Weekend Wedding Warriors

This weekend Mr. T, his mom (Future Mother-in-law T), and I hammered out our plan for the wedding table centerpieces, which she's helping us assemble.

First, we ruled out dry ice as a potential part of the centerpieces. There's actually an Albertson's near Mr. T's mom's house that sells dry ice, so we bought a pound and tested it out. FMIL T thought we could put a dish under the centerpiece pumpkin, with something in that dish to elevate the pumpkin itself, and have dry ice in the dish, waiting to be activated with water at the start of the cocktail hour. Here's what we found:

• Dry ice melts pretty fast. Timing its placement in the centerpieces would be tricky (AKA, a pain).
• Unless you have a lot of ice, and a lot of warm water, the effect isn't as grand as one would hope. When we had everything in place, you could barely notice the steam snaking out of the centerpieces. And for that much trouble, I want a lot more wow factor!

So, we decided to do dry ice in big cauldrons at the bar and the escort card table. Someone will still need to get the dry ice, not too far in advance of the ceremony, and then we'll have to make sure the staff knows not to activate it until cocktail hour, but apparently 5 pounds of ice and a good amount of hot water is supposed to give you enough steam to last an hour, which is perfect.

So now our centerpieces will consist of:

• Pumpkins, which we'll need to buy beforehand and carve a few days before the wedding. We've decided instead of table numbers, we'll carve "icons" into the pumpkins, like a bat, ghost, cat, raven, etc. Then folks will be assigned to the raven table, or the cat table, etc.
• Flowers that will go in the pumpkins. Even the "cheap" websites like fiftyflowers.com are pretty expensive, so we're going to hit the SF FlowerMart and Trader Joe's between Wednesday and Friday before the wedding. This stresses me out a little, as I feel like we have a lot to do at the last minute, but I think it's better than overspending on something I didn't even want to have in the first place! And flowers die so fast--no need to spend top dollar. Unless they're Black Baccara roses. Mmmmmmm. Anyway, filling out the flower arrangements are an assortment of feather and other picks that FMIL T and I have gathered over the last few months. This weekend we also cut branches off her curly willow and spray painted them black, applying orange glitter as they dried. That was Mr. T's job this weekend! So we'll have creepy glittery sticks in the centerpieces too.
• Fake tea lights that will sit in the pumpkins (under the flowers, which are not going to extend all the way down) and hopefully illuminate our icons so they are more visible and just plain look cool.
• Wreaths. The pumpkins will sit in the center of these. We bought some plain twiggy wreaths at Michaels this weekend and my task was to spray them with clear enamel and apply copious amounts of orange glitter to them. FMIL T is keeping them at her house to apply other fun things to them with hot glue.
• Votives, which we already bought.
  
• Possibly scattered (fake) Fall leaves. FMIL T had bought some of these.

Hopefully it will all come together! My concern is that folks aren't going to be able to see around the centerpieces, so we've committed to buying shorter, fatter pumpkins.

We were also on the hunt for cheap frames that could hold the various signs we'll need to post, like our menu for the bar, the menu of cupcake flavors, etc. We didn't find a ton, but the ones we found were only 99 cents, so I'm not complaining.

We pretty much traipsed all over town in hunt of frames, spray paint, containers to hold all our crap, wreaths, glitter, fake tea lights, and other fun decor elements. At the end of the weekend, I was exhausted! So much for a long holiday weekend. We packed most of it up and brought it to our house, where it's all cluttering up our front entryway. And the wedding mess begins! The cats were very puzzled about all the new stuff.

And of course, I didn't take any photos because I'm a bad bridal blogger. You'll just have to see it all later, I guess!

Sample Bout and Corsage

We're working with Etsy seller April Hiler Designs on the bouts and corsages. Yesterday she sent us these samples. Aren't they great?

We're taking the pumpkin out of the corsage b/c it looks a little imbalanced, but I love everything else. Can't wait to see them all!!

Bouts

Recently I reacquainted Mr. T with my plan to create all of the bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres for our wedding VIPs (he'd forgotten about this). I was explaining how the bouquets are made the day before, and the bouts/corsages have to be made the morning of.

