Changing Wedding Venues... Again

The "again" in the title of this post isn't exactly fair. We only put down a deposit on one location. We have, however, settled on a location more than once only to change our minds.

So what happened?

Glad you asked.

Thursday evening, my mother calls me with fretful concern over our choice of venue. There are a number of reasons she listed, but the top two were:

1. She'd heard from reputable sources that they tend to... shuttle people in and out on the day of their event.

This could be a valid complaint since they hold multiple events in multiple rooms on the same day.

2. She was worried that no one room was large enough to accommodate our guests and we would be crowded into two adjoining rooms. The thought of having a "B" room where people can't easily see the first dance or the cake cutting, and have to hear toasts through a speaker had become increasingly less appealing. Just imagine them trying to shove into the doorway to watch the proceedings.

Add to these two very reasonable concerns an uneasy feeling in her stomach/heart/mind, and she had a pretty convincing argument on her hands.

My family rarely uses emotions in their arguments, so when we do, others take notice and it carries extra weight.

So Easy and I went by my parents' house after his gig and we talked numbers. We tried to figure out our options. We had already put down a deposit with our first venue and didn't want to lose that money.

My first love (no not the Botanic Garden, that was just a fantasy) was the Haley Mansion in Joliet.

Imagine it with snow for February.

It seemed originally outside our price point for budget. But we moved around some numbers and it seemed feasible.

On Friday, my mother and father drove to Joliet to take a look at the mansion. My father finally understood what the fuss was all about. The question was now how to sort out the issue of the deposit.

But we were in luck! The mansion and the chateau are owned by the same people! They told my parents they could transfer the deposit from one venue to the other after they sign the contract with the second venue.

It still feels less than real that I will actually have my wedding at my dream venue. It just has so much to offer. The third floor, for example, is dedicated entirely to the wedding party having a place to hang out and get ready.

I want to jump for joy, but I will hold it in until the contract is signed and the deposit is transferred. If you'll excuse me, I have to go change around several things on my wedding website.

Can You Wear Your Birthday Suit To Your Engagement Party?

There is something that is gravely important One should wear clothes to their own engagement party. I'm serious, it's truly important.

No matter how much you want to bury your head in the sand and try and forget about the million and one details of wedding planning, you must take time and find actual clothes to wear. Not doing that is against the law.

Shopping for an e-party dress should be fun. It's a cocktail party after all and I love shopping. What could be better?

Well, I think I put too much pressure on myself. I don't really have the time or money to shop the way I'd like. And I had the silly notion I should wear our wedding colors. There's only one problem with that. Regency isn't really in right now.


left to right: regency, black, tan, ivory, gold

Color fail.
 So I branched out. I found a great dress at Delia's that I bought. I know you want to see it.



Dress from Delia's

 Because I am so very short, it stops right at my knees, making it perfect cocktail length. And it's a great color for summer. But it's just... plain. I'd have to jazz it up. I and don't really do jazzy.

I don't have a blingy belt or jewelry or anything else like that. Sexy high heeled shoes is about all I have. So this dress would require waaay more shopping to get it perfect.

So I am now searching for either another dress or some killer accessories. Of course, I'm starting with Macy's because that store never lets me down. They had tons to choose from. I wanted something cute and sexy, but not too sexy. I wanted it simple, but not too plain. I hope I can come up with more focus for my other pre-wedding outfits.

Here are some of my favorites.


Ralph Lauren One Shoulder Dress

 Sexy and simple. But is it too simple? And should I really be wearing black to a party in the middle of August? I don't know.



Ellen Tracy Sleeveless Floral Print Dress

 Girly and sweet, but is it sexy? On me, it will go below my knee and it looks like something I'd wear to church or work maybe...



Nine West Beaded One Shoulder Dress

 Let's be honest, one shoulder dresses are not my thing. I only own one and it was forced upon me through participation in a wedding. And perhaps it's too sexy? And I will clash with all the golden decorations, won't I?



Jessica Howard Asymmetrical Cocktail Dress

 This one is actually called a cocktail dress. And it's exactly my style. But is it too sweet? Is it too blue? And might it be too hot for an August party at which I'll already be nervous?


BCBGMAXAZRIA One Shoulder Mini Cocktail Dress

 Everything this man makes looks great on me. It's sexy and a soft tone, so I wouldn't be overdoing it. But I have a small frame. Perhaps it's just one detail too many. That's a lot o' ruffles. And I have a small frame, but not small hips. Le sigh.



