. So yeah like what would you?

Speaker 2 13:00

what would you say is like the distinction, I guess I think the main thing to remember is just the venue manager is here for the venue specifically. So lights the lights need to be dimmed, or DG has questions on where to set up, or vendors have questions about the venue. We can help them with that and we can assist the coordinator as well if she has any questions. So I think the coordinator is going to kind of be your best friend along the way and just guide you, and we're here as well.

Importance of Preferred Vendors in Weddings

Speaker 1 13:40

So if you guys have any questions you can ask us to yeah, like we're like second behind the coordinator in a sense, but so yeah we're, we're going to do as the venue, like anything related to the venue. So like plugging into certain power sources because we have certain ones for the cater versus the DJ, so that everyone has their own circuits and you know nothing happens with that. Or like making sure the space is set up appropriately. That's what our venue manager does as well.

Speaker 2 14:12

Occasionally bar backing if needed Like cleaning.

Speaker 1 14:16

Just supporting bartenders and I mean we support all the vendors as well but the coordinator is the lead person in terms of it's who we go to for questions to the timeline is a big thing for the coordinator as well, so like let's say, the barn doors to the reception space from the cocktail room are supposed to open at 6pm or something, but the timelines kind of off and like they need to be open 10 minutes later, or whatever the reason is, like your coordinator is going to make that decision. We're not making that decision. We're going to your coordinator and making sure, like okay, like we're supposed to open the barn doors now, should we do that Right? So that's kind of hopefully helps give a distinction.

Speaker 3 14:56

Manages the flow of the guests to. Yeah, that's the sense.

Speaker 1 15:01

We're there, we are going to help, but we're not that main person and that's not our priority. So if there's something else venue related that our venue manager needs to tend to, we're not going to be able to help the coordinator in that moment. If that makes sense, yeah, so yeah. And then caters we're going to go into that at a later time very in depth, because it is such a big thing. They're probably the biggest vendor that you bring in and they do the most. I feel, like on your wedding day, that it really affects the guests as well. So we will go into that. But for us as the venue, we do have a list and we really, really try to make sure people pick from that list. So yeah, we will. We will go into that another time about why it's so important and what kind of happens if you don't.

Speaker 3 15:57

Yeah, I mean for the vendors and stuff like that. I mean, we can all speak to the fact that if people haven't worked together before, it is a lot more difficult to operate A wedding. And it's something that we've seen time in and time out where if you, even if you have two people that have worked together before and like two that are just kind of random off of our list that haven't been to our space before, the flow can kind of I mean, it depends on how good they are at their job.

Speaker 1 16:25

So it's just one of those things where, and just their personalities too, Because there are, like we do get the random vendors that come in and they're amazing and we're like, oh my gosh, like let's get their information, let's see if anyone else uses them, and then we consider if we should add them to our list. And it's really about their personality and how they, in a sense, kind of control the crowd in a way.

Speaker 3 16:49

And how professional they are.

Speaker 1 16:51

Yeah, yeah, and how respectful they are to our space as well. That is huge for us People coming in and just moving things around without asking. We don't love that, so but yeah, so I feel like I was going to add something off of that. Oh, you can definitely tell the weddings that use our preferred caterers or preferred vendors in general, because we do provide a list of all the different vendors to our couples once they book. So if you are booking people from that list, there is a very big difference than if you don't in like how your wedding day goes, and I feel like, stephanie, you can probably say a little bit about that.

Speaker 2 17:31

I feel like it seems like it might seem overwhelming that you have to choose all these vendors, but it's unique in the sense that you can customize it to what you want, and we do offer a lot of different types of vendors on our list. It's not just one coordinator on there, one caterer, so you do have a wide range, and they've been to the space as a list aside, and they are familiar with how we run things and it's just. It is effortless.

Speaker 2 17:55

It just kind of flows so well, and there it really is just night and day between.

Speaker 1 18:00

Yeah, it really is. Yeah, yeah. Like just for an example, liz is literally here every single wedding, every single wedding in December, even the one that just last minute booked, so she has it's six weddings now. It was five, so she's doing all six. One she's got like three in a row.

Speaker 3 18:19

So she's like I'll just move in.

Speaker 1 18:21

I'm like, yeah, I mean hey, so, and like when she's working with one of the DJs that we really suggest to like, you can just tell how in sync they are. Yeah, so.

Speaker 3 18:31

And I don't want to throw in a plug, but I do always like to mention that like there are venues out there that do charge their preferred vendors to be on their list and we don't do that at all. We don't take any kickbacks, we don't expect anything from our vendors besides doing a good job for our couples, and I think that's also really important for the vendors themselves. Like they don't feel like they're being taken advantage of. They're. They appreciate the fact that they're on our list because they do good work, and I think it's just kind of like a mutual respecting rather than transact. It's a better relationship. It's not something that's like transactional, where they have to pay to be on our list so that they can get used by our couples, and I think that that it's a small detail.

