Miss Coyote, Westchester, NYAge and Occupation: 26, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Computer ProgrammerEngagement Date: August 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Franklin PlazaAbout Me: I am an overly-caffeinated, sports-obsessed history nerd who loves a good book and hates bananas. Originally from a small town in Upstate NY, I made the move to Westchester County and never looked back! My loves include NBC Thursdays, red wine, fleece pajamas, and my amazing fiancé. Together we are planning a formal evening affair for 175 guests with a mix of new and old traditions and plenty of personal touches.
One of the pros (or maybe it’s a con—I haven’t decided yet) of a long engagement is having all the time in the world to make a decision. A lot of my ideas have kind of morphed and evolved over time. One of the less important details, but one I can’t stop thinking about right now, is the table numbers.
Image via Muppet Wiki / Oh, and whenever I think about table numbers I think about Count von Count. One table, AH AH AH! Two tables, AH AH AH! Yes, I am five years old.
Before we even chose our venue, I was looking at table numbers and centerpieces.
Miss Unicycle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 23, Editor for a Web Publishing CompanyFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, MD/PhD StudentEngagement Date: March 26, 2011Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Bridges of Poplar CreekAbout Me: I’m a writer by trade who likes analyzing pop culture, making fun of celebrities, and laughing until I cry. I’m the queen of half-assed crafts, and there’s nothing I won’t try to DIY. You can usually find me reading blogs on my laptop in front of a good Lifetime movie, wine in hand. I’m planning a polka-dotted summertime wedding to my physics geek college sweetheart, and when I’m not making stupid puns I’m freaking out about my wedding timeline.
…It says you + me = us. It also says sin (pi/2) = 1. I know, technically, that’s trigonometry, and the first equation is just basic addition. But what the devil am I talking about anyway? Table numbers!
Personal pic
I’ve mentioned before how Mr. Unicycle and I fell in love over a physics textbook and how I have a thing for nerds, so when it came time for us to come up with a ridiculously clever table-number idea that no one had yet seen, of course we turned to mathematics. It was actually Mr. Unicycle’s idea to use math instead of plain ol’ numbers, and I heart it. The basic idea was that we’d number the tables from 1–20, but label them with mathematical expressions that could be evaluated to the numbers 1–20. (Note: NO, we are not going to make our guests do math in order to find their table. Pretty much everyone who’s heard our idea has started having math-induced panic attacks at the thought. They are merely matching what’s on their escort cards to what’s on the table numbers.) This means that we wouldn’t use an equation like “x + y = 10″ because who the hell knows what x and y are? Instead, we used things like trig functions, series, and, my favorite, the factorial:
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
You know those little sponge pills that you stick in a cup of water and they expand to be a huge dinosaur?
That doesn’t really look like a dinosaur. Regardless. You get the idea. (Image via Alibaba.com)
That? Has happened to our guest list.
I thought it could never happen to us. Not me, no way, no how. I’m a loser, I don’t know that many people, I have a small family. If anything, we’d hit well under the 100-person mark that we have been basing cost points off of.
Miss Dalmatian, Nashville, TNAge and Occupation: 23, Pediatric NurseFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Computer Engineer and Entrepreneur Engagement Date: April 13, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Historic CedarwoodAbout Me: I am a Northern girl from Chicago who is planning a wedding filled with Southern charm in Nashville, Tennessee. I love dogs, the White Sox, Full House reruns, and anything with ruffles on it. Mr. Dalmatian is my computer-genius problem-solving fiance who is constantly teaching me new things and making me a better person. We live with our adopted pup Echo, who is very excited that his parents are getting married!
Here’s the low-down on our tables: our venue provides us with either white, ivory, brown, or black tablecloths. We have decided to use the white or the ivory. (We’ll decide for sure when we see the colors at our upcoming planning meeting.) But, because I have an affinity for making things more difficult than they have to be, I’m not quite satisfied with the plain tablecloths. It’s that I want a different color, which we could get for a few extra pennies (or hundreds of dollars—not really sure which and don’t really want to find out), it’s just that I want something ON TOP of the neutral tablecloths.
