Picking the plates

Our site has round tables for us to use... and.. that's it. I wasn't really looking forward to choosing the rentals, but we've gotta eat off something.

So off we head to the rental warehouse. (*Side note, this was one of the more difficult tasks to convince Mr. SB to accompany me on. "No, whatever you pick will be fine, I'm sure. No, really. I don't care. Really.") And it was basically nothing like I had envisioned. There were not endless arrangements of beautiful china and crystal. There weren't aisles of color coordinated linens and place settings with creative stylings. Nope. It was more of a 1/2 business office 1/2 showroom than a warehouse and the sample tables & place settings were all ready for Thanksgiving. There were a few china cabinets with other examples, but certainly not the plate nirvana I expected. Since fall colors weren't what we were looking for, the vibe of the place was totally off. When we bravely made contact with a sales woman, she was able to steer us towards the "bride-y" stuff.

Here were the contenders...

White tablecloth with green overlay. We'd been told, "Oh, pick out your items and they'll set a table for you so that you can envision it!" Right. All they had was a tiny little bistro table to try stuff out on, so I'm not sure how a big piece would look. And realllllllly dim lighting.

Nonetheless, I liked this look more than Mr. SB did.

After sorting through other green linens, we found this little sample of a shimmery green. And all they had was this tiny napkin sized sample. So she puts the napkin on the table with a plate on it. And then looks at us expectantly... like "So, can you envision your wedding banquet?" Um, no. That's ridiculous.

She did managed to find a jumbo-sized sample which totally engulfed the little bistro table, but at least it was a better visual. The pictures aren't really doing the fabric justice. It has a little silver shimmer to it, which I think will be picked up nicely in the candlelight.

Item #2 in the picture above, our chairs. They had basically three options: metal folding, those, or chivari. Oh man, chivari, you are beautiful. But $5 extra dollars per person for a rickety, unstable chair isn't worth it. Especially when those folding, padded fellas above were so darn comfortable. They will be working double duty, outside for the ceremony and inside for the reception. I wish we had white for the ceremony, but I'm pretty sure I'll get over it. And will be so busy trying not to cry/crying during my wedding I won't notice what other people are sitting on!


Final decision of the day, the place setting. The saleswoman was really nice and totally un-pushy. She kept showing us their "basic" items and saying how nice they were. Mr. SB couldn't possibly care less about the plates & silverware we eat off of, so he was pretty suckered in by that (money saving) idea. I fell into the same mode and agreed that we should just get their basic china, silverware, glassware, and napkins.

Now that I look back at my pictures.... it's sooo boooooring. I mean, sure it'll look better with the table done up and napkin rings and a menu at the place setting, etc., but... blahhh. We should be receiving the official quote from the caterer/rental place soon, I'll have to check and see what kind of "upgrades" are available as I am no longer feeling the plain Jane above. For task two, I'm going to check out reception photos of other weddings and see if you can see/tell/care what the china looks like. It's nice to save money, but it's fun to look pretty.

How did the china fit into your look of the day?

Groomzillas

Recently, Mr. SB and I were were talking with a groom-to-be and I said "Oh, where's your fiance? She must be so busy these days!" And his response was a little different than what I expected... and then he admitted that he's very involved in the planning, to the point that she calls him a groomzilla!

Now, I've never heard that term before, but I am very entertained by it.

Source

I had to find out if these guys actually exist. Well, a little googling found a contest (!) for America's Biggest Groomzilla on www.mywedding.com

Here's the winner:

• Adam picked the wedding date and decided they were going to have a huge wedding (she wanted to elope).
• He picked the entire bridal party and then organized a day for all of the bridesmaids to go shopping together!
• All of the 40 centerpieces were handmade and painted by Adam. He also handcrafted each of the 300 invitations!
• He is planting hundreds of calla lily bulbs in their backyard greenhouse in case he doesn't like what the florist comes up with.
• He is replacing all of the art in their reception venue with his own framed prints.
• He chose a DJ that would play only his song selection, in his specific order!

Wowwwwwwwwwww. I have read plenty of examples of mothers, FMILs, BMs, etc. controlling/running the day. But the groom? Can you imagine battling your future husband at each of the millions of decisions? Can you imagine him undermining your choices? I saw an article recently about what various wedding planning fights mean for your future together. It's an interesting read, check it out if you haven't.

Mr. SB, I dig it so much that you help when I need it and support me at the other times. Thank you for showing no signs of groomzilla-ness.

Have you ever met a groomzilla? What aspects of the wedding did your groom tightly control?

I admit, I'm a bawl-baby

For the first 25 years of life, I was not. But now, I am a full-fledged bawl-baby.

I cry at reality tv, both when people get voted on or off. Or win. I cry at sporting events, when my team wins, or loses, or when they tell the sad story of the opposing quarterback making a great comeback despite blah blah. I get teary at commercials, especially ones for psych meds. And don't get me started on other people's wedding videos. No, I don't know you, but I'm crying over your video. Yep that's me.


WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ON MY WEDDING DAY?!

I'm trying to desensitize myself, watching lots of videos, visualizing my day ahead of time (the first look, walking down the aisle, saying my vows, first dance, dance with my dad... I'm tearing up typing this!!), but all that does is make me MORE teary. Jeepers! (*They really are all good tears, I'm super duper excited, just a lil' emotional. Ok, alot emotional. And I don't know why!!) I will of course have H.E.A.V.Y. D.U.TY. mascara but... the red eyes and puffy circles are not so hot. Especially on the most photographed day of my life.

