Colleen began her career in the Hospitality industry within the complex and dynamic world of Food and Beverage Management.  Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Colleen has had exposure to the top event planning markets and has lived in major cities such as Santa Fe, Portland, and Las Vegas. She is now happy to call the Capital District her home.

After years of managing several high volume restaurants and Food and Beverage Departments, she fell in love with the event planning industry and never looked back.

Colleen has a wealth of experience that she will bring to the Century House.  She has held several leadership positions in many of Las Vegas’ most reputable and high-end establishments. She has worked at the Bellagio, Mirage and most recently Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where she was named the Director of Weddings in 2006. During her time at Mandalay Bay, Colleen made a name for herself within the Las Vegas wedding industry by planning high profile events to include, the first ever Mandalay Bay Bridal Show, industry mixers and a highly publicized mass wedding on the Mandalay Bay Beach for 07-07-07.

The wedding chapel at Mandalay Bay was home to Colleen for almost six years and has been awarded several industry awards including the Knot’s “Best of Weddings” for three consecutive years. She has also received national recognition through features in World Bride Magazine, Style Me Pretty, Las Vegas Weekly and El Voce’s Italian newsletter as Business Woman of the Month. She has developed a reputation in the industry for being trustworthy, dependable and a resourceful Wedding Planner and is looked up to by many in the industry for her ability to create flawless events.

“I love being part of the complete planning process, from something seemingly small like helping brides choose linens to the bigger choices such as décor and centerpieces.  No detail is too small when it comes to your wedding and I like to help clients feel like they are in good hands when planning their wedding,” Colleen explains.

A consummate professional Colleen obtained a Wedding Coordination and Design Certification through The International School of Hospitality at UNLV- where she also served on the board of advisors and assisted with internships and acted as a mentor for future Wedding Planners.

During her spare time, she enjoys attending industry seminars, baking, reading and spending time with her husband John and their two beautiful children.

Photo by Louis Torres

What was the overall style or theme of your wedding? 

I think the overall style/theme of our wedding we were going for was a classic look/feel. We went with black and white as our colors in the ballroom with fuchsia as the accent color to pull everything together.

The ladies in the bridal party, and also the flower girls, all wore black dresses but had fun fuchsia shoes along with some really fun flower bouquets from The Floral Garden that had fuchsia roses, crystals and black feathers in them.  I loved the ladies bouquets.

Brian and I are not big flower people, so we did not go crazy with flowers, we used mostly candles throughout the ballroom, along with fuchsia rose petals and small fuchsia baby roses, to accent the table settings/linens and set the mood for the reception.

When I walked inside the ballroom for the first time I got teary eyes because it was so beautiful inside. The Century House went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect

Tell us a little about your ceremony. 

The purpose of our ceremony was to be romantic while still being somewhat traditional. It was important to us to be married outside, which was one of the reasons why we decided to get married at the Century House.  Our wedding was a week after Irene and we were fortunate enough to have a picture perfect summer day.  While we decided to not get married in a church, we still had catholic ceremony without mass.

Photo by Louis Torres

What was most important to you when planning your wedding (food, music, flowers, etc)?
The most important thing to us was a great venue that allowed us to be married outside, great food for our guests, a Great DJ to keep the party going and making sure everyone was out dancing and having a good time.  It was also important to us to have a photographer that we really liked and were comfortable with.

What other wedding vendors did you use? 

- Hair and Make Up: Destiny Bishop-Slover of Lipstik Beauty Lounge did my hair and make-up as well as some of my bridal parties’ hair and make-up.  Barb Mento of East Greenbush, NY did hair and make up for my mother, flower girls and one of the bridesmaids.

- Wedding Dress:  Something Bleu Bridal -  Denise and her staff at Something Bleu are AMAZING.

- Bridal Party Dresses: David’s Bridal

- DJ:   Scott Hemmings, formally with Sound Controls and now on his own (518- 423-9458).   Scott is AMAZING and keeps the party going and everyone on the dance floor.  He came as a recommendation from a friend’s wedding and did not disappoint!

