Although he'll probably never admit it, my fiance watched "Dancing With the Stars" and enjoyed it. He was a big Joey Fatone fan this season. I was all about Apolo. Clearly this marriage is never going to work.
Anyway, as you know, the show caught on like wildfire and people now want to learn how to ballroom dance. Among the wannabes are countless engaged couples planning to really wow their wedding guests with their first dance. I asked my fiance if he would take lessons with me so we too could wow our guests but apparently, enjoying the show is very different from actually wanting to learn the moves. I didn't push the issue because, quite frankly, if I had to drag him to lessons, he would be miserable which of course means I would be miserable and if you're not having fun, then what's the point?
The point is, lots of engaged couples are taking lessons and choreographing elaborate numbers to impress their families and friends. Surfing YouTube one night resulted in hours of mindless entertainment and several examples of these dances. My favorite is this one from a couple in the UK that performed the "Dirty Dancing" number. I challenge any girl to watch this and not smile just a little. I mean, who didn't want to be Baby at the end of that movie just so you could do that dance?
For some reason, "Thriller" is very trendy for choreographed wedding dances. I like the video just as much as the next 80s child, but, seriously, it's not original anymore. However, this one was impressive simply because the couple was able to get their entire wedding party in on it. We can barely get our wedding party to be fitted for attire, let alone learn and practice a dance. Major kudos.
Did you have a choreographed first dance or did you see one at a wedding you attended? Do tell (and show, if you can)! If you are interested in taking dance lessons for your wedding, let me know and I'll gather up some info. Or maybe I'll do that sometime soon anyway.
In the meantime, my guests can expect to see my fiance and me swaying middle-school-dance-style for our first number. But stick around because my dad is a fantastic dancer so the daddy/daughter dance may make up for it. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
Customized guest books … or plates, platters, bowls, pictures …
Weddings are ridiculously choreographed events these days and every bride knows that it's all in the details. Even the simplest of details have become opportunities for personalization and to show off your originality and creativity. That's good news for wedding vendors because customization means more money.
Guest books are pretty standard at most events. There are special ones for weddings with covers and pages to match the motif of the invitations and decorations. But recently, brides have been striving for a way to make a standard guest book much more unique and merchants have jumped at the opportunity.
Now, you can get special photo books made (www.blurb.com and www.mypublisher.com) just for your wedding or buy albums with spots to paste polaroids of your guests that they take of themselves. But why stop at books?
A very popular thing to do is a signature photo matte. Of course, that has become so trendy that it's no longer unique. So the new thing is dining pieces. Yes, we're talking a displayed dish, platter or bowl.
You can do the homey-feeling ceramic plate two ways –– buy one already decorated with some sort of lovey-dovey saying about your marriage or you can decorate one yourself at one of those paint-your-own-pottery places. Provide a few special pens (I think permanent markers work) and let your guests cover the dish with their signatures and well wishes.
More fitting for a modern, chic couple who turn their noses up at homemade looking knickknacks are offered at www.idoengravables.com, where you can find silver serving platters, dishes and bowls. The idea is to have the middle engraved with some sort of personalized message and guests use a special pen to sign their names. The pen somehow engraves the message on the spot. Amazing isn't it?
And the bottom line is that these trendy products add up to plenty of pennies for their parent companies. A simple guest book from a card and stationary store may only set you back $10 or $20, but a silver platter costs around $100, not including extra pens, display stands and cleaning products.
A few months ago, my fiance and I watched a documentary called "10 Days in Malawi" in which the filmmaker (Brian Ekdale) travels to Malawi, Africa with a medical team and other volunteers to run a temporary clinic in a remote village. I was so inspired by the piece, that as soon as the lights came up, I turned to my fiance and suggested we do that for our honeymoon instead of the Italy trip we were planning.
He just laughed.
It's not that he's heartless and doesn't think charity work is important, he just didn't think our honeymoon was the appropriate time to volunteer for something like that. I reluctantly agreed and, of course, am now counting down the days until we leave for Venice.
We'll have a rather traditional, relaxing honeymoon, exploring romantic cities and indulging in massive amounts of food and wine. But I wonder if there are people who are going another route. Are you one of them? Are you spending your honeymoon volunteering to build a house or set up a medical clinic or spread your religious beliefs?
Surely, there are plenty of people who don't honeymoon at all. Maybe they're saving money for a house or just to pay off the wedding debt. Or maybe they're planning a super big first anniversary trip.
Got any other suggestions for non-traditional honeymoons? Maybe a vacation in the city you live in -- renting a hotel room and exploring the town as if you were a tourist? Or maybe an adventure vacation where you ski, scuba dive and bungee jump all week long? Tell us your ideas!
