It’s not worth fighting over plastic plates December 16, 2009

I went to my future in-laws for the holidays . The food itself was good and was done all at the same time, a problem that a lot of us fuss about on these types of holiday occasions.

While preparing this meal, my future mother in-law started talking to me about wedding dishes. Well, we all know my story about the dishes at the hall and how it is being resolved. So does she.

For the holidays, she had bought these plastic, but “looks like real” dishes from a warehouse club, not sure which. They are white with blue and silver trim. They are kind of cute, but they still feel very plastic and not very nice to have with a more formal meal – at least as far as I am concerned. She also bought plastic, but “looks real” silverware and serving utensils. Not only do they feel flimsy in your hand, but on first try to use any of it, I broke a fork picking up a soft piece of fruit.

She insisted that these would be a great idea for the wedding for the simple reason that she found them and she doesn’t want to do dishes. Well, they are not, and have never once asked her to do dishes at my wedding – I will have people to help me with that sort of thing. Unfortunately, my fiance knew about these before-hand and did not tell me, so I was totally blindsided.

The even better part of these dishes is that the small dishes and the dinner plates come in sets together and you cannot separate them. Trying to be nice and not knowing this, I asked if you can just buy the small plates for appetizers and wedding cake.  She said no, but asked why I wouldn’t want to have the plates for dinner too.

Hmmm . . . what reason would I have. . . I picked a place that had dishes and a dishwasher for a reason, but I think that she doesn’t get it. My mother and I have come to the same conclusion: it’s nice she wants to contribute, but contribute to something that needs to be paid for, not something we already have.

Not wanting to fight over it, I simply told her that if she wants to buy little plastic plates for appetizers and cake – she can, but I don’t want the big plates.

After asking my fiance to give me a heads up on coming attractions in the future, he commented, “She probably will forget all about these when she finds her next great idea.”

I have a feeling this is only the beginning.

Wedding Cake . . . check October 23, 2009

I crossed wedding cake off the list today of things to do. There is a big difference between cakes, places, and people helping you.

The first and only advice I can give to anyone is SHOP AROUND!

My first lesson for buying a cake is that most places sell it by the slice. I found cakes that were priced in a range from 90 cents per slice to $5 per slice and everything in between.

I shopped around a lot for a cake. The first lady I talked to sold for 90 cents per slice, she was willing to deliver it for me, but she only wanted to make a cake for 100 people and make sheet cakes for the rest . . . I don’t know about you, but I think that the cake is one of those things that people always remember. It’s like the centerpiece of the reception and everyone will notice what it is or isn’t.

Anyways, we next checked out some of the local grocery stores to see what they have to offer. Unfortunately, I wanted a square cake and all they made was round.

Then I got word of a lady who makes cakes for a local caterer and thought . . . maybe I’ll get lucky. She was the one that charges $2.50-$5 per slice depending upon what you wanted. I think she charges that much because she can get away with it. The caterer “recommends” her when you sign up for the food with them, and they both go singing all the way to the bank.

I checked one local bakery and found out that they do not deliver, which is huge for me because I am not going to have time to go fetch a cake or delegate someone who can be doing something else.

So, finally, we talked to a bakery in a neighboring town. They make square cakes, will add on anything I want – like ribbon for no extra cost, and she will deliver the cake the morning of the ceremony. Delivery fee will be $40, but I know the cake will be there – unharmed, and she will set it up and put flowers I’m getting from the florist on it when she sets up.

All together, the cake will cost $1.78 per slice with keeping the top tear, 150 pieces, and delivery. I don’t think that is too shabby.

The plan . . . so far October 19, 2009

I guess I really haven’t told you about what we are really doing for the wedding yet have I. Well, let me fill you in.

The ceremony will be outside. We are renting a tent so that I can plan for the worst. It’s August, so it will either be pouring rain or it will be blistering heat. With a tent with sides – I am covered.

We bought an arbor for the ceremony that we will put in our garden after the wedding.

The reception will be inside the town hall. We are going to have a DJ that is also going to do music for the ceremony.

We are actually renting a lot of things. The tent, which we already covered, the chairs for the ceremony, round tables for the reception, linens, wicker plant stands, and a bar. . . maybe it seems like for because of the quantity.

Anyways, I think that gives to basics. Details to come!!

I had an epiphany at the dollar store . . . October 19, 2009

I love the dollar store! I know there are some things at the dollar store that are less than desirable, but I have the finds of the century!

