If I could turn back time and change some of my (non)vendor decisions, would I? It depends. Decisions as they relate to the ceremony? NO WAY! It was perfect. It was easy and carefree. The reception? Well, that's another story.
Before I start, I want to say that I LOVE the Lake Union Café. Dann and Victoria are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. The staff? More of the same. The food? Can you say NOM NOM NOM? People actually sought me out during the reception to tell me it was the best wedding meal they had ever had. If Dann had not been there to keep the party moving, the reception would not have happened period. That said, there are a few details I'd consider changing about our venue and decisions around the reception.
First, I would have gone for the Friday night wedding or actually tried to wait list us for a Saturday or Sunday night wedding. The space was lovely in the day, but at night with the candles and view of the lake? Stunning. Plus, it would have been cooler. It was a little warm in there because of the heatwave that week.
Second, I would have hired a D.J. Ipod + daytime = very little dancing. People loved the music during lunch and drinks, but no one was really motivated to dance in the middle of the day when it was hot. Very little dancing wouldn't have been such a big deal if the dance floor wasn't in the middle of the reception space. When no one was dancing, it looked kind of sad. Our friend Sean who has been in about 20 weddings (no joke) says that same thing of all the daytime weddings he attends - very little dancing. So yes, if I had another day time wedding at Lake Union Café (which I'm not), I'd hire a D.J. or a band.
Third, and this get back to the dancing, I'd hire a babysitter. Here's my thinking and how it relates to the dancing. We had A LOT of kids at the wedding under 10. Having a wedding without the kids in our families would literally result in their parents not coming to the wedding. I don't think a kidless wedding has ever been done and I don't think it ever will be done in my family. So what happens when parents let their kids run around during a wedding and there is an empty dance floor? You guessed it, instant playground. The kids took over that dance floor. Sometimes they danced but mostly they ran around and played tag. Would you want to dance while little kids played tag around you? I wished parents would have kept kids at their tables, but really I should have planned for a little more than something to color. I should have hired a few people to takeover the entry room and turn it into a little kid activity heaven. Maybe board games for the older kids and some sort of activity like cookie decorating for the younger ones.
Lastly, I would have stuck to the plan. We decided against me changing into a sari for the Father -Daughter dance because we never had time to fit the top that goes under it. Just looking at it, we could tell that it would be huge. We never practiced putting on the sari either. At the last minute, Mama Joey and MOH Joey voted against it. I agreed but now think I should have at least tried it on. Oh well, what are you going to do?
Did you plan to do something on your wedding day that you ended up skipping?
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