Weddingbee Blog

And this may be one of the more approriate times I am biting Martha’s catchphrase, since this time I use it to refer *to* Martha Stewart, whom I am going to see at her TV show!!

It gives Mr. Daisy pause from time to time, when he sees that I have DVR’d a Martha or an Ellen episode. But, really, the whole “working” gig precludes me from watching some of the awesomest TV out there (at least during the 2.5 days per weeks that I do actually work…)

Anyway, here is what I received in my mailbox:

Your Ticket Request Has Been Granted…please read on….

We look forward to having you in our audience on 9/– for our —– show
when scheduled guest
————- will be here! …it should be an exciting show!

(A total of four (4) tickets have been reserved under your name if you
would like to bring some of your other new-mom/bride-to-be friends.
Please note the time change.)

Ok, yay! And for this auspicious occasion, my friend Jolie (the closest thing to Martha that I know in real life) may even make the trip down from Boston. That email is right– it *should* be an exciting show! I cannot wait!!

So last Friday, in the morning, I headed up to the Catskills–destination: the Full Moon Mountain Resort, where Liz (formerly the little girl I used to babysit) was to wed Matt in organic, environmentally friendly style. As the antithesis of all that is green, crunchy or ecofriendly, I was a little nervous I might be ousted from the wedding as an imposter, but happily this wasn’t the case. What did ensue was a wonderful weekend and one full of great ideas for anyone seeking to have an outdoorsy and perfectly gorgeous wedding.

The Welcome Dinner

After driving all day (and stopping at the Palisades Center Mall en route to buy flat shoes for the wedding lest my heels stick in the grass), I checked into my hotel–slightly down the road from Full Moon–the Alpine Inn:

Mr. Daisy stands before the majestic Alpine lodgings

Then I changed and headed off to the welcome bbq, which was no joke. Just a casual dinner thrown together for a couple of over 150 friends. The wine flowed like water and the food flowed like, well, water too. Or something. There was a LOT of it. And it ruled. Somewhat to the bride’s chagrin, the weather was being a bit uncooperative so the bbq had to be held indoors. I had no complaints, though, since the tent was done up to perfectly evoke a casual bbq atmosphere:

Love the gingham cloths!

And the bbq food was not to be stepped to:

The sweet corn with either ginger or lime (there’s a debate on this one) butter was outrageously good. Mr. Daisy tried to coopt mine to no avail.

The centerpieces set a casual country tone:

There was great bluegrass music (think along the lines of the Soggy Bottom Boys/O Brother, Where Art Thou? except, sadly, without George Clooney):

And then, when you thought it was time for it to end, they announced an after party (open bar! woo hoo!), which likely lasted until the wee hours of the night. They even provided flashlights for the (short but superdark) walk to the afterparty:

The flashlights were inscribed with something charming/romantic, but I can’t seem to locate one now to quote it here.

Despite the open bar, Mr. Daisy and I made a brief appearance at the afterparty and then called it in early since we are old and tire out pretty easily. (Read: we are lame). My sister and brother (and even my parents) made it out later than us, but we were the ones up early the next morning at the breakfast (also included as part of the wedding festivities) and powering up on hearty fare. So who’s lame now? (Ok, it’s still us. but we were lame while eating French Toast and sausages. Somehow that takes the edge off the lameitude).

Also, unrelated to the wedding, here’s a tip that the bride’s mom told me as we were leaving the afterparty: “If it’s brown, lie down; if it’s black, fight back.” This tip refers to what you ought to do if you come across a bear. Apparently, we were in bear country. This tip makes sense on paper. But I sometimes have a hard time figuring out which pair of my own tights or socks is black or brown. I have a feeling that when you factor in the terror of seeing a bear within my sightline, I might not be able to determine what color its fur was. My tunnel vision would probably fixate on its teeth. And claws. Honestly, unless the bear is on a unicycle, I really don’t want anything to do with it. Seriously.

More on the actual wedding to come…

Ok, I just realized that I never posted the lovely story of how Mr. Daisy proposed. So I am going to remedy that. Read on!

