Sweetheart Table: Oasis or Exile?

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

So. Sweetheart tables are a definite thing in weddings these days.

It's sweet and all, but doesn't it look a little lonely, too? | Image via Style Me Pretty | Photo by Anna Kuperberg

It’s sweet and all, but doesn’t it look a little lonely, too? | Image via Style Me Pretty | Photo by Anna Kuperberg

I’m not sure how I feel about this trend.

On the one hand…

If it’s been all day and you’ve just barely seen your beloved during the ceremony and pictures, having a little space of your own probably sounds like a good idea. A time to catch your breath together.

On the other hand…

How much time are you going to spend at that table, anyway, if the whole point of having a reception is to share your day with your guests? And while I love spending 1-on-1 time with Mr. Road Trip, I’m afraid I’d be distracted by the other tables around us anyway, not to mention wondering what they were talking about!

Sure, it takes care of the who-do-we-sit-with dilemma: parents? bridal party? people we haven’t seen for years who flew across country to spend a couple hours with us? But I’m not sure it’s the best solution. More like, if I can’t sit with everyone, I’ll sit with no one, and that sounds almost more spiteful than practical. (But, really, I can see where it’s the only sane option if tensions are running high.)

At the same time, if you’re constantly up visiting other tables and trying to say hellos and cutting cake and tossing garters and bouquets and catching various photo ops, that sweetheart table is just another still-life photo op in the waiting. A cute one, but you could stage any 2 chairs with signs for Mr & Mrs and have done with it.

Image via Style Me Pretty | Photo by Miki & Sonia Photography

Wouldn’t this just be amazing?! | Image via Style Me Pretty | Photo by Miki & Sonia Photography

Personally, I love the one long table option but that’s not really practical for all groups or all spaces. And Mr. Road Trip wasn’t really a fan of it, either, when I brought it up one night at dinner. But, then, as is usually the case, Mr. Trips had a brilliant idea that we–due to having changed our original plans for our reception vision–now cannot really use. But I’d like to offer it up to you as a possible solution:

Table. Hopping.

Now, not just going from table to table while everyone else is eating, but actually having 2 seats at every table reserved for the newlyweds so you can go from table to table, sit down, eat a little something, and converse a bit with your guests.

Granted, this works best with a tapas-style or tasting menu where there are as many courses as tables, but tasting menus are actually gaining ground in the catering world, so it’s not incredibly far-fetched. (Sure, they’re gaining ground now–2 years ago when I was approaching caterers with request idea everyone and their cousin was pushing stations, stations and only stations. Sigh…) It’s a little like speed dating at your wedding, but I still love this idea and think that guests would really adore it, too.

So, hive,  let this be a lesson: just because your groom-to-be isn’t all up on the latest wedding tricks and trends, doesn’t mean he might not have a brilliant, left-field suggestion ready to pop out as the perfect solution. And if you’ve done this or plan to do this, I totally want to hear how it went/goes!

AlcoHOLidays | 4th of July | Patriot Punch

Sips

KB_StrokeOfMidnight2_Bowl

As promised, here is the second part of our 2-week Independence Day extravaganza!

This week’s cocktail comes to us courtesy of Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey (which we reviewed last month) and they are doing their level best to show us all the ways to include darker spirits in our summer entertaining. By combining the whiskey with juice and champagne is really a great way to lighten up a traditionally winter liquor.

Kilbeggan Patriot Punch

2 parts Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey
1 part DeKuyper Apricot Brandy
1 part Cranberry Juice
2 parts Champagne
Lemon Wheel (thinly sliced)

To Serve As A Cocktail: Build all ingredients over ice in a stemless red wine glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

To Serve As A Punch: Double the recipe and multiply by the number of guests you plan to serve. Add Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, DeKuyper Apricot Brandy and cranberry juice to a punch bowl, stir and refrigerate. When guests arrive, add champagne and lemon wheels. Serve over ice in stemless red wine glasses.

Just do me one favor, okay? Promise you won’t mix cocktails and fireworks–designated drivers and designated lighters, too! Have a safe and festive 4th!

