Kvetch » Suggestion Box » What was a hit? What was a flop?
| What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #651298] |
Thu, 07 September 2006 16:15  |
 raych
Messages: 1465
Registered: April 2006
Location: Missouri |
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I'm interested to hear from people who've had their weddings what things did they do that went over really well with the guests? What things did they think would go over well, that people weren't that thrilled with?
Food? Decor? Reception activities?
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #651339] |
Thu, 07 September 2006 17:24  |
thriftyme
Messages: 490
Registered: December 2005
Location: Portland, OR. |
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the polaroid guest book was the biggest hit. The box that I filled with hats and boa feathers made it an even bigger hit (people seem to loose all inhibitions when they are playing dress up!).
The dessert buffet was a big hit, and I got a ton of compliments on the set up.
The only thing that didn't go over so well was the sparklers. We used sparklers in place of rice or bubbles for our exit, and the path was too narrow, and people were accidentally burning themselves, each other, and us! bad idea. But if you have a larger space it would be lots of fun.
When my faith is strong I know my strength
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #651909] |
Sat, 09 September 2006 14:15 |
scarletbegonia
Messages: 340
Registered: February 2006
Location: TX |
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Hits:
(1) The best thing we did was take photos before the wedding. Our guests went on and on about not having the normal awkward period where you have to wait around for the couple. Instead, we spent the whole day with them and had some alone time before the wedding.
(2) Our centerpieces were potted ivy surrounded by mismatched glass candle holders (picked up for next to nothing at various sales). It looked so magical and cozy with the candles lit, since it was stormy and raining outside. It cost about $9 per table, which wouldn't have gotten us anything in the way of a floral arrangement. Plus, my mom loves going to her friend's houses and seeing our ivy plants and candle holders still being enjoyed.
(3) We did a buffet with lots of choices (three meats, two vegetarian options, salad, pasta, breads, fruit, steamed veggies) and we got tons of compliments on the variety available. Although his entire family is used to lobster tail and filet being served at weddings in fancy hotels, they raved about how they enjoyed our homey, casual food served in a lakeside lodge.
Misses (both dessert related):
(1) We cut the cake silently (didn't have the band announce it) and some people seemed a little miffed that they didn't get to see it or take pictures. Since Mr. Begonia's cousin made the crazy blue cake for us as a wedding gift, I wish that we'd made a bigger deal out of cutting it.
(2) We only had cake for dessert because we aren't sweets eaters and we think people missed having something else. If we had really thought about how long the day was going to be and how long people were going to be drinking/dancing, we would have had a dessert buffet w/ fruit toward the end of the day.
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #652242] |
Mon, 11 September 2006 14:16 |
toughcookies
Messages: 994
Registered: September 2005
Location: Calgary, Alberta |
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For kiss requests, we had a game of Operation on the head table. If people wanted us to kiss, they had to successfully remove an ailment from the game. It was really fun to watch everyone play it, and people were playing it all night long, even after dinner.
I have to second the idea of doing pictures before the ceremony. A couple of guests commented on how nice it was that we didn't just take off. It was also great because the whole bridal party got to spend the whole day together, it was really fun and relaxing, and it made the day that much more special.
ETA: I did a really lame guestbook, where I wanted people to write notes on little pieces of paper, but didn't give any instruction. It really didn't get a lot of response, and most of it was drunk friends at the end of the night. If I had done something more scrapbooky, or given people a direction as to what to write, I think it would have done better.
[Updated on: Mon, 11 September 2006 14:52]
"He knows I don't like jelly... I don't trust the way it moves."
