Massachusetts-Cape Cod

New to the board - Chatham Bars Inn

Hi!  We are getting married next August 21, 2010 at Chatham Bars Inn.  I know I will have lot's of questions over the next year....but wanted to see first if anyone has been to a wedding at CBI or has had a wedding at CBI?  If so, I am open and welcome to all tips/advice and things not to do vs. to do!! Thanks in advance :-) Caroline

Re: New to the board - Chatham Bars Inn

  • edited December 2011
    Hi and welcome to the boards! Lots of really great girls and advice on here. First of all, congrats! August 2010 may seem far away, but it'll be here before you know it. I got married at Chatham Bars Inn last September, so I love hearing about other CBI brides! Believe me, you will not be disappointed there! Where is your wedding going to be? We had our ceremony on the Boathouse lawn and the reception in the Boathouse. Everything was exactly as I had dreamed it would be - the location was stunning, the food was incredible, and the whole staff was amazing. We worked with Clarissa and I absolutely loved her - she was so easy-going and paid attention to all of the little details. If you have any specific questions, I'll be more than happy to help you out. Feel free to take a look at my bio - I have some pictures and vendor reviews that you might find helpful. :) Congrats again and happy planning!
  • edited December 2011
    haha I clicked on here to say look at Walkbytheh2os bio and she already responded!Anyway, congrats. You will just LOVE cbi. I would have seriously considered getting married there if we had not already been set on MV. I have been to a few weddings there and they are all just gorgeous. I am not sure how helpful I would be with actual details but I jsut wanted to say best wishes :)
  • edited December 2011
    Hahaha I'm too fast for you Meaghan ;)
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks Ladies!! Will be getting married at St. Christopher's in the center and then cocktail hour at the Boat House - reception at the Beach Grill. I have a huge extended family (mom's one of 9, dad one of 5), so it's hard to cut the guest list down...so beach grill it is!  I will check out your pics though...thanks!!!!
  • jlb73jlb73 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi there!I am also planning a CBI wedding for next year, so I can't offer much feedback, but I'm happy to share anything I can.  We're getting hitched Sept 12, 2010 on the Boathouse Lawn. As my fiance & I are from Toronto, we're planning the whole affair from a distance - should be interesting!Keep us posted on how it goes!Also...WalkbytheH2O....thanks for your feedback on CBI a few weeks ago!
  • aredikerarediker member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'll be getting married at CBI on October 10th so in 53 days I can tell you how everything went ;). We are doing our rehearsal at the Chef's Table, the ceremony is on the south lawn, and the cocktail/reception is the Beach House Grill. So far, we have been very pleased with CBI. My advice - if you want to do a bonfire on the beach from 10pm until 11pm after the reception you will need to reserve all 4 rooms about the beach house grill. Otherwise, they kick you out of the area at 10pm. For flowers/decor, I'm using Chad Michael Peters and he is fabulous. He has done many events at CBI so he knows Rick/Clarissa and how everything works there. You can check out the sketch he did for my wedding at http://chadmichaelpeters.squarespace.com/style-blog/2009/5/11/chad-michael-peters-at-the-chatham-bars-inn-take-two.html and the flower demo at http://chadmichaelpeters.squarespace.com/style-blog/2009/7/17/fall-couture-floral-at-the-chatham-bars-inn.html. Good luck with the planning!
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    JLB - Who are you working with at CBI?
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks Arediker and good luck in october!! Let us know how it goes! I think we're just going to have the wedding mosy on down to the Squire at 10pm and forego the bon-fire.... But post pictures after the wedding...enjoy!!!
  • edited December 2011
    Did I hear Chad Michael Peters?? ::swoon:: he is the best. He did my MOH's sisters' wedding and is doing my college roomate's wedding right now. Love!
  • aredikerarediker member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'll definitely post pics! Another piece of advice - Chatham Bars Inn does not do food tastings, only cake tastings, but they will do a food tasting for you if you complain ;) (don't tell them I told you this, lol). We did ours in July and the food was absolutely delicious! Even my father, who is the biggest food critic, was highly impressed. Even though their menus seem somewhat limited they really can do whatever you want. For instance, we are having them do a sushi bar for the cocktail along with mini lobster rolls, even though none of these were on their menus. We also changed around the salad and entrees a bit to make them exactly how we wanted them. Same goes for the cakes, if a flavor isn't listed they will still make it for you. We had them do a red velvet cake for part of our tasting, even though we ended up going with their chocolate.
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Oh my gosh - thank you so much for the menu advice!! That was one thing I was kind of iffy about. If you don't mind me asking, did you have to pay extra for the lobster rolls at the cocktail hour?  And I definitely want to switch up some of the salads and combine them with different things.  Thanks so much for the ideas for the cocktail hour and I will do my best to get a tasting!!! :-)
  • aredikerarediker member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    For cocktail, CBI gives you 4 passed hors d'oeuvres with the package. They are counting the mini-lobster rolls as two passed hors d'oeurves so we are doing those and the vegetable spring rolls and scallops wrapped in bacon. The package also comes with a vegetable/cheese bar and a seafood bar (where we are doing sushi) so we figured 3 passed hors d'oerves is plenty. I think if you do 4 passed h'oeurves with the lobster rolls they wanted to charge us $1 per person extra. Best :)
  • aredikerarediker member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    oh, one more thing (not getting much work done today ;)), CBI will also do a signature drink for cocktail hour for you. Not sure how much they charge for this but I know a lot of girls have done a cranberry mojito.
