The Saga Continues

When I last left off, I had just experienced my first wedding let-down.  The venue with which I fell in love, for which I was ready to hand over a check, was just stolen out from under my feet!  I went home upset, cried a little, and wished that Mr. Doxie was there to comfort me (this was all before he moved to the States).  I quickly decided that being sad wasn't going to help me find another venue and I continued my search.

I found a few venues in the area that were just as lovely, but they all had so many rules!  No outside food or drink; reception must be finished by 10pm; no alcohol other than wine; no candles; etc. etc.  I know that those rules are pretty standard, but jeez!  It's our wedding, and we wanted to have a little more control!

We did find one venue that looked great on paper, but when we got there it looked like a backyard.  I've seen some pretty awesome backyard weddings, but if we're going to pay a few thousand dollars for a venue I'd like a little more than a lawn and a patio covered with Astroturf.

A few weeks into our search, and still a little dejected, I received a phone call from my aunt who was directing me to the website of a venue located in an adjacent town.

Excited, my aunt asked what I thought.

"Hooold on, it's still loading."  We live out in the country, you see.  Our internet is sloow.  "Ohh, this looks promising!"

I was surprised to find images of a gorgeous home:

Surrounded by well manicured gardens:

Complete with separate areas for the ceremony and reception:

And ample parking!

Well, it looked pretty enough!  I decided that this could be a top contender, depending on the price and stipulations.  

I gave the owner a call and asked for some details.  Rental of the facilities would be $3000, which was a little higher than we expected to pay, but we'd be able to bring in our own caterers which would save a lot of money.  The reception would have to be finished by 11:30 pm due to the county's sound ordinance, but other than that there were no restrictions.  Then I asked the most important question:  Was there a Saturday available in May?*

She wasn't sure.  She knew that May was pretty full, but was away from her date-book and would give me a call as soon as she got home.

With my hopes up, I anxiously awaited her phone call.  A few hours passed before she finally called me back.  I crossed my fingers, picked up the phone, and let out a little sigh as she gave me her response.  I definitely wasn't prepared for what she had to say.

Stay tuned to find out if she had a date available for us!

How long did it take you to find the perfect venue?  

*Under any other circumstance, we wouldn't have been so adamant about our wedding being in May.  However, after June, California's Central Valley gets hotter than Hades... we didn't want our Canadian guests to melt!  FIL Doxie's involvement in the Winter Olympics will keep him occupied until the end of April.  May was the only viable month, lest we wait until Fall.