I asked how much the deposit was.
She said twenty-four hundred.
I made the decision that I would regret and also that I do not, in the most fundamental sense, actually regret, because what I did was try to help my sister have the wedding she wanted. The regret is about how it ended. The decision itself was the right kind of decision for me to make.
“I can put down the deposit,” I said. “And if you want to talk about me covering the rest as a wedding gift, we can have that conversation, but let’s start with the deposit.”
## The Booking and What Was Promised
The Willowmere Hall booking happened on a Saturday morning in September, eight months before the wedding. I drove up to the property to meet with Jordan Ellis, the venue coordinator, while Claire came up from the city with Becca and Owen’s sister, a twenty-six-year-old named Hannah who was doing double duty as both bridesmaid and transportation.
Willowmere Hall was, as advertised, beautiful. It sat on fourteen acres in the hills above a small town whose name I forget now, with a restored barn that had been converted to an event space and a main house that offered overnight accommodations for the wedding party. The ceremony would take place outdoors, on a stone terrace overlooking the gardens, weather permitting, with a backup indoor space in the barn if needed.
Jordan Ellis was professional and warm and exactly the kind of person you want managing your venue: organized, unflappable, and very clear about contracts. She walked us through the package details, the catering options, the vendor coordination policies, the timeline for payments. She had the contract ready by the end of the walkthrough.