A dreary Imbolc
Feb. 2nd, 2006 04:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellymellOn the way to the lodge earlier, I saw blue sky. But all over town, I keep running into patches of rain. It was pouring while we were at the lodge. It's like it wants to rain really bad, but it's just too tired to do much of anything.
Roomba is handling some spring cleaning for us, heh.
So, like I mentioned, Chris' mom and I went to the lodge this afternoon to ask some questions, book the entire thing (we only had half of it before) and take some pictures of the interior (I got pics of the exterior last April). I love that place.
Anyway, before that, she called me from Ellen's bakery on Jordan Lane saying she was there and looking into pricing on cheesecakes. I was about to leave to head up to the lodge, but told her I'd just meet her at the bakery and we could talk to her first. Ellen does have the 13th open and showed me tons of options with cheesecakes (she used to be the pastry chef for the Fogcutter). She quoted me a VERY reasonable price for three cheesecakes! Hypothetically, we picked some flavors so we could get a realistic quote (she charges directly for how many it serves and ingredients, not for hassle factor or any of that sort of thing). We chose a bottom tier that would be 11" (said that would serve 48 small portions) of plain New York style cheesecake. A middle tier that would be 8" of a chocolate or turtle cheesecake. Then a top tier that would be 6" of white chocolate raspberry swirl. Now, this isn't necessarily what we'll have, it's just to get an idea on pricing. She has the graduated stands and those are available free, we just pay a refundable deposit. She also will come set it up for free, and if she doesn't have previous engagements that day, would even be willing to serve it. Also a plus, it would come precut! She had recently made a white chocolate/dark chocolate swirl cheesecake that we got to taste. Man it was awesome! And her crust actually tastes like something! A lot of times on a cheesecake, the crust is just sort of there, it doesn't taste like anything. So we might jump on her without even shopping around. Maybe not a wise thing to do, but of the prices I've seen for cakes, she's about $20 more for 3 cheesecakes than most places for a basic, strip down, nothing fancy, 3-tiered wedding cake. Not a bad deal if you ask me. Ah, but so many flavors to choose from! She talked about a cappuccino cheesecake and amaretto cheesecake. . . man, so many she named off!
Then, up to the lodge. We went ahead and signed a new contract renting the entire building and took care of the difference in deposit. I went over everything that Pat (Chris' mom's friend who's helping me with some legwork and planning) told me over the phone to make sure I had it all right. I also picked up a floor plan. They're putting in a gazebo that should be done March 1st that will be just off the back of the terraces. We're holding off on deciding where to have the ceremony until after that's done. I really want to do it at the overlook, but that would mean we'd have to rent chairs (just another expense). Since they're putting in the gazebo, they're also cutting down some trees back there. She said the back of the lodge is about to have pretty much the same view as the overlook, so we'll just have to see it before we make a decision. I got the necessary pics of the interior. I LOVE the light fixtures in the place! I think it's going to suit us so well. They're not booked the day before the wedding, so we got first choice of when our rehearsal would be (we chose 6pm that evening to give people a chance to get off work and get up to the lodge). I'm sure we could change it at this point if we needed to though.
So, a 3 hour lunch break (without any actual lunch) later and I think we've got a baker for our cake(s) and the venue is more squared away than it's ever been and for once I don't have any questions in my mind about the place. In addition, I got the pics I needed to start thinking of decorating ideas and brainstormed with Jessica (the lady at the lodge) and Chris' mom about where to put everything and how to utilize the space. Jessica gave me some great pointers on how to set up certain things that I wouldn't have thought (e.g. not to put the cake with the rest of the food). Saturday I have planned to go to All Needz and talk with someone there. If I like what I see, we'll go ahead and book them, leaving only a florist to find. Pieces are starting to come together.
Roomba is handling some spring cleaning for us, heh.
So, like I mentioned, Chris' mom and I went to the lodge this afternoon to ask some questions, book the entire thing (we only had half of it before) and take some pictures of the interior (I got pics of the exterior last April). I love that place.
