Review for Nashville Wedding Shower Venue -- A Note from the Mother of the Bride

This has been a great week for thank you notes! Here's a great note our Director of Catering, Sue, received today from a mother of a bride:

Sent: Tuesday, November 1, 2011 10:34am
To: Sue Davies-Rephan
Subject: RE: Follow up from Catering at Embassy Suites Nashville Airport

Hello Sue,

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for all your help with the food delivered to Holly's room the morning of Oct. 23 while the girls prepared for the wedding.

What a wonderful job you did!!! I had no idea it would be so nice. We were all impressed and of course, as mother of the bride, I was delighted that it was so nice for the bride and bridesmaids. You and your staff do an excellent job and if ever I would need something again, I would know that Embassy Suites catering is an excellent choice. Not only was it good, it was also a beautiful presentation.

Thanks again for your help,
Susan

Kudos to Sue, and thanks so much for your kind words, Susan! It was wonderful working with you and Holly, and we hope to have the chance to work with you again.

Review for Nashville Wedding Venue -- A Sweet Note from a Sweet Bride

Got this awesome note today from a bride whose wedding was last weekend, and I just wanted to share it with you:

It's so great to know you've helped someone bring all their plans together just the way they envisioned. Thank you for the kind words, Valerie! :)

Nashville Wedding Catering -- New Themed Menu: COUNTRY GLAM

If there's one thing I've noticed while planning weddings over the past several months, it's the current undeniable allure of everything country, Southern, and rustic. Even my sister, who is getting married in June, is crazy about the theme, and we've been gathering burlap table runners and mason jars for wedding favors and wildflower centerpiece ideas for WEEKS! (Not that I'm complaining -- I love the "pretty" part as much as the "planning" part!) No one does this rustic wedding theme better than us in the South, so we thought it was about time we got involved in the fun.

Therefore, it is my pleasure to introduce the first of our five new, themed wedding packages: COUNTRY GLAM

This is our lovely indoor garden atrium, a perfect place for wedding ceremonies, with specialty draping and lighting done by Events Plus, Inc. Photo by Ace Photography.

This centerpiece embodies the idea of COUNTRY GLAM -- pretty, relaxed, comfortable, with rustic elements like wood, lace, and fresh flowers. Linen provided by Connie Duglin Linen, draping and lighting by Events Plus, Inc., floral design by Creations by Debbie, and cake by Cakes by Shara.

I totally love this package because of the feel and the food options that are available. If you like comfort food and you want that atmosphere of Southern hospitality at your wedding reception, check out these options:

• Garden Shots


• Fried Green Tomatoes


• Ambrosia Salad


• BBQ Brisket Carving Station with Yeast Rolls


• Fried Pickles


• Chicken Wings


• Macaroni & Cheese Bar


• Shrimp & Cheese Grits


• Apple Turnovers, Mini Pies & Cobblers


• Marshmallow Truffles to match your color scheme


• Fruit Tea and Raspberry Lemonade

Those are just a few of the many menu options you can choose from for the COUNTRY GLAM package. If you'd like more information, call me at 615-522-5448 or email me at amber.payne@hilton.com.

We've got lots of things going on at the hotel, and I've got four more new packages in addition to this one, so keep in touch! We'd love to show you why everyone says Weddings Are Sweet at Embassy Suites!

REAL NASHVILLE WEDDING: Laura and Rick -- Florida, Dolphins, and the Engagement That Almost Didn't Happen

BRIDE: Laura


GROOM: Rick
WEDDING DATE: May 21, 2011


WHERE ARE YOU BOTH FROM ORIGINALLY?: Laura is from Wisconsin and Rick is from Tennessee.


WHAT DO YOU DO?: Laura works in accounting and Rick works in IT.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TOGETHER?: 9 years

HOW DID YOU MEET?: (Laura) We met at Blockbuster -- he was an assistant manager and I was a lowly worker-bee. It was NOT love at first sight for either of us. We actually didn't like each other much, but that obviously changed!

