Ever wanted to stay at the Plaza Hotel?

Well, it's not the same Plaza Hotel in New York so often referred to in pop culture, but then again it won't cost you $800 a night.

This morning I visited Baltimore's Tremont Plaza Hotel and it seems to be the best combination of location and price I can secure. I hope to have a contract signed by early next week so those who are ready can begin reserving rooms at our group rate for Friday and Saturday. I'm not sure if many people plan to come in earlier than Friday, but if you do let me know. If I have enough I can try to get a group rate earlier in the week.

A little about the place:

It is located a little more than a mile from the wedding/reception site. For those from out of town, that translates to about a $5 cab ride, seven-minute drive or 25-minute walk. (I will find actuals for sure within in the next two weeks.)

The hotel is also a short walk from the Inner Harbor, which is kind of Baltimore's main tourist area. If you are looking for some things to do on Friday evening or Saturday morning, you should be able to find it as long as you don't mind panhandlers too much.

The rooms in the hotel are suites. You can choose from one of two studio models either with a king bed or two queen beds. There also rooms with one bedroom set aside from the rest of the suite and two-bedroom suites. You can see photos here and specs here. If you get a room high enough on one side, you will get a view of Baltimore's harbor, the other side has a view of Baltimore's more historic but perhaps less visually interesting west side.

The Plaza also has an outdoor pool, although it is kind of small, and a health club. There's a bar and restaurant that serves brunch for $15. There's also a pretty decent deli with carry-out sandwiches, specialty dishes as well as beer and wine. For more on the amenities, click here.

So, what's the price tag? The studio suites are $159 a night, the one-bedrooms are $189 a night and the two-bedrooms are $339. After looking at the rooms, four people can easily fit in the studio, and I would add that you don't really get much more for a one-bedroom for an extra $30.

Even though it is possible to split a room, I recognize that the rate is kind of expensive for those who are already buying a plane ticket. The consolation is that it should not be necessary for you to rent a car. However, you may be able to find a room and rent a car for a little bit cheaper if you would like to.

I searched hotels.com and for lowest rates in the metro area and found rooms for as low as $70 per evening if you would rather stay in the suburbs. For instance, I found the Ramada Inn in Catonsville (about 8 miles away) starting at that rate. If you are OK staying away from downtown and staying in a lower-tier hotel, an option like this may be your choice.

If you have any questions about a neighborhood I would be happy to tell you more about it. I would suggest that you also read hotel reviews for any place you pick either at hotels.com, Travelocity or another travel site.

After checking a few rental car companies, it looks like you could rent a car for about $70 from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.

Again, I know travel can be a pain so if you need any help feel free to call or e-mail me.

Praise for the U.S. Postal Service

I know many people complain about service at the post office, but I have to give the much maligned government agency some praise. I didn't drop off the Save the Date cards until Saturday, and by Monday people in Maryland were already getting them. What a deal for 26 cents!

Some may accuse us of having a pro-Post Office bias as both Allie and I have uncles in Illinois who worked for the postal service. If you think that's interesting (and who wouldn't?), here's some more Nallie fast facts.

• The Orioles hosted the Tampa Bay Rays for Opening Day on Monday. But did you know Nate and Allie's dating anniversary is marked by the Orioles-Rays game they went to on April 19, 2000. That game turned out a little better for the O's, with Cal Ripken hitting a walk-off ninth inning home run to win it 3-2.

• From that day, Nate and Allie would date for seven years, one month, and four days before becoming engaged. That's longer than the Seven Years' War!

• Nate assures you that the delay was not because of bleak predictions from astrologists like this one, which says Cancer and Gemini are "Not a match made in Heaven." Really, that doesn't describe us at all, stupid astrologists.

What a week...

Actually made some progress on the wedding over the weekend. Allie picked a dress, but she won't let me see it so I can't tell you about it. We went to one place we were considering for the rehearsal dinner, but we're probably ruling it out. Also almost have all the addresses.

Hotel is the next priority as well as nailing down some of the ceremony details. Sorry for the boring post, but actually doing wedding planning takes away some time from writing about what I'm not doing I guess.

We're meeting with a potential photographer tomorrow evening. Maybe I'll have something funny to say about that.

Nate

Bridesmaid dresses

Sorry about the two-week hiatus. At least I've managed to become an Orioles season ticket plan holder and made moderate progress on the bathroom since I last posted.

But onto the wedding news. Kate, Kelly, Karen and Allie went wedding dress shopping last week, and have moved closer to selecting a bridesmaid dress — now the trick is picking a color.

Allie was initially leaning toward the dress in berry, but is concerned that it may clash with the carpet color at the reception hall (win, and yes, these are all colors.)

