Monday, September 8, 2008

We're getting married when?!

I have a tendency to think highly of myself for certain things. It has always been a point of pride that until two years ago, I never had a cavity. Another recent point of pride is how I am seemingly way ahead of things in the wedding planning department. I don't think I'm terribly conceited, but these are things I'm proud of myself for.

Well both bubbles were burst this week.

After not going to the dentist for two years for lack of dental insurance, I had an appointment this week with a new dentist highly recommended by Leah.
Dr. Raymond Bolduc of Auburn Dentistry was delightful. He was extraordinarily thorough, taking x-rays and inspecting both them and my teeth very carefully. He then took color pictures of my teeth to show me what he had seen both during his inspection and then compared to the x-rays. I was very impressed. He, however, was not. We found a few cavities - and I was pretty bummed out about it. But we have a plan in place for getting them all taken care of and I should be good as new in no time. Well, in some time, but not too long.

On the wedding planning front, I was so excited to tick the photographer and tasting off the list that I figured I'd start asking around about hotels. My first stop was to the brand spanking new Fairfield Inn in Hooksett, a mere 1/2 mile from our reception site.I was really hopeful that this would be THE place. Since we weren't having our reception at a hotel, we wanted a way for people to get home safe and sound after an evening of revelling. The proximity to the reception site made it perfect. I scheduled an appointment with the very delightful sales manager.

I was really pleased when I went in. The Fairfield Inn in Hooksett has only been open for seven weeks and everything is shiny an pretty. The decor is lovely and everything is fresh and clean.

And with that we've come to the point where my little wedding-bubble burst. The very delightful sales manager walked out with the contract reserving the rooms. She explained that she'd checked her event calendar and it turns out that our wedding is not the only event happening in the state of New Hampshire that weekend. We're getting married the same weekend as the NASCAR race!

While this certainly won't interrupt my plans to blatantly ignore said NASCAR race as I do every other race, there is a slight problem. The race is a big deal in New Hampshire. A huge deal. A "locals-avoid-the-highways" and the police redirect one lane of traffic on the highway to go the other way kind of big deal. Hotels from the border up through Concord will be booked up, and at higher-than-normal event rates. Ack!!

The very delightful sales manager proceeded to give me what I considered to be a ludicrous price offer. I politely thanked her for her time, took the offer and left the hotel.

Well crap! What am I going to do now? I proceeded to call around to a few other hotels. One of them was completely BOOKED already. I thought I was planning ahead! It's more than a year out for goodness sake. After a deep breath, I did what I do best, I compiled a spreadsheet of all of the hotels within a reasonable distance and called up each sales manager and asked for a quote.

I've heard back from a couple, and still waiting on one. I'm cautiously optimistic. But I know one thing for certain. Those save-the-dates I was considering not bothering to send out? They're going to definitely have to go out - and with hotel information on them!

2 comments:

leeapeea said...

Did you have Dr. Raymond or Dr. Richard? I always say Raymond, but I really have Richard, although they're both lovely. I'm sorry you have cavities, but don't you feel like you're in great hands??
Wow... I can't believe hotels are already booked! Craziness. Let me know if I can help!

benilhalk said...

Hey, that’s an amazing share. Getting married is very exciting but when it comes to the planning process, it becomes very tedious. This is why the couples prefer hiring expert planners for their big day. But I am interested in the DIY ceremony. Having hard time in finding a good event venue Atlanta. It will be good if you can provide any suggestions here.