Change of venue.

So — the story behind the mad dash to Eureka ...

As most of you know, we had originally planned to have our wedding reception at the Moonstone Beach House, located (as you might expect) on idyllic Moonstone Beach: a half-circle of sand that stretched long out to the ocean with redwoods stacked high on the cliffs above. It was a great setting, but the venue itself was a bit rustic — which we knew and had accepted from the start. However, a few things happened over the last few months that tipped the scale toward finding another venue.

The first, our excellent wedding planner, Sarah, took part in a wedding at the Beach House in October and e-mailed us soon after to express her concerns. Apparently, screens and sliding glass doors were falling off, the kitchen wasn't working properly, the bathrooms were unkempt, and there was just a general poor condition about the place. In short, a bit too rustic. Some of these problems we knew of, but some the owner had said he would fix before our wedding in June. Shortly thereafter, Sam, the owner, said he was raising his price by 25 percent over what he had quoted us, and he said he would not be making any of the improvements he had spoke of. Then he went missing for several weeks right around when we were trying to firm up all our arrangements in December. Then when Sarah found him again, he raised the price by another 25 percent — so double what we were originally quoted, and still no improvements.

The final straw came when, while Sam was missing, Sarah found a vacation home surrounded by trees on the bluffs above the beach that would allow a wedding reception. My Sarah haggled with the property manager and was able to get the place for the reception and arrange for her and I to stay in the house the night of the wedding — all for no more than the Beach House would now cost us. The new venue is called the Bluff House, and consists of four acres of trees and a little cottage that overlooks the ocean.

Ultimately, we like it better than the original venue.

How does this affect you? Not much. The Bluff House is located in Trinidad, which is where the reception was originally to be held. And the new place is actually easier to find than the Beach House. We will distribute directions the day of the wedding that will get everyone from the ceremony site to the reception, no problem.

That's the news.

Jason