I really feel as if Mike Myers has played an integral role in my relationship with Mr. Daisy. Indeed, on our very first (official*) date, at the do-it-yourself Woo Lae Oak, we ran into Mr. Myers on our way home from the restaurant. As we walked by the Angelika up the street, he exited a large cargo/service door. He was alone, and it was random.

Fast forward to Saturday, December 10, 2005. We’re leaving Cedar Tavern, our local bar and scene of our first unofficial date (with good food too, if you happen to be hungry), at 1am or so and who should be walking in as we were walking out? Mr. Austin Powers himself. You might be asking yourself, Miss Daisy, why is this significant?

Well, I’ll tell you–

On that same Saturday, prior to seeing Mike Myers, and prior to hitting Cedar, Mr. Daisy asked me to make it official and marry him and I said yes. And our guardian angel Mike Myers must have stopped by Cedar to make sure it all went down all right. (That’s what I tell myself anyway.) Here’s what happened:

A week earlier, Mr. Daisy had gone to bed early and the phone rang so I answered. It was his friend Tommy who was letting us know that he and his wife Kim planned on coming to the city to see the tree at Rockefeller Center (all the way from NJ!) and wanted to know if Mr. Daisy and I wanted to have dinner with them afterward. Since I–eschewing all things ‘tourist’–had never seen the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, I asked him if he and Kim would mind if Mr. Daisy and I tagged along. He said it would be fine, so I left Mr. Daisy a note that read: “Mr. Daisy - call Tommy in morning - early is ok. Wants to see about next Saturday– lunch & tree or dinner & tree?”

Over the course of the week, Mr. Daisy called Tommy and confirmed plans, to meet at the tree at twelve o’clock or so and then head down to our neighborhood for a late lunch. That Saturday morning, Mr. Daisy woke up before me, got ready and then woke me. I immediately started freaking out about how messy the house was, despite the fact that we planned to have Tommy and Kim over for a bit after lunch. After frantically cleaning up the place, I got ready and we headed to Rockefeller Center. In the cab, Mr. Daisy’s phone rang and Tommy told him that he and Kim had just arrived at Penn Station, as the train had been a couple of minutes late. Mr. Daisy told him that we’d go to the tree and meet them there and that Tommy should call when they got to Rock Center.

Of course, the moment we got out of the cab, I spied the Crane’s stationery store and asked Mr. Daisy if we could just wait in there until Tommy and Kim got to the area. He was really against it** because he wanted to “just get a peek at the tree before Tommy and Kim get there.”

After a little back-and-forth, I finally relented and we headed to the tree. Mr. Daisy then asked me if he could take my picture in front of the tree. I immediately perked up since a picture with the tree was my whole reason for wanting to go there. Mr. Daisy took one of me and then started to walk closer, bending down as he approached. Clueless me was all, “Mr. Daisy, you *cannot* take a picture of me from that angle. It is really unflattering to be shot from below!” But then, mid-complaint, I noticed that he was down on one knee and holding a ring box in lieu of the camera and I quickly went from complaining to crying as he asked me to marry him. In between my sobbed out “Oh-My-Gods,” I managed to spit out a “yes.” And that was that. Except for the guy with the thick Brooklyn accent who shouted “Don’t do it!” as Mr. Daisy popped the question. I guess it’s true what they say, “All the world loves a lover.”

