(the sage continues ...)
So after about a week of not hearing anything from our original venue, we start to seriously consider plan B. I should mention here that in our meeting with the coordinator she assured us that since we had yet to sign a contract, we could get back our deposit.
About a year after searching for a reception venue the first time, we are back to square one. I probably contacted every possible location in a 50 mile radius and gave new meaning to having an "open mind." My mom and I went on all of the preliminary visits (Nick is another state for Grad school so we have limited weekends for planning together.) I was going to take Nick to those that were a definite possibility on his next visit. Every time I got my hopes up about a new place, there always seemed to be some draw back.
We were still trying to contact the original venue, but after about 2 weeks, we made the decision that no matter what they came back and told us, there was no way we were going to have our wedding with them. It wasn't even about the money at this point, and the ridiculous charges, it really was more about the complete and total lack of customer service.
So after countless visits to new venues, (who knew there even so many in the area!) I was tired and desperate. My mom laughed and said, "I think you're really going to like this next one." She sounded like a cheesy real estate agent like you see on tv, but I stuck with my new mantra .... "open mind, open mind."
We pull up to the venue, a country club. We've been to several other similar locations so nothing is strikingly different at first. We go inside and meet with the manager. I like the initial look of things, the foyer area, the decor. Then we walk into the reception room. If this were a movie, this is the moment when beams of light would shine down and you would hear a choir of "Alleluia!" It was stunning and perfect in every way. The shape of the room is like a half circle, with panoramic windows along the curved side overlooking a scenic lawn and river. We had already seen a menu with pricing before our arrival, so the even better news was that not only could we afford this place, but it was actually a bit of a savings from our original location. I was elated.
Ah, but there is a catch. Our date, June 20, 2009 is already booked. Of course it is. We had already booked our church, photographer, and the cruise portion of our honeymoon, all of which pose a major dilemma in considering a date change.
Nick was on his way down to Maryland and we had planned to visit 3 or 4 of the top contenders that weekend. In my mind there was only one contender, this fabulous country club, but the date change was a major issue. Nick did not want to change the date, that is if it were even possible at this point. I had been there too, but after calling and visiting way too many venues, I was more than willing to budge on that one. There are many factors we had to work around, if we did change the date. Nick's potential graduation date from grad school in May, a cousin's wedding in August with many of the same family members traveling to both. The situation was not ideal.
The weekend before our original date was the best fit, but that was already booked with our church. The country club gave me a list of available dates May-July. The church also gave me a list of dates. Our
Disney travel agent said it would be possible to change our cruise date and not loose our deposit. It came down to only 2 dates that matched up with the church and the country club. The first was memorial day weekend, which we already knew of some family conflicts, so that left July 18, 2009.
I still had to convince Nick. That weekend we went to several places, but each had there drawback. When he saw the country club he immediately fell in love with it as I had, and the decision was made. We called the church, called the
travel agent, gave a deposit, and just like that, we had a new wedding date and an even better reception location that what we had before. I later called the photographer, because we decided we had to take this date even if he was booked. Fortunately he wasn't so we were able to change all aspects of our plans to the new date.
This may be cliche, but I really do believe everything does happen for a reason. We didn't even know about this country club when we set out on our originally planning. If things hadn't gone sour with our original venue, we would have never found this new wonderful place. We are just so thankful that everything transpired well enough in advance that we were able to change the date and all other details, and weren't stuck with crummy service.
We eventually did hear from the original place, and instead of offering any real information or revised contract, they just wanted to try and work things out. We politely told them there was nothing to work out and we wanted our deposit back. After about a month, they finally sent a check.
So now everything is settled and we are starting to move forward with the rest of planning. Thank goodness for two year engagements!