greenh's reviews

I will always give them a 5 stars! They are a great restaurant, I love the fact that they are family owned and so special and unique. We orgainzed the dinner here because it was right between my parent's house and Phil's parents. It was just family, and I did call three weeks ahead of time to confirm a table with our numbers (14 in total). The food is really tasty, real southern flavors, and I have never heard of anyone walking out of the restaurant saying that they were still hungry. The portions are big, and also there is enough variety on the menu that people can dine nicely for between $10-20. It's a bit less if you go at lunch. And leave room for the desserts.

I didn't know this at the time, but La Quinta is owner by Holiday Inn, so you get the same quality (I think) for a bit less. It's a nice hotel, it's clean and the rooms almost all look the same. The only thing is that it took me a while to make reservations. I was on the phone for a while (I just let the phone ring and ring until someone picked up). Once I got someone on the line, I was put on hold a few more times. Despite the short wait, I got the rooms I needed and there was no problem for when our guests arrived. I think for the price (about $55 a night), the guest had a good deal. There's an outdoor pool, too, but I can't remember if anyone actually went swimming.

At first, I was going to go to the grocery store and get a bunch of angel cakes and cool white and strawberries and have the caterers serve strawberry shortcake to our guests. My mother was horrified. Actually, so was Phil. As it turns out, my husband is areally big fan of buttercream icing and the cake is his favorite part of all wedding. We had gone to a few tastings, and we came across Blue Moon Bakery because I had received a box of their glazed cookies at work. There cakes taste amazing! Also, they are really creative and really talented with decorating. I was soo surprized with how pretty the cake looked! It was a simple white with green vines growing all over it. One tier was chocolate, then the smaller tier was vanilla, and then the smallest tier (which we kept for the wedding party) was chocolate-raspberry with a raspberry filling. Delicious!

I was raised Catholic, and there was part of me that wanted to get married in the Catholic church. My family had been members of Holy Cross for as long as I can remember, it's a beautiful church and they have a wonderful choir. Music is really a big part of the community, and I was happy that the choir was able to be part of the wedding day. Phil did have to be confirmed, and then we went to lessons together where we got to talk about the value of marriage and the role of a husband and wife. It sounds old fashion, but I think the meetings helped us to appreciate the value of marriage all the more. Phil and I now know that we have the support of our congregation behind us, and I think that even though we may not be regular church goers, it's nice to know we have spiritual support

This was a gift for me from all the bridesmaids, which was really generous of them. I was going to just use my own make-up, but my friends insisted that I should have a professional put my make-up on for me. We set up an appointment, we went in for a trail sessions. This is where I found out I was using all the wrong colors! It was just like the show "What Not To Wear". I left the shop looking so much better than I arrived! I had been using the same eyelining technique since 1994 so, yea, I needed a change. On the wedding day she arrived at my house, which did cost a bit extra but was worth not having to leave. We had eight people (including two flower girls, so maybe we were really just six), and she was really great at being time efficent and friendly at the same time, and made sure each one of us had our make-up and hair done before the time. They did indicate that there was a minimun number of people. Our hair and make-up looked great, it looked natural, which was important to me. I love how my hair looked, too, with the beautiful hair crystals.

They were really great to work with! Even though Phil wasn't allowed to see me try on my wedding dress, I went with him to help him decide on a tuxedo. The person working there was really nice and patience, asked us lots of questions about the wedding, and wasn't phased by the fact that Phil was so nervous and obviously uncomfortable trying on formal wear. By the end of the ordering session, Phil felt like James Bond and I was so happy to see him looking so full of self-esteem. The tux arrived on time, everything fit him well. I think the best suggestion that Phil got there was getting a pair of comfotable formal shoes. He LOVES the Ecko shoes he picks up (a nice change from his usually driving loafers) and wears them fairly often.

Flowers:

This was another tip that I picked up while working as a wedding florist; Costco sells some of the same high price and high quality invitations for less! Part of me wanted to support the local stationary shops, but the truth was that I was on a budget, and that I couldn't afford to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on invitations. Costco has a great selection, the process is the same as with other invitation companies: you need to know how many, what you want them to say, and then to decide if you want RSVP cards of not. We ordered two hundred cards, with rsvp cards. At a latter date we went and got programs made, too, and seating cards.

Catering - DIY:

We ordered lots of our trays through costco, which was so much cheaper, about 30% cheaper, than the average caterer. We still ordered from two other caterers, just because we wanted more than what the menu offered. And then we also served drinks and beer to our guests. This may be why it cost so much. Does anyone know if there are rules about who should pay for the drinks at a wedding?

I had found out about this company from another bride. When she said that there was a company that would make us 100 postcards for free, I thought it was too good to be true. Then I went on the wedsite, and low and behold, it was true. They had so many templates and designs to choose from, and we were also able to upload our own design. It was perfect! We *cheated* a little, because we made the postcards and then I ordered 100 free postcards to my address, and then Phil ordered 100 more postcards to his own address. In all, it cost us less than twenty dollars for our save-the-date cards. I think that's a great price, because the save-the-dates cards are not really necessary but a nice touch.

Wow! I got tickets to the show through work, and I went with my boss and another co-worker. The tickets weren't that expensive in retrospect, because we did get drinks and snacks. I was already in the midst of my planning, but it was fun to look and see what else I could so to make my wedding perfect! I saw the cake of my dreams, and also met the catering team of my dreams! I would have loved it if Sweet Memories bakery would have made me one of their cakes, but I had already committed to another bakery at the time. I think it is good to go see what is there, because I did pick up a few ideas that I was able to apply to my own wedding.

Olga doesn't have a website, but she is well known in the area as being the best in bridal dress alterations. She was able to help me with the details of my new dress that I bought online. The dress fit fine, but it still looked better once it was taken in under the arms and in the back. She also took care of the dresssuit that Phil's mother had bought a Nordstrom, and did an amazing job at fixing the lining. I think that anyone who can appreciate talent and skill can appreaciate how wonderful Olga is at fixing dresses and making them fit perfectly.