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #659890] |
Fri, 06 October 2006 14:11 |
number5
Messages: 288
Registered: June 2006
Location: Philadelphia |
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great idea!
hits: our table markers and name cards. I hand made the name cards, inside each was the name of a band or singer & on each table was a mini easel and the record album of that band. so some people were sitting at table "bob marley and the wailers". guests liked how personal it was.
we had our cocktail hour before the ceremony-worked out perfect. except I was a nervous wreck and stayed in the house until the ceremnony and missed the c.hour
we made sangria the day of and served it as our coctail hour specialty drink. big hit. we should've saved the fruit for next day cleanup.
our sign in book was a vintage typewriter. people loved this. so much more than I thought they would.
we planned on but didn't have time/forethought to pull of the following: we wanted to make silly prizes for certain guests. like a little gift bag for guests that traveled the furthest, we also really wanted to do the photobooth, but forgot to set it up. I also wanted to do something for each table- something along the lines of a game like, someone at this table races vintage cars, or one couple at this table was recently engaged... and have conversation starters.
misses: DJ. he was my worst nightmare. I curse his name. he played my song with my dad when I was in the main house and I missed it, he played offensive songs during dinner and was told three times to stop playing songs not on my requested list -which I took straight from his website play list. he played maybe a dozen of songs I requested (out of 100 I emailed him)
ET cut out excessive wordiness.
[Updated on: Fri, 06 October 2006 14:15]
oh this? this is my room of unfinished projects.
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #659934] |
Fri, 06 October 2006 15:22 |
wlaf
Messages: 318
Registered: August 2005
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Hits:
We used a wedding certificate instead of a guest book. I knew if we used a regular guest book we'd look at it once and it would go on a shelf and never be opened again. This is a beautiful frame-able document (which I really ought to get framed, come to think of it!)
We'd planned on a married couples dance that calls people off the dance floor according to how long they've been married. Well, M's grandparents said at the last minute they weren't up to dancing, so we just invited all the married couples to the floor for the whole song. Which turned out to be lovely, more graceful than game-ish, and very powerful for me. (And the grandparents made it anyway!)
We had a picnic and kickball game the day before rather than a gender-divided tea party/golf outing. We had made t-shirts for everyone. Way fun.
The cake was delish, and our DJ rocked. People really felt like they were at a party.
We ended up splurging a bit to make sure there were plenty of appetizers and plenty of alcohol. The meal was tasty without being too fancy-schmancy, and all in all the guests were well fed and had lots to drink.
I'm not very DIY and get mired down in details, so I scaled back on the little things and no one noticed at all. (This is on my mind b/c I just attended a wedding which was lovely but there were SO many favors and little touches and monogrammed things, but really they were unnecessary IMO. I couldn't personally have kept track of all that, especially since we only had a 9 month engagement. To each her own!)
Flops:
We skipped the receiving line b/c it's lame and old fashioned. But now I regret not having a deliberate way to speak to each guest.
While the church music turned out okay and we have been complimented on it, I'm not entirely happy with how the guitarist and organist sounded together. Oh well. Really minor in retrospect.
[Updated on: Fri, 06 October 2006 15:23]
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #662082] |
Sat, 14 October 2006 15:51 |
badmonkey
Messages: 39
Registered: November 2005
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Hits:
1. Margaritas in light up glasses instead of champagne. We attached tags to the bottom of each glass with the guest's name and table number, so they also served as place cards and it was easy to find your glass if you put it down. The caterer was able to make them alcholic or non-alcoholic for each person so our non-drinking guests and children did not feel left out.
2. Homemade guest book - I got a 8 X 8 scrapbook at target ($10), some extra pages and had each guest (or group of guests) fill out a sheet of paper cut to fit the book that we designed. The pages had spots to write their names, where they had traveled from, what they wanted us to remember about our wedding day, "special wishes" for us and a separate box with predictions for the future (where we would go on a honeymoon, where we'll live in 25 years, and how many children we will have.) The book turned out great - almost every guest filled out a page (50+ pages) and people wrote really sweet, wonderful, and funny things, including people who might normally be too shy to say those things. It is such a nice reminder of who was there, especially since we didn't have a videographer or a group photo made.
3. Photo centerpieces - each table featured a plastic bowl of water with some floating candles and orchids, with 5 4 X 6 photo frames around it (purchased at IKEA for about 50 cents each and painted white). The frames contained pictures of the people sitting at that table, ideally with the bride and groom (if we could find one). It was a lot of effort to find the photos, but it was really worth it - our guests were so excited to see them (some of the photos were old), it helped start conversations among people who didn't know each other, and they all took theirs home at the end of the night.
