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Mr. Canary and I are working on our guide to NYC to include on our wedding Web site and as a little pamphlet in our out-of-town bags. This is a great little pet project for Mr. Canary who loves to write, but also a lot of fun for both of us to reminisce about our favorite spots. I’ll post more on that when we’ve completed the project, but while we were compiling our list, one of my most favorite places in the city came to mind, The Strand Bookstore.
If you’re a New Yorker and a bibliophile like Mr. Canary and me, you’ll know why The Strand is a “must-visit” on our list. It was one of the first places I took Mr. Canary when he’d visit me during our summers in college. It’s the best no-frills shop… all about books (over 18 miles actually!)
The Strand circa 1938 {Image from here}
For the out-of-towner welcome baskets, we decided to dish up some Southwestern goodness. (Did you know that Tucson is home to one of the largest annual rodeos in the country? Yee to the haw.)
I picked up everything locally, and tried to coordinate all the treats, papers, etc. in a palette of, well, Southwest-y colors: turquoise, brown, red, and gold:
Mr. Peacock and I are throwing the party of our lives. Every vendor has been considered according to how much they can add to the party - band, caterer, bar options, decor. We want everyone to stay until the last dance and then keep breaking it down all the way to the after party.
When we were considering Medinah for our venue, one of my primary concerns was transportation. I could swing the costs for the bridal party, but renting buses for the entire wedding would be a stretch. Medinah isn’t terribly close to any hotels and none of our friends or family live in the immediate area. I knew that many guests would miss our ceremony or be worrying about getting home if we didn’t rent transportation on a grand scale.
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Before we sent out our Save the Dates, there was much talk about the guest list. You all know how it goes… there is the A list, the B list, the people we will invite but there is no way they will come list, etc. There were two people on our “no way they will come” list that are very special to me - my Grandpa’s brothers (also known as my Great Uncles). My Grandpa and I were very close - after two boys I was his first granddaughter. As I was growing up we lived in the same town so I spent a lot of time at their house… things are always more fun when you’re pretty much allowed to do whatever you want! Needless to say, we had a really special relationship so I took it pretty hard when he passed away. I was only in 6th grade, old enough to understand what death meant but young enough that it was still hard to understand.
Even though they’ve lived in California for as long as I can remember, our family was always particularly close to two of my Grandpa’s brothers. Even after he passed away there were still many visits and calls; they made an effort to keep in touch with all of us. But these days everyone is a little older and a little further away and I had no expectations that they would actually make the long trip from California to Wisconsin. Flights, hotel rooms, it’s a lot to ask even of family. But sure enough, after we mailed the Save the Dates I received two of the nicest emails from my Great Uncles telling me how excited they are and that they’ve already booked their flights and hotel rooms. I get all emotional just thinking about it!
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I know every bride goes through it, the inevitable “cutting of the guest list.” Our guest list was pretty hard to shave down… we were aiming for 120 guests, and with my mom having 5 siblings, and Mr. Penguin’s mom having 9, you can imagine that our cousins alone could fill out that list in a heartbeat. But we shaved it down the best we could, and realized that if we had it to do all over again, we’d have booked a venue with a higher max capacity.
Anyhoo, I had asked my mom for some addresses of her friends in order for my MOH to send out shower invitations the other day, and she confronted me with those dreaded words…
“I know the guest list is full, but I really think we should invite so-and-so.”
In an “I-can’t-be-bothered-to-argue-with-you-right-now” moment, I quickly said, “Fine, invite them, I don’t care, if we bust max capacity, I’ll deal with the ramifications later.”
So, naturally, we also added the female guests to the shower invite list, and that was that.
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One of the handiest things that I’ve done for our wedding is create a personalized wedding map. While reading through the WB archives, I found a post by Mrs. Bee about a cool website called Wedding Mapper that let’s you put all the locations for your wedding events in one spot. I visited the site and thought it would be a great addition to our wedding website.
(sample map via wedding mapper)
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I know I have so much to be thankful for. For example, God has blessed with me with sacrificial friends - girls who went out of their way just to be there for me. One touching thing was when I found out that my girlfriend had broken up with her boyfriend the day before our wedding. She didn’t want to tell me because she didn’t want to ruin the wedding mood, so she acted sooo happy for me on the wedding day and didn’t tell me until I got back from my honeymoon! I was so amazed at her selflessness!
And of course, I had the best bridesmaids a girl could ask for. One of my bridesmaids had been asked to be a bridesmaid FOUR TIMES within the span of 6 months! I was her 3rd wedding, but she acted just as excited and happy for me, as if I were the only wedding she was a part of. I had so much love and support from my girlfriends.