Cheers!

Rings On Our Fingers

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

Choosing the engagement ring was a collaborative effort. I had certain things in mind that I let Mr. Road Trip know about (like the fact that I wanted a square stone or setting and that I really liked the halo look over a solitaire, for instance) and then he went out looking for something he liked that took those parameters into consideration. (I also told him I was not interested in him spending 2 months salary on a ring, or even 1 for that matter–I love a good deal and didn’t mind at all if my e-ring fit that bill!) When he was pretty sure he’d found the right one, then he took me to see it just to make sure I’d like it.

Hello, Pretty! | image via Pink Shutterbug Photography, cropped by Miss Road Trip

Hello, Pretty! | image via Pink Shutterbug Photography, cropped by Miss Road Trip

All was not perfect in jewelry-land, however. Within a couple of months I was bringing it in to have the setting tightened and had to bring it back several times that first year before they finally fixed it semi-correctly (it no longer rattles or swivels in its setting, but the last fix was a bit sloppy, if effective). Mr. Trips suggested we just get me a new ring altogether, and I could wear my e-ring as a right-hand ring if I wanted. (And while some of the issues are definitely a fault of the original setting, it doesn’t help that I’m a big ol’ klutz and often misjudge doorways and such, but only one of the repairs was due to my klutziness–thank goodness for the Care Plan!)

By this time we’d also determined that the “basket” of the ring wasn’t of a size that was going to fit in the standard wraps, and the blue and white sapphire stacking bands I’d been eyeing would leave a definite gap–a look I was not fond of. So while a part of me was sad to give up that traditional stacked-ring looked, another part of me was anticipating the possibilities of a stand-alone band, too.

Sterling Silver & Diamond Band via Kay Jewelers

Not specifically this style, but something along these lines. | Sterling Silver & Diamond Band via Kay Jewelers

In fact, it didn’t take me long to have a new ring-vision in mind, a wider band with openwork/filigree details, millgrain edges and a bit of sparkle. Yup. I could be good with that.

There were a few rings I kept going back to, and since none of them were considered wedding jewelry, they were much more budget-friendly which was also nice. (For the record I did try that sort of ring from the Scott Kay line and while it was pretty, it felt horrible on my finger–big and clunky, even though it had a smaller footprint than the others I’d tried.)

Of course I wasn’t the only one getting a ring, this time, and on our 5th anniversary (which was also T-1 year til the wedding) we did a little ring browsing to see what he might like.

Tungsten Carbine Band from Kay Jewelers

Tungsten Carbide Band via Kay Jewelers

While I didn’t expect him to go for something ornate–that just not Mr. Trips’ style–I did sorta expect him to prefer a brushed finish or maybe a dual finish, and he thought he would to. Surprise, surprise, in person he was drawn to the the high-shine of a Tungsten Carbide band and it looked really nice on him, too.

We mostly knew what we wanted (thought I was still dithering between a couple of designs) but hadn’t pulled the trigger. Come February I was antsy to cross something off the massive to-do list, and since we’d just come off the holidays and were entering birthday season for both of us, I proposed (hah!) a practical solution to Valentine’s Day: why not gift each other our wedding bands?

Of course, when T selected a tungsten band I knew there was no way we were paying jewelry store mark-up when there are other options. Like many a Bee before me, I headed to Amazon.com to purchase his band and it arrived on February 13th–just in the nick of time!

Unfortunately, work had been more than a little hectic for Mr. Trips (winter is always a bad season for accounting departments, it is what it is), so we didn’t go pick up my ring until that weekend, but that was just fine because the sales associate at Marks & Morgan reminded us of a slightly different ring, one that included sapphires as well, that I eventually decided would be more to my liking.

Hers & His wedding bands

Hers & His wedding bands

So we each have our rings, now, and even though they spend most of their time in their boxes I have it on good authority (straight from the engine himself) that Mr. Road Trip takes his out and tries it on just as often I do mine.

How often do you (or did you) try on your ring before the wedding day?