- Photographer:  Louis Torres. We LOVED LOVED LOVED LOUIS – He is amazing to work with and so talented

- Wedding Videographer:  Sean Kane, Sean Kane Productions

- Flowers:  by The Floral Garden, Delmar, NY (518-478-7232).  Some additional flowers were provided by Price Chopper of Slingerlands, NY.

Photo by Louis Torres

 What’s your advice for brides to be?    

• LOTS OF DEEP BREATHS, Relax and try not to get too stressed out or fight with your significant other or family members regarding the planning/wedding process.

• I never thought I was going to be able to say “Yes” to the Dress!  Finding the “One” was the most difficult part of the entire wedding process for me!  Trust me though, you will know when you find the one.

• If it’s in your wedding budget, hire a wedding videographer.  The actual day of your wedding goes by so quickly and there are so many things you will forget even happened because the entire day is a whirlwind.  Days after the wedding as people were posting pictures to Facebook, and also sending us pictures, I was like “I don’t remember that happening or having that picture taken.”  When we received our wedding video from Sean Kane, I was in tears watching the video.  It is something that I will always cherish. As a bride, if you cannot afford a wedding videographer, try to have a friend or family member videotape your wedding ceremony, grand entrance, first dance and your cake cutting so you have it to watch.

How did Century House assist you during the planning process?  

Marge is amazing to work with and so helpful from the moment you meet with her right up until the “Big Day.”  Any time I had questions or concerns, she was always available to assist me with whatever I needed.

Another thing that was great about the Century House was that they put together the “Centerpieces” we wanted on the tables – all we had to do was provide all of the items and detailed directions and they put them all together.  This was a great help and ended up being one less thing I had to do the day of the wedding.  They even used additional flowers and other items/accessories I had provided to use as accent pieces throughout the room.

 Did you feel all your wedding expectations were met?  

Absolutely.  We knew from the moment we signed a contract with the Century House we were in great hands.  All of our expectations were met.  The entire day was like a fairytale and all of the staff was amazing  from the moment I arrived the morning of the wedding until the next day when we check out.  They were even nice enough to pack up an extra meal for each of us in case we were hungry when we got back to our hotel room at the end of the night.  Those meals made for a great dinner for the two of us the day after the wedding when we were too exhausted to cook.

Photo by Louis Torres

How did your wedding day go?  Was it what you envisioned?

HAPPIEST DAY OF OUR LIVES…IT WAS PICTURE PERFECT

What was your favorite part of your wedding?    

Marrying such a wonderful guy, a wonderful wedding ceremony outside on a picture perfect end-of-summer evening and dancing the night away with all of our family and friends!

Photo by Louis Torres

The great poet Alexander Smith once said that “love is but the discovery of ourselves in others and the delight in the recognition.“  Life can too easily become chaotic, with shuttling children to soccer practice, stressing about our taxes and worry about demands at home and work, and it is important to take time to reconnect with those you love and foster those important relationships.  With that sentiment in mind, we delight in helping our guests rekindle that unexplainable love they share for one another at the Century House on Valentine’s Day.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day at the Century House in Latham, NY, is the perfect way to celebrate without getting away.   Couples who join us at the Century House for this romantic evening will be treated to:

• An overnight stay in one of our rooms.
• Two 1/2 hour massages Swedish massages at Kimberly’s Day Spa (door-to-door transportation to and from the Century House is provided).
• A bottle of champagne delivered to your room before dinner.
• Dinner for two in our award winning restaurant.
• Dessert and cordials delivered to your room.
• In-room breakfast the following morning.
• A late check-out so you can sleep in.

We are pleased to partner with Kimberly’s Day Spa, one of the most prestigious and deluxe spas in the Capital Region, to provide relaxation and pampering for you and your partner as you indulge in a half hour Swedish massage. The Swedish massage is a relaxing and therapeutic massage that incorporates the full body using traditional long strokes combined with kneading techniques to increase your circulation, improve the skin and muscle tone, and soothe tired muscles.  Century House will shuttle you to and from Kimberly’s Day Spa, located across the street from our hotel, for this indulgence before your romantic dinner.