So, I was at the dollar store the other day and wandering down the aisles I discovered cemetery vases – you know those plastic vases with the spike in the bottom for putting in the ground. Well, I have decided that I am going to spruce these up a bit with ribbon and use them for my ceremony on the chairs in the aisle. This way, we can put flowers out in advance and they will not get droopy because these actually hold water unlike those paper cones they show in bridal magazines and books.

I found white ones. This will be great because I am renting chairs that are white, so the flowers can stand out more. I know that this may sound a little strange to people, but I think this opens the possibility for other flowers that I couldn’t before because of their constant need for water.

O.k. the other find at the dollar store: table runners. What are we doing with these? Well, picture the table with me. 5 foot round table with white linen table cloth and hunter green napkins. Top the table with a few roses and they look pretty boring. Now, add a 12 inch purple table runner with matching tassel  - I think that it adds a little something.

Now, for a dollar a piece I’m not going to complain, considering we were considering buying material from the fabric store and surging the sides and adding a tassel ourselves – EXPENSIVE! The only kicker to this one is they did not have purple table runners, but they had cream! I have a box of purple dye and I might know how to use it – when I read the directions.

The moral of today’s story: Think outside the box, you never know what you will come up with.

Dodged another bullet on the way to the altar October 15, 2009

The town hall meeting was yesterday. It turns out that they had no idea that they had so little dishes. No one had brought it to their attention before. They decided to take a full inventory all the dishes, silverware, glasses, water pitchers and order enough so there would be enough for a buffet where people take a new plate.

They thanked us for bringing this to their attention and far enough in advanced that they could do something to resolve this problem.

Next on the list, the cake and finding an officiate for this little shindig.

When I thought things had calmed for the moment . . . October 10, 2009

As you may have read, I picked out my dress and all should be on track. Life unfortunately likes to send me lemons unfortunately. I was to the town hall recently to make sure that things were on the up and up for what I needed before I finalize all that I needed for renting.

Upon further inspection, we found that there were not enough dishes, glasses, water pitchers, coffee cups and small plates for the event. The funny thing about this whole thing is that there is the fire marshal rating for the building is 150 seating and 320 standing. I am planning on 150 people for my wedding based on this number that was written on the wall. Needless to say, I thought that that was what they would have in the kitchen for dishes and such.

In total, there are 114 dinner plates, 98 coffee cups, 99 small plates, and 125 water cups- there isn’t the same number of each. So, now I am in the process of getting the township to purchase enough plates for everyone to have enough dishes. We had asked what other people have done in the past with other large events – the best anyone could figure was that they used paper plates – TACKY!!!

So, this is where the drama has led me for this week. Tune in next time to see if any progress has been made on the subject.

Shopping with Mom for a dress October 5, 2009

It is with most certainty that most daughters want their mothers to come wedding dress shopping with them. I did as well, but perhaps not the same reason that others do.

Let me tell you a little about my mom and I. We generally always go shopping together. We do a lot of people watching in the malls we usually end up going into stores and looking for the ugliest outfits possible for a good laugh. That being said, let the wedding dress shopping commence.

We ended up going to 3 different places to look at dresses before I settled on the one I have posted in the photo gallery. The first place we went started off by me and my mother arriving a little early to our appointment, so we could look around. I found a dress with a HUGE wood spider on it inside the plastic bag. I did not try that dress on.

I picked a few dresses because I wasn’t sure what style would look good on me. I seemed to be drawn to the dresses with some color on them. I find one dress I like, but it was pretty plain. No real beading, but it did have some color on it. It was a pretty dress.

Then the lady that was helping started picking the dresses for me to try on – this is the interesting part, so pay attention. She picked to most outlandish gaudy dresses that I have every seen. Based on what I had previously picked, what in the world gave her the idea that I would want a dress that only had one shoulder? Or have these crazy sleeves or off the shoulder thingys that bother you as you wear them for a few minutes.

All the while this is going on, my mother is sitting there being patient and saying how all the dresses are beautiful in their own way.

Then the lady asks us, “Have you seen a bubble train before?”

We looked at each other and said, “No.”

So she brings out this dress. It has very pretty silver and gold embroidery on the front with some beading, but the train . . .

. . . can only be described the way mother said in front of the lady helping us.

“It looks like a fitted bed sheet.”

The lady helping us, of course, freaked out and didn’t know what to say. She really wanted me out of that dress immediately though. She wanted to get me into one of her other choosing before we remembered she had picked this one too.

I did not buy my dress from this place, but it was fun to try on the dresses.

