Back from Seattle

The wedding was really lovely. I had never been to Seattle before and I loved, loved, loved it!!

The rehearsal dinner was held at Greenwood Square above Upper Crust Catering on Greenwood Ave in Seattle. I actually have no idea how they managed this, but as far as I know, the groom's mom and maybe an aunt or two actually made all the food for the rehearsal dinner and basically just rented the space. The staff was very helpful and I thought it would be a great place for a bride on a budget. The hall is on the second floor, and the view out the windows of the square below is rather charming.


Here's a shot of the programs from the ceremony the next day:


The wedding reception was held at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club on Seaview Ave NW. There are two functions rooms there (that I could tell). One of them had a 30th high school reunion going on but we never really heard them...however we did share a bathroom with them. Something to be aware of if you are thinking of using the space.

The views were stunning and the food was really, really good. If you are looking for a place in Seattle, I thought the wedding there was a great time so I would recommend at least going to the Shilshole Bay Beach Club and giving it a look.



And well, here's some pics of the rest of my trip to Seattle since I loved it so much :)

Weddings weddings everywhere

Well, Mr Corn and I are headed to Seattle this weekend for his cousin's wedding. There have been three Corn family weddings in the span of 10 months; his brother, us and now his cousin.

Something tells me all the relatives will be a bit glad when all these travel events are over.

How many weddings have you been to in the last 12 months?

To Videography or not to Videography

There have been a couple of posts recently on the Bee about hiring videographers and I wanted to jump in and share our decision with you readers in hopes that it might help someone.

Mr Corn and I never thought twice about whether we wanted a videographer for our wedding. The choice was clear; we didn't. The reasoning wasn't because the tapes can be cheesy, or because the music can be bad. Rather, we both felt that it was stupid to spend any amount of money on a videographer for a video that we might watch once.

About a month before the wedding, it dawned on me that I wasn't actually going to get to see most of the wedding since I was in it. (For instance, when my cuter-than-cute two-and-a-half year old nephew escorted my mom down the aisle, I was still around the corner hiding from view.) I called up a couple we know and asked if one of them would mind just taping the ceremony for us. I knew it would be windy, and we probably wouldn't be able to hear a thing, but at least then I would be able to see the processional.

It turned out that our friends didn't own a video camera, so they ended up borrowing one from someone else who warned them that the camera had been having issues lately and just might not work. I was aware of this, and totally unfazed. I really didn't think I would care about the video that much anyway.

The day of our wedding, the camera did decide to work. And not only that, but my friends tapped into the sound system so that we could hear the entire ceremony. They also taped parts of the rehearsal party, interviewed people at the wedding and taped the speeches, toasts, and dances. Then they went home and edited it on their Mac and gave us a DVD, complete with menus and titles.

It is hands down, the best gift we received.

You see, from the moment the veil was placed on my head until about two hours into the reception was a complete blur to me. I barely remember any of the ceremony. Having the DVD allowed me to see my own wedding.

Now, the video is poor quality and the lighting is terrible. In fact, in the lowest light, you can barely see through the grain. But would we go back if we could and spend money on a professional? Not a chance. I will admit, I will most likely watch the video more than the one time I figured I would; but both Mr Corn and I still think it would have been a waste of money for us to hire a videographer. For one thing, for the amount of a videographer, we were able to serve lobster to all of our guests at the clambake. But I will admit, I sure am glad I asked my friends to help us out!

In the end, it is obviously a personal decision. However if you are deciding against professional videography, I would highly encourage you to find someone to stand quietly and at least tape the ceremony. I promise you won't regret it.

Rehearsal Dinner #2

After finishing up Rehearsal Dinner #1 for the wedding party and guests, we all headed to Newport Vineyards for Rehearsal Dinner/Party #2.

This party was more of a welcome party for all of our out-of-town guests...which, since we aren't from Newport, was pretty much everyone! We were very fortunate that Mr Corn's parents provided both rehearsal dinner options for us. They had recently hosted the rehearsal dinner for his brother's wedding in December where most of the guests had attended since they were also all from out of town, so they recognised the benefits of having an event the night before the wedding for all of the guests to start to get to know each other.