"That's crazy," he told me. "You're not going to want to be doing all that work at the last minute. I don't think you should do it." I scoffed, but then I started thinking about it. We're going to have 5 bouts and 4 corsages. That's 9 things to make that morning. Hm.

So, I did what any good American would--I decided to outsource the labor, and I also decided to go with fake/dried flowers so we can get them done ahead of time. The good news is, we'll likely be at or under budget for these, so I'm not blowing our budget with this decision...just saving myself some anguish.

I pored over Etsy options and finally decided on a likely vendor. I like how she uses real dried elements in her work. We're going to make ours look "less harvest and more Halloween," but I think she's going to rock them. Here's a sample of her stuff:



Those are real dried lotus pods, and the pumpkin is real too!

So, I'm still committed to making the bouquets, but there are only three of those, and now my wedding morning has been freed up (I was having visions of getting up at 5 a.m. and hunching over flowers and floral wire...).

Phew. Mr. T heartily agrees with my decision, as you thought he might.

I love Etsy. Sigh.

145 Days to Go and OMG, We Have So Much To Do

I finally joined The Knot because they had some articles on Halloween weddings I wanted to read. The articles weren't really worth it, it turns out.

I had to put in our wedding date as part of my registration and I got an automatically generated checklist. These are the things we haven't done, and many of them are overdue according to The Knot:

• Make sure to insure your engagement ring. [We do need to do this. We also need renter's insurance. Sigh.]
• Decide on and meet with your officiant to discuss ceremony structure. [We've emailed some stuff, but no real discussions yet.]
• Brides: Start shopping for bridesmaid dresses. [Actually, the MOH and I are going to visit the other bridesmaid in LA this weekend for girl fun and dress shopping! I can't wait, it's going to be such a fun little trip.]
• Register for your wedding gifts, and don't forget to include some choices appropriate for your upcoming bridal shower as well. [GAH. No progress. We decided to register at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, but aside from agreeing that we need new knives, we don't know what to register for.]
• Brides: Decide on the bridesmaid dresses. [See above...maybe we'll get that done this weekend, or maybe the girls will just be left to their own devices. My only stipulation is that the dresses be black, and not too short!]
• Book a baker [done], choose your wedding [cup]cake[s] design[s] [to be done], and send a deposit [done].
• Start planning the rehearsal dinner. [No luck on this front. I've researched a few places, but we've only tried one, with disappointing results. We need to get back on this. I would love a more informal dinner, like Mexican food with margaritas, but there's not much near our wedding venue/hotel. Sigh.]
• Start working on your invitation wording and design. [I am happy to report we started doing this last weekend, even though Mr. T had a cold. That's info for a separate post, though.]
• Finalize your invitation wording. [TBD]
• Finalize menu and service details with caterer. [We still need to pick a vegetarian main dish and a passed appetizer. We're not doing that until October, though, so The Knot will need to scream at us until then.]
• Order your invitations and announcements (don't forget plenty of extra envelopes). [Again, TBD. Invites will take 2-4 weeks to print after a proof is approved, so we're thinking we'll send them to the printer mid-July or so. I'm torn on the envelopes...it's tempting to just have the printer do the return addresses for us, but another part of me would love to do either black envelopes with orange lining or vice-versa. And that means ordering envelopes and doing custom liners. Hm.]
• Start thinking about flower arrangement styles you like, and figure out what flowers will be in season on your wedding day. [Well, I guess I have thought about it. But I'm not entirely sure about the seasonal thing.]
• Decide on a floral scheme, choose flowers. [Not really done. Except I'd like Fall colors, and primarily reds, burgundies, and a bit of orange.]
• Reserve tables, chairs, and/or other rental equipment you'll need (unless caterer or site is taking care of it). [Mostly this is done, but we have some stereo equipment stuff to sort out.]
• Grooms: Start looking to buy or rent tux, suit, or other formal attire. [We did start...we just didn't see much! And other plans have prevented us from going shopping again. Can you hear me hyperventilating yet? This list is a mile long!]
• Book rehearsal-dinner site. [Um, no. See above.]
• Book hotel room for your wedding night. [We haven't done this yet. I think Mr. T would like us to stay at a high-end hotel near our wedding venue, whereas I would just like it to be easy, so I want us to stay at the venue (although The Claremont is sounding mighty tempting). So we're still discussing.]
• Compile packages for out-of-town guests with hotel reservation (done) and city information, and mail them out. [Our "wedsite" gives hotel info, but no city info. I'm undecided about mailing out packets, but I suppose I could put something together...in all my free time.]
• Grooms: Decide on your groomsmen's attire. [I doubt if Mr. T has put much thought into this. He only has one groomsman, so it's a little easier. I think he'd like his brother to wear a suit, but who knows what color suit, or what color shirt, or tie!]
• Book your honeymoon flights (if not using frequent flyer miles) and make all your other travel reservations. [I'm putting this one in Mr. T's lap...the mini-moon, that is. When we take a real honeymoon trip I'll be recovered enough to help plan it. For the mini-moon I'd like relaxation, good food, and a massage or two. And some nice scenery.]
• Brides: Choose your bridesmaids' accessories (shoes, gloves, etc.) and either purchase or pass along purchasing information. [Well, my girls can pick their own shoes, and they don't need gloves!]
• Grooms: Give all of the groomsmen the information they need to buy and/or reserve their attire. [Nothing done here; see above.]
• Pick out or design a ketubah or other marriage contract required by your religion. [We don't have to worry about this one. Check!]

