Tonight's BBQ will start at 6 pm and will take place at Dara's grandma's house. Come one come all.
We've found an absolutely beautiful place for our ceremony and reception. The Millers and Sandborns have warmly and graciously offered their garden and grounds to Dara and Mark for which we are so grateful. The location is stunning.
The ceremony will start at 4 pm, so please arrive by 3:30. Reception starts at 5:30.
The address is 801 Los Laureles Grade.
From Carmel, head east on Carmel Valley road about 10 miles. Los Laureles (G20) road is on the left. When you are coming up the Grade from the Carmel Valley side, the driveway is on the right - hand side, at mile marker 2. There will be signs.
From Monterey head east on Highway 68. After the entrance to Laguna Seca, look for signs for Los Laureles Grade (G20) on the right-hand side.
From Salinas head west on Highway 68 about 9 miles, and look for signs for Los Laureles Grade (G20) on the left-hand side.
When you are coming up the Grade from the Monterey/Salinas side, the driveway is on the left-hand side, at mile marker 2. There will be signs.
An update from wedding headquarters here! Mark and Dara have decided on the camping site: Dara's Grandma's house in Carmel Valley. See directions below. Although Mark and Dara have not finalized the site for the ceremony or reception, they do know it will be within 5 miles of Grandma's house here in Carmel Valley. They'll finalize their ceremony and reception locations today, so check here for an update tonight. Let the bliss continue! There will be no snuffing out this blazing love! Thank you for all your empathy, flexibility, and offers of support.
Coming from San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland
1) Take 101 South all the way to Salinas.
2) Take the 2nd Monterey Peninsula exit. This is actually the 2nd exit with this name on Highway 101-it is one of the last Salinas exit; Do not exit at Highway 156!!
At the bottom of the exit, turn right on to Sanborn Road.
Sanborn Road becomes E. Blanco Road. This is about 2 miles
3) Turn left onto Highway 68/S. Main Street (at the Shell station).
4) Go about 9 miles and turn left onto Laureles Grade. This is a stop light.
Go about 5 until the road ends at W. Carmel Valley Road.
5) Turn left on to Carmel Valley Road. Go about .8 miles (at mile marker 10.4).
6) Turn right (into driveway) after the flashing 25 mph sign. Look for the “Mark and Dara” sign at the entrance to the driveway. It is the long drive way lined with pine trees on both sides. The numbers “274” are on either side of the driveway. Look for parking signs
We have a report that both Carmel River Inn and Carmel Mission Inn apparently have rooms.
Carmel River Inn:
Tel (800) 966-6490
http://www.carmelriverinn.com
We've heard that Carmel River Inn is having a special, 129$ per night, through the end of the month.
Carmel Mission Inn:
There is currently a major wildfire going on in Big Sur, to the scale and magnitude that has not been seen in a couple generations. Mark’s family’s property, the site of the wedding, is in the middle of this. We just got an update a few minutes ago from someone onsite: the main ranch house has been saved by major efforts from the fire crews, but it appears the fire ravaged the property, has burned the barn, and the other residences on the property may have been lost (the canyon was too hot from the fire to walk down the driveway.) The neighbors to the immediate north and south have lost their homes. The Big Sur valley is threatened now too, camping and lodging facilities are currently being evacuated. The Big Sur community is experiencing a tremendous amount of loss right now, and is working hard to save what can be saved. The highway is closed from Ventana southward and many areas to the north are either evacuated, or are being evacuated now. There is a lot of chaos as a result. As you can imagine, this is causing us to change our plans. If you want up to date information on the fires, Google “Big Sur Gallery Fire”. The fires started as a result of extremely hot weather followed by a freak lighting storm that came through Saturday afternoon.
We are still getting married and still having a wedding extravaganza. Several beautiful locations have been offered to us and we are in the process of choosing the best option. Most likely it will be in Carmel Valley now instead of Big Sur.
We will still have a camping option. If you planned on camping, you can still expect to.
People planning on lodging in Big Sur should no longer expect to stay there. Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and Campground have been evacuated, as well as Ventana Inn and Post Ranch. The central part of Big Sur is now threatened by the fire.
Please follow these important next steps.
1) Check our web site frequently for updates about our new location and other details. Http://mark-n-dara.blogspot.com (there are no updates but we’ll have some soon!) For people who need to re-book lodging, a good local resource is a website called http://resort2me.com you can also call them 1-800-757-5646. Tell them you’re looking for lodging near/around Carmel. Be warned, there is a Blues Festival happening in the area, and availability will do down and prices will go up as we near the weekend. Again, if you were planning on camping, you’ll still have that option. If you were lodging, and are willing to camp at this point, you are invited.
We are terribly sorry for these last minute changes. We hope that you’re able to be flexible and work with us to make this wedding weekend wonderful and beautiful. As you can imaging, we’re dealing with a lot of chaos right now, and the damage to Mark’s family property and neighboring homes/community is truly heartbreaking, and makes the loss of our original vision for our wedding seem minor.
We know you’re sending your love and support, and we look forward to seeing you this week/weekend.
The countdown is on – only a few days until we’re hitched! It’s coming up fast and our excitement has been growing with the receipt of every RSVP card. Thank you all (ok…many of you) for the thoughtful, clever, and at times, touching haiku’s. They have been highlights to receive. If you haven’t sent one, plan to make one up on the fly on the day of the wedding.
Check out the following updates:
- Transportation for carpooling information and how to get to the ranch
- Actitvities for new info
- Registry information
- Camping - For those of you camping at the ranch, with details about what to expect, what to bring, etc.
Many of you have asked where we are registered, and we just looked at each other uncomfortably. Well, we finally did it. Here are a few guidelines (in order of preference):
- Your presence is present enough. Really, it’s a long way to come for most of you and we humbly accept your presence as a gift.
- Instead of a gift, consider contributing to Bike Works, www.bikeworks.org, a non-profit that we think is doing great things in the world. Their mission: Building sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling.
- Bring or send us your favorite recipe; we’ll think of you each time we use it. (Best kept family secrets are highly encouraged)
- Finally, we’ve registered at Crate & Barrel and Macy’s:
a. Crate & Barrel - http://www.crateandbarrel.com/gr/guest/viewRegistry.aspx?grid=4190000
b. Macy’s - http://macys.weddingchannel.com/gvr/guestregistrydetail.action?retailer_registry_uid=306722320&listby=dept