4. Photo display of deceased relatives - we didn't make a big fuss over this but we set out pictures of our grandparents and a few other close relatives (FH has an aunt and uncle who died young) by the entrance. The idea made us feel good and after the wedding, our parents and a few of our guests who were related to those people told us how much it meant to them to see them there. (We did not tell anyone in advance about the photos.)
5. Gift bags for kids with toys, books, etc. - we made one for each of our guests under age 10 and I think it went a long way toward keeping them enteratined.
6. DIY music - we had guests tell us which song was most likely to get them dancing when they RSVP'd (we did RSVP's online which worked out great and gave us room to ask questions like this), made a playlist and hired an amateur DJ to bring his equipment and play it. He did a great job and our guests were out dancing the whole time.
In general...making things personal was the biggest hit at our wedding. As much as possible, it reflected who were were and what is important to us and I think your guests will always enjoy sharing in your lives that way.
Flops
1. Not having videotaped the reception (ceremony was taped by an amateur off craigslist) - I hesitate to call this a flop because I had good reasons for not wanting a videographer (mostly that it tends to make me uncomfortable to have a camera in my face) but after the fact, part of me regrets it just a bit. We ended up having these completely unexpected people make toasts and I really wish I could hear them again. Also, our first dance would have been nice to see again since it all went by so fast...but oh well - the memories are in our heads and some people wrote about them in our guestbook too (see #2 above.)
[Updated on: Sat, 14 October 2006 15:55]
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #668070] |
Wed, 08 November 2006 15:52 |
LA Lady
Messages: 100
Registered: October 2006
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Just have to echo that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the photo frame idea at each person's place setting. How big were the frames? 3x5 or smaller?
Formerly Fallbride2007
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #669236] |
Mon, 13 November 2006 22:39 |
knittycricket
Messages: 215
Registered: January 2006
Location: Toronto, ON |
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Hits:
- The food (BBQ Gourmet - I can highly recommend them!)
- Our ceremony (secular, we wrote it ourselves) - we got many compliments about how meaningful and "us" it was
- The music (iPod DJ'd with a playlist by a great friend of Mr. knitty's)
- The campfire and marshmallow roast - the kids especially loved this one, because some had never had a campfire before - the only complaint was that the music was so good, some people didn't want to leave the patio where the dancing was!
- Blank pages in our guestbook + crayons = fun!
Misses:
- No announcements of when people were welcome to start helping themselves to the cupcakes or when the first dance was going to be. As un-formal as we tried to be, in retrospect, these would have been good.
"We need tools that will allow women to protect themselves...No matter where she lives, who she is, or what she does -- a woman should never need her partner's permission to save her own life."
~ Bill Gates. Yes, *that* Bill Gates.
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #669496] |
Tue, 14 November 2006 18:55 |
dolcevita
Messages: 1287
Registered: June 2006
Location: San Francisco |
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Hits:
- Our readings and short, sweet ceremony. (Officiated by a friend, which felt personal and right.)
- Gorgeous cheese table and oyster bar. (All the food was great!)
- Flowers (Some done by me; others by my wonderful florist.)
- Band/vocalists (Nearly all friends, which made it truly special.)
- Guest cards (Allowed multiple people to write notes to us at once.) On the same table as our memorial photos.
- Wines we picked out ourselves. (Which we had a lot of fun tasting!)
- My gown, purchased at sample sale for about a third of the retail price
Misses (all minor):
- Forgot to give MIL and SIL the cards I'd written for them. I mailed them off later, along with a printed copy of our ceremony, and received heartfelt thanks for same.
- Rushed through posed photos and didn't get the great portraits I would have liked. (Though the candid shots are wonderful, and we were there to enjoy our reception.)
For other Bay Area brides: I've already posted a recap with some pics, and will be adding more and writing up vendor review shortly.
