The Dress Revisited

What more can I say? :)

The Favors

I decided I wanted an edible favor, and one that wouldn't break my teeth or taste bland. (I'm looking at you, candy almonds and mints.) In the final weeks before the wedding, I came to Chaz's apartment when he was away to drop off some things. I spied what looked like chocolate lollipops on the counter in the kitchen.

I, of course, devoured said "lollipops". I did this under the legal principle of "Chazttel". This principle states that if it is edible, Chaz's and within my reach it also belongs to me.

Turns out they were filled with delicious, moist cake! The chocolate-like shell served as a sweet frosting. My favor search was over. I called Chaz about where these delightful pops came from and he told me a friend at work had a side business of making them.

After numerous samples of cake-pops (usually at breakfast) and different color "frostings", I got my favors! They even came to the wedding and set them up with their own little jars and decorations. We decided on lemon and red velvet cake centers

To make things even better, they'll create a tag for you to stick on the lollipops. This was a perfect spot for a picture Rebel's friend Jen drew for me!

Rumor has it some people didn't get any because they were devoured. So much for one per person, haha! Chaz even made me a bouquet of specially shaped ones (hearts and such) with colored sugar sprinkles. Sadly these were also devoured before I saw them. The thought counts, but bouquet eater, wherever you are, I hope you feel terrible.

(P.S. By the way, if you are interested in some cake pops for a party, the girls have a website in the works. It's under construction but it has a contact number.)

The Table "Numbers"

The big day has come and gone, but I am going to work my way up to it, as I was wonderfully overwhelmed.

Today we talk about the table numbers and escort cards. Instead of numbers, I, of course, wanted something a little different. Fitting the theme, I decided to split the tables between roses (mostly my side) and oranges (mostly his side).

I trolled the interwebs for gorgeous roses whose names would correlate to those guests I had at the table. The orange variations were limited, though, so I couldn't make those too personalized.

Now I have a bit of an advantage in that I have access to high quality printing and graphic artists I could bend to my will, but this could be done on a decent color printer as well.

Above you see the escort cards with guest names and pictures of roses or oranges. I ended up putting the rose/orange name on the card too. I wanted people to have to search for tables with only the picture to guide them originally. Why? Perhaps I have a cruel streak.

At the last minute I realized no tiny table number holders were given by the caterer like I thought (or should I say my lovely setup crew realized). But all was well! There are larger concerns in the grand scheme of things. And they still looked quite pretty leaning against the centerpieces.

This rose table was where my siblings and a younger crowd sat. Teasing Georgia was homage to my new little niece Georgia.

Other rose pairings were "Wild Rose" naturally for the children's table, "Carnation Rose" for a table of Gamma Phis, A "White Cathedral Rose" for a Sigma Chi table (their flower is the white rose), "Dolce Vita" rose for Italian side of the family, "Evelyn Rose" for where Uncle Mike and Aunt Evelyne sat with their family, "Bridal Pink" rose for my parent's table, "Grace Rose" for some lovely friends from Calvary, "Irish Fireflame Rose" for Irish folk, "Ebb Tide Rose" for a surfing family, "Fellowship Rose" for good friends and "Golden Wedding" rose for some bridesmaids, including the golden-haired blonterouge.

It's these kinds of details that keeps a girl up at night. (By the way, Chaz and I sat at our sweetheart table with the "Eden Rose" card.)

The Guestbook

Since the wedding is so close (Sunday!) I was asked to re-post where I am registered. Chaz and I have our little wishlists at:

Macy's

Target

Crate and Barrel

Williams and Sonoma

Now onto the crux of the post!

So, the wedding is coming fast and I am poring over all the little detail elements. For starters we have:

• The Guestbook
• The Garter
• The Favors
• The Table "numbers"
• The Escort Cards
• The Program

I intend to do some backward looking blog posts on other aspects. I want the wedding to have some element of surprise. So even though I'll be hitched you won't be rid of me that easily, interwebs!

Originally, I wanted to have those guestbooks where you do one at each table and have people answer questions about the couple, like "Where should they go on their honeymoon?". However, the tables have enough going on.

Then I considered this great idea Rebs gave me. A pretty tree outline in a book and people add their fingerprints marked with their names as leaves. I thought adding some little oranges in the foliage would be sweet too. Or maybe my side of the family would make a big rose, with their finger prints as petals. This may all still be feasible, but it will be in addition to a traditional guestbook.

Another thought was to have old books with fancy bindings at each table, swiped from Friends of the Library. The books would be whited-out somehow, maybe new pages glued on with the text making a pretty border. Those could sit at each table and serve as fancy looking guestbooks too.

Bottom line, I had to do this all in 4 months, sans coordinator and watching my budget. You start asking what can I really do?

I'm going to try and combine two ideas by having one stationary guestbook, each page with a new question. So they sign their names and leave a thoughtful answer. I have oodles of colored pens leftover from invite addressing. Methinks this might do the job.

I have the guest book. One thing off the To Do List. I'm rather proud of how it complements the wedding scheme.

The Invitations

After being stuck in a parking garage for 45 minutes with nothing but a bridal magazine and my thoughts, I think I have a clearer vision of the vibe I want for my wedding. I'm returning to my original conceptions but keeping the dashes of what I've picked up since the wee hours of my bridal brainstorming.

The next big task on my plate is the invitations. I need to get them designed, printed and mailed, stat. I want them to look like an old fashioned bookplate with a male and female silhouette.

The invites also are a prelude to the wedding's color scheme, so I want to bring in raspberry, persimmon and pinky coral elements. Thus far the aesthetic vision is Pride and Prejudice meets a whimsical garden of orange blossoms and roses. Not the most succinct tagline, but it fits.

There is also the challenge of fitting everything in the invitation. Who, what, where, when and I want to ask guests to wear some aspect of the wedding colors if possible. Perhaps in a tie or dress shirt for the men. The women have a dozen ways to incorporate it. How lovely would it be to look out at a sea of candy colors.

I'm also pondering custom made stamps. What says "Maiwage" more than smarmy photos of Chaz and I? There are various websites for this, the most legit seems to be here.

Additionally, I am told I can get a good deal on Carlson Craft invitations through a printer my Dad works with. Maybe I can find a fairly plain one and have my design printed on them? I've been browsing the designs, and plan on ordering at least some fancy envelopes. I love it when they have color inside, it reminds me of this cereal from back in the day. It had a yellow pseudo wheat color on the outside and inside a pop of bright frosting that was certainly not a color found in nature. Needless to say, it was delicious.