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Old Spaghetti Factory/ RD vent

dmplz02dmplz02
First Comment
in Minnesota-Minneapolis and St. Paul
Is anyone else planning a rehearsal dinner here? (or has planned one in the past?) For over 100 people, they will only let us choose two options, one is basic spaghetti, the other we chose chicken marsala. We've been fighting for a third option, and reluctantly they let us add on spaghetti with mushrooms. (Really frustrated with this, since it's an insult of a 3rd pick- how about something different- the whole point of options!!) You'd think they would be more lenient. We're guaranteeing they serve 130 plus bar tab. The other problem is that since most of my guests are from out of town and staying down the street at The Depot, there really aren't any other options for that many people at that price. They also want to know exactly how many people will be having what in advance, so I'm making an extra RSVP card for the RD with these options. I feel dumb writing this on the card: __ chicken marsala __ pasta with marina sauce __ pasta with mushrooms and marinara sauce. Is this worth fighting for? Anyone else having/had this problem? Am I too caught up in this small detail?
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Re: Old Spaghetti Factory/ RD vent

  • rosebc118rosebc118 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Wow! Thats crazy!!! I don't think you are out of line at all by wanting options and not having the exact count down of what people will eat! I thought about doing our RD there too since its so close to the depot... whats your date again? are they requiring this info months ahead of time or are you getting close?Could they serve it family style? where people could just serve themselves what they want? that would make it easier cuz then you could do a   1/3 1/3 1/3hmmm.... if you decide to go there I would be curious to know how much ball park it costs... i backed away from the idea because I ASSUMED it would be expensive, but it would be nice to know realistic prices :)Good luck that would be furstrating!!!
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  • LittleSweetieLittleSweetie member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In their defense, cooking for 100 is quite the feat when they are still running a restaurant in the other half of the dining room. Two entrees is what any buffet or plated dinner at a wedding might serve, and considering you will have 100 (!!) at your RD, two options seems to be all right to me. The first two options would suit nearly any tastes - I'd be happy with those two and thankful they were flexible to add a third. Could you scale back your RD and have your OOT guests meet you for drinks at the OSF afterwards? I'd either be happy with the 2 or even 3 meal options they've laid out for you, or invite fewer people to the RD and get your meal options back.
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  • wittyschaffywittyschaffy member
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I personally think you're making a bigger deal of it than it needs to be - think of it from their perspective... they need to make 130 extra meals and would like to plan ahead for a) purchasing and b) plating purposes. I gave our guests 3 choices for their meal at the Lexington and asked that when they RSVPd to indicate which option they wanted. Nobody thought it odd. I just made quick namecards for people with their meal choice on it so that the servers could quickly see who was getting what. I didn't have to know the counts for our selections until 2 days before. (I also had a RD for 30 - so less people but still wanted the staff to be prepared) Do they have a set banquet menu that you're choosing from? Lots of restaurants have certain things that they know they can serve and prepare well for over a certain number of people. If that is the case, they should and would probably be up front about it when you first asked if they could host your dinner I'd presume.
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  • emilykathleen511emilykathleen511
    First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I don't think they're being unreasonable because that is a TON of people for a rehearsal dinner and it takes a lot of planning on their part to make sure they have enough food (and the right kind) for everyone.
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  • AJ&BJAJ&BJ member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    For my rehearsal dinner we had two options (steak or fish) and people had to RSVP ahead of time with their meal choice. I don't think anyone thought it was odd. Personally I would be happy with either pasta with marina sauce or chicken marsala (though I don't like mushrooms).  
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  • veijesveijes
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    That's crazy that they will only let you have 2 choices. I work at an Irish pub and when we have parties that size we just make a special menu and let them pick it. Just on Saturday we had 2 different parties, 1 was 100 people, the other was 35 people and we still had our full restaurant open. The 100 guest count had 3 appetizer choices, 6 dinner choices, and 2 dessert choices. So that is ridiculous that they can't give you 3 different options to choose from!
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  • dmplz02dmplz02
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    After sleeping on it, I know I'm making a big deal out of really nothing. It's been my first real freak-out, so I guess I'm a real bride now :) I would love to shrink the 130 if I could, but most of my family is from out of town, and then all of my fiance's family is from FL, plus all of our friends are from FL. Both sets of parents insist everyone should be invited, so at least they agree on that. They were upfront about the menu options right away, so we knew what we were up against, but even with offering to buy wine for every table, pay extra for the 3rd choice, etc, I was just getting annoyed that they wouldn't budge, and when they finally did, the compromise was to just add mushrooms. You are all right though that it is a lot of people- I should just be happy we have a place that fits that many!rosebcc- My date is 5/30/10. Still 6 months out, but I'm flying up with FI and his family for Thanksgiving, when they will finalize everything. FI and I can't go back up until March, so we've booked everything pretty early. If you contact the manager, they can send you an excel sheet of the prices for each meal, plus tax, and then plus tip. With everything you can get it down to $12-$14 per person for food, and then add in drinks.  The general email is minneapolis@osf.com. Thank you all for your help and honesty!!
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  • Clare13Clare13 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Have you thought about serving everyone pasta with marina sauce? Then offering chicken and meatballs that could be added on top. This would give everyone a choice but should be easy for the restaurant to prepare and serve. Might be an option, I just don't know if the budget will allow for the extra meat.
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  • blckwhtyllwgirlblckwhtyllwgirl member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I had my RD there and loved it. It was around $800 for full open bar, food, salad, ice cream for around 30-35 people. I had to pick 2 or 3 options (I don't remember how many) but they let us order from the mini-menu at the table. I made up my own menus. They probably did that because I had a much smaller group.
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  • dmplz02dmplz02
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    with how large my group is there really aren't any other options. oh well.. and i wish i could reduce, but in my circle (family, friends, etc) everyone throws these huge "Welcome Dinners" the night before for all of the out of town guests. Our rehearsal is actually going to be about an hour before the ceremony.
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