What love we've given, we'll have forever. What love we fail to give, will be lost for all eternity." -- Leo Buscaglia
10.21.06
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #730185] |
Mon, 18 June 2007 14:27 |
FoxBride
Messages: 472
Registered: January 2007
Location: Minneapolis |
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Hit:
wind-up Spark dino favors- very us and people realkly had fun playing with them and racing them. Now I am seeing them displayed in teh homes of friends and family which cracks me up and warms my heart.
paper flowers & low key centerpieces- lots of compliments and set up was a breeze.
short, sweet and personal ceremony- we had 2 readings & no candle ceremony or anything ike that- people loved the "Falling in Love is like owning a dog" poem, btw.
drink tix- this is how we chose to control our bar budget. People who did not drink gave them to others, people who did drink sought them out, we did not go broke.
Flop:
Guest book- not displayed well enough, hardly anyone signed, so glad I did not invest much money in this!
long & personal program- FoxGroom and I worked really hard making it brief and witty. We gave a little blurb on all involved in the wedding, we thanked a lot of people in it, we gave fun facts about the wedding. We paid too much to have it printed. I got ZERO feedback on this and I was disapointed. For all I know, no one read it! Ha! We could have gotten away with just a one page outline of the ceremony I think.
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #739266] |
Wed, 18 July 2007 20:52 |
WiscoMel
Messages: 51
Registered: June 2007
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I LOVE the topic and want more brides to respond because it is so useful! Did anyone try the digital DIY photobooth?
**5-31-08**
Can I get married this weekend PLEASE!
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #739446] |
Thu, 19 July 2007 11:46 |
Lookin4theworld
Messages: 95
Registered: April 2007
Location: Atlanta, GA |
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Ok, I'll bite.
Hits
-Personalized second cermony officiated by a friend. We did a ceremony at the church for family only in the morning, and a renewal ceremony we wrote. We got a lot of complimants about how it was about REAL marriage.
-Gathering for the cermony. We were near a patio, so everyone congregated there until it was time. No chair rental!
-Bribing the flower girl down the isle with a teddy bear in a wedding dress. (ebay!) Why is the groom holding a teddy bear... oh to give to the flower girl, how cute!
-Pocketwatches for the groomsmen gifts, the dads, grandfathers, and our officient. They all seemed thrilled. I have to admit we bought inexspensive wathes and I painted pretty boxes to put them in so they looked nicer, and stayed in our budget.
-Natural paper photo album favors. These flew like hotcakes, we had almsot none left, and we paid unfer 1.50 a piece for them. We also put a picture of us in the front, which we got the prints for free because the girl at CVS was stupid.
-Our champayne that tasted like a combo of champayne and white wine, and was less expensive than the house champayne even special ordering it. It was good for our crowd, who werent' heavy drinkers. Plus we were able to give excess bottles to important people at the end, and for the aniversary dance.
-DIY archway and centerpieces with realistic rubber lillys. We had multiple people ask how long they would last if they put them in water when they got home... Forever?
-Ditching the programs- no one noticed
-A BBQ the next day, it was memorial day!
-A Victorian charm pull at the BBQ.
Flops
-Our freeze dried rose petal toss.. Maybe I didn't make the cones big enough or something, but it didn't turn out like my inspirational pics I had.
-Our guestbook.. but we just got sommething standard, so it served it's purpose.
-Our photgraphy... She took a lot of pictures and I have enough to make a nice album, but with any posed pictures, she didn't give much direction as to where anyone should move. She is a friend with a photography degree who offered for very inexpensive, and we do have tons of pics. In retrospect with the drama that went along with it, I would have had less pictures and a proffessional. (but I completly appreciate her work!)
-Wish I would have taken the time to steam the dress before the second ceremony. We were pretty wrinkly by then, and a lot of our "potraits" came after that.
-Organza overlay plus pointy heels equals RIPPPP  But my awesome BM fixed it!
One day I'll get aroudn to posting a recap... but heres a few pics..
