Wedding Crib Sheet

Because I have to put my wedding planning on hold for a while... here's what I've come across as a few do's and don't and funny little quips that I thought others could benefit from:

Wedding Guest Don’ts:

1. Lighten up a bit—don’t wear a dark suit or dress unless it’s after 6pm
2. You’re not trying to play the virgin, so don’t wear white (save it for the bride)
3. Unless the venue is a club in South Beach, don’t dress too sexy—unless you like being “that guest” I use to have a friend who would try to make wedding these social "look at me" events. Girls... its not ABOUT you, and thats tacky. Don't be that girl.
4. Don’t wear high heels to a wedding on the beach—you’ll look sunken, not fabulous. Get wedges if you must.
5. If for some crazy, closed-head-injury reason you’re thinking about it, don’t wear jeans (ever)
6. Unless it’s a “black tie” affair, don’t be a douche and wear a tuxedo
7. It’s written on the envelope for a reason—don’t invite a date unless it specifically says “and Guest”. People are poor... be kind.
8. Brides have a sixth sense, so don’t get to the ceremony late because they will know…and hate you. And if you are late... feel really really bad.
9. Open bar isn’t a hall pass to get completely polluted—don’t be remembered for overserving yourself

Not to be left out... there are also some tips for those great Brides and Grooms...

Bride & Groom Don’ts:

1. Nothing’s ever perfect—don’t have unrealistic expectations
2. It makes for a great story later, so don’t freak if your friend gets drunk and hits on your mom
3. Attack of the clones—don’t make bridesmaids wear identical dresses and hairstyles
4. A lot goes a little way, so don’t blow your budget on things your guests won’t remember
5. Here comes the broke!—don’t spend the vast majority of your budget on your gown and shoes
6. Remember work/life balance, and don’t invite co-workers (they don’t want to go anyway)
7. Make um’ work for it—don’t put registry information on your wedding invitations

Note that “Don’t get a background check” and “Don’t sign a prenup” didn’t make the list.

What if you're like me and poor as dirt and you want to make a budget wedding fabulous?

• Do it at home, if possible
• Only invite those who are really important to you—each guest is money out of pocket.
• Order your invitations online—you can get really high-end invitations very inexpensively
• Don’t scrimp on the photographer. The pictures will last forever, so you want to use a good one.
• Make sure you budget enough money. Tying to get everything in a $100,000.00 wedding for $10,000.00. This waters down the event, and it doesn’t come off very well. If your budget is limited, do something that is best for your budget.

... and don't make anyone do the chicken dance!!

Bar Study/Workout

I'm determined to not only pass the Illinois Bar this summer, but to also look good doing it. I'm starting my study course in earnest on Thursday and tha'ts when I'll start my workout schedule as well. I'm doing the workout so I don't waste away into a fat blob from sitting around studying so much, and also because I'm planning on getting married in about a year and I need to start to think about getting in shape from all these Law School years of neglect.

When I look at photos of myself from my first year of Law School and now, there is a HUGE difference, HUGE. I think that needs to be rectified and shouldn't be too difficult with a good schedule. I'm going to include biking, riding the horse and going to the gym (of which a membership I still need to get, whoops.) I still have 24 hours to get it together, right? We all know I'm a better procrastinator than I am anything else anyway.

I'll start by getting up off of the computer now and getting to a few chores that were put off in the house over the long graduation weekend.

Tasting... yum...

The tasting started at two and boy... by then was I starving. I hadn't eaten anything all day in preparation for all of the food we were about to eat, to my detriment! Joe and I sat down at the nice linen table that Christina set up for us and I pulled out my "wedding binder" so I could keep track of the food and what we ate and what we liked. I find that if I don't' stay organized I forget things. Christina promptly poked fun at me, but hey, it works for me. So then... onto the food. Which of course, I took photos of:

First up: the Chicken Roulade



This was the first thing we decided to eat. It was beautifully presented and had a lot of color to it, so I liked it. It consisted of Chicken breast wrapped in panko bread crumbs with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and brie cheese. I admit that I didn't tell Joe about the cheese because I knew he didn't like it... my little secret. There was wild rice with some tomatoes in it and then a mixed fresh veggie. Oh... and some crazy sauce that was good. All in all we liked this one. The breadcrumbs were nice and crunchy. As predicted, Joe noticed that there was something in the chicken that he couldn't put his finger on that he didn't like, which I of course loved. And the rice was a winner. So this one was a good mix-- presented well, tasted good, just possibly needed a little tweaking.

