Weddingbee

No pictures of the happy couple, unfortunately, because I didn’t get their permission yet.

Cocktail hour munchies

The cocktail hour room…

Which was later transformed to the dance floor (though only a small handful of guests danced, and none of the wedding party did!)

I duked it out with this polar bear.

Tables were named after animals to stay within the Explorer Club’s theme. The couple are also headed to Africa for their honeymoon.

We were seated at Table Gazzelle.

A cozy 9 tables fit in this room.

Towering berry covered branches were placed on each table…

…with loose arrangements of flowers in antique vases and pitchers surrounding them.

Though there were many great moments, the best part of the entire evening was the father of the groom’s speech. He brought out a book of poems the groom had written when he was 9 years old, and read a couple of them out loud. He prefaced them by mentioning the adage that “the child is father to the man”, and proceeded to analyze the deep meaning behind each poem. It was so funny… unfortunately at the expense of the groom.

The ceremony courtyard was transformed into a casual outdoor seating area where everyone enjoyed cigars after dinner.

It was gorgeous, warm and inviting.

Instead of a guestbook, each of these four frames had a line on top asking guests to leave marriage advice, a favorite memory of the couple, etc.

All paper items and decor by Artfool.

The groom doesn’t like to dance, so in lieu of a first dance he commissioned singer/songwriter Corey Dargel to compose and perform a love song during the reception. Corey, whose work has received rave reviews from the New York Times among many others, composes a three-minute love song based on your personalities, interests, love story, etc. It was so sweet and funny and perfect.

It’s hard to be impressed when you live, eat, breathe weddings… but this was truly one of the best weddings I’ve ever attended. They didn’t include a lot of “traditional” wedding elements, as there were no dances, favors, bouquet toss… but no one noticed at all. It was a beautiful wedding so very rich in feeling and meaning. « Hide it

Once Mr. Penguin slipped that ring on my finger though, everything changed, practically overnight. All of the sudden, Papa Penguin became very open and understanding of the idea that once we were married, it would become perfectly acceptable to make such life altering moves and changes for your spouse. Conversations about my future, about us having kids, moving into a bigger house for our family, etc, all now come really easily for my parents and me.

I do think it’s a shame that long term couples aren’t taken as seriously as engaged ones. The last year or so before we got engaged became particularly awkward for my parents, I think. Now my parents see Mr. Penguin and I as a unit, rather than just their daughter and her current boyfriend.

Has your relationship become more “legitimate” in peoples’ eyes now that you are engaged?
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Mr. Onion, Mrs. Onion and dear friend on our first trip to Vermont in 2005

Momma and brother Onion

Mrs. Onion’s Parents

Mr. & Mrs. Onion skiing

Mrs. Onion and bridemaid/best friend from college

Mr. Onion goof off at his college graduation with his brother

With the in-laws at Disney in Florida

With Momma Onion at my Litchfield Jazz Festival debut

Mr. & Mrs. Onion goofing off at Disney in Florida

BIL Onion and his girlfriend

Bridesmaid with Mr. Onion

With my bridesmaids at my bridal shower in August

I would highly recommend the photo slide show. It’s very personal and a great break in the evening. We didn’t have a “dancing hour” per se, so we showed the video while people were eating their cake toward the end of the evening. It was a great diversion. I narrated a bit as we went along and it made people laugh. Definately on my list of “Things we did right!”
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very chic bath

and your own private terrace!

And if we wanted beach time, there is always the Canary Islands.

The above pictures are from the Hotel Palm Beach, which has the modern, design styled rooms shown below. This place has decent tripadvisor ratings.

Or if you want something more traditional, consider the Hotel San Roque, also with good tripadvisor reviews.

The regular room.

Or splurge on the tower room.

Complete with its own terrace

that has views of the ocean.

But after some discussion, we decided that Spain was not the place for us- partly because we wanted more hotel like amenities, and partly because Mr. Dahlia had fallen in love with someplace else.
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The day of the reception came, and Natalie was actually early to our appointment. She quickly set up her tools and went straight to work after I showed her a few pictures of what I wanted (always a good idea).

I’m one of those introverted extroverts (if that makes any sense) so breaking the ice has never been one of my talents. I usually hate making small talk in hair salons because I know I won’t be coming back for another year, and they won’t remember me anymore anyway, so what’s the point? Yet Natalie has a warmth about her that contributes to easy conversation, and before I knew it I found out she used to know Brooke Shields and Jennifer Aniston in her childhood. Her easygoing personality was probably one of the reasons my experience with her was so memorable.

What I appreciated most though, was that she truly listened to what I wanted. She didn’t let me leave the room until I was happy with every curl, the false eyelashes were the length I wanted, and the lip gloss was exactly the right color. I loved how my face didn’t feel caked on with makeup, but it still lasted all night. To tell you the truth, I liked my hair/makeup at the Southern California reception better than at my actual wedding (and that had looked pretty darn good, if I do say so myself)!

If only she was in Northern California…I’d be calling for her services at every formal event!

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Rating: 5/5

Pros: Affordable price, attentive, easygoing, prompt

Cons: Can’t think of any.
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Using my trusty HP Printer I began to print our invitations. Once I got the template figured out, it was smooth sailing from there. I printed out our rehearsal and dinner info along with the individual names and addresses in the same brown color and font that we have used on all our other projects. I know that I will probably be the only one to notice but I have this burning need to keep everything consistent.

I am really pleased with the end result and Mr. Jelly Beans was very pleased with the cost-analysis of this project.

All done! Off to the post office they went!

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