Lake v. Bay

The venue fight.  That is what is going on currently between my mother and I.  She says the Bay and I say the Lake.   Being raised and born and living most of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have a special place in my heart for The Bay.  However, I don't see myself getting married here.  I've had my heart set on Lake Tahoe since the day Mr. Brady and I decided we were getting married. 

This isn't my first venue fight.  The first was with Mr. Brady and he was pushing for Monterey, another Bay.  So, you see, I've been fighing against the Bay for some time.  Mr. Brady finally agreed with Lake Tahoe, with the help of the lovely ladies over at my favorite wedding site, Weddingbee.com.  Now I am having a venue fight with my mother, which Mr. Brady is sort of in the middle on.  He totally get's her point that more people will be able to come to the wedding.  I don't get it.  Those that want to come celebrate my marriage to Mr. Brady will travel across the world to see us get married and those are the people I actually want there. 

Being that my mother didn't get an opportunity to help me plan my starter marriage, I see that this marriage is her way of getting involved.  I in some ways regret telling her so soon about our plans to get married.  She has wedding fever and is pushing a fork full of ideas down my throat.  Some days I can't even breath before the fork is in my mouth.  Don't get me wrong.  I loooove my mother and appreciate the time and effort she's putting into my SECOND (and final) wedding.  A lot of people don't take second weddings as serious as the starter weddings.  So, I do have great appreciation for all that she is doing.  BUT... I don't want to fight this venue battle again.  And this time with my mother.  *sigh* 

Now, Mr. Brady and I are paying for this wedding.  Neither my family nor his family is contributing money towards the wedding.  At this point in our lives, we would never ask that they do so.  So, I feel as if they should not have much of a say so in where we have the wedding or what we decide to do with the wedding.  Of course, my mother totally disagrees and I somewhat see her point.  Weddings are about family and unity.  So, shouldn't I want all of my family to be at the wedding?  I do and I will do all that is possible to make it convenient for them.  However, they can easily drive to Lake Tahoe.  It is only like 3 or 4 hours away from all of them.  They've all done it on many many occassions and have done it for other weddings.  So, why would they have a problem with attending my Lake Tahoe wedding. 

So, the venue fight with my mother has begun and it is not going to be easy to win this case.  I'll have to come more prepared than I have ever been before.  I'm researching venues in the Bay and at the Lake.  Wherever I get married must have the option for the outside ceremony to move in doors quickly and the inside ceremony location must not be the same as the reception area.  I want the guests to see the reception area right after the cocktail hour.  I want the entrance to be GRAND. 

So far, I haven't found anything in the Bay that I like.  Well, like enough to keep me here for the wedding.  I'm looking and looking and hopefully in the next couple of months I'll find something and we'll book the venue and secure our fancy 9/10/11 date.  Until then, the venue fight continues.  You'll hear a lot more about this fight over the next few months, I'm sure of it. 

What wedding disagreements did you have with your mother?