She is now considering the same dress in olivine.

Here is a look at the dress. You can click on the different colors it is available in on the Web page. You can see what the carpet at the reception hall looks like by clicking on images on the site's Web page.

--Nate

Does your bathroom have a view?

Sure, wedding planning takes plenty of time. But why not take a few minutes to knock some holes in your wall in the meantime?

Bathroom renovation is in full swing this week. Here's the before pictures:

1) We've removed the stand beside the vanity



2) and the mirror


3) And there's a nice view of the office from within the bathroom. Perfect for hosting a puppet show



We'll post the after photos when we get there.

Other news on Fort Ave. includes a shooting down the street last night. I was at Lowes in White Marsh looking at wood trim so I didn't hear anything.

It's all about the paper

That's right, the "Save the Date" cards were printed Saturday and will be in the mail soon. Plus we got it done at Kinkos at an affordable price. As Dawn from The (British) Office would say: "It's not often you get something both romantic and thrifty."

Here's what it looks like on white paper, although the final version was printed on sandstone:




It's going to come as a postcard, although I'm not promising any calligraphy on the back.

Allie and mom Karen followed up the progress by selecting invitations on Monday. Should have a proof back this week.

--Nate

Time to feed the beast

Sorry devotees who have come here for new weeks but found nothing new. But let me assure that this blog will soon be the posting site for several breaking news items, including information on rehearsal dinner, flowers and more!

Vicki (Nate's mom) is coming to town for a one week visit next week, so I expect things to get rolling again.

In the meantime, why not learn about marriage in other cultures — like scientology.

On their Web site, scientologists promise that they can teach you how to have one of the few "stable and happy" marriages out there.

Skeptical? I guess you haven't seen the testimonials from reliable sources like "a jeweler in Hawaii" and "a man in Austin, Texas."

From the man in Austin:

“In 1983, after my first marriage collapsed, I took a course at the Church of Scientology on the subject of marriage.

“Amazingly, I learned what a marriage is, how to put one together, and even how to find a person who was compatible.

“Putting the information to use, I found a great person — who had been present on the same floor where I worked, right under my nose for a year, but whom I had never noticed before. Young, beautiful, smart — everything I ever wanted.

“We got married a few months later, and have been happily married ever since — 14 years now — and very stably so.

“In fact, in our 9th year, a man stopped us in a shopping center to say, ‘You two must be newlyweds!’ When we told him we’d been married for 9 years, he was dumfounded.

“We told him, ‘That’s Scientology!’

Interested in taking a course?

Scientology Marriage Courses are fast and easy to do. They don’t require a whole semester or thousands of dollars.

At most, they take a week or less, depending on your schedule, and all of them are very affordable.

After all, Scientology Churches are 100% charitable non-profit entities. They are manned by staff who are dedicated, who want to help others the way they have been helped themselves.

The staff of Scientology organizations are the friendliest people on Earth. If you knew the underlying laws of life and were truly happy in your relationships and activities, you’d feel friendly toward others, too.

They may be the friendliest people on Earth ... but what about other planets? Sorry Dan Snyder, our wedding may have Redskins colors, but I haven't been convinced we should have a scientologist ceremony.

9 is Rhyme Time

Nallie has set out to drafting Save the Date cards. Here's the scoop: Rhymes will be involved. So will Clip Art and possibly some principals from Eric Meyer's design class, which I took in 2004.

I have no doubt he would be very disappointed in my final design.

Nonetheless I plan on mailing them to most of you. That means I need addresses! Post yours on the comments section if you would it them to be more easily perused by stalkers. Alternatively, text them to Nate or Allie on their cell phone numbers or e-mail them to natesandstromhotmail.com.

If I can figure out how to post a Word Document on here, or convert it, I will post a sneak preview of the card. Go Clip Art!

Nate

Weddings — they're contagious

Nallie would like to give a shot out to wedding invitees Mike Lefeave and Erica Rothmier, who got engaged this past weekend.

Congratulations!

Ugliest Bridesmaids' Dresses Ever

Allie's foray into wedding planning unofficially began on Super Bowl Sunday. Coincidentally, Becca the bridesmaid, was planning on a proposal from Tom Brady after his Super Bowl win, so they thought they'd start planning together. Armed with notebooks and a spot-on Gisele Bundchen accent because that's what Becca thinks he likes about her, they headed to the Convention Center's Bridal Expo to learn about all things bridal.

Whoops. Things took a turn for the worse later that night for Becca's guy(s). But, Allie took away some valuable tips and goodies, including seven pounds of cake samples,














some badass accessories,










advice about registering,










and some info for Nate too!










Later that night, the half-time show wasn't bad either.





Nate opened for Allie.