This is what I look like when I am shocked and mid-sob. This is what Mr. Daisy looks like when he is ridiculously proud of himself for rendering me so.
~~~

* Mr. Daisy and I met at our friend Mags’ birthday party on a Friday and scheduled a date for the following Thursday. On Tuesday night, however, he called me on his way home from a late night at work and asked me “what are you wearing?”. Not knowing where he was going with that, I told him I was in jeans (truth: I was already in PJs but I felt lame to be bed-ready at 9pm). Anyway, what he was looking to know was whether I were dressed and decent to go out, because he didn’t want to wait until Thursday for plans. (Oh oh oh! So sweet!) Neither did I, so we went out Tuesday. To Cedar. But I still consider Thursday to be our First Date (emphasis on the capital letters, please…)

** Apparently, based on my utter brattiness and insistence we go look at stationery, Mr. Daisy briefly debated calling an audible, and proposing in Crane’s. However, he decided to stand his ground and force me to the tree. (No small task in the face of my love of a) the indoors and b) stationery).

My invitations! I am thrilled to say that at around 6:00 last night my invitation guru Shana called to let me know that my invites had arrived and were at the Wedding Library. By happy coincidence, Mr. Daisy and I were en route to a meeting a mere couple of blocks from the Library, with the umpteenth another officiant in our ongoing search, so planned to go there afterward and check out the goods.

And, oh my god, I love love love them. I want so desperately to post them here but they’re not going to the calligrapher until today and aren’t getting mailed out until after Labor Day. But I love them so much I almost want to marry *them*! (just kidding, Mr. Daisy!)

I chose letterpress invites as I am quasi-obsessed with letterpress, and thought to use Julie Holcomb Printers, which is a traditional letterpress that uses its own special blend of artisanal paper (just like Folger’s coffee, I’m sure!) that is theoretically ideal for letterpress. This printer prints on ecru or white paper only, which at first seemed limiting, but then when Mr. Daisy and my family were really keen on back-to-basics, I came to love. (I still really lust after my bridesmaid Sam’s red paper/white text invite of years ago. So vivid!)

But– I could not love my invites more. Sorry to be such a tease, but I will post them as soon as they are received by the masses.* Meantime, I will share some (very blurry due to my lack of camera prowess) shots of the contenders (both by Page Stationery):

Letterpress invite on composite paper (shown in one color, though we would have done two):

Response card:

My original choice, though I eventually deemed it too casual for our evening wedding:

Detail (loved the color and the modified fleur-de-lis border):

~~~
* And I do mean masses. Each day, our list scarily multiplies like Gremlins in water. Not cool.

Having had some not-exactly-awesome experiences with getting my makeup done (read: I looked like an extra from the Rocky Horror Picture Show at my senior prom, see below), I am always a little nervous about coming out of a makeup session looking just a little bit like a drag queen.

l to r: my best friend Jill; Stacey Lasky (friend from HS with whom I lost touch); and me–disguised as a harlot!

With this in mind, I’ve been dragging my feet about finding a maekup person for my wedding. Last Friday I finally scheduled a makeup trial with Laura Nadeau, whom I found through Miss Firefly’s post about her wedding day prep and vendors. I made an appointment for then since I knew I had dinner and drinks afterward for Mr. Daisy’s brother’s birthday - and hells no was I wasting some good makeup on a night in with Mr. Daisy, the tv and our ginormous cat - and headed to her apartment for a trial at 5:00pm, looking like this:

I can only partially blame my less than glamorous look on a) a stomach bug and b) the fact that my taxi driver refused to drop me near Laura’s building, instead opting to leave me at the mouth of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, from where I jogged/senior-citizen-speed-walked to Laura’s.

Initially, I ought to mention that Laura is probably one of the nicest people I have met. Just so sweet and easy to be around (key for the vendors who are actually going to have to encounter me on the “day of” when I anticipate my stress levels to be off-the-charts insane mildly elevated). Ok, so she’s not exactly a fairy and not really my godmother, but Laura certainly has some magical stuff going on, because she does things with makeup that are in-freaking-credible.

I swear that my skin was actually glowing after she started doing the foundation/concealer portion. My mom, who came to the trial, even used the word “luminous”. I also really, really loved what she did with my eyes. Once she was finished, I even started to feel a little “bride-y” (an impressive achievement for an under-the-weather Friday afternoon) and not at all “trann-y”. thrilling!

In natural light:

Six hours (and one dinner with the future in-laws) later:

The eyes held up:

So that’s it. One trial total and I have a makeup artist! (I have to thank Miss Firefly, though, since she did the finding and vetting leaving me only to capitalize on her stellar recommendation. So, thanks!) I am so excited and kind of, sort of, want to start getting my makeup done all the time… I’m sure that makes a lot of sense.

