Our Love Then & Now: Her story Continuted
Dear Deer Ridge Family,
We are a blended family, Mark has three adult children, and I have two. We have two grandchildren, that in our opinion are literally the smartest and cutest, ever! Andrea (my stepdaughter) was the first person to get married at our venue. However, she feels she got robbed. Construction and rain delays forced us to work with what we had. This is where our friends and family came to the rescue. What we didn’t have were restrooms, and one side of the building had an “open air” feel to it. Some guests thought that the “open air” area was windows (they were not). I reminded her of Marks saying, “we will have many experiences, some good and some not so good”. We laugh about it now and really her wedding was beautiful, fun, and filled with love and laughter. Her medical school friends still talk about what a great time they had, and swear it was the best wedding EVER! The moral of the story is Mark, and I can put on an amazing party, no matter what happens, or the circumstances in front of us.
They say not to build (construction) with your spouse, it can be a relationship ender. This was not the case for us. This was a blessing to our relationship. We spent quality time together, researching, planning, and talking through all of the thoughtful details. This process spoke to my love languages and truly was the best several years of my life. We had some “experiences” picking out and picking up the items for the venue, those stories are for another day. We repurposed and reused most of what makes our venue, Deer Ridge, and gives Deer Ridge the elegant but homey feel that it has.
Our days are still filled with caring for people in our healthcare professions, but our evenings are still quality time, dreaming up ways to improve the estate and provide our customers with an experience of a lifetime. We have hired the best and brightest to go on this journey with us. Becky is our Executive Estate Manager and Day of Coordinator “Finishing Touches”; Rhonda is in charge of interiors with the help of Kristin; Carlos and Cody provide building and grounds maintenance as well as executing all of our dreamed-up ideas. Alfredo and Joel are more than Bartenders, they keep or get the party vibe going. Sammy is our estate dog, she lives with Becky but makes appearances when requested, she is always down for playing ball and snuggles. We have a dedicated group of hard-working teens, friends and family who help us with just about everything! They are a huge part of the Deer Ridge family and could not do what we do without them.
Now for his side of the story….
-Laura