Our Date is Officially Being Saved

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

Or so several of our guests have reported, since I did finally get them sent out.

When last we talked, my mock-up was looking like this:

Front and back (side by side) of what would be considered a "rack card" or insert, about 1/3 of a standard letter-sized sheet, landscape oriented.

Almost done!

But now they’ve got some color to them and are looking more like this. Exactly like this, in fact.

Front and back of the finished Save the Dates

Front and back of the finished Save the Dates

Once I made the decision to go ahead and have them printed elsewhere it was a no-brainer to work shades of our wedding colors into the mix. I’m admittedly proud of how my vines all turned out, and the hand-drawn frame will be showing up again on the invitations and our table numbers, too!

Since I had to place a reorder of bookmarks at Overnight Prints and had been very happy with their print quality before, I went ahead and piggy-backed the StD order onto that one. They have a lovely matte finish and the texture overlay I added to the final design showed up very nicely when all was said and done.

We did end up with more cards than we needed (the minimum order was 25) but I’m thinking I might trim out our picture and use those in some of the table decorations just so they don’t go to waste. Might as well, right?

Now, OP does offer corner rounding for a nominal fee (it was going to be like $2 or some such) but I saw no reason to have them do it when I have a corner rounder of my own, so that was the only finishing I did besides addressing the envelopes.

Speaking of envelopes, I designed these cards to fit into standard #10 envelopes, though I did pick up a pack of the nicer stationery-style ones instead of plain white. To address them I didn’t even bother with calligraphy (which I’ve been dabbling in since I was 11 or 12), but I did make this handy guide to keep my lines straight.

jwalker_envelopeguide

I don’t know if they still do it or not, but the larger wedding paper suppliers used to include a similar guide with their orders and I just thought it was the neatest thing. If you’re going with a lighter-colored envelopes it’s pretty easy to make your own out of an index card (or two and some tape) and a black marker.

While printed envelopes and fancy labels are becoming more common, hand-addressing envelopes is one of those old traditions that I think is worth keeping alive. It’s just so much more personal.

Of course, if you are using a darker or more opaque envelope and still want straight lines to work from, you can use this trick from those Medieval scribes that spent their days hunched over parchments. Using a straight edge and a pointed instrument of some sort (the tip of a bone folder, the back of a craft knife if you’re careful, etc.) to lightly score a line across your paper. If done just right, you’ll be able to keep your letters on the straight and narrow without your recipient knowing your secret.

Sure beats the flat-bottomed look of writing along a ruler, right?

Tuesday Reviews-Day: Cruzan Aged Light Rum

Sips

cruzan-aged-light-rum

***This is a sponsored post. I was provided a sample of Cruzan Aged Light Rum for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own and no further compensation has been received. Now that we’ve got that out of the way…***

So this is the first of 2 new Cruzan rums that I was fortunate enough to review in conjunction with the Independence Sparkler recipe for 4th of July. Unlike a lot of the Cruzan rums we’ve featured here before, this isn’t a flavored rum, it’s an aged rum that’s been filtered to lighten the color a bit but it still retains the flavor of an aged rum.

If this sounds familiar, you may be thinking of my earlier review of Denizen, the Aged White Rum. Cruzan’s is a light rum but it does have a light amber tint that keeps it from being an actual white rum.

In a lot of ways, aged rum is aged rum–the differences between one brand and other are subtle. To this end I tried the Cruzan on it’s own and then refreshed my memory of the Denizen in comparison. Cruzan’s Aged Light Rum is very mellow with just a hint of some harsher edges. I prefer it to the brighter, sharper flavor of the Denizen.

Because of the warmer, rounder flavor, Cruzan Aged Light Rum works really well in simple preparations. A Light & Tonic with lime uses the rum instead of gin for a refreshing highball. Adding a bit of the Aged Light Rum to lime juice and lemon/line soda gives you a Cruzan Lemonade. And, of course, it works perfectly in a Mojito.

While it’s not a spirit I would sip straight, it’s definitely a great base spirit for cocktails and mixed drinks.