Red hot bride - classybride3

Hey everyone, guess where I am right now? DISNEY WORLD! I am taking a break between exploring this glorious place and have got a little spare time before dinner so I thought I’d get my trusty laptop out and blog about this.

I am SO excited! The whole trip has been a super duper nice surprise from Shawn. He knew that as the wedding planning and preparations continued in full gear, my tempers began to fray at the edges and was constantly jumpy be it morning, noon or night.

Then yesterday after dinner, instead of driving us back home like he always did, he drove us to the airport. I was perplexed and in one of my “moods” as usual. I asked him where are we going, and if he is heading to the airport to pick up someone he knew, but he just kept quiet. After parking our car, he beckoned me to get out. Once we reached the airport terminals, he handed me my passport with a ticket to Florida! Shocked beyond words, I asked him why is he bringing us to Florida, and he told me to look under that ticket. Sure enough I did and found tickets to DISNEY WORLD!

OMG. I was like “Shawn, oh my God why are you doing this?” with tears in my eyes. He took my hands and guided me through the departure gates where our plane was already waiting. “Because I love you” was all he said. I cried all the way to the plane, lol.

When we were seated and I’ve had a glass of orange juice to calm myself down, Shawn told me that it was a stroke of luck that he has gotten the tickets from a company lucky draw. He added that even if he had to pay for the tickets, he’d still take me here because he knew that I was all stressed out as a result of the wedding preparations.

Sigh. Where would I be without him? =)

Phew, what a tiring day! Shawn and I were at a bridal expo and we spent the entire day looking at tons of possible choices pertaining to wedding favors, wedding invites, wedding venues and so many more that my little wedding planning notebook is crammed full with ideas! Will post my findings later but for now, I’d like to ask if some of you brides-to-be have considered ice sculptures for your wedding reception? Shawn and I were at this ice carving booth and brought back a comprehensive brochure detailing the things we need to consider before we order an ice sculpture.

For instance, what sort of ice carvings do we want to have at the wedding? The typical swan carving with their necks intertwined? Ugh, no way. No offense but I find it tacky. And not the bride dancing with groom sculpture either! I am however warming up to a simple ice framed portrait of Shawn and I. I spoke to Jen and she said that she knew a friend who ordered an ice carving of a slot machine at her wedding! She said that she met her spouse in a Las Vegas casino, right next to a slot machine! I think that’s lovely, choosing an ice carving that means something to the couple. Will have to think more about this issue and see what ideas we can come up with.

Meanwhile, to other brides who may want their very own ice sculptures, you can also consider customizing your own carving or even create one, DIY style. You may also want to order an additional ice punch bowl to hold the drinks and keep it icy cool. But don’t just stop there! You can use the ice bowl to contain your salads, seafood and cut fruits. Some ice sculpture companies also offer to freeze flowers or small fruit pieces inside the sculptures for added effect.

Besides that, another thing to be considered is the placement of your sculpture. Do you want to display it on the buffet able, guest book table or prepare a table on its own? No matter your choice of location, it is however important to select a place near an electrical outlet so that your ice sculpture can be given ample lighting to highlight it dramatically.

The possibilities are endless. Gonna go brainstorm with Shawn about our wedding ice carving.

Hi all! Still on the subject of food here, and Shawn agreed that the chocolate fountain was a great idea. He too did not really relish buying a large wedding cake that anyone can hardly remember and preferred to go with the chocolate fountain rental. Even though he’s not a chocoholic like me, he knew I loved it so much that he said we could buy the machine from the chocolate fountain providers if I wanted to! Oh, that darling!!

But then again, even though we are all for the chocolate fountain idea, we are still going to get a modest sized wedding cake for custom’s sake. Even if the bride and groom get first dibs at the chocolate fountain, the wedding cake will be displayed nearby to keep up with the wedding theme. A wedding without a cake looks odd, according to Shawn’s mom. Oh well!

In line with our sweet wedding theme (“Is there any food that’s not sweet going to be served?” asked an exasperated Jen), we are also contemplating ordering wedding cupcakes. When we were researching the prices of wedding cakes before making the decision to go with chocolate fountains instead, a bakery specializing in wedding themes beckoned me over to the counter and told me that as an alternative, we could have wedding cupcakes in tiers! Another insider tip she gave is that some private caterers will typically charge couples a cake cutting fee per guest! Oh my gosh, this is the first time I’ve heard of it! Call me ignorant but while I understand they have the right to charge any fee they want, just paying $2 per guest for serving them cake is outrageous! That’s $400 for 200 guests! *faints*

On the other hand, wedding cupcakes are more cost effective and are considered a novelty idea. They are cheaper (not more than $4 each, I reckon!), cuter, and easier to transport. And if Shawn and I like the cupcakes enough we could order more as wedding favors for guests to bring home!

The latest trend is to order monogrammed cupcakes, preferably of the fondant variety because the conventional creamy sort may be a bit too messy to handle.

Check out the cupcake stand below. Looks good! Contemporary and stylish.

And other yummy cupcakes photos. I’m getting to work at submitting our own custom wedding cupcakes design!