Last thursday, Tom and I went to check out a reception hall I was interested in. We met with the guy, got a tour of the place, and got a quote for the cost of the reception, if we were to actually have it there. We took the past week to discuss our options, whether or not we even liked the place, and if actually having our wedding this October is feasible, given the short amount of time we have to plan, and our other financial obligations coming up soon (buying a house, etc.)
Despite what everyone says, the wedding is never just about the bride and the groom. It has everything to do with the families of the bride and groom. Since my parents have agreed to help pay for the wedding, of course I have to run everything by them before I agree to plan anything. Tonight, the three of us, my mom, dad, and I drove out to take a look at the place and meet up with the guy. I set up the meeting hoping that once they took a look at the inside of the place, and not just look at some pictures on a website, they would fall in love with the place just like I did. I was also hoping that by talking to the guy, he would be able to convince them that its a nice place to have a wedding, and that he knows what he's doing, despite the neighborhood being what it is....or isn't.
So, we met with the guy. They wandered around the hall, took a look at picture albums, and asked the guy a bunch of questions. I was hoping that I'd be able to get an answer from them right away, about whether or not they liked the place, but they're so difficult to read, I just couldn't tell. Even on the ride home, I couldn't figure out how they felt about the place. I was so nervous, asking them questions about what they thought, and I still don't think I got a straight answer from them. I tried appealing to them in various ways, but I don't think it worked very well. When we got home, my mom kept asking me if I had any other places in mind that I'd like to take a look at. argh. After all my calling around a few weeks ago, I know I don't have many choices available to me at this point. All of the other places I can think of are already booked, and as much as my mom would love for us to postpone the wedding, Tom and I just don't want to do that. The places that are still available are the average banquet halls that everyone has their reception in...four walls and a marble slab in the middle of the floor for some dancing. Nothing else to them, no real character like 30north.
Any suggestions on how to persuade parents into agreeing with your decisions??? Man...I thought planning a wedding was supposed to be fun and exciting, but there hasn't been one single fun or exciting thing about this whole wedding, aside from the night Tom asked me to marry him. This isn't what I was expecting at all...