Cakes Vs. Desserts

I have a confession to make...I don't like cake. There, I said it. I do not like cake, in fact I'm not a huge sweets fine at all. Fishboy on the other hand has a pretty decent sized sweet tooth. In comes the new trend hitting weddings, dessert bars!

I love me some cheescake, brownies are yummy, rice krispy bars don't stand a chance around me, and if you add scotcheroos mmm I'm hooked. Fishboy likes almost all the same things except for the cheesecake, plus he loves pie.

Now, here's the problem. I'm torn between the dessert bar and cake. Mostly because cake is traditional and our wedding could use a little bit more tradition, plus with my family there are certain things you don't mess with and their traditions are one of them. I love love love the idea of serving a bunch of our favorite desserts but at the same time I have a few reservations...

1. Time; will I have time to cook up enough desserts for 200 people before the wedding?
2. Money; can we afford to have a bunch of different desserts?
3. Legal; will the reception site let us bring in our own desserts?
4. Tradition; how can I still have the cake cutting without the cake?

What's your opinion? Should I go with my gut and serve desserts or stick with tradition and serve the cake?

Shhh...be vewy vewy quiet...(part 2)

Alright so when we last left off Fishboy, and I along with his parents for one session had traipsed around the Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls area looking for the "perfect" venue for our kick ass reception. What we found was bad 1980's flowers on the wall, crowded basement banquets, and deer asses on the walls.

Need some visual reminders?

 Make note of the flowers hanging from the lights-yeah, bad 1980's flowers on the wall.

 It's not encouraging when they can stack the chairs almost all the way up to the ceiling-crowded basement banquet.

This one is pretty self-explanitory-deer ass on the wall, and from the looks of it I think it needs to go to the bathroom.



What do bad flowers, crowded basements, and deer asses mean for our kick-ass reception? Well, Fishboy and I had to go back to the drawing board and do some more internet searching. I don't have many pictures from the other sites because well, Fishboy's camera needed to be used for work and always wound up with a dead battery.

We looked at 2 other golf courses, a historic ballroom, and finally gave up on the Eau Claire/Chippewa area and decided to look closer to home. 

Where we found a diamond in the rough-the Off-Broadway Banquet Center which is attached to The Stout Ale House here in Menomonie. The Stout Ale House is home of some of the BEST burgers I've ever tasted and even better they serve Macaroni and Cheese with 3 different kinds of cheeses...mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Our families will tell you, the Ale House has quickly become one of our favorite restaurants. There was one week that we ate there at least 3 or 4 times. How did we eat there 3 or 4 times in a week? Well, the first time was because it was Monday and they have 2 for 1 burgers on Monday, then we ate there for fishboy's birthday, and the next day we ate there with Fishboy's parent's for his birthday and finally we ate there with MY family to celebrate my little bro starting college. Can you tell we LOVE the Ale House? When I found out they have a banquet center I figured it would be PERFECT for us.

Fishboy's mad photoskillz strike again, panoramic shot of the site. The green walls aren't really doing it for me but I can deal with a paint color.

 
 Way in the back you can see me talking to the site manager Jay, who's been incredibly awesome by the way. But, more importantly we're standing by the bar-in the room! No having to leave to get drinks but since it's attached to the restaurant the guests can still go out and grab a special drink if they want.




 



I love love love, the light fixtures. I think the tulle was taken down after we toured which is fine with me.






 

 The dance floor is on the opposite side of the room from the bar, which I like just because then I don't have to worry about drunken guests trying to boogie down and spilling their drinks everywhere.

Another example of Fishboy's photoskillz, panoramic shot from the back.




Well, let's hear you're opinion of our venue. Granted the pictures don't really do the place justice. No one really liked it in pictures but once the families got to see it in person they were loving it. 


Pros

• Very self-contained. Bar, buffet, dancing, everything happens in this one large room
• There's our own private bathrooms
• They'll serve their fabulous burgers on a build your own burger buffet

Cons

• Ceremony is in Chippewa Falls, 40 minutes away from the reception
• Sorry, but I can't think of any other cons for this place!

Yes, we're serving burgers and fries at the reception. I've already cleared it with the reception site! What's your opinions of this place? Is a 40 minute drive too much or just enough?

STD's Follow-Up

Every responsible person knows that STDs require follow-up care-you can't let them just fester and not take care of them right? Well, my follow-up care is trying to get over the fact that no one has taken the time to acknowledge them. This makes for a very sad Fishie... 