Okay, so we tried the registry again. Thanks for all your helpful and encouraging comments! It went better this time. It was much more fun, until, of course, somebody stole my wallet and went shopping with my credit cards.
Yep, I'm serious.
I can't figure out if I took it out of my purse and left it on the table during lunch or if someone lifted it off me while I was shopping. Either way, the culprit made several purchases before I realized it was missing. Not the best way to end a day of registering.
Is it possible that the registry gods just don't want me to enjoy this process?
Oh well. Bad things just happen sometimes.
I'm still looking for suggestions for offbeat places to register in Chicago. Ideas, anyone? Oh, and is there anyone out there that has done a honeymoon registry? How did your guests like this? I'm not really considering doing this, but I'm curious how successful it is for other couples. Let us know!
Weddings are expensive, but really, who can put a price tag on such a special moment?
Costofwedding.com, that's who. According to the website, the average cost of a wedding in Chicago is $32,120, which is about $4,500 more than the national average.
That's insane!
Do you know what you could do with $32,000? Let me show you.
Here's a breakdown of some of the typical costs of a wedding (completely unscientific...I just looked around and took an informal average of some websites and books I read) and what you could buy instead:
Cake $500 = His & Hers iPods
Invitations & stationary $1,000 = 20-25 goats for FARM Africa (charitable organization that donates farm animals to poor farmers in Africa)
Ceremony site & officiant $1,000 = one year's worth of car insurance and taxes
Rehearsal dinner $1,200 = two pairs of Jimmy Choo sandals
Music $1,200 = a new sofa
Wedding dress & alterations $2,000 = 15" Apple MacBook Pro
Flowers & decorations $2,560 = two roundtrip tickets to Italy
Engagement ring $3,500 = Panasonic 50"1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV
Photography & videography $4,000 = Vespa LX 150
Reception (for 150 people including drinks) $15,360 = downpayment on a condo/house
When my fiance and I got engaged almost a year ago, I kept hearing how much fun it would be to register for gifts. I had visions of the two of us wandering through stores with the scanner gun, compiling the ultimate wish list. I figured we would spend the morning at one store, picking out most of our kitchen items and then spend the afternoon at another, concentrating on the china, bedding and bath and there would be a charming, outdoor lunch to break up the two excursions. I had pictured the perfect day of engaged bliss.
Somebody should have told me it wouldn't be like that.
Don't get me wrong, at first, registering was fun. We started off easily enough, consulting with a store employee about how many items we should include and how to edit the list online. When we got the scanner gun, I immediately handed it over to my fiance, figuring it would be a good way to keep his attention during the process.
The spice racks and gadgets were simple to get through and the toasters caused no problems. I think my perfect day dream began to crumble around the dishes. I wanted the modern-looking stoneware, he opted for the glossy classic-looking stuff. Our first registry blip.
It went south from there. No major yelling matches, just lots of impatience and stress. And weariness. It's an exhausting process and after four hours, we were ready to throw in the towel and go get a beer, which is exactly what we did.
So, I know we weren't alone in our registry woes. I saw other couples with scanner guns that day. And they didn't look happy. What's the secret? How do you make that process less tiring, less stressful and more fun? I'm open to suggestions.
And, while we're on the subject, what are some of the weirdest places in Chicago to register? I found out you can actually register at Sam's Wines and Spirits which is sort of funny. I never thought of a case of 312 or a bottle of bourbon as a registerable gift. Surely there are stranger options out there though. Tell us about them!
After seven years of dating, at least two of them spent in separate states and four of them spent while in college when you're supposed to date around, my boyfriend and I finally got engaged. He proposed June 9 of last year, and it was unexpected and romantic -- everything I hoped it would be. I loved the moment, the ring and, most important, the man.
Needless to say, I was excited to be engaged, but smart enough to know planning a wedding was not going to be easy. I begged my maid of honor to do it for me, but she just laughed. I don't think she realized how serious I was.
So now, almost a year later, I'm in the thick of it. The wedding is Oct. 13, and although a lot of the big planning is finished, there's so much left to do in the next five months. From planning the honeymoon to registering for gifts to handling invitations, I have my hands full.
It's going to be stressful. There will be rants and tears and sleepless nights. And I'm inviting you to share it all with me. Whether you're planning a wedding or not, I am asking you to post your own wedding experiences, advice and questions on my new blog. I'll be updating it daily -- either with my experiences or yours. Please share my pain as well as your tips and sage advice. ... I promise to throw in a few moments of joy, too.
