London x-mas meet-up -- sigh up now. 17th November. This date is now settled.

[eleusis]

17th November had the most votes, and I think it's time an executive decision is made.

You know the routine. Copy and paste your name into place.

17 November (Saturday)
Eleusis
Countess Dracula
COV
Kewcumber
Flame
Mustrunmore
rbj949703
MarsLady
Gomez
littlelapin
StarryStarryNight
magnolia1
deweydell
Bubble99
TheMaskedPoster

Wasn't it in November last year? 15th?

Saturday Nov 18th last year.

Maybe it should be re-titled 'The mnet winterval meet-up?'

thing about december is - that a shit load of people will drop out becuase they realise its one paypacket and fuck me its xma and they can't afford a 40 train and a £50 might out and a £40 hotel room

novemeber - somewhere last two weeks gives people enough time to figure out finances.

and it is August practically

sep
oct

fuck me here we are

so it does need booking.

yes the list itself will gather momentum during oct/nov.

but unfortunately its hard to book without gauging interest, needs booking early - people say " of fuck me its dunny outside fuckk off you fucker "

people want food
people dont want food
people want a boat
people dnt want a boat
people want a pub function room
other people dont want a pub function room
people want a hotel function room
people dont want a hotle function room
people want to dance
people dont want it too loud
not tooponcey
not too sticky carpet

whatever you do people moan anyway - the pizza was shit, it was expensive, the seating was rubbish, we couldnt talk , it was too dark

i mean FOR FUCKS SAKE LADIES

communism would never work in the mumsnet world.

If i knew london a bit more - i'd just announce a venue -a nd the people actually come or the people don't.

i just said i wasn't organising a meal or an exchange of money - becuase its a fucking nightmare

and then the paypal idea was launched with cries of " how hard can it be?"

this looks good.

• Hats, crackers and novelties

• Three course meal

• Half bottle of wine

• DJ & Disco

• Full event management

• Included free with every booking:
  Your own unique party website

Starters

Scottish smoked salmon roulade and a saffron, lemon and red caviar dressing

Tomato and mozzarella terrine, balsamic and pesto dressing

Main Courses

Roast turkey, roast potatoes, winter vegetables, chipolatas and cranberry jus

Oven roast salmon on vegetable linguini, tarragon butter sauce

Desserts

Classic Christmas pudding, brandy sauce

Chocolate torte, winter berries and crème fraiche

Hilton Festive Party Nights
Shared party in Islington, London

From £25.50

here

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO before you get all fucking wanky

please consider the organisation

you want a meal

there is a meal

there is therefore a time of relative quiet before the music where you can talk - go from table to table and meet fellow mumsnetters

there is then a disco for those wishng to dance

the price is good - it does say from but dates at the beginning of december are available - and i presume it will be cheaper then.

there is then created the mumsnet xmas do party website for details and names etc.

its a hotel - people can presumably stop there.

I think this ticks most boxes.

slightly cheesy

and its shared - so the quicker we fill the fucking place up - the better. before you sigh loudly - consider that its not effing likely we will get anywhere to ourselves on a sat night.

this looks good.

• Hats, crackers and novelties

• Three course meal

• Half bottle of wine

• DJ & Disco

• Full event management

• Included free with every booking:
  Your own unique party website

Starters

Scottish smoked salmon roulade and a saffron, lemon and red caviar dressing

Tomato and mozzarella terrine, balsamic and pesto dressing

Main Courses

Roast turkey, roast potatoes, winter vegetables, chipolatas and cranberry jus

Oven roast salmon on vegetable linguini, tarragon butter sauce

Desserts

Classic Christmas pudding, brandy sauce

Chocolate torte, winter berries and crème fraiche

Hilton Festive Party Nights
Shared party in Islington, London

From £25.50

website below

*SO before you get all fucking wanky

please consider the organisation

you want a meal

there is a meal

there is therefore a time of relative quiet before the music where you can talk - go from table to table and meet fellow mumsnetters

there is then a disco for those wishng to dance

the price is good - it does say from but dates at the beginning of december are available - and i presume it will be cheaper then.

there is then created the mumsnet xmas do party website for details and names etc.

its a hotel - people can presumably stop there.

I think this ticks most boxes.

and its shared - so the quicker we fill the fucking place up - the better. before you sigh loudly - consider that its not effing likely we will get anywhere to ourselves on a sat night.

this looks good.

Hats, crackers and novelties Three course meal Half bottle of wine DJ & Disco Full event management Included free with every booking:***
Your own unique party website

Starters

Scottish smoked salmon roulade and a saffron, lemon and red caviar dressing

Tomato and mozzarella terrine, balsamic and pesto dressing

Main Courses

Roast turkey, roast potatoes, winter vegetables, chipolatas and cranberry jus

Oven roast salmon on vegetable linguini, tarragon butter sauce

Desserts

Classic Christmas pudding, brandy sauce

Chocolate torte, winter berries and crème fraiche

Hilton Festive Party Nights
Shared party in Islington, London

From £25.50

website below

*SO before you get all fucking wanky

please consider the organisation

you want a meal

there is a meal

there is therefore a time of relative quiet before the music where you can talk - go from table to table and meet fellow mumsnetters

there is then a disco for those wishing to dance

the price is good - it does say from but dates at the beginning of December are available - and i presume it will be cheaper then.

there is then created the mumsnet xmas do party website for details and names etc.

its a hotel - people can presumably stop there.

