Heart over head

I am a Leonard. While Leonard's can be extraordinarily generous they are normally fairly sensible when it comes to money. I was the kid who banked rather than spent money received at birthday and Christmas time. And then I started to plan the wedding.

Today we got sent through the final quotes from the venue. One was double the amount of the other. And the reason was simple... One word... Exclusivity. Only that wasn't the word I saw on the page. Quite simply for me it came down to Sam or no Sam. The deal was that if we had the hotel in its entirety they would allow my dog. And if we didn't they wouldn't. I can understand that and initially we'd decided to decline the offer of exclusivity. However when we met Amy at the weekend I inadvertently phrased our refusal in such a way that it turned into a negotiation. Seemingly I'm so successful at negotiating that £6000 was knocked off the asking price when the quote was delivered today. Thankfully James and I were in agreement. After Mum very generously offered to buy my wedding dress for me - a special gift between Mother and Daughter - we had a little leeway with the budget. And so we have decided to have the hotel on an exclusive basis for our wedding. This means the hotel will close its doors to all comers except our invited guests. And Sam! My beloved little cockapoo has just cost us a small fortune but as James and I are equally potty about him he will be there. As will all the people who would routinely dog-sit him so it's a good job really! I couldn't really imagine our day without him and I know he wouldn't want us to. He is such an attention seeker and thankfully I love him so much I won't even mind him stealing my thunder on the day by being utterly adorable and flirting shamelessly with  anybody and everybody who may give him some attention.

Today wasn't just about the venue though. I'm in the early stages of contact with a florist - free the day of the wedding and recommended by the venue. I've also arranged an initial meeting with a photographer whose work I saw and admired in the bridal shop. She sounded bubbly and enthusiastic on the phone and I instinctively liked her. She was also over the moon when I mentioned Sam. We're meeting next week in the salubrious setting of a motorway service station half way between where we live.

And all of this accomplished despite this bridezilla's nightmare scenario occurring yesterday... The death by drowning of my beloved phone. Thankfully O2 had me back up and running within an hour and to my knowledge only one bridesmaid sized phone call missed.

On which note I forgot to mention. The adult bridesmaids' dresses were purchased last night. Both seemed to approve of the choice and although I'm a little skeptical about buying online these were the most suitable I'd seen and I thankfully have a tame seamstress who can make any necessary alterations.

James is now tasked with organising the transport and has finally allowed me a glimpse of his guest list. Irritatingly he is struggling less with the numbers side of things than I am. Oh the politics!