Well, looks liek I am going to ahve to put all our eggs in the Silver Falls basket. Still MEadows sent me information abut the location. This was after calling for a week, emailing, and 2 days after finally getting someone on the phone. They only rent for a minimum of 2 days. I wrote a very sensitive email asking if they would consider doing just one day, but again, no response. Finally got the same person today who sent the email, and she admitted she had not even read it yet because she'd been busy.
Busy? BUSY?! Lady it takes 3 seconds to read an email! I read over a hundred a day, usually more like 200. If you want a facility you work for to make money one good idea is to read your freaking email! I'm sorry, but she sounded like she had just smoked a joint or something, which probably would not have boded well if we had booked our wedding there anyway, so it's probably all for the best. Still, one likes to have options.
So tomorrow, come 9:00 AM, I will be hitting redial as many times as necessary to book Silver Falls for the big shin dig. Stay tuned.......and pray hard! :)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Location-Location-Location!
People keep asking us when the wedding is. My response has been, "Next summer, on whatever Saturday the place we find is available." They stare at me with a weird look on their faces, as if they didn't quite hear me. Or I had said, "Why do you want to know, you're not invited!" Apparently most people pick a date, then find a location. The fact that I was doing this in reverse seemed so logical, I felt like some sort of idiot savant when it came to planning my own wedding.
I was very resourceful. The Monday after we got engaged I sent out an email requesting location suggestions to a list serve I belong to for women lawyers. I got a ton of responses. One woman even emailed me her excel spreadsheet of locations that she had scouted for her own wedding! After rejecting a number out of hand because of cost, one name that kept coming up was Silver Falls (see link on side to view). We went to check it out last weekend and it was very nice. It would probably work, although of course, nothing is perfect. One concern is that it is an hour and 15 minutes from Portland. That's fine for people who want to stay over, but what about the rest? And the reception area is two dining rooms connected by a common area where the food is served buffet style. I don't care about the buffet aspect, but we'd be separated from 1/2 the wedding for part of the wedding. Grant pointed out that this would only last about 2 hours, because the rest of the time we would all be outside on the large lawn. That makes sense, but still, I had concerns. Like, should we commit to renting it for 2 days? That definitely didn't fit into my $6,000 budget.
So I put it on the list of possibilities and started calling other places on the list I had compiled. Some were rejected out of hand because of cost. No matter. I felt pretty confident because, after all, we were talking about over a year away. Then I heard "no" from a number of places because they were booked up already, or didn't allow alcohol (!). I didn't hear anything back from several others.
I began agonizing over where we were going to get married. Considering we've only been engaged for 2 weeks, this did not bode well for future planning. I just kept telling myself that this is the hardest part and once its done I have a year to worry about everything else and there will be no reason to stress until just before. (Should I write "HAH!" here?)
I started to panic. What if I was stuck with this less than perfect location? What if we couldn't fill all 76 rooms? What if it rains and we are trapped in the L-shaped dining room? What if the food sucks? This was going to cost a fortune, and I started to realize that Silver Falls was woefully insufficient for what I had envisioned. This sucked. Our wedding was going to suck! Everyone would talk about it for years as the wedding that sucked! I started to get a stomach ache and began looking for my xanax.
Luckily, I had the wherewithal to call my friend Connie and she held my head as I spilled out all my anxieties into the metaphoric psychic toilet bowl of wedding distress. Maybe it's from dealing with 2 kids (or the fact that she had to plan her own wedding, which was FABULOUS by the way), but she had the patience to listen to all my concerns and allay them one by one. Of course people would drive. They do that all the time for weddings. Of course it would be fine if we only had it there one night. We could have a bbq in town the day before. One by one, she flushed the fears away (love that bathroom metaphor), until I arrived home to talk with Grant.
He was incredibly sweet as I laid out my concerns, and together we figured out a way to make it work. The fact that we were able to work together on this only reinforced my belief that this is absolutely the right man to spend the rest of my life with. What a wonderful, amazing wedding we would have. It is the perfect location!
Relieved, I called Silver Falls the next day, ready to take the plunge. Sure, they had availability (yeah!). When did I want to get married? Summertime, well, that would be tough. Wait a second, amazing news! They just had a cancellation for the second weekend in August! 2009? Oh. Oh. Oh-oh. Tiny problem. They don't take reservations for weddings until a year before. They assumed I had been talking about THIS year. So what do I need to do? On July 1st, first thing in the morning, I have to call and try and make a reservation. He suggested that I call repeatedly, since they usually get flooded that day with calls. And if July fills up, then I have to wait until August 1st and try for that month. And if that doesn't work, well, looks like I'm out of luck and the search has to start all over.
So, please don't try and call me on July 1st. I won't be answering. And if you really want to be nice PLEASE don't ask when the wedding is. I promise, we'll let you know!
