|
|
|
| Chapter 1
J ANYCE’S DEFINITIONS
In this chapter I will review each of the elements that go into making an extravagant wedding reception that will be remembered and appreciated for years to come. Of course, you don’t have to use every element discussed here. Think of this as a Buffet of ideas you can choose from to create the wedding reception of your dreams.
First Plate
 Also known as
the first course or appetizer. Professionals in the food service industry refer to plated and served (or waiting) at a dining table as the “First Plate”. Your First Plate doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t matter what you serve…a simple fruit cocktail, a salad or a gourmet sliver of any seasonal inexpensive, but delicious, product culled from your Buffet menu or bought at your local super store. As long as it is artfully arranged and garnished to entertain your First Plate will set the stage for glamour. A First Plate must include its own utensil.
Napkin Rings
 The Napkin Ring offers yet another opportunity to show off your sense of style. It is another example of an over extravagant detail. You can make a Napkin Ring with a 6.5 inch length of any 2 inch-wide ribbon. layers of interesting details or not. You can spend very little or go all out
.
Fancy Butter
 Once guests come to my house for a dinner party, they
never think about Butter the same way again! If you were invited to my Thanksgiving Dinner for the first time, you would get “Butter duty.” At your disposal on my kitchen table would be a big aluminum pan, knives, molds, cookie cutters, an array of colorful ingredients for garnish, and of course, plenty of paper towels. The assignment: “Create something remarkable with the Butter.”
Wrapped Favors
 A thoughtful way to show your appreciation to guests, for the effort and expense they went through to attend your wedding, is to give them a gift. There are hundreds of websites with choices to suit every price range and theme. My interest here is in the presentation. The wrap needs to surprise, amaze and entertain. Coordinate the ribbons or “add on” details with your napkin rings, nut cup and place cards. Not matchie-match…but coordinated. Make sure your Place Setting design allows enough space for the wrapped favor.
Thank you tags
I made the wrong decision when I decided to leave out the Thank you tags on all the favors we photographed. I thought that the tag would be too visually confusing in the frame of the shot. . . but I made a mistake. Ms. Manners makes it clear this is an important and required detail that is NOT OPTIONAL and I should not have left it out no matter the reason. The tag gives you the opportunity to personalize your appreciation of each guest’s individual efforts to be there. Tied-on with a pretty ribbon, it can be hand written with a personal mention or professionally imprinted.
Place cards
Plain or embellished with an “add on” detail, place cards communicate your concern for guests’ comfort. It relieves them of the anxiety of having to choose where and with whom to sit. As with all your Amuses , place cards offer the opportunity to tie-in your personal interests as a couple. You can add onto a very plain store-bought place card or let your imagination run wild and use a themed item personalized with the names of your guests.
If you decide to use Place cards you will need to provide a table legend for each dining table to aid any professional help and/or Set-Up Producers. Always coordinate Place Card design with your Napkin Ring, Nut Cup, and Favor Wrap.
By the way, for anyone counting, most of the photos include the following Amuses: Napkin Rings, Fancy Butter, Nut Cups, Place Cards, Wrapped Favors, and Centerpiece. Not photographed, but equally important (and discussed in the workbook) are Themed Centerpieces for your Accessory Tables.
At this point in the book you have seen more than one hundreds photos. And you may be asking yourself “Just how am I supposed to get my tables set and produce all of these ‘Amuses’ by myself?”
The answer is to ask close friends and dear family for help producing your Extravaganza.
At first this advice meets with a lot of resistance from many of my Brides. They sometimes feel uncomfortable. To relieve their anxiety about asking for help, I always share how much I appreciate being asked to be a Producer. It is always my pleasure to help make anyone’s dream come true, but especially for my family and dear friends... and in recent years the dreams of their daughters too! You will find it easier than you think if you ask the right people.
So let me assure you that inviting close friends and dear family to be Producers, to help make your dreams come true, makes them feel like they are part of your closest and most intimate circle. It is a wonderful way to acknowledge the special relationship you share. In every instance where I have been asked to help, it was great fun. I am always honored to be asked.
Producers
These are the close friends and dear family who you enroll to help make your dreams come true. Producers make it possible for your wedding reception to have all of the hallmarks of a very expensive and elegant extravaganza, even if your budget is very limited. By being creative and organized you can make it fun and easy for your producers to feel good about making a special contribution to your life. Having Producers allows you to add your own distinctive flair to your wedding reception. There are two types of Producers: Those who help manufacture all of your various Amuses in the weeks and months leading up to your wedding (Pre-Production Producers) and those who make their contribution by helping to set-up the facility (Set-Up Producers).
Nut Cups
If you were a guest at a Victorian-era dinner party, it was often a long time between courses because they were brought up from the kitchen one at a time. To keep their guests happy, and from getting hungry, hostesses thoughtfully provided darling little dishes known as ‘nut cups’. These were filled with nuts, which were an exotic luxury at the time. As more modern meal service evolved, the nut cup disappeared from most tables.
In the 1950s, the nut cup reappeared at children’s parties as a little candy cup, colorful and pretty. In part, the resurgence of the nut cup was due to the new popularity of paper products being produced for the home table.
