Monday, April 26, 2010

Introducing Mrs. Clay Ellis

So we did it! Finally, after 14 months of planning, our big day came...and went. It was so surreal how fast that last week went. The rehearsal dinner went great (as requested, recipes will be posted soon). It was small and informal, but I loved it. My aunts, cousins, and maid of honor stayed with me at the venue Friday night so we could try to set up some of the tables and poof out the 50 tissue paper poms. We called it a night around 11:30p and braced for the storm. And what a storm it was. The wind and lightning were enough to make me jump outta bed. Then there was some huge tarp on top of the water tower that flapped so hard that it sounded like horses running on the roof. Needless to say, we didn't get a great night's sleep. Saturday was quite the whirlwind. Everything went without a hitch except...
Our venue's septic system either overflowed or was running over. The whole place had waves of septic gas breeze through just as our guests were eating dinner!! It was like someone had lit a pile of rotten eggs on fire. I was mortified. Clay is calling the owner today to work something out. We had guests leave!! If that hadn't happened, I could have honestly said that we had ZERO problems. Its so annoying to think that I busted my butt for 14 months and because they didn't pump the system, it was ruined. Oh well, I think we all still had a great time. Something is always going to happen, but that was a big one.
Here are a couple of things to consider on your wedding day and even before:
1. Make sure that if your venue is on septic, insist that they have the system pumped the week of your event.
2. When deciding on decor, incorporate things that you will use again in your home. I will post pics of this shortly. Our apothecary jars are now candle holders, the moss balls are on top of the cabinets, etc.
3. The framed picture as our guestbook was a huge hit. Now, instead of a book collecting dust somewhere, we have a nice framed picture with all our well wishings on the wall to see every time we walk by.
4. Think outside the box. I really liked the way that almost none of the centerpieces were the same. If they all have a little something that ties them together (in our case, lemons and moss), it works without looking so formal.
5. Cake balls were a ton of work. There were many nights that I cursed the day that I thought they would be a good idea. It was worth it. Everyone loved them and it was something different.
6. If you can provide your own alcohol at your venue, do it. It may be stressful wondering if you have gotten enough, but in our case we had a ton left over. Now our bar is fully stocked for our next party!
7. This is a bit of advice I got from my cousin. Stay with your new spouse at the reception as much as you can. You will get pulled in different directions a million times. She told me its so bad, you might as well hold hands or join arms if you can. Even though I got this advice before the wedding and kept it in mind, it still happened. We got separated way more than we should have.
8. Another tidbit for the reception...EAT! We had dinner really early in the night and then we were starving by the time we got to the hotel. Thank goodness we made it in time to get room service! If you can, have your caterer box up a to go box to take with you when you leave.

I am submitting my wedding to a couple of big sites, but it want a sneak peek of some pictures, there are plenty on my Facebook page.

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