As always, the delicious meals you enjoy at the Century House will be paid forward to those in our community.  For every entrée served, one meal is provided to someone in need to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York through our Enjoy One, Share One program.  In fact, next week we will be celebrating donating over 250,000 meals to the Food Bank.

All this can be enjoyed at the Century House for $299.00 per couple, advance reservations required.  Call the Century House in Latham NY at 518-785-0931 to book your romantic evening today!

How did you end up choosing the Century House for your Big Day?

I am originally from Mechanicville and all of my family still lives there, but we have lived downstate for the last 6 -7 years.  We currently live right outside of White Plains.  The reason we visited the Century House was because its website was very informative and complete.  I no longer live in the Capital District so we chose places to visit that had a website that could give us the basic information. The Century House was the first and only place we visited to book our reception!  The other aspect of the Century House that we thought was amazing was their “Enjoy One Share One” program.   It meant so much to us to be able to help others who do not have a lot.  As our wedding favors were donations to Breast Cancer Research, giving back was a special aspect of the wedding for us.

Photo by Art Photography

What was the overall style of your wedding?

Our wedding was fall themed and fairly traditional, classic and romantic.  We used a lot of gourds and candles for decorations. The Colonial feel of the Century House lent itself perfectly. We even had a fireplace in front of the dance floor!

It must have been hard planning a wedding from out-of-town!  How did the Century House assist you during the planning process?

Marge was amazing. Any time we had questions, she had immediate responses.  She was more than friendly and extremely helpful.  The front desk staff was also amazing while we were trying to set up the block of rooms, dropping off gift bags for guests and making sure that everyone was taken care of.

What was most important to you when planning your wedding?

We had a majority of our guests coming from out of town and we wanted to make sure that everyone had a place to stay; the Century House’s accommodations lent itself perfectly to that!  We wanted the open bar, but did not want anyone driving if they had had too much to drink.  We also wanted to make sure that everyone was fed and no one left hungry!

Photo by Art Photography

What other wedding vendors did you use?

Piano Man’s DJ Productions was amazing.  They have worked with the Century House before which made us feel assured in our choice. He read the crowd and played whatever the crowd was dancing too.  We used Debra Lockrow of Art Photography for our photographs.

What’s your advice for brides to be?

Ask questions, even if you think you’re being annoying.  Marge was so helpful and never made me feel like my questions were too small!  But be sure to be nice! Everyone will do their job to their fullest. Everyone was so nice and pleasant at the Century House which made our wedding all the better. And everyone at the Century House seemed to have one goal: How can we help today be perfect for you?

Did you feel all your wedding expectations were met?

Our expectations were exceeded. Our guests had a blast and made comments on how great the staff was. The character of the Century House, its rooms, etc. were a hit–I knew it would be!

How did your wedding day go? Was it what you envisioned?

The day was perfect.  It was honestly the best day of our lives. At several points, we stepped back and looked at the room.  It was filled with candle light and our closest family and friends.  I wished I could have bottled those moments.

Photo by Art Photography

For more information about how to plan your perfect wedding, contact Marge Heather, our in-house Certified Wedding Planner and Special Event Consultant, at 518-785-0931 or Marge@TheCenturyHouse.com.

Wall Street Journal \”Lunch Break\” piece

We were delighted after seeing this piece because it demonstrates that the Century House is way ahead of the game!  Petersen explains that typically hotel guests associate hotel restaurants with “stuffy service and mediocre food” and the restaurant at the Century House are anything but that!  The Century House has a formal dining room as well as a cozy tavern for guests to enjoy our award winning food.  Our restaurant serves a wide range of food from tavern fair such as Popcorn Shrimp and Wings to elegant cuisine such as Surf & Turf Filet Mignon and Porcini Dusted Sea Scallop.  Our menus can be found here.  And as far as in-house service, we would never dream of outsourcing all the delicious food and beverage you enjoy with us!  Why would we when we have such a fabulous Executive Chef cooking for our guests?  Executive Chef, Michael Niccoli earned his Certified Executive Chef title at the age of 28 from the National American Culinary Federation and thrives on creating dynamic dishes that appeal to even the pickiest of palates.