Once in vogue, the nut cup is now out of style…Except in my house (where all of the photographs you see were taken). If you were to come to my house for a dinner party, your place setting would include a nut cup. Within you would be delighted with not only great nuts, but seasonal candies, and always chocolate. My guests may not finish the main course, but the sinful contents of my nut cups always disappear.
Be sure to tie in your trim details with those of the of the nut cup, Napkin Ring, Favor Wrap etc.
 Escort Table
At an ordinary wedding reception guests are forced to wander around and find a place to sit. Having an escort table just outside the entrance to the dining room, to let guests know what table they are sitting at, is a very inexpensive and thoughtful way for you to make your wedding reception into an elegant extravaganza.
Buffet Table for Hors D’oeuvres
 In addition to, or instead of, wait staff walking around with trays of Hors D’oeuvres people often offer a selection of delicacies on a Buffet table. Remember this table requires an Amuse to elevate it from being just ordinary.
Bar Service During Hors D’oeuvres
As far as I am concerned, beverage service for guests who are waiting to be invited into the dining room is simply a matter of courtesy and is not optional. If your budget permits, you may offer a full selection of cocktails but that is hardly necessary. I have attended some elegant wedding receptions where budgetary concerns limited the drink selection to only water and lemonade. Nonetheless, I still appreciated the thought and consideration the Bride demonstrated by ensuring her guest were offered some kind of refreshment during the transition between ceremony and the formal reception.
Music During Hors D’oeuvres Service
Despite the best laid plans, the transition period (between your wedding ceremony and when guests can finally be formally invited into the dining room) may take longer than you would like. By arranging for some kind of background music during this transition period, you will be able to relax if things take a little longer than you had hoped. You do not need to spend your budget on live music for this part of your event. Taking the time to mix a CD with your favorite music to set the right ambiance is another example of a low-cost way to distinguish your wedding reception from the ordinary.
Food Service Buffet Tables for Dinner
If you have a professional caterer it is reasonable to ask them to take responsibility for dressing the Buffet Table, even if you are responsible for providing the supplies and decorations they will use. The food should be artfully displayed in the assumed order of consumption with each tray arranged in an interesting way and dressed with Garnish. To enhance and make a more professional presentation you can vary the heights of some of your trays by using boxes or cans arranged underneath the table cloth. A professional caterer should agree to keep the Buffet table neat and clean throughout the reception and restocked as budget allows.
Garnish For Foodservice
Any element added to embellish the presentation of food is considered “garnish”. Most people stop at just a sprig of parsley. However, with just a bit of creativity and hardly any extra money at all, you can use garnish to surprise, entertain and amuse your guests. Think outside the box and use seasonal herbs, vegetables, fruit cut in unexpected shapes. I refer you to the Fancy Butter and First Plate photos throughout the book for inspiration.
Helpers
In addition to the friends and dear family who volunteer to help you produce the wedding reception of your dreams, you will also need hired helpers for five specific areas of responsibility: Assembly and service of your bread & butter plates with garnish (in time before guests to arrive at their seats); Assembly and service of First Plate with garnish (in time before guests to arrive at their seats); Removal of First Plate after guests get up to go to the dinner Buffet; Keeping glasses filled at the tables (as budget permits); and Clean up, including clearing of Dinner Plates on pre-arranged signal before the cake ceremony.
Ideally, your caterer will provide these people or include the service in their fee. If not any teenage girls with integrity and clear instructions can handle the job for you. Figure on hiring at least two if you will have 50 guests or fewer, and an extra Helper for every additional fifty Guests. Look for girls who offer babysitting services in your neighborhood and plan a role-play training of their jobs ahead of time to avoid any misinterpretations of how they are expected to comport themselves and do their jobs. It is of utmost importance that you do a demonstration of the Fancy Butter assembly and a First Plate assembly for them, so be sure you are prepared and have what you need for this training.
I know that hiring two or more Helpers seems at first like a big added expense, especially if your budget is tight. Think about it this way…if you were to have an ordinary “straight” Buffet, you would need to hire staff to keep up with Guests who discard their cups, napkins and extra plates all over the place. However by having a Plated Buffet and adjusting your paradigm about the role of your Helpers, you can get so much more for your money and add an element of elegance to your Wedding Reception. All you need to do is to ask your Helpers to arrive a few hours early and follow the instructions we will discuss in Chapter 7.
Bar for Dinner
If budget allows, you may provide full bar service. However, if you pay attention to all the details that separate an Extravaganza from the ordinary and make arrangements for Helpers to attend to table beverage service, then formal bar service becomes less of a priority. This is also a place where you can easily save some money. In the event that you do elect to provide full bar service, please be sure to give explicit instructions that any form of “tip jar” is strictly prohibited.
Music and Dance Floor
In my experience even the most experienced wedding DJ’s often run out of extension cords and fresh spare batteries for the wireless microphones. The DJ should confirm locations and that there will be a sufficient amount of electricity for their equipment, rules about sound levels and hours of access to and from the facility well in advance of the event. Do not be shy about insisting that your DJ keep you in the loop as soon as he or she confirms all of these questions with the facility manager. Also, part of not Folding is to be very specific about exactly what bands and songs you expect to hear, as well as any types or specific songs you do not want played at your wedding reception.
