Wedding review

I hope that title doesn't sound like it's going to be critical. But with three weddings to attend in the upcoming year, you can bet that I will be carefully observing what works and what doesn't. 

First up was my cousin Lisa's wedding. What a fabulous location -- Block Island in her parents back yard. Totally jealous. Block Island is absolutely gorgeous and yesterday was no exception. She had a tent set up, and hung Chinese lanterns and lights on the inside. It was really nice looking and I loved the color scheme.

Here are the centerpieces: We laid down green table runners (she bought them at target) on the white table cloths. Then we had some moss pieces laid down, with a bowl of water and stones in it. Then we put in gerber daisies (?) down with them stems cut off. Around the bowl we put small votives -- but the "candles" were electric. I think the finished product looked great -- bright and full of color. In hindsight, having put these together, I think moss is a difficult choice, because it's like ripping up a piece of earth, it crumbled everywhere and was hard to get off the tablecloth. Also, I think the electric votives were a little too dim to shine in the daylight. But it really looked nice on the table.

Another touch she had that I loved: her guestbook. I believe she made it herself (the bride is an artist) and it was just blank white pages. She had crayons and colored pencils out so people could draw and write. Below is what my grandfather drew:

Her bouquet is almost exactly what I want. A callalilly arrangement in a bright color.

The bride and the groom were both casually dressed. The bride was in a white-halter top dress from J Crew. The groom was in a tan shirt with a white casual button down and sandals. They also wrote and read their own vows, which were funny and sweet. Tears!

The food. Ah, the food. The food was freaking fantastic. Bravo to my cousin for choosing to have a "cocktail reception" which is basically the same as any other wedding reception, but it's heavy appetizers and no sit down meal. She had everyone show up 1/2 hour before the ceremony to drink wine, beer or margaritas. Then the ceremony, then the food started right away. Here is a list of what she had (at least what I can remember): 

Stationary display: Sushi including tuna and california rolls. Cheese and cracker grand display, with rolls, sausages, etc. HUGE shrimp and cocktail sauce. 

Passed apps: Sliders: beef (hambuger), portabella mushroom, crabcake. Lobster rolls. Scallops and bacon. Antipasto skewer. Beef on toast with horseradish sauce. Brie and cherries. Beef wellington. Lamb chops. 

It was so much food. For anyone who was thinking of doing this, go for it. Please. It missed a little bit of the formality of a sit-down dinner, of course, but I think that was the point for my cousin. It was PLENTY of food and I did not feel gypped. In fact, I wish I could go back and set my plan of attack different. Hehe. I never knew if that was "it" for appetizers so I kept going back for seconds, then something new and fabulous would round the corner. I was so full by the end.

The cake: I didn't eat it, but it was so cute. (Those are doves at the top)

The favors were great -- a CD made from the bride and groom. Jeff wants to steal this idea :)

The bathrooms were port-a-pottys, but I chose to go into the house (hey I'm family!). The DJ was good, played a whole oldies/classic rock mix at the beginning of the night before switching to more current stuff.

Another touch I loved: some people "choreograph" the first dance. The bride did that, but instead she did it with the father daughter dance. Made a touching moment even more touching.

Overall, I don't have anything much negative to say. I think the drinking got a little out of control by the end of the night -- capped off with the bride's 65-year-old boss stripping naked and jumping in the pool, but I guess that's to be expected when there is a six-hour open bar. Plus it made a great story which I'll detail above. But here is my favorite pic of me and Jeff from the night.