Wedding Blog

Our reception venue (photo by Chung Photo)

When Mr. Eggplant and I first began meeting with wedding vendors, one of our designers told us each to separately write down a few words that would describe the feel of our ideal wedding and then compare notes. The words I listed were: intimate, romantic, and charming. Mr. Eggplant came up with: whimsical, fun, and minimalist/modern. I wanted a wedding with romantic, indulgent decor while Mr. Eggplant preferred clean and minimal design.

Now that we’re further along in the planning process, our wedding is emerging as a blend of both our tastes. I recovered from my obsession with having a “dream wedding” many moons ago. Now I just want a fun, memorable event with lots of personal touches. Because Mr. Eggplant is super extroverted, his guest list is pretty long. Our wedding will host almost 200 people so my desire for a truly intimate gathering is out the door. I still want to keep a close-knit feel. To compromise, we selected a small boutique hotel for our reception. The venue has an enclosed courtyard and our banquet room has low ceilings. Hopefully both will create an intimate environment with an otherwise large guestlist. The hotel can only host one wedding at a time (well, two if the second wedding is very small) so I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll have the entire venue to ourselves rather than being bride #5473 of a wedding factory. I fell in love with the place because it’s reminiscent of a Mediterranean villa although it’s in the heart of bustling Silicon Valley.

For decor, Mr. Eggplant wants minimalistic centerpieces with sparse flowers. I like a more ornate look with tall silver vases and candlesticks, so we compromised and are having both tall and low centerpieces with clear vases and lots of flowers. Compromising was easy because I’m just grateful that Mr. Eggplant actually had a vision for our event and wanted to be involved in every part of the planning process.

So now our “wedding words” have changed to a blend of both of us: whimsical, charming, and fun. Mr. Eggplant and I definitely do not want to put on a show, but we do want to surprise our guests with little things throughout the night and keep them asking “what’s next?”

What are three words that describe your ideal wedding? Does your FI share your vision?