Paging ilovethiswebsite--Re: Auberge du Pommier

[sirbenson]

Hello!

This message is for ilovethiswebsite....not sure if you are still around the forum but I noticed that you had your wedding at Auberge du Pommier in Toronto. FH and I put a hold on a date and have yet to see the venue but I have a bunch of questions I was hoping you could answer.

Please PM me or respond herewithin
Cheers!

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

hi! I am so sorry in the delay getting back to you... I am still on the forum but have been super busy lately so I don't check in regularly. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Auberge was an AMAZING venue for our wedding - our day couldn't have been any more perfect!

 

[sirbenson]

Great to hear back from you! I have so many questions (we haven't met with Betty yet) but I'll *try* to limit them:

-Did you have an outdoor ceremony and if so did you have to rent chairs for guests?
-Did you stick to the preset menus or did you add on stuff ie. another course, extra dessert?
-Did you find that the portions were big enough to feed people? We are gonna have a luncheon in the summer so I don't want to stuff people but I want them to be well fed.
-Did you have DJ/dancing or entertainment?
-Did you add extra decorations or did the venue really speak for itself? Did you do centerpieces?
-How did you keep booze costs reasonable? I feel like if anything will put us over budget it'll be the booze as their prices are $$.

Okay, I'll leave it to that for now....Thanks! In the meantime, I have to remind myself how to PM

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Great to hear back from you! I have so many questions (we haven't met with Betty yet) but I'll *try* to limit them:

-Did you have an outdoor ceremony and if so did you have to rent chairs for guests?
-Did you stick to the preset menus or did you add on stuff ie. another course, extra dessert?
-Did you find that the portions were big enough to feed people? We are gonna have a luncheon in the summer so I don't want to stuff people but I want them to be well fed.
-Did you have DJ/dancing or entertainment?
-Did you add extra decorations or did the venue really speak for itself? Did you do centerpieces?
-How did you keep booze costs reasonable? I feel like if anything will put us over budget it'll be the booze as their prices are $$.

Okay, I'll leave it to that for now....Thanks! In the meantime, I have to remind myself how to PM

Hi SirBenson - please see my answers below:

-Did you have an outdoor ceremony and if so did you have to rent chairs for guests?

We did have the ceremony outdoors - it was very beautiful. We had to rent chairs - I believe Auberge works closely with a rental company. We got the typical white folding chairs - it was very nice. One thing to note- it was raining hard the morning of our wedding and the awning was leaking... we were close to moving the ceremony indoors but luckily the sun came out. We had no idea the awning wasn't water proof - I think it's a bit old so there are cracks and it can leak... Another thing - the cobblestone on the patio is a little wonky... I got my heels stuck in the cobblestone when I came down the "aisle"... Luckily I was able to get it out quickly and no one notices but boy - that could have been a disaster... My tip is wear flats under your wedding dress

-Did you stick to the preset menus or did you add on stuff ie. another course, extra dessert?

We used one of their preset menus but added an extra course so our guests had the choice between filet mignon, fish or chicken. We also had two options for the dessert- which guests really enjoyed!

-Did you find that the portions were big enough to feed people? We are gonna have a luncheon in the summer so I don't want to stuff people but I want them to be well fed.

Auberge is a very high end resto and because it's french cuisine, the portions are "normal" but not huge... We had a variety of appetizers served prior to dinner which really filled people up - we got a ton of compliments on the food and the appetizers. The cheese and bread spread was amazing too!

-Did you have DJ/dancing or entertainment?

We had both - we had a DJ after dinner and a guitar duo during dinner. We also had a string quartet for the ceremony (Amaro Chamber Music - I highly recommend them). If you are doing a lunch I think only a string quartet will do (no need for a DJ).

-Did you add extra decorations or did the venue really speak for itself? Did you do centerpieces?

We had a florist (Stemz who I also highly recommend) provide center pieces, bouquets for our bridal party, and some arrangements. The resto is beautiful so you don't need much to spruce it up - a couple of center pieces is more than enough.