Don’t feel like leaving the comfort of your room for a delicious meal when staying with us?  NO PROBLEM!  All the decadent food we offer to our guests in our restaurants can be easily, and quickly, sent to your room at no additional cost.  All part of the experience of staying and dining at the Century House Hotel and Restaurant in Latham, NY.

At the Century House, we aim to make our guests feel at home in our restaurants and never want them to feel as if they are “settling” when dining with us.  More information about our dining services can be found on our website at thecenturyhouse.com/dine.

New Year’s Eve is when we roll out the red carpet and delight in showing our guests the best we have to offer.  Champagne?- done.  In room couples massages?- done.  Live piano playing while you dine?- done.  We enjoy knowing that our guests are safe in our hotel and not subjected to the unpredictable drivers on New Year’s Eve.  The morning of January 1st you wake up to in-room breakfast for two and a new outlook on the new year!  Or if you prefer, join us in the ballroom for our New Year’s Day Brunch.

We invite you to join us for our special New Year’s Eve Celebration at the Century House.  For only $249.00 per couple, the Century House offers:

• Deluxe accommodations in one of our 68 beautifully appointed rooms.
• Champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries upon arrival.
• Four-course dinner for two, seating available 4 p.m. until the last seating at 10 p.m.
• Live piano music while dining.
•  A $20.00 credit for all in-room dining.
• In room, American breakfast for two includes a Frittata, fresh fruit, home fries, breakfast pastries, Mimosas and coffee.
• Late check out.
• Take home gift bag.
• **Massage packages as well as room/apartment upgrades are available for guests who choose an extra indulgence

Our New Year’s Eve menu can be viewed by clicking here.

Please contact us at the Century House at 518-785-0931 if you would like to join us for our New Years Eve celebration!

While we are not happy that it is expensive for American’s to buy groceries, we are thrilled that the Century House  can continue to offer our guests a cost effective way to enjoy meals with their families.  The Century House offers premium selections set in our Federal Style Tavern. The tavern offers a cozy and welcoming environment for our guests to enjoy a meal beside a roaring fire while enjoying live music from the piano located in the dining area.  Our Award-Winning restaurant features New American cuisine, serving lunch Monday through Friday, and dinner seven days a week.

At the Century House fine dining is a tradition, and one of our most popular activities. In fact, our food has received critical acclaim, while offering a wide range of menu choices and pricing. Our talented chefs are always creating new specials, and enjoy accommodating special requests.

The Century House offers the perfect place to unwind and enjoy casual fine-dining in our convenient Latham, NY area restaurant. The comfortable environment allows guests an alternative to the formal Dining Room. Our eclectic menus are sure to please the most discerning palette. Making reservations with us is just a click away with our online reservation system.

With holidays just around the corner, we invite you to join us for our special New Year’s Eve Celebration at the Century House.  For only $249.00 per couple, the Century House offers:

-       Deluxe accommodations in one of our 68 beautifully appointed rooms.

-       Champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries upon arrival.

-       Four-course dinner for two, seating available 4 p.m. until the last seating at 10 p.m.

-       Live piano music while dining.

-       A $20.00 credit for all in-room dining.

-       In room, American breakfast for two includes a Frittata, fresh fruit, home fries, breakfast pastries, Mimosas and coffee.

-       Late check out.

-       Take home gift bag.

Massage packages as well as room/apartment upgrades are available for guests who choose an extra indulgence!

Please contact us at the Century House at 518-785-0931 if you have any questions about the dining services we provide!

What was the overall style or theme of your wedding?