Note that this checklist is not everything we have to do...it's just everything we should be doing during this timeframe...next month, there will be even more items looming over us! It's feeling a little insurmountable at the moment. One thing at a time, right?

OMW Week 16, WW Week 6, and Weekend Progress

Another 2 pounds lost! That makes 7.5 total so far. I was thankful not to be chastised by the WW tracker again this time.

I would've gotten to the gym earlier today, but we discovered that ants had found the cat food overnight. So we built a moat out of a cookie tin (thanks to Heather and Erik for the idea). The cats were super freaked out by it, especially Dobby, but hopefully they get used to it. I hate ants. Anyway, I didn't do my full workout today, but I only had to cut a few things.

Regardless, it was a good workout this morning. Warm weather makes for loose muscles! Friday's workout was really good too. mmmmwarmth. The older I get, the more cat-like I become. The cats and I basked in the weather this weekend. Ahhh.

This weekend was relaxed but we also got some wedding stuff done. First, we walked all around the UC Berkeley campus looking for likely wedding photo sites. This was inspired by Offbeat Bride's recent ad for Lilia Photography. I looked at Lilia's site, and found these lovelies:




Not only is UCB my alma mater and a nostalgic location for me, OMG dinosaur bones!! Or a casting of them, at least. How cool would that be for a Hallowedding photo shoot? Mr. T likes the idea too, so Saturday we went in search of fossils! It took some tramping around...apparently I never had a reason to be in the life sciences building when I went to school there? We eventually found it. Unfortunately the campus was having some sort of open house that day and it was packed. We can only hope Halloween is a little calmer. The campus is lovely and would provide a number of good locations, not the least of which would be the top of Sather Tower (seen in the first picture).

Feeling virtuous not only about getting wedding stuff done but also all that walking, I persuaded Mr. T to take me out to dinner at one of our candidates for the rehearsal dinner, a seafood restaurant in Berkeley (and no, not Spenger's). Sadly, although the restaurant was beautiful and my margarita kicked ass (had to use some extra WW points on that one!), my halibut was dry and overcooked. And for a seafood restaurant, that was just sad. Mr. T liked his crab cakes, but the halibut was a deal-breaker for me. As my day-of-coordinator might say...they had one job. And they blew it. Disappointing.

Sunday I worked on doing data entry into our spreadsheet; I entered in all the addresses I have and tried to track down some of the ones I don't. We still haven't sent out save the date emails but I feel closer to doing that now that I have a list of email addresses (with some gaps).