-How did you keep booze costs reasonable? I feel like if anything will put us over budget it'll be the booze as their prices are $$.

The booze were the highest cost of the whole wedding - almost the same price as the meal! That was one of the downsides of using this venue, as drinks are full price. We expected a very high price so we were pleasantly surprised when we received 6000$ back in booze not consumed. I think because it was a Sunday and because people were working next day less people drank than we anticipated. If you are having a lunch I also expect people will drink less. There isn't much you can do to control the price except pre-select wine you are going to serve and the # of bottles to serve. Once they surpass that amount - they can let you know and it can be your choice to keep serving or not. We selected 2 wines that were moderately prices and 2 more that were a bit higher end. As you know, Auberge serves bottles which can be hundreds of dollars each so best to preselect your price range. We also served beer and only certain mixed drinks (e.g. no martinis that were 12$ each).

Hope this helps! PM me if you figure out how - I also have no idea how to PM. lol. All in all Auberge was the perfect venue for us and suited our style very well. The food was amazing and the venue was stunning! I highly recommend it to anyone.

 

[sirbenson]

Thanks SO much for all the good info!

-About the chairs and awning and cobblestone--good to know! Of course every bride hopes for no rain but as long as there is a back up plan there's not much else I can do. Do you know what their rain plan would be if the ceremony had to be held inside? As for the cobblestone, my dress is only knee length so flats won't cut it--I'll just have to be careful.

-Were the appetizers that you served plated or were people served the apps by servers as they were mingling?

-Thanks for the idea about the string quartet. I'll look into it. And I've heard really good things about Stemz. I'll only need a few centerpieces and there' no bridal party-just me and MOH- so hopefully the flowers won't cost me an arm and a leg. Could you tell me what flowers you went with? Just curious

-I'm thinking that for the drinking/booze maybe we could limit the options to wine, beer, and a few mixed drinks (no shooters or fancy schmancy mixed drinks) to help keep things reasonable. But like you said, since its a Sunday afternoon, I dont' *think* people will go full steam ahead with the drinking. Especially since there'll be no DJ.

Thanks again. I guess there is no way to PM---or at least I can't find it. I thought there was as every other forum I use has a PM function.

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Thanks SO much for all the good info!

-About the chairs and awning and cobblestone--good to know! Of course every bride hopes for no rain but as long as there is a back up plan there's not much else I can do. Do you know what their rain plan would be if the ceremony had to be held inside? As for the cobblestone, my dress is only knee length so flats won't cut it--I'll just have to be careful.

-Were the appetizers that you served plated or were people served the apps by servers as they were mingling?

-Thanks for the idea about the string quartet. I'll look into it. And I've heard really good things about Stemz. I'll only need a few centerpieces and there' no bridal party-just me and MOH- so hopefully the flowers won't cost me an arm and a leg. Could you tell me what flowers you went with? Just curious

-I'm thinking that for the drinking/booze maybe we could limit the options to wine, beer, and a few mixed drinks (no shooters or fancy schmancy mixed drinks) to help keep things reasonable. But like you said, since its a Sunday afternoon, I dont' *think* people will go full steam ahead with the drinking. Especially since there'll be no DJ.

Thanks again. I guess there is no way to PM---or at least I can't find it. I thought there was as every other forum I use has a PM function.

hi Sirbenson,

The back up plan is basically holding the ceremony inside the resto on the side closest to the french windows... Are you renting out the whole resto or one of the front rooms? Another option would be having the ceremony in one of the front rooms if you have a small guest list.

Our appetizers were served by servers - not plated. They were served during cocktail hour right after the ceremony.

We had white peonies, green roses and white hydrangeas in our arrangements. My bridesmaids bouquets were yellow and matched the awning.

Anyhoo I am sure you will not be disappointed - the service at Auberge is impeccable! You will love it for sure!