Hotel and travel updates

Hotels
We have a room block reserved at the Hilton DFW Lakes. The reduced rate there apparently fluxuates depending on how close to capacity the hotel gets, but currently the rate is $119/night for a double queen or single king room. If you call, ask for the "wedding rate" and if you book online enter the code "WED" to get the special. The phone number for this hotel is (817) 481-8444.

While we don't have a block reserved, the >Fairfield Inn & Suites in Grapevine is about a block away from the other hotel and is very nice. Their prices are nicer, too. Currently, the room rate is $89-$99/night. The hotel's toll-free phone number is (800) 489-0923.

A third option in the area (all three hotels are next to Grapevine Mills Mall, Lake Grapevine and Bass Pro Shop: Outdoor World) is the Springhill Suites. All the options here are suites, but current rates are $109/night. This hotel's phone number is (972) 724-5500.

Flights
If you're looking for the right time to book travel, I suggest checking out Farecast.com. The site will provide you an alert when prices for a selected trip drop or are about to go back up. I've found it to be very helpful. Also, there are two airports in Dallas, DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth International) and DAL (Dallas Love Field). DFW is 5 minutes from the hotels and 10 from the wedding. Love Field is smaller and will be an additional 30-45 minute drive. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. While we haven't lived here too long, we've been to the airport a surprising amount.

Potential photographer: Sara Dane-Scott

I'm feeling particularly productive this week. We're moving forward with things at Bridlewood, and I've started work on finding the group hotel. Better yet, Matt and I will be meeting with a potential photographer this coming Sunday. Her name is Sara Dane-Scott and she's based out of McKinney, Texas. Her company, SDS Photography, does more than just wedding photography. Her philosophy is all about capturing the big moments in life. Sounds about right, huh? Check out her portfolio on her Web site or various new pictures in her blog.

An update, Texas-style

My apologies for the significant delay in posting. For those not in the loop, Matt and I moved to the Dallas area in September. I accepted a great job with Village Voice Media as the Web Editor for the Dallas Observer. Matt found a locally-owned bicycle company to work for, and is currently based out of its store in Flower Mound, where we live. It took a bit of time to get settled in Texas, and things are finally situated enough for me to get back to focusing on the wedding.

A few big announcements.

First, the biggest news: We've elected to move our wedding to Texas. As much as we loved the Phoenix Art Museum and the vendors we had met with in Phoenix, it was just too hard to plan a wedding from two states away. Also, we're fairly confident the same style of wedding will cost thousands less in Texas. Trying to find vendors (cake bakery, florist, caterer, etc.) from afar and making sure they are on top of things is just too stressful from 1,000 miles away. (And I already spend my days managing freelancers and small in-house fires.)

Second, we've picked a new venue. This is very awesome, as it means we can get moving ahead on everything else. We've chosen the Bridlewood Golf Club in Flower Mound, Texas, to hold both our wedding ceremony and reception. The club was ranked 12th out of 5,000 golf facilities and resorts in the nation for outstanding service by Golf Digest. The executive chef is remarkable as well.

We met with the General Manager Pam Marshall before Thanksgiving, and she is on top of things. Very organized, great about returning emails and phone calls and clearly has been working with brides for years. One of Matt's co-workers held his wedding reception at Bridlewood about a month ago, and he and his wife sing the club and Pam's praises. He told Matt that they didn't have to worry about anything -- you tell Pam how you want something done (and only tell her once) and it will be taken care of correctly. I guess when his bride's flowers showed up at the venue in the morning and didn't look like what she'd talked about with Pam, she called the bride. Turns out, the florist flubbed the flowers, and because she caught it, the florist had time to get the correct ones completed. That's the kind of service I want. So, we're planning on putting the deposit down next week.

Finally, the wedding date is May 24, 2008. It's set. No more changes. No more pushing it earlier/later. May 24. Be there. (Yes, it's Memorial Day weekend. We figured we'd offer up an extra travel day for everyone -- those from Nebraska and Kansas can drive it in a day, if you hate planes.)

So, here are the current goals:

1. Get venue secured. (This should happen next week, I think.)

2. Go try on a few of the bridesmaid dresses I think I like. Bug my lovely 'maids to look at the favorite(s). Hopefully we can all get 'em ordered in January.

3. Visit the hotels I'm considering to nab a room block at -- I want to make sure they're as nice as they look online, that they can handle our big group and will hook the Ide-Mueller wedding guests up with a group rate. I know everyone is aching to make travel plans, so I want to get this one done soon. The ones I'm looking at are around 5 minutes from Flower Mound in Grapevine -- AmeriSuites (though, they may not have enough rooms to do our big group), Springhill Suites by Marriott and Hilton DFW Lakes. (Someone told me about the Gaylord Texan, but I haven't looked into it, yet.) Please, let me know if you have a preference of hotels.