Stuck on You: Milk and Cookies

The Pin Cushions are cookie freaks. Freaky for cookies. To satisfy our freakiness, we had a cookie table at our wedding. You guys (or WeddingBee peeps many years ago . . .) helped me pick the cookie flavors.

Our guests could choose between: chocolate chip cookies, brownies, Russian teacakes, Nutella blondies and chewy gingersnaps.

Some people chose to eat one (or more) of each option.

Sadly, I only have one photo of the entire table. I've looked through all of my professional photos, all of the photos sent to me from friends and family, and this is the only one that I can find. Which is a bummer, consider we spent a LOT of hours baking those cookies. But people definitely enjoyed them, and (I suppose) the point is not to have great photos, but to give people a good experience.

Now for some beauty shots of the treats.

Our young guests (and maybe some not young guests [like me]) enjoyed the chocolate milk set up at the cookie table.

If you could have only one type of cookie for the rest of your life, what kind would it be? (If you have a recipe, please share it!) Mine would definitely be the chocolate chip cookies we made for the wedding (recipe from the NY Times and Jacque Torres).

All photos by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. We have an unconventional guest book and give guests strawberry plant favors. We strand our guests without a table. Speech, Speech!

Stuck on You: Food and Words

After the drinks and snacks and catching up had concluded (much too fast), it was time to sit down to eat. Mr. Pin Cushion and I chose to have a buffet style dinner and it was mighty tasty.

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I piled my plate high with food. And wasn't able to eat any of it.

Other people say that they aren't able to eat a bit of dinner because they are too busy visiting with guests, and making their way from table to table. But that wasn't my problem (tip: if you want to be able to eat at your own wedding, have a sweetheart table so you are by yourself). My problem was, I was too nervous to eat. I felt like I was the hostess at the biggest party I would ever have. Too many butterflies in my stomach, not enough room for food!

Though I didn't have any room, the food truly was amazing. The menu included:

Salads:

*Mixed greens with cranberries, spiced pecans, pear and gorgonzola tossed with an orange muscat vinaigrette

*Fresh fruit salad

Sides:

*Mediterranean orze with artichokes, tomatoes, olives, basil and toasted pine nuts

*Garlic and herb roasted potatoes (nothing like the smell of garlic on your breath at a wedding!)

Mains:

*Charcoal grilled chicken with honey chipotle glaze

*Beef rubbed with smoky herbs and spices, grilled and served with gorgonzola butter

While everyone ate dinner (and I pushed food around on my plate), we were graced with some wonderful toasters and speech makers.

Our best man Virat and maid of honor Ratha both made toasts about what it has been like watching Chris and I in a relationship (Virat has been 'privileged' to live with Mr. Pin Cushion and I for 4 years, and has seen us in our 'natural environment' [things along the lines of: "I have smelled Mrs. PC's morning breath and all I know is, Mr. PC must really love her to still kiss her in that condition!]).

Here here!!

We also had a wonderful speech from Mr. Pin Cushion's sweet uncle, and a toast written by a sorority sister who was in Morocco with the Peace Corp was read.

My parents finished off the toasts, which was a total surprise to us (though, with my dad being such a ham, I should have expected it).

With each toast, Mr. Pin Cushion and I drank from silver goblets that my parents used at their wedding 35 years before.

Perhaps our guests were expecting us to speak, but we didn't. I haven't been to many weddings, so I wasn't sure if the wedding couple usually stands up to say a few words. Mr. PC is a bit shy, and while I'm loud, I don't exactly have a way with words, and probably would have ended up looking like a mime, trying to gesture my way through a thank you speech.

Are you planning on giving a toast or a speech at your wedding? Is that standard? (4+ years later, I still don't know if it is or not!)

All photos by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. We have an unconventional guest book and give guests strawberry plant favors. We strand our guests without a table. 

Stuck on You: Tables, Numbers & Our Big Mistake

As people were being seated after the extra-happy hour ended, the cafe lights above us started to glow.

Our tables were set up just like I had pictured. No huge view obstructing centerpieces here (which I didn't want and would have looked ridiculous at our venue).

Our centerpieces were put together by our venue coordinator (who was a superwoman of a lady-not only coordinating at the venue, but supervising the cooking and doing all the flowers for the location).

The tables also featured the fabric napkins my mom and I had sewed, and the green burlap table runners that Mr. Pin Cushion had cut.

When everyone was being seated, Mr. Pin Cushion and I became aware of a BIG mistake. See those lovely table numbers? The ones I painstakingly made with ric-rac and a hot glue gun? Well somehow, there were not enough tables or table numbers for our guests.

I still am a little perplexed about how it happened (and don't try to think about it too hard, or my face starts to burn with shame), but we were short a table. Meaning that 6 of our guests were wandering around knowing that they were at table 17, but there. was. no. table. 17.

We had left our guests stranded. When the coordinator came over to tell us, I was so embarrassed and a small ball of rage formed in my chest (you know that feeling?). I instinctually blamed Mr. Pin Cushion. It was not a pretty five minutes. Thankfully, someone grabbed extra chairs and shoved them into other tables and everyone eventually found a seat, but not before I didn't feel like an awful bride and an awful hostess.

How the proper number of tables got by myself, Mr. Pin Cushion and our coordinator is a mystery, but it still is the one major problem that pops into my mind every time I think of the wedding. My parents didn't get to sit together at the same table at my wedding, for goodness sake! But (hopefully), it is a detail that most of our misplaced guests have forgotten by now. 