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/Lookin4TheWorld/?action =view¤t=012a601b.pbw
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #739494] |
Thu, 19 July 2007 13:11 |
Rachface
Messages: 208
Registered: June 2007
Location: Adirondacks |
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Our wedding is a ways off so I’ll just post what I thought were hits and misses from some weddings I’ve been to in the last year:
Hits:
-DJ playing music in chronological order. Rosemary Clooney and Sinatra during dinner and as time went on, they played music from the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. The later the night went, the more recent the music got. By the end of the night when it was just 20 and 30 something’s left and other had gone home, it was hip-hop heavy, top 40 style music. I definitely think that a lot of the older relatives appreciated not being assaulted with 50-cent right after dinner and I thought it was pretty cool too.
-Amazing barbeque food at a fancy shmancy wedding. It was only two entrée options and then salt potatoes (regional thing) and that was it. There was a crudite table set up before also. I’m constantly looking at these wedding menus with like 3 options for every part of the meal, but I really liked this simple dinner.
-Short weddings at the same site as reception. Love ‘em
-Hotels walking distance from the reception. I never realized how convenient that was until last weekend.
Misses:
-Playing top 40 style dance music right off the bat at the reception. Everyone was all groggy from just eating, all the older relatives looked confused and the super shy hadn’t quite drunk enough to brave the dance floor.
-Doing the first dance, etc. about an hour and a half after the dancing started. It was weird to break up the booty shaking with the father daughter dance. Plus a lot of the older relatives of the couple had left already and missed out.
-Receiving line for a 450 person wedding! I think their fine, even if slightly awkward for the guest, if you are having a smaller wedding because it gives you an excuse to talk to everyone face to face. This receiving line took over an hour and a half/almost two hours, it took us personally 20 minutes to get through, I felt like I was at the DMV.
Hit/Miss?
-I guess this one depends on who you talked to. Waiters walking around offering champagne to people on trays throughout the whole cocktail hour, dinner, up until the cake was cut and all the father/daughter, etc dancing was done. It was very generous and I know they did it because they wanted it to be a real party, but I think people drank way more than they would have it they had to get up and wait in line at the open bar. Plus champagne has more of a punch because of the carbonation. It was a lot of fun, but there were definitely some women there who were putting the champagne back all night and it showed. Half of their guests for the hotel after party were too drunk to attend, the other half had a blast.
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #739760] |
Thu, 19 July 2007 23:19 |
Lookin4theworld
Messages: 95
Registered: April 2007
Location: Atlanta, GA |
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I explained it to everyone at the BBQ as the fortune cookie of wedding. (this was the day after our wedding at my husband's dad's house) You buy a box of silver charms (they used to be sterling silver, I just bought a kit) and attach ribbons on them. Then you slip them under a cake and have each bridesmaid pull one. The old tradition is that they go in the wedding cake.
All of my bridesmaids are single, so I pulled out the "you will have a baby soon" charm, and one of the two that had to do with being next ot be married. I also invited a few other close friends, and the flower girl to pull. I think I had a phone, a four leaf clover, an airplane (ironically, the flower girl and she's moving to florida soon)... I forget what the rest were, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Here's my maid of honor pulling hers
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/Lookin4TheWorld/wedding /531593544_9fa637b459.jpg
and my good friend
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/Lookin4TheWorld/wedding /531594404_51551882fb.jpg
People watching this happen
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/Lookin4TheWorld/wedding /531698937_dd2af078ef.jpg
My SIL freaked out about this idea, and for some reason decided the charms had to be baked into the cake. She was suppose to make the cake for this, and it turned out to be too much. 6 or 7 crazy phone calls later, we changed plans and asked the new wife of one of the groomsmen if she'd be so kind and make the cake. It turned out beautiful, we were very appreciative, and I think she was happy to be involved. 
[Updated on: Thu, 19 July 2007 23:21]
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #740455] |
Sun, 22 July 2007 15:05 |
justhitched07
Messages: 1
Registered: July 2007
Location: Brooklyn, NY |
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We were just married in May and I do have some hits/misses to share. Apologies for being a bit longwinded, but these are all things I myself would have loved to read/ think about beforehand so I do want to include them all!
