Cherry Blossoms Wedding

Okay, so there's at least one thing I like about living in the D.C. area: Cherry blossoms in springtime! Walking around the tidal basin under the cherry trees in bloom is so peaceful, even when it's crowded. The trees have such a calming effect on everyone.

And did you know you can get married under the cherry blossoms? According to the National Cherry Blossom Festival website:

Please call (202) 619-7225 and ask the Office of Park Programs/Permits Office to fax you a Public Gathering Permit application. The rule is that groups of people over 25 persons are required to have a permit. You will need to fill it out and fax it back to them at (202) 401-2430. This office will help you find a location for your event so that it does not interfere with other groups who already would have a permit.

If I weren't already married I may seriously consider this. Wouldn't it be beautiful and memorable?

(Photo from the Washington Post.)

Jonathan Edwards Winery- An Ideal Wedding Location

Do you live in New England? Are you currently searching high and low for that perfect place to hold your dream wedding? Have you considered a winery? Specifically, think the Jonathan Edwards Winery in picturesque Connecticut.

Nestled in the tiny town of North Stonington and located on a 48-acre hilltop, the Jonathan Edwards winery is truly romantic respite. From the stone patio to the English style gardens your wedding is sure to look and feel beautiful. I visited this spot recently and my first thought was, “Oh! How perfect would a wedding be here?” Sure enough a soon to be betrothed couple was planning theirs while seated at a quiet table overlooking the vineyard.



The winery holds weddings from May through October and offers up white enclosed tents for the event. This place would make an absolutely magical and incredibly festive fall wedding spot! It made me almost want to plan a whole new one just for me. There are gorgeous indoor rooms for events with wide windows, that rustic feel complete with blonde wood and a cozy fireplace. All perfect for cocktail hour and quiet affairs. You can even use the tasting room if needed! This winery is superb and accommodating and it specializes in adding truly unique touches to your day. Book quickly though, I overheard one of the tour guides saying they are quickly booking all of 2008 already.

For more information on planning your day at Jonathan Edwards Winery contact Erica at Erica@jedwardswinery.com or call (860) 535-0202.

Recap--Ceremony and Dinner

I haven't wanted to share too many details of the rest of the wedding until I have wonderful photographs to illustrated them with. We have the photos. But they are not ready for public viewing yet. (We've been loving looking at them though!) So, there's lots of fodder for future posts, once those photos are ready. For the time being...

The ceremony. We had four little girls present and gave them each bouquets and the option to sit with their parents or walk down the aisle with us. Two of my younger cousins decided to walk down the aisle. So we sent them down, then my cousin and Mike's brother, who were the maid of honor and best man. Then Mike and I walked down hand in hand! (We walked down the aisle to the first 30 seconds or so of Loquasto International Film Festival, by Mark Mothersbaugh from the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou soundtrack.) Our officiant was a friend that Mike's known since college and I've known for almost as long as I've known Mike. He said some very nice things about us and how we met (including how it's all Vicky's husband's doing). Then Mike and I read our vows to each other. We exchanged rings. We kissed. The end. Maybe took 20 minutes!

I think it was after the ceremony that the photographer took some portraits of us with our families. They were pretty casual. And we did them on the grass right next to the ceremony site so other guests could take pictures, or just watch with their drinks and appetizers in hand. We weren't sequestered away for any length of time.

Finally it was dinner time! I realized suddenly I was starving. People had been putting glasses of water in my hand all evening long, but no one brought me any of the yummy-looking appetizers I had so painstakingly selected. Tiny twice-baked potatoes with sour cream and mini apple-chicken sausages with crushed peanuts. I arrived at our table to find the servers had left a plate of them just for us! I will rave about our caterer, Serves You Right, fully at a later time. But the food was amazing! And serving went smoothly. Since we only had about 50 guests, no one had to wait too long for their turn at the buffet. Full guests equal happy guests. Mike and I had a sweetheart table. I hate that name, but loved the concept. It allowed us to have some quiet time to actually eat and enjoy our food. We were first in line for the buffet! And servers took care of us well, bringing glasses of lemonade and champagne and water. (I drank so much water! And only half a glass of champagne the whole night!)

I think that's all I've got in me right now. Reliving the night is exhausting!

Writing the Vows

Technically we are renewing our vows since we're already married. At the courthouse we used the standard wording. I'd like something a little more special for our wedding, but everything seems boring, or old-fashioned, or sappy, or serious.

In poking around on the web I came across many suggestions for Wedding Mad Libs. I'm sold. It would be great if our friends and family members told us what they think of us. I'm not sure of the logistics of how this would work. Here's one bridal blogger's musings on it: Mad Lib vows. You can also buy Mad Libs in Love, which would probably have some good templates. And you can find PDF ideas all over the internet for printing out.