I sent my cute little cards out into the world and granted I didn't expect flourishes of phone calls, texts, emails, or what have you but it would be nice to hear from someone that all my hard work was totally worth it.

In case you've forgotten, here's our lovely cards...
 

How could no one tell me how awesome they are? Not just that but how can I know if the ones we mailed made it to their intended targets? Grr...it's frustrating and kills my DIY buzz all in one shot!
Have you ever not gotten a response when you wanted one? Should I let this kill my buzz or just move on and keep on with all the projects I have planned?

Dressing the Princesses

 Remember when I told you here that Groomswoman Mulan made for a verry interesting dress shopping experience? Well, since Groomswoman Jasmine was home from college this past week I gathered the 3 bridal party princesses that I could and we made a trip out to the Bridal Shoppe in Eau Claire where I bought my dress. Shannon, the same woman who's helped me pick out my dress, the tuxes, and even our flowers (she owns Chippewa Valley Floral too, if there are any Chippewa Valley brides looking for their gowns I HIGHLY recommend Shannon and the Bridal Shoppe)  was kind enough to help these princesses find their dresses.



Groomswoman Jasmine trying on a black one shoulder. The only requirements I gave the girls was that the dress had to be black. I told them I preferred tea length but if they weren't comfortable with it being that short I understood. Was I too lenient with the girls? Probably but like I kept telling them-I wanted them comfortable and wearing something that made them feel fabulous.









 Groomswoman Jasmine trying on the strapless version of the one shoulder dress. 









Groomswoman Mulan, in the one blurry photo I was able to capture of her wearing a dress. Poor girl, none of the sample dresses were quite in her size so she wasn't really able to find anything that she was comfortable in. Plus, what she likes style-isticly wasn't quite fitting her figure. Since she NEVER wears dresses, she wasn't quite sure what she wanted. I helped her figure it out though so by the end of the day she had a little better idea of what she should be wearing.




Bridesmaid Ariel tried on a gorgeous purple halter that would be ordered in black. This was my favorite for her but I could tell it wasn't her favorite and that's what really mattered












Ironically, Bridesmaid Ariel and Groomswoman Mulan both liked this brown dress. They decided it looked better on Ariel.











This was Groomswoman Jasmine's favorite dress. I wasn't too keen on it but I couldn't get past the salmon color even though I knew it'd be ordered in black.





 
 
 Bridesmaid Ariel gave me her best "fierce" model pose. All three girls tried on at least one version of this black dress, it came strapless, halter, and one shoulder.












After we left the Bridal Shoppe, I treated the princesses to some lunch at Panera Bread. Once we were properly fed and refueled we headed over to Oakwood Mall and hit up Macys, JC Penny, Deb, Yonkers, and couldn't find ANY black dresses that looked even remotely appropriate. Since it was the day after New Year's weekend they had short skimpy New Year's Eve dresses and Old Lady Matronly dresses. Not appropriate for a group of 20-ish sassy women. Then we went to David's Bridal and although the girls could all find dresses they were all kind of chintzy quality and not flattering at all. 


All in all we had fun and it was a good bonding experience. What do you think? Was I too lenient with the girls, should I just pick a dress for them?

Ode to the USPS

Blogger Note: I meant to write this post back when I mailed out our STDs but my bridal ADD kicked in and I got distracted.

Oh, United States Postal Service, you have become the bane of my existence. Why must you keep increasing rates and coming out with butt ugly stamps for me to put on my pretty Save The Date cards? Why must you have completely unreasonable office hours and no available parking spots that make it impossible for me to get there in time to buy the butt ugly stamps? 

Now, I'll admit it-I don't necessarily blame to post office for having to raise their rates. With email, facebook, texting, and what not the art of actually sending mail has gone by the wayside. But, that doesn't mean that I have to be saddled with butt ugly stamps.

I walked into the Post Office wanting this stamp. Pretty wedding cake stamp, perfect amount of postage for what I needed.  

Instead the post office wanted me to walk out with this stamp...

 Now, I'm not racist and it wasn't the fact that it was a black man on the stamp that made me not want it-it was the fact that it WASN'T the pretty wedding cake stamp that I wanted. I almost had a bridezilla moment and tried fighting with the poor postal worker over the stamp but instead I bit my tongue and tried to find a compromise...

