What's for dinner?

I am so thrilled with our choice of caterer for the wedding. Not only are they super friendly and helpful, but they are making our reception dinner more affordable than we imagined! We are getting a plated dinner for the same cost we thought we would spend on a buffet. Plus we got to custom design our menu and they were very flexible. I don't eat red meat so that limited us to chicken or fish for dinner, and we're both not wild about fish. We decided we wanted a unique chicken dish rather than just having the traditional done-at-every-wedding grilled breast, and so our caterer is making a stuffed chicken filled with broccoli, almonds, and mozzarella. We'll also have linguine pasta and salad with it. YUM! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I think I'm actually looking forward to this tasting more than I was the cake tasting!

STDs

No, we're not talking venereal diseases here. I'm talking about our save-the-dates! FI and I are getting married in a month when lots of people try to sneak in those last minute vacations before school starts, so we decided we needed to send out save-the-dates to ensure our guests know about our big day well in advance; especially since many are out of town. I've always loved the convenience of save-the-date magnets and I didn't think it was one of those tasks that would be too hard to do myself. I considered using vistaprint.com because I've heard they offer business cards for free, but my OCD got the best of me and I decided the STDs need to match our wedding colors. I bought some magnet sheets from Michael's and downloaded a free trial of Microsoft Office Publisher to get the business card template and then FI who is a bit more computer literate than me actually designed the two different options above that I love! One has little polk-a-dots and one is striped (both with our weddings colors of pink, orange and brown) and I really can't decide which one I like best because they're both cute in my opinion!

FI got his way

It is a tradition in the south for the groom to have a groom's cake, not that FI knew this at all. Once he found out, however, he felt that it was absolutely necessary that he have one. FI and I are both still in college and while our parents are generously contributing what they can, it is still our responsibility to cover a lot of our wedding costs. For this reason he decided that he didn't need his cake, but I could tell that he wanted one. With all the decisions that revolve around what the bride wants in a wedding rather than the groom, I thought it would be nice to surprise him with something he would enjoy. Fortunately the bakery we went with gave us such a good deal on our wedding cake that I was able to snag a groom's cake at a very reasonable price without going over our designated amount we'd put away for a cake. So my sports-obsessed hubby-to-be will have his very own cake at the reception shaped like a football with a Florida State Seminoles emblem. I'm so glad too because I know he's going to love it and I love to see him smile!

The great alcohol debate

To drink, or not to drink? That is the all important question. This question has been the cause for some very animated conversations with both mine and FI's family as well as on some message boards. Now you may ask, "don't all weddings have alcohol?," but contrary to popular belief the answer to that would be no. I grew up in a dry county where there were no bars for miles and restaurants didn't serve any alcohol. Most of my family lives there and since they are accustomed to life in a dry county none of them are big drinkers. We live in the country where a good meal is accompanied by sweet tea or lemonade, not a fine wine or beer! So most weddings I attended were without a bar, thus I thought nothing of not having alcohol at my own wedding. It wasn't until my FMIL brought up the fact that she thought it was odd not to have a bar at such a formal event that I began second guessing the decision. I started to wonder if guests would be upset by the lack of liquor and if we would seem like bad hosts. I already knew that my parents would be against it. I have a large family that's taking up at least half the guest list and pretty much none of them would be offended by attending a dry wedding, therefore I knew my family wouldn't want to share the costs for having to buy the alcohol, hire a bartender to serve the alcohol, and pay the fee for a temporary license for our event when our half of the guests wouldn't be consuming any. It doesn't help that we are on a very tight budget and adding a bar to the mix would definitely drive up the amount we'd have to scrounge up for a bar on top of the meal we're doing. FI was also concerned about guests driving home after consuming since our wedding is taking place in a town where no one on our invite list lives (it's about a good hour away for most who are coming) and because we have lost a loved one because of a drunk driving accident. Another concern that FI and I shared is about some of his family's drinking habits. There have been numerous occasions where he has been more than a little embarrassed by overindulgent relatives and our wedding is the last place we wanted to have a scene. So as if all those reasons were not enough to help us in our decision to not have alcohol, we sat down and really looked at our guest list and discovered that we have a lot of friends who are a year younger than us and are not even legal yet! So the list of people who would be drinking is far outweighed by those who either wouldn't or can't. And thus it is decided that, weird as some may think it is, we are going to be having a nice dinner with only a champagne toast. We briefly considered doing a wine and beer type bar, but that still leaves the opportunity for select members to get a little too rowdy and I HATE the idea of a cash bar. I think it's tacky to invite guests to a wedding only to surprise them by having them pay for drinks. I've been to weddings like this where the other guests would agree with me when I say I'd rather have no alcohol than to expect guests to shell out their money like it's a club or something. So regardless of what anyone says my wedding will still be just as wonderful and special without alcoholic beverages. Maybe I'm naive but I'd like to think that people come to weddings for reasons other than free drinks. When it comes right down to it I know my guests better than anyone who is advising me against having a dry reception, and I know my friends and family are going to be perfectly happy celebrating me and my man becoming man and wife with a sweet tea in their hand ;)

