- Invite only those in the wedding party
- Invite those in the wedding party and out of town guests
- Invite those in the wedding party, close family not in the wedding, and out of town guests
- Invite everyone
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Rehearsal Dinner guest list
Who gets an invite to the rehearsal dinner? While the true answer is "invite whomever you want", there seem to be several schools of thought on the issue.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Attending a Wedding While Planning a Wedding
This past weekend I attended a wedding while planning a wedding for the first time. It's an entirely different ballgame. You assess and critique EVERYTHING. The usual Post-Wedding Hungover version of myself normally has no clue what my fiance is talking about the next morning when she remembers the dresses, the centerpieces, the programs, etc. The morning after, I'm lucky if I remember the wedding colors, and am doubly lucky if I don't puke from the overexertion of trying to remember colors mixed w/ alcohol poisoning. I kid, I kid...
Even though I drank as much as I normally do this last weekend, I can recall every detail of the wedding. I assume that's because this is the first time I really SAW them. Even though we got drunk enough for Ms. Temple of Groom to randomly talk in a renaissance era accent (I'm not joking, at one point she couldn't find me so she was asking all our friends where her "liege"was) I remember everything. I feel like a superhero after the accident that gave him all of his super powers. In this case imagine a giant wedding planning book dropping on me from space in a vineyard (that's where the wedding took place). I climb out in a tattered suit and yell "I REMEMBER EVERY DETAIL!!!! THE COLORS WERE BURNT ORANGE AND CREAM! PASS ME ANOTHER FRIED RISOTTO BALL!!!" I admit, not the sexiest superpower, but it's a start.
Anyway, yes, attending a wedding while you're in the early planning stages is totally a different experience and it's actually an extremely beneficial experience too. You're looking for new ideas, seeing what worked, seeing what didn't work. You learn so much. Perhaps the best thing I saw at this wedding was the table assignment cards. Instead of getting a piece of paper w/ your name and table assignment on it, the bride and groom wrote a really heartfelt letter to each person/couple. It was such a nice touch. I've never seen that before. What are the rules about stealing this idea?! Another great tidbit I learned from the wedding was born from tragedy. Apparently before the reception the venue noticed the centerpieces kept blowing over (the winds in central CA are pretty gusty!) so the bride had them pull the centerpieces from the tables. That taught us if we're going to DIY our centerpieces, and have an outdoor wedding, we need to take wind into consideration. Also it showed me that a table didn't look lost w/o a grand centerpiece. A centerpiece can be small, simple, classy, and sturdy and be just fine! Lastly, Rebecca and I have always worried about planning something after the reception, or having ideas for our friends who want to afterparty. After the reception last Saturday we realized we no longer have to worry about that. If you have booze hungry adults they will find alcohol on their own. We got them as far as we needed to take them, they are responsible for the rest. WE were able to find the one bar still open in Solvang w/o the bride and groom worrying about us! So we'll do the same.
Even though I drank as much as I normally do this last weekend, I can recall every detail of the wedding. I assume that's because this is the first time I really SAW them. Even though we got drunk enough for Ms. Temple of Groom to randomly talk in a renaissance era accent (I'm not joking, at one point she couldn't find me so she was asking all our friends where her "liege"was) I remember everything. I feel like a superhero after the accident that gave him all of his super powers. In this case imagine a giant wedding planning book dropping on me from space in a vineyard (that's where the wedding took place). I climb out in a tattered suit and yell "I REMEMBER EVERY DETAIL!!!! THE COLORS WERE BURNT ORANGE AND CREAM! PASS ME ANOTHER FRIED RISOTTO BALL!!!" I admit, not the sexiest superpower, but it's a start.
Anyway, yes, attending a wedding while you're in the early planning stages is totally a different experience and it's actually an extremely beneficial experience too. You're looking for new ideas, seeing what worked, seeing what didn't work. You learn so much. Perhaps the best thing I saw at this wedding was the table assignment cards. Instead of getting a piece of paper w/ your name and table assignment on it, the bride and groom wrote a really heartfelt letter to each person/couple. It was such a nice touch. I've never seen that before. What are the rules about stealing this idea?! Another great tidbit I learned from the wedding was born from tragedy. Apparently before the reception the venue noticed the centerpieces kept blowing over (the winds in central CA are pretty gusty!) so the bride had them pull the centerpieces from the tables. That taught us if we're going to DIY our centerpieces, and have an outdoor wedding, we need to take wind into consideration. Also it showed me that a table didn't look lost w/o a grand centerpiece. A centerpiece can be small, simple, classy, and sturdy and be just fine! Lastly, Rebecca and I have always worried about planning something after the reception, or having ideas for our friends who want to afterparty. After the reception last Saturday we realized we no longer have to worry about that. If you have booze hungry adults they will find alcohol on their own. We got them as far as we needed to take them, they are responsible for the rest. WE were able to find the one bar still open in Solvang w/o the bride and groom worrying about us! So we'll do the same.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Food, Glorious Food
I'm going to a wedding this weekend, and as I sit at my desk, starving for lunch, I can only think about what type of food they'll serve. I'm positive I marked "Beef" months ago, when I rsvp-ed, but I'm daydreaming about what kind of beef, what kind of passed hors d'oeuvres will there be, maybe there's food planning to be there that I don't even know about! I'm excited. It got me thinking though, do any of you have a wish list of foods you'll see at a wedding?
