Our Wedding: Reception

{© Epic Image Photography}

One of the best things that Big Spoon and I did as part of our reception was have a receiving line. We took all of our photos before the ceremony so that our guests didn't have to wait to eat and we had a receiving line so that we saw each and every guest who attended our wedding.

I am so very happy we did this and I highly recommend it.

After the receiving line, Big Spoon and I took a few minutes to just hang out by ourselves before going in to the reception. And from that point on, everything felt like it was in fast forward ...

The few bites of food I got before we got to the hotel room. I was too excited to eat much.

{© Epic Image Photography}

The cake cutting.

{© Epic Image Photography}

The speeches (which everyone knows make me very uncomfortable.)

{© Epic Image Photography}

The first dance.

{© Epic Image Photography}

I dance with my Daddy and Big Spoon danced with his momma.

{© Epic Image Photography}

Some details.

{all © Epic Image Photography except center right vertical. Courtesy of Down South Delights}

Some good friends and family.

{© Epic Image Photography}

Some laughs in the photo booth.

And then ... it was over. The hardest part of the day was taking my dress off. I just didn't want to! But, I did and I drove us to our hotel in Mt. Juliet, laughing all the way as we reflected on our wedding day. {© Epic Image Photography}

Our Wedding: Rehearsal Day

{Reception Hall and rose garden at Rose Mont Mansion}

Here it is! I'm finally recapping our wedding weekend. It wasn't elaborate or even that glamorous; just simple, sweet and full of love ... the way we intended. The morning of October 9th was hot, sunny and beautiful.

One of the best things about our venue is that you can rent it for the entire day for your rehearsal while they are open for tours. We headed up to Gallatin early in order to decorate the reception hall and anything else we could get out of the way.

{Reception Hall at Rose Mont Mansion, from the rose garden}

{Interior of Reception Hall at Rose Mont Mansion}

{When we finished with the room, it looked like this}

This is what the reception hall looked like before we got started that day. At first, it was just Big Spoon, his parents and me. Then, my parents and brother arrived, followed shortly by my planner Margaret. We arranged tables, threw linens and runners, organized decorations for the next day and before I knew it, I was rushing to get ready in the restroom for rehearsal at 3 o'clock.

{hubby, father-in-law and Margaret hanging lights}

{we hung paper lanterns and tissue pomanders on the lights}

At 3:00pm, we began rehearsal. We had a small wedding party, which made things go pretty fast. We did a few walk-throughs to make sure everyone was on the same page. You'll be able to tell by the pictures that Big Spoon and I had a blast at rehearsal.

{L to R: Little Spoon's brother, sister, mom, dad, sister & niece, 

Little Spoon, Big Spoon's dad, Big Spoon, Big Spoon's best friend & fiance, Big Spoon's mom}

At 5:00pm, we made the short drive to Hartsville, TN for rehearsal dinner at Tully's Bistro. Chef Tully's restaurant is in a beautiful, historic home in the heart of Hartsville. The food is amazingly delicious and we had a wonderful time with our friends and family. 

*All photos in this post are copyright of Natosha Benning unless otherwise specified. Not for personal use.

Budget Review: Decorations

Decorations
Let's be honest: I can't account for everything that was purchased for the purpose of decorating. Occasionally, I'd forget to use our wedding account card on a spool of ribbon or a box of straight pins. I didn't cheat by much, though. This is a rough estimate of what we spent.

For the Ceremony
Shepherd's Hooks
$24 at Joann's

Aisle Runner
$17.50 at Hobby Lobby

Coffee Filter Pomanders
Supplies ran around $15

Photo Book Guest Book
$27 on Shutterfly

Program Holder
 $2 at Goodwill & $5 in supplies

Wedding Wands
Supplies ran around $30

"Love" Word Art
$1 at Michael's plus paint on hand

{© Natosha Benning. All rights reserved. Not for personal use}

{© Epic Image Photography}

{© Epic Image Photography}

{© Epic Image Photography}

{© Epic Image Photography}

{© Epic Image Photography}

Reception

Card Box

supplies ran around $10 or less

Bud Vases

$32 (I purchased WAY too many & they're for SALE)

Table Linens
$232 (these are also for SALE)

Black Picture Frames

$4 at Dollar Tree

Cake Server
$0 - my company makes them

Toasting Flutes

$2 at Goodwill & embellished with supplies on hand

Candles

$38 (purchased too many here as well)

Tissue Paper Pomanders, Lanters & Lights

$0 - my planner did this for us, yay!

