A Wedding to Remember
 Every little girl dreams of her wedding. She knows exactly what she wants, what her dress will look like and goes over it in her mind a million times before it actually comes to pass. I was not one of those little girls! When it came time to plan my wedding, I had no idea what I wanted. I did not know who I was going to pick as bridesmaids (let alone what to give them for bridesmaid gifts). I had no idea whether I wanted a spring wedding or a winter wonderland wedding. The only thing I knew? I wanted it to be fun. And I wanted it to be memorable.
My fiance and I didn't want to spend a fortune on our wedding. We didn't want to be in debt for 20 years because of one day. We wanted our family and friends with us and we wanted them to always remember the day they shared with us and smile.
First Step to a Dream Wedding: Hire a Wedding PlannerThe smartest thing I ever did was to hire a wedding planner. Good thing, too, because I was clueless. Since we had already found our venue and I had my dress (that would be the vintage-style gown I got on eBay for $9.95) we were able to use our planner for the finer details.
I was lucky to discover a young woman just starting her business and she helped me through every step from getting my dress altered and ordering our wedding invitations to finding my lavender shoes (the one thing I knew for sure I wanted). She presented the utmost of patience and sanity -- exactly what I needed for all the overwhelming details. If anything went wrong the day of our ceremony, I knew nothing of it. She had everything completely under control.
Wonderful Wedding Gifts and Services from Friends We were also fortunate enough to have very talented and generous friends, who offered their talents as wedding gifts. My fiance worked with a gentleman who was starting out as a professional photographer. Benny offered his services to us as a wedding gift - and to help build his portfolio. The pictures were amazing and we have close to 750 pictures that include family and friends from before the wedding to the reception, including those candid shots you would otherwise never see.
Another friend was a graphic designer who, when he heard what we were going to be charged to have a Calla Lily design added to our pre-made wedding invitations said "please, let me do that for you." The discount wedding invitations he made were one of a kind. Another dear friend offered our wedding cake as her gift and it was elegant and divine, just what we wanted. And a former student of mine spent an entire afternoon helping me put together our my fan programs, adding silk flowers and bows. Yes, we were very fortunate.
But what made our wedding so memorable? It was a few of the out-of-the-ordinary things I chose. Everyone throws rice or birdseed at a wedding. I didn't want rice. I didn't want birdseed. We had bubbles. Each chair had a bottle of bubbles to blow as we made our first walk together as man and wife.
The Dream Buffet
Because we had saved so much with the help of our friends, I was able to have a dream buffet. I wanted people to remember the food. I''ve heard so many times how wonderful a ceremony was, but no one ever remembers the food. Our food, I'm pleased to say, was to die for. Not over the top, but I chose very select items to make an ideal evening dinner.
We did have cake - a delicious and wonderful cake. But not everyone loves cake. I insisted (with much resistance from others) that we add an additional dessert. White chocolate dessert cups filled with fresh raspberries. They were a hit!
My fiance's mother and step-father provided each table with a specially bottled Old Vine Zinfandel from their own winery with a label commemorating the occasion. The wine was so exquisite, the guests didn't drink anything else. Each table also had wedding favor boxes of truffles for our guests to keep. That was our little "thank you" to those who had shared in our happiness.
We were also able to have a string quartet not only for the ceremony, but for the reception. No canned music or DJ. Real live musicians that really jazzed up our reception. So our wedding was not big, it was not over the top, but it was the perfect day. And yes, it truly was one little girl's dream wedding.
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