The compromise was the pretty "Love" purple flowers that don't go with our theme but it's an envelope and most people are just going to throw it away anyway. We just have to add the ugly blue big horn sheep stamp and then it's enough postage to get our magnets out the door and on their way to the right people.

As for the crappy hours and parking spots? Yeah, ummm who the heck closes the post office at 4:30 in the afternoon? Not only that but if you walk through that door at 4:29 they're already closing up shop and won't even sell you stamps. Their parking lot was a one way and I couldn't figure out which was the "right" one way. 

Did you have problems with the USPS? What do you think of the compromise stamps? Should I have just sucked it up and put the ugly black man stamp on the envelope? Which reminds me, anyone know who that guy is? I know I could google it but I figure if someone else knows that'll save me some time.

Our Princess Army

Fishboy and I have been blessed to have been surrounded by some wonderful women in our lives who've been there for us through thick and thin and whom we cannot imagine getting married with out them standing up there with us. And since every little girl dreams of being a princess on their wedding day, and to protect their fragile anonymity, I've decided to give our ladies the names of some of the most famous princesses I know- the Disney Princesses. So...without further ado I present, our very own army of princesses!

We'll start with his side of the aisle and yes, he's having women on his side cause we're non-conformists like that. 


First up...Groomswoman Mulan, aka: Fishboy's best friend and the only other woman other then me that he hangs out with on a regular basis. why Mulan? Well, I'm pretty sure that if you cross her she could kick your butt plus, Mulan spends most of the movie dressed like a man and GW Mulan hasn't worn a dress since she was a youngster. Which made for a verrrry interesting dress shopping experience (another story for another post).

Next, Goomswoman Jasmine, aka: Fishboy's younger sister. Why Jasmine? Well, cuz Jasmine didn't need Aladdin to save her, she saved herself from Jafar and was able to stand up for herself to the Sultan. Making her a very strong and confident woman just like GW Jasmine...but not afraid to put on her sassy pants and let you know exactly what she thinks.









And on my side...well, I have three very sassy women of my own. Bridesmaids Belle, Ariel, and Snow White.



 First, Maid of Honor Belle, aka: my older sister. Why Belle? Well, other then the fact that her FAVORITE movie of all time is Beauty and The Beast-she can tackle any beast that comes her way, especially when that beast is a certain sister with an upcoming wedding. She can calm me down and reminds me that at the end of the day it's my wedding and I'm the one who has to be happy.

Next in line, we have Bridesmaid Snow White. Snow and I have been best friends since she moved into my Grandmother's old house and we used to play hide and seek (my favorite spot was in the shower, unfortunately I managed to injure myself in a particularly competitive game) Why Snow White? As you can see, she has a knack with wild furry critters. Including a wild and crazy bride to be.

Last but by no means least, we have Bridesmaid Ariel. Ariel is my cousin but we're as close as sisters. Her parents are my godparents and my parents are hers so we've always joked that we're "godsisters". Why Ariel? Because she's always dreaming of being part of someone else's world. She's very empathetic and caring, which is a good thing since she's going to school for psychology.








There you have it! We've assembled an army of strong, confident, sassy women. Even if it's non-traditional to have women on both sides of the aisle we're comfortable with the women we've chosen and can't imagine having it any other way.
Is it a bad thing to be non-traditional and have men and women on both sides of the aisle? Yup, we're having men on both sides too-but that's another story for another post.

Proof That The Wedding Industry Has Gone TOO Far!

Or what the E! network calls "Bridalplasty"...

This is a show designed around this insane idea that you must be "perfect" on your wedding day. Including and up to breast implants, tummy tucks, nose jobs, and any other plastic surgery you can think of. 

Now, I'm not a super model by any stretch of the imagination but this has gone a little TOO far. Every woman deserves to be beautiful on their wedding day and I realize there is only so much that make-up and shape wear can fix but where do we draw the line? I watched this show and I thought to myself that all of these women were beautiful and none of them seemed to really NEED the surgery, they didn't seem to have any heart wrenching disfigurements but they were still competing for these surgeries none the less.


Am I wrong here? Have you seen the show, do you feel that it's a sign that our culture has gone too far in it's obsession with perfection?

