Here I thought that wedding planning was all about fun details, tasting cakes and all other fun stuff. Little did I know that I would be faced with calling 1 million hotels to get the best rates, dealing with some less than pleasant wedding vendors and all the other things that brides and blogs don't seem to acknowledge when talking about the fun that is planning. I have a venue, we all know that that was a less than pleasant process. Now I am looking for a hotel within the $100-$200 range for guests to stay the night of the wedding. First off, our venue is in the middle of no where when it comes to hotels. Ok, that is not totally true. It is in the middle of the most expensive hotels in Carmel! As much as I would HIGHLY enjoy staying at Bernardus (our favorite little resort and spa ever) $500+ per room is simply a pipe dream.

I am looking at places that are about 15-30 minutes away from the venue and even that is hard enough. I have called about 6 hotels at this point, to little avail.

The Colonial Terrace Inn is a cute 26 room Inn located about 30 minutes away from the venue right near the sea. The rates are very reasonable (though in the higher end) and the look of the place is adorable. Only problem, there is only one person who I can talk to about booking a block of rooms and after 6 phone calls and 5 messages he is either in a meeting all day and night or he just doesn't return my call after his meeting.

Carmel Valley Ranch is a gorgeous resort. This one is probably a pipe dream as well as I don't actually know the rates of these bad boys, but I can only assume that adding "Carmel" to the name means a doubling of the price. But, I wait in wonder until the phone rings with the events manager to answer all my questions and and give me the room rates.

Intercontinental Hotel was in the running until I called and was transferred around 8 times had a 10 minute phone call giving all my information to some girl reading a very obvious script of text just to find out that with the discount it is still $250 per night. No thanks. Not to mention my major pet peeve of horrible customer service of which this hotel quite represents.

Casa Munras Resort may just be the clear winner here. This place is totally gorgeous and it is the same distance as all the rest, about 30 minutes away. I want a place where all out of town guests can stay together. This one ended being only $129 per night! The only downside is that all the rooms have to be booked 45 days in advance, but the invites aren't even going out until 60 days before the wedding. Either way, this place has a pool and hot tub, and is quite gorgeous.

And do you want to know where Ian and I will be residing on our wedding night? None other than the Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel.

I've been highly obsessed with this place for a long time, but we have never had the chance to stay here. It is right on the coast line and everything about it is totally beautiful. It is about 40 minutes away which is totally worth it for me. This place is pretty close to the hotel that our guests will be staying which is good as we will be having a large brunch the following morning for everyone to attend.

Let this be a lesson to whoever about the serious importance of customer service. I believe that when a customer calls it should be the priority and whatever they have should be answered. Sometimes it felt like the receptionist didn't know what to do with my call at all.I really drives me crazy, and this hotel lost the chance to have their entire place booked for a 4 day weekend.

FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! The venue has been found and booked! Yep, there is officially a backdrop to this wedding.

I have seen this place many times before, but the price tag always scared me away. ( But I can't tell you how much I appreciate them putting their prices on their website). Finally I decided to call and what do you know, they had options, they had solutions, and they were going to try to make it work. After talking to the Hunter and calling a few caterers, it was clear that it could actually work with my budget.

After viewing practically every venue in the Bay Area, I can finally say picked the best venue in a few hundred mile radius. So, here is a look at the venue:

The Entrance: Gorgeous trees fill just about every inch of this place. From the moment you drive up the ambiance is set. Horseshoes and a bocce ball spot are to the left for guests to entertain themselves prior to the ceremony starting.

The ceremony spot: The photos don't do the ceremony spot any justice. In person, it is breathtaking. The view beyond the altar is vineyards and rolling mountains. It is actually incredible. Those wood chairs that come with the venue. They are nice, right? Definitely better than what they could look like.

The cocktail patio: The thing I love about this place is that each piece of the wedding takes place in a different area. The cocktail patio opens to a sitting room (pictured below) for guests.

Courtyard Patio: This is the coolest little patio I have ever seen! So many options for this little spot. Place cards will likely go here, however I haven't quite decided yet.

Reception: This is the dinner spot. So excited for all this place has to offer. I think I am going to do long tables like this. I am definitely going to look into renting picnic tables, because I was totally obsessed with that idea, but that all depends on price.

The Carriage House: After dinner people end up at the Carriage House (MY FAVORITE PART!) for the dancing portion of the event. This is where the s'more and cigar bar come out, fire pits get lit and music starts up. I can't wait to do something incredible with this space. See those fire pits?? This place really was meant for me! Incredible.

So this is the venue! Great neutral colors, great photo spots, overall gorgeous space. A bride rented those lounge tables and chairs. Oh and the guests all arrive by golf cart and cars are parked elsewhere so those won't be obstructing any kind of view.

The girls have a huge room to get ready (with LOTS of table space) and the boys have a pool table, darts, a TV and a small bar. We are going to have fun!

This place is perfect. I couldn't be more excited to see my wedding finally come together in such a beautiful space. On top of that, I love the events person, Hunter! She truly cares about each and every one of her brides and has so much pride in this place she has created. I am incredibly excited to work with someone that really gets it, and acts like we are her only clients even though in reality they are booked solid all year long!

So, we sent in the check and it is official! This place is ours! Now I get to do all the fun stuff, I can't wait to see it all come together. Oh and our wedding date? April 8, 2011.