There is, however, one item that makes a guest appearance every so often that literally makes me do a jig when I see it: the huge tower of shrimp cocktail. The most delicious oxymoron there ever was, the jumbo shrimp pyramid. I've been known to devour 3 dozen shrimp before cocktail hour is over. Call me George Costanza, I don't care. My dad and I stand with our backs to the shrimp table as if we've yet to see it, and one of us will casually say "Did you know they had a jumbo shrimp cocktail tower?". The other will subtly act surprised when he turns to see it. It's a beautiful dance we do once our appetizer plates are empty.
Other notables on the "Dream Team" of wedding reception food I'm compiling in my head are:
There is, however, one item that makes a guest appearance every so often that literally makes me do a jig when I see it: the huge tower of shrimp cocktail. The most delicious oxymoron there ever was, the jumbo shrimp pyramid. I've been known to devour 3 dozen shrimp before cocktail hour is over. Call me George Costanza, I don't care. My dad and I stand with our backs to the shrimp table as if we've yet to see it, and one of us will casually say "Did you know they had a jumbo shrimp cocktail tower?". The other will subtly act surprised when he turns to see it. It's a beautiful dance we do once our appetizer plates are empty.
Other notables on the "Dream Team" of wedding reception food I'm compiling in my head are:
- a table w/ various cheeses and meats (sausages, prosciutto, etc)
- some sort of mini crab cake (one that doesn't try to be a Maryland crab cake, perhaps one that has some sort of asian inspired dipping sauce)
- perhaps some sort of salmon (or bacon) wrapped around a piece of asparagus
- a nicely cooked, and cut, steak (I'm fine with roasts, but an actual steak is on the dream team)
- desserts other than cake
- a signature drink (I like the thought of having one more than the drink most of the time!)
Monday, July 6, 2009
Mason Jars = Awesome
Does anyone else think mason jars are awesome?
I may need to "borrow" this idea! I think this looks so cool. Our wedding is at night so the more candles/twinkle lights I think the better. I'm thinking we'll go to a flea market and buy a bunch of different types of jars and do a variation of this idea!
I may need to "borrow" this idea! I think this looks so cool. Our wedding is at night so the more candles/twinkle lights I think the better. I'm thinking we'll go to a flea market and buy a bunch of different types of jars and do a variation of this idea!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
LIFE Gets Married
...and I get sweet sweet vindication!
LIFE Magazine posted some great vintage pictures of famous weddings and one in particular caught my eye. Take a look at this picture of JFK's wedding and the caption LIFE has written about it, and tell me what's rightfully missing from the wedding day equation.
"Sitting Down to Dinner"
"The Kennedys enjoy a bridal meal of fruit cup, creamed chicken, and ice cream sculpted to resemble roses, 1953." -LIFE Magazine
So... what's missing? A CAKE!!!!!!! Ah HA! No cake! If ice cream (or at least a different and, in my opinion, much better dessert) is good enough for JFK, an American icon, it's good enough for me! Case closed. Look at this quote I dug up (made up) on the internet from President Kennedy.
"We choose to go to the reception. We choose to go to the reception in this decade and not have cake. Not because it's easier and cheaper, but because there are other desserts, because that goal will organize and measure the best of our creativity and taste.
And so my fellow Americans, ask not what you can do for your baker or pastry chef, ask what your baker or pastry chef can do for you!
I had a dream, and it was a reception without cake! Read my lips, no new cake! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall of cake! I did not have sexual relations with that cake. A reception without cake, YES WE CAN"
-President John F. Kennedy
Wow... he said all of that stuff... fact. And he had Marilyn Monroe, so I think that pretty much wins it for everyone who voted "Not cake" in the first Temple of Groom poll. His vote counts more....
LIFE Magazine posted some great vintage pictures of famous weddings and one in particular caught my eye. Take a look at this picture of JFK's wedding and the caption LIFE has written about it, and tell me what's rightfully missing from the wedding day equation.
"Sitting Down to Dinner""The Kennedys enjoy a bridal meal of fruit cup, creamed chicken, and ice cream sculpted to resemble roses, 1953." -LIFE Magazine
So... what's missing? A CAKE!!!!!!! Ah HA! No cake! If ice cream (or at least a different and, in my opinion, much better dessert) is good enough for JFK, an American icon, it's good enough for me! Case closed. Look at this quote I dug up (made up) on the internet from President Kennedy.
"We choose to go to the reception. We choose to go to the reception in this decade and not have cake. Not because it's easier and cheaper, but because there are other desserts, because that goal will organize and measure the best of our creativity and taste.
And so my fellow Americans, ask not what you can do for your baker or pastry chef, ask what your baker or pastry chef can do for you!
I had a dream, and it was a reception without cake! Read my lips, no new cake! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall of cake! I did not have sexual relations with that cake. A reception without cake, YES WE CAN"
-President John F. Kennedy
Wow... he said all of that stuff... fact. And he had Marilyn Monroe, so I think that pretty much wins it for everyone who voted "Not cake" in the first Temple of Groom poll. His vote counts more....
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