Have you seen any big mistakes happen at any weddings? Have you had any near misses in your own wedding planning? (Please console me with stories, friends.)

All photos, unless otherwise noted, by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. We have an unconventional guest book and give guests strawberry plant favors. 

Stuck On You: Strawberry Favors Forever

Mr. Pin Cushion and I couldn't have discussed wedding favors more than once or twice during our entire planning process. They were never a high priority and very easily could have gone the way of out of town guest bags (as in, never thought to make them and never did). With that sentiment, when we did finally discuss what our favors should be, neither of us wanted to spend much of our budget on them.

I wanted something edible, and Mr. PC wanted something more long lasting. We found something that fit both our criteria when my mom suggested strawberry plants.

The strawberry plants were quite the budget favors. We bought strawberry plants from a local garden store (we tried to only pick the pretty ones with green leaves, but the heat in the days leading up to the wedding resulted in some browning and shriveling [we gave the uglier plants to people we knew wouldn't care]).

Each 6-pack of strawberry plants cost about $4.99, so that's less than a dollar per plant.

The rest of the project involved items I already had from prior projects: red and white twine, card stock, wood skewers, rubber "Thanks" stamp, fabric scraps and colored tissue paper.

Photos from Garden Harvest Supply //Museum of Useful Things //Hygloss Products

A few days before the wedding, we spent a couple of hour in an assembly line of plant preparation. There was a lot of watering, clipping and tying as well as debating who would get the ugly plants.

(personal photos)

Around each plant was a tag thanking the guests for coming, as well as instructions on the back on how to care for the strawberry plant.

(personal photos)

Our plants also doubled as place cards for guests.

Only after we had bought all of the plants and were labeling them with guests' names did I realize that it would be near impossible for out of town guests to bring home their strawberry favors. Oops. Minor oversight. I suppose they could have carried them onto a plane and baby sat them for the duration of the flight, but I doubt anyone was that dedicated. It resulted in locals guests each being able to take home a few plants.

Besides our traveling guests being overlooked, our favors turned out well. A lot of sweet friends have emailed me photos of their strawberries in bloom a year later. (Let's ignore the fact that the Pin Cushion strawberry plants died almost immediately. Fingers crossed it has not correlation to the health of our marriage.)

What are your favors going to be? Try to think about your out of town guests so yours aren't ripped off like mine were!

All photos, unless otherwise noted, by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. Our unconventional guest book. 

Stuck on You: Our Guestbook

We wanted our guestbook to be fun, and filled with more than just people's signatures (25% of which we probably wouldn't be able to read anyway). So we asked people to be a bit more artistic, poetic and imaginative than would have been required by a normal guestbook. Or wise. Being wise was an option too.

We asked our guests to write, draw, rap, sketch, or use a pencil in a way yet unknown to us on a card and to place that card in an envelope. (The envelope portion of our guest book was inspired by a favorite kid's of mine, The Jolly Postman [does anyone else remember that book?].)

Since we had an unconventional guest book, we did provide our guests with a (cheeky) instruction sheet, as well as some colored pencils to get their creative juices flowing.

Our guests gave us such fabulous advice on life and on marriage. We're trying to take them all to heart (which is hard since a few contradict each other [but we love a good challenge]).

Here are a few of the true gems. . .

1. "My only advice - don't go to bed mad at each other. It makes getting up the next morning awful." Hard advice to follow when you're in a fight and really ticked off, but also really tired!

2. "Chris is handsome, Kendra voluptual; the signs bode well, for a prosperous nuptial." Proverb or not, I am impressed someone was able to whip that out on the spot!

3. Now this one is very important. "If your wife is happy, everyone is happy." Hear, hear!

4. "Enjoy the journey." We're trying! (Also, I just like the rainbow.)

5. I particularly like the "P.S. eat cake!" And despite the simplicity of the "Be nice!" card, it is surprisingly difficult at times (much harder than eating cake).

6. Now this one has a whole wealth of great advice!! "King beds make great marriages!" "No accounting!" And, "Do not buy a tandem bike!"

7 and 8. But then we're told to throw out all of that advice and only listen to each other. We've spent the first few years of our marriage trying to reconcile the differing advice from our guests . . .

Are you having a guest book? Are you doing something unconventional?

Good photos by the fabulous Weaver House. (Cruddy photos [ie close ups on black and white fabric] done by me.)


Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married. We're happy at happy hour. 

Stuck on You: (Extra) Happy Hour

After the ceremony, we didn't waste any time with taking photos. We had done all of our group and family photography earlier in the day, which meant we were free to play!

We told awesome stories.

We hung out by the water. One of these people might have fallen (jumped) into the pond later. I don't want to point any fingers (but it was totally that little boy!).

We played croquet.

We imbibed refreshments (Fat Tire and Stella Artois along with red and white wines which we debated over for weeks [seriously, weeks] and now I can't even remember what they were).

And we ate delicious food (or like Iris, the girl below, we tried to steal other people's food).

Taking photos before the ceremony was one of the best decisions we made about the wedding. It allowed us to spend an extra hour and a half with our guests that would be have otherwise been spent posing in the same position with different people filtering in and out of the periphery. Plus, this way, we got to indulge in sausages and baked brie!

Are you planning on attending your own happy hour?

All photos by the fabulous Weaver House 

Pin Cushion Flashback:
The gals hit up the salon. Then, the gang gets dressed. We have a sob-filled first look.
Our wedding party poses with kids' murals. And we make them wear fake noses and hold balloons.
The cermony site gets pimped out. I have an emotional breakdown before walking down the aisle. The Pin Cushions get married.