-hits-
* Combined Traditions – from the ceremony, to the decorations, to our outfits to the food, to the music, to the weekends events – everything was a mixture of our two backgrounds: Hindu from India and Catholic from New England. Friends and family from each side really embraced the new traditions which was a great way to begin our new lives of these combined traditions!
* Baseball/Cricket games – To entertain our out of town guests (almost everyone!) we reserved a baseball field at the high school where all ages came to play baseball and cricket. Many were familiar with only baseball or cricket but enjoyed learning the other, and it was great to have entertainment that wasn’t centered around eating/drinking.
* Live Streaming of the Ceremony – Although at first I was opposed to this, we used idostream.com to stream a live video of our ceremony on the web. Our friends and family who couldn’t make the trip – especially those in India – really appreciated that they could be part of the day – even if thousands of miles away.
* Website – we had a website to detail the events of the weekend, the history behind the traditions in the ceremony, tourist info for out-of-towners, some pictures, etc. Guests really appreciated the info, and delighted in seeing photos of their soon-to-be-in-laws – especially since the families were being joined from opposite sides of the world!
* Dancing – we did the sort of standard first dance, but immediately we went into that Punjabi MC/ Jay Z song “Beware the Boys” (Bhangra/rap song – again a sort of combo of cultures!) to get everyone going. Literally EVERYONE got up and danced it was an absolutely fabulous way to get the party started.
-hindsight is 20/20-
… don’t’ want to call them flops except for the frustrating $ issue… but they are sort of lessons learned!
* Photos – we thought we didn’t want too many posed, formal shots, but in retrospect wished we had:
1) Really taken the time to make a list of all the pictures we had to have (how did I not get a shot with mom and Nana?!!)
2) Requested a bit more formality in the “un-formal, formal” shots to avoid awkward space gaps, etc.
* Music – I’m a music girl, and so was sad when my specific jazz music request got misinterpreted. He also didn’t play all of our “must play” songs. Guess it’s worth double-confirming all that before hand?
* Buffet – Buffet was certainly the way to go to have South Indian and American foods to offer, but the buffet tables really should have been positioned such that people could fill their plates from either side (guess I thought that detail was a given but it wasn’t…). With only one side available, the Indian buffet line snaked around to the front, and caused an unintended lull after a great everyone-out-of-your-seats bhangra dance.
* Financial Woes – we try not to let it overshadow the ceremony, but we were taken advantage of by our ceremony/reception site. To be constructive, this is what we suggest:
1) Outside caterer?: View the contract signed between the two parties and understand what (if anything) you would be liable for. e.g. expensive, broken kitchen machinery for how much?!
2) Consumption bar?: Make sure that they plan to provide you a receipt of what was consumed! Sounds basic, but they were not able to provide that to us which was especially troubling when the cost was way above expectations. Sure you take a gamble by even going this route, but with about half our guests being under-age children or people who chose not to drink any alcohol, it was the choice that best suited us.
Congrats and best of luck to the new brides out there!
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #741800] |
Wed, 25 July 2007 22:10 |
spjulep
Messages: 536
Registered: December 2006
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What a great thread! Wish I had found it earlier.
Our hits:
-Guestbook from guestbookstore.com or whatever. Everyone had so much fun drawing pictures of themselves and of us, and it was great to go through afterwards to find the unexpectedly witty and hilarious comments mixed in with sage words of wisdom.
-Candy bar. It made a reprise at brunch the next morning, and people could not stop telling me how much they enjoyed getting all sugared up.
-Everyone (all 65 guests) randomly lining up on the church stairs for a picture. It totally happened by accident, but if there is someway to painlessly orchestrate this, it makes for the most amazing shot.
Our misses:
I really can't think of any! Lots of things went wrong but nothing fazed me or my husband, so everyone followed our lead and we had a fantastic time.
ETA: Another huge hit: Drinks and appetizers brought to the bridal party/families while we were taking pictures. Even though we didn't have a lot of formal shots, people really appreciated getting some drinks and snacks.