Note: Many Brides are conflicted about how to treat the DJ/Master of Ceremonies. As a Guest or professional help? The answer is to treat the DJ/Master of Ceremonies politely but as professional hired help. That means you may instruct Helpers to provide non-alcoholic drinks, a piece of wedding cake, and perhaps even set aside a covered plate of food to be eaten after the DJ’s job is done.
Cake Table
Round or square- just make it pretty. And remember to make it big enough to comfortably hold the knife, server, napkins for Bride and Groom and a drink for the Bride and Groom to share.
Sweet Table
Providing a Sweet Table ranks low on my list of priorities if your budget is tight, but my job would not be complete if I failed to mention this option. Once upon a time, it was common for guests to bring desserts to a wedding as a gift. So, a special table would be set-out to receive these gifts. Today the tradition of guests bringing sweets to a wedding is not in vogue. Some Brides still choose to observe this tradition by providing an array of goodies for guests to choose from in addition to the wedding cake.
Powder Rooms
 The Powder Room is often overlooked by Busy Brides amongst all the more obvious details that demand their attention. But this is precisely the reason why the Powder Room offers such an easy opportunity to elevate an otherwise pedestrian detail of your wedding reception out of the doldrums of ordinary, and give it the mark of an elegant extravaganza. The Powder Room should include an Amuse placed either on the counter or on a small (Accessory) table. It can be just another version of your other Accessory Table Amuses or it can be an extravagantly coordinated Emergency Basket with such supplies as headache and upset stomach remedies, feminine products, mints, clear nail polish for panty hose disasters, sewing kits, etc.
Hint: When selecting the facility for your event, be sure to inspect the powder rooms for cleanliness, and decide if you want or need to plan for fancy soap and (imprinted or not) to kick them up a notch. Secure assurances from the facility manager that your guest will have clean bathrooms throughout the celebration, how often they will be inspected and by whom. In addition, the day of the event, I always ask my best friend to check the powder rooms a few times and report directly to the facility manger (sometimes me) any clean up necessities.
Centerpieces
 There are two main categories of centerpieces: Dining Table Centerpieces and Accessory Table Centerpieces. The purpose of both is not only to balance the table visually, but also to greet and entertain.
Dining Table Centerpieces are traditionally more formal that Accessory table centerpieces. They use mostly fresh flowers*, candles and sometimes fruit.
Dining Table Centerpieces are sometimes elevated, sometimes flat on the table, or anything inbetween. Design possibilities are unlimited using your imagination and creativity. Of course, your Dining Table Centerpieces should tell your color story and coordinate with the overall look and feel of your design for the reception.
Most Brides simply create miniature versions of their Dining Table Centerpieces to go on their chosen Accessory Tables. I like to encourage my Brides to use their imagination when it comes to their Accessory Table Centerpieces so as to reflect their personality and sense of humor. Consider using photos, personal mementoes and relevant themed items to make your accessory tables memorable. Unfortunately this book does not picture any of my Accessory Table designs. But as soon as I can, I will put some up on my web site with the coordinating centerpieces you see on these pages. Remember, an Extravaganza does not have to be expensive. The extravagance is in the unexpected details, thoughtfully planned to pamper, amaze and entertain.
You do not have to use a million expensive flowers or expensive containers. The vogue as of this writing is for dining table centerpieces to use all the same flowers and the same elements but different containers and different designs. Before giving your final instructions to your florist or Producers, go to your favorite bookstore and see what designs are being used for upscale weddings. Look at all the Bridal magazine and watch the various wedding “how to” shows. Get ideas and then go out and search the thrift stores, the dollar stores, the craft stores. Go to garage sales. Start collecting containers that have something in common or nothing in common but can be spray painted the same color. Dare to be different so as to amaze and entertain your guest with your creativity.
*All the flowers you see throughout the Divine Disposable book are artificial. They were bought here and there, on sale and out of season. It is an idea for you to consider.
Note: With a tighter budget than I had producing the Sumptuous Elegance centerpiece from Chapter 9, you can create a similar extravagant tenor by using tall plastic containers spray painted black, over-wrapped in black tulle, with little gold flowers glued to it. Just add a tall bouquet of simple peach Carnations and you’re done.
Accessory Tables
Tables guests sit and dine at are Dining Tables. Every other table at the reception, technically, falls under the category of an Accessory Table. Such tables include everything from the Buffet table to the table provided to display the Guest Book and any other detail you choose to include in your reception. Each accessory table offers the creative Bride an opportunity to dazzle her guests with a thoughtful and unexpected Amuse From years of experience organizing events and all the celebrations of life, I have developed a system to stay organized that I want to share with you now. If you will assemble all the elements for a given accessory table into its own individual box (or “kit”), with the name of the table and reference to its place on the floor-plan clearly marked, it makes set-up an easy task for the Producers or Professionals to get the tables dressed in minutes |
|
|
