dlw08's reviews

There's nothing like a tequila bar to mark the start of your bachelorette party! Well, this is a pretty popular place, some people love it and most people my age love it for the margaritas. I really love this place for their amazing pulled pork and for their desserts. The desserts are delicious, they are light and flaky and the perfect amount of sweet. For my bachelorette party we had arranged for a dinner, and then we spent the night in the Tequila Lounge. It was great! Jibarra has great atmosphere, good music and nice decor, and I remember everything and loved every minute of it! I woudn't know if this is the most authentic Mexican food in the area, but I know that I like it and that I plan on going to their new location.

This is a paint-you-own pottery studio in Raleigh, and it's a really sweet place! For my bridal shower we went with my sisters and close friends and family to pick out pots and paint them. My sisters couldn't come to my bachelorette party, so this was fun because they could take part in this activity. We went with the intention of painting mugs and plates, some of which turned out nice. One thing we found out about only in the middle of painting was that a group can work together to make a huge mosaic: everyone in the group paints one tile and then it becomes one piece of art. I loved that idea! I wish we would have known about this option sooner because I think that it would have been perfect. The do accept reservations for adult groups, and the more people means that you pay less. Out of the 15 people who came to the studio, only 9 painted. The rest watched and talked, which was fine, too. Not everyone wants to make crafts.

The first thing I liked best about Square Rabbits was how beautiful they made our wedding cake. They are known for having great baked goods, but the cake looked so pretty. It was a work of art. Second, we had ordered lots of salads (pasta salads and pesto salads), and they came up with a menu that was tasty and that looked good. Everything looked really fancy, and was well presented. The main course that they service was good, but their selection of appetizers was wonderful! Really delicious and tasty! They have a minimum charge (of $75, which we were clearly over), and then there is also a charge if they need to bring in their own equipment. There is also a charge if they bring in their own dishes, which makes sense. The total cost was very reasonable, especially when you consider the amount of fresh food we had. They also took care of the clean up. Though they general ask for a two day notice, we went three months ahead of time and arranged for a tasting and a menu. We had to pay a down deposit, and we had to pay the remainder on the day of (we paid in full about a month before the wedding).

We waited until the last minute to take care of this detail. Originally we didn't think we would have a problem booking a car, and Justin had hoped to arrive at the Artspace in something retro. I think he had in mind a 1960 Bentley or something like that. Well, we waited to long and the classic fleets had been booked for the day, so we opted for a Town Car Limo instead. It worked well, the driver was great and arrived on time. Even though we tried to make the day as simple as possible, I have to admit that the red carpet service was great. Also, even though Justin wanted a Bentley, he was happy in the Lincoln Town car. This is a car that you notice! Inside and out it was great to look at! My other suggestion is to book for more than less space, because it's always nice to have more foot space inside a car than less.

We've bought cut flowers and other perennials from Mickey and his wife before at the Farmer's Market. We knew that they also took care of specialty orders and for that reason we asked if they could take care of the flowers for us at the Artspace. I felt that if the wedding party was going to be held in an area for local artists, then it only made sense to have local flowers, too. The flowers used were locally grown, in season, and they looked beautiful. It was big burst of color coming from each table. I was also really happy with my bouquet. I think they had a friend arrange the bouquet, which was simple but really beautiful. They're really great people, and the flowers they brought were beautiful and fresh.

Ceremony Review:

We rented the Artspace as the place for both our wedding ceremony site and reception. In the lobby, which is a bright ariy space, we were able to exchange our vows to a large group of friends and family. There is a PA system, or a sound system with speakers (or whatever you want to call it). This is where they generally recommend people get married, because of the space and style of the room. The accoustics in the room are really good. We had hired someone to play the cello and violin and it sounded beautiful. The Lobby, as the area is called, can be rented without renting the whole building, and it's a great option because you're surrounded by beautiful art. I think it's a great place to be married if you're looking for someplace inside and don't want to be married in a church. We liked it because it was open, kind of like being in a park, but we didn't have to worry about rain.

Reception Review:

This place is amazing. It's an art studio/gallery that lots of local artists display their work in. You can rent the entire building for a party. I've been to one other party here, and I loved it. The gallery room where people could sit was able to hold 100 people, and then we also booked the lobby so that friends could join us after the meal. It was hard deciding what sort of party we should host, because the place can hold more than 100 people, but it would mean having groups on two floors. We decided on a small sit down dinner for 100 close friends and family, followed by the ceremony in the Lobby, followed by more appetisrers for everyone. In this way everyone was able to enjoy their time, and everyone felt like they were a part of the party. If you're going to have over 200 guests, though, maybe not this place. It's spacious, but you don't want it to be crowded.

I had been here before with my husband, once when he said he was shopping for a watch for his father. They have a great selection of jewelry, including engagement rings! Being in the store is also really nice, because it is a family owned business and it has been established for over 50 years. And the selection of rings they have range from classic to modern. There were many rings styles that I didn't like, but when we did go in together to pick rings and bands, I was able to narrow down my choice. Justin asked me to marry him, and then suggest we go in for a ring. He had made the appointment, but went against choosing a ring without my input. When we explained that to one of the clerks (we were helped by pretty much the entire staff over the course of two weeks) they said that it's pretty common now for brides to come in a choose the ring. I also offered to pay for half my ring, because the one I wanted was more than Justin had set aside for (about $2300 more). I think it's fair: the ring is suppose to be a symbol of commitment, not of breaking the bank.

My mother had hand writen each of her invitations by hand, and was pressing me to do the same. She argued that it is more intimate to receive a handwritten card than pressed font. I disagree. I did agree that I would make the invitations, not because I wanted to save money, but because I am a crafty person and I like doing things. I went to Papyrus and bought several invitations kits, lots of different colors and styles of paper. In this way, I would be able to send really formal looking invitations to my great aunts and uncles, and then more simple looking cards to my college roommates. I wouldn't pay attention to what they have online, because usually you can find better deals in the store. Also, because I went with so many different prints, I was able to pick stuff right off the clearance rack. My big suggestion is to know how many invitations you'll need, and of what kind, and then to bring a calculator to make sure you're not going overboard. And I did splurg and I bought us a stamp pad and stampers to decorate the envelope with.

We sent out hallmark ecards to all our friends and family letting them know that we were engaged and that we had set a tentative date (the date would change three times). It was really easy. We picked the announcement ecard we wanted, and then in a word document we wrote the information that would be helpful, and then it was just a matter of cutting and pasting the note and email address. It took maybe two hours to send the cards out to all our friends, but we got really positive feedback right away. Mainly because it was a funny announcement card. I also like Hallmark better than other sites than send free ecards (like 123greetings.com) because the quality of the graphics is better. You have to be careful, though, because now Hallmark will try to get you to buy the really nice ecard and charge you 99cents for the even better graphics! I fought the urge to purchase a cute card.

Who hasn't gone to the show? I say that smiling, because even at the show I saw so many brides from high school and college that I haven't seen in years! It was a fun little reunion for everyone, finding out who was marrying who! I think most people come here with their mothers, but I saw lots of lucky girls with their grooms. Having my husband there with me would have helped with a lot of the second guessing. I went to look at dresses and at new trends in weddings, like flowers and invitations. I wanted to get ideas so that I could maybe make some stuff on my own and save some money! I made several meetings with caterers and with a few potential reception sites that might be a possibility. There are lots of things going on, lots of food to tastes and materials to touch, and it was fun! It took the whole day, but it was well worth it!