I had been waivering on whether to invite my mother's whole side of the family, because we're not super close, but I felt that politeness dictated it since I took a trip out to visit all of them (mostly my grandma, but we ended up seeing everyone) last Fall. I decided to just go ahead and add them to the list and stop stressing out about it, which means adding more money for food and cupcakes, etc., etc., but it's not all that much more, and plus now we have time to save up for it (since we were almost done saving money for the wedding anyway). So, if they come, we're covered, and if they don't, we have some extra, and I'm relieved to have just decided.

We are almost at the 6-month mark, and need to really tackle some of the bigger things like registering, invitation design, Mr. T's suit, etc.!! I'm feeling anxious about it.

This weekend we're attending Mr. T's cousin's wedding. His cousin's fiancee has trusted me to create the wedding bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres! That's a lot of trust, and I hope I don't let her down. Granted, it's an intimate family wedding, but still, it's hugely important. I'm thankful to have a chance to practice my workshop skills! It already feels like that was so long ago.

Flower Porn

I like both of these bouquets. And I love the look of the black ribbon on "handle" of the top one. That may have made up my mind about ribbon color!



This boutonniere is cute. I keep forgetting we need one for the ring bearer. I like that this one is small.


And finally, a color scheme that I adore but am not using. A girl can look, can't she?? MMmmpeacock.

Floral Workshop

The MOH and I took a floral workshop on Sunday. I was skeptical about how much this was going to help me, since I have nary a DIY bone in my body, but I thought it went really well! The instructor was nice and encouraging and very informative. I learned a lot about flowers. For example, when you receive flowers, it's the leaves that have a lot of the bacteria that kills the flowers more quickly, so you should strip off the leaves. Who knew?

For a Saturday wedding, she recommended picking the flowers up on Thursday, prepping them (de-thorning and de-leaving), and then letting them drink water/flower food for at least 5 hours, or overnight. Bouquets can be made on Friday, but boutonnieres/corsages should be made as late as possible, so either late Friday night or Saturday morning.

She also offered us a huge gift, which was that she convinced a few flower vendors at the local Flower Market to let us buy flowers at the wholesale price using her badge number. That's AMAZING! That alone was worth the cost of the workshop.

Before the workshop she sent us an email and asked us to bring gloves and shears, which the MOH and I had to buy. We started by stripping all the flowers. She mostly had roses there to work with; they are apparently very sturdy and good for us newbies to work with. You can see the MOH working with one of the metal rose strippers the instructor provided. I need to get my hands on one of those.


You can see how messy it gets! There were leaves and thorns everywhere. Note to self: Acquire large box for detritus.

After we'd prepped all the flowers she taught us how to put a bouquet together. You start with three flowers in a triangle and then add flowers, moving the bouquet in a circle. You hold the bouquet tightly, but not so tightly that you can't move flowers up and down to even out the look of the bouquet. For us, she recommended working with flowers in the same color family. So, shades of pink, or shades of red, etc. I chose two different types of red roses and some red berries. The MOH started with red roses and white spray roses, but quickly discovered why the instructor told us to work in the same color family--the white ones just stood out so much, it was clear when the arrangement wasn't symmetrical, etc. So the MOH ditched the white roses and grabbed some green berries, which I thought looked great.

Here's the MOH taping her bouquet once she was done adding flowers:

After taping them, next we added ribbon to cover the tape. I don't have a great shot of this part, but it wasn't too hard...just winding the ribbon around the stems. We finished by folding the frayed end of the ribbon underneath, then adding three pins. We angled the pins upward to stick into the stem, instead of just stabbing them straight into the ribbon. I also learned not to get a ribbon with a different color/textured edge--the edges of the ribbon were very obvious and distracting once I was done. I forgot to add my feathers until after I'd taped my bouquet (I'd brought some black feathers). When I remembered and got them out of my bag, everyone at the table stopped and said, "Oh....." like it had never occurred to them to add feathers. It's like, aren't you ladies reading bridal blogs? Come on, now. Anyway, I didn't end up adding the feathers, but the instructor showed me how I could add them, and it looked great, so now I can save these feathers for the real thing!

Here are our finished bouquets!