When we pulled up into the parking lot, there were already a bunch of our guests gathered outside. I can barely express how great it was to get out of the van and be immediately surrounded by such warmth and love from so many of my close friends and relatives; many of which I had not seen in a long, long time.

We all headed inside the Winery. The dinner itself was held in a tent that is out the back of the building. It accommodated all 73 of us and it opened up onto a grass courtyard surrounded by the vineyard.

I actually didn't eat much at the 2nd rehearsal dinner, but there were several stations around the room and plenty of food. There was an Asian noodle bar; a kebab bar with beef, salmon and chicken kebabs; and the highlight of the evening, a mashed potato bar! They served up the mashed potatoes in martini glasses and then there were all sorts of toppings; real bacon, sausage, chives, guacamole, sour cream, cheese and at least three other options.

The wine was all very, very good and while our event was going on, they were also providing our guests with tastings and mini-tours of the winery.

After dinner was over, they put out a gorgeous dessert buffet with a brittle bar...almond, pecan, peanut, etc. Soooo very, very yummy. Soon after that, Mr Corn's dad got up and said a few words about Mr Corn and I and thanked everyone for coming. Since Mr Corn is such a HUGE NY Yankee fan (I know, we live in Boston, it's a travesty!) his mom and I had gotten him a Yankee cake as his groom's cake. It was presented to him while his dad tried to get him to wear a Red Sox hat!

The whole evening was absolutely wonderful. I even loved the ridiculously embarrassing slide show of old pictures of the two of us that ran on a large screen TV the entire night. The food was catered by Blackstone Caterers and was all very, very yummy.

Many of our guests commented that the rehearsal party was even better than some weddings they had been to. I highly, highly recommend Newport Vineyards for a rehearsal dinner or wedding reception. The staff was wonderfully attentive and the evening was absolutely magical!

Rehearsal Dinner #1

As previously mentioned, we had two rehearsal dinners for our wedding. The first one was a sit-down dinner at The Mooring Restaurant in downtown Newport for the wedding party and their guests.

Heading out to the rehearsal...

I was still feeling a bit stressed from the wind when we got there so it didn't help that we were seated outside on the deck at two separate tables. Additionally, the deck was down about 7 steps and my dad can usually only do 1 step with his walker, so instead of starting off the dinner with a great We're-getting-married!!! vibe, I was a bit pouty.

Thankfully, my friend Sarah had the smarts to order up a drink for me...I don't actually remember exactly what it was, but I think it had champagne in it and maybe some lime and melon. What matters, is that it was just enough alcohol to calm. me. down. and as I mentioned before, once I had that drink, the whole rest of the wedding weekend was smooth sailing from there.

Some of the other yummy drinks...

The menu looked amazing! We ordered tons of yummy, yummy food. Of course, we had to keep in mind that there was an entire other rehearsal dinner to attend after this one, so we tried hard not to fill up too much!
My table ordered the Lobster & Waffles Appetizer which was baked lobster tail, toasted pistachio butter, house-made savory waffle and mâche with mandarin orange syrup as well as the Bag of Doughnuts; crab & shrimp fritters with chipotle-maple aioli. We also got some coconut shrimp...delish, delish, delish!!

For my meal, I had the Lobster Croissant...traditional steamed, chilled lobster meat, tarragon-dill dressing. It came with SO MUCH lobster meat in it! I was smart though, and didn't eat my fries or my croissant in anticipation of meal #2!!

The view from the back deck at the Mooring

The food was very, very good and once I got over my frustrations from when we arrived at the restaurant, I (and the rest of the party) had a wonderful time. I highly recommend going to the Mooring if you are ever in Newport, RI. It really is a beautiful restaurant with quintessential New England water views and terrific food!

