Novsha08's reviews

I’m still confused over what makes a good wedding gift, especially when it’s something that they didn’t register for or explicitly say, “yea, I want that”. But one of Tim’s uncles gave us a year subscription to the New York Times, which at first I thought was strange, seeing as we live in Minneapolis. Then I really started getting into reading it, and we really love having it arrive at our doorstep everyday. Since then, I’ve given a newspaper subscription to another worker who’s recently gotten married, and she loves it, too. For young couple without kids, or maybe even with kids, reading a newspaper together is a nice way of sharing the world.

We are set to go to Italy for two weeks for the first two weeks in February! Ha, leaving the cold behind. We’ve had lots of time to plan, so we looked at quiet a few travel web sites and travel agents. We know that there are certain things we would want to see that would need tickets for, and tickitaly lets us book in advance without worrying that we would miss something. We felt confident using this site because they are affiliated with expedia.com, with the slight difference that they focus exclusively on Italian destinations. We both really want to see the Last Supper mural, and I know that tickets are usually sold out a month in advance. Now we have them! All our museum and tour tickets are taken care of, along with the first night lodgments in a lot of cases. This will be our first time in Italy, and we really want to see as much as we can. The second time, we’ll take it slow and easy and do whatever.

This was for making our grand arrival from our houses to the hotel. Tim made his way over to the hotel with his family in a black Chrysler 300C, and a similar looking car (it might have also been a Chrysler, or a Cadillac, I can’t remember) picked me and my bridesmaids and family up. The limo could fit ten, and we were exactly ten people, including my dad, and we were comfortable. The limos that Premier Limo has range from the 8-10 or 18-20 seating capacity. We all could have fit into one big limo, but we wanted to be separate so we took two cars instead of one car. It’s was fun to arrive in style! The cars were clean, the driver was really nice, and it made the day that much more special.

Tim and I wanted to eat here with our family for the rehearsal dinner, because the restaurant, with its bright red walls and Nepalese decorations, is a really cozy and wonderful place to gather. We were able to reserve a table for 16, and then went ahead and ordered dishes before hand so that people who weren’t used to Nepalese food wouldn’t have to worry over the menu. I think it’s also nice to be able to share food from the same bowl and plate. It makes for a very engaging eating experience. Tim and I chose the restaurant because we this was one of the places we ate at a lot when we first started dating. We’ve also ordered everything off the menu, and can safely say that everything is delicious. It was a great place to thank our families for supporting us over the years, for the wedding they gave us, and for everything.

We chose Archibald because they have done other weddings for our family, and the pictures are always perfect. They’re a well established business, with over twenty years of experience, and he was great to work with because you can see that he loves weddings and he’s really intuned with all the stress and craziness that might be going on. He was patient with us all, took beautiful photographs, and we had hundreds of beautiful pictures to choose between. What was good was that he has a package deal, so he was there with us for almost the entire day, which was great. I really liked it how before the wedding he spoke with us about what we wanted, he was great during the wedding, and still wonderful afterwards. It really felt like he was committed to our wedding.

We met the staff at the Twin City Bridal show, and I was really impressed with all their invitations. I think many brides think that they can save money and time by making their own invitations, but unless your really skilled with paper, I wouldn’t try. The first reason is that you’ll spend the same amount on paper, and you’ll also be spending lots and lots of time. My mother was also a big fan of getting the invitations done, because it makes it look more official and formal. The prices were about average, but the quality was better at Invitations for Less than other invitations makers. The staff was really friendly, and when we went in for a consultation after the Fair I felt great about deciding to work with them. If I have a baby, I will definitely have them make the cards!

This was one of my favorite parts of the wedding, being made all pretty by a professional. The thing about the Artistry is that they come on site, but it’s very expensive if it’s just for the bride. It’s more for all the bridesmaids and the bride to have their make-up done, which makes it feel more like a special day. I had already been in one wedding in 2008 where a make-up artist from the Artistry was present, and she did an amazing job. Excellent time management skills, too, and she helped us keep on schedule. There’s also the option of having your hair done, which I did, and I think for the price it’s really great. Thousands were being spent on this wedding, I wanted to make sure that my face and make-up and hair matched the atmosphere I was creating.

We had gotten this idea from the Wedding Fair. We had set up a table outside the ballroom with the seating arrangements, and decided to incorporate a gift for our guests in the seating arrangements set-ups. We divided the tables up into different sections of Italy, a difference province for each table, and then put a bottle of San Pellegrino water with a name tag on it for each guest. This way, each guest could sip on some bottled water while they made their way to their table. It gave each person something to do, and also it made sure our guests stay hydrated in the moments before the catering service started. We picked up cases of San Pellegrino from Sam’s Club. We also wanted to include biscotti and/or a small bag of nuts, but we were talked out of this because we wanted people to eat the meal and not fill up on cookies.

When we went for the consultation at the Embassy Suites, we were given a list of vendors that the hotel approves of and likes to work with. We went with the musicians that the hotel recommended, partially because we didn’t really know how else we would find a reputable dj services. My father suggested a live band, but we wanted more music options that just a band. The Djs were great, really nice guys to work with, very professional. Tim had a list of songs that he wanted them to play, and they did. Working with people who are very personable made the wedding planning really easy.

Neither one of our families are very religious, though I would say that Tim and I are spiritual people in our own rights. We wanted our ceremony to be outside, or with plants. Our first choice, an outdoor park, wasn’t feasible because it had been booked months ahead of time. When we visited the hotel to look at the reception site, Renee also explained that there was an Atrium in the hotel that we could have our ceremony. It was a really great surprise, and I knew I wanted it for our ceremony as soon as I saw it. It’s like being in a conservatory, and they would be able to set it up so that there would be a podium and seating for our guests and speakers so that everyone could hear us. My parents also loved the idea, because it meant that everything would take place in one area, so we didn’t have to worry about guests driving for site to site. We did have to change the original date of our planned wedding, so that we could have both the atrium and the reception room we wanted. This wasn’t a big deal, because we hadn’t printed up the invitations yet. It was beautiful, my pictures of the day were gorgeous, and it was the perfect place for us.

When my mother first suggested that we hold the reception in a hotel, I was rather cold to the idea. I had been to weddings at hotels, and some of them weren’t really nice. I didn’t want my wedding to feel ‘stuffy’. I changed my mind when I saw the room at the Embassy Suite, because it’s obvious, even without all the decorations, that this is a room made for elegant weddings. The wedding coordinator/planner at the hotel, Renee, was able to give us a crystal clear image of how the wedding reception could be, from the chair coverings to the desert tables to the centerpieces. I loved that we could have an elegant dinner, and then also have a dance floor! The reception was wonderful, it was so well planned and organized, the staff is amazing, and I loved how we went from a gourmet dinner to a fun dance party.


The catering services at the Embassy Suites took care of all the catering for the wedding. We were able to choose a menu, but they took care of the dishes and the presentation and everything. It’s was great food, and great service.


We let the hotel caterers take care of all the menu details, including the cake. We were able to go in and have a cake and menu tasting, which was great, but ultimately we didn’t need to look outside the hotel for anything.