…or at least she will quite soon. That’s because, as I said before and will (probably) say again, as the time between now and my wedding shrinks, my ass and upper arms do not.

Wedding dieting is tough and WeightWatchers was not working super well for me. (Mostly because I really stopped counting points. Also, because just this Sunday now and again I would eat a bacon cheeseburger for breakfast.*)

I realized my only hope was for someone else far wiser in the ways of dieting (and less inclined to choose cheeseburgers) make my food choices for me. I understand that an “assigned” diet may not be the lifestyle change that a really good diet provides, (i.e. WW), but i’m really not so worrying about my lifestyle right now as much as not having my arms jiggle around as my begowned self busts-a-move on dance floor. It’s about portion control, essentially, and since I haven’t been doing it myself, I thought some entity could do the dictating for me.

From what I can gather, there were three potential diet options: the Zone (which I had done before with great success); Jenny Craig (big ups for the commercials in which Kirstie Alley seems thisclose to punching the woman who lost more weight than she); and NutriSystem (my mom did this diet in the 80s and they had a burger that was all freeze-dried and when you added boiling water to it, it turned into delicious. No joke.)

The Zone has a few services in Manhattan that offer daily food delivery for between $30-$40/day. (See Mrs. Bee’s post on the same). I knew, though, that these rates were entirely negotiable, as I found out when I did this diet in law school. (I also did Atkins, via the Atkins Center, and lost a TON of weight, but also had my cholesterol shoot up. Again, I blame the cheeseburger.) But I also remember not liking a lot of the food. This happened particularly since I am allergic to several varieties of fresh fruit, and when those fruits were removed from the meal, the meal was kind of beat. (i.e. Ricotta breakfast crepes with peaches. Sans peaches. Lame!) However, the convenience of all meals outside my door was a definite perk.

Jenny Craig sounds like a great plan. But it requires attending meetings. Which sounded like a great big pain in the butt. I haven’t the time right now to get to meetings. (Hell, I haven’t the time right now to get acupuncture for my no-longer-functional-neck) so the “Jenny Twenty” wasn’t going to happen.

NutriSystem. Ok, the first thing about this diet is that it’s CHEAP. Like Æ’¼bercheap. Three meals + a snack/dessert come in at under $8/day. Insane. I usually spend about that for lunch alone. So right there, I was liking the diet. But then they won me over with the complete self-determined menu. You just pick 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, etc.; give them your credit card #; they ship the food to your door; you buy a couple of fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products to supplement; and voila– you’re thin.

So I dialed the magic numbers “1-800-321-THIN” and joined NutriSystem. It turns out they throw in a week of free food, then give you this discount and that discount, free shipping, and before I knew it I was paying $274.46 for 35 days of food. Seriously crazy cheap.

If any of you want to join, let me know b/c my sales rep said that he’d give an additional discount still to anyone who was a referral, so I can give you his name and extension. (Plus, I’ll also get an extra discount).

And I got to pick stuff like mac & cheese, chicken marsala, various pastas, etc.

The food should get here this weekend, so I will definitely report on how it tastes. I happen to be a fan of processed food, so this diet doesn’t seem like it will be a problem for me in that respect, but I guess if I were into the whole “fresh foods” thing, then the Zone presents a better option. (And one I will definitely try if the NutriSystem food is gross.)

