The Best Wedding Present Ever!

What's the best wedding present ever? No, it isn't a KitchenAid mixer. And no, it isn't a life time supply of chocolate (but that would be). The best wedding present ever is someone moving for us. What? I know. So if you remember, the Joeys are building a house right now. Actually the Joeys are waiting for their building permit (any day now!!). If the weather holds up and everything goes according to schedule, The house will be inhabitable by the time we get back from our honeymoon (if not before).

I was really stressed about moving. Mr. Joey goes back to teaching a day or two after we get back from Australia. We won't have time to move. We thought of using the 4 days between the wedding and the honeymoon to move but we'll just be too tired. Plus, we scheduled our trip that way because we wanted extra time with friends and family before they left Seattle. I know the days leading up to the wedding will be stressful and crazy, and won't leave much time for socializing.

I told my Mom about my anxiety (and excitement) around moving and she gave me the best gift ever. If we pack everything up in the apartment and label boxes, she and my Dad will make sure everything, including the furniture, gets moved to the new house. HOLLA!! We'll have to unpack, but that's easy.

This is the best gift ever and it's not even on the registry! Was there a wedding gift you were given that knocked your socks off?

Pre-marital Counseling -- Looking Back

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Mr. Joey and I finished our last session of required pre-martial counseling/ pre-cana yesterday. Now that it's over, I can look back and say I'm not sure it was for us. There was very little we discussed in those meetings that we hadn't discussed before as a couple. I'm not sure if we're boring and don't have any conflict or if it's just meant to be :). Actually, I like to think we've worked through all the discussion points (family, church, finances, communication, intimacy) in our own time and way.

Did I think the sessions were useful? Sort of. They made us move on a few issues we had neglected like finally going in and talking to a financial planner. We've been talking about it for months and finally went. It also made us think about if we were to have kids, would we baptize them Catholic. We hadn't thought about that before -- mostly because we aren't 100% sure we'll have kids.

So yes, the sessions were sort of helpful but I also think we would have been just fine without them. I do, however, think the sessions, or even just the FOCCUS questionnaire would have been helpful early on in the relationship when we were moving in together. We probably wouldn't have needed to talk about family planning, but talking about communication styles and finances could have helped. Our relationship is really easy now (I'm knocking on wood) but those first 3 or 4 months living together definitely weren't. Yes, we worked everything out, but I'm sure talking it out with someone else would have been better.

I think the course would be great for a couple who aren't already "co-habitating." It may not be absolutely necessary, but it definitely useful. I also think a session on family planning and raising a family would be more useful during a pregnancy. I can't think about how I'd discipline my kids -- I don't have any and don't plan on having any for a few years.

To end my two cents on all this, I'll say there were some surprising moments particularly when taking the FOCCUS test. Here's one statement it asked me to agree/disagree with that I'll leave you with, "I am concerned that either my future spouse or I may use sex as a way to control each other." Huh? It took me by surprise as I read it at 7am while silently participating in a teleconference. I was hesitant to continue after that question for fear that pictures and diagrams would appear with questions to follow. :)

If you participated in any required pre-marital courses, did you look back and realize it was useful?

A Place for Booty Shaking

So a while back I asked for the hive's advice about having an after party. We knew we wanted to have one, but didn't know the who, where and when. We decided to do a late evening event. The reception ends at 4pm and we're thinking the after party will start at 9pm. We want some time to take in what just happened (the getting married part), enjoy the fancy hotel room, and maybe take a quick power nap.

As for location, we decided on something central in/near downtown Seattle. We want somewhere accessible by bus or cab and somewhere away from stadium area of town called SODO. Turns out there's a sold out Kenny Chesney concert and it's going to be madness.


The guest list? This was a little more controversial with the hive. Should we invite friends who weren't invited to the wedding or not? I asked friends who are and are not invited to the wedding and everyone said invite everyone. There are going to be a few people who might be upset that they weren't invited to the wedding, but I think there will be so many more who will be happy to just be able to celebrate with old friends.

After many emails sent, we finally found a place for the after party. We're doing it at the a bar called the Rendezvous. We know the place well; Mr. Joey's bad plays a lot of shows here. The price is right (free) and we get a private room (the Red Velvet Lounge) with control over the music. While parking isn't the best in the neighborhood, it is accessible by many bus routes and cabs. You can find parking if you look. Also, there are tons of bars and restaurants in the area, so if people want get the party started early or carry on later, they have the option.




I'm so glad we can check our last venue task off the to do list. Are you doing an after party?

Yes I Can.

OK, this is a coupon flyer from Banana Republic. But you know what else this is? The inspiration for our rehearsal dinner invites.

This flyer has been sitting on our kitchen counter for weeks (past its use by date). I saved it for some reason but wasn't sure what it was. As we got nearer to finalizing the details on our rehearsal dinner, I realized we were going to need invitations. I chatted with FMIL Joey and sort of volunteered to design them (I'm silly girl). How hard could it be? Well, not very hard when you accidentally put the mail on the kitchen counter in your work bag.

