Sharon’s wedding was Saturday and I’m still recovering. If I’m this exhausted just being a bridesmaid, I can’t imagine how I’ll feel after my wedding.

It was beautiful, she was beautiful and a good time was had by all. I’ll give a more extensive analysis tonight or tomorrow (or Wednesday), once I get my photos uploaded and catch up on some sleep.

In other news, I took my family to the Wake Robin to check it out, since they hadn’t seen what they’re paying for yet. Shaffin was late, but I did forget to confirm with him, so it may have been my fault. He was great and I think eased my mom’s mind about some details.

This afternoon, I get a call from our lobby saying there’s a big box of flowers for me. Shaffin sent me a bouquet of tulips to apologize for being late! They sure do know about customer service at the Wake Robin.

The contract is signed, the check has been written.  Go ahead and book your room now.

Our room is on the second floor.  According to the people at the inn, this will be the night owl floor.

The cottage rooms are cheaper, but further away.  And they’re not cottages; more like a motel.

And if you want to be next door to someone in particular, let me know.  I can assign rooms.  Oh, the power.

For some reason, James doesn’t feel this cake topper is appropriate for an event at which families will be present.

Last night Sarah and Wendy, owners of the strange little cat we’ve had staying with us for the last two weeks, stayed the night and took our houseguest with them this morning. Sarah’s mother was along for the ride, as well.

They told us all about Sarah’s brother’s wedding, which was a couple of weeks ago at the Botanical Gardens in New York. Sarah’s mother kept saying how elegant it was. Sarah stressed the importance of going around to every table; apparently some people felt shunned when they didn’t get a visit from the bride and groom. And the food. She loved the food. Wendy mostly remembered the bride’s mother, who freaked out about every 12 seconds and required Wendy about 100 people.

They also said they would be willing to go look at dresses in September with me.

We also talked about the budget dilemna: the three-hour bar vs. the five-hour bar. Sarah came up with the best advice I’ve heard yet. She suggested going with the three-hour bar for now and then adding on the extra hours if we find that enough people can’t make it to make it affordable.

Personally, it’s more important to me to have all the people who are special to me to be there. I hate the idea of excluding people so that we can have a couple extra hours of open bar. But this way (and the Wake Robin is very flexible; at least, so far), we can have the best of both worlds.

We got an initial contract from the Wake Robin on Sunday and the total cost was about $5,000 more than we want to spend on this reception. And this is not including the cake and dessert or the DJ/band.

So we send it out to our parents and look at ways to cut stuff. There’s some easy stuff, like the late-night snacks in the pub, but that only cuts about $230. Not much help.

But I looked at it closer, and I saw that the food and drinks are all included in the $99 per person rate. So the only way to cut it is to cut back on hours of open bar (we have 5 right now; I think 3 is reasonable, then go to a cash bar, but for some reason, Mom wanted 5) or to cut the guest list.

Right now we have 115 people on the guest list and are hard pressed to cut any more. At $99 a head, that comes to $11,385, only about $1,000 over what we want to spend. Not too shabby. So where’s the other $4,000 coming from?

Turns out it’s tax and gratuity. We can save 5% (most of the tax) if we pay in full by the New Year. That leaves us about $3,000 over budget.

$3,000 in tips? Is that insane? I’m going to have to look again, but I think that’s what it comes down to. Isn’t that like a 30% gratuity? I’m just doing quick and dirty math in my head. I hope I’m missing something.

James and I sat down with Shaffin from the Wake Robin tonight to start going over some details on our way to making a contract. Shaffin is going to type up his notes in the morning and send us a preliminary agreement, including a non-deposit room block.

We picked out a preliminary menu:

Appetizers:
Stuffed mushrooms (both with sausage and veggie)
Brie and raspberries
Asian chicken skewers with peanut sauce

Entrees:
Prime Rib
Tilapia (exact preparation TBD; actually, the exact choice of fish may change)

Sides:
French provincal red potato salad
Grilled asparagus
Orzo salad

Salad:
Mixed green Ceasar

Mixed rolls

Pinot grigio
Cabernet savignon

I didn’t realize that they do cakes, as well, so we haven’t decided if we will use them or get an outside baker. Shaffin said either would be fine. He also recommended having mini-cakes (somehow different from cup cakes) so that people could sort of nibble on them all night and didn’t feel they had to eat a huge slice of cake.

We also have the option of having the appetizers served again after dessert, as people are dancing and drinking. A good way to make sure people are eating with their alcohol. We’ll have a 5 hour open bar, then a cash bar after that. There’s no time limit on the place and Shaffin said they’ll keep at least one bartended at the pub for those who want to stay up late.

James and I will be staying at the inn that night, so that might include us.