The rehearsal

Outside ceremony brides...PAY ATTENTION:

Make sure before your ceremony that you visit your wedding site at the same time of day as your wedding at least a week if not two weeks in advance!!

Our rehearsal was at 3:00pm on the Friday before the wedding because there was another event going on at the fort that needed to set up by 4:15pm. When we arrived and went to our ceremony location, the wind was UN REAL! The site coordinator had told us that the winds pick up around 1:00pm and die around 5:00pm, the time of our ceremony, so I was expecting a pretty stiff breeze, but NOTHING like this:

Unfortunately, I had prepared backup for every possible weather scenario...except for gale-force wind. I was pretty stressed through the entire rehearsal because the gusts were so loud, you couldn't even hear, and all I could think about was how awful the wedding ceremony was going to be the next day if it was as windy as it was during the rehearsal.

I felt awful because the people there at the rehearsal were all aware of my foul mood and all I could focus on was was how hard I had planned to have the perfect wedding, and how it was all going to be ruined by the wind. It sounds so stupid now that I write that down 6 weeks after the fact, but in the interest of honesty, I will admit, I was a very high-strung rehearsal bride.

Fortunately, just before getting into the van to go to the first of our two rehearsal dinners, my sister (also our minister) took me aside and urged me to 'let it go'. I started crying and explained to her that I just didn't want people to be upset with me or angry or hate the wedding because it was so out-of-control windy. Mr Corn's brother and sister-in-law were standing nearby and they overheard me and assured me that my concern was the silliest thing they had ever heard of. Along with my sister, they reiterated that we were not only feeding people lobster, but giving them a clambake, an open bar and free entertainment and that if anyone didn't like that, than they were idiots.

That talk calmed me down 80% but I was still a bit frazzled when we finally got to our first rehearsal dinner destination. Fortunately (albeit, a bit sadly), all it took was one drink at dinner and from that point on I was filled with more joy and contentment than I ever imagined possible.

In fact, I was so blissful that even though moments like this happened during most of the ceremony... ...I loved every moment of it!!

I'm Back!!!

I can not even begin to tell you how frustrating it has been to not have web access for just shy of 2 months. Since I have been out of touch for so long, I am hoping that what I have to offer to Weddingbee is still relevant. I guess I will start at the beginning and if I miss something or if there is something specific you readers want to know, just let me know in the comments and I can address it in a future post.

Alright...here we go...

The wedding was the most amazing day ever; I didn't want it to end. I know every bride says that, but as a bride-to-be I didn't quite understand how that could possibly be until my wedding day arrived.

There had been a lot of drama surrounding the day, with losing my job and the aforementioned sad family situation. But as the day got closer, it got easier and easier to just focus on the fun of the event.

One of my favorite moments from the day was early in the morning when one of my bridesmaids, Kristy, and I went to 7-11 to get cash for buying our breakfast donuts. I decided to grab some trashy magazines to read while getting ready and after the transaction the cashier told me to have a nice day. I replied, "Thank you", paused and then burst out "ImgettingMARRIEDtoday!!" The guy beamed at me and said "Really, that's great! Congratulations! Have fun!!"

Sitting back and relaxing...

Seriously, there are a bazillion reasons why the day was so great, but none of those reasons would have meant a thing to me had I not hired a Day of Event Coordinator. I am telling you, even if you have to let go of centerpieces on every table or have one less tier on your cake to afford to put it in your budget, DO IT!! The ONLY thing I had to do all day, was relax and show up. I didn't have to worry about setting up. I didn't have to worry if various family members were carrying out instructions to a T. I didn't have to worry about answering questions. I didn't have to worry about timing. I didn't have to worry about site coordinators not 'getting' my vision. All I had to do was show up. And THAT was worth every. single. penny.

Research the internet. Get a local bridal guide. Go to Knottie profiles in your area and look up their vendors. Do whatever you can to find as many links to wedding planners as possible and then find out if they have a Day-Of option and if it isn't in your budget, ask them if they can work with you.

I promise you, it will be an investment that will pay itself back threefold in peace of mind.