Groom's Cake

So I've been watching that show Amazing Wedding Cakes...and boy do they have some Amazing Wedding Cakes!  Though the really cool ones are the groom's cakes.

I wonder if I could do this...

I'd wanted to do some kind of cool groom's cake...was thinking of something along the lines of a Wild Turkey bottle or Simpsons or... I don't know... in Funfetti.

Simpson cake toppers are at least $70!
I'd DIY it...find some figures,
make some clothes...

Maybe we could serve it at the rehearsal dinner.

Gifts from Singapore

Thanks to Jillee and Levi for getting me a cute purple cheong sam to wear for the tea ceremony!  There's even a matching bag!  :) 

I need to find someone who can alter it (though maybe closer to the still tentative wedding date).

Will post pictures soon...

How to House a Pineapple Tart

One idea we had about presenting the favors (pineapple tart and Mexican wedding cookie), was to put it in an origami box and tulle or cellophane around it.  Besides the manhours worth of work (though Anthony has already been volunteered to help fold boxes), another concern was the grease leaking through the box.  So here's our experiment with wax paper. 

Shinoda Floral Design

After dropping off Marianne and Candice at John Wayne, Margie ee ee brought us to Shinoda Flora Design , a wholesale floral design warehouse with rows and rows and aisles and aisles of all things floral.  I was mostly interested in pricing more vases, but under the direction of Margie ee ee, quickly found myself steered towards picking flowers that worked and getting something together that we could put together and work with beyond thoughts in my head.  I wish I'd taken more pictures of all the different things we saw here! 

Here is the final product from our travels today:

I think the height is good enough not to block people's views and hopefully there isn't too much stuff to catch the wind to be knocked over.  Or Pris ee ee said we could always use earthquake putty.

Veil

We looked at veils while we were at the Garment District.

We had looked at veils at David's Bridal, and I had decided I wanted the two layer (a blusher and maybe a fingertip?).

After reading about veils, I need to find one that ends either just above or just below focal points in my dress...which would be the neckline in the front and the low back in the back?. 

I also want something a little more detailed than a row of beads.  Maybe something with a little lace. 

Pris ee ee said to bring the dress down so she could look at the details and figure out what would look good on the veil.  Also she can look at how to camouflage the nipple beading!  She also pointed out that there is also a belly button!  I love my family....

You know you've been doing your research on wedding venues when...

You recognize a venue in someone else's wedding pictures...without decorations, during the rehearsal, from looking at 3 pictures...

I'd rather spend my money on cutlery

Our trip to Moskatels on Friday was semi productive. I was able to look at a prices of a few things like vases, fake flowers, favor stuff, Pris ee ee was a little (lot) appalled at my suggestion to use sandwich baggies with ribbon to hold the favors (at this time, still pineapple tarts and Mexican wedding cookies). I think that's not pretty enough, but for a bag of 25 cellophane wrappers @ $1.99 (approx $20 for 10 sets) vs . $0.28 for those boxes (approx $70 for 250), there's a $50 difference! Maybe we can incorporate the origami box bottom and then the cellophane bags to wrap it up? What color origami paper would we use? And can you buy very specific colors? I eonder if I could find a teal/turquoise and stamp gold swirly designs on it. Buuuuut that might be too much work....

Pris ee ee asked if she didn't spend money on the favors, what would I like her to buy: cutlery? And that became my slogan for the day. I'd rather spend money on something practical like cutlery than on 250 boxes that will be pretty to look at, but thrown away before the night is over. Although, I guess anything that we wrap the cookies in will be tossed.

A centerpiece option that may be reusable, or at least that will make it out of the night without meeting with a dumpster is: Pris ee ee, Joy ee ee, and Mum are pushing for live orchid centerpieces. Wrap them in plant sack material (?) at the bottom or put them in a painted wooden box. Would that be too plain? I guess toss a few votives or such around and you're all set.

I'd be interested in seeing how we could use the hurricane lamps Michelle has, if we have the wedding at TN Gardens.

Saw Pine Creek Gardens...had to walk down three thousand stairs...not so good for our elderly guests...and lazy ones too...come to think of it...even Eddie and I were winded walking up and down and up and down... ;)  Eddie liked the mountain-but-not-in-the-mountains feel to it, and the way the air smelled...fresh/piney/mountainy.  (I have some seriously weak olafactory senses compared to that kid, because I couldn't really smell anything out of the ordinary up there) 

Down sides was the road leading up to the venue was windy, unlit, and brought back memories of a foggy, death-defying drive home from his cousin Kim's wedding up in the mountains somewhere. 

So it's down to Etiwanda Gardens and Tennessee Gardens...

When we went to Tennessee Gardens, Eddie liked that Michelle knew the business and what she was doing: the DJ, and tables/chairs, the outside catering etc.  The down side was that it reminded him too much of his grandparent's backyard...not really a garden...it needed more flowers to be a garden.  He also thought the covered "dance floor" looked like a carport.  And he thinks it looks too small for 250 guests.  I should have asked Michelle for a cake tasting...that may have sealed the deal... ;)