Ellen Tracy Sleeveless Sheath

 This one kept catching my eye, but when I look at it, all I can think is my grandmother telling me I need more color and pizazz in my wardrobe. This dress is just my style though. But perhaps it's not enough.

I think a trip to an actual store is due. I will have fun trying on dresses. Whenever I find a sales associate to bond with, I always buy a dress. So here's hoping there's someone there who can be wowed by my ability to look good in any dress (except ones with too many ruffles. those are not my friends).

To RSVP Or To Not RSVP

That is the question. I've been very worried about how RSVPs will go for all our wedding events because of two people, namely my mother and my fiance.

In dramatic fashion, I've been drawing the back of my hand to my forehead and sighing worriedly that no one will RSVP to our events. Don't worry, I knew they'd come, I just figured we'd never be able to get an accurate head count ahead of time.

This is because those two have put out into the world horrible RSVP karma. They never RSVP. Okay, that's an exaggeration. They hardly ever RSVP for things. I'm praying that others don't do to us what my mother and fiance have done to them.

Our e-party invites have gone out and on them people are asked to either call/text my mother with their RSVP or go to our wedding website and do it. There have already been some RSVPs online which only brings a smile to my face.

There are rebels too. One of our friends RSVP'd through Facebook on Easy's wall. And he wanted to bring a plus one. Easy had to inform him that he wasn't getting a plus one for our e-party or any other wedding event.

That's rough to say, but if we're not inviting family members and close friends of our own, we certainly don't have room for extra random people two and three degrees of separation away.

I think the rules of plus ones are pretty simple. Spouses, children living in the house, significant others in years-long relationships, those who live together, and engaged peoples. The one exception to this is if someone is invited who knows no one there other than the bride or groom.

But so far so good on the RSVP front. I can deal with the occasional Facebook RSVP or even just someone calling me to ask me to RSVP for them online. As long as those people are in the minority, I can hang.

Here's a tip for anyone planning a party of any kind: Don't forget to put a date by which you want people to RSVP!! I forgot to do that. Luckily, we only need a head count 3 days before the event. Luck was on my side with this. I won't make that mistake again, trust me.

Music To My Ears

The first vendors we booked were our musicians. Finding the right musician in the right price range can make a bride go crazy. That will not happen to me because I am marrying a musician. Winning!

The day Easy announced our engagement on Facebook, he asked who would play at our wedding for free and several people responded. He was joking, but he definitely took them up on their offer.

Three guys who all play in the same jazz trio each individually offered, so that basically settled the question of what music we'd have for our cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception. Live jazz perfectly fits the mood we're going for with the time of day, passed hors d'oeuvres, and open bar.

We needed ceremony musicians as well. We happened to be heading to an open bar with some friends who (now that I see everything in terms of the wedding) were basically a mixture of wedding guests and groomsmen.

We passed by Bar Louie, which is one of my fave hangs in Chicago. Seated outside was an old friend of Easy's. She happens to be a fantastic violin player (I think. Maybe the viola??), and she's part of a string quartet. Easy told her she should play at our wedding and she readily agreed. Now we had our ceremony music.

While I was wondering about what we'd do for the reception, Easy explained he'd already taken care of it. A friend of his from St. Louis who is a DJ had already agreed to DJ our wedding reception as a wedding gift. A couple of times when we went out in St. Louis, this guy was the DJ, so I know I love what he spins.

It all just seemed to good to be true. A string quartet, a jazz trio, and a DJ all for the price of paying just the string quartet?!? Both my mother and I were thrilled.

Of course we'll be paying everyone something. I've never been one to take advantage of someone's kindness. I am, however, grateful that I will get so much amazing music for my wedding at a really affordable price.

That means more money in the budget for flowers! And I love me some flowers. It's time for musical instrument and flower porn!



"Looking For Corny In My Life"

The Holiday is one of my favorite movies. It combines Christmas and romantic comedies and it has an ensemble cast and a couple of the characters break into song for no reason at all plus a sexy man with an accent is one of the leads? That's a special kind of movie heaven for me. Watch the clip. Around 8:55 is the part of the scene that inspired the title to this post.



