Odds and ends

It was tough to come up with a "theme" for the wedding, back when we started planning all the major aspects of the party. At first, we had planned on getting married October 20th, since it seemed like a good weekend to look at weather-wise, and still hit at a good point in the year holiday-wise and all that. But we had to change our plans pretty quickly after it was pointed out by a groomsman and good friend that October 20th wouldn't work out well if we planned on inviting a good amount of people from South Bend. Jason told Jesse it was the weekend of the USC vs Notre Dame game. And, well, I hadn't any idea when we came up with the date! Obviously, it had to change. Thank goodness the realization came early on in the process, and we were able to push things out a week without any issues.

That folly started a ball rolling with the thought that we could have a USC/Notre Dame themed wedding, since I'm a huge 'SC fan, and Jesse is, of course, a Notre Dame fan. (He's even watching the games I TiVo for him every week. Even though he knows how they turn out and everything. He's such a good sport!) But that wound up seeming like too much work after thinking it over a bit more, and also made me feel a bit like a poser, since neither of us actually went to/graduated from those schools. So we passed on that idea eventually.

We eventually started working from the direction of what colors we wanted the wedding to be decorated in. Obviously, the fall angle was going to come in at some point, seeing as that weekend is right before Halloween, a quintessential fall event, and also happens to be a good weekend historically for changed foliage here in the KC area. But we didn't want things to get all kitschy, or anything...no decorating with little pumpkins, or leaves absolutely all over the place. The fact that it IS fall should be enough, we think.

And then I found my dress. And the venue was already booked, so we had that to help. And then there was the fact that Jesse is a chef, and I have become a much better one than ever before thanks to the help of osmossis as well as a lesson or two now and then. We both really like to cook, basically.

And the "theme" started to take shape. We decided on our colors pretty quickly once the dress was discovered. Naming the tables was a tough part of it all...we tried to come up with clever ideas, but nothing really worked for what our focus was. A lot of people do things like name tables for locations they've traveled to together, or base it on a theme of where their honeymoon will take place. Some people just number tables, and while that's an old standby method for sure, we wanted to do something a bit more special was all. And then we finally came up with it: we would name the tables after famous chefs! We're working with names that are both classic and contemporary, so if people don't watch Food Network, they might not get a handful of them, but that's ok. Hopefully most everyone will be able to figure it out and then help those who don't know what our direction is.

The favors were harder to nail down. I was interested in getting some measuring spoons that were possibly engraved with something like "There's no measure to our love" or what have you. Cheesy, yes. But there should always be a leetle bit of cheese at a wedding, right? Well...it didn't work out, anyway. I couldn't manage to find any measuring spoons that could be engraved (or already came engraved, for that matter...) that weren't in the shape of a heart. And, oh how I hate heart-shaped things! Since neither of us are 14, and we're more contemporary-furnishing minded vs. country-furnishing minded, the heart thing didn't really resonate. So I had to pass on that idea.

I can't remember where we got the final idea from...maybe just my endless tooling around on the web, perhaps. But we found some perfect-sized little containers, and we're going to fill them with an absolutely fabulous spice that goes good with chicken, beef, fish, veggies...hell, you can sprinkle some on your arm and gnaw on it a bit while watching t.v., if you want. It's just that good! I managed to find some labels we could get printed up that tell folks what the spice is, and we're all set to go! It's compact and safe enough to pack in luggage...it's useful to everyone, regardless of their diet...and there are no hearts in sight! Yay!

So basically, the "theme" to the wedding, if there must be one, anyway, is cooking, chefs, food, etc, etc...I actually wanted to put a quote onto the label for the spice instead of anything else, but it wouldn't fit. It's a good quote though, so I'll share it with y'all now...

My favorite animal is steak.
- Fran Lebowitz