Being a wedding planner comes with some serious fringe benefits. I get invited to experience some of the most luxurious and extraordinary places in the world, like Jamaica, Anguilla, Pebble Beach, etc…..gratis. I know, pretty amazing, right? I think it’s the ultimate way to keep our sanity in check, considering the fire hoops that we often have to jump through for our clients and events. Not literally, but when clients hire us to plan events with a six or seven figure budget, you can imagine some of the expectations that come along with it. I really, really love what I do though, because I get to conquer the craziest of challenges, and it is extremely rewarding to be at the rein of such incredible events and “productions”. Seeing everything come to fruition on the day-of makes my adrenaline soar. Then, tag on these fringe benefits and yes, I love the business that I’m in!
A few weeks ago, I was amongst a handful of wedding planners invited to the new Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe for a familiarization (FAM) trip. The objective of this FAM trip, like all FAM trips, was to experience the resort to its fullest, so that we can properly recommend it to the right clients. That means only the very finest in all aspects–culinary, wine, spa treatments, and hospitality. Yes, tough job, but someone’s gotta do it. You can read all about it here, on my business blog. I invited Alan to come with me, so that we could stay an extra night and make it our little “getaway” after my work is completed. It worked out perfectly. While I was on my FAM tour Monday and Tuesday, he was able to work remotely with his laptop. Then, after my tour officially ended on Tuesday afternoon, we closed our laptops, turned off our phones, and headed to the SPA! We got the Couple’s Journey, which is described as (with my own additions in parentheses):
A gentle exfoliating bamboo scrub (in a forest sanctuary) followed by a cozy soak in a copper tub just right for two (with champagne and the best conversations), culminating with an intensely moisturizing application of olive and fig body butter and deeply relaxing aromatherapy scalp and full-body massages (that makes you fall into a mediative state, the best kind there is!)
Those who know me well know that I’ve never been one to love massages because I am very very particular about my massages and thus, am rarely satisfied with them. This massage was the very first massage where I enjoyed it so thoroughly that I fell asleep. People always say that when you fall asleep during a massage, that means it was an incredible massage. Well, clearly this was one of those because when I was awoken by my masseuse at the end of the treatment, I felt rejuvenated! Perhaps it had to do with the “cozy soak” coupled with champagne prior to the massage, but regardless of the reasons, I gave this spa experience a 10 out of 10!
We felt like we were floating on air after the spa treatment, and decided to mosey around the resort before dinner. We loved all the intimate seating areas with fireplaces, and ofcourse, Alan had to check out their cool Game Room!
For dinner, we stayed on property and dined at Manzanita. Led by the acclaimed chef Traci Des Jardins from Jardiniere in San Francisco, Manzanita offers a French-inspired Californian cuisine, with a regional mountain resort influence. It definitely had a menu boasting of delectables! I ordered the seared scallop appetizer and their squid ink pasta, and both were heavenly to me. Alan ordered the filet mignon that was cooked to a perfect medium-rare, and we ended our meal with one of the best bread puddings we’ve had!
Alan and I know the importance of making time for each other, and our marriage, but we’re both guilty of our inconsistency. It’s not that we don’t enjoy each other’s company, but it’s just so hard to juggle our work, family time, house chores, and all the other little facets of life. Our date nights are monthly rather than weekly, but when we do get time together, it is very refreshing to have uninterrupted adult conversations. We genuinely enjoy our times together, and this trip was a nice reminder for us to make more time to do so. I’ll definitely be writing on this topic in another post… 🙂
1 Comment