Other People's Plans

On the Fourth of July weekend last year, a friend of mine, my sister and I sat on a beach and they discussed my wedding and by the end, they had it all planned out. They had decided I’d get married in Tahoe at this location which allows you to reserve an entire point for a weekend. The point includes:

A large house that has 8 bedrooms and 4 baths so folks could stay there.
A huge, flat lawn area which can be tented.
A wooden platform that hangs out over the lake on which you can get married which is attached to the big lawn area where folks can be seated to watch.

For the reception they decided that I would have:

Beverages: Beer, wine, water, sodas and margaritas. Champagne with dessert.
Appetizers: An eclectic mixture of sushi, Vietnamese fresh spring rolls, bruschetta, crab cakes, and chicken satay.
Main Meal: A big BBQ with chicken teriyaki, steaks, pulled pork and a bunch of salads – fresh corn salad, tomato salad, macaroni salad, green salad, green papaya salad and chicken salad (both from my fave Vietnamese restaurant), etc.
Dessert: The wedding cakes. This is the one thing I’ve always known exactly what I’m going to do – no traditional wedding cake. Instead I’m going to have my three favorite cakes. Two of them are made by a local bay area bakery (the chocolate and carrot) but the third, the coconut cake is from a recipe that I have so I have to find someone willing to make it for me.

I was amused that they took charge and planned the whole thing (they did let me have some say in the food) and . . . frankly, it’s a very appealing plan. They felt the plan accommodated weaknesses and emphasized strengths – you can find caterers that do good BBQ up here and the more exotic foods were things they could get in the bay area and bring up.

There are pictures of this place below.

Possible Tahoe Venue

If I go with a Tahoe wedding, these are pictures of the place that my sister and friend planned my wedding for in the blog above. What the pictures don't show is that to the right and heading behind the house (when looking at the bottom pic) there is a large lawn area that is flat and perfect for a tent. The tent you see in the one pic isn't normally there but is obviously another place where you could have a tent . . . like that could be the bar or something.

The platform would be nice for pics and some folks exchange their vows up there but, I'm not so sure about that. It could be spruced up and it's a lovely setting but that it would mean folks would have to stand on land and watch us which, seems stupid to me.

The house has 8 bedrooms and 4 baths and you get the entire point/site for 4 days so folks could stay there, etc.

It has potential.

Wedding Preparations, Part 3 (or 4?)

So, I need to start actually prepping for the wedding (I know I’ve said this before) so I’m taking it in steps.

The first step is to decide whether I want a formal wedding or a more casual wedding. Frankly, since I never really wanted to get married anyway, I don’t see myself doing a stiff, formal wedding. To me I’d much rather have it be an event that is casual and fun for everyone. Not something where folks are coming and being polite and uncomfortable. I see it as a celebration party where people come to eat good food, drink good wine, and have a good time.

However, I don’t want it to turn into something like a drunken college kegger party either. So, I think in typing this I’ve made that decision.

The second step is to figure out where to have it geographically . . . Tahoe or the SF Bay Area.

Originally I thought it would be nice to have it in Tahoe because it’s so pretty up here. But then I thought the bay area would be better because people wouldn’t have to travel to attend. Then, when I told friends and family that I was switching it back to the bay area, they all started saying they wanted to come to Tahoe so, I haven’t made up my mind. Given this, I decided to outline the pros and cons.

Tahoe Pros:
Pretty.
Much less expensive than the bay area.

Tahoe Cons:
People have to travel to attend (though some will be traveling anyway).
Better caterers and other services in the bay area.
More coordination required for wedding night, honeymoon, etc.

Bay Area Pros:
Better caterers and other services.
The only people who will have to travel are those coming in from out of the area.

Bay Area Cons:
Nice venues but none as pretty as here.

That’s all I’ve come up with for now.

Feel free to opine.

HP VII

Finished it earlier today. It was as good as the best of the others. Not sure who everyone was referring to when they said that someone dies cuz, lots of people die. It was sad though, the last 100 pages or so, knowing that this was it and that there will be no more. The last chapter takes place 19 years later so that was nice, to give us a peek into how folks turned out. Enjoy!