Speaker 1 19:15

Yeah, but, and the way our list works is like, as easy though it's not easy to get a spot, but the saying goes, or something as easy it is to get a spot, the as easy it is to get off, like off of it. We really take our couples experiences with every vendor, especially the ones we suggest, very seriously and we will add people and we will take people off, depending on feedback that we get. So we do really care about who we're recommending to our couples because we want them to have a great experience.

Speaker 3 19:47

We haven't had to take too many people off, but it has happened, yeah.

Speaker 1 19:50

Yeah, yeah, and we are always very sad about it. But, I mean again, we have to. We have to listen to, to what the crowd says in a sense. So, um, well, I guess we can go into like how our, our inquiries and that whole process into booking and wedding day kind of looks like. So, steph, if you want to talk a little bit about like the start or I guess, kevin, how do you get people in the door? Because he does the? Yeah, I do touch a little bit on the marketing.

Speaker 3 20:20

So, um, yeah, I've taken care of all of the back end digital stuff. So, um, the Facebook Instagram website, so, um, I mean, yet that's where we kind of direct people to. We direct people to the contact form. When they fill out the contact form, we get an email with just general details on the wedding and what their date is, guest count, stuff like that, and from there Steph gets the email and yeah, so I think it's the actual like contact form, as it's important because we do have a limit on we have.

Wedding Planning and Information Portal

Speaker 2 20:59

we do have like a 250 max guest count for receptions and 200 max guest count for ceremonies. So right off the bat that'll kind of help us kind of screen and make sure that this were the right fit for you and then once you get the inquiry, you're sending them the brochures.

Speaker 3 21:19

So yeah, we just switched it up so that it's a digital brochure. Trying to make it as easy as possible, so it's a little easier to kind of streamline the process so that it's easy for stuff and easy for the couple and it's cleaner, I guess.

Speaker 2 21:33

Yeah, and it's coming to a great job, it's very pretty, that's very nice.

Speaker 2 21:37

Look at that. But, yeah, so you'll get pricing information, which is also online, and then we will send your bar packages as well, and then you guys are welcome to sign up for a tour. So you'll come in, you will most likely be meeting with me and we'll walk through the space. We can run through what you guys are thinking, timeline wise, if you have any questions, and then you typically will discuss and then you can get back to me with any questions and if you're ready to book, then I will put a proposal together for you. And we do ask for a $1,500 non refundable retainer at the time of signing.

Speaker 1 22:20

And essentially you get 48 hours. So like, once we send you a proposal in the contract, like you have your time to ask us questions and at that point the date is yours. We don't hold dates unless you have a proposal in hand and you have 48 hours with that date. It just gets really complicated if we're trying to say, okay, you have the date for seven days. Well, it's just a lot easier to do it this way. But yeah, then you have a retainer and then there's yeah, some three more payments right.

Speaker 2 22:49

It's like three installments after that point, so that first retainer is like your, essentially your first payment and then we split it up into three. From that point there is quite a bit of a gap. There could be before we meet again. So we do have open houses monthly for our booked couples. You're welcome to come in. Bring any family, friends, vendors who haven't been to the space. We also just created a new portal for our booked couples so you guys will get a login for that and you can just view good general information that you might not necessarily think about until later on in the process.

Speaker 1 23:29

So, kevin, what is exactly on the portal? Because I know you set that up. I have kind of a little bit of knowledge, but to be honest, I haven't looked at it.

Speaker 3 23:37

I spent a lot of time on it at the beginning and then it's kind of gone by the wayside.

Speaker 1 23:41

But I think we have like bar and a little bit of bar stuff on there.

Speaker 2 23:46

We have there's measurements.

Speaker 3 23:48

I am measurements was a big one People always ask, like how big are the tables, how wide is the mantle?

Speaker 1 23:54

That's a good question, step. Have you gotten that question often now, like how big something is, cause I feel like you know we haven't gotten that question. No, I haven't, and it's working.

Speaker 2 24:03

I have, like I've referred people to it too so. I feel like more people are definitely using it, which is yes, yes.

Speaker 3 24:11

And I think that one of the big ones, too, is how to pick vendors.

Speaker 1 24:16

Oh yeah, we have information on how you would go with an outside tater.

Speaker 3 24:19

Yeah, you stress the fact that they need to have insurance, they need to be able to list us as additionally insured and kind of how to shop around for vendors because, again, it's everybody's first time planning a wedding for the most part and you got to know what to look for if they don't have insurance. Or it's just something where it's like if you see a DJ that's willing to do your wedding for $800 and they don't have insurance, you should probably be looking elsewhere. It's something where the more professional they are, the they will be insured.

