This is beckmeister's Orange Wedding!

i've been thinking about the whole "first dance" thing and i know most people probably think it's sweet and all, and it can be, but i can't help imagining it as a very awkward moment. Just thinking about all our family and friends watching us while we two step for 2 to 3 minutes seems agonizing and i can't help but to cringe. so, i suggested an alternative to my hubby. My first thought was to start off dancing to a nice sweet love song and then break into a rehearsed hip hop dance or something like that for laughs, which could still be a possibility. Another idea uses his talents. He plays the ukulele and sings and he's teaching me how to play too..so i was thinking that instead of a first dance, we did a "first song" together and he was down. we picked the Lauryn Hill cover of "can't take my eyes off you". i would ofcourse need to take some voice lessons though, but i like that idea. hmmm..it pretty much comes down to how much nerve i have that day

I am actually marrying the ukulele player from a band called Tribal Theory. ever heard of them? they play island reggae jams and will be playing at our reception and we might get a hook up with another island band that's friends with them. check 'em out!

i've decided to have a cupcake wedding cake for the reception. luckily for me, my mother in law to be is an awesome baker and we're gonna ask her to make our individual cake that sits at the top of the tiers. the rest of tiers would be made up of cupcakes by my mom who just got into baking herself. the cake topper would probably be a kumquat flavor (my mom -in-law makes a good kumquat cake) and my mom will be making mango, guava, and strawberry cupcakes. then i'm going to buy a couple of fruit strudels from this local bakery that is famous for them in our area. so, pretty much i'll only be paying for the strudels, which are about 20 bucks a pop.

i've been looking non-stop online for receptions and banquet halls and so far i have 2 that i'm interested in.

background info: we're having a lunch reception on a monday for an expected head count of about 250-260

the first one is at a restaurant where each person is 15.95 for a sit down lunch reception. the price includes the food, room, linens, bar service, and room set up. not bad huh considering i wouldn't have to do anything? we can have this room from 11am - 3:30 pm only

the other is a banquet room by the marina that seats 280 people, 4,000 sq ft, has a definite dance floor, and for a monday it's $900. this place only provides tables and chairs, so all the table dressings would have to be done through us and we would have to hire a caterer, but at least it would be food that we know is good and to our liking. we can have this room for 5 hours to party and they are flexible on set up and clean up times.

So, what do you gals think?

i also have my moments where i would just want to take everyone to a lunch buffet at a restaurant and call it a day. less money and no hassle. just a thought.

I was talking to my co-workers today and we were talking about the expenses of weddings. Anyway they mentioned that I would have to pay for the bridesmaid dresses and groomsmen suits. Is this true? I always thought that they paid for their dresses and suit rentals themselves. If that's the case maybe I need to cut my list of bridesmaids...i'd rather spend that money on the reception.

I got engaged on Christmas night to my boyfriend of 6 years and we have set a tentative date for our wedding just the other day. We decided to get married on our 8 year anniversary and I'm starting to stress out about all the things that need to be done. I actually am going through phases of being excited going through all the ideas I want for the reception and not wanting to have one at all. Money is going to be a major hurdle for us since we haven't saved much money at all and that my fiance' has a huge islander family. The only thing that I'm certain about at this point is that I want to get married...all the other details are still a little fuzzy. Hopefully I'll have more of an idea of what I want after I go to the Bridal Bazaar this Saturday with one of my bridesmaids, my mom, and my MOH.