complete success

If yesterday had never happened, I do not think that I would have appreciated the ease of today as much as I did.

We had a brilliantly beautiful drive (starting at 6:45 AM) up to North Creek, where we had an appointment at The Copperfield Inn.  The space is beautiful, the staff are extremely polite and friendly, and the location - while giving us quite a bit of privacy - is only about half an hour's drive from Lake George.  We loved it.  We were shown three different suites - a regular one, one with a jacuzzi, and a townhouse one that had a spiral staircase leading to a second level.  On the wedding night we would be able to stay in a suite free of charge - and if we hold the ceremony at the inn then we won't have to pay a site fee.  We were also shown three possible event rooms that we could choose from, as well as options outside.  Since we'd like to have the ceremony outside, we would have to walk across the street where there are pavilions along a river.  We were also impressed by how huge the fitness room is (even though that has nothing to do with the event).

After poking around for a bit on our own at Copperfield, we went to our next appointment at Cresthaven Lodges in Lake George.  To be honest, we'd seen this place from a boat on the lake before, and driven past it on our way to camping, and we didn't really think it was that great - but, it is much nicer once we actually drove into the location itself.  The cabins are really cute and it has a great view of the lake.  The bottom portion of the restaurant is actually right over top of the lake, so the water sloshes around under the floor - which we thought was cool.  We met with someone from the Boathouse Restaurant and discussed what our options would be.  Since our party will only be about 40-50 people, we were told that they would only be able to close down half of the restaurant for us.  We didn't really feel that this would give us the privacy that we desire, even though the space was very nice.  We also would be restricted to having the wedding in the beginning or middle of June, or September or October - neither of which are really want we want.  Because of this information, we decided not to bother looking at the lodging.

We were so smitten with Copperfield that we also decided to cancel our last appointment of the day - which would have been at the North Woods Inn.  It was really too far of a distance for us and we didn't love the place based on the website.

We got back in the car and immediately called Copperfield to reserve our date there - July 3, 2011!

Now we have to pay the deposit, figure out how many people will be coming and want to stay at the inn so that they can block out some rooms, and sign the contracts.  I'm not really sure how to go about doing this - it seems like we wouldn't really know how many people are coming and lodging until we send out the invitations a couple of months before the actual wedding.  I am going to email our contact at the inn and find out what she suggests...

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lessons of the day

Here was today's plan:
Drive to Jimbo's Club at the Point for a 10:30 AM meeting with their wedding contact.  Pick up some lunch at Lake George Village and maybe shop or sit by the lake to kill some time between appointments.  Drive to Dunham's Bay Resort for a 3:00 PM meeting with their wedding contact.  Go home and reflect.  I had printed out all the maps and phone numbers we would need and I had even remembered to bring my wedding planning binder and my camera.


Here's what actually happened:
About two-thirds of the way to Jimbo's we got stuck behind two people from New Jersey driving pretty slow, which made us start to run late.  Up until that point we had been on perfect time and even had a chance to stop for some iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts.  We were driving on a beautiful road through glacial valleys with little streams and fantastic foliage, just enjoying the ride.  However, I think these two cars from New Jersey were sent to us straight from hell with the sole purpose of throwing a wrench into my perfectly planned day.  It was around mile 6 of following behind these people that I started to become nervous that we were going to be late.  It was around mile 7 that my husband and I both realized we had bathroom emergencies and weren't going to make it.  So, put yourself in our shoes for a moment (we've all been there at one time or another): we are running late, stuck behind really slow drivers, on a road that twists and bumps and continuously requires us to hit the brakes which puts pressure on our seatbelts - and we have to pee like it's our job.  Eventually (but not soon enough) the people from New Jersey pulled off at a lookout - and we resolved our bathroom emergency (no one wants the details*).  After taking care of business we were approximately 7 minutes late and according to the map we had about 5 more miles to go, so we booked it.  I thought we could make it without being so late as to look like idiots.


Lesson #1: Double-check your internet map before you go... and don't trust the GPS either.

The map I had printed out from Google was totally wrong and the GPS is Google-powered so it was giving us the same directions.  We drove around for another 15 minutes trying to find the place - turning around and going back and forth I can't even tell you how many times (we even stopped at a community building to ask for directions, but it was closed) before I realized the truth about our map.  And all the while I was looking for a cell signal so that I could call our contact and let her know we were running late and couldn't find the place.  The map had taken us to addresses in the 9000's on Route 8 and we needed to be in the 7000's.  In a city this isn't such a big deal - but we're talking the Adirondacks here.  Half an hour late, I thought we would get there quickly - we didn't.  We finally arrived at our true location just to realized that it is a camp for girls.  There were kids everywhere.  I may have seen this on the website a month ago, but if so I forgot.  *sigh*  We pretty much knew that we had missed our meeting and wouldn't be able to be shown around the location, but figured it was worth a try anyway.  Once we realized it was a camp we just did a quick drive through and waved goodbye.  This was not the place for us.  I never even managed to reach our contact person - so if she reads this... I'm sorry!

Back on the highway to Lake George Village.  On the way I decided to call our second appointment to see if possibly we could have it earlier, since we'd had such a joyful morning.


Lesson #2: Confirm every appointment - even if it was scheduled over the phone.

The conversation went something like this:
Hello, this is ---- at Dunham's Bay Resort.  How may I help you?
Hi, ----, my name is Kristen.  I have an appointment today - I believe it's with you actually - at 3:00 to discuss wedding options.
*silence* Hmm... really?  That's strange - I don't have any appointments today because I have a wedding at 3:00.
Um... oh... ok... *silence*
I'm not sure who you talked to when you set this up -- (*allow me to interrupt*)
I spoke to you actually.
Really?... *silence*
So, can I reschedule?
Yes, of course!  Let me see...
Well, I'm actually in the car right now and I don't have my calendar, so I'll call you tomorrow.

Cue the crying.  I had confirmed 4 out of the 5 appointments we had planned this weekend, except for that one because I scheduled it over the phone and all the others were scheduled through email.

We were so stressed at this point that we opted for McDonald's for lunch - which we never eat.  Of course this couldn't be easy, either.  The McDonald's didn't have a parking lot (have you ever heard of such a thing?) so we parked at the motel next door at the risk of getting towed, then brought our food back to the car and ate there.  Not the lunch I had in mind.  While eating we decided to drive up the east side of the lake and drive through Dunham's Bay anyway just to see it, and also see what was at the lake.  Turns out we hated the place anyway, so in a way it was good.

I didn't even get to use my camera.  Hopefully tomorrow will be more successful!

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