I have my moments where corny things are what I actually prefer. I'd like to blame my fiance for making this even worse. I usually try to avoid embracing my mushy side. But Easy keeps making it seem like this is good behavior, so I keep indulging here and there.

I posted back in June about what I got my Dad for Father's Day. One of his gifts was a hat that said "Father of the Bride".

Well.... I bought myself one too. I bought a hat that says "Future Mrs. McBride". I truly did. It's the pinnacle of corniness. And I bought a hat that I'll only be able to wear for another 6.5 months. But I did it.

When we get around having wedding events, you'll probably see me with my Future Mrs. McBride baseball cap and Bridezilla sash. I'm starting to hoard some serious pre-wedding swag. Throw that in with the wine glass my mother got me that says "Bride" and my pre-wedding gear is almost complete.

The question is what to get next. Should I get a cute Bride-to-Be Tank Top?


Image via Zazzle

Or maybe a cute tiara?



Image via FunSlurp

 Already having a shopping habit makes me even more prone to this, the corniest of indulgences. Have you ever gone overboard with themed swag?

Outsourcing Invitations

After the headache of figuring out just our Save-the-Date mailings and engagement party invitations, I know there's no way I ever, ever, ever, want to do this again. So I have concocted a solution.

No, I'm not finding an international invitation designer, though that does have a fantastic ring to it. Makes me think of fashion instead of unemployment. Moving on though.

My fiance Easy has been a well of goodness in this whole wedding planning thing. Every time I'm stumped as to the best route to go, he ends up supplying, without trying, the perfect solution. The best example of this is our wedding musicians, but that's a different post.

This post is about wedding invitations. I went through so much for our first wedding doohickeys. Because of timing and some other stuff, we decided to send out moo cards, engagement party invites, and save-the-date mailings all at once.

This seemed like a good idea. And it still is a good idea. Based on the length of our engagement and the date of our e-party, it really was the best option. But getting those mailings out was no small task.

It forced us to finalize our guest list early (thank God!). But tracking down addresses was only the tip of the iceberg. I didn't like any of the designs on vistaprint nor did I want to pay $7.99/ten invites. Not when we had to send them to 152 households!

So I designed them myself in a word document that could be uploaded and placed on a postcard. The postcards ended up being around $25 for 250, which is waaaaaay better than $199.75 for 250. Designing these invites was no small matter.

I'm very proud of them. Want to see them again? Okay.

You just get a snippet here. You can read the whole post here.

Designing these took waay longer than I expected. First I had to change the font. Then the wording. Then the color. Then the monogram. There was just so much that went into it. I lovingly spent a ton of time making sure they were just right.

Having gone through all that taught me one thing: I will never design another invitation in my life if I can help it. I know I can do it. DIY mission accomplished! Winning!

So the question became how was I to ever get something that would match what I've already done, but look even better for our actual wedding invites? I didn't want to break the budget, so I looked to Easy.

A good friend of his will be attending our wedding. His girlfriend is very sweet. She's also... wait for it... a photographer/graphic designer!! You can check out her blog here. She's got a great eye, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she'll come up with.

She agreed to take a look to see what we'd like done and we agreed to pay her for her trouble. If she designs something wonderful, I won't be surprised, but I'll be very glad I will have successfully outsourced something that is not my passion to someone who would love to do it and be good at it.

The More The Merrier

I said I was going to do it and I am sticking to my word. I will detail the hundreds, nay, thousands of members of our wedding party. Okay, I'm exaggerating. It's just upwards of 30 when it's all said and done.

Yesterday, I went through just how many people we had for the men. It was a grand total of 20! Yikes!

There are 16 females in total in our wedding. There's me, the bride. Both Easy and I have a maid of honor. I have 6 more bridesmaids. There are 2 junior bridesmaids. We have 2 flower girls and 3 hostesses. Yup, that's a lot. A whole lot.

Our wedding pictures will look like this:

I'm hoping that with that many people, all the wedding events will go like this:

We talked about who would be in our wedding party a long time ago. It was probably March when we first began discussing it. That isn't that long ago in real time. But in the course of our relationship and considering we've only been engaged since Memorial Day, that was forever ago.

We picked our bridesmaids, groomsmen, maids of honor, and best men based on who our close friends were. We couldn't narrow it down, so we decided to include everyone.

