Weddingbee

Some of you are wondering why I’m doing everything for my brother’s wedding. My brother’s fiance is from Korea and moved here a couple of months ago. She doesn’t speak English nor does she know what goes into planning an American wedding. My brother, being a guy of course, is very happy to leave all the details to me. It’s been a challenge coordinating with my brother, his fiance, my parents, guests from overseas, while planning the entire thing in 2 months, and doing it all from New York while the wedding is in LA. But hey I love a challenge.

In Korea they don’t have mother/son and father/daughter dances or any dances for that matter. My brother’s fiance wasn’t comfortable with the idea of doing a father/daughter dance so I came up with an idea to do a family dance instead. My parents, her parents, my brother and his wife, and me and Mr. Bee will all dance together.

The problem I’m facing is selecting a song. I need to find one like today because everyone is eager to take dance lessons! It has to be a song that everyone knows (that’s a very tall order) so I’d rule out any recent or pop songs as well as being appropriate for the occasion. I was thinking about Stand by Me, The Greatest Love of All, The Rose, Unforgettable. Any other suggestions?

My dad wants to use What a Wonderful World, but we already used it for our father/daughter dance at my wedding.

I forgot where I got this idea from (I think it was my aunt), but I’m planning on doing an “icebreaker game.” We’re going to tape winning tickets underneath chairs before the reception. When all the guests take their seats, we’re going to ask them to look for a winning ticket under their seats. Winners will come up to the dance floor to collect prizes. I think this’ll be a great way to break the ice, and who doesn’t love winning?

I need some ideas for prizes. I was thinking about spending around $50 for each one and it has to be something that everyone likes. Any ideas on what I should get?

PS - A great way to get shy guys to join in on the garter toss is to attach a $50 or $100 bill to it. The men will race up there! We’re not planning on doing a garter toss though - I don’t see it too often anymore. Perhaps it’s going out of style?

I needed wedding invitations asap and the fastest turnaround I could find was at mygatsby. The bride’s side is all coming from Korea so they don’t need invites - these are mostly for our parents’ friends. I liked these fall themed invitations from Papeterie but they would have taken too long to print.

I found a similar invitation - the Madison - at mygatsby. Here’s the timeline for the turnaround:

• September 28th - Placed the order online.
• October 6th - Received proofs via email (6 business days later. They said it would take up to 7-10 business days)
• October 6th - I approved the proofs the same day.
• October 10th - Invites were shipped out. (2 business days later. They said it would take 5-7 business days to print)
• October 11th - Received invites.

I was very happy with the speed with which everything was completed - 13 days from ordering to receiving. It doesn’t look like it in the picture, but the invitation layer is more gold like the invite above.

The total for 50 invitations, RSVP cards, RSVP envelopes, inner and outer envelopes, return addresses printed on the outer envelopes and rsvp envelopes, and s&h came out to $206.10. We had to affix the invitation layer to the backing layer with double sided tape because it would have taken them up to 4 business days longer if they assembled it. (and we needed them asap!)

Though I still like the ones from Papeterie better, overall I’m very happy with the way they turned out. They used thermography printing (much to my happy surprise), cardstock quality was very good, plus they were a bargain. The only problem was that the outer envelopes they sent us were too small. I called them and they happily shipped us a replacement.

If you’re looking for affordable, quality invites with very quick turnaround, I’d highly recommend mygatsby.

I went to a food tasting with my brother’s fiance and Mr. Bee on Friday at the wedding venue. My brother couldn’t make it because he was working and he’s fine leaving all the decisions up to his crazy sister. When we arrived, a private room was set up complete with place settings, a bread basket, and chilled champagne!

There were even cute little pats of butter and a waitress in formal wear serving us like we were in a restaurant.

They started with the crudites that would be served during the cocktail hour. Cheese, crackers, fruit, and veggies with dip.

I didn’t take pictures of the hors douvres (I have to look up the spelling of that work every single time!) and salads we tasted. We were busy chatting away about details so I couldn’t bust my usual psychotic picture taking skills. We decided to go with crabcakes, spanokopitas, and beef wellington for the hors douvres and a mixed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette for the salad. We didn’t think our guests would really like the fancy salad with pears and cheese. (Koreans don’t really like cheese).

