Friday, February 29, 2008

Weekend Jaunt

On Saturday, FI and I are trekking to Newport to meet with Belle Mer's event planner/consultant, Jennifer. Jennifer has been very helpful so far -- patiently listening to my ideas and working to gather the necessary items. She's bringing together several samples of tablecloths, rentals, etc for us to look at. My inspiration for the color can be found here: http://www.davidbeahm.com/#photo-album-f446a I love the dark aqua/teal color used for the chair covers and tablecloths, and Jennifer thinks she has a cloth very similar.

We're also looking at potential rehearsal dinner venues:

Newport Vineyards (http://www.newportvineyards.com/): Newport Vineyards is actually located in Middletown, RI, but it's about a 5 min drive to the Newport town limit. It is probably the most popular vineyard in the New England area, and it should be beautiful in mid-May. They do have a permanent tent structure, as well as a wine garden and a "barrel room." Given the smaller number of people at our rehearsal dinner, we'd probably opt for the wine garden or barrel room. The only real drawback to Newport Vineyards, though, is the need to hire outside caterers.

Forty-One North (http://www.41no.com/Default.aspx): 41 North is a "marina resort," meaning that it is a marina, hotel and restaurant in one. So, while you're dining you can look out at docked yachts. And if you're too tipsy to drive, you can crash there, too. The place seems very upscale and modern, and it's right on the water. The rooms that they have available for rehearsal dinners are actually on the 2nd floor, but they have wrap-around decks and lots of windows. I'm excited to meet with Leslie, the events manager, tomorrow and tour the space. It seems like a real possibility.

H2O (http://www.h2onewport.com/): We're not actually visiting this place tomorrow, but I wanted to include it in my list of possible rehearsal dinner venues. I spoke with Dottie, the owner, last week, and unfortunately it doesn't open for the season until April. It's a contemporary waterfront restaurant with live music many nights, including Thursdays. The pictures on the website look awesome. We may walk by and peek through the windows if we have time. If we don't use it as a rehearsal dinner site, it could definitely be an "after party" spot.

Finally, we're going to visit a Catholic church that actually agreed to marry non-parishoners (finally!). It's St. Anthony's in Portsmouth, RI, which is about 15 mins away from Newport. It seems very cute, and unlike many of the other "evil church ladies" I've talked to, the receptionist was very nice. That's a good sign. We may even meet with the priest! Keep your fingers crossed that he agrees to perform the ceremony.



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