Speaker 3 24:58

Yeah.

Speaker 2 24:59

And we don't expect our couples to have insurance.

Speaker 3 25:03

Some venues do.

Speaker 2 25:04

Some venues do. Yeah, we do not require you. We just require all vendors working in the space to be licensed, insured and professionals.

Speaker 1 25:12

Yes, yes, yeah. So I feel like the portal is like a really good spot to kind of go first. Like, once you book, take a look at it. There is like how to pick a coordinator and like what exactly we expect from coordinators, what's expected, I think, what's expected from DJs and stuff is on there, correct, so I got it up now. Yeah, okay, so we got open house dates.

Speaker 3 25:32

We got floor plans.

Speaker 1 25:35

So you can take a look at what people have done. Oh yeah, floor plans.

Speaker 3 25:37

That's a big one, yeah, so I'm just wondering about looking for that or deal with another vendor that we do that in-house. If you're interested, we have photo locations. That took me a long time to put together.

Speaker 1 25:50

That's actually a good one. Yeah, I don't know if it's a rare one.

Speaker 3 25:53

Yeah, so it's got the picture and then it's got the map on there of like where this picture was taken Rehearsal dinner locations.

Speaker 1 26:01

So we got some there's a lot more information on there than I remember. Yeah, you're right.

Speaker 3 26:06

And then reminders. It's just like venue reminders, faqs, gator expectations, dj expectations and coordinator expectations.

Speaker 2 26:14

So those are the big people that.

Speaker 3 26:16

Yeah, the word expectations is kind of it's more about this is what you should be looking for when you are shopping around for someone.

Speaker 1 26:26

Yes, so then what else? Oh, and we have a Facebook group as well, so you'll get a link to join this Facebook group, which is just for couples. We usually don't like, well, we don't usually allow the family members to join because it is very couple oriented.

Speaker 3 26:43

No, we just don't. It's not usually.

Speaker 1 26:45

Yeah, we don't.

Speaker 3 26:46

We have stuck to.

Speaker 1 26:47

It is the bride and the groom it's important for the questions to come from brides and grooms, and then you can talk to other brides and grooms on there, whether than mom or dad of XYZ. So it's your day, yes, yes, always important to remember that, make sure that you know that it is your day. Yes, so they on there.

Speaker 1 27:07

There have been people who have been selling some of their own decor, so that's an option to look on there, just like questions on hotels, or have you used this coordinator? Or suggestions on different things, or florist or hair and makeup is always a big question that gets asked in there as well, because there's a lot of options. So that's a good little thing. Or like decor ideas in general of the space. And then, once it gets close enough to the wedding usually well before you meet you'll get a couple of questionnaire sent. So that's when you pick your bar package and you give us all your vendor information and that's usually about two months out. You're going to get those. So by then you should kind of have a good idea of what your guest count's going to be and all the vendors that you're using. And then you'll come in from like four to six weeks out from your wedding and we'll go over, like your final details, floor plan and when I say we, I mean Stephanie.

Speaker 3 28:10

She has all these meetings You'll be meeting with.

Speaker 1 28:13

Stephanie. I used to do them, but Stephanie now does all of those.

Speaker 2 28:17

You guys will choose your linen at that time too, so we have a whole binder full of colors. You're not limited to your color selections for that, and yeah, it's just a good time. I feel like usually couples leave feeling a lot less stressed after these meetings.

Speaker 1 28:34

It's like everything coming to a head right at that point, and that's kind of why we wait until that four to six weeks out, because that's when you have all your stuff. So when you sit down and you're telling us everything, you're like oh, I actually know all these answers and it's actually put together more than the bridal groom sometimes thinks. A lot of times they come in stressed and they leave like wow.

Speaker 3 28:53

I feel, so much better after that so for the couples that are currently planning or getting ready for their details meeting right now. What would you say that you've seen in the recent past? That is like I don't want to say not done, but just something where it's you've seen regularly that people aren't prepared for, I guess.

Speaker 2 29:12

You think of anything, I think the biggest thing is just keeping us informed, so filling out those four, those questionnaires that we send you guys.

Speaker 1 29:20

Well, my send out might be a little bit within a couple days.

Speaker 2 29:23

Yes, exactly. So we'll usually send the bar package out about four months out and we are asking for your estimated gas count at that point so we can send your initial bar invoice. So that's important as well as for staffing too. And then we send your vendor contact questionnaire. So really important for that one, because I'll be reaching out for insurances for your vendors and then I can ask you guys questions too if anything looks a little off or anything.