Cozy, autumn wedding. We had lots of candlelight. There was even a lit fire in the fireplace.

Photo by Brandon Vick Weddings LLC

What was most important to you when planning your wedding?

It was all important to us because everything affected the mood of the wedding and reception. We wanted really good food, awesome dance music, and beautiful flowers. It was really important to us to have a very celebratory, classy party with a romantic ambiance. It was an interfaith marriage and we were married by a Rabbi, so there were many Judaic customs and tradition during the ceremony and reception. We also made sure that guests of all faiths felt included just as important as Brian and I. We also thought the photographer should be professional and make us feel like we had a photo shoot to attend.  Our photographer refers to his work as “modern fine art”, which turned out wonderfully. We did not use a videographer because we were worried it would take away from the ceremony and reception.  We wanted people to enjoy everything in the moment, and nothing takes you out of that like a man in the way with a camera.  We didn’t want extra bright lights conflicting with the photographer’s photos.

 What other wedding vendors did you use?

•  ·         Music provided by DJ “Cool Cat” Vinny Liotta of Cool Cat Entertainment of Glenville, NY (coolcatdj.com).
• ·         Photography provided by Brandon Vick of Rochester, NY (brandonvick.com).
• ·         Flowers and chuppah provided by On Thai at Surroundings Floral Studio of Schenectady, NY (surroundingsfloral.com).
• ·         Hair provided by A & Co Salon of Albany, NY (aprilcompany.com).
• ·         Makeup provided by Tina Barbato of Flawless By Tina of Albany, NY (flawlessbytina.com).

 The Century House provided the cocktail hour drinks and hors d’oeuvres, dinner, alcohol, and cake. The cake, by the way, was gorgeous and so delicious, that guests are still talking about it.

Photo by Brandon Vick Weddings LLC

What’s your advice for brides to be?

All the planning is easier once you find the perfect dress. After you find the dress and you feel beautiful, everything else could go wrong and you would still be able to feel beautiful in your dress. If any help is offered from friends or family, take it, but do not let anyone decide anything for you and your fiance. This is the one day that you and your husband-to-be get to show everyone you love how you celebrate your love, so it can be however you’d like. Everything will turn out okay.

How did Century House assist you during the planning process?

The Century House provided us a wedding planner who guided us through each step and fielded every question no matter how big or small. Marge called or emailed back right away. Planning a wedding from out-of-town, The Century House is very accommodating to discuss as many details as possible over the phone.  Marge was willing to let us get things in to her (programs, etc.) the weekend of our wedding, since we weren’t able to get into town any earlier. 

Did you feel all your wedding expectations were met?

Absolutely and more! We really wanted our guests to have a great time and we knew that each guest has a different part of a wedding that they look forward to the most. During and after the wedding, we received excellent reports from all of our guests raving collectively about how wonderful everything went. The most compliments received were about the delicious food.  Our fathers enjoy a good meal and they were thoroughly impressed.  We also had attendants, provided by The Century House, for the entire day, before and during the wedding. If there was ever anything we needed, they provided or got it right away.They made us feel so taken care of and that nothing could be missed because they were right there for us the whole time. They made us feel like we were king and queen for the day.  As a team they made sure our photo session before the wedding, our signing of the Ketubah, our walk down the aisle, our entrance to the reception, and time at the sweetheart table were smooth and fun.

Was the wedding day what you envisioned?

Our wedding day was amazing. It was one of the coolest days of our lives. It was better than we had envisioned.  The Century House was a beautiful backdrop to our celebration.  We had the ceremony and cocktail hour in the White Ballroom and the reception in the Grand Ballroom.  Brian and I stayed in the Presidential suite.  Everything was contained within one building, which made for a smooth and easy wedding experience.  We were so happy there.  Did I mention the beautiful fireplace and the candelabra lighting in the main ballroom?  Romantic, charming, lovely. 

Photo by Brandon Vick Weddings LLC

For more information about how to plan your perfect wedding, contact Marge Heather, our in-house Certified Wedding Planner and Special Event Consultant, at 518-785-0931 or Marge@TheCenturyHouse.com. 