WHAT'S YOUR ENGAGEMENT STORY?: (Laura) We were on vacation in Florida with some friends. Among all the activities we had planned, I had planned on swimming with the dolphins because it was something I'd wanted to do forever. Our friends took pictures of me and the dolphins with their camera. Later in the evening, before we went to dinner, we decided to walk down to the pier to take some pictures. We were walking back, and the camera bag was slung over someone's shoulder and accidentally fell into the water. Everyone starts to panic, and I think it's because of the camera, but I had no idea that Rick had hidden my ring in the camera case and everyone knew he was going to propose, so everyone thought the ring was gone! They were able to fish the camera out, and after dinner we took a walk on the beach. It was then that Rick got down on one knee and grabs my hand, and he had the ring in his other hand. The first words out of my mouth were, "Are you serious?!" I honestly thought he was playing a mean joke on me until I saw the ring in his hand and started crying. So that was my most perfect day ever!

WHAT ARE YOUR WEDDING COLORS AND/OR THEME?: Black with yellow, orange, purple, and pink

IS THERE A DETAIL ABOUT YOUR WEDDING THAT YOU CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR GUESTS TO SEE?: My dress. The beadwork looks like Cinderella's carriage.

IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL YOU'RE DOING TO PERSONALIZE YOUR EVENT TO MAKE IT UNIQUELY "YOU?": Probably the music. The rest was very simple and traditional.

WHAT'S SOMETHING YOU'VE LEARNED AS YOU'VE BEEN PLANNING YOUR WEDDING?: Get a 12-month planning book and follow it, but don't get ahead of it. Also, get a day-of coordinator, whether it's someone you hire or a friend / family member.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?: We would highly recommend Embassy Suites to anyone! Everything we were promised was delivered, and it was an all-around enjoyable experience.

New Nashville Wedding Stuff! -- Part One

Happy Friday, blog readers! It has been too long since I've posted, but I promise I have a good excuse...WOW has it been busy here! This post is "Part One" because I'll have more to share with you over the next few weeks, but I wanted to pass on some tidbits now since I know many of you are deep in the midst of planning your weddings right now.

First, I want you all to meet Sue Davies-Rephan, our new Director of Catering.

Sue is a Colorado native who has lived in Nashville for 18 years. During her time in Tennessee, she has planned weddings for Natural Design, Top O'Woodland, and Opryland. She co-authored a book about wedding planning. She is left-handed, she adores her blue-eyed, Red Merle Miniature Australian Shepherd (Izzi) and her Jack Russell (Jasmine), she plays guitar, she loves to garden, she's an ordained minister and a florist...to say she is multi-talented is an understatement. We are thrilled to have her here, and, to borrow a famous line from one of my favorite TV cooks, she is helping us "kick it up a notch" in weddings. BAM! :) She and I are BOTH taking care of weddings now, so you've got even more experience and creativity working for you when you hold your event with us.

One of the first things Sue did here was pick out some lovely new centerpieces for our lunch and dinner functions. Many of you are familiar with our traditional mirror tile / hurricane globe / taper candle centerpiece, which definitely has its merits, and that will continue to be available for any of you who would like to use it. In addition, we'll now be offering our new Feng Shui centerpiece!!

This is a bowl made out of a dark resin with 4 glass containers on top. This matches pretty much everything -- think of the versatility! Four candles, four flowers, add something taller in the middle...it's just endless. Here, we chose 2 candles and 2 floating flowers. We are happy to offer the base and the cups COMPLIMENTARY for all of our wedding packages. Just bring in your own flowers and marbles / pebbles, and you're done!

Another recent development here is the complete re-vamping of our wedding packages. We'll still be offering the ones you're used to, but we'll soon be introducing some themed ideas for receptions. Ever described your reception style as "URBAN CHIC?"

Or are you more "VINTAGE CHARM?" What about "COUNTRY GLAM" or a laid back "ISLAND STAY-CATION?" We've got great ideas for menus and decor for all of those styles, plus a couple more. We're putting some really fun packages together with draping and lighting that will allow you to have a beautiful wedding with a great value. I'll have some absolutely incredible pictures to show you in a couple of weeks, thanks to Events Plus, Ace Photography, Connie Duglin Linen, and Cakes by Shara. We're VERY excited about our new ideas, and we hope you'll love them too!

Lastly, I've added a new display in our lobby / atrium dedicated specifically to weddings. If you're ever in the neighborhood outside of normal business hours, you can always stop at this table to see some pictures, grab my card or Sue's, and read about the latest and greatest news in weddings at Embassy Suites Nashville.

So there you have it...lots going on here! Hope you all have a great weekend, and keep an eye out for PART TWO coming in about two weeks.....