[Updated on: Wed, 25 July 2007 22:12]
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #745905] |
Mon, 06 August 2007 21:26 |
Luna13
Messages: 150
Registered: October 2006
Location: NJ |
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I think anything you do to really personalize your wedding is always a hit. Everyone had many wonderful comments about how are wedding was so "us", so it was nice to know people actually noticed.
examples of our hits:
* our dog as table numbers
*for place cards I selected a specific 1"pin for each person
*memorial pics of deceased.
*In place of father daughter dance I instead did a brief speech of how my father passed when I was a child, and how my mom deserved the spotlight for being a wonderful single parent, so I asked her and my step-dad (who I gave credit to for being brave enough to take on a ready made family of 3 girls... and 1 bathroom)to share a special dance.
* my dress and veil
* reception at the Inn/hotel where people could stay.
I think anything that represents you is always good!
misses:
*our first dance song.
we did not actually dance to it to try it out. oops! It was Nick Cave "into my arms" which, when you're dancing all alone with people staring, is a REALLY LONG song. it was horrifying.
Im sure some people fell asleep.
*guest book- it was placed right at the place cards in the cocktail area, so Im unsure why it did nt get signed at all.
*kazoos instead of bubbles/flowers, etc for leaving the chapel. This baffled people.
*DJ not playing all our must have songs, even after confirming the night before.("oh i forgot to bring that")
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #746386] |
Tue, 07 August 2007 22:23 |
scorpia22
Messages: 1
Registered: August 2007
Location: south jersey |
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hits:
- bamboo poles to delineate the ceremony area on the beach (cheap too, i.e. free)
- bubbles (adults went crazy over them)
- leis
- pictures of deceased parents at ceremony site
- "surrogate parents" (older friends) "gave us away"
- guest book was a beach ball, people signed with sharpie
- vows to our (step-)children
- arrived at ceremony site sailing in on catamaran
- cupcakes by Casels Market (chocolate with buttercream frosting and chocolate chips YUM)
flops:
- waiting for best man to sail in behind us, he had trouble with the boat and took too long
- no music at the reception, therefore no dancing (didn't have time to burn the CDs) (however, i liked the fact that people could talk without yelling)
- crappy single-use cameras handed out - people DID use them, but quality of photos was lousy. thank goodness there were a few people with good cameras on hand (we didn't have a pro photographer)
- favors: little bags of candy mints got all sticky and gummy due to the humidity. why oh why did i fall for this baloney at the last minute? dumb!
[Updated on: Tue, 07 August 2007 22:26]
July 28, 2007 on the beach, Margate NJ
the-maene-event.blogspot.com
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| . [message #746680] |
Wed, 08 August 2007 16:42 |
blueberrymuffin
Messages: 851
Registered: November 2006
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No Message Body
[Updated on: Thu, 04 December 2008 13:44]
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #751326] |
Tue, 21 August 2007 14:17 |
marbleblue
Messages: 528
Registered: December 2003
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*bump*
This is the kind of shit that happens when you let old people near computers. - aryastark
We should get married every weekend, this is fun. - marbleboy
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #754690] |
Wed, 29 August 2007 19:04 |
jellyroll
Messages: 415
Registered: December 2006
Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Full recap to follow, but this was always my favorite thread.
Hits:
Ceremony - my uncle married us and made the ceremony very personal; DH and I wrote our own vows.
Band - we worked our butts off to find a New Orleans second line band and everyone looooooved it.
Cake - it was delish. People were getting into knock-down drag-out fights over which was better, the lemon or the chocolate. The answer is lemon, hands down.
Dance - we also worked our butts off on our first dance, mostly because it was just fun to practice, but everyone loved it too. Our DJ (an IB husband!) was great, too - he did a good job of working in some of what we gave him and kept the party going.
Rehearsal Dinner - we did all family plus wedding party, no assigned seating, and people mixed and mingled beautifully. Also, my dad ordered these bizarro brain teaser fluorescent balls from American Science Center, which we used as rehearsal dinner conversation starters/favors, and they were great icebreakers.
