Another thing to cross off my "to-do" list:
We booked our DJ!
He's actually an acquaintance of David's so it wasn't much of a question of his abilities.
They've been in business 20 years, and the guy is super nice.
I present to you: Chubby's Karaoke!
(And no, we're not actually doing karaoke at the reception. They do regular DJing too!)
Showing posts with label reception. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reception. Show all posts
4.04.2009
I am, in fact, still planning a wedding...
I know it's been quite a while since my last post.
Things have been hectic to say the least with my lack of employment, etc.
So, in hopes of catching up, I'm planning on posting several smaller blogs today to keep things neat and tidy!
First things first since I got inspired to actually post from reading another wedding blog:
I absolutely ADORE this idea from Heather of "We Met in a Bar" (The best couples do meet there after all!!)
Activity books for the kiddos!
Like Heather, I won't have that many kids at the wedding, but I think it's a very sweet and thoughtful idea. Plus I get to craft some more!
Seriously go checkout some more of her stuff....
3.02.2009
Awful First Dances
So this post is going to come across as a little hypocritical.
David and I have briefly talked about what song we want to do our first dance to. We don't really have any songs that are particularly meaningful, so we're going with one we just really like.
But in searching for songs and inspiration, I've found myself glued to the awfulness of Youtube.
As a former ballroom dance instructor, I never realized what people looked like once they left my studio. Youtube has provided me that horror.
I've taught my share of "First Wedding Dance couples." I've turned out a few dances that I felt proud of. Some people wanted to simply dance on beat and feel comfortable busting out a couple moves instead of doing the "prom sway." Other couples (mainly the brides to be) wanted elaborate dances choreographed for them. Typically, these were always the people who would felt they had to impress a bunch of people, but refused to devote the time or money to accomplishing this task. Talk about frustrating to teach.
Knowing that I love to dance, David had inquired as to what I wanted to do for our dance. After watching many Youtube videos of people who look hopelessly uncomfortable, entirely too involved in thought, and terribly scared, I easily decided I didn't want to choreograph anything.
I honestly would be happy with swaying as long as I was actually enjoying our first dance. Doing a couple of turns would be fine by me too. But seeing people struggle to get their dance "right" and try to be something they're not makes me sad. Well, sometimes it makes me laugh.
The only great choreographed dances I've seen have been the "bust it out side by side" dances which are fun to watch. Unfortunately they're waaaaay overdone now.
Not to mention the fact that most of these brides choose these hideous ball gowns and/or strapless gowns which make it 10 times more difficult to dance in. For brides that don't realize it, those huge gowns also ensure the people don't see most of what you're doing because they hide your legs and body so much that all people have to focus on is your bad posture and awkward armstyling. Oh, and people will be looking at the way you glare at your new husband for not getting the steps right.
And my other pet peeve? When the couples don't even have their hands correct. Men, you lead, and you offer your new wife your left hand. Otherwise, it just looks like she's gonna be wearing the pants in the family!
But for now, I'll leave you to wonder what song we've chosen for OUR first dance.
And I'll leave you to wonder what THESE people were thinking!
Seriously, what is this? A party or a performance?
David and I have briefly talked about what song we want to do our first dance to. We don't really have any songs that are particularly meaningful, so we're going with one we just really like.
But in searching for songs and inspiration, I've found myself glued to the awfulness of Youtube.
As a former ballroom dance instructor, I never realized what people looked like once they left my studio. Youtube has provided me that horror.
I've taught my share of "First Wedding Dance couples." I've turned out a few dances that I felt proud of. Some people wanted to simply dance on beat and feel comfortable busting out a couple moves instead of doing the "prom sway." Other couples (mainly the brides to be) wanted elaborate dances choreographed for them. Typically, these were always the people who would felt they had to impress a bunch of people, but refused to devote the time or money to accomplishing this task. Talk about frustrating to teach.
Knowing that I love to dance, David had inquired as to what I wanted to do for our dance. After watching many Youtube videos of people who look hopelessly uncomfortable, entirely too involved in thought, and terribly scared, I easily decided I didn't want to choreograph anything.
I honestly would be happy with swaying as long as I was actually enjoying our first dance. Doing a couple of turns would be fine by me too. But seeing people struggle to get their dance "right" and try to be something they're not makes me sad. Well, sometimes it makes me laugh.
The only great choreographed dances I've seen have been the "bust it out side by side" dances which are fun to watch. Unfortunately they're waaaaay overdone now.
Not to mention the fact that most of these brides choose these hideous ball gowns and/or strapless gowns which make it 10 times more difficult to dance in. For brides that don't realize it, those huge gowns also ensure the people don't see most of what you're doing because they hide your legs and body so much that all people have to focus on is your bad posture and awkward armstyling. Oh, and people will be looking at the way you glare at your new husband for not getting the steps right.
And my other pet peeve? When the couples don't even have their hands correct. Men, you lead, and you offer your new wife your left hand. Otherwise, it just looks like she's gonna be wearing the pants in the family!
But for now, I'll leave you to wonder what song we've chosen for OUR first dance.
And I'll leave you to wonder what THESE people were thinking!
Seriously, what is this? A party or a performance?
2.25.2009
She's got the dress!!!!
But no, you won't be getting pictures this post!
