This month has brought many purple weddings! Each one is unique because florals in purple are different every time they arrive at the floral shop; sometimes the lavenders are pale with just a hint of purple and sometimes the purples are so rich and dark that it makes the contrast against the elegant, antique white roses absolutely stunning. We create bouquets in the traditional ball with lavender and white roses, adding deeper fillers here and there, or in a more fresh-from-the-garden look as shown below, with a few roses and a variety of fillers. Either way, it makes for a beautiful mixture for today’s bride.
This is starting off to be a great year! We recently received word that on Jan. 9, a special Valentine’s press release in NY listed us in the top 10 places to celebrate Valentine’s Day!
The article began “Top 10 Romantic Inns Toast Valentine’s Day with Complimentary Sweets and Romantic Treats—”
And the write up about us stated:
The Inn at Craig Place – San Antonio, TX: How do you love thee? At The Inn at Craig Place, you can count the ways including bouquets of roses, sweet treats, champagne, spa baskets, balloons, picnic baskets with a cheese and fruit board and more. An Italian Murano glass heart pendant presented with an Italian love poem and confetti candies can be a keepsake from this romantic rendezvous.
I can’t believe December is half over already, and the busiest part is yet to come! We are booked up through the end of the year. Gregg was the photographer today and although his pictures are usually quite good (of course, my editing doesn’t hurt either), this picture was extraordinary right from the camera. Cheers to everyone this holiday season!
Is Christmas shopping a stressful experience for you? It sure can be. In fact, most people wouldn’t consider the words “christmas shopping” and “relaxation” to belong in the same sentence. However, we have some guests who have figured out how to make it more enjoyable. Each year they leave their kids with a sitter for a couple of nights and come to the Inn. They settle in on the first evening with our picnic basket or a pizza from Main Street Pizza, watch a movie and relax. In the morning, after their gourmet breakfast, they head out to the mall to do some shopping. Northstar Mall is only 10 minutes north of us, and Rivercenter Mall is just two miles south. There are boutiques and specialty shops along the way. In the late afternoon, they bring back their purchases and get cleaned up and dressed up for a very special dinner out, something couples don’t get to do too often when they have little ones at home. Then back to the Inn for a little quiet time together, another rarity in the busy lives of parents (and Innkeepers!). This is when they wrap the gifts they purchased. And after the next morning’s breakfast, they pack up their things and their Christmas prizes and head home, refreshed and prepared for the craziness that often accompanies the holiday season.
Gregg and I were so inspired by the idea, that we decided to do the same ourselves. We closed down for two days and took off for our own little getaway before the busy rush of the holiday season. It was well worth it!
This week has been busy! Fall weddings come to a close and now the December wedding season begins, with red rose bouquets, twinkling Christmas tree lights and kisses under the mistletoe. Come share in the holiday magic! There are holiday celebrations, markets, and festivals all around San Antonio this month. This weekend our own Monte Vista is holding a holiday market.
We had the pleasure of having guests return again this year for the holiday as well as meeting some new couples who exchanged their wedding vows or renewed their vows at the Inn this week.
All of our brides were beautiful, but Saturday’s flower girls were just picture perfect, and as well-mannered and sweet as can be.
Wow, it’s been a busy November so far! Of course the 11/11/11 date was solidly booked for weddings and rooms (on such unusual dates we agree to do more than one wedding) and we could have done many more. Not only were our own brides and grooms staying, but the other rooms were filled with other honeymooners. Already 10/11/12 is booking up! Pictured here are the new Mr. and Mrs. Campbell from 11/15/11.
For those of you out there who have been to the Inn and know us, you know that we’re usually going a mile a minute, so this is a pretty big commitment to say that we’re now blogging. More than likely you will be hearing from me (Kelly) since I am the resident language major whereas Gregg is the finance whiz around here. You should see how fast he can use that little number keypad on the computer without even looking at it! But his two-finger pecking at the letters doesn’t make for fast typing, so it will be left to me.
So where do you begin when you aren’t starting at the beginning? I still haven’t figured that out, quite honestly. We don’t even have an “About the Innkeepers” page, like so many other B&B’s , and have avoided posting pictures of ourselves on the site. I guess it’s because our philosophy is that your time at the Inn at Craig Place is all about YOU - not us - and we bustle around behind the scenes as much as possible to make your stay or wedding day as wonderful as we can possibly make it. Recently, we had some guests who have stayed with us several times tell us that they love to come and sit on the balcony or in the library and pretend they live there. I smiled and thought that it was just the illusion I like to create, and if we were always visible, it might destroy their fantasy.
Even with our room decor our goal is to create a fantasy, a romantic atmosphere where each room offers guests a new experience in an intimate, private setting. Maybe the room contains something that they have always wanted, but more than likely won’t buy for themselves. For instance, I always wanted a canopy bed as a little girl, so how much fun would it be to sleep in one, if only for a night or two? Or what does it feel like to soak in a 120-yr-old clawfoot tub with bath scents that conjure up fields of wildflowers? Or have you ever thought of having stars that glow painted over the bed? Not those plastic ones that you stick to the ceiling, but stars that are invisible until the lights are out, just like real stars are invisible until it’s pitch dark.
I still haven’t answered my question of what to blog, but I guess we’ll just see what lies ahead and hope that we have something worth sharing and reading.
