Planning, planning, planning

Just when you think you are done...........


I thought we were all set on the food and bar for the party but then.......... the food bill got raised and suddenly, I was over budget by $1,700. And.........the Aquarium does not include champagne in its bar packages which threw a wrench in the works for my 'champagne reception' and the Aquarium does not include Sloe Gin which is in the signature drink - ouch - one more wrench.

The food was as I wanted so I accepted the new bill with a smile?

That just left the bar. The prospect of buying the champagne and sloe gin made the original hourly package much less attractive than before. So then, I started looking at the hosted bar - hmmmmmm........how much do people really drink?? How can I do a comparison that will give me a realistic estimate. I got on the phone and called my very handy sis who knows all about these things. She gave me some rules of thumb and we started calculating. It was really looking like going hosted rather than hourly might be the better (read cheaper) idea. I listed everyone that is coming and how much they typically drink or an estimate if I didn't know what they drank. The amount came out much lower than the hourly rate.....hmmm......

And then we started discussing champagne. All of the discussion led to a decision to do a blind (not us but the bottles) champagne tasting to determine which champagne we should order for the party.

And, after seeing the prices on the wine list, I now have the opportunity to also buy the wine and bring that in. My choice - the great standbys by Barefoot - nice Merlots and Cabs - and the bottle has a lovely purple foot in keeping with the theme of the party.

And beer.........the Aquarium only stocks Bud Light unless you specifically request something else. So, I sent a quick email to my family beer drinkers asking for recommendations. Submitted a short list of 4 to the Aquarium and have to wait to see what they will charge me for my list (because everything you do has a cost there).

And, after all of that, I was starting to feel like a shot of Tequila Rose but I looked on the list and, oh no, the Aquarium has no Tequila Rose.......so, I threw in a bottle of that, too. Which of course, they will charge me a $15 corkage fee (+25% for gratuitie and tax).

The net of all of this last minute decision making should be a savings of about $900 on the bar fees, I hope. Although the Aquarium does need to calculate it all out and decide what they are going to charge me. If I go over, I pay extra. If I come in under, I get a refund.

Anyway, I will then be only $800 over budget...........