Wedding sendoff

I really can't decide what I want to use for me and FI's wedding sendoff. There's so much to choose from these days! I'm not sure how dark it will be when we leave so I don't know if sparklers are a good idea. I like the idea of using bubbles, but I think it would make a better photo op while we're doing our dancing. I found a cute little poem to put on a card near the bubbles that lets guests know when to use them since we're leaving the bubble tubes in a basket beside the guestbook. On the tent card it will read "To fill the room with a touch of romance, please blow these bubbles when we share our first dance." Corny? Maybe. But also kinda cute? I think so :) I know some people choose to have petals tossed at them when they are leaving the reception site, but I've seen that done at a lot of weddings I've been to lately. I found a website that sells little sticks filled with biodegradable confetti that we could hand out to people and I love how they make such a pretty, dramatic scene. I think I might just have to invest in some of those after I check with our venue and see if they're okay to use.

Flower ideas

I want my wedding flowers to be simple and colorful. I don't feel the need to have massive arrangements everywhere or for flowers to be dripping from the ceiling. I've decided to use lots of gerbera daisies because they're so bright and bold looking. I'm also going to use dahlias and carnations. Now normally I would hate carnations; they are after all the so-called "cheap looking" flowers. But in bulk they look amazing! I may incorporate a few roses into my bouquet also because they're just your typical gorgeous wedding flower. I put together an inspiration board of the types of bouquets and arrangements I'm loving below.

Guestbook alternatives

I think guestbooks are lame. I understand that they are useful in recording who was at your

wedding, but signing your name on a line is so boring. Most don't even have a spot to write well wishes for the couple. This is why I will be using a scrapbook as my "guestbook." I planned on making a scrapbook of my wedding day anyway since I think they're more personal and fun to look at than plain albums, so this idea should be perfect. I'm going to put some scrapbooking pens up at the guestbook stand and have guests write little messages yearbook-style on the pages, then when I get my photos back from the wedding I can put them in the scrapbook and use the guest signature pages to space them apart. That way everytime FI and I look back on our special day we can read the comments of all our loved ones who shared the day with us.

Here's an example of what the book will look like.

For anyone else who wants an alternative to the standard guestbook, I found a few other unique ideas.

Polaroid guestbook: This would be great for brides who are renting a photo booth for the wedding. Those machines usually give copies so guests can take one home and use the other to put in a book using glue sticks or specially ordered books that come equipped with a window you can slide photos down into. If you're not so priveleged to have a photo booth you can always accomplish this type of guestbook with a Polaroid camera. After guests have their picture in the book they can write a sentimental note beside it to be cherished for years to come.

Photo mat guestbook: Guests sign their names around a large photo of the couple and then it is displayed in the bride and groom's home. This same idea can also be applied to a decorative serving platter. I've seen this done at lots of weddings.

Quilt square guestbook: I recently attended a wedding where the wedding planner had cut white fabric into little squares and placed them on a table beside some Sharpie fabric markers. All the guests took a piece of fabric and wrote their sentiments to the bride and groom and then placed their square in a basket. After the ceremony the squares were taken and made into a quilt. How sweet!

Puzzle guestbook: I think this is a really fun idea. I came across a site called mgcpuzzles.com that specializes in puzzle piece guestbooks. You simply submit a favorite photo of you and your significant other or some kind of love themed picture or poem and the fine folks at this website will make a custom puzzle for you. During your wedding leave the puzzle apart and let guests write a message on the back of the pieces. Later on when your and your hubby are putting the puzzle together, you can take a moment to read what all your guests had to say.

Wishing tree guestbook: You can put long, cascading branches in a vase and decorate them with beaded/crystal garland or spray paint them for some color. Have slips of paper on the guestbook table with a ribbon loop attached so that guests can write a wish for the couple then hang it on the tree. Google some images of a wishing tree guestbook and you'll see how beautiful this can turn out.