{© Epic Image Photography}

{© Epic Image Photography}

{© Natosha Benning. All rights reserved. Not for personal use}

{© Epic Image Photography}

 {© Natosha Benning. All rights reserved. Not for personal use}

{© Epic Image Photography}

{© Epic Image Photography}

Total Cost: approximately $450

DIY Card Box

This project is super easy and can create a nice accent incorporating your wedding colors. I got a few tips from one of our mock-up artists at work who is a big scrapbooker.  For this, I used the following supplies:

2 blank craft paper hat boxes purchased at Hobby Lobby (30% off day)
5 sheets of 12x12 scrapbooking paper purchased at Hobby Lobby (50% off day)
1 sheet of 12x12 scrapbooking card stock paper (left over from invites)
grosgrain ribbon (left over from bridal shower gift packaging)

x-acto knife, box cutter, cork-back ruler, bone folder, Jade glue (archivers glue), hot glue gun & hot glue, leftover paper from our invitations

I've been working so fast on these projects that I don't take the time to make pictures and I'm really sorry about that because I had been looking forward to sharing them with you all. However, I can tell you the easiest way to make these.

Start by measuring the sides of your largest blank hat box without the lid. Mine was 6" high. The diameter isn't as important right now. I cut 3 of the five sheets of paper to 12 x 7", leaving me enough paper to cover the entire rounded surface plus bleed. As you are gluing the sides with paper glue, cut 3/4" to 1" slits in the paper that is hanging over. Obviously, you don't want to cut right up to the box, just use your best judgment. This will allow you to fold and glue the excess paper over into the box neatly. Do this for both the top and bottom.

I then cut the 12x12 cardstock sheet into the best approximation of a circle I could manage. I used the small box lid to estimate and cut. No one will see the bottom, but it looks more finished this way. I used the bone folder while the glue was still wet to work out any wrinkles the paper might have developed. The box bottoms went quickly and the notching trick works wonderfully.

 

The lids are trickier because you have to cut holes in the large box lid, the small box bottom and a rectangular slit in the small box top for inserting the cards. This can make wrapping the paper a bit trickier, but with the notching technique, you should have no problem

Cut your holes out first using the box cutter. Again, estimating is fine because no one will see the inside of your box. Then wrap the lids by placing them in the center of a 12x12 sheet of scrapbooking paper, glue down, notch and glue the paper around the edges. On the small box, you will be able to glue to the inside. On the large box, there will be craft paper showing. No big deal because you will cover that with ribbon.

I glued the grosgrain ribbon on with hot glue. I then created a card that says "cards" to match our other stationery. I cut a small slit into the card, ran the ribbon through and under the box lid. I tied it under the lid and then used the hot glue to glue the two boxes together, lining up the holes.

That's it! A card box that matches our wedding theme and colors that is super cute, quick and cheap.

Bargain Shopping & New Toys

I've made a couple of big purchases in the past week. I've been scouring the local sales ads like a crazy person and found fourteen 120" round white table linens with thirteen ivory runners and an ivory overlay for super cheap. I am beyond thrilled with this purchase.

I will only be short banquet linens for the food and beverage tables. I am no longer short on the banquet table linens for food/bev as I found LinenTableCloth.com tonight! They had 90" x 120" white linens on sale. I found their Twitter page, became a follower and obtained this code (twitter50082010) for 20% my purchase. An additional 10% was added automatically for their Valentine's Day special as well as free shipping! This is so much better than renting because we have the option of selling them after the wedding.

I had originally planned on black for the food tables, but it bothered the crap out of me for them to be a different color than the tables. I'm weird, I know. So, white it is. Shades of white, ivory, cream, champagne, tans and of course, black.

 

{image from the knot.com}

Over the weekend, I started working on our invitation designs. I'm too critical for my own good, but I feel like we are making progress toward compromise. Anyway, my printer crapped out on me. I've had my HP for something like 6 years. I printed almost my entire Sr. Thesis on that thing!