I was very resourceful. The Monday after we got engaged I sent out an email requesting location suggestions to a list serve I belong to for women lawyers. I got a ton of responses. One woman even emailed me her excel spreadsheet of locations that she had scouted for her own wedding! After rejecting a number out of hand because of cost, one name that kept coming up was Silver Falls (see link on side to view). We went to check it out last weekend and it was very nice. It would probably work, although of course, nothing is perfect. One concern is that it is an hour and 15 minutes from Portland. That's fine for people who want to stay over, but what about the rest? And the reception area is two dining rooms connected by a common area where the food is served buffet style. I don't care about the buffet aspect, but we'd be separated from 1/2 the wedding for part of the wedding. Grant pointed out that this would only last about 2 hours, because the rest of the time we would all be outside on the large lawn. That makes sense, but still, I had concerns. Like, should we commit to renting it for 2 days? That definitely didn't fit into my $6,000 budget.
So I put it on the list of possibilities and started calling other places on the list I had compiled. Some were rejected out of hand because of cost. No matter. I felt pretty confident because, after all, we were talking about over a year away. Then I heard "no" from a number of places because they were booked up already, or didn't allow alcohol (!). I didn't hear anything back from several others.
I began agonizing over where we were going to get married. Considering we've only been engaged for 2 weeks, this did not bode well for future planning. I just kept telling myself that this is the hardest part and once its done I have a year to worry about everything else and there will be no reason to stress until just before. (Should I write "HAH!" here?)
I started to panic. What if I was stuck with this less than perfect location? What if we couldn't fill all 76 rooms? What if it rains and we are trapped in the L-shaped dining room? What if the food sucks? This was going to cost a fortune, and I started to realize that Silver Falls was woefully insufficient for what I had envisioned. This sucked. Our wedding was going to suck! Everyone would talk about it for years as the wedding that sucked! I started to get a stomach ache and began looking for my xanax.
Luckily, I had the wherewithal to call my friend Connie and she held my head as I spilled out all my anxieties into the metaphoric psychic toilet bowl of wedding distress. Maybe it's from dealing with 2 kids (or the fact that she had to plan her own wedding, which was FABULOUS by the way), but she had the patience to listen to all my concerns and allay them one by one. Of course people would drive. They do that all the time for weddings. Of course it would be fine if we only had it there one night. We could have a bbq in town the day before. One by one, she flushed the fears away (love that bathroom metaphor), until I arrived home to talk with Grant.
He was incredibly sweet as I laid out my concerns, and together we figured out a way to make it work. The fact that we were able to work together on this only reinforced my belief that this is absolutely the right man to spend the rest of my life with. What a wonderful, amazing wedding we would have. It is the perfect location!
Relieved, I called Silver Falls the next day, ready to take the plunge. Sure, they had availability (yeah!). When did I want to get married? Summertime, well, that would be tough. Wait a second, amazing news! They just had a cancellation for the second weekend in August! 2009? Oh. Oh. Oh-oh. Tiny problem. They don't take reservations for weddings until a year before. They assumed I had been talking about THIS year. So what do I need to do? On July 1st, first thing in the morning, I have to call and try and make a reservation. He suggested that I call repeatedly, since they usually get flooded that day with calls. And if July fills up, then I have to wait until August 1st and try for that month. And if that doesn't work, well, looks like I'm out of luck and the search has to start all over.
So, please don't try and call me on July 1st. I won't be answering. And if you really want to be nice PLEASE don't ask when the wedding is. I promise, we'll let you know!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Gifts - who knew?!
Man, I should have gotten engaged YEARS ago! Of course, if I had done that I probably would be on my second marriage. But I had no idea that everyone is super nice to you! It's been two weeks and we've already had folks mail us cards, wine, cheese and crackers, chocolate, music, and the gift that keeps on giving, cash! I've been taken out to lunch 3 times (it was the first time I have ever had a drink during the work day, but hey, it was champagne). People have promised to take us to dinner. While at dinner chefs have sent us special dishes for free. My local coffee shop even gave me a free americano!
I wonder how long this lasts? Maybe we shouldn't have told everyone at once. If you tell people over time, you can spread the gifts out, and that way the celebration lasts longer. It's like it's your birthday every day. Then again, there is something to be said about being overwhelmed with the generosity of others.
Regardless, it's pretty darn nice! Thanks to everyone who has sent good wishes our way.
I wonder how long this lasts? Maybe we shouldn't have told everyone at once. If you tell people over time, you can spread the gifts out, and that way the celebration lasts longer. It's like it's your birthday every day. Then again, there is something to be said about being overwhelmed with the generosity of others.
Regardless, it's pretty darn nice! Thanks to everyone who has sent good wishes our way.
