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Reader LPC asked today if I had ever posted pictures of our Chinese banquet, held one month after our wedding in the summer of 2007, and, well, I didn’t! Sorry everyone! Since it was a party thrown FOR us, not BY us, Mr. Bluebell and I didn’t have any say in the details of the banquet, or vendors/decor, etc., so we basically just showed up. It was awesome! But for some reason, I just never got around to posting any pictures. So here they are, over a year and a half later!
The banquet was held at Gala Manor, in Flushing (part of Queens, NYC). Everything went quite smoothly, the food was tasty, and we had a lot of fun! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
A pretty traditional dragon & phoenix and double happiness set-up:
A cake just a wee bit different from what we would have chosen for ourselves…
Read more…
We had decided a looong time ago not to have a bouquet toss or garter toss. I think they’re fun at other people’s weddings, but I’ve heard a lot about single girls feeling awkward at the bouquet toss, and there was no way at all ever that I was going to let anyone - even a brand new husband - go all up my skirt in front of everyone I know. Yes, it’s entertaining to watch as an observer, but I am just one of those people that would be way too humiliated to enjoy it aaaat all.
Regardless, the decision was made many months back, and no one made any objections, so we were all set.
Until. After everyone had been dancing a while, one of my bridesmaids started desperately pleading, um, I mean, politely asking 
, if we could please please pleeeeease have a bouquet toss. She kept asking and asking and, honestly, I was just in a pretty good mood at the time! I’d just gotten married! Big happy party!
<all photos by Jane Heller.>
When I was dancing with my dad (in the background), Mr. Bluebell danced with my adorable little cousin!! (You’ll see lots more of her, don’t you worry!) We didn’t have an official father-daughter dance, and Mr. Bluebell’s mom preferred not to dance at all, so my dad just stepped in at some point to whatever song happened to be playing then. After everyone staring at us for…the first thirty seconds of our first dance, I was more than happy to not be the center of attention again!
I just realized after seeing Mrs. Onion’s post that I never posted an update after my first incredibly horrendous trip to the DMV in NYC.
[Superbrief recap: a horrible horrible *@&%$*#! at the NYC DMV told me that I had to hyphenate my maiden and last names whether I wanted to or not since I had listed my maiden name as a "middle" name on my marriage license, but "we know" it’s really a last name since it was on my old identification, and proceeded to taunt me cruelly for politely asking if I couldn’t keep it as a middle name, as was stated on my marriage certificate with no problems whatsoever.]
After I got my correct name on my social security card in the mail, I felt more confident in my ability to “prove” my new name was valid as shown on the marriage certificate since I had the whole thing written out on two Big Important Official documents (First Middle Maiden Newlast, where Newlast is my only “last” name and my maiden became a second middle name), but I still wasn’t sure I was brave enough to face the demons of the NYC DMV again.
<picture from epilogue.net. not an actual DMV employee.>
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I just watched my first ever episode of Tyra (this is what happens when Mr. Bluebell has plans & I don’t - also, has anyone seen Tori & Dean: Inn Love?? Man, I’m hooked!!!)…and the theme of the episode was DOOMED FOR DIVORCE 
(yes, with a scary graphic and everything). In addition to picking at every potential issue in two poor couples’ relationships, there was an “Are YOU doomed for divorce?” quiz which was, I am ashamed to admit, the real hook that kept me watching.
The quiz questions were:
1) Have you attended college? (If yes, risk of divorce decreases by 13%)
If Yes: give yourself 1 point
2) Is your annual income over $50,000? (If yes, risk of divorce decreases by 30%)
If Yes: give yourself 4 points
3) Do you have a religious affiliation? (If yes, risk of divorce decreases by 14%)
If Yes: give yourself 1 point
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I feel like almost everyone knows that there are different types of wine glasses for different types of wine…but how many people actually care? Registry advice lists often say to at least get a set of red wine glasses and one for white wine (plus of course champagne, martini, cocktail, water, juice…), but there are also different glasses for different specific varieties of wine, such as a bordeaux vs. a pinot noir. The New York Times has an article today on wine glasses for particular varietals, but I must admit, I’m not fully convinced. How about you? Are you registering for different types of wine glasses?