Anyway, before that, she called me from Ellen's bakery on Jordan Lane saying she was there and looking into pricing on cheesecakes. I was about to leave to head up to the lodge, but told her I'd just meet her at the bakery and we could talk to her first. Ellen does have the 13th open and showed me tons of options with cheesecakes (she used to be the pastry chef for the Fogcutter). She quoted me a VERY reasonable price for three cheesecakes! Hypothetically, we picked some flavors so we could get a realistic quote (she charges directly for how many it serves and ingredients, not for hassle factor or any of that sort of thing). We chose a bottom tier that would be 11" (said that would serve 48 small portions) of plain New York style cheesecake. A middle tier that would be 8" of a chocolate or turtle cheesecake. Then a top tier that would be 6" of white chocolate raspberry swirl. Now, this isn't necessarily what we'll have, it's just to get an idea on pricing. She has the graduated stands and those are available free, we just pay a refundable deposit. She also will come set it up for free, and if she doesn't have previous engagements that day, would even be willing to serve it. Also a plus, it would come precut! She had recently made a white chocolate/dark chocolate swirl cheesecake that we got to taste. Man it was awesome! And her crust actually tastes like something! A lot of times on a cheesecake, the crust is just sort of there, it doesn't taste like anything. So we might jump on her without even shopping around. Maybe not a wise thing to do, but of the prices I've seen for cakes, she's about $20 more for 3 cheesecakes than most places for a basic, strip down, nothing fancy, 3-tiered wedding cake. Not a bad deal if you ask me. Ah, but so many flavors to choose from! She talked about a cappuccino cheesecake and amaretto cheesecake. . . man, so many she named off!
Then, up to the lodge. We went ahead and signed a new contract renting the entire building and took care of the difference in deposit. I went over everything that Pat (Chris' mom's friend who's helping me with some legwork and planning) told me over the phone to make sure I had it all right. I also picked up a floor plan. They're putting in a gazebo that should be done March 1st that will be just off the back of the terraces. We're holding off on deciding where to have the ceremony until after that's done. I really want to do it at the overlook, but that would mean we'd have to rent chairs (just another expense). Since they're putting in the gazebo, they're also cutting down some trees back there. She said the back of the lodge is about to have pretty much the same view as the overlook, so we'll just have to see it before we make a decision. I got the necessary pics of the interior. I LOVE the light fixtures in the place! I think it's going to suit us so well. They're not booked the day before the wedding, so we got first choice of when our rehearsal would be (we chose 6pm that evening to give people a chance to get off work and get up to the lodge). I'm sure we could change it at this point if we needed to though.
So, a 3 hour lunch break (without any actual lunch) later and I think we've got a baker for our cake(s) and the venue is more squared away than it's ever been and for once I don't have any questions in my mind about the place. In addition, I got the pics I needed to start thinking of decorating ideas and brainstormed with Jessica (the lady at the lodge) and Chris' mom about where to put everything and how to utilize the space. Jessica gave me some great pointers on how to set up certain things that I wouldn't have thought (e.g. not to put the cake with the rest of the food). Saturday I have planned to go to All Needz and talk with someone there. If I like what I see, we'll go ahead and book them, leaving only a florist to find. Pieces are starting to come together.
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no subject
on 2006-02-03 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-02-03 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-02-03 02:58 am (UTC)If you need a florist, I recommend mine. Bishop's on Meridian Street. Very reasonable. Very friendly. Very fabulous. They were less than In Bloom, which was my other choice.
no subject
on 2006-02-03 03:16 pm (UTC)Bishop's is on my list to call for a consultation. Also, In Bloom, just because I keep hearing such marvelous things about them (even though I also hear they're quite pricey, I just want to see what they can do). And the one I really want to see about is Gate House Flowers. They're the ones that have this big moss covered "wedding cake" on a silver stand you can rent for $35/day. She drapes it in fresh flowers and it would be a fantastic display on this table when you walk in the front door. So since I'm leaning in her direction, I'll probably go see her last.