The next place we went to was actually a thrift shop that had bridal and special occasion dresses in a section up stairs. We had to ask permission to get up there, but they has a lot of dresses. I picked a few out to try on, and in the middle of trying them on, they shut the lights off on us. So we yelled at them, and they didn’t think we were still up there. I found one dress that I liked, but it had a lot of beading on it and was quite heavy. It wasn’t stained and was a steal at $200.  But alas the journey continued.

The next day went to dress shop #3. They had the same designers as dress shop #1, but they had more of the dresses with the color on them. I tried on the dress I had liked from the previous day, but found it too plain. I tried on a dress that had more of a neckline thingy to it. And finally, I tried on the dress that I bought. It is strapless with purple going across the front and a purple corset back and two purple ribbons that come down the back and frame the train that is heavily embroidered. The great news. It cost the same as the plain dress I liked in dress shop #1 with the alterations. AND I get a free veil because I paid in full that they are going to make for me – whatever I want!

I think I got a good deal. We had some laughs, but we also got the job done.

We picked a place . . . now what? September 29, 2009

What we felt was one of the biggest decisions had been made, we picked a place to have the ceremony. So what do you think we did next? Did I run out and buy a dress? Sorry to disappoint, but no. We started looking at invitations instead. It may seem that we are out to do this in the most backwards way possible. Oh, before I get too carried away, we picked colors too: Dark Lilac Purple, Vine Green, and Silver accents.

We started looking in catalogs that carry stationary, but I found nothing special about any of them. I looked at kits in craft stores, but they didn’t do it for me either. I finally had an epiphany when I was looking through one of many wedding planning books.

We have decided to make our own invitations. Let me describe them to you:

Let’s start on the outside and work our way in. The envelope is 6-1/2 inches square. The invitation is about 6 inches and green. It opens from the middle like a french doors, but to keep it from just opening, we are making this little sleeve from 3 inch wide parchment paper with a 1/2 inch white organdy ribbon around that. From the ribbon, I found these really cute silver dragonflies from an online bead store that we are attaching, I’m not sure how.

The sleeve is made so it just slides off. The inside of the invitation is genius. We are taking this purple piece of card stock about 6 inches square and attaching it in a way so that the top has a slit to make a pocket. The general invitation part is on parchment paper glued over that, but in the pocket, is a space big enough to slip postcards in. That is where all the extra goodies go like directions, RSVP cards, accommodation cards – all that good stuff.

It may seem a little complicated to make, but it’s actually easier that you think. They just have to be made in stages, and since I have 260 some days left to make them before they need to be sent out, I think I can handle it.

We are using double envelopes, so we don’t have to be concerned about the dragonfly ripping through, plus  it’s really small and thin. I’ll post a picture of it on the pictures page – the invitation too.

In the beginning . . . September 28, 2009

It’s been over a year ago since my fiance and I decided to get married – that was the easy part. The rest of it, I know will come together in the end, but the light at the end of the tunnel is in the distance for now.

We set a date of Aug 7th 2010, and from there we didn’t do anything about planning. I think a lot of it can be attributed to we didn’t know where to start. I looked and read through dozens of bridal magazines and wedding planning books, and they gave me ideas to what I didn’t like – it’s always narrowing things down to one decision that hasn’t been my strong point.

We finally decided, after much debate that picking the venue would take care of a lot of our problems. So we started looking. We checked out the local hotels, event centers, and parks. Most were nice, but we wanted a place that we could both get married and have the reception. We found a few places that would “fit the bill” that way, but the caterer that came with it almost made me faint. They charge up to $25.00 for a dozen devilled eggs – we’re talking about 6 eggs that cost around 75 cents!! Needless to say, I wasn’t happy.

But, leave it to my mother to help solve that problems that come with such things – she went and got her catering license. She said that it was no trouble to plan and feed 150 people and that she and her friends could put it together. I have to say that in a way she is a saint, and in others she’s just plain nuts.

Back to our story. So it came down to two choices: a large co-op owned park that I would have to rent a lot of extra things to make it work, but I could have the whole thing for the weekend undisturbed (7.5 miles from my house) OR a small town hall (2 miles from my house) that I can have the reception inside and the wedding outside next to a field.

We picked the latter. Now you can see why this blog has the word drama in the name. I may not be the bridezilla that you see on TV, but I have taken on a huge undertaking. Oh, and did I mention I have a budget of $7,000? That is for the things that my parents and I are paying for. My fiance and his family are paying for the liquor – details later – Tux rentals and I am hoping the DJ, but we’ll see.