At first, I imagined a patchwork runner. Something along these lines but with a little more wedding flair:
Mrs. Honey, Durango, COAge and Occupation: 28, Financial AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/PhlebotomistEngagement Date: August 1, 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Vallecito LakeAbout Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
Included in our rental fee for our venue is a plethora of tables, both rectangular and circular. When I discovered this I immediately knew I wanted to do long banquet-type tables. But I don’t like the word banquet, so I’m just going to stick with referring to them as long tables.
Our venue is more rectangular in shape and kind of narrow, so the long tables fit the flow of the building better. Using all 15 long tables, it provides seating for right around 130 people. Depending on where our final guest count comes in, we have the space and option to add a few round tables as well. I can be obsessive about things, and in my head I don’t see round tables—I only see long tables…but a back-up plan is always good, right? Our venue was very affordable; affordable is good, but because it was affordable the tables and chairs are very generic. Read: no Chiavari chairs for Miss Honey. As much as I’d like to whine about this reality, there’s just no other option, so I’ve accepted it and moved on.
Miss Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
Creating a guest list was one of the most annoying of all wedding-related tasks. I started it, got bored, edited it, tried to finish it, started it over, stopped, and then ended up working off the first one again. Finally, I made some progress one random boring evening.
Image via Glamour / Artwork on it designed by yours truly
Miss Petit Four, San Antonio/Isla MujeresAge and Occupation: 25, Technology teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Math Teacher and Football CoachEngagement Date: Feb 13, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Zama Beach Club, Isla Mujeres, MexicoAbout Me: I am a polka-dot obsessed, destination wedding diva living and loving in the great state of Texas. I am an island girl at heart and I visit the beach as often as I can. I am a wannabe DIY goddess, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best shot. I love pearl earrings, the color pink, and ruffles are a part of my everyday wardrobe. My wonderful fiance and I are planning a destination wedding with our closest family and friends and we’re leaving a trail of glitter in our path!
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
Everyone says how important it is to get a guest list together before you get too deep into wedding planning. Those people would be 100% right. Because we only had a tentative guest list of around 250 people, we felt confident that all the venues we were looking at would work no problem.
Mr. Kettle and I, Momma and Daddy Kettle, FSIL Grand, and Mema and Dad Kettle all sat down and hashed out a preliminary guest list. But then the numbers began creeping up. Mema Kettle thought of more people who had to be invited. Most were family, so we added them.
I have no idea what the total number of people was who were suggested to be on the list. But I think, between the seven of us, that list had the potential to be almost 500 people had we included everyone. That definitely wasn’t going to work.
In that first meeting, I saw my dreams of a smaller guest-list wedding going away and never coming back. I reassessed my priorities and realized it was probably better to include more people if it fit in the budget because that meant a bigger party and more people there we cared about.
So, you must be asking, where does the rebellion come in? The fight I had on my hands to get everyone’s addresses required a bit of rebellion on my part and Mr. Kettle’s part, too.
Mrs. Cucumber Sandwich, Washington, DC/Cape May, NJAge and Occupation: 28, School CounselorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Collegiate AthleticsEngagement Date: March 27, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Congress Hall HotelAbout Me: I am a school counselor who spends my day wrangling children and my nights attempting to be creative with wedding projects. My enthusiasm for each of these activities far surpasses my skill. Thank goodness Mr. Cucumber Sandwich is there to pick up the pieces and be the voice of reason about my DIY tries. I have an obsession with terrible romantic comedies (‘From Justin to Kelly’ anyone?, anyone?!?), competitive Scrabble play, and hot dogs. I could eat astronaut ice cream for every meal and can’t seem to resist buying more shoes. Our wedding is going to be a true hodge podge of semi-destination, tradition, Yuengling, New England charm, with just a dash of ‘Jersey Shore’ thrown in. It has been six years in the making and I can’t wait to marry my best friend.
The guest list is becoming one of the most dreaded things about wedding planning for us. Our venue has a minimum guest count for our wedding day (125 people). But 125 people is also our maximum because that is all we can afford. A minimum and a maximum of the same number…is it possible?!?
