Category: Wedding

Me likey unexpected money

Posted on1 Comment

It appears from looking through my archives that I never wrote about the “lovely” hotel we stayed at in Clearwater Beach in October. We had booked the night before and after our wedding about a month or so in advance for a special rate. The booking was fully non-refundable and so when we checked out a day early to avoid being on the coast when Hurricane Wilma hit, the hotel refused to issue us a refund. I found that particularly wrong due to the circumstances, but wasn’t in the mood to argue. The reservations manager said there was a credit on our account that could be used toward a future stay, provided it was used before December 30th 2005. Seeing as how we had no plans on returning to Florida that soon, that was little consolation.

Not one to let things go to waste, however, I asked friends and family whether they’d be traveling to the area, but no one was interested. So I ended up offering the room to our wedding photographer. She lives in the area, but I thought it might be a nice little one night getaway she could share with her boyfriend. She accepted and I called the hotel to make the reservations. The catch was I couldn’t go through the regular reservations desk because they’d charge my card first and then supposedly reimburse me. Yea right, I don’t trust that and I’d be damned if I was going to risk paying twice for a room I wasn’t even staying in.

I asked to speak to the woman who had given us the credit, but she no longer worked there. Her replacement was mysteriously never available, and I left her messages to no avail. I felt like a jerk telling the photographer it wasn’t going to work, but what can you do? So imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail from Discover today informing me that the hotel posted a credit to my account. Sweet! I guess that wasn’t necessarily a non-refundable rate after all. Muhahaha! I’ll never stay there again anyway: there was a cockroach dying in the hallway when we walked in, one very small and slow cramped elevator, and a dirty place all around. The only saving grace was the free internet access.

Married Life

Posted on

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been four weeks since we got married. That just blows my mind. A few people ask me how married life is, but to me, it’s the same as ever. The only difference? I have a new ring on my finger.

I guess it’s different when you aren’t already living together in a home you purchased together though. When you aren’t already sharing a bank account and a bed, the whole marriage thing is a bigger step.

I’m just glad we had a low-key low-cost wedding. I’m not knocking anyone who has a big wedding because you should do what makes you happy, but the day went by in a flash and knowing how I am I would have been upset knowing I spent a ton of money on that one day.

That being said, I do look forward to the Spring when we plan on having a big party at our place to celebrate our marriage and belated housewarming. Apparently getting hitched out of state without guests excuses everyone from even offering a mere congratulations. :p

Married & In Orlando

Posted on8 Comments

Hi all! Just a quick post to say we’re in Orlando now. Will go into more details later, but we had to do some rescheduling to avoid the storms that will be coming from the hurricane. The good news is that we’re married, we got to do it on the beach (albeit not at sunset, but what can you do) and the hotel we’re in now is really nice and has free high speed internet access. I hate typing on this damn laptop though! We’re headed out for dinner in a few, so I’ll write more while Joe is watching the World Series later. Go Sox! :)

Gifts & Hurricanes

Posted on2 Comments

One more day of work and we’re on our way to sunny Hurricane-threatened Florida! It looks like Hurricane Wilma is threatening our wedding, but we won’t know for sure until Friday or Saturday. I’m not so worried about the wedding as our officiant said we could reschedule to Tuesday the 25th (our originally chosen date, coincidentally), but I am worried about what we’re going to do regarding the hotel on the Gulf we have booked for two nights. The booking is fully non-refundable and since we were staying there for the wedding night, we chose a nice $200/night place. Eeek! I guess losing $400 is nothing compared to putting ourselves in harm’s way, but it still kinda sucks.

Speaking of wedding stuff, Joe and I each received a wedding gift from people we work with today. In fact, people had been asking Joe if we were registered anywhere, but we didn’t bother since we weren’t having a big wedding and all that. It didn’t seem right to me to expect gifts. Anyway, Joe’s Director, who also used to be my former boss (NOT the boss from hell, though) gave us a very generous check. I was rather shocked. I know she knows us both, but we aren’t very close, so I was surprised.

Then a guy I work with bought me this awesome photography book. It was rather funny because I was at my desk when he handed it to me. He mentioned how he thought about buying me some books that he likes to read but he didn’t think I’d like them (he’s correct because he likes reading about world history). But the funny thing was how he had put the receipt in the book and said if I didn’t like the book I could take it back for something else. Then he said he had thought about writing something inside the book, but didn’t want to in case I took it back. I handed him back the book and told him to go ahead and write what he wanted and to take the receipt because I had no intentions of returning the book. I didn’t even look at the receipt either; it just didn’t seem right. It just floored me how thoughtful he is. I think he may have felt a little guilty because he had been talking about baking me a nice wedding cake (he used to be a professional pastry chef) but he hasn’t had time as his last day with the company is Friday. He started with us in May, but he found a better job closer to home. He is a very nice guy, and while I often teased him and called him a dork, it was always in fun. He was the only guy in our department so we’ll be back to all women.

Oh that reminds me. After over a year of several of us begging and pleading, not to mention more than a few Administrative Assistants being hired and then leaving, the company has decided to offer someone I refer to as Mrs. Wonderful her old job back and she said yes! I can’t believe it! I am so happy because the filing system has been a disaster ever since she left. Her first day is Monday so I won’t seeing her until I get back but I am so excited!

I should get to bed now. Unlike Joe, I don’t have tomorrow off. Things are super hectic at work and tomorrow is going to be another crazy day. Monday I worked from 7-4:30 with no breaks or lunch!!! I have to tie up some loose ends and show my coworkers some of what I do so things don’t get behind while I am gone. I so need this vacation!