Here is the Dream Wedding
I have never been one of those girls that sat around envisioning what my wedding day would be like. It's just never been something that occurred to me. There were always more important, more concrete things to think about. Like what to have for lunch. This used to bother me a little. I suspected there might be something missing in my female make up. Perhaps this contributed to the fact that I was still unmarried at an age where many people are on their second go-round.
In retrospect, I'm glad I missed out on the "wedding day dream" gene that seemed to afflict so many of my girlfriends. Think about it. If I had still been planning it at this point and after as many relationships as I have had, it might have been a little creepy. Or worse, desperate.
SO - here I am, engaged (finally!), and i have to plan a wedding. I figure the best way to do this is to start out with a big picture of what my dream would be and make all the choices that I will be required to make keeping this vision of perfection in mind. No doubt it will not end up what I think of now, but hopefully it doesn't stray too far. I also hope that if anyone reads this and they seem e getting too far from my original ideal they will be kind enough to remind me.
As for Grant, luckily, we have the same dream (although he does appear to be more flexible on everything except the beer).
Ideally it's outside at the ocean. This being Oregon and the coastal weather is what it is, so I know right away I have to be flexible there. The important thing is that it's outside, someplace beautiful with water and/or trees and/or mountains in view. I'd love it if people could stay overnight. That way we can all be together for a long time. (I've been to too many weddings where the bride and groom don't get to see the guests.) So preferably someplace that can provide both lodging and a place for the wedding, so folks don't have to drive anywhere. Music is key. So many of our friends are musicians (as is Grant), and I would love if folks brought their instruments and everyone played until the wee hours. Of course there also has to be some dance music, which would require a dj, or in this day and age, an i-pod pre-loaded with good dance tunes. It would be 2 nights: Friday - Sunday. Friday night there would be a big bbq that we provided for everyone. Saturday the dinner would be our favorite meals: chicken tetrazzini (mine) and salmon(his). The beer would be brewed by Grant, and the wine would be purchased at a substantial discount by me because of my connections in the wine business. The cake is ice cream (Carvel, preferably, but anything else will do in a pinch). My dress, super simple. (After all, I will be at a campground of sorts.)
That's it so far. Doesn't seem like too much to ask. Oh yeah. I don't want to spend over $6,000. (I know, I know - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!)
I know we have to find a place first. We've got a couple in mind. I've already determined that my ideal location (Camp Westwind) is not available. :( I hope to put up links to the places we are looking at and get feedback. I am also open to suggestions.
Am I the only one who stopped being able to get work done during the day after getting engaged?
In retrospect, I'm glad I missed out on the "wedding day dream" gene that seemed to afflict so many of my girlfriends. Think about it. If I had still been planning it at this point and after as many relationships as I have had, it might have been a little creepy. Or worse, desperate.
SO - here I am, engaged (finally!), and i have to plan a wedding. I figure the best way to do this is to start out with a big picture of what my dream would be and make all the choices that I will be required to make keeping this vision of perfection in mind. No doubt it will not end up what I think of now, but hopefully it doesn't stray too far. I also hope that if anyone reads this and they seem e getting too far from my original ideal they will be kind enough to remind me.
As for Grant, luckily, we have the same dream (although he does appear to be more flexible on everything except the beer).
Ideally it's outside at the ocean. This being Oregon and the coastal weather is what it is, so I know right away I have to be flexible there. The important thing is that it's outside, someplace beautiful with water and/or trees and/or mountains in view. I'd love it if people could stay overnight. That way we can all be together for a long time. (I've been to too many weddings where the bride and groom don't get to see the guests.) So preferably someplace that can provide both lodging and a place for the wedding, so folks don't have to drive anywhere. Music is key. So many of our friends are musicians (as is Grant), and I would love if folks brought their instruments and everyone played until the wee hours. Of course there also has to be some dance music, which would require a dj, or in this day and age, an i-pod pre-loaded with good dance tunes. It would be 2 nights: Friday - Sunday. Friday night there would be a big bbq that we provided for everyone. Saturday the dinner would be our favorite meals: chicken tetrazzini (mine) and salmon(his). The beer would be brewed by Grant, and the wine would be purchased at a substantial discount by me because of my connections in the wine business. The cake is ice cream (Carvel, preferably, but anything else will do in a pinch). My dress, super simple. (After all, I will be at a campground of sorts.)
That's it so far. Doesn't seem like too much to ask. Oh yeah. I don't want to spend over $6,000. (I know, I know - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!)
I know we have to find a place first. We've got a couple in mind. I've already determined that my ideal location (Camp Westwind) is not available. :( I hope to put up links to the places we are looking at and get feedback. I am also open to suggestions.
Am I the only one who stopped being able to get work done during the day after getting engaged?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
