There's always something

A big problem with planning a wedding from this far away is that it is really hard to get the whole picture. Every time I think I've picked a place, I find out some detail that is a deal breaker. Case in point - the Andover CC. I loved this place. Good menu, great location, pretty grounds, pretty ballroom. Great entree prices, reasonable room rate. Recommended by a family member. Then, all of a sudden, I get hit in the face with their liquor prices. $24/pp, which does not include wine at the table or champagne toast. Ouch! Still might go there, because they're meal price is low enough to make up for it, but I feel used.

I am back to looking at hotels; I got some promising information from the Wyndham in Andover. Their deal breaker took me several days to find... turns out that, despite their low per-person cost, they have a minimum food/bev requirement of $9000. This is not mentioned ANYWHERE in their email brochure, and only one employee could tell me this. I'm not really sure what they expect me to be paying for. If I got one of their middle food choices, and their standard alcohol package, that only brings me to about $7300. Howzat? I guess they just want me to find more guests.

I started looking at churches. The Unitarian church in Andover has a website; they look beautiful, and charge about $1000 for the room, the minister, and the organist. And we don't need an organist. Scheduling on Sunday might be hard, though. And I still have to sell Geoff on the Unitarian idea.
http://www.northparish.org