Should be brown and have water

Planning a wedding is proving to be an exercise in flexibility. At first I thought we had most of this event all figured out. I was wrong. I am pretty sure this will not be the last time I am wrong in regards to the wedding. I foresee much 'wrongness' on my part. As I said, at first we had it figured out.....Dabney Hall at Cal Tech would be the perfect place. Sure they charge a bunch more for a wedding than a regular party...maybe we could squeak by telling them that it was a Halloween party. Then there is the catering...not cheap not matter how you look at it. Oh yeah, tables, chairs, linen, wine, stronger libations....starting to add up. Then Amanda says she would really like to have a little more traditional service with her Dad walking her down and aisle. I am all for that but a church is an additional cost. Chuck and I got married at the lovely Church of the Hills in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. It was very reasonable but that was over 30 years ago and guess what?? It want up a whole, big bunch. So much for keeping costs down. So I get on the computer and do some research. Chuck and I start talking about what we could afford and how to do it without "us" doing the majority of the work. A country club might be the way to go. La Canada Country Club looks like an option. Call Amanda..discuss it with her and Jesus..Jesus would like a brown building and a ceremony near water....OK THEN!! La Canada has a water obstacle and sprinklers...don't know about brown but the hillside should be brown by October...Let's give them a call and see what we can set up. I call....they are booked...I call some place else...they are booked...Who would have thought that would be such a popular day...thank heavens for Google. I googled (yup, I think it is a real dictionary approved term now) and found the Almansor Court in Alhambra. Lovely looking place, at least on line and prices we can handle (sort 0f). No one there on Sunday to answer our questions so I call first thing Monday morning. Yes, they have that date open and by gosh it is discounted because it is a Friday. Amanda and I rushed over there on our lunch hour to make sure we had the date secured and to see if it made the grade...I overshoot the turn to the club and end up in Montebello but we turn arounda nd finally locate it. WELL...it was brown (light brown but hey!) the gazebo where the ceremony will take place rests over a lovely little lake, ducks and all. The banquet room was unconventional, meeting all our needs. Whew !! One giant hurdle ...now to pay for it all.......chicken all around!