An Abbey Wedding: Next Stop: The Abbey

I thought I would do a quick post on what to expect during a site visit with Hayley or I. If you linked up to this blog through our website or through the email we sent to you, a site visit is going to be your next step. Below are a few tips to prepare for your site visit:

1. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. The Abbey is always open and anyone is free to walk around and see the resort at any time. BUT, if you want to actually talk specifics about having your wedding here, you will need to schedule time with Hayley or I. Most brides like to come in on weekends and we are usually booked, booked, BOOKED. It's best to call us at least a week in advance if you are going to be in the area. During the summer season when we have weddings, it's rare that we offer afternoon tours, so that we can give our full attention to the bride(s).

2. ALLOW AT LEAST AN HOUR. If you are scheduling tours at different properties in the area, please allow travel time between destinations. If you have a tour with us starting at 1pm and your next one is in Lake Geneva at 2pm, you will not be able to receive a complete tour from us.

3. LIMIT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON THE INITIAL TOUR. We completely understand that your families want to be involved in this exciting process. However, the more people on the tour, the longer it takes. My advice would be to narrow down the list of contenders before bringing along the parents.

4. WEAR COMFY SHOES. It took me a little while to give in to flats, but now they are the only thing I wear on a day when I have several tours. The Abbey is a large property so there's a lot of walking involved. You'll be glad you took this bit of advice!

Now that we've gotten those items out of the way, I will describe to you what a typical tour entails.

We will meet in the front lobby and you'll be given a packet. If we haven't had a chance to go over the general information regarding your wedding yet (number of guests, preferred date, etc), I will gather it at this time.

The first thing you will see are the guestrooms. If we are in the busy season, the early tours might not get to see as many room types as afternoon tours because the rooms are still occupied and/or dirty from the night before. We have over 300 guestrooms in the hotel, but only 13 of those are suites. For that reason, it's very common to NOT have a suite to show prospective brides, especially on weekend tours. We will, of course, do our best to accomodate because we know most brides are very interested in the suites.

After we see guestrooms, we will head down to the Avani Spa and we'll show you the fitness center, as well. This is a great place for all your wedding preparations and it's so convenient for it to be right there near the guestrooms, too!

Once we get that general part of the tour out of the way, we will begin to talk more specifically about YOUR wedding (otherwise known as the FUN part of the tour!) If you are planning on an outdoor ceremony, we will view the gazebos that are available and show you where your cocktail hour and reception can be held. Afterwards, we will go to our office and you will be provided with a complete estimate based on your approximate guest count and bar preferences.

If you haven't yet seen our office, it really is quite nice. Local vendors have been kind enough to "bedazzle" it so that prospective brides can see some of the possibilities and get ideas.