The Venue and....etc.

H:
Okay, so our venue. For all those in favor of a wedding that is as stress free as possible, say "aye"
* raises hand* "AYE!"
Okay, motion carries.

To set our motion in motion, Josh and I will be enlisting the help (read: services) of the good people at Monte Verde Inn. They don't know this yet since we haven't officially reserved the date/put down a deposit, but we'll be doing that soon.
Their website can be found at www.monteverdeinn.net (and for the record, their grounds actually DO look like that. Amazing!)
The only thing that I'm nervous about is what the venue will look like in November, but we'll be taking care of that with a second visit to the venue when we go to put down our deposit.

Monte Verde Inn is an all inclusive space, meaning that they provide the food, centerpieces, venue, etc. at one flat per person rate. All we have to worry about is the photographer, the bridal flowers, and a videographer (if we want one. Which we do. It'll probably be another DIY project). There are two packages to choose from: the Cinderella, and the Princess Bride package. The Princess Bride package is a little less "us" (foie gras, etc.), so we're going with the former.
The Cinderella package includes two entrees (including prime rib and stuffed chicken breast), three sides (including "portabella mushroom risotto...") , three appetizers, fresh bread, salad, and the CAKE.
Yes. The cake is included in the flat, per person cost, which in our case is $80 for anyone over the age of 10.

I've been scouring several websites such as yelp.com, weddingbee.com, and weddingwire.com to see if I can find any dirt on them, anything that would make me not want to go with them. Thus far, nada.

The only qualm I have is how they treated Dondi, Josh's service dog. We thought we'd forgotten her cape (we hadn't, it had fallen beside a seat in the car), and while otherwise accomodating, the proprietess wasn't going to let her in. I could totally see her point of view, but it didn't sit right with me when she demanded to see identification that this was a service dog, which we don't have and were never given. She finally let Dondi in when to the front rooms only when I showed her a picture of Dondi in her cape. We went about the tour of the other rooms while Mom stayed with her, and came to find out later that Dondi doesn't actually need identification, which is why we were never given any.
According to the ADA, even if a dog isn't marked the person and their animal can't be excluded from places that a patron is normally allowed to go (so the owner's claim that it was a health code violation is more or less dumb unless they allow patrons to roam freely about the kitchens). There are certain restrictions to this. If, for example, Dondi posed a threat to public safety or if she was disturbing the primary functions of the business - which of course she was not - then she could have been excluded.

This was a few months ago, but it still bothers me. This woman claimed to know the law regarding service animals, and since we'd only had Dondi for a few months I didn't know enough about it at the time to know that actually, she only knew the bits and pieces. I don't fault her. I don't know for sure, but I doubt business owners are given a handbook, and service animals aren't given identification across the board.

On one hand, Dondi is - without question - a dog. She has fur, she goes woof, she eats dog food. On the other hand, she's a valuable member of our team. She's not a pet!
I can see both sides.
Maybe I'd feel less deeply about this if it didn't happen more often than it should. Josh was actually asked to leave a store once because they didn't want to risk dog hair on the clothes, and this is when Dondi was fully marked.
Compounding it is that apparently a person can buy service vests off various websites, such as eBay. By the way, if you're thinking of doing that, please, please, PLEASE don't.

Okay, other than that, Monte Verde Inn yay!!!