Prelude To A Wedding Dinner

Part of the package that The Carlyle offers once you go to contract with them for the big she-bang, is to be invited back for dinner at The Oak Room - on them - as a means to sample the menu. Friday night we did a whole 'o sampling.

While not every item on the menu will be available for us to select and include during the wedding, our waiter notified us of such before ordering. He, I think his name was Alex, was very helpful in detailing any variations in how plates might be served on the wedding side of the house.

For appetizers, we started with crab cakes, calamari, stuffed artichoke hearts, a medley of salads (ceasar, blue cheese, and some bacon bean concoction), and my favorite, blue cheese batter shrimp. De-lish.

Entrees included filet mignon, mahi mahi, baby lamb chops, a greek chicken cutlet, and pasta.

Dessert included an assortment of chocolate molten something, brandied bananas, and an ice cream dish. All very good on the eye and the palate.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what will make the wedding day menu because I'm being threatening by Coco. (Bad, Coco, bad. Now you must be punished ;) Besides, I would think that the menu might evolve between now and then. Let's just hope the menu selection process is easier than choosing a spot to honeymoon. BTW, I think we're going to cruise the eastern Mediterranean. S.W.E.E.T.

I should note that the house could do a better job of noting the meal comps on the reciept. While they were clear in what was being comped, you had no idea what the amount of each comp was. Big A was clearly befuddled when trying to tip the waiter. Big A is a big fan of service and wanted to make sure the waiter received his grat on top of the freebies.

The Carlyle Revisited...

This past Saturday we returned to The Carlyle to look at the Lenox Room set up for a ceremony - I'm so anal about size I need to see it set up - imagine that.

Unfortunately, the Lenox Room wasn't set up. Fortunately, the wedding scheduled was set up outside AND in the round. It looked great. Imagine a rose-petal-strewn path leading up to a beautifully decorated huppa (L'shana tova to all you Jews out there!!!) surrounded by an audience of white chairs and candles. It really looked great. The weather couldn't have been nicer; low 70s and breezy.

No matter the weather, we're still getting married in the Lenox Room. My fears of not having enough room for guests, chairs, and Coco's HUGE wedding party, etc. were calmed. The room is much longer and wider than I remember (75'l x 29'w).

We were fortunate enough to have one of The Carlyle's maitre d's on site (Gerald) as he walked us through this weddding's entire set up. The table linens, the flowers, the themed food stations, even baskets of WC essentials (ie. breath mints, Tide StainStick, dental floss, you name it!) I must admit - it all looked stunning. Very classy. I'm sure the bride & groom were happy. I'm sure we will be also.

I definitely walked away with some things to remember:

- Enough photography lighting (reflective devices might be nice if our fotog isn't bringing them. I wonder if The Carlyle will charge me extra for some tin foil??

- I've only been there 3 times and each time I'm thrown off as soon as I turn off the Bethpage Parkway. Too many damn roundabouts if you ask me. One or two signs, placed strategically, can only do wonders for guests.

- To me, this is the biggest one yet. I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures or not but The Carlyle has a beautiful circle cobble stone drive that welcomes guests to the clubhouse. I distinctly recall I speaking with The Carlyle representative, Cynthia Benard, about making sure Carlyle or NY state staff do not park in the spots that seem to be available due to sheer available space. I'd be livid if I pulled up an hour or two before my wedding and saw cars circled like wagons getting raided by injuns. The more I think about it the more I'm realizing I may not be able to control this - damn Friday afternoon golfers. It's killing me. Seriously.

Random Thoughts of Weddingness

* With almost year to go, Coco and I are finalizing our plans for the Honeymoon. As much as I'm sold on hitting Thailand, I am having a hard time pulling the trigger on flying from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, from Chiang Mai to Koh Samui and finally from Koh Samui back to Bangkok in order to return to NYC. [Here's a map] Seems like a lot of flying, no? I haven't quite worked out the total time commitment needed but think it might eat into time at the actual destination. Perhaps we cut Bangkok short - I've seen plenty of dirty city in NYC.

* We've countdown past the 400 day mark and are QUICKLY (almost too quickly if you ask my man purse.) approaching the 365 day mark. Whoa. It will definitely be here sooner than we think.