After we were done with our bouquets, we moved onto boutonnieres/corsages. Apparently the difference between the two (aside from which gender wears them) is that corsages have two flowers and light ribbon, and bouts have one flower and black ribbon. I don't know that I'll necessarily stick to the ribbon rule, but it was good to learn about them.

When the instructor started demonstrating how to wrap the ribbon, which involved wiring and folding and twisting and looping and tying, I turned to my MOH and said, "Um, you're handling these." After all, she's a Virgo, so I figured she'd be better at it. However, once we got into them, it was easier than I'd thought and I even helped the MOH with hers after she pinched her hand in the wire cutters and started bleeding. The instructor said that the MOH was her first casualty! We don't do anything small! Here are some pix of our hard (and bloody) work:





Not bad, huh? We were very proud of ourselves. I understand we just learned a few basics, but I feel so much better prepared to do my own flowers for the wedding. Now, I just need to learn a bit about centerpieces...

Flower DIY Workshop, plus random stuff

The MOH agreed to take a DIY flower arranging workshop with me in a few weeks. Since it looks like we're now having flowers on the tables, as well as my bouquet, the two bridesmaids' bouquets, and boutennieres for Mr. T, his best man, our officiant, the dads, PLUS corsages for the moms (and my grandma, if she comes), and it also looks like we dumbly decided to do it ourselves (with Mr. T's mom's help), I thought some training was in order.

The workshop is $75 per person (supplies are provided), and they walk you through all of the items mentioned above. While I think it's worth it, I also think that the MOH shouldn't have to pay for my bright ideas, so that's $150 added to our budget...which I'm wrestling with. I know it will all be cheaper than hiring a florist to do these things, so I suppose I just need some perspective. Right? Plus, if we're just hopeless at it, that will be a nice warning well ahead of the wedding, and we can start replanning our tables and talking to florists. So I guess it's a worthwhile investment. Right?

Speaking of bouquets, I just love feathers in them. Here are some fun photos from the interweb:






I really love the idea of feather boutennieres and corsages. We can make them ahead of time, and then use those same feathers in the bouquets to tie everything together.

Regarding the centerpieces, we've been struggling with how to incorporate the candy jars into the centerpieces, now that we've added pumpkins/flowers into the mix. I couldn't help but be interested in this candy-themed wedding on Weddingbee. First, I love their invites--candy bars with a golden ticket inside! Who wouldn't love that??




Second, for their escort cards, they used images of candy to convey the guests' dinner choices. You can barely see it, but the cards were clustered atop different boxes of candy--whatever candy your card was on coordinated to the table where you were sitting. High-concept, but I guess it worked for them:


Here are some pictures of their centerpieces:



I love the bright colors and how the candy is also in the vase with the flowers! Nice.

Here's a picture of a menu on the table...they put a different quote from Willy Wonka on each table's menu. I love these people!


I've been talking about my love for papercutting...look at these great numbers and letters I found via Weddingbee, for an Etsy vendor:




I love these! Sigh. Maybe we can recreate something like this on the invites...

I found another great pumpkin image, sort of like the Martha Stewart pumpkins I've been admiring:


I also found some great cake images during my search for cupcakeries. Look at the amazing Corpse Bride cake, complete with cake topper to represent the two brides:


And look at this great Hello Kitty zombie cake! Obviously not a wedding cake, but I love it:


And finally, speaking of HK, I love this pic of a Hello Kitty wedding done in Japan! The bride and groom run the Hello Kitty museum in Germany. Look at the top of her dress!

Wedding Recap

So, as you all know, I went to my friend and codancer's wedding this Sunday, and I've finally downloaded the few photos I took from my camera, so I'm ready to blog about it!

Mr. T and I were lucky enough to score street parking half a block away, so we didn't need to pay for a parking garage. Hooray! Chalk one up for Sunday weddings. Apparently Sundays are a traditional day for Jewish weddings, which I didn't know. As Mr. T and I battled the light rain on our short walk to the venue, we noticed other folks in red and black--the invites called for "fashionable red and black attire." It was easy to spot other wedding attendees! And once inside, everyone looked so fabulous--it was fun to see everyone's take on the red and black ensemble.

