Getting the most from your tour

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:41:24 +0100

There are lots of magazines and websites that have some very good information on getting the most out of your visit or tour to possible venues. They suggest taking notes, scouring the venues’ website, and asking lots of questions. All of these are very good ideas, especially taking notes.

However, what they do not tell you is how you can increase your ability to get all of the information possible and get a true representation of what the facility is really all about. The following 5 tips will assuredly help you to get the most out of your visit.

1.) Leave the distractions at home or turned off!! Whether they’re children, pets, cell phones, or whatever they are, they deter your attention and that leaves you with less time and ability to gather the information you want. This is a large purchase of a once in a lifetime event and should receive your full attention.

2.) A 4 person limit is ideal if you can. Most certainly you do not want to tell members of your bridal party and your parents that they cannot be involved in the venue selection process. Also, it’s nice to bring someone along besides (instead of) your fiancé. A different set of eyes can really help when trying to pull the pros and cons all together. Of course your friends and parents will all have an opinion and 1 or 2 different ideas and thoughts can help. However, it seems that when 5 or more people, who all have differing opinions, come along your attention can be drawn to your entourage and their thoughts more than the venue and YOUR thoughts.

3.) When meeting with a sales person at a venue, be totally honest with what you would like and what your budget is. Professional salespeople are there to show and educate the client about their facility. If you have a tight budget then the focus of the tour will be on cost saving options as well as the facility. If your budget is unlimited then the focus should be on the upgrades and newest trends. Do not think that you are the only one on a budget, everyone is!

4.) If possible, try to tour a facility in good weather. The weather will have an impact on your perception of the facility. A sunny day at Hampton Beach is remembered more favorably than a week of rain on Waikiki even though they both have equal chances for bad weather. Obviously in New England many tours take place in the winter, just try to avoid stormy days. If you do tour a venue on a rainy day, just come back and look at the grounds when the weather is nice.

5.) Take pictures. Although some venues will not allow you to take pictures, there are many that do. When your in the final stages of your decision making process those pictures will help to accurately analyze each venue.

FOCUS and TAKE NOTES

Thanks for reading our Blog and look for our next post concerning the pluses and minuses of different types of bar service.

Welcome!

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:45:51 +0100

Welcome to The Granite Rose’s new Blog! We plan to post articles about all of the different aspects of your wedding day including many helpful hints and to dispel some of the “urban myths”.

Today’s’ weddings are a far cry from even 10 years ago. Back then everyone was seated at the head table including the parents, grandparents, Minister or Priest, as well as the bridal party. Today the majority of head tables are Sweetheart Tables for 2. The balance of the bridal party often sits at nearby tables and are able to socialize with their significant others while having dinner. It also gives the Bride and Groom at least 10 minutes alone!!

The introduction of wedding ceremonies at the Reception Site is quite new also. This really started to take hold in the late ‘90s’ and today they account for over 2/3s of the Ceremonies at The Granite Rose. The real upside of this transition is twofold; Brides are not limited to reception facilities that are close to their church or home, but rather they can expand there venue search for many, many miles. Of course the other bonus is that your guests have only to go to one location.

Entertainment has also done a complete 180 over the past few years. In the 90’s bands were the norm and a DJ was uncommon. Today the DJ is the norm and the band is quite uncommon. The reasons for this are really quite simple; the DJ is ¼ of the price of a band, they can play anything including downloading new songs from the Internet while on stage, they never take a break, and the new equipment that they use is a huge improvement from past years.

Traditional wedding cakes were always round, white, and had several tiers. Some even had fountains and other props such as staircases leading from one cake to the next. Today’s’ cakes are introducing color, square layers, Monograms and hundreds of cake, filling, and frosting combinations. You can find some great examples of these at Jacquespastries.com .

Keep watching our Blog as we highlight some of the newest trends for your wedding!