I wanted another HP and did a little digging on the net to come across this AWESOME offer at Staples. For a limited time, you can trade in your old printer for a $50 credit toward any printer that is regularly priced at $199.00 or above. Luckily, the printer I wanted was not only $199 reg price, but $75.00 off! Cha-ching!


If you go to the Hermitage Staples, be warned that not all of their associates realize that you qualify for both the sale and the credit. One of the associates told me that I couldn't get the $50 credit because it was on sale. Big Spoon (he's so smart) told me to go find a sales ad. It's plain as day on the front of the ad!
I walked out of there with a $200 printer for $80! I also recycled two print cartridges toward my Staples Rewards balance.

Yay for bargain shopping!

Hermitage Bakery

Big Spoon and I had a cake tasting at Hermitage Bakery today during which we reserved our date and discussed our wedding cake.

I drive by the bakery every morning on my way to work and it was a matter of calling and asking for a price late last year. After we decided to go this route, I realized that part of my problem with the exorbitant prices some vendors charge for wedding cakes is due to the fact that I just want a plain cake. No fondant (um, ew!), no fancy-smancy decorations - plain ivory cake.

The "look" for our wedding cake is based on this picture. It will be a three-tier, ivory cream cheese frosted cake with a cream/gold ribbon. The top and bottom tiers will be traditional white wedding cake, the middle tier will be chocolate.

They are very easy to work with and have reasonable delivery rates, although we have opted to pick ours up the day of rehearsal because we have run of the reception hall and kitchen. That saved us $50! Also, we lucked out by scheduling our consultation today because, although they have not changed their prices in 14 years, they are in fact about to change their prices.


Needless to say, it's exciting to have another check on the planning list and enjoy the delicious cake samples we brought back with us.

100 Tiny Spoons

I don't think I have to explain. I couldn't resist 100 tiny spoons when I found them on eBay. My intention is to design "thank you" tags for our candy favor bags and tie a little spoon to each of them.

But, what happens to my baby spoons when they go home with people? I'm not sure I can bear to see them go.

We Have a Venue!

This weekend, Big Spoon and I decided to get right down to the business of finding a suitable venue for our wedding ceremony and reception. With our same list of priorities and our newly learned lessons about venue hunting, we started in Hermitage and wound our way up to Gallatin. I'll cover all the stops we made today and the Budget Bridal Show in another post. For now, I'd like to introduce you all to our new wedding and reception venue:

Rose Mont Mansion

This mansion has a charming history. Owned by the City of Gallatin,  Rose Mont Mansion is maintained by a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving this gem of the past. Although 45 minutes outside of Nashville, this is by far the best venue we looked at in price and functionality.

The majority of the mansion will be open for the bridal party to use and for picture taking. Guests will not be allowed inside, but that is fine because Rose Mont has a wonderful *new* reception hall in the back of the property. There is a lovely rose garden between the two buildings. The inside is elegant, simple and spacious. A small kitchen in the back and out of the way, a front and back patio that we are welcome to use for whatever! There are white tables and chairs on site for us to rent for a very small fee. Most importantly, we get to rent the venue for our rehearsal on Saturday and we have somewhere warm and dry for our guests to enjoy the reception (or for the ceremony to take place if there is inclement weather).

It's beautiful, affordable and just a mile from the charming town square of Gallatin, TN - the city of my birth. What makes this even more special, we booked it exactly one year from our wedding date. What a weight off my shoulders! I now feel like all the pieces to our wedding story are fitting nicely - we worked as a team to overcome the disappointment of losing a venue, exploring many different options and gathering information and through that, found one simply perfect for us.

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •
A big thank you to Rita Rowland, CJ Dickinson and all of my blogger bride buddies for their suggestions, support and encouraging comments. 

The Great Cake Debate

My last post about cake involved a faux cake DIY project. In thinking about all of the DIY projects that I have planned for the next 12 months, some of them had to go away - this one in particular.

My ideas about wedding cake and its importance to our wedding vision has been a hot topic of conversation since our engagement trip. Big Spoon and I both agree that it is not a high priority: its just cake. People eat it (and usually not all of it). How disappointing to purchase a $400 cake and half of it go to waste! However, I've had some reservations (and fear of regret) about not having a "real" wedding cake.

