Can I bring a guest?

Please bring a guest. I'm sorry I forgot to write "and guest" on the invitations. But guests are certainly welcome at our wedding. We simply ask that you include the number in your party on your reply card so we have an accurate count.

Reserve your hotel room by June 19

You must reserve your room at the Holiday Inn Express by June 19 to receive the special discount rate of $89 per night. 

Visit our Holiday Inn Express blog posting for details.

Restaurants in Athens, Georgia

I suggest walking around downtown and stopping in any establishment that looks tasty -- chances are you'll leave satisfied.

Some of the better-known restaurants in Athens include:

The Grit, 199 Prince Avenue (not quite downtown, but within walking distance) (Zac, his sister Sage, and many of our guests have worked here.)

Five and Ten, 1653 S. Lumpkin Street (not downtown, but you could hike it there or take a quick cab ride)

Five Star Day Cafe, 229 E. Broad Street (downtown!)

Our favorite: The Taco Stand

Our favorite location: 670 N. Milledge Avenue (not downtown, but within walking distance)

There's also a location downtown. It'll do, but it's not Milledge.

Zac recommends: bean burrito with mild sauce

Kate recommends: tofu burrito with extra hot sauce 

Gift Registry

Zac and I have registered for gifts:

Macy's

Crate and Barrel

Shake What Your Momma!

What gets you on the dance floor?  

Post your favorite song(s) as a comment to this posting or send them to me via email at katedoc@gmail.com. We'll take care of the rest.

Booking a flight or train to Atlanta

                          

If Airtran flies out of your home city, I highly suggest checking their site before you book your flight. It always offers the cheapest (or equal to the cheapest) flights whenever we travel between Atlanta and Chicago. 

And of course, check Delta's flights as well. Their home base is Atlanta. 

Amtrak travels into Atlanta as well. 

If you aren't renting a car: Shuttles and Taxis

Shuttle between Atlanta airport and Athens:

You can take a shuttle from the Atlanta airport to Athens. One such shuttle service is the AAA Airport Express, Inc. Visit their website and/or call (800) 354-7874.

Note the AAA Airport Express shuttle departs from the Holiday Inn Express (and the Hilton Garden Inn and Foundry Park Inn). (If you book a room at the Travelodge, the shuttle can pick you up at the Holiday Inn Express, the Holiday Inn, and the Courtyard Marriot, which are all in close walking distance.)

In-town taxi services: 

You can walk downtown from all the hotels I've suggested, but you'll need a taxi to get to the wedding. 

You might try A&A Athens Taxi at (706) 353-2424, Ken Cab Company at (706) 717-0104, or Top Dog Transportation at (706) 552-0744. 

How many of you would rather not drive to the wedding/reception, whether or not you plan to rent a car? If enough people want to take a taxi there, you could either take a cab together or we can set up a shuttle from the Holiday Inn Express to the Botanical Garden. What do you think?

Other Athens hotel options (one cheaper, two fancier)

I did not save rooms at the Travelodge, the Hilton Garden Inn, or the Foundry Park Inn (the hotels listed in this posting). 

I did save 30 rooms at the Holiday Inn Express (see posting immediately below this posting). You can reserve a room at the Holiday Inn Express for an $89 special group rate when you book under the group "RDW" before June 19. 

You can reserve a room at the Travelodge, the Hilton Garden Inn, the Foundry Park Inn, or any other hotel you like, but I have not saved rooms at these hotels and there is no special group rate.

A cheaper option:

Zac and I always stay at the Travelodge, 898 W. Broad St., Athens, GA 30601. It's very close to the Holiday Inn Express. Both hotels are within walking distance of downtown Athens. You pay for what you get with the Travelodge. It's not the nicest place, but it's cheap and has a good location. Call (706) 549-5400 to check rates and book a room. (The Holiday Inn Express's group rate is $89.)

Click here for directions from the Travelodge to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. 

A couple fancier options:

There is a spankin' new Hilton Garden Inn downtown Athens, 390 E. Washington St., Athens, GA 30601. Call (706) 353-6800 to check rates and book a room.

Click here for directions from the Hilton Garden Inn to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

The Foundry Park Inn and Spa is a beautiful hotel, also downtown Athens at 295 E. Dougherty St., Athens, GA 30601. Call (706) 549-7020 to check rates and book a room.

Click here for directions from the Foundry Park Inn to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. 

Hotel rooms reserved at the Holiday Inn Express

We've reserved 30 rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, 513 W. Broad St., Athens, GA 30603.

All the rooms are non-smoking and the Holiday Inn Express has given us a special group rate of $89 per night. Each room has a refrigerator and microwave. The hotel offers a deluxe continental breakfast in the morning.

The entire hotel has been recently renovated. They were able to reserve fifteen rooms with one king bed and fifteen rooms with two double beds. 

To book one of these reserved rooms, call the Holiday Inn Express at (706) 546-8122. Ask for the group code "RDW" (stands for Rogers-Dougherty Wedding). You must book a room by June 19, 2009 to receive the group rate of $89. 

Terms & Conditions, received from the Holiday Inn Express:

1. On the cut-off date listed above, any rooms not sold within the block will be automatically released from the block and made available to the general public.
2. Reservation requests received after the cut-off date will be subject to availability at regular hotel rates.
3. All individual reservations must be guaranteed by a credit card for late arrival, any "no shows" will be billed for the first night's room and tax. Reservations may also be guaranteed with payment of cash or by check for the first night's room and tax.
4. Guests have until 6 pm on the day of arrival to cancel their reservations unless otherwise noted in the comment section of this contract (no such comment exists in this contract). 
5. Above listed rates do not include 14% sales tax.
6. Request group rooms to be blocked as close together as possible in the hotel.
7. Hotel check-in time is at 3 pm, and check-out time is at 11 am.

Driving directions from the Holiday Inn Express to the ceremony/reception site:

1. Head west on 78 / W. Broad St. / GA-10 toward S. Finley St. (Take a left out of the hotel parking lot, heading away from downtown Athens.) (0.4 mi)

2. Turn left at S. Milledge Ave. / GA-15. (3.6 mi)

The wedding is at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, 2450 S. Milledge Ave., on your right. The reception is inside at the Visitor Center & Conservatory. 

How Does a Blog Work?

If you're new to blogs, let me explain a couple things. 

I plan to create a new posting for each piece of information I think could be useful to our guests. One posting might be about booking a hotel, another listing airlines information, and another for fun things to do in Athens. 

I'll create titles for each posting. Each posting is listed in the column at the right under the month when I posted it. If you select the triangle pointing right next to "2008," it will list all the months I posted in 2008 (I only posted once in 2008, in September). If you select the triangle next to "September," it will list all the postings I posted that month (again, just one posting titled "who what when where"). Select "who what when where" and that posting will open.

You can scroll through all the postings or simply select one to read at a time.

The words that are a blue/purple color instead of black, like most of the text, are links. You can select those blue/purple words to take you to another website.

I chose to use a blog because it can be interactive. At the bottom of each posting you'll notice the word "Comment." If you select "Comment," you can leave a comment in response to that particular posting. Everyone will be able to read your comment. You may want to share a great deal you found while booking a flight or a rental car. You can post that information as a comment so our other guests can take advantage as well.

Use the comments to ask questions, make suggestions, add information to my posting, whatever you like. 

Of course, if you don't want to post a comment, you can always send me an email at katedoc@gmail.com or call me at (312) 576-8550. Zac's email is zac.rogers@gmail.com. His cell is (312) 560-4996.