I've known for years that Lion would be my best man. But I don't think he knew I really meant it. And having Top as my maid of honor was a no brainer. She's my closest friend since I was about 9.

My other bridesmaids and bridal attendants are close friends of mine who I write regularly about in my other blog. Read about Bad, Camille, Gloria, Michelle, and Sonny on that blog. The other three haven't been written about in the blog... yet. There are only seven days in the week, so I'm working on that.

For our ring bearers and flower girls, the decision was a no-brainer. I don't any appropriately aged people in my family. Easy, however, has two sets of twins in his family that are just the right age. So we will have the most adorable little boys and girls. I am fully prepared for all the oohs and aahs.

Even two of our groomsmen are twins. But they look nothing alike. And there are multiple people throughout the wedding party with the same last names, so their names won't necessarily give them away as twins.

We also have two officiants. Why? Well, we both wanted our pastor to officiate the wedding and we rock at compromise.

Let's see, who's left... Well, I'm not going to tell the story of why Easy picked his groomsmen because I don't actually know all the stories.

Ah! The hostesses and ushers. Two of the hostesses are younger female family members who are in college, one of my side, one on Easy's. Our two hosts are in the middle of high school, one from each side.

We added a fifth hostess/usher because my mother says we need 1 for every 50 guests at the wedding. So we added a high school girl from my church who I mentor. She and Easy met when they were both in the wedding he and I met at last summer. They get along great, so she will fit in like she's part of the family.

And that is all. That's quite a lot, right? How many people is too many for a wedding party? I'm crossing my fingers that people say numbers over 40.

Put On Some Pants!

One of my favorite moments in The Hangover inspired the title of this post. It makes me think of Easy because he's morally opposed to wearing pants when he doesn't have to. Our wedding is such an occasion for which he must wear pants.

Watch the clip here. Around 2:43 is when the pants funniness begins.

Needing to have pants for our wedding, Easy went with his best man to find tuxes for the males in our wedding party. There are a lot of males in our wedding party. I think my next post will talk about just how many people we are including.

We have the groom, Easy. Both Easy and I have a best man. He has 8 groomsman and I have 2 male bridal attendants. We have 2 ring bearers. We have 2 teenage ushers. We have two officiants. And also there is my father. That's 20!

Argh!

Okay, I'm calm.

Easy and his best man did a good job of narrowing down what the guys would wear. I told them they had to get dove gray, charcoal gray, or black suits or tuxes. They needed to look at tie options along with vest, cummerbund or suspender options. They had to come in all our wedding colors.



left to right: regency, black, tan, ivory, gold

And they tried on some stuff (I assume...) and narrowed it down. The males will all be wearing black tuxes, not the kind with tails. Easy prefers vests over cummerbund's, so they will be wearing vests.

I made a big push for cummerbunds and my father told me if I wanted cummerbunds so badly, I should wear one. I quickly replied (like the smart aleck everyone keeps telling me I am) that I am, in fact, wearing one. The way my dress is made has that detail at the waistline.

But it looks like I'll be the only one. Sigh.

The guys will be wearing vests, and we're still undecided on ties though I believe Easy is leaning toward regular ties (no skinny ties!).

We aren't going to have our officiants wearing the same matching tuxes. My father will be in a black vest/tie. The groomsmen will be in regency along with our best men. Easy will wear ivory possibly. The ushers and ring bearers will be wearing tan.

I think the colors will work very well with the ladies in the wedding. Our flower girls and hostesses will also be in tan. The bridesmaids will be in regency. And the gold color will only be accents, think earrings and cuff links.

I wish I had asked the guys to take pictures of what they tried on. But perhaps I can tag along when they get measured and get some pictures then.

What do you think of our color palette? Does it seem to far out there? I will put up pictures when I get them and it will all make sense, I promise.

But to get an idea of what we're envisioning, here's a picture from my inspiration board on Weddingwire.

This One Time At Band Camp...

My fiance Easy is a musician. A very good one. He's also a teacher. A very good one.



Because he is these two things, he gets invited to teach at the NIU jazz camp every summer. He's there now. They bring in all these high school students and teach them amazing things.

A lot of his friends who I've met since we've been dating are also amazing musicians and teachers and they're there too. It's like a who's who of musicians who will be wedding guests (see how I still had to slip something wedding related in?).

