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You know those little sponge pills that you stick in a cup of water and they expand to be a huge dinosaur?
That doesn’t really look like a dinosaur. Regardless. You get the idea. (Image via Alibaba.com)
That? Has happened to our guest list.
I thought it could never happen to us. Not me, no way, no how. I’m a loser, I don’t know that many people, I have a small family. If anything, we’d hit well under the 100-person mark that we have been basing cost points off of.
Yo dudes and dudettes. I’m finally ready to share the Skunks’ RSVP turn out.
We sent out 83 of the 85 invitations that we bought. I ended up giving the other two to my mom, so now, I sadly don’t even have one for myself. Those invitations belonged to 168 potential guests.
That number may or may not be right. I tried to guess whether or not whole families would come or not. And while I didn’t count little babies, I counted bigger babies if I thought they might eat or have a beer. (You never know, we Skunks get wild.)
Image via GotSmile
I thought I’d thought of everything when it came to the reply cards.
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I have a scandalous amount of bridesmaids. Eight. I’ve noticed that in Weddingbee world this is often considered a humungo number. Some people think it’s downright ridiculous. Honestly, most New York weddings have big wedding parties. Even though I’m not doing the New York thang for our wedding, I guess I can’t shake that part of my “wedding culture.” It might sound like an excessive amount of girls, but they are all my bridesmaids for good reason.
My sister is my maid of honor, then I have my two best friends from home, my four best college friends, and my sorority little sister who is a major reason why Mr. P and I are even together. We may not get to see each other as much as we used to, we may not get to speak to each other as much as we want to, but I know these girls would be there for me no matter what. They have been there supporting Mr. P’s and my relationship since day one, so it only makes sense that they stand beside us on our big day.
Has it been difficult coordinating schedules and getting everyone in one place? Yes.
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AAE is selling a set of 25 crystal ball vases. She’s asking $750.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee Classifieds, and you might see it featured on the blog!
Other great items for sale:
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
This post is not about my adventures with yoga, although I admittedly have some embarassing stories to tell. (Like one time, when I lost my balance and fell into someone else while trying to get into tree pose? That was calming.) Instead, I am going to talk about my ideas for DIY centerpieces.
To be honest, I have not spent much time thinking about centerpieces. I’ve remembered off-handedly admiring them at other people’s weddings, but I am usually distracted quickly by other things that are around me: the entrance of the bride and groom, the fish entree, the cutting of the cake. By the time that dinner was over and the dance floor was opened, I barely paid those lovely centerpieces another thought. That is, of course, until I started thinking about what to put on the tables at our restaurant reception in Vegas.
The (undecorated) private room at our reception restaurant
I knew that I wanted something. I would feel a little weird having completely bare tables. I knew that I didn’t want to spend a lot of time or money on them, given my brain’s way of diverting attention away from them. I also knew that I am not the craftiest of DIYers. So I started to think about what I could put together relatively quickly on my own.
Today marks the two week point for the Ferris Wheels, and I gotta be honest that it feels crazy-making to know we’re so close yet there’s still so much that needs to get finished. Some of those last-minute tasks make sense: escort cards (because we’re still trying to finalize our guest list), seating arrangements (because we’re still trying to finalize our guest list), and baking stuff for the dessert buffet (because there’s only so long that a baked good will last).
Then there are other tasks that I really wish had been completed earlier, but for one reason or another they’re still up in the air, like the videographer (because we didn’t decide until the last minute that we even wanted one) and wedding party gifts (because of various snafus in the production process). But perhaps the biggest last-minute project(s) has to do with my dress.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Congrats to our winner, LemonLavender!
~~~
It’s here! The lovely gals over at Southern Weddings are rolling out volume 4 of Southern Weddings Magazine, and we have a peek of it for you, just to whet your appetite! Amidst all the gorgeous pages of inspiration in volume 4 is the Ultimate Wedding Planning Checklist…everything you’ll ever need to know and take care of from one year out to your wedding day, right in one sweetly designed, convenient place. We hope you love the graphic design work as much as we do…it was done by none other than our very own Mrs. Cupcake!
Southern Weddings V4 is available on newsstands or online tomorrow, October 25, but we’ve got a copy in our hot little hands here to deliver to your doorstep!
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Then tell me your prices!
In case my other posts have not already adamantly expressed this, I am a big fan of excessive online research, particularly when it comes to things for our wedding. As I did my searching for a photographer, I found one thing to be quite frustrating: secret prices.
Some photographers’ websites listed their prices right there under an “investment” tab (such a pleasant title for something so nitty-gritty). I loved when this was the case. Other websites had an email or contact form to inquire about the cost. Most of these led to a quick email response that included the necessary information. I ended up with a very crowded inbox during my photography search, but I was OK with this as well.
Then there were some who responded to my inquiry by inviting me to set up an appointment to discuss packages and see their work. Not that I don’t love meeting new people, but making an appointment with a photographer whose prices may not be even close to within our budget was not super appealing to me. I understand that not all photographers have clear-cut packages, so I was not expecting a price quote down to the cent, but I was looking for a general price range so I could know if we were on the same page, or even reading the same book, for that matter.
After our rehearsal on the beach it was time for lunch! One of the tricky things about planning a wedding outside of our hometown was figuring out where we could go for a rehearsal lunch or dinner. I searched for a space with private dining rooms and the ability to select a set menu to keep our costs in check. It was tough.
When my mom suggested renting a house near our venue it changed everything. We’d have a big enough place that we could host a lunch at the house and keep the budget reasonable by making our own food and providing our own alcohol. Brilliant! After our blustery rehearsal we got back to the house and hung out on the patio.
