Well, this weekend has been very interesting. My future mother-in-law, Joan, has come to visit for the weekend. My mom came up for a night too. Neither of the ladies had seen Bear Creek so we took a day trip up to the mountain to check it out. I had some things I needed to get counts and measurements on for decorations so it was productive for me too. While Matt and I ran around with a tape measure the moms got a full tour of the place. We were there for a total of 2 1/2 hours doing everything from choosing the dinner menus to discussing the layout of the dance floor. Everything was fine until my mom told me something that she and Joan had realized on their walk through the upper floors. Bear Creek has always told us that we had 15 rooms to rent out to people who would stay with us for the entire wedding weekend. What they failed to mention was that 8 of the rooms are joined together in pairs that share only 1 bathroom between them. All of the sudden I only have 10 rooms. I didn't take it too hard at first. I thought it was completely workable. At the end of the evening I sat down with my mom and we began working out a plan for pairing people with others who could stand each other and stand sharing a bathroom. My frustration really got to me and I started thinking that I would need to give refunds out to anyone that may need to shack up with someone they weren't originally intending to stay with. I felt completely screwed by Bear Creek. How can you tell someone that they have 15 rooms when some of them aren't even separate rooms??? I have had doubts before about this location because of the extra work it had presented me with. Dealing with renting out the rooms, unreturned e-mails, bad reviews about the owner, and an 18% gratuity service unseen; these things have all made me a little... nervous. It wasn't until this issue hit that I really felt like we made a mistake. We should not have chosen Bear Creek to get married at. I can't even express how much I wish we would have chosen Belle Victorian Gardens. I think it would have made things so much easier and less stressful. It's possible that it would have cost a little more but I think it would have been worth it.
After having a slight stress meltdown I discussed the issue with Matt and my mom and came up with some solutions. It is actually turning out to not be as big of a deal as I originally thought and it is a very workable situation. It doesn't mean it was easy to figure out and it definitely was a stress that I didn't need. Just because I can work it out doesn't make me feel any better about marrying at Bear Creek either. It's beyond too late though. Fortunately, I know that everything will work out fine. We will not have mason jar centerpieces (as recommended to keep the "country" feel), I will insist that the giant carved wooden bears will be moved off the dance floor, and (most importantly) Matt and I will get married with our friends and family there to support us. I wish I could say it was all without regret but the important aspects will all be in place.
After having a slight stress meltdown I discussed the issue with Matt and my mom and came up with some solutions. It is actually turning out to not be as big of a deal as I originally thought and it is a very workable situation. It doesn't mean it was easy to figure out and it definitely was a stress that I didn't need. Just because I can work it out doesn't make me feel any better about marrying at Bear Creek either. It's beyond too late though. Fortunately, I know that everything will work out fine. We will not have mason jar centerpieces (as recommended to keep the "country" feel), I will insist that the giant carved wooden bears will be moved off the dance floor, and (most importantly) Matt and I will get married with our friends and family there to support us. I wish I could say it was all without regret but the important aspects will all be in place.