Inn at Craig Place

Fiesta 2012 begins!

Innkeeper — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:36:50 +0000

If you are familiar with San Antonio, then you probably know about Fiesta. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it’s the biggest, longest party of the year. Events have already begun and there are many more to come. The River Parade was Monday night. The Battle of the Flowers parade on Friday, April 27 means the kids get a day off of school. NIOSA (Night in Old San Antonio) began on Tuesday and will continue throughout the week. And the Fiesta Flambeau Parade is the largest illuminated parade in the nation. But you don’t have to take my word for it, check out a partial schedule of events at http://www.fiesta-sa.org/events/all-events/ and the link below has even more.

Event Summary:
Fiesta San Antonio is an 11-day celebration with parades, festivals, art shows, musical performances, games, parties, sports tournaments, and kid-friendly events. What started as a one-day parade in 1891 to commemorate the history of Texas has evolved to over 100 events. http://saevents.com/Events/Events.asp?CatFiestaSA=y

Fiesta and a Taste of New Orleans

Innkeeper — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:52:43 +0000

Only one mile from the Inn at the Japanese Sunken Garden Theater, you can experience the Taste of New Orleans! Come on down!

April 20, 21, 22, 2012

Come celebrate with us the 27th annual “A Taste of New Orleans”. Over the years, “A Taste of New Orleans” has become one of San Antonio’s most popular Fiesta events. If you’re looking for fun with a focus on family, the “Taste” is the place to be. Pack up the kiddies, and bring Mom and Pop too; and enjoy a San Antonio Zulu Association event designed for all ages. Stroll about the grounds and enjoy New Orleans-style food and music. The “Taste” menu includes assorted gumbos, red beans and rice, shrimp creole, etouffee, shrimp kabob, jambalaya, cajun catfish, soft shell crab, crab au gratin, crab rolls, fresh crawfish boil, boudin, alligator, beignets and a host of other tasty treats. A wide assortment of beverages is also available.

Additional charges apply for all food and beverage items.

Must be 21 years or older to purchase alcoholic beverages.

Band line-up and schedule subject to change and /or cancel without notice.

Sunken Garden Theater

3875 N. St. Mary St.

San Antonio, TX 78212

Spring Break Anniversary

Innkeeper — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 04:10:46 +0000

Whew! Spring break week is over – filled with weddings and booked up every night. On top of that, Gregg and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this weekend. I guess if we would have known we were going to own a bed and breakfast, we might have chosen another date for our wedding other than spring break week. However, as a former professor, I could either get married over spring break, or wait until the summer, and we didn’t want to wait. This year we managed to squeeze in a nice, romantic dinner out.

The biggest surprise was a beautiful flower arrangement and card from one of our couples, who happened to be celebrating their anniversary at the Inn this weekend! Thanks to everyone who stayed with us this year. Have a wonderful spring!

Finally, the amenity everyone has been asking for…drum roll please….

Innkeeper — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:06:14 +0000

The new 2-person whirlpool spa tub in the Happily Ever After room! It’s been a long time coming, and we’ve received so many requests for it, that we’re glad to say that the project is complete. And we think it looks pretty good, considering it is an addition to an existing room. We decided to continue with the Victorian garden/cottage theme and surround it in real wood bead board, baskets and plants, and the flameless candles add to the romance. We also went the extra mile and bought an ultra-quiet, pipeless Sanijet tub, which is the kind used in hospitals for therapy. What that means is that it is the most sanitary whirlpool tub on the market. Since there are no pipes for water to sit in, there is never any fear of residue. It’s a pretty cool concept. Gregg and I tried one out at a B&B in north Texas and loved it. We know you will too!

Happily Ever After now boasts a beautiful new tub for relaxation.

Spring has sprung in San Antonio (for weddings, anyway)!

Innkeeper — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:34:15 +0000

February showers bring March flowers and weddings (or something like that here in San Antonio – by May it will already be 100 degrees ).

Gregg just informed me yesterday that we have done over 500 weddings since we purchased the Inn (562, to be exact). Wow! That’s incredible. And March is already booked up for weddings since it’s such a beautiful month here with all the flowers in bloom and the trees budding and blooming. Brides are thinking spring also, as seen in this assortment of gerbera daisies.

Daisies in various colors

Hope you had a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Innkeeper — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:30:40 +0000

This year with Valentine’s Day being in the middle of the week, we were busy with an abundance of romance packages the weekend before and the weekend after, as well as midweek. There were balloons, rose petals, and chocolate covered strawberries galore, but the most extravagant request came from one gentleman who wanted to surprise his wife with a room filled with bouquets of roses. Gregg and I are softies when it comes to that kind of utter romanticism and we enjoyed making the room look like a setting for a romance novel. I should have taken a picture!

More Purples

Innkeeper — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:48:00 +0000

After I posted the Popular Purple entry, we have had some brides ask about what a more “traditional” bouquet may look like in purple. Although I have done many of them, I realized that I didn’t really have a picture on file. I found this one (with the bonus of a cute little flower girl). This is an example of the white and lavender roses with the dark purple filler flowers. Sometimes the lavender isn’t so true and actually clashes with the purple, in which case I don’t use the lavender roses and add more of the filler with white roses, but still in the traditional, formal ball bouquet, rather than the looser-looking bunch of flowers. Hope that makes sense.

Traditional purple/white bouquet

Popular Purple

Innkeeper — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:34:18 +0000

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.

Purple Bridal Bouquet for the Wedding Social

Fresh-from-the-garden look for the Wedding Social

NY Press Release Lists Inn at Craig Place in the Top 10 Most Romantic Inns!

Innkeeper — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:03:21 +0000

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.

Pretty cool!

Elopement/ Elope/ Eloping

Innkeeper — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:15:43 +0000

Holiday engagements turn to wedding planning in January, and more couples are considering the idea of eloping as a way of saving money and lowering stress. As a former English and French professor, I must admit that I wish I could tell other wedding venues who post up elopement packages for the bride and groom and 10 or 15 guests or more that the word “elope” doesn’t mean taking along an entourage. That’s called a Destination Wedding.

The word “elope,” more than likely comes from an Anglo-French word “aloper,” and means the couple runs off alone, often in secret; it often refers to those young couples who escape to get married without parental consent. Although historically couples eloped to the courthouse to be married by a JP, more recently couples are opting for something a bit more romantic and memorable. Gregg and I eloped. We left our families and friends behind and escaped to Aruba to be married on the beach. It was perfect.

Not everyone can get all the way to Aruba (heck, we haven’t had the time or money to return ourselves) and many opt to come to San Antonio, so Gregg and I have made it our personal goal to provide a beautiful, romantic place for couples to elope, and we try our best to make the experience perfect for them too. We even take pictures and put them on a CD for them because we realized that was the one thing we were lacking — we don’t have any pictures of us on our wedding day, except for the ones we took of each other.