Mrs. Ladyfingers, Saint Petersburg, FLAge and Occupation: 30, Marketing ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Sports WriterEngagement Date: December 24, 2010Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Palma Sola Botanical ParkAbout Me: I hail from Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Long Island. Fate brought us together, and now we live in a cute little rental house with our nutty dog, and our aloof cat. We both love to read, watch movies, explore our town, and laugh like hyenas. When I’m not obsessively wedding crafting, I enjoy stalking style and decorating blogs, making collages and painting, napping, thrifting, rearranging our bookshelves, and being a total weirdo with my friends. Hi!
I may have mentioned that I did a lot of freaking out in the first few weeks. Did I mention that? I freaked out. A lot. If there’s one piece of advice I could give you, it would be this: Enjoy your engagement before you start planning.
The number one reason for my stress was a lack of budget. We’d been engaged for about 15 seconds before I started looking at venues, having no idea what our price point was because we hadn’t even talked about it yet. But the number two reason was that without a guest list we could not choose a venue.
So we started innocently cobbling this list together, with no idea how inflaming this step can be or of its long-term repercussions.
Here’s what we did.
Get it all out
First, we listed every single person we could think of having at our wedding. This included distant cousins, high school friends, coworkers, people we regularly talk to, and schoolmates—and that’s cool, because once we got that list of EVERYBODY, we could start looking at places that held that many people and figure out our numbers from there. Some people have generous parents or family members who are contributing to or covering the bill. If that’s the case, the person or people paying should be involved in the conversation. We were footing the entire bill and decided that, while our family would have input, we’d need to have the final say on our guest list.
Miss Sweet Cream, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 26, Public Relations Account ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Outside SalesEngagement Date: July 4, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church / Rosebank WineryAbout Me: Born in the ‘burbs of Philly, it took some time living in the Big Apple to realize that I’m a girl who likes her roots. That’s why the mister and I bought a 1950s house on a charming street not too far from our childhood stompin’ grounds. This could also be the reason why our hometown is the scene where we are planning our super sweet, totally charming, BBQ-for-supper wedding that I never knew I always wanted. I DIE over DIY projects and live for vintage, heartfelt inspiration. I obsess over all things mid-century (from forks to furniture). Love is… cartoons and flea markets, and I am known to whip up a mean banana cream pie. I met the Mr. in grade school and after that boy took me for a spin on the handle bars of his BMX, I knew that things would never be the same again. Besides lovin’ my Mr., I also love to plan, sew and create, and that’s just what I’m doing as I navigate through the details, creating a laid-back day that oozes charm; one that will go down in (at least our) history as the Best. Day. Of all time.
So, hive…I know that I teased you with some of my wedding projects upon our introduction. And I think now is as good a time as any to show you my table numbers, which I must admit I am in lust with.
But first: Here are some ideas that ran through my bridal brain prior to our current digits…
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
a.) to further enhance our laid-back, rustic vibe, and
b.) to ease some of the expense of renting so many chairs.
We will be renting some tables and chairs, but I thought some wooden benches would be cute to have around the fire (AKA the s’mores station!) and scattered about for some extra seating.
First, my dad took a chainsaw to some tree stumps that were left over around the house that we burned down. He measured the length from the floor to the seat of his kitchen-table chairs and used that as a guideline for the height of the stumps.
Mrs. Snow Cone, Pittsburgh/Johnstown, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Public Health Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, EngineerEngagement Date: April 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: OMOS Church ceremony/Sunnehanna Country Club receptionAbout Me: I’m one of the lucky ones---I met my future husband at the ripe old age of 13, started dating him as a mature woman of 15, and have been enjoying the ride ever since. Here we are, 8 years later, living in Pittsburgh, planning a "homestination" wedding in the place our school romance began---Johnstown, PA. I thrive on talking a mile a minute, eating my weight in chocolate, and internet shopping. I love a lengthy to-do list almost as much as I love a healthy amount of chaos in my life. Mr. Snow Cone and I watch countless episodes of Friends and The West Wing on repeat, root for rival college sports teams, and make each other laugh each and every day. We’re putting together a small-town wedding with a big personality and a classically modern (or modernly classic?) look for 250 of our closest family and friends. It’s been 8+ years in the making, and sometimes I still can’t believe I’m finally getting to marry my high school sweetheart!