This is definitely something to think about.

Low-Budget Weddings – Location, Location, Location

There are many ways to save money on your wedding. One large part of your budget will be venues--both for the ceremony and the reception.

The first thing to think about might be a no-brainer: Can you have the ceremony and reception at the same place? And if so, can that place be a family member’s home? If you answer “yes” to those questions, then there is your instant low-cost wedding.

But a home wedding might not be what you want, and that’s okay.

Is there any place you have your heart set on? Even if you think it will be out of your budget, go visit that place. It won’t cost you anything to look around and ask some questions. You may find that costs you hadn’t considered may be included in the price of the venue. The price of the church may include the officiant and a musician. The reception hall cost may include catering and centerpieces. Shifting your budget around may make your dream a reality.

Think about public places. National, state, and regional parks are often free or low-cost. Municipal buildings--which can include museums, historical houses, libraries, and theaters--host events and rent their space, often at a discount to local residents. These kinds of places also usually come with some restrictions, so be sure to do some research and read the fine print.

When do you want to have the wedding, and are you willing to be flexible in order to save some money? May through October is the prime wedding season in most areas and venues will charge more during that time. Summer resort towns will charge less for a winter wedding (and winter wonderlands will charge less during the summer). Venues may also charge more over holidays, including those three-day weekends we all love. Also, what day of the week? A Monday wedding may be cheaper than a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday wedding.

We wanted a June wedding, so had to get creative when it came to finding a low-cost location that would hold about 100 people. After a lot of research, we found the Brazilian Room, a historic building in a regional park. Being county residents entitled us to a 20% discount. And we decided on a Monday wedding to save even more money.

It takes some work, but if you are on a limited budget you can still find the perfect location for your wedding. The internet is great for initial research, but eventually you will have to call and visit some places. It's daunting at first, so get your future spouse involved. You don't have to do it all by yourself. You're both trying to save money and have a great wedding.

Some links to get you on your way:
Google Search: "theater rentals, wedding"
National Park Weddings
7 Ways to Save on an Off-Season Wedding

Attendants

I have seen and read about brides having nervous breakdowns over the attendants. Bridesmaids, groomsmen (ushers), junior bridesmaids… etc. How many should there be for a formal wedding? What do I do with an uneven number? I don’t even want to get in to quibbles over best friends and ex-best friends and their maid of honor duties.

In these confusing times, I look to Emily Post. Emily Post on Weddings has a whole chapter on attendants. As much as I love Emily, I happen to disagree with her on much of her attendant advice. But she provides a guide for getting me started, fodder for my attendant thoughts.

She frowns on “men of honor” and “best women” but I think that is all right. I was a best woman once and all the guests thought it was sweet.

Emily also says that it’s okay to have more ushers than bridesmaids, but one must never have more bridesmaids than ushers. She gives no explanation why, and I can’t really think of a good one either. So I say, who cares? You might say, But at the end of the wedding and everyone exits, how will the bridesmaids and ushers walk out as couples if there’s an uneven number? And to that I say, who cares? All the guests will be focused on the bride and groom and won’t pay any attention at all to a stray bridesmaid or usher.

Did you know that, according to Emily, it’s not obligatory to include your sisters or your partner’s sisters as bridesmaids? She makes the distinction between obligatory and customary. Since many sisters assume they will be bridesmaids, it’s good to get that communication out in the open right away. Discuss the whos and the whys with your partner, then tell all the attendants as soon as they are decided upon. (Also tell them as soon as you can what their expectations and duties are.)

It’s okay to disagree with Emily (except in cases of overt rudeness of course). That’s sort of the beauty of having her around. Not caring what Emily thinks gives me license to not care what others might think. If a wedding guest is seriously watching my ceremony to make sure everything is on the up-and-up with my attendant selection and their duties, then that guest needs to get a life—and I’ll be taking notes at her wedding to make sure everything is to a “t”.

(Actually, we aren’t having any bridesmaids or ushers, just a maid of honor and a best man. Will our guests wander around aimlessly without ushers on hand? I was at a large, formal wedding that seemed to take Emily’s advice of one usher per every 50 guests, but none of the ushers did any ushering. We guests did sort of wander around looking for familiar faces in hopes of saved seats. Do I need to rethink having ushers? I don’t want any additional bridesmaids and, horror of horrors, I could end up with an uneven number! Oh, wait, we are having cocktail hour before the ceremony. I think people will have taken too much advantage of the open bar to care. Problem solved.)