Weddingbee Blog

You’ve all seen it. The soft, fuzzy picture of a couple in love. It conjures up a warm, happy, daydream-y atmosphere, not to mention hides many a skin flaw.

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Now you, too can create your very own soap-opera scene, lovey-dovies included. All thanks to my man, Gauss.

You see, Mr. Gauss was a smart guy, and he came up with a bunch of ideas to contribute to the world of math and science. One of his more well-known ideas looks a little like this:
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A while back I posted a thread on the boards about whether or not to even have assigned seating. I’m a little concerned about our guests that don’t really know anyone else and might have a hard time finding seats or feeling excluded. BBBUUUUTTTTT I don’t want the reception to feel TOO formal.

The general consensus for the size (roughly 150) and formality (semi-casual) was to have assigned tables and escort cards. This gives the guest just the right amount of direction I think. I really feel like this is going to be a huge project. I need to be very careful about who I seat together. I want the conversations a-flowing right along with the wine!

Since I (probably) came to a decision on this subject, I Googled the crap out of escort cards for inspiration! Chickity check some of my faves:

I LURVE these ones! I like the way the different patterns go together… I could totally replace those with quilt-ier looking fabrics! There’s even a tutorial! (I totally just typed “tortilla” just then… LOL I’m hungry…) Source

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I don’t know if anyone’s noticed this but when it comes to DIY projects, I’m all about K.I.S.S.

As in, Keep It Simple, Stupid! I lack the crafting skills of say, Miss Hot Wings or Miss Cola. They (along with many many other bees and many of you lovely readers) are ridiculously talented. I, on the other hand, am not. I know my limits and most of the time, my desire to craft requires simple projects in order to keep everything from looking like a 5-year-old had a hand in making it.

Literally, every single one of my DIY projects have been blessedly simple. Drink flags, paper flowers, signage, favors, none with more than 5 steps at the most. Yes, while I have not been gifted with craft talent, I am at least smart enough to figure out ways to simplify things so I can make ’em work.

Thus, our programs were born, and in keeping with the mantra of K.I.S.S., they are short, simple and sweet.

First, I had to figure out the content. After meeting with our Rabbi and figuring out an order of events, I simply listed the order of the ceremony on one page, along with an explanation of Jewish wedding traditions below and on the other page, put the list of the major players (bridal party, Rabbi, etc.).
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Go round and round, all the way to our wedding!

Mr. Cola and I are following in the steps of several bees, and will be renting a charter bus for our wedding guests. Considering the hotel is a half hour away, and our venue is at the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains, up a curvy, carsick-inducing road, I consider it money well spent. No guests of ours will be getting DUIs or in a wreck on account of our wedding!

Here is a peek at a mock-up of the map I made for our invitations inserts, showing the windy roads—we even caution guests again to take advantage of our bus (click the map for a larger view):

But just because we consider it a necessary expense doesn’t mean we didn’t shop around for the best price! However, it proved to be more difficult than anticipated; gathering charter bus quotes was hard work.
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Hello hive! It’s been a few months since I recapped our ceremony, and I must apologize for leaving you hanging after the ceremony. I mean, c’mon, there’s now a PARTY to recap, right? So, here’s a few glimpses around the reception hall, just like the ones our guests had as they walked in.

Here is our gorgeous cake. Believe it or not, this is buttercream. They got it super smooth for me. I was impressed…I wish I could get my cakes to look this smooth! We also got the florist to put a mini bouquet on top of the cake as our cake topper. It was absolutely beautiful, and we couldn’t wait to dig in!

We had king cake as our groom’s cake for the reception…
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Again, I claim no expertise. Most of this information I’ve gathered throughout my lifetime while listening to my parents discuss other people’s wedding and in attending some myself.

The number of guests in attendance at these modern-day receptions is especially large, usually in the hundreds. Elaborate 7 to 10 course meals are served, often starting with cold platters then followed by hot dishes such as seasoned lobster, and other Vietnamese and Chinese banquet dishes, often ending with fried rice and a dessert. Dishes will be served family style. Most dishes include either seafood, chicken, or beef. Vegetarians are typically provided with a different dinner option.

It is customary to introduce all “elders” on both the bride’s and the groom’s family at the start of the wedding. They are often considered more important than the wedding party, who are more like assistants to the bride and groom.
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Towards the end of dinner, our venue coordinator let me know that it was time for toasts, and that there were going to be a few more than expected! We had told her in advance that both Cory and Gina Sprinkle would be doing toasts, and that my mom had a slideshow planned. What we didn’t know was that another friend, my aunt, and my mom all wanted to make speeches, too! Our coordinator asked me if this was OK, and of course it was! I wasn’t going to deny anyone the pleasure of saying nice things about us during dinner.