Speaker 3 29:51

Yeah, and one of the big things that we do need to know is that if you are using an outside caterer, that should not be the time that you are telling us that you are using an outside caterer the time to tell us that you're going to use an outside caterer is before you even sign or give money to that outside caterer, because we do have quite a bit of requirements, because it is such a big thing and it couldn't really make or break everyone's experience, like couples experience, our experience and the guest experience yeah, the people's experience.

Speaker 1 30:27

So, yes, and again, when you book with us, look on our portal. That's going to have a lot of information.

Speaker 3 30:33

It's pretty cool. And reach out to us. It's pretty cool Looking at it. I'm proud of myself.

Speaker 2 30:38

Heads up on the back. Good Like. Well, I forgot about this. This is awesome.

Speaker 1 30:43

Yes, or anything we need to add to it. That's the real question.

Speaker 3 30:45

If anyone has any ideas, yeah, any suggestions.

Speaker 1 30:47

No, Because we are always open to something, anything.

Speaker 3 30:52

We like evolving and making things better and easier for people. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 30:57

Definitely Better for us, easier for us easier for the couples we love it Better experiences. And then, oh, rehearsals. So we do offer rehearsals. That is done typically on Thursday nights and you can schedule that with Stephanie almost at any point. We usually say it's not. We've said, oh, three months out is the time. But if you reach out and you want it on a Thursday, that's fine. You always have Thursdays.

Speaker 3 31:26

But if you're like I wanted to do it on a.

Speaker 1 31:28

Friday. Then we say, ok, well, we have to wait to see if we get something booked, essentially. But yeah, Thursdays, we are good to schedule you on a Thursday, so let us know if you're trying to book that right away.

Speaker 2 31:42

I'll usually reach out if I haven't heard from you about three months out to schedule that, and it's something that's included. So it's an hour long you don't have to do it.

Speaker 1 31:49

If you don't want to, you don't have to, nope.

Speaker 2 31:52

And it's usually really quick, and then people will go to dinner after, and that's something else that's really cool about our location is couples can take pictures around the venue and can do the rehearsal dinners. Everything is really accessible.

Speaker 3 32:07

Yeah, like walk in distance, it really is.

Speaker 2 32:10

Honestly, it's like a little homework town, like true.

Speaker 3 32:13

I mean in the winter for Christmas. I do love Lamont, yes, but if you have a winter wedding, we will have.

Speaker 1 32:21

There are lots of lights out and about, so yes, I loved having Santa on our first year. I don't know what day. I think they do it on a Saturday. Usually we have a wedding every Saturday. They need to tell us way ahead of time Next year. Maybe, though, because I don't think we have as many of those weddings booked as of yet.

Speaker 3 32:43

Santa's in town. We really need to. We need to have Santa here.

Speaker 1 32:46

Figure it out Well if they would do it on a Sunday, we can definitely make that work, or Friday sometimes, I don't know. We're usually booked on Fridays too. But anyways, then it's your wedding day, and that's I mean we can do another episode on how a wedding day goes on our end, to really let you all know how it goes in the back end of things. And then after that we do like to follow up and if there's anything you guys want to let us know about, please do. We are always open to suggestions or complaints. I hopefully not. Yeah.

Speaker 3 33:24

We want to know complaints. If you have them, yes, and just along the way.

Speaker 2 33:28

don't hesitate to ask questions. Definitely would prefer to help you guys out or avoid any stress on your end, and that's what I'm here for.

Speaker 1 33:37

The sooner you ask the question and get your answer, the better off. You are Absolutely and your planning process, especially if it revolves around vendors or big decisions.

Speaker 3 33:46

So yeah, I think we're good.

Speaker 1 33:49

Yeah, that was good so.

Speaker 3 33:52

Anything else.

Speaker 1 33:54

No, I don't know what the next episode is going to entail yet, but there will be another episode eventually. I don't know what it's going to be about. Let me see what I have on the list.

Speaker 3 34:05

I think we decided coordinator.

Speaker 1 34:07

Coordinator.

Speaker 3 34:07

So I think we're going to reach out to Liz and see when she's available to get over here and we'll go through the weddings from a coordinator's perspective and they'll probably have the best information in terms of being able to plan a wedding. And I think that'll be more of a I don't want to say more of an interview than a conversation, but we'll definitely have more structured things to kind of go through with her.

Speaker 1 34:32

Head on a little bit.

Speaker 3 34:34

Cool.

Speaker 1 34:35

That'll be good. Yeah, all right.

Speaker 3 34:37

See you in episode.

Speaker 1 34:38

Thanks, Steph, for joining us. You'll be here, I'm sure quite often I eventually will do a Q&A one and we'll definitely have you here for that. So perfect, yeah, All right. Well, thank you everybody for tuning in. We'll see you next time.