Wedding Houston brides

[shop_girl]

Does anyone have any experience with wedding planning at the Hotel Icon or Hotel Alden in downtown? I am looking to have my reception there but its pretty pricey. We are looking at average plates with four hours of open bar for about $135 a head.

Where are you having your wedding? Any reccomendations (photographers, dj, flowers) in the area would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[mrs.ROC]

shop_girl,
i''m in houston and we did hotel derek, so i can''t vouch for hotel icon or alden. Alden was in the running, but we had a guest list of 200, so it wasn''t going to accommodate our guests, with a live band. Here are my vendors and i loved working with them all:

VENUE: hotel derek, we like the modern, contemporary feel, plus they included tablecloths, and small orchid centerpieces, which we used in the cocktail areas, they were a joy and very flexible to work with too, they never told me NO, and i didn''t have to worry about anything the day of the wedding!!
INVITATIONS:www.paperworksbyedith.com, we did the "esther" green and brown were our colors, she was a joy to work with and very creative with our rsvp cards
FLORIST: a prestige events (offices near the parador) our vases were lit up!! they also did our chair covers
PHOTOGRAPHER: www.jasonconnel.com, if you go to his site, and click to see his blog, you''ll see us, we''re the asian couple...hehehe loved him!!!! loved our pics too!! if you should contact him, and he calls me, i would be able to grant you permission to view our wedding pics, LOVED OUR PICS!!
DRESS: www.misorabridal.com, had a custom piece and it was fabulous!!!!
BAND: the lost boys, they play at pub fiction on thursday nites, 80''s nite!! we loved them. Once they came on stage, I had bought cheap 80''s style sunglasses for our guests, they wore them and our pictures with our guests having fun with them are priceless!!!
STRING TRIO: www.classiquemagnifique.com, they are high-school seniors, probably graduated now, but they were half the price of any "professional" group, and they were just as professional, came dressed formal with tuxedos, and the sound walking down the aisle to live string music was just magical!!

When is your wedding date? Good luck with the planning, just concentrate on your priorities, like your must haves. After that, it''s all details. The best piece of advice someone gave me about the real day, is enjoy every single minute of it, because it goes by soooooo fast!! And that was the best advice i got, because i remember every single minute!!!

Good luck, i''ll be checking on your posts to see how you''re doing!

 

[appletini]

I went to a wedding at the Alden last month and it was great. They had some passed hor d'' veours (sp) and then the main course was really simple...prime rib, pork tenderloin, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes. I don''t know if the cake was made by the hotel but it was awesome!

and for my wedding here are a few of the vendors I used...

music: dj''s unlimited
makeup: facade in uptown park
photographer: www.estrellaphoto.com

 

[shop_girl]

mrs. ROC and appletini,

Thank you for the recomendations- I will do some research and get back to you.
We are located in the River Oaks/Montrose area (Westheimer and Shepard)
St. Anne''s will be the church, we just need to confirm the date
Hotel Icon or Alden does not have to be the venue- we just love the food there! Food is very important to FI and family. I also like the idea of a cute BB but have not found one to my liking.
150/200 guest- we have not settled on the list yet.

-Samantha

 

[Lanie]

Hey Shop Girl! I''m in Houston as well, and we''re getting married at St. Anne''s too! When are you thinking of having the wedding? Ours is July 25 of 2009 and our reception is at Tuscany in Garden Oaks. It is really pretty, but definitely not that "hotel feel" if that''s what you are looking for. I''m in the process of researching florists, DJ''s, photogs, etc. I''m trying to get those big ones out of the way because I''m finding out that vendors are already booked a year out! Good luck!

 

[shop_girl]

Hi Lanie!

It''s May 2, 2009. I thought about having the reception at the Tuscany, its in the loop right? I''m not sure what "feel" I am looking for. I have emailed a couple of venues for quotes and should also visit some of the places. I thought I was looking too soon but from what I can see, the vendors are booking up quickly. May and June are popular months for weddings here- not sure why it soooo hot and humid that time of year.

Where are you in Houston?

Here''s what is important to FI and I:
1. REALLY good food and wine- that why I thought of Hotel Icon and The Alden, yummy!

2. Guest are flying in from NYC and other cities up north, we want them to enjoy themselves and experience Houston

Good Luck and keep me posted on your progress. I will do the same.

 

[Lanie]

Congrats on setting the date! Are you going to the info meeting for St. Anne''s in August? I can''t believe how many meetings/workshops we have to go to! And I hear you about the heat...we wanted to get married earlier, but we couldn''t get the church and the reception site to match up until July. It will be a million degrees outside! My fiance is from New York as well, so his family is going to get a real shock when they come down here and are blasted by the wall of heat.

As far as venue, yes, Tuscany is inside the loop. It''s in the Heights. It''s by the same owners as Bella Terrazza if you are familiar. I was more concerned with location rather than food/wine. We haven''t done our tasting yet, so I don''t know personally, but my friends all say it''s good. I just moved here, so I don''t know of any place that is known for their catering specifically. I wanted to do Hotel Icon, but we are anticipating about 250 guests, so that was too pricey for our budget. The open bar was what set us over budget, but I won''t compromise on that!

Did you or anyone else in Houston go to the Bridal Extravaganza? I couldn''t make it, and I feel like I missed out on a right of passage for missing it.

 

[meresal]

Date: 7/21/2008 11:45:45 AM
Author: Lanie

Did you or anyone else in Houston go to the Bridal Extravaganza? I couldn't make it, and I feel like I missed out on a right of passage for missing it.

I used to work the shows for the designer I worked with. I was told the big one for Houston is the one in January. Don't worry too much about missing the one this past weekend!! I'm hoping that this is true, because I would REALLY like to be engaged by then...

 

[shop_girl]

Lanie,

We should hear from the church today about the date. I am concerned that if you had a hard time cordinating your dates, I might not be able to have the date

. We were kinda slow deciding on the date, b/c FI works in finance (and its earning season), both of my siblings are in grad school (Northwestern and A&M). I have been tryng to find a date to accomidate everyone.

I looked up the webiste for the Tuscany, it beautiful! Please report back after you have the tasting. Yes, food at the Icon is amazing with the addition of the new chef. Any ideas on the RD?

Where did you move from? Fiance is from NY- moved here in 2003 for his MBA from Rice.

I did not go to the Bridal show, I have been told by friends that they can be chessy. Look for the smaller ones put on by the luxury hotels instead. I know St. Regis has them in the spring.

Best,
Samantha

 

[Lanie]

Hey Samantha...email me at [email protected]