The wedding was held at a gorgeous historic San Francisco building. The ballroom had dark wood paneling, red carpet, and beautiful light fixtures. It was hard to take photos due to the dim lights, but here are a couple of crappy ones that I got:




After we arrived we checked our coats at the "self-serve coat check" (so smart!) and waited for the other guests to arrive and the action to begin. While we were waiting I occupied myself with taking photos of the lovely floral arch over the doorway in the cocktail area:





There were also rose petals scattered on some of the tables and all of the windowsills. After mingling for a little while, we all gathered in the ballroom where the rabbi--who was hilarious, and could have had his own stand-up act--gave us a little explanation on what goes on at Jewish weddings. This wasn't an orthodox situation, since the groom isn't Jewish, but they found a progressive (and funny) rabbi who would perform the ceremony for them. He taught us a little wordless melody to sing as the bride and groom entered, one at a time. If you look closely, you can see the bride entering on the arm of her parents in this picture:


Shortly after we'd entered the room, Mr. T murmured to me, "Oh, they have the good chairs. What are those called again?" I said, "Chiavari. And they're $10 per chair at our venue, so don't get too attached!" But I thought it was hilarious and a little sweet that he's taking notice of little details like the types of chairs.

Unlike your usual ceremony, where the parties head straight up to the altar (or in this case, the chuppah), instead the bride and groom sat down at a table in the back of the room, while we all stood around them in a large circle. They each read very sweet letters to each other (they did it without crying, which I'm not sure I could've managed), and then they and their witnesses signed the ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract. After that we all took our seats and the groom proceeded up the aisle to the chuppah (their wedding attendants were already holding the four poles holding the chuppah up).

The bride came up the aisle next, again accompanied by both of her parents. I really liked this and I wonder if I could talk my parents into it. Hm. I could see my mom feeling shy about doing it and my dad feeling a little hurt that I didn't want to have just him escorting me. They stopped halfway, hugged, and then the bride's parents walked up the rest of the aisle on their own, leaving the bride there. They walked up the chuppah, hugged the groom, and then took their seats. The groom then walked to meet the bride in the middle of the aisle and they did something that I've never heard about before: The bride circled the groom three times, and then he circled her three times. It was pretty sweet and also funny--both of them were grinning and giggling the whole time, and so were all of us. Then they walked up to the chuppah together, which I also liked.

The ceremony was nice--not too long, and involving audience participation--we had to say "Amen" frequently, and of course "Mazel tov" at the end, but I'll get to that. What struck me most was the bride's face--she was beaming the entire time. I couldn't see the groom's face, but I imagine he was the same way. I wonder if I'll be beaming or crying? Hopefully beaming. It's easier on the makeup. The rabbi included some personal details in his ceremony about the couple, which made it that much more special (and funny--the groom himself is hysterical, and one of the details the rabbi mentioned about the groom had us cracking up for a couple of minutes straight).

At the end the groom stomped on the glass and we screamed mazel tov at them, and they were married! They left the room to be alone together for a little while, which I totally plan on having us doing. It seems like a nice moment to celebrate what you've just done, without friends and family pulling on you for your attention.

They'd hired a great band to play immediately following the ceremony (a Balkan brass band), and once the happy couple was back, we all danced! We did some quasi-traditional Jewish line dancing (the horah), although most of us didn't really know the steps (that's what made it "quasi"), and after that came the part where the bride and groom were lifted up in chairs. I just kept thinking of that Sex and the City episode where Anthony tells Charlotte to keep her legs together while she's in the chair, "because no one wants to see the bride's beaver." Crassness aside, the bride later told me that the chair dance was "terrifying"--I guess it feels pretty unsteady, although neither of them were dropped, so it was a success (and no one saw anything, either, in case you were wondering). After that they lifted the two sets of parents in the chairs.

After the chair part was a really fun part where the bride and grooom sat in those chairs on the dance floor and we had to do crazy stuff try to make them laugh. Of course the belly dance ladies did a little piece (comprised of all of the dumb stuff we do in our rehearsals to make ourselves laugh), and their other friends and family stepped up too. I loved it! This devolved into just a general dance party with everyone on the floor. And this was all before dinner!