Given that our reception seating assignments are being communicated in a somewhat unusual manner and that our own seating is a bit unexpected, too, it really only makes sense to complete the wonky seating trifecta and use nontraditional table numbers. This is one of those ideas that I came across years ago and mentally filed away. I loved seeing pictures of themed table numbers (or names), showing off the couple’s hobbies, favorite foods, or travel histories.
Mrs. Snow Cone, Pittsburgh/Johnstown, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Public Health Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, EngineerEngagement Date: April 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: OMOS Church ceremony/Sunnehanna Country Club receptionAbout Me: I’m one of the lucky ones---I met my future husband at the ripe old age of 13, started dating him as a mature woman of 15, and have been enjoying the ride ever since. Here we are, 8 years later, living in Pittsburgh, planning a "homestination" wedding in the place our school romance began---Johnstown, PA. I thrive on talking a mile a minute, eating my weight in chocolate, and internet shopping. I love a lengthy to-do list almost as much as I love a healthy amount of chaos in my life. Mr. Snow Cone and I watch countless episodes of Friends and The West Wing on repeat, root for rival college sports teams, and make each other laugh each and every day. We’re putting together a small-town wedding with a big personality and a classically modern (or modernly classic?) look for 250 of our closest family and friends. It’s been 8+ years in the making, and sometimes I still can’t believe I’m finally getting to marry my high school sweetheart!
Back in my pre-engaged days, I came across a wedding concept that was new to me—the sweetheart table. Admittedly, at first I thought this was quite an idiotic idea. Why would you gather all your friends and family up in one place and then proceed to seclude just yourselves in a special, almost off-limits dining zone? It just didn’t click. However, now that we’re getting closer to W-Day, I’ve definitely changed my tune. And here’s why.
We have a pretty extensive bridal party—seven on each side. With that size, I wasn’t enamored with most conventional head-table setups. If we do one long table, it will be one long table. I want our bridal-party members to have a fun reception, and plopped down at the no-man’s-land end of the long head table isn’t my idea of fun. You don’t get to see or talk to that many other people without leaving your seat; plus you’re facing the entire crowd of guests, meaning they can watch you eat. And that’s just creepy to me.
Mrs. Snow Cone, Pittsburgh/Johnstown, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Public Health Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, EngineerEngagement Date: April 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: OMOS Church ceremony/Sunnehanna Country Club receptionAbout Me: I’m one of the lucky ones---I met my future husband at the ripe old age of 13, started dating him as a mature woman of 15, and have been enjoying the ride ever since. Here we are, 8 years later, living in Pittsburgh, planning a "homestination" wedding in the place our school romance began---Johnstown, PA. I thrive on talking a mile a minute, eating my weight in chocolate, and internet shopping. I love a lengthy to-do list almost as much as I love a healthy amount of chaos in my life. Mr. Snow Cone and I watch countless episodes of Friends and The West Wing on repeat, root for rival college sports teams, and make each other laugh each and every day. We’re putting together a small-town wedding with a big personality and a classically modern (or modernly classic?) look for 250 of our closest family and friends. It’s been 8+ years in the making, and sometimes I still can’t believe I’m finally getting to marry my high school sweetheart!
Awhile back, I posted about my hopes of doing a twist on the traditional escort cards. I really wanted to make a grandiose seating chart so our guests could just mosey on up to the chart, find their assigned tables, and then continue enjoying cocktail hour without having to carry around little seating cards. However, I was grappling with how to combine a central seating chart with entree choices—how do you inform the waitstaff of who ordered what in a timely, organized manner?
Thanks to a little pow-wow with our venue coordinator, that issue has been resolved! Mr. Snow Cone, my parents, and I all scooted over to Sunnehanna to have a little tasting of our reception-menu choices. As we considered the logistics of the evening, we all came to the same conclusion—the entire evening would be a bit smoother and easier if guests’ entree selections were limited to chicken or vegetarian. The chicken dish was tasty enough to stand on its own, having a streamlined list of options would expedite the table service, and this plan allowed me to follow through with my seating-chart plan! Now, with only chicken and veggie entrees, all I have to do is let the coordinator know how many vegetarian entrees to deliver to which specific tables, as we’re expecting the vast majority of guests to go with the chicken option.
One of my favorite parts of this idea is how many different directions you can go—you can keep it crisp and minimalist, using only names and table numbers, or you could incorporate one of your engagement pictures:
