I am not a fan of smokers, but my husband does like a good cigar from time to time. For a wedding present, his best man gave the entire wedding party really fine cigars that he bought from Outland Cigars. We weren't allowed to smoke on the premise of the Atrium, but we did have a few good pictures of us just posing with the cigars. I knew that the cigars were expensive, and that it was a very thoughtful gift. My husband loved the gift! So this is a good place to get cigars from!

We had a small bridal shower at my mother's house, which was decorated with the usual balloons and streamers. My mother, for the occasion, had ordered a cheesecake, cookies, and scones from Hansel & Gretel's Bakery on Lakeview. This bakery makes the best cheesecake in town! The scones were wonderful, and the sugar cookies were really adorable! Kelly, the baker, is known for her creativity, and she made little bride cookies for us to snack on. It was really delicious.

When given the choice between getting tipsy with all my girlfriends or going to a spa for a facial and a message with some of my best friends, I quickly chose the latter. I have had a facial at Euphoria before for my birthday, and I think they have the best products and a really talented staff. The receptionist was great about helping to plan this event for us, which was rather easy because it was four of us in total. For my 'bachelorette' party, I had a message and then a mani and a pedi. The other girls also had a mani and a pedi. They message your hands and feet during the whole process, and you get to read magazines and sip orange juice while your feet are made beautiful. I left looking and feeling beautiful and young!

We had a small family-only dinner at Ratcliffe on the Green the week before the wedding. This is one of the places that my husband and I like to go for special dates, and I am a big fan of the menu that has lots of seasonal and locally grown foods. The food is always great, and that night it was also really tasty. This is the place to have dessert, and on the night we were they they had the option of homemade ice cream. My family liked it, and the prices are about average. One thing is that you need reservations, and I think 7pm is always the hardest time to be seated. The night we went was really busy, but we were seated in ten minutes.

They are a part of the Harper Restaurant group, so we were able to get our cake from the same caterers. We did have a few tastings, but cake isn't our favorite dessert. The cake looked beautiful on the wedding day, and I think they did an excellent job decorating it. People said it tasted good, which is always important.

We were given a list of caterers to choose between by the event manager of the Atrium, and we chose ONE Catering because we really liked the diverse menus that they offered. We didn't know this at the time, but ONE catering actually represents several local restaurants of the Harper Restaurant group that have lots of different flavors and food styles. And Melody, who helped us with choosing the menu, was really wonderful in helping us choose the perfect combination of appetizers and plated meals. I love the Mimosa Grill, and the food on the night of our wedding was just perfect!

I like Silver Fox Limo Service because they let you rent the limo or town car for one or two hours at a time, and we only needed the car to bring us from our house to the Plaza. The limo was clean and the driver was really nice and, as always, it's really nice to arrive to an event in a Limo. We had arranged it so that my friends and I would arrive in a lovely and classy limo, and then my husband surprised me and arrived in this huge hummer called a H2. I had a peek at the inside and the seats were really cool and funky, and there was all these little lights. He joked that it was his last ride in a 'pimp-mobile'.

Ceremony:

This was my husband's idea, and I just loved it! I thought it was the perfect setting for me and my husband to exchange vows! The high ceiling give the place a very majectic feel, but at the same time humbling. I am really simple person, so when I met the event planner who took care of weddings at the Atrium and she told me that they would take care of everything, such as the sound and the lights and the tables, I knew this was where the event should take place. I also really liked the idea of having the reception and the ceremony at the same place, so that it could be more of an evening affair than a long dragged out day. The Plaza is beautiful, it's really breathtaking when you step into it for the first time.

Reception:

I think the Atrium Uptown was a really lovely place for our wedding reception. It's a formal setting, and I really loved seeing all my close family and friends all dressed up. I also think the staff at the Atrium makes it easy to plan an event, because they do provide the basics, such as tables and chairs and other basic items, and then they put you in contact with caterers and wedding planners to help plan the details of the event. Our wedding planner, Jen, had done weddings at the Atrium Uptown before and was excellent in making sure we had enough staff to make the event go flawless. There's lots of room for our guests to sit and mingle, the dining tables were set up in such a way that there was room to walk but it still looked perfect, and there's such a wonderful overall feel to the place. The atmosphere is perfect!

I love the staff at this Salon. I usually go see Mark for my hair coloring and cuts, and I had set up appointments with Mark and Christina for my wedding hair preparation. Mark took care of the coloring, which was done the week before. I had great high lights and low lights put in. I only started putting in low-lights when I first visited the salon and Mark, and trust Mark 100% with my hair and any suggestion he has to make. Christina was really great about helping me choose a simple and elegant up-do for me and my bridal party. Most of us have shoulder lengh hair, so it was more a matter of styling the hair. I had really pinned really nicely from underneath, which made my hair look longer but still elegant overall.

I love my engagement ring! When my husband spoke to me about what style of ring I wanted, I just said something simple. He understood that simple meant traditional, and that traditional meant Tiffany's. I wasn't going to argue! I knew right away that he was going to propose when he showed up with the small blue box. It was a simple diamond in a paved diamond band, and it was stunning. He said that the staff was wonderful in helping him to choose a ring, and he even brought in one of my rings to confirm the size. We went in together and got really simple bands. I agreed that the staff was really nice and professional in helping us to choose our bands.