Food - we had very flavorful food - 24-hour pork roast with chimichurri, moroccan shrimp with pomegranate aioli, lots of pungent cheeses and garlicky salads - and people loved it! A few people didn't, but they're the ones who regularly get made fun of for thinking ketchup is spicy, so they didn't hold it against us.
The hora - we're not Jewish, so our Jewish friends did us a big favor by facilitating an amazing hora, complete with flinging DH skyward off of a tablecloth and lifting us both on chairs. We almost died, but we loved it!
Videographer - I really didn't want to do it, but we found a kind of low-budg guy who does cheesy but great videos, and the cameraman seemed to be everywhere at once, interviewing people and capturing everything important. We can't wait to see the video.
Misses:
No one played croquet and bocce, except maybe the band. Sad.
Technology - I don't know what happened - maybe the DJ's mics and the videographer's mics didn't like each other? Whatever it was, some people couldn't hear much of the ceremony. Get your sound system right and have someone test it.
Guest book - not sure it was ever put out where people could see it.
Flowers - mostly good, but the bridesmaids' bouquets and the bouts were brighter than we wanted. Not the end of the world.
Mingling - not enough time to visit all of the tables. Also, the bar and buffet were across the room from our table, so we were waylaid every time we tried to go over there. Finally we begged the servers to bring us full plates so we could grab bites when we were at our tables.
MAPS - this is the big one - we didn't do good enough maps/directions between venues for our families and wedding party, which ended in a lot of calling around for directions. We did provide them on the website, but nobody printed anything out. Disaster all around. People, especially from out of town, expect you to have figured everything out for them, so it saves everyone aggravation to get things organized and idiot-proof.
Full recap to follow soon at Life After Marriage. All in all, TONS of fun.
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| Re: What was a hit? What was a flop? [message #754780] |
Thu, 30 August 2007 00:38 |
juicypear
Messages: 172
Registered: March 2007
Location: San Francisco |
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Ok, here goes...
Hits:
Ceremony: as others have noted, people LOVED that we wrote our own ceremony, and we got my BIL ordained to marry us. We also planted a tree which people seem to like.
Food: People raved about our food - largely I think because they were surprised about how good vegan food could be. A number commented that they preferred buffet to seated meals.
Escort Cards: We put trivia questions on the back (related to San Francisco history) and it was a good ice-breaker for guests who didn't know each other.
After Party: We just had a casual meet up at a bar later, after the reception and it was so great seeing all of our friends interact in a more relaxed environment. It was a long night, but so worth it.
Dresses: I wore my Mom's wedding dress from 1979 - with a few alterations and I got so many compliments on how unique it was. Also my BMs were psyched they I let them each pick any dress in red. Each dress reflected their style and they didn't look like dolls I'd played dress up with.
Flops:
Music: Although we got a lot of compliments on the musical selections, I think it was a mistake not having an emcee in charge of it. There were a lot of times when the music wasn't loud enough, or I had to change things myself b/c the person I'd asked to do it spaced.
Guest Book: I've yet to see a guest book that worked really well. We made postcards for people to decorate, and only small handful actually did.
Ceremony flub: Ok, this is actually kind of embarrassing. So it hadn't occurred to me that when I entered the ceremony people would stand. I guess normally officiants tell guests to be seated. Well, since ours was not exactly experience, he never told them to sit. And everyone stood the WHOLE TIME... Haha, I guess it shows I was very "in the moment" because I didn't realize until I started looking at pictures.
Snarky blog: http://thevom.dreamhosters.com
Non-snarky blog: http://ethicalweddings.com/blog
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Since I couldn't get my dh to commit to a shots list and to helping me select a place for posed pics we didn't get exactly what we wanted. Our polaroid guestbook didn't turn out as planned because we chose the wrong person to run it. Our Indian wedding reception was a huge flop (long story) because my husband chose to confirm the plans with the caterer at the last minute via email instead of over the phone like I requested. 