But now that all is said and done, I can’t help but feel a bit hurt when I think about the invited guests who didn’t come to the wedding. After all the guest list cutting and MONTHS of working to make a wedding and reception happen, it just feels like some people didn’t understand that this was our one and only wedding. I know it sounds a bit whiny, but I’m wondering if any others out there felt the same way.
In true Southern style, Mama and Papa Donut are hosting our wedding and reception. Out of a sense of fairness, they offered me the same deal they offered my Sister Donut when she got married in 2001. They would pay X amount of money and then we would be responsible for anything over that amount. OK, cool. I know how lucky I am to have parents who are willing and able to help foot the wedding bill. So with parental blessings and a number in mind, we began planning our day.
One of the very first things Mr. Donut and I worked on together was our guest list. We have a certain kind of day in mind. We want to treat our guests to a really special weekend with lots of good food and drink, and plenty of things to see and do. Given that we have a pretty set budget, this means that the smaller the party, the more the trimmings, which is great, since we want to spend our day with a few people who are truly special to us, not a bunch of people neither of us know. So, we set some rules for ourselves:
In our quest to find something cute and inexpensive to add to our OOT boxes, off we went to a warehouse far, far away, where only members can go. Our final destination: Costco. We ultimately decided that the solution to our problem would be found if we went goldfishin’. These tasty treats by Pepperidge Farm come in small snack size packages. Perfection in every way!
I had tons of leftover light pink labels that I used for our boxed invitations from Online Labels. I printed our message with my HP printer and there you have it - pink, cute and personalized!
My MOH lovingly transferred the little fishies into clear, resealable plastic baggies with gloves. Why gloves, might you ask? Well, the answer is simple, to prevent unsightly fingerprints on the outside of the baggies. I know that sounds totally absurd but I wouldn’t have had it any other way! No wonder we’re great friends! 
I leave you now with pictures of our golden masterpieces and a song to brighten your day!
For any of you looking for cool stuff to do in new york, I just found this guide from New York Magazine - little New Yorker archetypes - how cute!
Last month my MOH and sister were home from college for fall break, so I decided to go home for a couple of days. While at home, I decided to check out the new hotel that opened in my hometown since we’re considering blocking off rooms here for our wedding guests. The Hampton Inn and Suites opened just this summer and has a big sign out in front of it to come in and take a tour. So, that’s just what I did.
The lobby
I’m in LA for Thanksgiving weekend– it’s so good to be home! I adore Chicago, but a little part of me misses the sunshine and palm trees of So Cal. I’m so excited to introduce our many out-of-town guests to Los Angeles next year.
To that end, I want to put together a “Welcome to LA” basket for all of our out-of-town wedding guests. I’ve started to brainstorm about what kind of items I could include, but I’m coming up short. Here are some ideas I have so far:
I’ve never received an out of town bag, but I decided to give them out because everyone loves tiny gifts in bags, right? They are a fun way to welcome guests who traveled far, but due to the flurry of activity before the wedding might not get to see the bride and groom until the big day. Nothing says love like a nice note and a snack when you can’t be there.
It wouldn’t be a gift bag without a bag. I screen printed canvas totes with an image of a ticker tape machine:
How do you welcome out of town guests to cities or towns that are not, shall we say, tourist magnets? If we were getting married in New York, DC or Orlando, it would would pretty easy to recommend interesting things for people to do, and interesting places for them to go. But Cleveland? Not so much- or at least not as many obvious places.
Mr. Dahlia and I spent a long time generating a Google map for our website highlighting some of our favorite places. Favorite places including restaurants like Fahrenheit, Paladar and Lolita (owned by Cleveland’s very own Iron Chef, Michael Symon).
Michael Symon picture found here.
Finalizing your guest list is one of those wedding related tasks that is filled with drama for most couples. How many people for the bride’s parents, the groom’s parents, the bride and groom? Does the person paying for the bulk of the wedding affect who gets invited? What if there is a big conflict over family members?
I had a pretty straightforward rule while narrowing down our guest list — I didn’t want to say “Thank you for coming,” while thinking “who is that?!” Because we kept it small (invited 70, ended up with 45 in attendance), Mr. Onion and I were really able to share our celebration with our closest family and friends. This is not to say all the decisions were easy.
There were two people we didn’t invite — my sisters. I know — I can hear the gasps now! Well, actually, they are my half sisters (my father’s girls from his first marriage). Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say, they would take the focus away from the happy couple. It was my father’s decision not to invite them and he was the one to tell them they wouldn’t be coming.
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