I was fishing through my bag on the bus and found the Banana Republic flyer. I was about to throw it in the recycling bin at the bus stop when I realized here was my rehearsal dinner invite.

Front

Back

I changed it, of course, to match our colors. I also added our sort-of-logo to tie it in with the wedding invite. I really like the simple lines and right now I'm really into typewriter fonts.

There is one thing I need hive help on, wording the dinner options. We have smoked beef tri tips as a main with stuffed grilled portobello mushrooms as the veggie option. How do I ask people to specify their preference? Should I include a menu or just add a little note that says, "please specify your dinner option when you RSVP. Option 1 Smoked Beef. Option 2 Grilled Stuffed Mushrooms. We don't really want to include anything guest would have to mail back. What do you think?

I'm Ready to Rehearse

Is it normal to be more excited for the rehearsal dinner than the reception? No. I didn't think so. Well, at this point in the planning process, call me abnormal because I can't wait for the rehearsal dinner.

Here's what's on the menu:

Appetizers
Dates stuffed with goat cheese and almonds and wrapped in Bacon
Puff pastry cup filled with dilled goat cheese and topped with smoked salmon (they do their own Coho smoked with cherry wood)

Salads and Sides
Pear and Gorgonzola over spring greens with walnuts and honey balsamic
Potato gratin
Panzanella Salad

Main
Grilled portobello with goat cheese and topped with a Puttanesca salsa
Smoked tri tips, thinly sliced on site served with Alabama White BBQ sauce

Dessert
Ricotta cheesecake

Salmon mousse in cucumber cups. We changed this since it was a little too heavy for the start of this very big meal! They were really good though!

Stuffed dates!

Pear and Gorgonzola salad - we barely made a dent on it!

Panzanella -- YUM!!

smoked tri tip

I'm a little worried I won't fit into my dress the next day! The food is so good. We had a tasting last Friday night and we were very, very impressed. The absolute winners were the Panzanella, the grilled portobello and the tri tip. The white BBQ sauce? A little scary at first sight but so good!!

I can't tell you what an amazing deal we're getting! For less than $25 a head (not including tax and tip), we get all that food, the venue, service, set-up and clean-up, tables, chairs, utensils, dishware and canopies (if needed). We can also bring our own beverages. Lynn even suggested a great wine pairing at an amazing price - $6 a bottle after the discount. We liked the red so much that we're going to serve it at the wedding reception.

check out the details Lynn added to dinner -- the bells are from our poster invites

leftovers

Seriously, if you are in the Seattle-area or even farther out, you should think about Lynn and Lake Street Catering. She is amazing and very accommodating. She's doing a wedding at Lake Chelan in Eastern Washington that sounds delicious. I can't believe I found her on Craigslist!!

If the weather holds out, it's going to be perfect night. Food and drinks on the water with a beautiful sunset!

the view of the dinner location from the Yacht - yes, seriously!

What are you serving up at your rehearsal dinner?

Breakfast Anyone?

Over the weekend, Mary, our amazing baker friendor, sent me a yummy list of suggestions for the breakfast bar. I'm hungry just looking at it. Here's what she's contemplating:

orange poppy seed muffins
applesauce cake/bread
banana nut bread
blueberry muffins
fresh fruit tartlet with vanilla pastry cream
sausage-cheese biscuit roll-ups

scones (many options there)
maple bacon cheddar
blueberry
ginger pecan
orange cranberry
chocolate chip
(really the base dough could have anything added to it)

I really wanted orange poppy seed muffins. I saw a recipe for it in a Donna Hay cookbook and was sold.

What do you think? Which breakfast treat would convince you to get up early on a Saturday morning?

Getting Back on Track

For the first part of last week, I wasn't in a wedding mood. Most of my friends let me know they wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding. I totally understood their reasons but I didn't make their absence hurt less.

I took a few days off and didn't really do many wedding related things besides answering emails. I just needed a few moments to get over the initial disappointment and move on.

Lucky for me, a few friends and one great vendor helped me out. I found out on Thursday that 2 friends I didn't expect to come to Seattle will in fact be making the journey out west. I am so EXCITED!! I can't wait to see them -- it's been so long.

The other great piece of news is that we've decided on our rehearsal dinner vendor. We're definitely going with Lynn at Lake Street Catering. Amazing!! She brought over a tasting on Friday and we went to look at the dinner site on Saturday morning. It's going to be perfect.
The food was delicious!! And there was so much of it. Wait until you see the menu. I think we're are set. We've got a deposit for the dinner going out this week.

On top of that, I got an email from Mary, maker of breakfast goodness, with suggestions for the breakfast spread. It sounds soooo yummy. You'll have to wait for that menu too.

I can't wait for the wedding week now. Great people coming out to eat amazing food and celebrate a wonderful occasion.

What wedding accomplishment really got you into high gear?