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Love ALL of your tips/suggestions. Thank you SO much!!
  • edited December 2011
    The cranberry mojitos are delish and I'm pretty sure they didn't charge us extra for those. :)
  • jlb73jlb73 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm working with Rick.  He's been quite helpful so far!
  • edited December 2011
    Hi everyone! I'm also getting married at CBI - 8/28/10 - with the ceremony on the beach and reception at the Beach House Grill.  We are planning on having our rehersal at the Boat House with a bonfire to follow.  Are any of you opting to forgo the package and chosing directly from the catering menu for your reception?  I'm working with Clarissa and she mentioned that they have fit upwards of 200 people in the Beach House Grill without the tent - is anyone else having numbers of that size and/or been to a wedding of that size there?  I would LOVE any advice past brides can give me.  I am planning from Washington, DC so vendor recommendations (flowers/photography/music) would be much appreciated!Thanks to all :)
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi!! So yours is the weekend after ours!!  I am having that big of a wedding there too.  Reception at Beach House Grill, cocktail hour at the Boat House most likely.  I stopped by a wedding there this past weekend to see it while we were in town.  There were 200 guests without a tent and quite honestly, it was BEAUTIFUL but a tad bit tight.  I would recco the smaller tent (I think it's like $1,200) and really allows you to spread the tables out so its not so cramped. At this wedding there were two tables on the dance floor and it really did make the floor so much smaller. In terms of food, we are going with the packages also. Florist we are using Lilacs. She does GREAT work and I have gotten some rave reviews from past brides that I know in the area. Her name is Karen.  The band we are using is Bean Town.  Haven't heard them personally but I also have heard rave reviews from guests of other weddings and we have heard their cd - sounds great.  Also, from what I've heard - Sultans of Swing is another good band.  That's all we have for now...but I'll keep you posted and you do the same.  So exciting!!! I'll pray for good weather on back to back weekends in August 2010!!!
  • edited December 2011
    Caroline, You really have your stuff together!  That's what we're thinking - ceremony on the sand, cocktail at the boathouse and reception at the beach house.  I literally got engaged and picked CBI all within a week (I happened to be in the area), so I'm hoping to get back to CBI soon to start think about the details a bit more.  Are you having a lot of out of town guests?? The majority of our guest list will be traveling, but Clarissa mentioned that they don't do any sort of room blocks, except to guarantee rooms for the immediate family - I'm also trying to arrange some less expensive accomodations for our friends.  Any suggestsions?  I will be keeping my fingers crossed for beautiful weather as well!! Thanks, Cara :)
  • jlb73jlb73 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ohhh...I would love some tips on less expensive accomodations too...I'm thinking the Hawthorn might be an option (although they have indicated they have a 3 night minimum)... Love that there is a little gang of CBI brides!
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Cara, I have been renting in Chatham with my family for the past 28 summers (so my life span) hah...so I do know the area which helps.  Believe me, you have time to figure out the deets!  There are definitely some cheaper options for accomadations - b/c really who can afford CBI for their minimum requirement!? I mean, the fact that they don't even comp a room to the bride and groom during summer months is questionable...but hey, they have the demand I guess! At least they waive the min stay for us :0)  Anyways, yes we have LOTS of out of town guests. Here are some less expensive options but still right in town/beach/cbi distance: - The Bradford & The Wayside (sister hotels) ($240+) and I just found out that they will do 1 night minimum. - Surfside (two night min) - can't beat location and price.  $125+ for a room with double beds....BUT it's VERY bare bones and old.  I stayed there this weekend.  If someone isn't looking for anything luxurious and they want to be close to the beach, cbi and town without breaking the bank...this is the option. Also, the owners are really laid back and you can drink and bring snacks out to the large porch and also you can play games in the expansive lawn. Great for young couples who just want to have a good time on the cheap. - Hawthorne (3 night min) $290+ and right across the street from CBI. Great views of the water. - Cranberry Inn $230+ (two night min) and nice B&B option.  Hope this helps!!!
  • aredikerarediker member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    For affordable hotels in Chatham I recommend both the Chatham Seafarer and Chatham Motel. Also, Surfside Motor Lodge is right next to CBI and only got great reviews online. I have guests staying at all three. As I mentioned before, Chad Michael Peters is great for flowers and design. I'm using Eye 2 Eye for my band and Julia Cumes for photos. ~Amy
  • edited December 2011
    Does CBI have F&B minimums? I've heard so many different things.
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I think this is the rule of thumb in their contracts: The food and beverage minimum expenditure for the event is $30,000.00
  • edited December 2011
    Hi everyone - I had to change my email address so my user name has changed a bit (I was carabell83 before).  Caroline, did you do anything fun for your preversary??  I was selected to participate in something called a Diamond Dig tomorrow (it's hosted by one of the local jewelers down here) - keep your fingers crossed for me!  http://www.mervisdiamond.com/diamondsWe're going to do that and then head out for a romantic dinner (after I get cleaned up!)Have a great weekend everyone!
  • cal0381cal0381 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Sooooo fun, that's a great idea!!! We just went out to a nice restaurant in the area that I have been dying to go too - so it was nice :-)  GL on the diamond dig!!!!
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