the angry bride

yup, uber angry bride coming through.

my little early bird failure had me going and i "booked" a restaurant that both will and i and our parents were happy with in april. why "booked", you ask?

first some back story. I always asks what happens if someone else wants the date and all restaurants i spoke to will hold your date, until someone inquires about the same date. if that does happen they will contact you and ask that you give them an a deposit to secure your booking or if no one else wants the date they usually ask you to put down a deposit 6 months prior to the date. this happened to me when i was looking at kirin starlight. i was second on the list and the manager told me that the couple before me had until so and so date to decide and if they don't put down the deposit i would get the date. all is fair. first couple gets priority, if they don't want it.. it's free for me and if i didn't want it the 3rd couple (yes, there was a 3rd couple) could have it. unfortunately for me the first couple did put a deposit so that restaurant was out of the running.

THAT did not happen with the restaurant we ended up choosing and "booking" with. now i won't mention this restaurant by name since i've heard of bloggers getting threaten with legal action if what they write reflects negatively on the restaurant (no free speech i guess?). but i will say for all vancouverites that this restaurant is located where the old flamingo restaurant was and near glad tidings church.

will and i had yet to put a deposit down and were told that they would contact us. i went in yesterday to put in a deposit maybe a month and bit after i booked the date with them since i figured we really did decide to go with this restaurant and just to get it done. the manager took my deposit and all was well. today i get a call from the same manager saying that he was sorry and had to return my deposit because the restaurant took another person's deposit for the same date. my inner bridezilla took over and needless to say, i was not happy and that guy got an earful. that manager told me that another manager will give me a call in the afternoon. no call. i had to call them and went in to talk to them. prior to all this i had received NO call to get in a deposit earlier. the manager and owners reasoning for not calling was... " if i called you and you weren't home and when you do call us back and maybe you tell us that you don't need the restaurant anymore, and those other people left then i've lost business". OKAY. the moment i heard that i just wanted to flip the table and leave (my inner gangster bride.) then they tried to convince me to change my date and they will cut me a deal since they were wrong, but i told them that's not happening since i've already booked some big ticket items. they offered to print my invitations among other things but honestly, i was done. i was so disappointed that wasn't called to put in my deposit. but what's done is done and i'll find a better restaurant. never going back there. ever.

in fact i've already looked in to some.. my second question after asking if my date is free, was "will you contact me if someone else asks about the date". their answer... YES.

lesson learned: chinese restaurants are sometimes really shady about their practice. beware.

one thing done, another 200 things to do

it's done. i've booked the queen elizabeth park celebration pavilion for our wedding ceremony. it took me a while to find a place i really liked and met my requirement of not having to decorate or rent chairs from another vendor. at first, i was thinking of having our ceremony at the UBC rose garden. i always loved walking by it during my long treks to the dreaded anso building. but when i found out you could only book the year of your wedding, it was an instant no. booking a ceremony venue 6 months in advance is a little unnerving for me, especially since i have 2+ years to plan this darn thing! 

will and i went to check out the pavilion before he left for sydney back in january. my favourite part of the space: the huge doors that open up to show the view of the city. i love that even though it's an indoor wedding, we still have that element of it being outdoors with those huge doors open and if it rains we are still okay! i found a lot of gardens i was looking into didn't offer a rain alternative, which really doesn't help.  

planning early definitely had it's benefits. since contacting them in january, they had raised their rental prices but i was able to book the pavilion for the price i was told in january =). another added bonus... no hst! just good old GST!