The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.

~Author Unknown

Yes, Eastnor was booked solid. Campbell needed to have the fulfillment week of their promotion during either July or August, when children were out of school. As mentioned, the castle was open to the public throughout those summer months and could not close except for weekends - and it was booked every weekend for weddings and events. But we required a full seven-day period. I was told that the castle was booked every weekend for the entire year.

Every other castle choice paled next to Eastnor Castle. Something didn’t click here. This was our castle, darn it. It was too perfect. The way I found it was too perfect. The Universe couldn’t be playing a joke.

I spoke with Heidi, the woman who found the castle for me and told her what was happening. As mentioned earlier, Heidi was a former school teacher. She told me that unless there was a teacher’s strike or something highly unlikely that would cause a schedule change, kids were out of school the latter part of June. She wondered if Eastnor might be available at that time and if the client would consider that time period for their promotion week.

Well, first I asked the client if they would consider late June and they said no, the grand prize week had to be in July and August.

But I contacted Eastnor anyway and asked if there was any possibility that there was availability around that time. The event coordinator at the castle checked the schedule again and discovered that the ONLY full week – the only seven-day period – that was available until the following year was…yes! The latter part of June! Somehow she had missed that on the calendar previously.

I then decided to forge ahead and review all the costs and expenses for the castle and found that the prices perfectly accommodated the client’s budget as well as my profit. I created a description of Eastnor’s features and a list of all the children’s activities – both those included in the price and extras that could be provided - and emailed it to my client. There was no way that the previous “no” from my client about the date would deter me from my conviction that Eastnor was THE ONE. No way. My presentation and my mind were prepared for the booking of Eastnor Castle.

The client had by then asked if I could possibly find a castle in North America that would work for this promotion. I went through the motions – research and calls – and found nothing remotely comparable to Europe, except for a castle in the Texas Hill Country that was patterned after a European castle.

Heidi and I waited in anticipation as the client made their decision...

But of course you already knew that Eastnor WAS THE ONE! :-) Souper Star Castle’s fulfillment week began on June 19th of the following summer in Ledbury, England. Mini Land Rovers and all :-)

To be continued...

Private Reply to Marilyn Jenett (new win)