What other diets are out there? (Or at least ones that supply the food for you?) Not that I need a back-up plan or anything, but I wouldn’t mind other options to prevent me from once again falling victim to the siren song of the burger…

~~~
* I challenge anyone to find a better hangover remedy than a cheeseburger deluxe with the fries well done. Cheeseburgers make it all ok.

Like so many people, Mr. Daisy and I have begun taking dance lessons, in order to prepare ourselves for our wedding and also to eliminate my great reluctance to dance at *any* wedding since I kinda, sorta suck at it. (Dancing, that is).*

Through our wedding planner, we were referred to Pierre Dulaine Dance Club, surprisingly conveniently located right near the N/Q train. (Which, in turn, is right near both of our offices).

One Saturday (way back in the springtime) we went for a free consultation and met with Pierre Dulaine himself. This is the guy that’s played by Antonio Banderas in the recent film Take the Lead (no, I haven’t seen it either, but here’s a summary).

(ok, this picture is not from that movie, but was so ridiculous, I couldn’t not use it. For reals.)

Anyway, Pierre is charming, debonair, knowledgeable–all that you’d hope to have in an instructor. However, Pierre was not to be our instructor. Instead, we were working with Vanessa, who kicks equal ass, and is really spunky, fun and easy to understand. We decide to learn four basic dances, rather than a single choreographed wedding song dance: the foxtrot (for slower songs), rumba (haven’t really figured out where this one goes), swing (for rock songs) and merengue (for fast songs, presumably with a Latin flair).

Feeling like actually teaching me to dance is an actual attainable possibility, we take a couple of lessons. I find out that, while Mr. Daisy is a “natural,” I am a little, well, less natural. I have absolutely no sense of where “quick, quick, slow” fits into the music, and my dance steps appear a lot more akin to marching than they do to dancing. Be that as it may, I press on and I think we get about four lessons in. But then scheduling becomes a problem, and we take a summer hiatus.

A couple of weeks ago, as we realize our wedding was happening kind of soon, we decided to re-up on the dance lessons and schedule the remaining six in our package of ten. They’re on Monday nights, and it’s the perfect time. Except– Mr. Daisy has not been able to go with me yet. Work has been kicking his ass until after midnight, or so. This means that last Monday as well as last night, Vanessa and I have spent hours perfecting our dance moves. This would be all well and good, if it were Vanessa with whom I’d be dancing at my wedding (because, as her instructor status might indicate, she’s f’n awesome at dancing). However, it’s actually Thurston who is my intended dance partner, so there’s the rub. Since his work ought to let up in the next couple of weeks, this may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, since I’m the one who needs the extra work. We shall see!

In the meantime, though, something bizarre is happening. I am even getting excited about learning to dance. Notwithstanding the hid-E-ous shoes I bought to wear for practice:

Now I am even wondering if we should do a choreographed first dance. Will I even be able to pull it off? What do you plan to do (or have done) about this stuff? Wing it? Learn steps? Act out the whole end dance scene from Dirty Dancing (a no-longer-secret dream of Mr. Daisy’s)?

In the last couple of years, my mom (and I) threw a couple of bridal showers for the daughters of one of her BFFs. I found that it was really difficult to find a good listing of bridal shower venues… I didn’t find the Knot or WeddingChannel very helpful in this endeavor, nor was CitySearch much of an aid. So I basically cross-referenced Zagat’s and pretty much called every restaurant that had a private room. Here are some options for those of you in need of shower places!

Read more…

Oh, wait– my wedding’s just three months (!) away, so hopefully anyone who is coming will already have saved the date. These save-the-dates were the subject of some drama but it all worked out, and off the little save-the-dates went into the world, informing people of when they ought to be in NY to attend our wedding.

I’m late in posting this but, in the interest of being thorough– and as we all learned from Maude Lebowski, thoroughness is an attribute not to be overlooked– I thought I would catalogue my save-the-dates, in all their adorable glory:

the grosgrain ribbon reads more orange than red in “real life”