* We're going to visit the Carlyle in a few weeks to check out the grounds for photos and lighting. Around the same time we'll partake in our discounted din-din at The Oak Room with Big A and Mrs. Big A. (Mom, have no fear, I want you to see and taste what the Carlyle has to offer the next time you're up in NY!)

* We just got back from a great trip to the Berkshires; we hit John Williams at Tanglewood on Saturday night for his film night tribute to the great British director, David Lean, creator of Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Passage to India, and Doctor Zhivago. Here's the program.

Sunday was all about betting the the ponies at Saratoga. I know it wasn't for the Travers but it still was a great time! What a beautiful race track. (pix to follow shortly!) I'm still trying to figure out why I didn't bet our wedding savings on War Pass in the 3rd?? Big A said "pound it". You think I listened?? It was a losing day for me but here are the results in case you're interested - [here]

* We got a letter from Brad that says he hopes to be done with this war on or around July 4, 2008. Should I count on that given the state of things??

* Wedding Dress decisions are upon us (or Coco for that matter) and I'm sure tensions will rise. Her first venture out is in a week or two I think. My opinions vary and I've had my say, LOL, and think Coco will make the right choice. Big A and I will be passing the time at Shea as Los Mets take on the Phillies. Is it me or has the progress on Citifield exceeded your expectations?! Be sure to check out the time-lapse constructions web-cam on the right of the page.

* Not that I need another distraction but classes start up today for the fall term. Hear me now, but listen to me later, children - if you can afford to do it full-time - do it. 60+ credits across almost 4 years isn't as much fun as it's cracked up to be.

Hotel Review & Locale Suggestion

You may recall this post where I ponder the logistics of hotels come wedding time. Well, it turns out that Aunt Kathy and Jeff (of the Great Barrington Construction Camp) stayed at the Garden City Hotel the night of the engagement party and gave it two thumbs up. How can they not - it's supposed to be one of the nicest hotels on Long Island. It's also only about 25 minutes from The Carlyle. See for yourself. I've never been there so I have absolutely no idea what's it's like but if Aunt says it's ok and Jeff can justify the expense then there must be some good value in it.

I'd like to append one piece of information to my recent post about the changes to The Carlyle website. In fact, this is a tip to all wedding venue websites - "Please include a list of suggested hotels that are near the event."

Is that too much to ask? I didn't think so.

Carlyle On The Green Changing It Up

I was struggling to find something to write about until I happened upon some changes the Carlyle on the Green has made to their website. It's a definite improvement and gives viewers a better feel of the facilities and layout.

The "Weddings" and "Corporate Events" selections on the left-hand side of their site show some nice pictures of the chapel where we will be having our ceremony. I believe it's called the Lenox Room. This room sold us on the Carlyle. Our thinking was that we have to have a contingency for bad weather - this will always be a game day decision in my opionion- so we decided that this room, adorned with candles & "all things romantic", will look amazing regardless of the weather. We haven't really decided how we are going to decorate it but by itself the room looks stunning.

"Social Events" has a photo of the Conservatory which will host the reception. We love this room and how it opens up right onto the practice putting green and the first tee of the Red Course. Score.

The Heritage Room will host the cocktail hour. With huge cathedral ceilings, 2 bars, a fireplace and a piano, this will surely kick of festivities the right way.

Also on site is a great restaurant called The Oak Room. The culinary staff here will be in charge of preparing the dinner we'll select. One of the 'perks' in going to contract with The Carlyle for our wedding, an expected perk nonetheless, is the option for the two of us to have dinner at The Oak Room on them. I'm really looking forward to sampling the menu at some point. I wonder what their specialty is?

Enjoy the weekend campers! Keep an eye (or two) out for Jason. I hear the Vorhees family never really dies...

Another Piece Of The Puzzle

Yes, that's right. Another piece to the wedding puzzle has been put into place.

Last night we had our officiant interview with Minister Keith from NY Marriages. Coco was running late (Men's Vogue beckons) so Minister Keith and I talked shop and baseball at the bar for a while. (I must admit there are still times when I just don't know where I am when I come above ground from the subway. Does this happen to every New Yorker?? Surely it must.)

