...or it might not be the place

So, between March and August, I felt so on top of things. We had a wedding date (10/24/09) with all the important contracts, and it was so far away I could plan ridiculous projects all I liked, and still have time left. (Foreshadowing: there was what seems to be a standard clause in the contract about how pricing is not firm until 90 days prior to an event. I asked, and was told that this was to accommodate inflation. Fine, right?)

In late August I sent an innocent e-mail asking about table sizes and layout. That's when I found out there was a new event manager, and oh-so-casually she mentioned that prices had been raised 40%. OUR prices had been raised 40% - but she'd meet us in the middle, for an increase of 20%.

That wasn't going to work. Aside from the unfairness of it, and the fact that our budget hadn't grown a 20% surplus - in their new price range, we would have chosen a different place. In the higher bracket, there were more options. But we still couldn't afford it.

So DJ went to bat, and it only took him two days to work it out. They will either give us our deposit back in full, or they'll honor our contract with a much smaller (more acceptable) increase.

The thing is, neither DJ nor I were/are sure anymore. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe I'm a champion grudge-holder. But we went back to our earlier options, and found several that we wouldn't mind revisiting.

(images from Prairie Crossing website)

When we first saw this one, we liked it. A lot. But at the time it seemed like it would be harder, what with decorating and hiring a caterer and renting linens and plates and all that wedding-y stuff. Plus, it wasn't particularly close to anyone or anything. Being a barn and all.

But it's a good blank canvas, and they're fairly permissive about what you can and cannot do to the place.

How great are those old chairs? There aren't enough of them for our party. But there are half enough of them, enough to stagger with those overpriced ladderback chiavari chairs for that mismatched look I like so much. So there's one option, but there are so many pros and cons.