Food, Glorious Food!

Well, another thing to check of my handy "List of Things To Do" that I got from some wedding website! On a side note you should see these lists. They are RIDICULOUS! There are several things like "coordinate with your planner about the service providers." "Arrange for trial wedding hairstyles and makeup." Ummm, last time I looked around no one was coordinating anything but me. And as for trying different hairstyles for me wedding day, I have never understood why so many women try and look completely different from the person they are (and who their fiance fell in love with) on their wedding day. What you see is what you get when it's my turn to walk down the aisle. Fortunately for Grant he's getting something pretty decent looking if I do say so myself!

Anyway, we (and by "we" I mean "I") have arranged for the food! Woohoo! That's not entirely fair though, because I did run the proposed menu by Grant for his approval. My friend Sean owns an AMAZING restaurant called West Cafe downtown Portland (when folks are in town they should DEFINITELY go there!). He is a wonderful person, and an even better chef. I approached him with my budget and told him what I wanted, expecting him to laugh me out of his place. I even increased what I had planned because I was SURE he would laugh. But he brainstormed with me and we are going to get to have the food we want, in sufficient quantities (hopefully) to feed all the guests. Not only that but when I told him later that I had increased the budget he said he could do it for what I originally wanted (and let me tell you, I wasn't being thrifty wit that number, for a change!).

Our proposed menu is below. I am very sorry for the vegans, but hey I warned you!

Hoers derv's during cocktail hour - insalata caprese mix on bruschetta and veggies with hummus and chips
Frisee salad with walnuts, feta cheese, dried cherries and an awesome dressing (this was served in a test drive dinner and all who had it approved)
Entree - chicken tertazzini (with a veggie option) or salmon with mango mustard sauce over rice pilaf with basil green beans. There will be mac n cheese and hot dogs for the little ones.
Desert - Tiramasu!

These are Grant's and my favorite foods and we figured we ought to be able to have them on our wedding day. Plus, we LOVE tiramasu! (I hate cake. And pie. That's another story though.)

We look forward to feeding you!

They Said There'd Be No Math

That's one of the reasons I became a lawyer. Because my 10th grade math teacher so scarred me that I was convinced I had no mathematical abilities and I knew medicine was out. So, a lawyer is what I would be. That way the only time I ever had to deal with numbers was when I had to figure out how much money the other side was going to pay my client.

Not so.

Unless you have the funds and sufficient lack of control issues to hire a wedding planner (of which I have neither), you have to figure a lot of stuff out by yourself that involves numbers. Especially when you are not getting married at a typical location, like us. So it falls on me to determine how many tables we need. Well, that's not so bad you think. Just look at some charts that estimate how many people can sit at a table of a given size and divide into the estimated number of guests. Ah, but what about what they will sit on? Well, that should be easy because you know how many peole are coming. And table settings? Same thing.

I have disocvered it's a lot more complicated than that. Do I want a round table or a rectangle? What type of chair would I like? White folding chair? With or without seating pad? What about an all natural wood look instead? And what about place settings? Do I need a separate fork for desert or will people care about using their salad fork for salad AND desert? What about plates? With a gold band or not? Or square? And what about linens? Single color linen or something with a different color on top? What about glassware? Wine glasses - single size or red and white? Water glass - tumbler or pint? Seperate glasses for mixed drinks? What about the beer?

The choices are infinite! And they are all at different prices. This is less than desirable when you are trying to stick to a budget, because you have to figure out how much each one will cost so you can make an informed decision. Whatever this comes to will be deducted from what we have to apply to caterers, which even with my friends in the restaurant industry will end up costing a pretty penny. And even when you figure that out, what about how it gets there? And back? Clean or dirty? I don't want to do dishes on my wedding day!

This comes down to a lot of math. Which makes my head hurt. Which is not good for me to have going on while I am at work. But this must get figured out. It must! If it doesn't, well, THE WORLD WILL END! At least that's what it feels like at times.

Hmmm. Maybe a wedding planner would have been worth it.

Nah.

Well, maybe.