*not including champagne glasses, or glass vs. expensive crystal if you have one type of each but they are both meant to drink the same type of wine (or all wine, just in formal vs. informal occasions)
Immediately after the toasting, people took a few minutes to mingle and finish their champagne before dinner was announced.
Many people gravitated towards the bonfire just a ways outside the tent. Then my little cousin begged me to sing this Arabic song with her that I taught her when she was only three, but she still wants to sing every time she sees me!! Coincidentally…our ceremony reader was my roommate the summer I spent in Jordan when I heard the song play on the radio a million times, and she’s a professional singer, so she insisted we put on a mini-performance!
<all photos by Jane Heller>
To resume my posting spree (finally!) I bring you…pictures of my wedding party!
<all photos by Jane Heller>
Aren’t they preeetttyyy? 
Last night was the birthday of one of Mr. Bluebell’s friends, so she invited us out to L’Ecole, the restaurant of the French Culinary Institute, to celebrate - just her, her boyfriend, Mr. Bluebell & I.
We had a lovely dinner (their 5 course prix fixe is only $39.95 & incredible, because all the cooking is done by the students!) and then R, the boyfriend, told C that he had a birthday present for her. He gave her a card labeled “To C - Card 1″ and explained to us that they usually give each other a lot of cards, so this was part of that tradition. She asked “Is this going to make me cry?” and he said, “No, no, this is the funny one.” She read it and laughed, and he handed her a gift bag. She pulled out a coffee table book that was just perfect for her, and then he said “Wait - there’s something else in the bag!”
Once we arrived at the reception site, we proceeded with some toasting. That was a really dull sentence. But basically, I thought some of these pictures came out really well, so I’m devoting an entire post to them!
<All photos by Jane Heller.>
When we got back from taking our portraits by the lake, our caterers, Stone Soup, had just rung the gong (yes, gong!) to summon people down the hill from the cocktail hour to the reception area. We went up to the top of the dirt path through the woods so that we could emerge from there instead of….over by the portapotties.
<All photos by Jane Heller.>
First, the gong (provided by Stone Soup since we were talking about how we weren’t sure how to get people from the house down to the field/tent, and hung in the cook tent.)
My husband (eee! almost 2 months and I still feel funny saying it!) just sent me a link to a proposal video, and seriously, it’s the coolest thing ever. Check it out!!!
Some of our yummy yummy food from the cocktail hour! Our caterer was Stone Soup, from Burlington, Vermont. They were AWESOME!!! The food was so fantastic, and Avery (the head guy we dealt with) was the best, and we loved all the servers that came the day of too!
[FYI they don’t have a website and Avery doesn’t even have an email address (
) so you have to deal with them entirely by phone, or in person. Despite having a bit of a hard time initially accepting that concept (no email?!?!? 
), we had an absolutely wonderful experience with them! They run a great little restaurant in Burlington, but their catering is much higher end than the buffet-style restaurant. They also catered my brother’s wedding last year, and since that was so wonderful, we had no doubts booking them!]
Before the ceremony, I asked if they could set up some water and lemonade for anyone who got there early, in case they got thirsty. Unbeknownst to us, they surprised us by adding some fresh tomatoes with herbs and a lemon dressing, and a huge bowl of cherries!
<all photos by
After the ceremony, we took a few quick family portraits before enjoying cocktail hour.
Mr. & Mrs. Bluebell with my parents
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Mrs. Bluebell, New York Age and Occupation in 07: 26, Finance Manager Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Playing with the cat and/or Consulting Engagement Date: December 25, 2005 Wedding Date: June 2007 Venue: Bride's family summer home in the Adirondacks About Me: Trying to find the perfect balance between family tradition (marrying at the house everyone else in my family gets married at), making our's modern, interesting and different from everyone else in my family's, and incorporating some Chinese tradition for my Chinese fiance. I really have no idea what it's going to end up looking like! Also, I picked Miss Bluebell for my name because I have blue eyes and I'm a loser like that.
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