The conversation quickly moved away from Mets & the Yankees (sorry, Minister Keith. Let's hope the Metropolitans can stop their losing streak!) as soon as we had cocktails in hand. For the record, Minister Keith, only ordered a Coke. Stella for me and a vibrantly floral 2007 Roisin Dubh for the bride-to-be.

Minister Keith reviewed for us his history, his perspectives on marriage, religion, and naturally, talked a bit about his family. (He and his wife (a Mets fan!) are expecting their 3rd child. They also have a set of one year-old twins - Twins?? Sounds like kismet to me!)

He ran down a 'typical' ceremony and graciously answered ANY questions we had about ANYTHING, either related or unrelated to the ceremony. I can't quite recall what specific questions we asked but the materials he provided covered all of the bases. Baseball pun intended. We spoke about a union ceremony (candle or sand), our vows, readings, who we might like to witness the signing of the marriage license, amongs other things. Needless to say, we're both very excited to work out the details in the upcoming months. He was very positive, over extended himself, and was glad to incorporate anything we wanted into the ceremony that would personalize it. He didn't stop there and as we exited, offered to answer any questions we might have about anything.

Other Minister Keith points of interest:

-He's owned up to using my "pleasantly forgettable" description of officiants with other clients.

-He's taller than I anticipated (due to his photo on the website). 6', maybe 6'1".

-This is not his full-time occupation. He also works in IT.

-He's done 1 ceremony at The Carlyle. I'd be just as happy if we're #2 or #10.

-He participates in a fantasy season-long HR derby that could pay out $$$$. I believe the Mrs. does, too.


(Sorry, Aunt T but The NYSEC is out. A great idea but I think we'd be foolish to pass up Minister Keith. I think I'll refer to him as MK for the rest of this post.)

The Early Bird Catches the

Carlyle On The Green.

We have our second meeting with Cynthia to go to contract for a date in September, 2008. Throughout the entire venue due diligence process we didn't run into many spaces that were really booked so we think we're a step or two ahead in the game.

I have some issues with the contract that I hope she can amend to the existing contract. They are:

I'm not sure how many of you actually know but Bethpage is hosting the 2009 U.S. Open (again). The dates are set - June 15-21. I'm worried about the amount of construction that could be going on in September, 2008. I would suspect that any changes to the clubhouse or surrounding grounds would happen the fall before, no? Any thoughts?

Also, we need to make sure the premium bar includes some essentials: Campari for Big A, Wild Turkey (gobble, gobble...have some wild turkey Gillott! hahaha.) for her mother, and some Black Label. I'll have them list the liquor available since everyone's definition of 'premium' varies.

I think her dad might have another request or two regarding the service but I'm not sure of what the specifics might be. (He used to work in catering for his father.) I was very impressed with his line of questioning and immediate request for a cup of coffee this past Monday. (Note to readers: if the coffee ain't hot, the dinner won't be either!)


On a non-contract-related note, we spent a good deal of time trying to justify a Sunday night wedding. Sunday's were $20 per head cheaper - achem - more affordable, so the potential savings just had to be taken in to account. If you're thinking of a Sunday night wedding, keep the following in mind:

a) Is there an event before yours?

b) If so, will the grounds be just as clean and manicured if it were a Friday night?

c) If so, are you (or the band! or the florist!) limited as far as showing up X number of hours earlier? This was definitely the case and an hour and a half set up time for either the band or DJ or the florist just didn't seem like enough time. Can you imagine if 'something' happened?? Oh yeah, we don't know yet what we'll do about music but you can be sure it'll be a post.

d) If so, are there certain rooms that you will not not have access to. This happened to be the case with both the primary bridal suite and the groom's room.

e) Will any part of the grounds not be available for pictures? It just so happens that we would have to avoid the current event's 'space' and not really know what we would not be able to use as the perfect backdrop would surely limit us.

f) Is any of the staff working both events? Can you imagine working a double for weddings or other events? I can't.

Those issues pretty much sealed the deal
for us. Am I missing anything? Are these even necessary concerns, I mean we're dealing with professionals, right?!?

Stay tuned for our food selections for the cocktail hour and reception!

Weekend Plans

So, I've been told that I'm doing the visiting following at some point this weekend:

The Watermill

Carltun on the Park

Carlyle on the Green

I'm game for seeing them all as long as they don't conflict with Jack. He's back from China and he's not happy .