Greeley Downtown

Downtown pulls it together for a wedding in 9 days!

This blog is going to be a little more personal than usual. It’s about how important community is – especially the people and businesses I consider to be our “downtown” community here in Greeley. It's about how downtown Greeley is truly the HEART of downtown.

My daughter Michael, (yes – like the boy’s name) had been engaged to her fiancé Greg for about 6 months and hadn’t picked a date yet when Greg’s sister Felicia and husband Dane came to visit for the holidays. Dane is a marine currently in between deployments. They suddenly realized that there was no telling when and how long his next deployment would be and when he’d be available for the wedding, so the light bulb came on;

“Let’s get married now!”

Those 4 words sparked a 9 day whirlwind, and without a bevy of wonderful downtown business owners and friends none of it would have been possible.

It started with the venue. The first place we thought of is the charming Sod Buster Inn at 1221 9^th Ave. We called and spoke with the owners, Stephanie and Derek Boulton. The only issue was that some regular guests had booked 4 of the rooms for the night of the wedding. Out of concern and respect for them, Stephanie called to see if they would mind our event and to make sure they wouldn’t be unwillingly disturbed. They were fine. They turned out to be very lovely people who lingered on the edges of the wedding and had a delightful time with us. The Sod Buster was already decorated for the holidays but they let Michael and her entourage arrive the morning of the wedding to transform the inside with lots of twinkly lights, rolls and rolls of tulle, sparkly snowflakes, and more. Stephanie and Derek helped us all along the way and never complained or worried over the changes we were making. They even helped us with additional suggestions and ideas.

The night of the wedding Derek and Stephanie broke their backs making everything feel effortless and seamless for us. They calmed any fears that came up with an almost uncanny intuition for knowing when one of us was starting to stress. With 50 guests to accommodate, tables, chairs and furniture had to be moved in between ceremony and dinner and again before the reception and dancing. They made it happen so we hardly even noticed, transforming the room into something new each time.

They work closely with several caterers and it completely takes away the worry and burden of so many details. We chose another downtown friend, Nick St. George. You may see Nick and his crew downtown serving up the spirits for Friday Fest, Oktoberfest, the Greeley Blues Jam and other events. He doesn’t have a web site but if you call the DDA we’ll be happy to hook you up. He served a world class dinner to rave reviews from our guests and helped us cut some corners too! He knows his way around a kitchen and it shows.

My good friend Chris Haug "The Music Man" was available to be our DJ and Andy Nagel of Mirage Productions did the video recording. I used to make really cheesey TV commercials with Andy almost 20 years ago when I sold Cable Advertising. Carol and Jerry from  from Hearts and Tails Carriage Company even came by to whisk the newleyweds off for a little time alone in a covered horse drawn carriage all decoratd with lights.

Michael had already found a dress during a one-time dress clearance event on the 9^th street plaza during the summer, but we didn’t have a veil or petticoat. Enter Mary Roberts at Lincoln Park Emporium on the corner of 8^th street and 9^th Ave. They have a whole shop of new and  “previously loved” bridal dresses and items upstairs. We found a veil and petticoat for such a deal I’m embarrassed to even say. You have to go see for yourself.

Once the veil was purchased we wandered down to Mariposa Plants and Flowers on the corner of 8^th St and 8^th Ave. It took us about 5 minutes of working with Stephanie and we had yet another item checked off our list; Bouquets of blush roses, a couple roses to put on the cake and a ton of baby’s breath to go perfectly with the winter wedding white sparkly theme.

Speaking of cakes, we just happen to have a brand new bakery downtown – just below my office as a matter of fact – Batter Up Bakery at 809 9^th St.  I just ran down the steps and within minutes we decided on just the right small cake with some cupcakes and truffles added to the mix. The owner, Jerri Jantz is a sweetheart and even showed up at the Sod Buster Inn to help cut the cake for serving after the bride and groom made their initial cuts. Many guests told us they never really eat the cake at weddings – but couldn’t get enough of this one. And take my word for it; you can’t have enough of their fabulous truffles for your guests! They also provided the truffles we got for the appreciation baskets we put in the other guest’s rooms.

Now, for the bridesmaid dresses you’d think we’d have had to run all over town. Nope. We just sauntered into the Rouge Boutique on the corner of 9^th St. across from the Rio Grande. Owner Chelsea Sackschewsky assisted us and we immediately found two beautiful, perfect, sparkly silver dresses. We easily could have loaded up on a lot more bling there. Ladies, you MUST check out it out!

Dinner for ten the night before the wedding? The Rio Grande on the 9^th St. Plaza fit the bill perfectly. Our family from Illinois had driven 12 hours straight and they were more than ready for some Mexican dining and some famous Rio margaritas. The night after the wedding we went to Santeramos at 1229 10^th Ave. They quickly accommodated our party of 10 and we ended up with a room upstairs all to ourselves. If we’d have had time, Tavola would have been another choice on our list. 

So if there was ever any doubt - Downtown Greeley truly showed itself as the "heart" of Greeley. Thanks to all the businesses, business owners and wonderful people that are involved with downtown Greeley every day!