Post Storm Decisions

Hi everyone - Wow. I can't believe it's been almost a month since I have written a post. I think there comes a time in every bride's planning process where taking a break becomes inevitable - be it a nice break because things naturally die down to a lull, or a forced break, like I had, where decisions had to be reconsidered. All in all, a break. Additionally, it's usually during this time that Murphy's law kicks in, and it can feel like the whole ceiling is toppling down. That's what happened this past month. It seemed like every corner I turned, with the wedding and with everything else in my life, it felt like the road was so steep and so arduous. There were times I really felt like I was on an island, and there were other times where I felt like I all wanted was to be on an island. Alone. I think every bride to be goes through this. The set up of a wedding is a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work. However, underneath the wedding, is an entire life change. They say the three biggest stressors in life are getting married, having kids and loosing a parent. Well, based on that, I imagine every bride goes through what I went through this past month....and the one piece of advise I have is....to just find comfort in the love of your fiance and wether the storm.

So, now that my storm is over - well, at least manageable, onward with the planning.

But first some decisions....

After a whole month of looking at other venue options and feeling like I was beating my head against a wall, we decided that the best thing for us was to stick with what felt right. When we walked into Rancho our hearts just knew that this was the place we were meant to be married. A lot questions made us rethink the practicality of our choice, but in the end we believe there are enough workable solutions to ease the comfort of our guests. The minute we made the decision to stay with what we had, it felt like 500 ton bricks were lifted off our shoulders!

So, how will we ensure the comfort of our guests?
We originally thought that the only option for hotels was in Santa Monica, which is an hour away. My brainiac fiance came up with a brilliant idea that I think will work wonders. Since none of the events are at a hotel, we don't need everyone to stay at one central hotel. In fact, it would be better for them if they could enjoy the beauty of Malibu, and treat this wedding as a mini-vacation. The idea - BEACH HOUSES. In Malibu, like every other vacation city, there are hundreds of georgeous beach front poperties for rent. Families could easily rent these out for the weekend, and it would keep them right in Malibu.

For the people who don't mind doing the gorgeous drive, we would still keep block rooms at a hotel in Santa Monica. And for others who wanted a closer option, and didn't care about the "niceness" of the lodging, there are several beach front surfer type motels in Malibu.
So three very different options, and each guest can choose which is best for them. Amy, our wedding planner, is already on top of finding the details behind renting beach houses. Fingers crossed that it will be an easy process!!!

Driving up the hill versus shuttles was another concern. We still haven't fully found the answer for this yet. We are thinking of having shuttles for people going up and down the hill, but the logistics of that still need to be determined.

Anyway, we made some great progress, and got peace of mind that we have a solid decision made.

We've also been working on a really creative save the date, which I'll write about this week. And I've been working with Amy on choosing a decorator. Since the decor is where the majority of the budget goes, I have developed a detailed RFP (request for proposal) that we are sending out to prospective decor firms to see what it is like to work with them, get a sense for their creativity, and their thinking. I'll write a post on that this week as well!

Glad to be back!!! :-)