Shedding a few sweet tears is one thing, crying throughout your wedding day is another!! I have no solution for this... how do I make myself less sensitive?? How can I plug up the tears???

Par-tays

I've been reading alot about engagement and bridal showers lately. Man, people have some creative friends!! I grew up in Georgia and my mom and I would read the Sunday paper's wedding announcements in utter amazement at the INSANE number of showers these women had thrown in their honor. A tiny (ok, sizable) piece of me was pretty jealous/excited for "my turn" some day.

Skip forward 15 years. None of us live any where near GA, nor do I live any where near my family and my friends are scattered all over the country. If you haven't heard, the economy's not doing so hot either, so money laying around to spend on travel to those types of parties is pretty scarce. So I've come to the realization that I'm not going to have any pre-wedding showers. (MOH K wants to have a spa day a day or two before the wedding, as a bachelorette party, which will be very nice. Which is why I'm saying "no showers" not "no parties.")

Source

I was starting to throw a teeny little pity party for myself, when I stopped to think. I don't love surprises, I don't love being the center of attention, and honestly, my wedding is a big ol' party. Do I seriously need another a few months before? (Although, someone else planning it would be nice!)

I've said before, and repeating it is a good reminder, I'm excited to celebrate my commitment to the love-of-my-life in front of my family and closest friends. If I really need a another day for people to celebrate me with a party, I'll have Mr. SB throw me one for my birthday. My wedding day will be plenty special (and I know people are excited for me) even without pre-big-day festivities.

But it won't stop me from looking at blogs of other people's. :)

Did you forgo pre-wedding parties? Or were they an important of your wedding experience?

Addressing envelopes

Now that the liners are cut, I can get started with addressing the envelopes, though they won't be sent for several months. Hooray for things you can check off your list early!

I knew pretty much immediately that I wouldn't be paying anyone to calligraphize them, so... to print or hand write? That is the question.

My handwriting isn't that bad, but there are some reallllllllll pretty fonts out there. You can also make sure the spacing/centering is even on the first take, so you avoid wasting envelopes. So let's compare....

Printed with ChopinScript from www.dafont.com

Printed with Miss SB script from Catholic elementary school. Har har.

I'd obviously have to pencil in some lines so that it's straight, but in my defense, the picture IS a little crooked. It looks better in person. Maybe.

I'm leaning towards computer printing, my mom voted computer printing, Mr. SB voted computer printing. But is it "cheating"??

What do you think? Will people care one way or the other?

Development of a Wedding Cake, part III

Flavors, check.
Size, check.

Design....

Overall, the look I'm going for. Sleek & white, three tier, symmetric. Decoration at the base of each tier. Orchids. But a little plain. From theknot.com.

Almost perfect... but still a little plain.
Source

Oh.... look at that texture between the tiers. Wouldn't that be lovely in green??
Source

But look at the detailing on this one!
Source

So, we turn to our lovely baker/cake designer to help blend all this together.

The green will be the texture/layered fondant, like in photo #3 above. The middle row with have fleur de lys and diamond piping detail. And there will be white orchids.

Our top & bottom tier are one flavor, while the middle is different. I love that the design reflects that and she was able to combine all our ideas into this sketch. And apparently I like sticks. :) Half of my inspiration photos (and some that I didn't post here) had them, did you notice?? This won't be 100% settled until later, but I'm really happy with our first draft.

How many components did you try to incorporate into your cake design?

Bebidas

For some reason, Mr. SB and I started referring to any alcoholic beverage as a "bebida." Why? Because we're cool like that. Anywho, alcohol is a large part of most wedding catering budgets and ours is no different.

We are getting married at a winery, and as such, will be purchasing their wine. They don't have a hard liquor license, so beer, wine, and sparkling wine (from neighboring vineyards) will be our options. (*I'm the teensiest bit bummed that we won't be creating a signature cocktail, but maybe we'll come up with one for the rehearsal dinner.) We're fortunate that they make really very yummy chardonneys, pinot noirs, and syrahs. Mr. SB's favorite wine is pinot, so that's easy.

Engagement weekend wine tasting at Duckhorn Winery, Napa.

I, however, am a different story. I don't like chards. I wish I did, but I don't. And that's the only white wine they offer. I DO like reds, but 0% trust myself to drink red wine on my wedding day in a very expensive white dress. And I don't want purple teeth in my pictures. I like sparkling wines, but they require renting extra glassware and purchasing extra bottles (we have a wine minimum from our site, exclusive of the bubbly). And I know it's fairly out of fashion to have a "champagne toast" at weddings, because of the extra cost, and how each person gets one little glass like-it-or-not, and the not-that-special-ness of toasting with it.

But remembering that I'm planning a day for me, not the rest of the wedding world... I would like the option to drink an alcoholic beverage that I enjoy, worry-free on my wedding day. Sparkling wine fits the bill. And realistically, the total with rentals and wine will be *maybe* $350 to add sparkling wine, and we might even be able to get away with less regular wine so the relative cost will be less. And I won't force anyone to drink it. I think "Please raise your glass (with what ever you have in it) to toast the bride and groom" is a perfectly acceptable sentiment.

Color co-ordinated wine varieties with my co-residents.
Ok, fine, we're dorks and switched glasses for this picture.

So, that's that. Red, white, and bubbly offered throughout the night. It's also a perfect way to showcase the variety of wines of Sonoma Valley to our out of town guests AND have enough variety for all.

Are you having sparkling wine? At all, throughout the night, or just as a toast?