The guests have their choice of chicken breast w/ port wine sauce, grilled atlantic salmon w/ champagne butter sauce, or roasted prime rib au jus. The main entree also includes roasted veggies and mashed potatoes. We decided to only offer the choice of chicken or beef because the salmon was just so-so, and because we didn’t think many people would order it. Unfortunately I didn’t eat any of the food because I just had my wisdom teeth pulled so I can’t tell you how good it was. They tell me it was pretty good though - especially the appetizers.

On Saturday we went cake tasting at Hansen’s Cakes because our venue includes a cake from this bakery. This is one of the most famous bakeries in Los Angeles, but I really don’t understand why! Their cakes are so ugly. Tons of celebrities bought their wedding cakes here including Julia Roberts and I forget who else. The walls are lined with celebrity pictures though - we went to the location in Beverly Hills. The cakes that were included in the package were ooogly. But the upgraded ones were oogly too so I asked them for a plain three tiered round cake with pearl dots around the bottom of each layer. Kinda like this but without the lettering.

We’re gonna load it up with fresh flowers to make it purty. Phew. It’s hard work planning a Los Angeles wedding…from New York… in only 2 months. Wedding is one month away now. Oh my.

I want to do a food favor for my brother’s wedding because they’re practical and economical (since I’m paying for them). I’m deciding between chocolate (leaves or truffles), jordan almonds, and marzipan.

This is the jordan almond autumn mix or I could do pink and orange to match the color scheme.

If I do the marzipan, I’ll package one of each into a see through bag or box.

Which do you like best? What are you doing for wedding favors?

Everyone danced so much at my wedding that by the end of the night the women were carrying their shoes. Even I changed into slippers halfway through the reception and my heels weren’t that high. For my brother’s wedding, I’m making a slipper basket so the women can dance the night away and rest their weary feet in comfy slippers.

It’s a 100 person wedding and I’m going to buy 40 pairs of slippers. I was thinking sizes 6, 7, and 8. How many do you think I should get of each? Maybe 10, 20, 10? It’s better to go a little bigger than smaller. My friend’s sister sells these slippers so I’m getting a great deal. The entire project is costing me less than $100 and I think the guests will really appreciate it!

I’ve been looking through online wedding invitations and came across a site I like - Papeterie.

Most of their invitations have a little motif in the lower right-hand corner. I love it - it’s kinda unexpected and different from the other stuff out there.

My friend and maid of honor is an amazing make-up artist in Los Angeles. She did the make-up for me and my bridesmaids on my wedding day, and she’ll be doing my make-up again when I’m a bridesmaid in my brother’s wedding. This is her website. She mostly has fashion pictures on her site, but she’s done a lot of weddings, movies, music videos, fashion shows, etc. Contact her if you want to look phenomenol on your big day.

Some pics from my wedding…

It looks like I have double eyelid… but I don’t!

PS - my friend did not “create” a double eyelid. It just looks likes I have it.

I got this in my Daily Candy today…

Base camp, so to speak, is a loft-turned-army barracks that includes the city?s only indoor obstacle course, which was modeled after Fort Knox. The co-ed platoon (that?s you, soldier) even wears fatigues to work out.

In one action-packed hour you?ll be pushed from every angle and sweat like you never have before: rolling logs, hauling sandbags, swinging on monkey bars, and throwing yourself over ten-foot walls. You might puke. We almost did. Apparently, a lot of first-timers do.

Too hard-core? No way. Programs are available for (non-)athletes, new moms, brides, teens, and corporations (imagine: you + your VP = wheelbarrow race). Thinking of going AWOL? Sergeant Lauren Brenner (the badass in the camo bikini top) will hound you on your cell, stop by your office, and call you a sissy weenie until you show your sorry face again.

If you don?t see results after six weeks, Brenner will train you herself for free.

After which you?ll need to take a nap, have a beer, and not try not to think about it.

Pure Power Boot Camp, 38 West 21st Street, second floor, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues (212-414-1886 or purepowerbootcamp.com).

It’s $895 for 6 weeks, $37 per session, 4 sessions per week. 1 hour per session. Perfect for brides and lazy people like me. I’m seriously considering getting my extremely out of shape ass into this program. I’m maid… er matron of honor… in my brother’s wedding, and I’ve put on quite a few post-marriage pounds.

But I’m scared. Anyone care to join me??

Wall Street Journal Article here.