I think this ticks most boxes.

and its shared - so the quicker we fill the fucking place up - the better. before you sigh loudly - consider that its not effing likely we will get anywhere to ourselves on a sat night.

LOLing away here at this thread!

Venue/menu etc looks good to me custy - well done!

Will wait and see what date is finally decided upon and I may even venture across Europe to join you all.

I don't think I can do December though.

Good luck with it - you're going to need it!

Custy, this is fucking good.

We should just take it, or forever argue about venue and menu.

The date was agreed on earlier wasnt it?
I suggest you start a new thread, and call it FINAL - London dine, dance and booze, sign up HERE, or something to that effect.
Or I will.

(Gawd, coming on all strong and decisive here)

Yes custy. Sounds perfect.

I'm not on dates discussion as I have no life and can go anytime, but your venue looks perfect.I'll sign up for it if you tell me what to do.

Yes custy. Sounds perfect.

I'm not on dates discussion as I have no life and can go anytime, but your venue looks perfect.I'll sign up for it if you tell me what to do.

what custy said

CUSTY I actually think the final decision thread should come from you, and not an unknown newbie like me. Nobody is going to sign up to come to the Christmas Meetup if the thread is started by me.... So, might you consider doing the needful, o' you great custy.

yuck. that sounded really arselicky. But WTF I dont care, I want to eat and drink and be merry in London with mn's so....

. eleusis?

others
what do you think

Yes, dear, it's fab.

Mmmm

COST:
Honestly, I think a minimum of £26 for food alone is a bit high. Especially considering the standard of food I expect at a Hilton. And what do drinks cost?? And, if we go to a hotel (which I thought had been decided agains on the last round of even planning) then drinks are likely to be quite expensive.

TRANSPORTATION:
Transport links are okay but not great. I'd like to be abole to get to Waterloo/Victoria in one tube ride.

RESPONSIBLE PARTY:
I thought no one wantedto take responsibility for the bill. I certainly don't! What happens if we book fo 80 people an 50 show up? Is there a minimum spend?

I actually prefer to have dinner in a smaller group of peopl who I can get to know a bit before walking into the big party. At least that way I feel like I know a few people at the meet-up. It's a bit less intimidating that way.

None of these things are deal breakers for me. I will go to the meet wherever and whenever. But, I do think that keeping the price down and making it easy to get to for all will lead to more people showing up who might potherwise not come.

PS I agree that final thread that announces the place and the time should come from you, Custy, seeing as my attemt to announce a date was well... ill received.

the £26 covers the meal and dancing later.

i can't think of another venue that would accomodate this.

half a bottle of wine hmmmm - per table do you think?

responsible party:

i thought vvq was sorting out a paypal thing?

Ok forgive me for being a skeptic but I'm just going to play devils advocate to make sure everything is covered.

What about people who don't want to east but do want to come drink. Will they be charged £26?

half a botlle of wine per table? You mean per table per minute, right?

What about the 30 people who don't put anything into paypal and then show up on the night? And the 20 who do put into paypal, don't show up, and want their money back?

And what about people who don't eat turkey or fish?

i have just e-mailed them with

"this might sound a strange one.

I am trying to organise the xmas party for an internet parenting forum.

i have done this for the last 3 years and can guestimate that the actual attendance will be upward of 50.

as it is an internet forum - i cannot collect money from them - is there a way that each individual can pay you direct? and could we have the names of those that have confirmed and paid on 'our' website?

is the half a bottle of wine per table, per person, per 3 people?

please can you send me a bar list so we can guage prices.

can you please also tell me if there is an area for smokers.

thank you"

I don't like the idea of loads of little groups of people having meals before getting to a venue. This happened last year, and though I know lots of you had some lovely food, it didn't really feel like a whole mnet meet-up, IYSWIM, and the fact that we couldn't then hear each other speak made it worse.

Custy, I think this looks fine for what we need. As you say, it's not possible to please everyone.

Others have already disagreed with me on this but I really don't think the food/venue is massively important. It's the meeting bit that matters, IMHO.

i have added

"hi, i have just sent you the e-mail below - can i also ask if there is a vegetarian option and diisabled access.

thank you

your quick reply would be appreciated"

What about the 30 people who don't put anything into paypal and then show up on the night?
THEY CANT - they must pay up or fuck off

And the 20 who do put into paypal, don't show up, and want their money back?

they can sort it direct nowt to do with me

And what about people who don't eat turkey or fish?

they should have a veggie option - have emailed them and let you know