After all that craziness was cocktail hour. The food was delicious and plentiful, which was good since we were all hungry after all that dancing. It was an open bar, so we were all able to order our favorite cocktails, and I took advantage of the time to take photos of the escort card table and the bride's bouquet.

All of the escort cards had little icons on them corresponding to the table decor, and in addition there were maps of the ballroom indicating the placement of each table. I thought that was very cleverly done.



Because I'm a bad blogger I didn't go around and take photos of all the centerpieces. I actually didn't even take a photo of the centerpiece at our table. Ah, well. We were at the "lamp" table, which had a centerpiece comprised of three sweet little candle lamps and lovely red fabric. I liked the non-floral centerpiece idea (although of course now we are doing flowers for ours...but I still like the idea).

Speaking of flowers, her bouquet was gorgeous and covet-worthy:



Love, love, love, the black magic roses, the little curly things, and the hanging things. You can see how much I know about flowers through my use of the technical terms for them.

After the cocktail hour we were ushered in for dinner, which was delicious. The tables were taking turns making noise and being rowdy, which was funny. I can only hope our wedding is as uproarious. After we were done eating various family members and attendants made speeches, all of which were short and heartfelt. Then the bride got up and thanked everyone, explaining that as this was not a traditional wedding the first dance was also going to be untraditional. Then she introduced our bhangra teacher and her dance partner, who did a lively and fun performance. During their song we all got up on the dance floor and danced along--again, this crowd was ready and willing to dance! I loved it. After that the DJ went into some 80s tunes and we danced our hearts out, at least until the cake was ready to be cut:



Look at that crazy topsy-turvy cake! I watched as they wheeled it in, and every bump they hit set the top tiers jiggling like crazy. I have no idea how they cut it all up for us. In the bottom photo you can see part of the bride's gorgeous dress (her second dress, actually--she had major drama with her first dress maker and ended up paying for a dress that didn't fit her at all). You can also see the groom becoming sick of having his photo taken...I think men are just not used to being photographed. That's my theory on why Mr. T didn't like the engagement pix.

Anyway, to wrap up a long post, yummy cake was served (my piece was red velvet with strawberries, yum...I understand there was a chocolate tier in there too), more dancing and drinks were had, and then we went home and were very tired the next morning for work.

The happy couple left for their honeymoon in Vail and is, as I type, sipping hot chocolate and/or hitting the slopes. Mazel tov!

Centerpieces

In a moment of brilliance (I do have them sometimes), I turned to Mr. T and said, "We should ask your mom to do the table centerpieces for us."

Mr. T's mom is an advertisement for DIY; she refinishes furniture and has single-handedly (well, Mr. T helps when he can) decorated her house and landscaped her yard. We showed her some inspiration pix and asked her to run with it.

This is what she presented us with on Thanksgiving (the flowers are a bit wilted b/c I didn't think to take pix till a few days later):





The pumpkin is an artificial one from Michael's that she got for 75% off. As tempting as it was to stock up on these after Halloween, I think having real pumpkins will add a certain something. The flowers are a mix of a $7 bouquet from Trader Joe's and stuff from her yard, as well as a few things from craft stores (the feathers and fruit, dunno if you can see these in the photos).

The wreath underneath is to cover up the dish with DRY ICE underneath, which I love. I don't want folks to be breathing it in during dinner, but I think it doesn't last very long, so we could just have it billowing around during cocktail hour and then it would be done by the time folks wanted to sit down.

So, I imagine Mr. T's mom will come up to stay with us a few days before the wedding, and we'll go flower shopping...it's funny, as much as I thought I didn't care about flowers at the reception, it looks like we'll have them after all, but we'll do it DIY, not the florist route. I'd like more fall colored flowers than what's shown here--reds and oranges--but otherwise I love these. I also got inspired as we were talking about these centerpieces and asked Mr. T's mom if she'd help us DIY the bouquets and corsages, etc. She said she would! I think this will lower our costs considerably.

I'm not sure how we'll work in the candy jars. I know we could have a candy bar, but part of me likes the idea of having them on the tables. We're still thinking about that part.