Debbie and Duane

With Stocking face, I bought a gun
The Plan was set, the plan was done…
      – Steely Dan; ‘Turn that heartbeat over again’

After a few fits and starts, we actually have a date set.  We knew it would be late July, and so it is:

♥♥♥ July 27, 2012 ♥♥♥

Save the date!   It’s a Friday which leaves the weekend for us to recuperate!  Actually it will be the first day of the XXX Summer Olympics in London, but of course, our wedding will be much more important than some summer Olympic game opening day shenanigan.

I say we had a few fits and starts because when dealing with the folks at Mammoth Mountain we ran into a couple hiccups.   Our original choice for a date was the 29th which falls on a Sunday.   I had my doubts about a Sunday wedding anyway, but Jennifer at the mountain said OK and we started thinking about all the fun we’d have.  A week or so later, as we were talking with out Catering Specialist, we were told, oh, sorry, that date is taken, and oh, by the way, it’s been booked for SIX MONTHS!  Imagine our surprise.  Fortunately, we had only told a very few friends and we had also made it pretty clear it was still tentative.   Little did we know HOW tentative.  Oh, well, nothing is easy.

So we’ve found dealing with the mountain isn’t at all easy.  It is my humble opinion that weddings and special events are not a priority for anyone at the mountain or they’d make things more pleasant for those of us who would like our event to go without a hitch.  I expect if we wanted to put on a snowboard or mountain bike competition, they’d be more accommodating, but obviously weddings are not a high priority.  You’d think that if someone were going to spend somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000 for an event, the mountain would be interested.  I guess not.

That being said, we can now proceed to make further plans.  The Forest Chapel is set.  In addition, we also expect to invite all of you to the top of the mountain subsequent to our little fete at the altar.  It will just be a gondola ride with a glass of champagne, but it is one of the most spectactular views in the state of California.  You can see a long way from 11,053 feet.  The entire long valley Caldera with Lake Crowley in the distance to the east, and to the west the Minarets and the peaks of the east side of Yosemite are visible.

Be sure not to drink too much champagne, the altitude will make it go to your head faster than you’ll believe.  Tipsy guests will be subject to a hard time from the groom…