The Holiday Tug Of War

    Ahhh...the Holidays. A time for; family, friends, peace on earth, happiness, and playing tug of war over where to spend the holidays. This year in the Fishie household has been a particularly brutal battle.
    This will be FI Fishie and I's 3rd Christmas together, the last 2 have been spent with his family. This year, we decided that it was only fair to spend it with my family. Seems fair and reasonable right?
     Did I mention we'd also spent the last 2 Thanksgivings with his family too? As of this Thanksgiving I hadn't spent a holiday with my family since we'd gotten together. So we spent Thanksgiving Day with my family up north, where I spent most of the day cooking but that's beside the point, then the next day we traveled south to FI Fishie's aunt's house to have another Thanksgiving with his family. This is the Thanksgiving that I would like to forget, why you ask? Because it turned into a nice little battle between me and FI Fishie's family over Christmas and when would work for everyone. I almost wish I would've had some Rock'em Sock'em Robots for us to fight it out with, that way might've been a little more fair.

 

    Here's what happened, we'd already eaten dinner and our bellies were full. I was enjoying playing a rousing game of Spoons with a couple of FI Fishie's cousins and his aunt when FI Fishie came over and asked about Christmas. We'd already agreed to spend the 25th with my family and figure it out from there. Well, FI Fishie's family decided to get together on the 25th. I kindly reminded FI Fishie that we'd already agreed not to drive on Christmas as a rule. Well, that must've made some of his family members upset because next thing I know I'm getting the proverbial middle finger and being told that "Christmas is going to be on the 25th and if Fishie Bride can't make it then oh well." 

    Umm...excuse me? Way to make me feel welcome to the family huh? I stewed about it and then promptly forgot about it. Until today...

   So what happened today you ask? Well, I recieved a copy of an email that FFIL Fishie had sent to FI Fishie. 

This isn't the whole email but you can get the gist of what he's saying...

"Frankly I think you need to consider how you can  compromise more over your Christmas plans.   I have stated that I also don't want to travel on Christmas.  [T]raveling more that a couple of hours is hard since nothing is open.  The final reason is that I want to reserve Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to spend with [FI Fishie] and [FSIL Fishie] and your families.  None of these apply to you.  You don't need to be up late on Christmas Eve, and you don't need to travel that far to either family.
Both [FMIL Fishie] and I are rather hurt that you want to spend the weekend in [fishie bride's hometown] and only a couple hours with us.   We also feel like we are being taken for granted."

Ok...anyone else feel as disrespected by that as I did? I have a few things I want to clarify on this-1) on a good travel day, it's at least 2 hours from the Fishie Parent's to my dad's house; in winter this can take upwards of 3 hours, 2) over the last 2 years I've spent many holidays with them, while I was working 3rd shift so I'd either be working the night before and then going to there place for whatever or I'd be there and then go to work, this is the first year I am not working 3rd shift, 3) The original plan was to spend the 25th with my family and the 26th with his, this isn't "the whole weekend in [fishie bride's hometown] and only a couple hours" 

The solution we came up with? I'm spending the holidays with my family and FI Fishie is spending them with his, which made FFIL Fishie enormously happy since apparently he doesn't want to spend the holidays with me.

What do you think? Am I overreacting to be hurt and offended by FFIL Fishie throwing his weight around and insisting the the holidays be spent with that family? Did we come up with a viable solution or do you have a better one?

Inspiration

I just had a brief moment of clarity and realized that I forgot to share with you guys the vision for this wedding.

 

Going clockwise from the top left; our bridal party men's tuxes, an idea of the boutineres that I want for them, inspiration for asile decorations for the church (christmas lights wrapped in tulle), our current color scheme, my bouquet's inspiration, and an idea of what I want the bridal party girls to look like (black dresses with different colored sashes)

So there you have it-I really don't have much more then that. Except I'm toying with the idea of throwing some polka dots in there somewhere but other people around aren't digging the idea.

What do you think? Do I need to do some more googleing to find more inspiration pictures?
 

Rethinking Our Colors...

Remember back when I told you about our "theme" for this wedding? It boiled down to the fact that we have no theme just a mish mash of colors...these colors to be exact;  Neon Purple, Hot Fusha Pink, Glodenrod Yellow, Lime Green, and Electric Blue.  

Well, we've decided to change it up a little bit...

 

The biggest change is the removal of the yellow color and changing the green from a lime green to more of a hunter green and the blue went from a teal to a cobalt/navy blue. 

But, being the indecisive bride that I am I can't give up on my initial vision of bright colors in favor of the more muted jewel tones. So I'm asking my loyal readers for their help once again; what do you think? Should we stick with the original colors or should we embrace our newest idea for jewel tones?