After a fairly extensive search for a good reception venue I selected Madigan's for it's location in historic Occoquan on the river, the quality of the food we had eaten in the restaurant, the charm of the upstairs reception area that would be pre-decorated for the Christmas holidays, and the reasonable pricing. Cathy was willing to negotiate on the pricing due to our reception taking place on a Monday afternoon and since I would be bringing my own wedding cake which is normally included in the price. I was even able to swap the extra desserts that are typically part of the menu for a champagne toast instead. I also made one equal swap for one menu item I didn't care for. The open bar was paid on a per consumption basis instead of a flat fee per person which I also appreciated. I was also able to negotiate a price for younger children as well as toddlers/babies at no cost. I didn't really like paying a $1 per person cake cutting fee to bring in my own cake, but that price is on the low end of what you can expect at other places. One guest had a food allergy and she made sure the recipe for the one item that included the ingredient was changed for our wedding day. She had a few different handouts with guidelines, menus, timing of meetings, etc. that made the process go smoothly. I rely heavily on email and sometimes it would take more than 24 hours for her to respond but none went more than a few days without response--I think voicemail may be a better way to reach her. Cathy was always very professional but started to loosen up a little by the end. She is not your typical warm and fuzzy, bubbly wedding coordinator so don't get offended by her 'all business' approach to the meetings. She gave me helpful feedback on my tentative timeline for the day and their previous relationship with Nelson Coffman DJ services made that part of the planning process easier for me as well. Each of the four meetings with her were very efficient which I appreciated. With another wedding reception the day before mine that wanted to ch
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