Decorating

We have a small problem when it comes to decorating for our reception and dance. The Days In can only guarantee us that we can be in at noon on the day of the wedding. Yep, you read that right...decorate for a wedding starting at noon. Please tell me how anyone can even begin to get that done.

I talked to the event coordinator at the Days Inn a few weeks ago and she gave me a little more info. Basically as long as there is not an event in the room Friday night we can be in there to decorate at 8am on the day of the wedding. A little better, but something tells me that I will have other things to do that morning.

So Tuesday evening Randy and I met with a couple people that come in and do the decorating for you. She has done several weddings at the Days Inn and has this down to a science. They go in at 8am and get to work and then about 11:30pm they come in and tear everything down. No worries about getting anything cleaned up and taken home.

She has a bunch of lights, white fabric & tulle, table mirrors, vases, and a few other things. She also has access to a wholesale flowers & fabric. If you want, she will order the flowers, arrange them, and make sure they are ready to go for you. What she doesnt have, we can rent in Brookings for pretty cheap. They have a backdrop for behind the head table, ideas for centerpieces, ribbon, cake stands, and about a million other things to choose from. The thing I really like about renting is you don't have 45 centerpieces, 100 strands of lights and who knows what else left over. I can get the renal stuff on Wednesday, the week of the wedding, get everything to the decorators & my job is done.

We need to discuss the price a little further and look a little deeper into how much the rental stuff is going to cost, but I think for the price, we should book her. We are not going to have time to do it...that is the bottom line. Why not have someone come in that knows what they are doing and have it done right. And better yet, we wouldn't have to worry about it.

Centerpiece Hell

I am obsessed with the centerpieces for the reception. Why I have no idea. I am really concerned how they are going to turn out, if everyone will like them, and how they will go with the overall look of the wedding.

WHY!?!?! Have you even been to a wedding that you actually remember what the centerpieces looked like? I have been to 1. The only reason I remember what they were is because they were cake. Instead of cupcakes or getting up for dessert after the meal each table had their own individual cake.

So I want something cool. I want something memorable for whatever reason. I want something colorful, but simple, and most importantly, cheap, but I don't want them to look cheap. After all no one will remember them anyways!

Idea #1

I had come across some photos on one of my many websites with rocks and vases, water and candles. Oh hey, I can make that. Here is my attempt

Not too bad, but I figured out that to do each one I wanted at least 2 of the $3.50 vases that I told mom I had to have because I was sure I could do something creative with them.

Idea #2

Rental place from Watertown. I am thinking that I would like a lot of color on the tables. Not sure that I am set on 1 or 2 colors. I like them all bright and cheerful. I thought this would do it. Different colors for each tables?

Idea #3

Rachel Ray. Well it looked awesome on her website anyways! Lemon jello and daisy's.

We I sure wasn't going to spend the money on daisy's just to try another creative centerpieces. I really liked this idea. I was thinking it would bring color to the tables and be something unique that no one else would probably have or think of.

After sending a picture message to my mom last night, she explained to me that having memorable things at your wedding was a good thing, but maybe this wasn't what we wanted people to remember.

I am finding out very quickly why people RENT decorations! I am not giving up. My obsession isn't any better. I will keep you posted on my other great ideas!