When Wedding Planning Fails
Back in December while we were busy getting screwed by Ridgewells Catering, my fiancée and I called up Michael Landrum from Ray’s the Steaks and asked about the opportunity to rent out the restaurant for an evening. Sure, it might cost what those dirty stinking liars at Ridgewells were going to charge us, but at least we like Michael and Ray’s, and wedding steak is a good alternative to wedding cake. Michael told us about his new space that he would be opening in January February March April May in Silver Spring, and that there would be private dining space that could seat 60.
Sweet. That would work out nicely.
He told us to call him as the opening got closer. So we kept checking on the progress. We admire Michael for creating the new Ray’s on the profits of the old Ray’s instead of taking out a massive bank loan, and so we waited in patient hope. Tuesday marked the 60 days-until-the-wedding-day date and my breaking point. I called the Arlington Ray’s in hope of talking with Michael. I got the new and improved message announcing their no-reservation policy and left a message for Michael to call me. Today, he did.
In short, the new Ray’s won’t open with the new private dining area available for reservation. They need to make the right staffing decision to handle that, and right now, they don’t have the available data.
While I don’t feel screwed by Michael, I certainly feel screwed by fate. I need a nice place to have our wedding reception. Seats 60. Wine available. And I’d rather not pay so much that I’m paying it off like a student loan. Got a recommendation? Post in the comments. If you send us the right direction, there will definitely be a reward.
Sorry about your bad luck! But I can recommend a place … We had our ceremony and reception at the Arts Club of Washington. It’s an old mansion in Foggy Bottom. They do their own catering and bartending, so the no-hassle factor is great. It will seat 60 easily — we had about 80 I think — and at that number you may have a choice of rooms. They only do one function a day so you won’t feel squeezed in after or before someone else.
And for all that, it’s not a bad price.
http://artsclubofwashington.org/
Hope that helps.
Thank you Robin! I did email them, but sadly they’re booked. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
City Tavern Club in G-Town? I’ll be a member shortly…
Relatively cheap by local standards and the food was good: Tregaron at the Washington International School in Cleveland Park (catering by 3Citron).
Have you thought about Corduroy? Everything I have heard about Tom Powers says that he is really easy to work with. They don’t have a private room, but your party might be large enough to have the entire restuarant.
Tom, bummer about Arts Club being booked! We also looked into Tregaron when we were shopping around and it seemed like a neat place.
We found these places through a very handy book called Unique Meeting, Wedding, and Party Places in Greater Washington. Definitely recommend it, although I see it “usually ships in 4-6 weeks” from Amazon.
(Maybe I could loan you mine? Email me robin AT americanrobin DOT net.)