We understand the holidays can be very stressful, so we aim to make the Thanksgiving as stress-free and pleasant for our guests as possible. Whether you are having a meal at home with your family or choose to join us for our famous Thanksgiving buffet, we are here to help. For those who like to have a meal at home, we can do the cooking for you! With a little help from us, you can serve a traditional turkey dinner in the comfort of your home without all the fuss and time-consuming cooking! We can prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for you with all the fixings. This Thanksgiving, guests could choose from a 16LB or 24LB turkey with a la carte sides including stuffing, soup, vegetables, yams, gravy and many others. We even took care of dessert with your choice of apple or pumpkin pie! All Thanksgiving orders must be pre-ordered and can be picked up on Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Buffet

The Century House had a record-breaking Thanksgiving this year: we served over 1,100 meals to our guests! For those who joined us in our dining room this Thanksgiving, they were treated to a traditional Thanksgiving feast! Some of our guests chose to have their very own turkey dinner carved at their tableside by our chef. This option was served family style with all of the fixings! The best part is that they got to take home their leftovers at the end of the meal! While some at tableside, some chose to partake in our famous Century House Thanksgiving buffet. This all-you-can-eat option included our freshly prepared Thanksgiving dinner complete with a full carving station of ham, beef and turkey as well as our grilled salmon. Hot pastas and traditional Thanksgiving vegetables were served piping hot to our guests. For those who had room for dessert, they were treated to 3 different types of homemade pies, assorted Viennese cakes, cider doughnuts, candy corns and our famous Chocolate Fountain with all the fixings!

One of our favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the leftovers and we wanted to make sure our guests were able to partake in that time honored tradition as well! Luckily, guests were offered the option of Midnight Turkey Dinner Boxes! These tasty boxed treats included enough to make two turkey sandwiches from our roasted Vermont turkey complete with stuffing, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes!

Remember, dining at the Century House helps others as well! For every entrée served, one is provided to someone in need through the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York through our Enjoy One, Share One program. That means, over 1,100 meals were shared on Thanksgiving Day alone!!

We didn’t want to let Thanksgiving pass without us taking the opportunity to thank you, our guests, for all you have to done to enrich our lives and our business. We hope to see you all this holiday season at the Century House!

Definition: hospitable treatment, reception, or disposition

At the Century House, there are many philosophies we incorporate into our daily business, but none as important as hospitality.  To say we eat, sleep and breath hospitality would be an understatement.  Whether it is for dinner at our tavern, a conference at our meeting center or a weekend stay while attending an on-premise wedding, we always want guests to feel like they are being treated like family.  We understand that there are many Albany hotels that could easily serve as a place to rest your head, but what sets us apart from others in the Capital Region is our commitment to hospitality.  

“The key is to stay true to our mission and our mission is to provide comfort and care to body and soul, of our guests.  A sincere caring for our guests needs and wants is authentic and appreciated by them time after time,” says Managing Partner Colin DeMers.

 With this philosophy engrained in our business, we were pleased when we read a recent study that proved what we already knew: travelers want nicer treatment. 

 What was a no-brainer to us seemed to send shock waves through our industry.  The study, conducted by Vitesse Worldwide, an executive travel firm, surveyed 3,000 business executives to uncover their major gripes when travelling.  With the changing economy, it comes as no surprise that many executives are getting face-to-face with key stakeholders and are traveling to do so.  When executives were asked what they detested most when traveling, 86% said airport security screenings, 76% chose tiny, dirty commercial planes and 74% said impersonal treatment by hotel staff.    ”What comes through loud and clear is that an executive traveler isn’t asking for high-priced service as much as high touch,” said Shawn Abaspor, Chief Executive of Vitesse Worldwide.  

This study was great news for us.  At the Century House, we already believe that every guest should be treated like an executive regardless of their title or purpose for visiting.  If you’d like to experience our hospitality first hand, feel free to visit us!