The slideshow started up first, on the large screen that Marvimon has behind the dance floor. I was SO embarrassed about the slideshow, and at times I really didn’t want it to play, but I knew it meant a lot to my mom.
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I stumbled across the move “Enchanted” on TV the other day, and was inspired by one of my favorite moments. I love the scene where Giselle breaks into the song “That’s How You Know”. It never fails to make me smile. And today, I got to thinking of the multitude of reasons how I know Mr. Buttons loves me…

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Candy buffets are something I’ve never personally seen in action at a wedding, but think are so completely awesome. I have a huge sweet tooth, so the idea of taking home a sweet treat from a wedding is a little too good to pass up.

Our catering package already has a provision for a Viennese table, which will mostly contain chocolates, cookies and coffee. You’d think I’d just let the idea of a candy buffet go, since we will have plenty of yummy snacks available. No, of course not! The buffet is a great opportunity to stress myself out!

The first thing I did was get a rough estimate of how much candy we would need. Assuming an attendance rate of 50, the prevailing wisdom of the internet said at least 1 pound per person, which sounded like a lot. I continued to research the subject, finding anecdotes that either said the buffet was a huge hit and was wiped out or that the bride was left with pounds and pounds of candy afterward. I’m theoretically not opposed to leftovers, but I probably won’t be able to afford a new wardrobe for a while after the wedding, either.
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This is a fantastic DIY idea for a cocktail hour, or even a wedding shower, which I found on iDIY. You can put fun little facts on these about the bride (at a shower) or the bride and the groom (cocktail hour or reception). The best part? It gets your guests involved in the wedding.

iDIY

All it takes are little cards, which you can create using printer paper and cardstock. Just print out the fun little facts on pieces of paper and cut them into small pieces. Then, attach them to the cardstock.

To make the “scratch off” part, just mix two parts of metallic paint and one part liquid washing soap. Use a craft paint brush to paint over the image or fun fact on the paper.
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Yay!! I had an amazing bridal shower this past weekend. The Fro Yo bridesmaids planned a fabulous shower complete with wonderful food, people and gifts. Everything started out like a traditional bridal shower, but then there was a moment that everything shifted. Let’s do a walk through with photos, shall we?

I took some pictures with all of the wonderful hostesses:

We ate some yummy food, including cake balls made by bridesmaid Amy (look at the rings!!):
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The Romances spent a bright December day on Santa Monica Pier.

Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.

OK, since I just confessed in my last post that I’m worried about the “browns clashing”, I realized that I’m sorta obsessed about this color issue… like whether or not an all-white bouquet would clash with my ivory dress… And what about the guys’ outfits?? Do their shirts need to be ivory, too, or will anyone notice at all if they’re white and the girls are wearing ivory?

See what I mean? I can’t stop obsessing over these tiny little details that I’m sure nobody will even notice… EXCEPT me.

Want more proof that I may be alone in this Type-A color match addiction? Try googling “clashing colors+brown” or change it to “ivory”. Nothing even remotely related comes up… LOL. This is becoming an issue.

So, ladies, does anyone else beat themselves up over this is or is it just me?? Is it a total non-issue? (Probably.) Are you having a mix of ivories and whites in your wedding, or are you sticking to one or the other?

It seems like we went for our cake tastings a long, long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away). In reality, it was almost 6 months ago. We have narrowed down our bakery choices and made our final selection — our cake flavors will be:

• Genoise cake with vanilla mousse and fresh strawberries covered with white chocolate ganache
• Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse covered with white chocolate ganache
• Signature cheesecake with raspberry filling, covered with chocolate ganache

Basically, the first one is like really, really good strawberry shortcake. The second is a chocolate on chocolate cake (obviously my pick). The third is the best cheesecake in our city, hands down. So! Now all we need to decide is how we want our cake decorated. A relatively simple task at first blush; I posted about how I originally wanted a super simple cake, with just one single flower or a cluster of flowers for decoration.

Source

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Did I mention my mom is going to be growing all of the wedding flowers herself? Yep, there’s a twist in the plot for ya. You see, most florists in the Napa/Sonoma/Lake county wine region charge an arm and a leg to do-up some bouquets and 20ish centerpieces. We’re talking at minimum $5K. This is not something we’d be super stoked about with our $15k budget.

So when Mama Paisley said she’d be happy to grow all of the flowers herself, I leaped with joy.

First up, she knew how enamored I was with lavender fields, like this one here, at a winery in Lake County:

Miss Paisley and Professor Paisley in front of beautimous lavender

Please excuse my home-bleached hair. Don’t ever do that, by the way.

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