machine calligraphed envelopes en route to out-of-towners (avec my much-coveted lovebirds stamp)

the rip-off oh-so-reasonable hotel blocks we reserved.

Because we knew (or, rather, I knew) that our proper invitations would be much more formal, I wanted the save-the-dates to show a bit of whimsy. I died over the ribbon tie (go figure, I was a fan of pop-up books as a child as well) and loved the orange and gold color combo, as inspired by my day planner.

And we just received our invitation proof, but in the interest of surprising those of my to-be-wedding guests who actually read this thing, I won’t be posting that until the invites are signed, sealed, delivered (and yours).

For reference, though, we used Julie Holcomb Printers and we worked (extensively) with Shana at the Wedding Library. Thankfully Shana has a) patience and b) impeccable taste, because both were needed (really the former, much more) as my mother and I compared, contrasted and fought about debated letterpress invites and degrees of formality. Fun for the family, no?

Because I have recently decided to embark upon a stamping and embossing adventure for my programs and menus (NB: I have zero experience in DIY crafting projects), I found myself on the Joann’s web site where there was a 50% off coupon. And who doesn’t love a coupon? Enjoy!

Ok, so it’s common knowledge that the wedding industry is a bit of a racket. Everyone has heard the stories of how if you book a venue as a wedding they charge something like 20% higher than if you book a venue for “a party”; how flowers suddenly cost more; etc.

So I didn’t expect a wedding veil to be a complete bargain. (After all, it has “wedding” right in its title). But I so did not expect to have the vendors try to pull the wool tulle over brides’ eyes to this degree.

Judging by my less than amused expression, I’m still able to see the price tag through the netting.

The veils I looked at were a) without lace; b) without embroidery or embellishment of any sort; c) not cathedral length. Essentially, the veil I seek is tulle, with a cord-edge on the veil (fingertip length) and a blusher that *doesn’t even have cording*. It’s essentially a cut piece of net sewn to a plastic comb. So when I was quoted about $500 for this, seemingly, simple piece of fabric, I was shocked. Shocked!

So what are my options?

My mom found this site: Bridal Store Online, which has about a million veils priced under $100. Then there’s David’s Bridal, where the veils, I imagine, would be reasonably priced. But do I do a less expensive veil to go with my not-less-expensive dress? Does it even matter?

I still have to figure this out though. Can anyone recommend a place where you have had veil success? (and if you don’t mind giving a price approximation for what you bought, that info would certainly be helpful!)

Ok, so I have perused the boards on the Knot and WeddingChannel a few times and keep reading about people who send out response cards, and have them sent back with an affirmative reply for the invitee AND also include a “yes” on behalf of people who are *not* invited to the wedding. The thing is–I cannot believe* this happens.

I know I have, a few times in the past, been somewhat bummed to have been invited to a wedding sans guest, but it never once occurred to me to RSVP and respond that I, and a guest, would be attending. I mean…

Because I have been a bridesmaid a few times, looked on as many a good friend planned a wedding, and never once did I hear of someone RSVP’ing and saying that they were bringing a person (or child) not on the invitation envelope.

With that said, I am inviting every single person to my wedding with a guest. I realize it’s expensive, and not an option for everyone, but one thing Mr. Daisy and I always bore in mind was that we wanted to do this. This is not to besmirch anyone who doesn’t invite all peeps with a “+ 1″– weddings are f’n expensive and this simply cannot always be done. My reasons for doing it are mostly because– having spent the majority of my twenties sans serious boyfriend– I know from experience how much I sometimes resented having someone else determine for me whether my relationship (nascent or longstanding) merited that “and guest” designation or not. (Does this make me bitter? Perhaps, un peu…)

Of course, there are a few couples on our list that have children who will *not* be invited to our wedding but I don’t really see them trying to RSVP for the little ones, I’m really just trying to figure out if it’s actually possible that *anyone* would think it ok to bring someone despite the absence of their name (or “and guest”) from the invite.

Ladies? i know you must have thoughts on this one!