I decided to call around for prices on my lunch break Friday afternoon and found a bakery close by that seems promising. During our weekly "wedding talk" on Saturday, I discussed with Big Spoon that in the way of stress and time, it makes sense for us to consider adjusting this category. We discussed logistics of each plan and prices. I proposed that although the former plan is budget savvy, it's not stress-savvy.

After talking, we decided to visit the bakery and ask a few questions. We both left feeling confident that this decision is close to being final. And if felt great! There has been something nagging me about it forever - and suddenly, that feeling was gone. I felt like another piece of our planning puzzle fell in to place.

Trimming the Fat and Other Stress

As the months roll by and 10/10/2010 becomes more of a reality than a distant date on the calendar, I have become increasingly obsessed with the budget. I like to think that I am a practical, frugal and sane bride. Big Spoon and I certainly have a handle on our finances and both feel that spending an outrageous amount of money on one day is foolish - for us. We sat down and listed our priorities, compromised and set a budget.

I knew things would come up, I just didn't anticipate how soon.

The wedding dress I have found is a bit more than I wanted to spend, which means the difference that would have paid for undergarments, shoes, accessories ... is now going into the cost of the dress. My parents want to pay for it, but my Dad was laid off from his job and I can't in good conscience let them pay more than a fixed amount.

The venue we are renting provides chairs and tables. That means we provide the linens, and even though I have busted my butt researching prices and contracts, weighing the pros and cons of making them or buying them, we still (at this point) only anticipate affording the table linen - no chair covers. The chairs are ugly, in my opinion, and they bother me. I think this is something I will eventually get over - a minor detail that is not going to majorly effect our wedding day - but that doesn't keep me from fantasizing about them now.

I decided in the beginning that I am perfectly capable of planning this wedding and then handing the reigns over to a friend or day-of-coordinator. What I didn't anticipate is HOW MUCH day-of-coordinators cost! Holy moses! I've asked a dear friend of mine (who is also doing our flowers) to assist and I hope it works out for us. I feel confident that she will do a fine job, I just worry that perhaps she'll need a helper.

So, in my head all the time, I'm thinking about a) the things I can't have b) the things I shouldn't want but do c) or how to cut costs in other areas.

Is this sort of thing normal?

Reception Matters

photo courtesy of Copper Kettle

We had our tasting with our caterer on Thursday night. My friend Aimee is the assistant chef at Copper Kettle in Nashville. They make delicious food and make lovely buffet-style displays. The food was excellent, by the way and she let me bring home a swatch book of linen samples to look at.

We decided early on in the planning process that 4pm seemed an appropriate time for our ceremony. It's close to sunset and early enough that we can have a light reception with hors d'oeuvres, fruit and cheese, and of course, cake!

I'm glad that we have gone in this direction and honestly, it was an easy decision for us to make. We agree that the most important thing is that our guests enjoy our day as well. We especially want our parents to be responsible for as little as possible in the way of preparation and clean-up. Having the reception catered takes care of nearly all of this responsibility.

In light of the budget, we have taken on some reception responsibilities - like providing the dinnerware and cutlery, the beverages and linens. My grandmother will be making our wedding cake and my mother purchased our cake topper (which we are going to "customize"). To me, this is much more special than picking out an elaborate wedding cake.

Luckily, the caterer offered to provide us with containers for our beverages, however we decide to serve them.

I feel like things are really beginning to take shape!

One Month / Update

By the way, we've been engaged one month today. We have 17 months until our wedding day.

Thus far, we have booked a photographer and looked at a venue in Nashville. I have purchased 16 Anchor Hocking Stars & Bars bud vases (pictured above) for our reception. I am very proud of this purchase as none of the 16 cost more than $1 a piece and several were much less. I intend to resell them after the wedding, if possible, to another budget-savvy bride.

I hope that these simple bud vases will save on centerpiece costs as they will hold fewer flowers than your run-of-the-mill centerpiece. I will pair them with votive candles.

Other than that, I'm just sailing until I begin shopping for a wedding dress.