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These articles were prepared for the November
10,
2004 issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
U.S. 1 Singles: Weddings at Katmandu
It’s like ‘The Newlywed Game’ meets ‘Survivor,’” says Joe Surdo,
marketing director at Katmandu, the popular club in Trenton. To draw
attention to its growing business as a wedding venue, the management
put their collective heads together and came up with “Holy Katrimony!
Wedding on the Waterfront,” a live reality event featuring couples who
are seriously dating or engaged. The grand prize? An all-expense-paid
wedding reception at Katmandu worth $20,000 – gowns, tuxedos, rings,
honeymoon (a cruise or destination resort), food, drinks,
entertainment by the live band Big Romeo, as well as gifts and extras.
“Our banquet manager, Michael Langsner, had been to a mock wedding at
another club,” says Surdo. That idea morphed into a full-blown reality
event scheduled for February and March, 2005. The club is taking
applications until Friday, November 19 (www.katmandutrenton.com),
which will be narrowed down to 25 couples who will be interviewed
through December and January to arrive at 15 finalist couples.
Then on Fridays, starting February 11, three to four couples each week
will compete live during the club’s happy hour from 6 to 9 p.m. The
happy hour provides a built-in audience, says Surdo, of the 800 to
1,000 happy campers who show up every Friday for the $5 buffet
featuring a mashed potato bar, stir fry station, wing bar, pasta
station, carving station with prime rib or roast beef, or ham, and
about a gizillion other hot, fried foods.
Sounds like a wedding? That’s the whole point, says Surdo, adding that
the reality event is designed to meet two goals – to make Katmandu’s
already-popular Friday happy hours even better and to draw in traffic
during the traditionally slow months of February and March.
Surdo says that management has already started screening the
approximately 40 applications to date. “We’re looking for a
personable, diverse group of people who are a little daring, who know
how to have fun. It doesn’t matter what their age is, as long as they
are over 21. One of the questions on the applications is ‘What’s the
wildest thing you’ve ever done?’ We’ve had everything from someone who
drove a tractor through her neighborhood to the typical daredevil
couple who have been skydiving, scuba diving, and mountain climbing to
the couple who said, ‘We’re just a happy couple and we do nothing.’”
Other questions: Is there anything special we should know about your
history as a couple? Describe your dream proposal. List three things
that you usually argue about. Describe your most unique talent.
The happy hour crowd will be active participants in the process, says
Surdo, with paper ballots and other interactive involvement from the
audience. Results and details of each week, as couples are eliminated,
will be posted on Katmandu’s website. “We’ll post pictures of the
couples and send out E-mails like, ‘don’t forget to come this week to
see Johnny and Sally.’”
The final winner will be chosen from five couples on Friday, March 25.
The winner’s wedding will also take place on a Friday night in summer,
2005 – and the public will be invited, in addition to the winners’ 100
to 150 guests. So we’re talking a potential of more than 1,000 wedding
guests. says Surdo: “This is perfect for the person who wants to be
the center of attention.” Stay tuned.
– Jamie Saxon
Holy Katrimony: Wedding on the Waterfront” reality event,February through March, 2005, KatManDu, 50 Riverview Executive Park,Route 29, Trenton. 609-393-7300. Applications, available online atwww.katmandutrenton.com and at the club, are due by Friday, November19.Top Of PageAuditionsVillagers Theater seeks adult men and women for “Side Show” to beperformed in January. Auditions are Tuesday and Wednesday, November 16and 17 with callbacks on Sunday, November 21, at 415 DeMott Lane,Somerset. For information visit www.villagerstheatre.com.Bridge Players Theater Company seek actors for “The Miracle Worker.”Auditions begin January 15 for a May run in Burlington City. BroadStreet United Methodist Church, 36 East Broad Street, Burlington. CallJumbo Schimpf at 215-760-1945 for appointment.Villagers Theater also seeks a cast for “The Miracle Worker” withperformances in April. Auditions are Tuesday and Wednesday, December 7and 8 at the theater, 415 DeMott Lane, Somerset. Call 732-873-2710 forappointment.Top Of PageFood DriveMiddlesex County Improvement Authority seeks non-perishable foodincluding canned food including fruits, meats, vegetables, macaroniand cheese, peanut butter, canned tuna, brown rice, crackers, andcookies. Also needed are personal products, baby items, soap, shampoo,toothpaste, deodorant, diapers, and wipes. Call Jennifer Apostol at732-729-0880, M.C.Foods coordinator for information about corporation,group, or individual food drives.Top Of PagePet Adoption DriveHome for the Holidays, a pet adoption drive at the Township ofLawrenceville through January 2, 2005, encourages prospective petparents to bring home a pet for the holidays. New adopting familiesreceive an Iams starter kit and a discount on pet insurance. Call800-566-5038 for information.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
