Meeting with Landhaus Sommerau

Yay! That's what I have to say about that!!

We drove up to the Sommerau after a delicious "lunch" or "dinner" or whatever one calls those decadent delicious feasts that take place at the Schnitzel family - we had (haha) Schnitzel with mushrooms and some rolled up schnitzel stuffed with cheese, green beans and croquettes and wine. Perfect for me, because weirdly enough, I was kind of nervous. Why?! I don't know! This whole venue thing has been so perfect all along that I was worried someone was going to come along and pop my big bubble of venue happiness.

But this didn't happen. In fact, my venue happiness bubble grew even bigger. So big that my pounding wedding planning heart actually gave me a headache. Am I allowed to call in sick with "wedding excitement" 8 months out?

We got to the Sommerau and all was quiet. It was 4pm and starting to get dark already (bavarian winter...) but I was awed again by the gosh freakin' beauty of the place! It's just so perfect! Cozy and casual but special and Bavarian at the same time. We asked at the counter for Herr Kramm and were informed that he was running late - perfect! Just in time to scope out the rooms, for the zillionth time, and take pics for mama. We checked out the "rain room" for the ceremony first, which we had been told holds only 50 people - a problem with our 80+ guest list. The room itself is gorgeous (forgot to take pics of that, gosh darn it!) with a mural of Buchenberg on the "altar" area and pretty white chairs. We stood there calculating that we are SURE that 80 people would fit in there....

Then we made our way to our reception hall (around the corner). Here are the pics I snapped while walking around:

this is the balcony that runs around the inside of the room

view from the balcony - aren't the lanterns pretty? and the mural?

bouquet toss from the balcony woohoo!!!

the stage - where our awesome band will rock

this is a view of the chairs. They are RED but this can be changed....

 this is the room from the outside. so beautiful!!! it was a bit dark already...

And then Herr Kramm came and we ordered drinks - on the house! We talked through the details of the wedding, from the ceremony to the prosecco hour to the dinner and dancing. Here are some of the exciting developments that came out of our conversation:

sparklers welcoming the cake at our friend's wedding

• the ceremony will (probably) take place down by the pretty pond - he has to ask the town council for permission (we would be the first people ever!!) Alternatively, we can use the pretty room if it's raining - they can indeed fit 75-80 people in it (50 was with tables)
• After the ceremony, there will be a "Sektempfang"outside on the terrace (with alp view!) which is pretty traditional German - prosecco, juices for mixing with the prosecco (or plain, for the non drinkers), and some small appetizers. This is where we're thinking of having the Alphornbläser coming...
• Then the "Saal" will be opened and people can slowly enter the reception hall and be seated. Wine will be served (which we will choose in a wine tasting) and water
• We discussed food options. We originally wanted a sit down menu, but he suggested doing the appetizer and soup as a sit down and the main course and dessert as buffet. We were sold! We want to do "elegant Bavarian" for the food, and this way, people can sample all kinds of food BUT they will go by table table so the comfy conversation won't be ruined. 
• After dinner, dancing will begin. Then there will be a big presentation when the cake is brought in (with sparklers, yay!) and in addition to the cake we will have a bavarian dessert buffet, with Kaiserschmarrn, fruit, bavarian creme and a cheese plate, etc... 

• Next to the dessert bar, we will set up a bar which will feature our Signature cocktail and beer and wine and some standing tables to encourage mingling. In this corner we will also "air" our slideshow (being constructed by my mom) featuring cute old pics of everyone on a projection screen. 
• The ENTIRE hotel is reserved for us! We get the bridal suite for FREE. That's right, for free. The other rooms cost 39 Euros/person/night INCLUDING breakfast. Wow. That's for all guests. That's what I call a deal!
• We pay no rent for the rooms, just for food and drink etc.. he's putting together an offer for us..

So... as you can tell I am very excited. It's going to be an amazing day...