Last weekend I took a trip up to PA to go dress shopping with my mom, my sister-in-law, and my mom's best friend (who is basically a second mom to me).
We decided we'd travel to Pittsburgh for some non-corporate shopping and I made an appointment at a store in the Strip district called Carlisle's of Pittsburgh. With a reputation like "America's Oldest Bridal Salon" how could you go wrong, right?
Anyone that knows me knows that once I get my mind set on something, I'm a stickler for getting what I want. So when I walked into that salon at 11am, I knew what I would be getting. I'll spare the details here, to keep it a surprise, but I flat-out told my salesperson, Cathy, what I would be looking for. She made a couple of suggestions right off that I shot down immediately, and I'm not sure if she was impressed or put off by it!
I probably tried on 8 dresses, tops.
I found MY dress within an hour.
I tried MY dress on once, then again, then once again after one more crack at the racks.
Cathy added the perfect veil (a type I had in mind in all my internet research) and that was it!
My sister-in-law snapped a couple of quick cell phone pics (what would we do without technology?!) of the bust of the dress to get jewelry ideas.
It was pretty much decided quickly, and everyone who came agreed. In fact, my second mom barely let me get 3 steps out of the dressing room before she cried out, "That's the one!"
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. It's been ordered and will take about six months to get into Pittsburgh. That'll be about the time I head to PA for a bridal shower, so I'm picking up the gown and bringing it back to Charlotte for any alterations.
Now, what to do about shoes? ;)
Last weekend I took a trip up to PA to go dress shopping with my mom, my sister-in-law, and my mom's best friend (who is basically a second mom to me).
We decided we'd travel to Pittsburgh for some non-corporate shopping and I made an appointment at a store in the Strip district called Carlisle's of Pittsburgh. With a reputation like "America's Oldest Bridal Salon" how could you go wrong, right?
Anyone that knows me knows that once I get my mind set on something, I'm a stickler for getting what I want. So when I walked into that salon at 11am, I knew what I would be getting. I'll spare the details here, to keep it a surprise, but I flat-out told my salesperson, Cathy, what I would be looking for. She made a couple of suggestions right off that I shot down immediately, and I'm not sure if she was impressed or put off by it!
I probably tried on 8 dresses, tops.
I found MY dress within an hour.
I tried MY dress on once, then again, then once again after one more crack at the racks.
Cathy added the perfect veil (a type I had in mind in all my internet research) and that was it!
My sister-in-law snapped a couple of quick cell phone pics (what would we do without technology?!) of the bust of the dress to get jewelry ideas.
It was pretty much decided quickly, and everyone who came agreed. In fact, my second mom barely let me get 3 steps out of the dressing room before she cried out, "That's the one!"
Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. It's been ordered and will take about six months to get into Pittsburgh. That'll be about the time I head to PA for a bridal shower, so I'm picking up the gown and bringing it back to Charlotte for any alterations.
Now, what to do about shoes? ;)
2.17.2009
The Cookie Table
A cookie table complete with buckeyes!But there were a couple other "musts" that snuck in there along the way.
For example, growing up in Western PA, I wanted my "heritage" to be considered despite having the wedding in North Carolina. Thus began the Great Cookie Table lesson.
For anyone who calls Western PA (and Eastern Ohio for that matter) home, you should be familiar with this wedding tradition. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever been to a wedding without a cookie table!
For those of you unfamiliar to the tradition (like my future in-laws), I'll briefly summarize.
In the days leading up to the wedding, the bride, her bridesmaids, and all the women in her family work on the cookie table.
Often, there will be a get-together for one of the baking sessions, but everyone is also expected to contribute individually. After all, how many ovens does the average person have?The women will bake all kinds of cookies--everything from peanut butter blossoms to pizzelles to lady's fingers to thumb print cookies to lemon bars to buckeyes (again a western pa thing) to old family recipes!
There is always quite the spread. And when all is said and done, depending on the determination of the family, there can easily be waaaaay more cookies than were ever needed.
Regardless, the cookies are put on display for the guests in the reception hall and are open for eating as soon as guests arrive. They more or less take the place of appetizers. Often, the bride and groom also put out boxes for their guests to cart cookies home in.
But the most entertaining part is seeing which cookies get eaten up first. In my experience, it's the buckeyes, but that's because Western Pennsylvanians know what buckeyes are!
It'll be interesting to see what goes first at my wedding!Pittsburgh Wedding Essentials offers this advice:
- Your cookie table should have something with chocolate, something with fruit, something with nuts and something with just butter, which will appeal to all the guests. She suggests a lemon bar or something similar for summer weddings.
The cookie tables are also always beautifully set up and decorated. There are often layers made using cake dishes, serving trays, etc.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it better than I could:
"Wedding guests may not remember the maid of honor or the best man, but they'll remember the cookies."
If little girls dream of their wedding, I think I was dreaming of my cookie table! And wonderful David was nice enough to oblige me! We cleared it with the hotel we're considering, so now it's just time to start gathering recipes!Informative cookie table links:
Wikipedia knows how it is
Chowhound readers weigh in
NPR even considers it news worthy
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers recipes for the table
Pittsburgh Wedding Essentials ... from a Vendor's point of view
Suite 101 works it
Cocktail Moms blog catches the cookie itch
And an informative Youtube video!
Enjoy!
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