Shaffin was telling us that sometimes some people in the entourage (read: parents) insist on having the pub open for drinks before the ceremony. James and I both said firmly that we don’t want this. We want our guests to be sober for the ceremony. Shaffin said that was fine, but to talk to our parents and make sure they don’t give him a hard time about it.

Those are pretty much the main details we discussed. We will meet a few more times and do a walk through a couple of months before the wedding. Shaffin said we should also think about ways to personalize it, so that our wedding is unique. We have a couple of ideas, but I don’t want to go into them yet, as we hope to have some surprises for our guests.

And both Shaffin and James are pulling for a live band over a DJ, so I guess we have to start researching that.

So. I wrote a story about the inn where we are holding the reception. My boss thought it would be fun for me, get to know the people and the place a little bit more.

But it turns out that first quote is a bald-faced lie. The inn is, in fact, for sale. A realtor confirmed it, off the record.

We (my boss and I) have a pretty good idea of why he lied, and it’s not some big nefarious plot, but just to protect some people’s feelings. But still. The person who is going to be helping me plan my wedding reception now has a lying track record.

James says I’m taking it too personally. He didn’t lie to me, but to “the press.” And James has his heart set on holding our reception there.

Okay. I can buy that. And I do still love the place and I don’t really want to change plans, either. But I’m nervous now. What if the place is sold before Sept. 6, 2008? How will that impact our event?

I’m thinking the best thing to do is sit down and get a contract signed. I wasn’t in a rush to do this before, but now, I don’t want to take any chances. If I have a contract, then they’ll have to honor the amazing prices they quoted me, even with new ownership. Right?

We’ve started to compile a list of music that we want played at the reception. We’re pretty much set on “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson for our first dance. Jack Johnson was the first music we shared together, and banana pancakes are our favorite breakfast to make together. Not to mention the part where he tries to convince her to stay in bed; that is so us.

The other songs we want played at some point:

Hard to Concentrate
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Give It to You
G Love (feat. Jack Johnson)

Wouldn’t It Be Nice
The Beach Boys

Let’s Stay Together
Al Green

Baby Boy
Beyonce (feat. Jean Paul)

Could You Be Loved
Bob Marley

You Don’t Have To Be Strong
Breanna

Everything I Do (I Do It For You)
Brian Adams

Kiss That Counted
Catie Curtis

Accidentally in Love
Counting Crows

Tanglewood Tree
Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer

Galileo
Indigo Girls

Power of Two
Indigo Girls

Bubble Toes
Jack Johnson

Do You Remember?
Jack Johnson

Cupid
Jack Johnson

Better Together
Jack Johnson

You’ve Got a Friend
James Taylor

Your Body Is a Wonderland
John Mayer

Ring of Fire
Johnny Cash

I Walk the Line
Johnny Cash

A Case of You
Joni Mitchell

Some Kind of Wonderful
Joss Stone

I Turn to You
Melanie C

I’m the Only One
Melissa Ethridge

James
The Nields

One Hundred Names
The Nields

Hella Good
No Doubt

Whenever, Wherever
Shakira

Iced Tea
Shelby Lynn

Wild Horses
The Sundays

Most of these songs are culled from my iTunes library. We have yet to tackle the 7,000 or more songs James is carrying around on his iPod.

Edited by James: 10,000 or more (10,321 plus another 2 or 300 that I haven’t added to iTunes and thus my iPod)

We set a date! I called The Wake Robin and gave them my credit card for the $1,000 deposit, which is also the site fee, and we’re booked for Sept. 6, 2008.

It is so wonderful to have a date and a location set. I feel like I can relax a little now. I mean, we have a year and a half. But I really wanted to make sure we could get the place we wanted on the date we wanted.

We still have to sit down and come up with a contract, but I’m not in a rush to do that. The deposit is fully refundable until we sign the contract. Oh, and if we pay in full by the end of the year, they’ll take 5% off the top. So that would save us tax, just about.

I am so excited to have a date!

We met with Shaffin at The Wake Robin Inn. Not only is the place perfect, but they will give us an amazing price break for being local. They offer three packages, standard prices ranging from $99 to $139. For us, the top package will be only $99. That means we can afford our 100 people! And this is before negotiating anything. We didn’t talk details, but they penciled us in for the Saturday after Labor Day, 2008.

We didn’t tell them this, of course, but they’re the only place we’re considering. Mom insisted I check out The Interlaken, but they’re both more expensive. Even before you consider the break the Wake Robin is giving us.

Also, the Wake Robin is just more our type of place. It’s less pretentious, and the owners, Shaffin and Michael, are so community minded. Michael is president of the Chamber of Commerce and they are always hosting community events at the Inn. It’s important to James to keep as much of our money local as possible and there is no one I would rather give it to.