Keepin’ It Local
September 21st, 2007 @ 5:44 pm by Mrs. Penguin
I love a bride that introduces her guests to local fare. One of the easiest ways to leave a lasting impression on your guests is to introduce them to the area. Sure, you can serve salmon, but why not serve fish native to the region? And yes, Heinekens are a crowd pleaser, but why not treat your guests to beer from a local microbrewery?
Many guests travel hundreds, even thousands of miles to attend a wedding. Caesar salad, steak and steamed veggies with a country club backdrop can certainly equate to a successful affair, but I can travel 15 minutes down the road any day of the week to eat that meal. So even if your wedding takes place in a banquet hall or at a country club, you may want to mix up a little “local flavor” for your guests to enjoy. Here are some of my favorites that we’ll include in our Northern California winery wedding, and brunch the day following:
Casual-Chic Bridesmaids
September 21st, 2007 @ 2:26 pm by Mrs. Penguin
If I could afford to pay for all my bridesmaids’ dresses, I would. An especially heart wrenching moment for me was when Mr. Penguin’s mom was asking Mr. Penguin’s sister what she wanted for her birthday, and she asked her mom if she would help pay for the $300 Vera Wang Bridesmaid Dress she was going to wear in an upcoming wedding.
Custom Coaster Favors
September 20th, 2007 @ 11:30 pm by Mrs. Penguin
We were originally going to give out bottles of Prosecco etched with our new monogram as favors, but we were concerned that since the bottles were so big, they would take away from the centerpieces at the tables. I also didn’t want to put someone in charge of handing out bottles at the end of the night if we didn’t just leave them on the tables for our guests. At $4-5 per bottle, it wasn’t a bad deal, but it was a logistical nightmare.
I had seen these fabulous coasters from Snow & Graham on HuckleberryKarenDesigns’ blog:
Color Scheming
September 20th, 2007 @ 1:42 pm by Mrs. Penguin
Picking wedding colors was quick and almost painless. It went a little something like this:
Me: “Hey mom, I want to have black bridesmaids dresses, that way it will be easy to find affordable dresses.”
Mom: “No. Your wedding is in summer, you can’t have black dresses.”
Me: “Yes I can, you’re not the boss of me.”
Mom: “Damn straight I’m the boss of you. I put you in this world and I can take you OUT!”
Me: “Fine then, I want grey.”
Mom: “Grey is good.”
So without further ado, I present our wedding palette.
Yes, I’ll Marry You, Let’s Register!
September 19th, 2007 @ 5:20 pm by Mrs. Penguin
One Saturday in January, Mr. Penguin dropped down on one knee on a rainy beach and asked me to marry him. The next Sunday we had a comprehensive gift registry at Williams Sonoma.
Now before you rush to call me greedy, please understand: we had been living together for two years, and always intended to get married. And weddings naturally come with wedding things, like knives, blenders, mixers, dishes. So for two years, we survived on the very basics: a dull set of knives that I bought from Overstock.com and an Ikea kitchen “starter set,” that comes with everything you need to…let’s just say… make your food not be raw anymore.
Now, I like to cook. Not just boil water and toss a salad kind of cook, but REALLY cook. Braise, whip, puree, sear, deglaze, temper, you name it, I’ll do it. But there are just some things you can’t do without the right tools. Like make banana bread without a mixer (it’s called a “banana brick”), or braise beef without a heavy pot.
Dial DIR-ECT-IONS
September 19th, 2007 @ 2:38 pm by Mrs. Penguin
Dial DIR-ECT-IONS (347-328-4667) is a FREE service you can use to help your guests find your wedding.How does it work? Your guests call DIR-ECT-IONS (or 347-328-4667) from their cell phone, state your event name (like “Penguin Wedding”), state the address or intersection that they are currently at, and a text message will be sent to them, free of charge, with turn by turn directions to your venue!
Of course, you must add your wedding to their database in order for your guests to be able to find it. To add your event to their database, go to their website and in the upper right hand corner, you’ll see an “events” button. A scroll down will pop up for you to “add an event” where you can post your event name, address, and date.
Old Dog, New Tricks
September 18th, 2007 @ 5:44 pm by Mrs. Penguin
Yep. We’re one of THOSE couples. We’re including our dog in our wedding ceremony. No, she won’t be wearing a dress, but she will have our wedding rings tied to her collar. I have to admit though, Billie Jean is a little unruly. I once took her to obedience school, but she fell asleep in class almost every day. So I knew if she was going to behave at the ceremony, we’d better start training her well before the big day.
Every morning, Billie gets a Greenies dog treat. As of a couple months ago, we started to make her have to work for her treat. Here’s the morning ritual:
Mr. Penguin hand signals to Billie to stay:
Nobody Likes A Crybaby
September 18th, 2007 @ 2:35 pm by Mrs. Penguin
So, I confess: I’m a crybaby. And we’re not talking about tears of mourning, tears of anger, or even tears of joy; we’re talking sobs because “it’s-Thursday-and-when-I-woke-up-this-morning, I-thought-for-a-second-that-it-was-Friday” kind of tears. Some more examples? I cry when I LOOK at “The Notebook” dvd. You heard me, I ACTUALLY cry when I thumb through my movie collection, and come across the box.
So… you know where this one is going… how will I survive my wedding day? When I come down the aisle, instead of looking radiant and in love, will I be blotchy faced and tear stained? How can I prevent this almost certain event from occurring?
Invitations… Round 2
September 17th, 2007 @ 6:32 pm by Mrs. Penguin
I printed my invites out a few months ago, but for some reason I had printed a 5PM start time for the ceremony…and unfortunately the winery (our venue) doesn’t even CLOSE until 5PM. I have no idea what I was thinking…only that maybe I thought “Five Thirty” sounded weird, so I just left it as “five o clock” and didn’t bother to proofread before I printed it.
Guest List Lifesaver
September 17th, 2007 @ 2:14 pm by Mrs. Penguin
The addresses are rolling in for our guest list from multiple parents, and sometimes handwriting gets a little hard to read. A quick thing that I do every time I receive a new name and address is to GoogleMap each address, just to make sure that it exists. You’d hate for one of your guests not to receive an invitation just because of a simple address mix up or spelling goof!
Take the first page of our list from Mr. Penguin’s parents on the left, and my corrections on the right (of course, for identity purposes, I’ve only included the mistakes, but you get the idea):
Mrs. Penguin, Sacramento
Age and Occupation: 26, Video & TV Producer/Director/Editor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About Me: I'm a silly mess of a girl who, above all else in this world, LOVES the Spice Girls. I eat sushi at least 3 times a week, and feel guilty about how much it costs the other 4 days a week. I love designer jeans and cheap accessories. I don't like sweets, but I love the UCLA Bruins!
