A Cheap Stay
August 11th, 2008 @ 5:43 pm by Mr. Mango
Planning a wedding can be quite hard on the ’ole money belt and, for me, every penny saved goes a long way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve scanned my online budget spreadsheets to see if I could shave off a couple of hundred dollars here and there. I have one condition for any money-saving schemes, and that is never to compromise quality or hospitality.
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Embarrassing Decision
July 31st, 2008 @ 6:42 pm by Miss Champagne
So I have a confession. I knew a winter wedding in my hometown was going to be expensive. But yesterday I became very aware of just how expensive it would be to have our wedding in February in Vail, Colorado.
We had been engaged for about a year and a half, and I had had all this time to pick the perfect date. So what did I pick? The busiest weekend in my hometown, where it’s estimated that almost 2 million people will come to ski. YIKES!!!
So step one was done - the date was picked. Next, we waited for hotel prices to be released so we could get rooms reserved at a semi-decent rate. They were released a few weeks ago, and we almost hit the floor.
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Welcome To Our O-tel!
June 5th, 2008 @ 5:23 pm by Miss Candy Corn
This is our O-tel (say it with a French accent, for it is Philly’s only French O-tel), the Sofitel Philadelphia. I get mocking rights since the pop-in-law-to-be is French and will soon be family!
Located in the heart of the city, the Sofitel is the cornerstone of the new French Quarter, just steps from Rittenhouse Square. The former Philadelphia Stock Exchange Building, this hotel infuses French flavor with American style. Many of the staff are French, as is the cuisine in the hotel’s full-service restaurant, Chez Colette. With 300 rooms of unusually large proportions, averaging 400 square feet, it markets itself as a 4½ star hotel. Amenities include large desks, three phones in each room, high-speed Internet access and French chocolates on the pillow nightly (um, count me in).
A Hotel Fit For A Wedding Night
April 25th, 2008 @ 4:48 pm by Mrs. Gingerbread
I suppose before I get too carried away planning our honeymoon that won’t happen until months after the wedding, I should consider where we will stay for our wedding night. I’ve been trolling the internet (as usual), trying to get a sense of the hot Vancouver honeymoon suites. So far, I’ve been less than impressed and here is why. I was ruined by a ridiculous Vegas upgrade!
Here’s the story. A couple of years ago, Miss GB 2.0 and I decided to take a trip to Las Vegas between Christmas and New Years. We booked our hotel on hotwire.com for $90/night. When we checked in, they told us nonchalantly that we’d be getting a complimentary upgrade since we were staying for two days. They gave us our key and we headed off to our room. As we walked down the hallway, we joked, “Wouldn’t it be funny if they gave us that room at the end of the hall with the double doors?”
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Leftovers
April 14th, 2008 @ 6:44 pm by Mrs. Lovebug
Due to the overwhelming majority vote (and my gut instinct), I’ll be using the L O V E typewriter keys on my my bouquet. So what do I do with all my leftover keys?
Wedding Night Splurge
December 20th, 2007 @ 9:25 am by Mrs. Jasmine
Now that Mr. Jasmine and I booked our minimoon, we have to think about booking our wedding night accommodations. Initially, we were just going to stay at the InterContinental Los Angeles, where our wedding is being held. They’re providing us with a complimentary suite for the night. Read more…
Choosing Our Reception Venue
December 19th, 2007 @ 2:08 pm by Miss Cupcake
Mr. Cupcake and I got engaged in February, and when we started talking details, we weren’t 100% set on any particular date for our wedding. We knew that we preferred a Saturday evening reception, but otherwise we were fairly open to seeing what was out there.
No more than two weeks after Mr. Cupcake proposed, Mama Cupcake and I were playing hooky from work and spending the day checking out various reception site possibilities in the area. Mr. Cupcake was perfectly content with us doing the leg work and reporting back to him, and this was fine with me. 
We weren’t as interested in having a city wedding as we were hoping for a more relaxed setting in the Main Line area of the Philadelphia suburbs, so that is where we began our search.
Invitations - Accommodations
December 11th, 2007 @ 3:22 pm by Mrs. Peony
I’ve been MIA for a good reason - working on my massive, tri-lingual invites! I promise I’ll write about them after they have been mailed. In the meantime, I wanted to share information on the component of the invite that required the most research: accommodations.
With the average rate of hotels at about $300/night, finding affordable accommodations for our guests in Manhattan is no easy task. Although our wedding and reception will be held in Westchester County (which is 20 minutes northwest of Manhattan), the majority of our out-of-town guests will be visiting for the duration of the weekend and so prefer to stay in Manhattan for all its attractions.
Of course, there are inexpensive options for your stay in Manhattan, such as the New York Youth Hostel located in the upper west side. At about $30 a night this is probably the most economical way to go, aside from crashing at a friend’s or relative’s. You do not have to be a youth to use it, but you do have to be a member of Hostelling International or the American Youth Hostel Association.
Blocking The Block
November 28th, 2007 @ 5:06 pm by Mrs. Toucan
Last month my MOH and sister were home from college for fall break, so I decided to go home for a couple of days. While at home, I decided to check out the new hotel that opened in my hometown since we’re considering blocking off rooms here for our wedding guests. The Hampton Inn and Suites opened just this summer and has a big sign out in front of it to come in and take a tour. So, that’s just what I did.
The lobby
A Place To Rest…
October 15th, 2007 @ 4:32 pm by Mrs. Canary
…my weary head and tired feet, after the wedding!
While researching blocks of hotel rooms for our guests, I had a “Hey, wait a minute, where are we going stay?” moment. I was struggling with this because the morning of the wedding will be spent at my parents’ house in Queens for the tea ceremony, but in between that and the reception, I need to get into “Big White” and take pictures. I know most brides get ready at a bridal suite at their hotel, but I couldn’t think of a place that would either be convenient to the venue or the house.
Then Mr. C’s mom suggested Gramercy Park which is cross town from our venue. It’s an area I’ve always loved with its old New York brownstones, cute bars and restaurants. And who isn’t intrigued by the only private park in the city? So I googled “Gramercy Park” and “hotel” and the first thing that came up was the Gramercy Park Hotel.
From the pictures it was perfect… I loved the details in every room. The colors and furniture are all amazing. And I just couldn’t help thinking of the way our photographer, Angelica Glass, uses color and how these rooms would really pop in her photographs.
