Jesse's Wedding

Hi all! Derek and I just got back from Nebraska where we had a great time at the wedding of one of our college friends. Fortunately, a large group of our friends made it out to Omaha as well, so it was also a fun reunion for all of us.

The ceremony was lovely--a Catholic ceremony, but without Communion. The wedding as a whole was very simple. The bride's dress was a straight strapless gown, with a horizontal lace pattern overlay, similar to the one shown at the right. The bridesmaids wore knee-length black dresses and carried bouquets of lilies; the bride's bouquet contained lilies and roses. Aside from the black and white motif, there were little accents of aqua throughout the ceremony and reception--the groom and groomsmen wore aqua ties, for example, and the favors were tied with aqua ribbon. Very simple and classy.

The reception was held at a Holiday Inn in Omaha, which was very convenient for the guests--we all just stayed there for the weekend. However, I can't say I recommend the Holiday Inn, for several mishaps occurred that probably should not have. First, one of our friend's reservations for Friday night was canceled! Apparently they had overbooked. Fortunately, they gave her Saturday night for free, and the rest of us shifted around our sleeping arrangements so she had somewhere to stay Friday night. But the worst part was that in the middle of the reception, the dance floor broke apart! They had to call in some "technicians" who stomped the floor back into place, but then it happened again!

Nonetheless, everyone had a great time. We learned how to do the Lebanese Line Dance and sang along to "Jesse's Girl" and "Stacey's Mom" (the bride and groom were named Jesse and Stacey). Jesse did a great job of making time to talk to us during the reception, which we really appreciated. Something interesting that I thought was a good idea--they put white Christmas lights in layers underneath the tablecloth at the head table, so the head table "sparkled" a little bit.

All in all, it was a great wedding, and I was so glad that Derek and I were able to be there for someone who has always been a great friend.

Holiday Inn-oying

Has it ever taken you a half hour to make a hotel reservation? Jesse's wedding is coming up this August, and he and his fiancee blocked a group of rooms for their guests at a Holiday Inn, where their reception is. I think that's great--it will be so nice for out-of-town guests like me to just go upstairs after the reception. No one has to worry about drinking too much. No one has to worry about getting lost in a strange city.

However, the phone number Holiday Inn says to call to make reservations (1-800-465-4329) is, I am pretty sure, a call center in India.

I'm ok with that. Usually it does not make a difference to me. But they must have trained these people to keep you on the phone as long as possible. The lady I talked to insisted on reading me the details of the hotel and signing me up for their Rewards Points program (it was free), and after I booked the reservation, I got tricked into listening to a promotion for a $199 vacation at Disney World.

The real problem was that, since the wedding group rate was only available for the night of the wedding, they had me book two separate reservations--one for each night. It was absurd. I don't want to worry about having to change rooms and I want to have to re-check-in. Plus, they had the non-wedding group rate at $119/night. Online, it's $87. I pointed this out, and the lady dropped it down to $99/night. I agreed to that at the time, because I was in a hurry to get somewhere.

This morning, though, I decided to call the actual hotel in Nebraska, cancel my reservations, and redo it online. I pressed the button "2" to be connected with reservations and...it sent me back to India. This time I explained how frustrated I was, and said I wanted to redo my reservations. The guy I spoke to said that the $87 was the "nonrefundable advance purchase rate," meaning they would charge my credit card now (instead of after we checked out) and I can't back out and get a refund. I said that was fine, and he canceled the Friday night reservation and edited my previous reservation to cover both nights at the $87/night rate.

Lesson learned? I don't know. I think you want to try to book with the group rate if you can, because I think the bride and groom get some kind of deal if enough people book with them. And, as my friend Claire points out, if you're in the wedding block, you sometimes get event info and a welcome package in your room.

But I'm not sure how to avoid getting transferred away from the actual hotel's phone line. Maybe I should have called the actual hotel, and pressed "0" instead of "2" for reservations. There are so many, many benefits to having a wedding at a major hotel chain, particularly for out-of-town guests like me. But do all major hotel chains outsource their reservations?