Next up: Roast Chicken



I'm just going to say it... we hated this one. It looks pretty yes. It was very bright and pretty. It was roast chicken and it was squishy. The actual chicken was tasty, but with the skin on there was too much fat included. The sauce was the killer: saffron sauce. Too much saffron for the two of us really. And the orzo that was too bland. For us, the flavors just weren't meshing and this one just lost to the other food. So we moved onto something tastier...

The final plate: Pork Chop



This was presented very nicely. Though you can't smell it, it came out very nicely smelling wonderfully. The meal was a 10oz Center Cut Pork Chop served with cranberry and apple compote with whipped potatoes, green beans and a veal demi-glaze. So of course, instantly I didn't want the veal demi-glaze and was slightly put off because Christina told me it was going to be a red wine demi-glaze. I REALLY wanted to not eat it because of what it was, but I didn't want to be that high maintenance, so I did. But if we choose this, the veal glaze will be nixed. The pork was properly cooked and moist and the bone was easily navigated. The apple compote made for a nice surprise on top, the sweetness mingled nicely, though Joe commented that he didn't like the cranberries making it a bit tart. The mashed potatoes were just that, and I would guess we would change over to ones with mashed with skins included, but stay with mashed and not rice for this one, but very good. The veggies on this one was just green beans, which were very fresh and might be a good sole option as well.

All in all, we both loved the food and think that its a great option. The price point seems to be one that we can work with well and I find the venue to be one that is rare that no one really ever uses. They only do about two weddings a year and never advertise that they do weddings. Just speaking of food, this one is a very good option and would do very well with guests.

Dunham Woods

Going here today for a tasting. I'm super excited! I'll bring along my camera and notebook and take some notes as to what we think about the food. This is the first time that Joe is going to this venue and I really really really hope that he likes it. I've been there a few times and I know that I like it and their organizer, Christina is a wonderful person who has already been more than helpful.
Its really a beautiful place! More photos to come, and hopefully some good return info on the food! I'll be so excited if I can secure an awesome venue this early. I feel like it'll make me feel a lot better knowing that I have to stop planning for a lot time while I'm studying for the stinky bar.

Too Original?

I'm in search of wedding venues and if you know me, you know that I want to be original in everything that I do. That I wouldn't be caught dead doing a regular ol' hall at a hotel or anything like that. So I had the great idea to look into the theater (the Egyptian theater) that is in town and has been partially restored. Its really cute and very 1920's and has a lot of charm. I dunno though... it may be just a bit too much for me. And though I am a drama queen... I don't think if I ever saw myself getting married on stage. Above is two photos from events that they have had there. One was a prom that was held and another a dinner for the local commerce. It looks nice but there is something about it being up on the stage that just says play to me. The lights are always neat... but I just look at it and think that I should be seeing actors or something. Ehh... so maybe not on this one. But I thought I'd ad it because it was so different.

if you would like to know more about the theater (it is pretty cool) here is the website:
http://www.egyptiantheatre.org/

Wedding Freebie!

For those of you who don't know... I'm engaged. We're just starting our journey [through hell] and have looked a a few venues, are fighting about colors (I'm determined to win on this one) and am going to drag whomever is willing to read this blog through the white mud with me.



This is a fun nice one though. In my random no-logic search today I found a free template for a pretty cute invitation. I personally don't think I'll be using it (not a bike theme person), but for that bride on a budget who still wants to do a nicely printed invite at home, I think that this is a very nice option. The only cost to the bride and groom would be the ink for the printer and some nicer paper from your local Office Max.

So then... Free-Template Away!!!