Wedding Weekend

As I mentioned, I went to a wedding this past weekend. This was not Fifi's expensive island wedding, but the other wedding the same weekend, that I anticipated would be more informal and cheaper to get to-- and it definitely was.

My total travel costs for the weekend were about $300-- this included a train ticket, a bus ticket, a taxi fare, and gas for my mother's car. As a city-dwelling person who doesn't drive that often, I always find car trips a rude awakening, when you realize that gas is over $3.00 a gallon and that filling a tank is about $60! I feel sorry for those of you who have to deal with this all the time!

I also spent about $280 on two nights accomodation, which I shared with my mother. (This is what stinks about being in a long-distance relationship and having parents who don't get along-- going to a wedding with your mom as your "date.") I had actually expected to pay more for the room, but there was a bit of confusion about it. We were staying at the place where the wedding was being held, which I had been told was sort of an inn that also had cabins and campsites where you could pitch tents-- some of the wedding guests actually did this, which must have been fun, given that it rained on and off during the weekend! So I knew it wasn't going to be some overly elegant place, but I thought it was better than having to stay miles away and drive back and forth on dark country roads, and my sister and her husband agreed, so we both planned to try to stay there.
On their wedding website, the bride and groom said that anyone who wanted to stay onsite should "let them know." They also said they would post a list of other nearby hotels, but never did. I emailed the groom to tell him I wanted a room for my mother and myself. I never heard back. I was starting to get nervous, and heard from another family member that it was best to call the place directly to book the room. I had also heard by this point that not all the rooms had private bathrooms, so when I called, I specifically asked for a room with a private bath, and was told I had one, and they took my credit card to guarantee everything, so I thought I was all set.
However, when my mom and I arrived and checked in, we were told we were in a room where we'd have to share a bathroom with 3 other rooms, one of which was my sister's. It turns out that the wedding party was occupying the entire inn, and that "the bride and groom always do the room assignments." Great, I thought, it would have been nice if you or the groom had mentioned that when I booked the room, rather than letting me think I might actually get what I thought I was paying for!
The cost was lower for the shared bath room, and though I really dislike that kind of arrangement, I wouldn't have minded so much for myself-- but my mom is a high-maintenance kind of lady, and a middle-aged one at that, so she was not pleased. But she bore it pretty well, actually, and got up at about 5:30 each morning to make sure she'd have plenty of time to herself in the bathroom!
Other wedding costs: about $100 for a gift, and about $20 for various snacks while we were on the road.
And as for the non-financial details, the ceremony was lovely, the weather cooperated, the food was good, the location was beautiful, the band was rockin' and a great time was had by all. The only downside was a high concentration of mosquitos that even repeated dousings with bugspray couldn't deter!