Wedding Venues…and snobby parking attendants
For those of you who don’t know, I am engaged and getting married in October of 2010. My fiance and I have started the search for the perfect space to share our vows and celebrate our lives with people that we love, blah, blah, blah. I’m really not into this wedding planning thing, but I’m trying to get stuff done. We have a planner who has suggested a few places to check out. Here’s the first batch of reviews:
The Roostertail, Detroit Waterfront: This is the classic downtown venue for events. Many people have had their weddings, proms and galas at this venue. They have almost everything you could want to create the space you want; LCD lights, couches, chivari chairs (my favorite wedding chair), a hydraulic dance floor (so we can rise from the ground during our special first dance). The venue is all windows looking out over the Detroit River, Belle isle, and the old Waterworks buildings. There’s even a fountain show that can be timed. The price was $$ on a scale of $$$$ and included take and gratuity. Parking is available, so there’s no worries about that. Brad was pretty giddy about it, so the Roostertail moves on to round 2!
www.roostertail.com
next…
The International Ballroom at the Atheneum Hotel, Downtown Detroit: So here’s where the “Staci Story #2″ begins…
The Atheneum is located in the heart of Detroit, nestled between the RenCen, Comerica Park, and Ford Field. It’s known for being a luxurious venue to rest your head after seeing a play at the Fox, watching the Lions lose (sigh), or ice-skating at Campus Martius. At least I thought all of these things were true. By the way Brad and I were treated by the staff, you would never know.
First, we attempted to valet park our car (it’s in the heart of Detroit, parking is not readily available). We waited for 5 minutes for a valet attendant to come out. Eventually, we created our own parking spot, and went into the valet’s office. One of the valet’s found it necessary to inform me that the parking was $18. At first, I said to Brad, “oh, how nice, he knows it’s outrageously .” As soon as those words came out of my mouth, I realized that the evil valet man, was making an assumptions about me, that I DID NOT appreciate.
The venue was blahh. Normal hotel conference center, although it did have an amazing view of the surrounding landmarks. The honeymoon suite was OK. It had a jacuzzi (ooooh, so original). So, clearly my experience with the valet folks affected my idea of the hotel. But I don’t want our family and friends being snubbed just to be in a so so conference center room. Final verdict: HELL NO! I’m tired of snooty people..get out of my wedding!
www.atheneumsuites.com
Final venue: The Colony Club, Theatre District of Detroit
This is the coolest venue I have EVER seen! A little history about the Colony Club: In 1924 it opened as a women’s club, a place for women to socialize as many clubs were men’s only. After the club closed, the Detroit Police Department used the space as offices and let it go to crap. A few years ago, an entrepreneur decided to renovate the space and use it for meetings during the time when the Superbowl came to Detroit. He decided to continue to invest in it and it’s come back to live. You walk in, and you’re taken back to early 20′s high society. Elaborate paintings on the walls, luxurious chandeliers, balconies and staircases. Cathedral ceilings and wood floors just make the space feel like it could go on forever. The gold accents create a glow in the room. I love it. Can I have it? Finally verdict: On to Round 2!
www.colonyclubdetroit.com
Pictures to come.
My blogging adventure begins…
For years, my mentor, Roger Fisher, has told me that I need to start a blog. Whenever something crazy would happen in my life, I would tell Roger about it. As soon as I said “So…yesterday…” Roger would say “oooh no, here’s another Staci story.” So this blog is dedicated to Roger and all of my other friends that I time-burgle with my stories. Now ya’ll can just read about them at your leisure.
This blog will chronicle things that happen in my life, including: adventures in wedding planning, having Black girl hair, my fiance, the mad rocket scientist, and other random things.
So, with out further adieu, here’s Staci story #1: “You’re hair is so hard to take care of…that sucks”
I get my hair relaxed. I found a great hairstylist at my local Douglas J Institute. Her name is Kremohney (for real). She was engaging, funny, and could do a mad fingerwave. I called yesterday to schedule an appointment with her, only to find out that she was no longer taking appointments. Kremohney got kicked out of school.
I really needed to get my hair done, so I decide to schedule with a random student. It’s usually OK when that happens, because they follow the instructions by the book; they tend to be scared of me and my hair. This time, I wasn’t so lucky. I sat in Evelyn’s chair. Evelyn is inappropriate and dense. She asked me if getting a relaxer was like “a rock, pressing down on my hair.” She also went on to say, “Wow, you’re hair is really hard to take care of, I’m glad and I throw my hair back in a pony tail.” Now, I really wanted to tell her that it would do her some good to spend some time on her hair, as a hair professional, but I exercise restraint. Then her friend came over to chat with us, and said to her “Oh, those, people are use to having their hair tugged at, they don’t care.” HELLO, “THOSE PEOPLE” is sitting in your chair! So I left with my hair not straighten (she didn’t know how to put the relaxer on, even those she’s done it before…I worry for that first person) and I wouldn’t let her cut it.
I’m meeting with a nice man named Howie in two weeks to fix what she screwed up. I think I’ll use Tyra’s
words to say what I would like to say to Evelyn.
New word of the week:
Brian and I created a new meaning word for the word “keynote” because of the fact that Kristin is going to be a keynote speaker at some conference.
Keynote (adj): to be top notch, A1, impressive, supreme, excellent, important.
Make it happen, people!
