A Sad Day on Mission Inn Ave.

I have been looking forward to today for quite some time. Today was the wedding open house at the Mission Inn Hotel, the planned location for our reception. Since before we were even engaged, we have been saying that we were going to have our wedding here because it was the best value for the money and it is uniquely gorgeous and historic-feeling. We have been to the expo twice before and were never disappointed in the venue itself, although the vendors on display weren't always the greatest. And besides, the cake samples, chocolate fondue fountains, and champagne are always there in abundance. This year I was all set to put down our deposit for our special day in June, 2011. Sure, it's still 18 months away, but I figured better safe than sorry since that is the peak of wedding season. I was also excited since this time I actually had my ring and could legitimately ask questions and inquire about more specifics since I've already had about a year to plan.

We arrived and immediately noticed new details added to the hotel, including a giant vintage cage with two macaws at the entrance, which was neat. We entered the biggest room, the Music Room, and I immediately noticed that the color scheme the florist had used was one of the same ones I was considering, taking it as a good sign. We chatted with a couple of vendors, and on our way into the next room a DJ company stopped us and mentioned during their promotion that the hotel has a new wedding policy that people are only allowed to use Mission Inn preferred vendors, not just for food and such, but EVERYTHING from lighting, to DJs, to photographers. Everything except the invitations and the wedding dress, basically. This immediately worried me, but Darryl insisted that this could not be the case, maybe they were just saying that to get us to sign with them. We moved on to the Spanish Art Gallery, the room we were planning on using, and got some more cake, and talked with a couple more unenthusiastic vendors.

We continued on to the spiral staircase and went up the the third room which had refreshments and tables to meet with the coordinators to put down deposits. After nibbling nervously on an orange cupcake, we sat down with a consultant who inquired about our date, and then said that they no longer book weddings more than a year in advance. And then the second question, about the vendors: it is true, they do not allow outside vendors unless we pay a $300 fine and get them to sign up for the hotel liability insurance. In addition, they have raised their prices for the meals about $10-20 a plate. Well, shoot. We got up and I grabbed another glass of champagne with which to drown my sorrows and made our way to the fountain to sit and have another look at their new packets of information. How could it be? We have always planned on having our reception here, for over a year if not longer, have told everyone, and put it up on the website, that this would be the itinerary, and now...

The issue with hiring preferred vendors is that there are only 2-4 vendors available per category (flowers, photography, etc.), they tend to cost way more than outside vendors (about $2-3,000 more, each) at least compared to the ones I had already chosen, and they are quite frankly not nearly as talented or creative as other, better professionals (in my view, anyway). The wedding schemes I saw today were pretty cookie-cutter, and it seems that this is all that is allowed in such a place as the Mission Inn because of liability issues, perhaps since it is a historic monument. Some may be OK with this, but someone like me who has spend countless hours, months, planning a more personalized, creative vision for my wedding, could not be so satisfied.

So. Now we are back at square one. Needless to say, I'm kind of pissed. I'm cursing internally, to be honest. This was the one thing since the beginning which was set in stone. I bought my dress to match the Mission Inn style, in my own vintage kind of way. The kinds of colors and flowers I have looked at and saved files of pictures of may be for nothing. Who knows, maybe six months from now we go back and they've discovered that raising their prices and allowing only in-house vendors during an economic depression in the middle of a hot-bed of foreclosures wasn't the best idea and would maybe cut us a deal, but I doubt it. In the mean time, I'm relying on my inner wedding coordinator to find us a new, better place, possibly much different from my original ideas. Regardless, in 18 months we will be married, whether it may happen in Riverside or the Redwoods, we shall see.