~~~

* ok, intellectually I get that it *can* happen, but who does this?!?

…don’t know when I’ll be back again. That’s because I don’t know a) when the f I’m going; and, moreover, b) where the f I’m going.

Ah, the joy of honeymoon, or to bite Mrs. Ladybug’s terminology, minimoon planning. Gotta love it. See, the thing is Mr. Daisy and I do plan to have a “proper” honeymoon come springtime. We’ll be off to Italy for two weeks to do so. But we also recognize that, post-wedding, we both I will really, really need to decompress.* So we’re doing a week in a warm, beachy place. The actual location of said place is TBD. Our only limitations were that it be a decently short flight and not require more than 30 minutes on a boat. (someone I am petrified of boats.)

That left us with the Caribbean and Mexico as options. After creating the following spreadsheet (with formulas and everything), we’ve narrowed it down to the following options, yet still cannot decide.

Carlisle Bay, Antigua

Ocean Suite

the beach

Pros: Seclusion; romance; lovely rooms open onto beach; really cool touches, like a screening room, private dinners on the end of a jetty, etc.; full breakfast + afternoon tea included
Cons: Pain in the ass to get there– BWIA flies there but twice a week and guarantees you lose two whole days to travel, whereas connecting flights have better timing, the time between connections cuts it thisclose. (I haven’t flown a connecting flight in recent memory and have these scary thoughts of a) missing it and b) arriving sans luggage); seems pretty “kid friendly”.

Caneel Bay, St. John

pretty beach

rooms

Pros: Secluded, beautiful beaches, activities (i.e. kayaking, an activity on which Mr. Daisy is fixated, for no apparent reason), beachfront rooms
Cons: Perhaps a bit “rustic” room decor (this girl likes the luxury touches), i.e. standing shower stall, no telephones in rooms; no meals included; with 166 units, larger size resort than others we’re considering;

Cap Juluca, Anguilla

jr. suite bathroom w/double tub

aerial view of the resort/beach

Pros: Secluded; gorgeous beaches; nearby restaurants in addition to onsite hotel restaurants; continental breakfast included and delivered to room
Cons: Some comments on tripadvisor.com scare the bejesus out of me– esp. those that refer to ants in the room and bugs everywhere. I don’t know if I ought to believe these reviews though. Our neighbors went here for their honeymoon and have nothing negative to say.

Ikal del Mar, Mexico

our villa, private pool and queen size chaise

the beach

Pros: Secluded; only 29 villas; no kids; private plunge pool; luxurious amenities; continental breakfast delivered to villa + full Æ’ la carte breakfast included
Cons: We’ve already been there; no water activities on-site; one restaurant for dinner is pricey and has a limited menu (however, Playa del Carmen is a 10 minute/$8 cab ride away and has great restaurants)

Combo: Ikal del Mar + Maroma or Ritz

Maroma Room

Maroma Beach

Ritz Room

Ritz Beach

Pros: Getting to go to a new place; seeing a resort with more going on; knowing we will end up at a place we love
Cons: Packing our stuff mid-trip

Maroma includes daily breakfast and is known to have one of the best beaches in the world. The Ritz is, well, the Ritz. But it’s kind of pig and in Cancun proper… romantic? hmmm…