We also got out our photo booth props to see if they would be any fun for use on the big day.
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“Who told you that you had to give out wedding favors? Etiquette has never thought of weddings as comparable to children’s birthday parties, where the guests might need consolation for not being the center of attention. You owe them only the hospitality of the occasion.” - Apparently, The Miss Manners
Yeah, but but but…true story time.
Once upon a time, I was a very bad wedding guest. It was entirely on accident, I cringe remembering, and I swear up one side and down the other I’m not a total snot. Mr. Raccoon and I were enjoying the wedding of our friends, and all of the sudden things were winding down because it was time to leave. I thought, Hmmm, odd, no favor. My eyes scanned the room—no one else was leaving toting bubbles, little tulle bags stuffed with almonds, or any other goodies. No favor? Rational thinking set in that those thoughts were seriously stupid. Had they not just provided me with a way to see old friends, dance, drink, have nice dinner and dessert, and most importantly share their special day with them? They didn’t have to invite me. My rump was taking up valuable seat space.
On the other side of things now, guests are going to be traveling long distances to make it to our wedding, most likely they will need to get a hotel, maybe they are bringing a present, maybe they had to request time off of work, they have probably invested serious amounts of time, friendship, and love into one or both of us, etc. The list goes on. I don’t want anyone to be leaving and think, “No favors?” I want them to know how truly thankful I am they went well out of their way to spend their weekend with us.
So what are we doing? Giving everyone our warmest thanks.
Image via ChezWedd / Photography by Camilla Photography
I had two specifications going into choosing favors that really narrowed down the field.
I’m sure you could consider me vain. I very much care about my appearance, and will take as many repeat photos as it takes for me to find an “acceptable” one. Oh, the joys of digital cameras.
Well I’m not really going to have that option at the wedding. I’ll be trusting our photographers and wedding guests completely. Hence, I need to make sure I look as good as possible. Obvs.
A few things I’m worried about:
1. Getting a cold sore. Not just fever blisters or canker sores…I’m talking full-blown, caused-by-genetic-herpes-simplex-virus-1, can-only-get-rid-of-it-with-prescription-meds type of cold sores.
I won’t go too in depth, but I tend to get these when I get stressed. Before my doctor recently informed me of the wonder that is Valtrex and how well it works for the kind of cold sores I get, I would be stuck with those suckers for weeks. It hurt, it looked like I had a fat lip, it was disgusting. Naturally, I started getting worried that one would show up around the wedding. The meds definitely help—I just take a few pills when I feel the cold sore first coming on—and it’s usually only bad for a day or so now (instead of two weeks). Still, no amount of lipstick or makeup can cover that baby up once it’s there. So, to all that is good and pretty in this world, please do not let this happen!!
Go Mets!
2. “Asian-flush” red face. I promise this isn’t racist—it’s seriously called the Asian-flush (or glow), even though I’m not remotely Asian (or am I??). It tends to happen when alcohol is consumed, which I definitely plan on doing at our wedding. Sometimes I’m fine—fill me up with some drinks and I look like any typical, tipsy normal person. But sometimes? Oh my gosh you guys…I get red. Combine that with the red hair and I look like a freaking tomato. The thing is, like I said, it just happens randomly. I get red or I don’t, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Some people have suggested taking Pepcid AC at least 20 minutes before I start drinking, but I’m a little wary. I can’t really do a test run for this because the flush is so unpredictable. Needless to say, tomato face = not attractive = bad pictures. Harumph.
If you missed the first post, my lovely BMs took me up to Victoria for a fun, low-key bachelorette party.
Me in front of our Elizabethan cottage. I swear I was not pregnant—that dress is just a bit froofy.
Our second day in Victoria revolved around something that I was really looking forward to: Afternoon Tea at The Empress! I’m a huge tea fanatic and love all things tea, so this was one of the main draws for Victoria as our destination. I had been to The Empress several times for tea as a child and was really looking forward to going back!
And no, I’m not talking about Mr. Parasol. I’m still shout-it-from-the-mountains-smooshy-face in love with him.
**Just to clarify: this post is in no way anti-name changing. I truly admire all of you women and men who are excited about and follow through with the process of changing your last name, and to be honest, I’m a bit jealous!
Some of you may remember my name change post from a while back, where I wrote about why Mr. Parasol and I decided to take each other’s last names. A lot of careful thought and discussion went into this decision, and we were excited about sharing a hyphenated last name.
We’ve now been married for about a month and a half, and unlike Mrs. Cannon, Mr. Parasol and I haven’t begun the process of officially changing our last names. And we currently have no plans to do so.
At first, we both had a “We’ll deal with that later” attitude towards officially changing our names. I don’t know about you, but given the choice between dealing with various government entities and not dealing with said entities, I always choose not. Besides, like most twenty-first century newlyweds, we changed our names on Facebook, and we used our new last name socially, so we figured there was no rush to make things official. Apparently we Parasols are lazy. But as the weeks ticked by, I started to feel uncomfortable with the idea of our new last name, and I realized that there was more than laziness behind my nonchalance about legally changing our names.
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Qadbride is selling an ivory hair flower. She’s asking $18.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee Classifieds, and you might see it featured on the blog!
Other great items for sale:
3,700. The number of times we have typed “dress regret” on the Weddingbee boards. Why was I oblivious to this potential pitfall until it actually happened to me? After choosing the “Cambridge” I was done looking, or so I thought.
I mustered the courage to finally introduce myself on the boards and post a dress photo. Perhaps you remember my sassy avatar and if it’s out on the internet, it must be truth, right?
Then IT happened.
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