Last year, right after we'd just met, I was heading up to Rockford to pack up my apartment since I was moving back to Chicago. Since I was in the area, Easy asked me to stop by and visit him there.

Back then, I felt like I was doing this crazy thing. It was literally the second night I've ever spent in a dorm. I never stayed in a dorm during college, except once during a slumber party with my girls. I didn't even stay in the dorn during orientation. Call be spoiled, call me bourgie, I just wasn't about to do it.

But now that I'm grown as hell and about to get married, I'm staying in a dorm. Planning on sleeping in a twin size bed for the second time in two summers. I must really really reeeeallly love this man, ya'll.

Snail Mailing All Our Friends And Family

My father went to the post office Monday during his work day and bought the postage and mailed our Save the Date/Engagement Party Invite/Moo Card package.

After slaving over these for a very long time, it felt good to have that big step accomplished. Designing invitations, finalizing the guest list, and tracking down addresses has been a special brand of wedding hell that makes a girl just want to run off and marry in Vegas.

Not that we're actually done. Nooooo. That would be awesome, but it wouldn't be true. We still have 20 more addresses we need from my FMIL (future mother in law). But, there's always a but! But, we have the process down!.

Putting addresses on labels and getting them out for that last 20 will be easy-peasy. The only real downside is that we're less than 4 weeks from our engagement party and some of the addresses we still need are invited to the e-party. But I have decided I am no longer worrying about that.

I've already shown you my lovely invites. I spent so much time on them and I am very proud of them.

So the question you may (or may not) have at this late point in the post: Why am I singing the praises of the post office?

Well, the STDs were dropped in the mail either late Monday morning or early Monday afternoon. And everyone in the Chicago area, suburbs included, got theirs on Tuesday. People who get their mail delivered at 10 am on Tuesday had them!

I lived in Florida during college and mail took forever. I could mail something to myself-- from home-- and it would still take 2-3 days to be delivered.

But in Chicago, my kind of town, things are different. Things are better.



Credit: Zazzle

In Chicago, your mail magically find itself where it's supposed to be in less than 12 hours. Because it's magic. Bippity boppity boo magic. I'm convinced that what it is.

So now we're just waiting until his mother tracks down the addresses. And also I'm focusing on the silver lining. There's always one.

And this time it's that in just a few short days, we'll have all our addresses and a completely completed guest list! Our wedding isn't until February 11th and that major stressor will be over and done with.

I'm currently intending on completely outsourcing our invitations to the actual wedding, and I'm not planning my wedding shower or bridal luncheon or bachelorette party, so I am possibly (cross your fingers) officially done with wedding invitation stress. Could it be true? I dearly hope so.

As It Turns Out, This Is Really Not Just My Wedding

Every vendor I go to tells me, "this is your big day, honey! It's all about you!" The deadpan look I give them lets them know I'm not that type of bride and that's no way to get in good with me.

They usually quickly change tactics and begin to ask lots o' questions of me and whoever I'm there with. These vendors catch on quick, you know?

And while I know all the big decisions of this wedding (i.e., guest list, venue, colors, flowers) are not all at my choice alone, some moments have felt like I was doing it alone and pulling everyone along to do their part.

Figuring out our wedding colors was a 7 step process that included the majority of the women in my wedding sphere. I'm not joking. Me, my mother, my FMIL, my FSILs, my maid of honor, both my hostesses and junior bridesmaids, 6 of my bridesmaids, and my two flower girls all had input. Oh, and of course Easy did as well. Believe it or not, that was a fun decision to make.

But other things, like tracking down addresses has proven incredibly difficult. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon and Sunday night when I finally felt like I wasn't doing that whole project against everyone else's wishes.

Our engagement is short. Very short. Too short to have a guest list that is currently over 300 people. But it is reality and I'm not pushing my wedding back. But there is more urgency to do things like sending out our save the dates.

Easy came with me to my parents house. He helped narrow down the guest list that was at one point upwards of 350. He tracked down all the addresses he hadn't already gotten.

My parents also had the rest of their addresses. And with the help of my parents, we got every single envelope stuffed, addressed, and sealed by early Monday morning. My father took them to the post office to be mailed Monday morning.

There was a lot that was stressful about this big step. There were a lot, a whole lot, of addresses to track down. Then we had to sort out our engagement party invite list. We decided to send those invites in our STDs to save postage. That meant two different types of things to put into the envelopes.