So what do we do? The tried and true that may feel too much like been there done that? Someplace new? Has anyone been to any of these locales or any other romantic getaway that blew you away? What’s so weird is that I am decisive in almost *every* aspect of my life (such that, in certain lights, it almost appears as stubbornish/obnoxiousness), but with wedding planning, paradoxically, I’m afraid to commit. What’s a girl to do?”

~~~
* if we’re deciding honeymoon deservedness on wedding planning stress then, the truth is, my mom and I would be going on this vacation together, since we both seem to be the epicenter of wedding related drama and decisions.

Finally, the time has come– Mr. Daisy is actually excited about going on multiple wedding appointments. This is because we have reached the crucial cake selection phase. And, unlike his crushing disappointment* during the venue selection phase, when his heartbreak was palpable as he learned that, no, venues do not let you taste all their food before you book them. Cake vendors, on the other hand… they let you taste.

Over the last couple of weeks, we visited three bakers in our cake search:

Cheryl Kleinman Cakes

We met with Cheryl at her shop in Brooklyn (Boerum Hill) and were very impressed with the multitude of cakes on display there. Some were modern, some classic, but all were just beautiful. Despite the fact that the “cakes” were all iced styrofoam, I was still getting awfully hungry as we perused the portfolios. Cheryl had us browse portfolios of her cakes, tabbing with Post-Its those that piqued our interest. Through this method, Mr. Daisy and I realized we had very different cake aesthetics. While he favored the simple, traditional look of piped icing with pearls and some flowers, I coveted a more “interesting” look, with frosting that looked like appliquÆ’©s, or cut-outs. We both loved the above cake, among a few others, and definitely thought that Cheryl would be a wise choice and would turn out a gorgeous cake.

Her prices, however, were higher than I wanted to spend on cake. (as an aside: there are certain wedding details that I place high on the wedding totem pole, such as stationery, dresses and accessories, cocktail hour food and music. Cakes aren’t as much of a factor for me, since I feel as if most guests’ food interest has somewhat waned by the time the cake is brought out.) That said, Cheryl Kleinman’s prices officially are $8-$10/serving, but the cakes that we priced ranged from $11 - $15/slice. To me, that seemed a lot. However, Cheryl was going to send us a few cake samples for tasting and then we’d make our decision. A few days later we received the following mini-cakes:

They were definitely good, but I wasn’t sure they were $13/slice good.

Cakediva

The day after we headed to Brooklyn (acquiring an overdue inspection ticket while parked there), we went out to Hoboken to check out Cakediva. I had heard that her prices were lower than some of the big “names” (i.e. Sylvia Weinstock, Ron Ben Israel, whose prices only just start at $15/serving) but made artistic cakes no less.

The Cakediva is definitely a character. She had a lot of energy, but I wasn’t sure that her vision of cakes was in line with what I wanted. After we left, I held off on scheduling a tasting because, due to my doubts about our styles meshing, I didn’t want to waste her time. I figured if I changed my mind that I could schedule one at a later date, but as of now, I still preferred Cheryl Kleinman’s aesthetic.

Tompkins Square Bakery

This past Saturday we headed to Tompkins Square Bakery and met with Matt there. Initially, it didn’t hurt that the bakery is not far from where we live (and next to a restaurant we adore). Then we met Matt who was really relatable, very receptive to our ideas and, most importantly, a genius with cake.

He had us try some cake there based on our flavor prefs– basic for Mr. Daisy and a little more flavorful for me. Mr. Daisy had yellow cake with chocolate buttercream and it was oh-so-awesome. I am not usually a huge buttercream fan (I prefer whipped) but this buttercream was light and chocolatey and delicious. My cake was chocolate with mocha buttercream and was also a home run. I loved it and have even been thinking of it since. (This from a girl who is more known for her mozzarella-stick-tooth than her sweet-tooth.)

The prices were also more reasonable–we could get the cake we wanted for just under $10/slice. Now, my mom only has to check him out and we’re done! We’ll have our cake and eat it too. And so will our guests. Ok, yay!

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* the look of betrayal and despondency on his face as we visited venue after venue–I could hardly stop myself from the hysterical laughter that such pouting will inevitably prompt. I’m obviously a very caring person.

Here I am, obsessing over my day-after-the-wedding brunch, as I am wont to do. Barring a brunch at IHOP, where I’d obviously vote for the Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity (or maybe the Funny Face), I’m sort of lost.

I am having a menu dilemma* since I have decided that with an omelette station, the assigned buffet item of “scrambled eggs” is a bit redundant, because what else is an omelette, if not a variation on scrambled eggs.

Here is the menu as it stands:

Freshly Squeezed Orange and Grapefruit Juice
Seasonal Fresh Fruit with Mixed Berries
***
Herbed Scrambled Eggs
New York Style French Toast
Home Fried Potatoes
Applewood Smoked Bacon and Country Sausage
***
Omelette Station
****
Smoked Salmon Platter
Sliced Onions, Sliced Tomatoes and Capers
***
Baker’s Basket of Bagels, Muffins, Danish and Croissants
Assorted Breads
Toaster
****
Warm Vermont Maple Syrup and Butter
Preserves, Honey and Cream Cheese
****
Starbucks Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee and Tazo Chai Tea

So now these are the choices to swap in lieu of the scrambleds:

• Quiche
• Frittata
• Fruit Blintzes
• Waffles
• Pancakes

Which do I pick? Are pancakes and waffles too evocative of the french toast already in the buffet? And is a frittata similar to the scrambled eggs i’m trying to lose?

If you could design your dream buffet, what would it include?

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* As you may or may not have come to realize, when it comes to the wedding, I view everything in disproportionate terms. It’s endearing, I think.