Very Small Wedding was beautiful

18 years ago

The wedding took place last Saturday evening. Everything went off without a hitch except for the ceremony which we can honestly laugh about. The bride has a 3-year-old daughter who had been staying with me for a couple of months before the wedding. She was the flower girl and had practiced her role and was excited about the wedding and her part in it. Anyways, the moment the ceremony started, she began to cry and wouldn't stop. The bride, groom, bridesmaid, me and her grandfather kept trying to console her during the ceremony to no avail so the judge suggested that the ceremony be started again. We did that and the bride's 25-year-old sibling very happily took over as the flower girl. My granddaughter was quiet during the second ceremony and threw flowers at the end after they were married. We have it all on tape and it really is amusing.

The caterer put out vegetable and cheese trays as appetizers. We added a platter of fancy chocolate-type biscuits from Costco along with the wine. This all went over very well.

The meal was buffet-style which caught me by surprise when the caterer told me this a few days before the wedding. But in the end, the leftovers were able to come home because of it instead of being thrown out. There was bread and butter, a Caesar salad, chicken breasts, fettucine alfredo and red mashed potatoes. It probably sounds like a weird mix but it actually worked out quite well.

The cake was absolutely beautiful and also tasted wonderful. We served a chocolate cake, pumpkin pie and a cookie platter as well. Very little of the chocolate cake and pie were eaten at the wedding but enjoyed here at my house over the next few days.

The flowers were also well done and I'm glad I didn't go overboard. As it was, I probably could have done with one large bouquet at the altar instead of two.

I would highly recommend the place we had the wedding at. It was the perfect size for the number of guests. And it was very nice to have a fireplace going throughout the evening. I didn't worry about the chair covers and it made absolutely no difference to anyone. We were lucky that my dd's best friend came in for the wedding and helped set up the place. I keep telling her that she should do this for a living because she has such a knack for it.

I am glad that we hired a caterer. You were right that it would have taken me away from the evening. He also served all the drinks. I had purchased 14 bottles of wine and ended up using 11 bottles. There were also various soft drinks and sparking grape juices.

My son had had an elaborate wedding with over 100 people. It had cost a small fortune. My dd's wedding didn't cost too much and now that I've experienced both, I see no reason to spend tons of money on a wedding unless there really are a lot of people to invite.

The (first) wedding ceremony started at 6:00 pm and the wedding ended early at 10:30 pm. The bride and groom were tired and it just seemed like the right time to call it a night.

Thank you all for your help with this. Your support really helped me with my decisions.

I will post pictures as soon as I am able to.

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Comments (3)

talley_sue_nyc
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
hooray, hooray!

Best wishes to the couple, and cheers for you.

It sounds like a really lovely, lovely evening. So relaxing, and such a truly "social" event.

Poor little kid--she'll hate that video when she's older.

But my theory is, you've got to have SOMETHING go wrong, if only so you have a good story to tell. Your DD and DSIL have a nice one, now. W/ the added benefit that it'll embarrass their daughter, which can be useful sometimes, LOL!
sweet_pea10
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Congratulations! It sounds like a lovely event, down to earth and very personal. Buffets are very popular in my area, not only because they are easier on everyone, but because you don't waste food, as you discovered.
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I thought I'd give an update. We chose the "conference" room at the house. The one thing that's great about it is that there is a working fireplace which dd is very happy about. The cost for the place which includes a stereo system and a professional kitchen will be about $150.00, depending on the time it takes to put up the decorations and how long we stay there. I picked the flowers and there will be arrangements on either side of the fireplace. The arrangements will be in glass vases inside horn-looking wicker containers. I asked that extra ribbons, etc. be used to hide part of the front of the wicker. DD will have a red rose bouquet, the flower girl will have a wrist corsage and the other women at the wedding will each have one red rose. The men, of course, will have their flowers as well. The cost for the flowers is $300.00 which I think is reasonable. I ordered the wedding cake from our local IGA. We didn't want fondant and the bakery has a lady who specializes in wedding cakes and only uses buttercream. There will be a 10" cake on the bottom and a 6" cake sitting on top of the bottom layer. Each layer of white cake will have a layer of icing inside as well. The cake will be decorated with white roses, edible shimmer and a very pale blue icing will also be used within the flowers to better show off the white flowers. The cake should feed 35 people and it cost only $55.50. They figure their cost at $1.35 per person. I have spoken to several caterers and picked one that has been recommended to me but we have yet to decide on the menu. We are leaning towards herbed chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetable dish, pasta dish (I think), a Caesar salad and bread. I will hire a person to do the serving of the meal and desserts through the caterer for a cost of $135.00. Besides the wedding cake, we will be serving other desserts. I am debating about making some of the family favorites because the kids haven't had them in years (at least made at home). The caterer will supply the dishes and cutlery. Glasses and wine glasses are already at the wedding place for my use. I will need to rent the linens from the caterer. The only problem I see at the moment is that there are 8 wooden chairs and the rest will be bridge chairs. Besides renting chair covers, does anyone have any thoughts on how to hide the chair backs?
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grace3
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
When I was married, my 2-year-old sister, who was my flower girl, became spooked by all the excitement and refused to walk down the aisle. She bolted down the hallway and my brother had to rescue her as I & my step-father walked down the aisle without her.

So now, thirty-one years later, my now-33-year-old baby sister wants DH & I to do a "vow renewal" service so that she can be the flower girl again and get it right this time! LOL

Very Small Wedding was beautiful

Comments (3)

talley_sue_nyc

sweet_pea10

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grace3

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