The big point is that it got done. And I didn't have to do it all by myself. I think once everyone realized we were less than four weeks from our engagement party, everyone went into working mode and we got it done!

It feels really great to know that my people are down for the hard work and not just the fun times. And we did a lot of preliminary work so the next steps will be easier for future invitations.

One thing: We still need 20 more addresses from my future mother in law. I should be called her my FMIL, but she's way cooler than that. We're calling her the Notorious M.O.G. I know you get the reference. Yeah you do.



One of the best rappers, also Easy's favorite

How My Wedding Dress Is Like My Future Husband

Oh, how I wish I could share with you my wedding dress, but my fiance Easy reads this blog (stalker!), and so I cannot. Although he knows a bit about the dress, such as the unique color, he hasn't seen it.

But it's really beautiful. Chances are if you are immersed in the bride world (and have enough regular brain vs bride brain left), you have probably seen it. It's a pretty popular dress.

It's such a special dress. It's made for women who are either very short or very tall. Seriously, if you're 5'4"-5'8", I can't even imagine how you'd pull this off unless you have some unconventional torso-leg proportions.

I've loved this dress since the moment we put down the first down payment. Even though almost every dress I tried on looked good, this one was exceptional.

When I went for my dress fitting, I was dying to try on the sample for my dress again. There were two other brides there. They were both trying on dresses. Again. Perhaps it's the indecisive person in me, but I'd never put down money on a wedding dress that I wasn't sure about.

If I were anything less than completely sure, I'd be guaranteed to be like them. I'd be back in the shop, trying on another 20 dresses. To me it's like finding a husband. You don't stop trying on dresses until you've found THE ONE. And then once you've found it, you're done. You don't do this:

Even if you come across others dresses you could possibly love, they end up not being enough. You don't even want to try them on. If you don't feel like this about a dress, keep looking. Of course, if you wait too long to find a dress or have an extra short engagement, the rules change.

But just like I knew almost right away my fiance was the one, I knew the same thing about this dress. And unlike a living breathing person, my dress is just waiting for me to take it home (or will be in December), it doesn't hem and haw with indecision. Dresses want to be loved, not loved and left people!

Okay, moment of drama over. Did I mention I love my wedding dress? It is unconventional, but it makes me feel like a bride like nothing else I tried on. Kind of like how Easy makes me feel like a wife like no guy I've ever dated.

I I will try not to compare Easy to every decision I make in the wedding. But no promises.

Engagement Party Dish, Part Two

This two-part pun of a post series is now concluding. The first divulged a secret. Get it? Dish? Right. I'm fully aware I'm not nearly as clever at 3 am when these posts are being written as I would be were I writing them around the time they're being read...

Anyway, this second post is literally about dishes. Specifically, what are we serving at our engagement party. Our choice of venue, L26 restaurant, has an amazing array of food. It's seriously tasty.

Having eaten there three times since we booked our party, I am ashamed to admit it never crossed my mind to take pictures of all the food. But in my defense, what they serve for lunch and dinner and late night isn't actually on the menu for options for our cocktail party.

But I can find some pics online that almost do it justice. Some of my favorites? You know what time it is. It's food porn time.




everyone loves mac and cheese; L26 has superb mac and cheese



honey glazed broiled salmon. droooool.



I love strip steak so much, I'm serving it at my wedding, and maybe my e-party too.



asparagus is a dish everyone who's important in my wedding loves!


Okay, enough food porn. But prosciutto wrapped asparagus on the cocktail party menu is calling my name. And the beef skewers with peanut sauce. And the chicken wings. And the hummus.

It's going to be a tough decision to narrow it down to 3 or 4 things. But we'll make it happen. And I'll be glad to report what menu we decide on.

And because we like a full party, we'll be having some sort of foodstuff for favors. Why do we need favors for our e-party? I'm still not sure. But my mother swears they're important, so have them we shall. I just hope they go well with the wine toast we're planning for the end of the evening.

What have we got in mind so far? Um, let's see. Personalized Hershey's kisses, home-made cookies, those mini bundt cakes that are labor intensive but so tasty, personalized M&Ms. So you can see we're be getting something sugary and/or chocolatey.

Mmmm. Chocolate. How does anyone ever make the 1,000,000 decisions that go into a wedding that you ordinarily wouldn't actually care about?