I would like to thank the academy...

OK maybe I don't have an academy to thank, but I did have some really great reception vendors that made our wedding day superb!
Emerald City Productions grade= A+
As you can see in my earlier post http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/09/26/rock-yo-hips/ our guests had a good time. The music was great all night! Emerald City is two brother business, we originally met with Dan to go over the type of reception we planned on having. He wasn't sure at the time if he or his brother Bryan would be doing our wedding. About two weeks before the wedding I got a nice call from Bryan introducing himself since he would for sure be doing the wedding. He assured me he would be there about and hour and a half prior to guests arriving. And he was! Both of the brothers were very nice and were always able to answer any questions or concerns I had. Since we knew that we were having a younger crowed it was important that our DJ had a laid back personality. Emerald city not only has a great DJ service they also have lighting. We chose to just have the music, since our venue already had great natural lighting. My favorite part about this service was they had an online request site for us. We had our own site and another one for our guests to request music. On our site we were able to review what guest had requested and I was able to add anything to the "Do not play" list.
http://emeraldcityproductions.net/

Reception: Mount Baker Club Grade A
Location, location, location. We chose this venue because it was in the location we needed and was the perfect size for the amount of guests we we having. The club is amazing well kept. The staff was helpful and very knowledgeable. They were able to give recommendations for rental places along with some pictures and typical floor plans. Since we are members of the community we received 50% off the tab! The only thing I really didn't love about the venue was the lack of accessibility on the day of. Since we were renting chairs and needed to set up tables and linens it would be nice if we had access a little sooner. We did pay extra to have access earlier but only two hours. I decided I didn't want to eat up my whole 50% savings on set up time. They also were very slow to cash our deposit check, it took them almost a month. That was annoying! But they made up for it when they sent back our cleaning deposit within a few weeks of the wedding. It held our 150 guest with no problem and we had a big dance floor. http://www.mountbaker.org/index.php

Catering- Seasoned in Seattle Grade= A+
The food was so yummy! We found them at the wedding show. Their prices were reasonable enough that I wanted to check them out. I liked them because they were local to the area that everything was being held at and of course the food was really good! They had a really great package that included all the buffet linens, plates and utensils. Some nice touches were, as we were entering the hall the lead waiter came to greet us. I thought that was very nice. We had a plate of our already passed hor`derves waiting for us at the head table also.



At the end of the night they even boxed up all of the left overs for us! We had at least three households that took some home and didn't have to cook for a few days!

Rock Yo Hips!

Once the ceremony was over it was time to party! Our church was only three blocks away from our reception hall so Mr Butterscotch and I were able to privately walk together to our reception. It was the best thing we did! We hadn't seen each other prior in the day so it was excited chit chat about what we had each been doing that morning.
Here we are walking into our reception. *check out the DIY banner I made!

One more kiss before we get introduced.

We walked in to Bonnie and Clyde by Jay Z and Beyonce. Funny story, Mr Butterscotch friend Steve said that we were like Bonnie and Clyde (I wont say why :)) but we both thought it was so funny we wanted to walk into that song.


So many people had flown in, we really wanted to make sure they all had a great time! My only request to my dj was no electric slide! Or any other dance that had our guest in a line flowing directions. Here are some of the silly highlights of our guest having fun!













When Lip Gloss by Little Mama came one my BM Kori ran and got 5 glosses for all of us girls to put on during the song, ha ha ha!

Whoa! By the end of the night I had really worked up a sweat! But it was worth it!
photos by Tor Clausen

I love sweets!

I love things that are sweet to the taste buds. So a good tasting cake was important to me, more so than the design of the cake. I hate cakes that are too dry or frosting that are too sweet, ugh, nothing is worse than a unappetizing cake. Luckily I was able to find a baker that not only made delicious cakes but also very pretty cakes. Despi Delite Bakery on Beacon hill in Seattle made our wedding cake a hit! I met with the baker Christian a few months prior to the wedding date. I showed him the design I wanted. http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/07/10/butterscotch-my-cake-version-10
Funny thing actually happened when I went in. As we were talking he asked what middle school I went to, turns out we went to school together same class and everything (small world). Anyways, Christian assured me he could come up with the cake of my dreams, he gave us some great suggestions. We had a layers of white and chocolate. Here is what our cake looked like. I wish you could have tasted it!

If I may toot my own horn for a moment, check out my DIY cake topper. I had a lot of love for that damn thing, and it turned out exactly how I wanted it.

These pictures are so funny, I didn't see the kids doing this until I got my proofs back...



Bad kids! :)

Let's get suited up!

Here are a few of the guys in their tuxes and my review of my vendor. They all looked great!




Mens Wearhouse-Tukwila
C- I know mistakes can occur but rudeness just isn't what I wanted to deal with. I worked in costumer service for years so bad customer service will totally kill an experience for me. At the wedding show in January I paid $10 to get $25 off all our tux rental at a free grooms tux with 5 rentals. We placed our tux orders a few months prior to our wedding date. All the men came in and were measured. The people at the store were totally nice and helpful during that visit. Then it came time for the tux pick up.
Mr Butterscotch and one of the groomsmen went in two days prior to get their suits just as requested. Well the groomsmen jacket was the wrong size. It was too small. So they asked that he come back in the store tomorrow at 5. Uh problem our rehearsal starting at 6 on the dot. But as long as it was for sure ready at 5 he would be able to get to the church in time. I called the store later that night to confirm the order would be ready at 5 that day or hopefully I could get it when I went in to get the ring bearer tux in the morning. I was totally nice. Here is how the conversation went:
Mrs Butterscotch-Hi, I am calling about a tux rental
Store-Oh, hold on I need to get someone that can help you
MB-Ok...On hold for 10 minutes
Store-Hello
MB-Hi I have a question about a tux
S-oh sorry hold on...a few more minutes pass
S-Hi how can I help you
MB-I have a question about a tux
S-What is your question (hooray finally, some help)
MB- I have a groomsmen who had a jacket in the wrong size yesterday and he was told to come in tomorrow and pick it up at 5. I wanted to confirm it would be ready at 5 or maybe a little sooner.
S-Our truck comes in normally around 5 so we will have to unload the truck and sort through it so it maybe a little after 5.
MB-Ok. Here is the situation, we are having our rehearsal tonight at 6 so is there a way you can have the tux jacket at the top of you "sorting list"
S-No. The jacket will be here when the truck gets in and we will get it for him as soon as we can. It is coming from another location
MB-Alright, can I go to that location and pick up the jacket? he will be in at 5 like he was told to be and hopefully it will be ready to go.
S-No.
MB-Uh...(waiting for an elaboration of why I cannot go to the other store)...
MB- Ok then, he will be in at 5 like he was told to be and hopefully it will be ready to go.
At this point I am a tad bit annoyed, mostly because the long hold and the semi tone from the sales lady. I still needed to go pick up the ring bearer tux so I figured I would double check on the 5pm arrival time.

I arrive at the store the next morning and no other customers were there.
MB-Hi I am here to pick up a tux and check the status of another one.
S-Ok go to our tux desk.
I go back to the tux desk two girls are sitting there chatting neither looks up to acknowledge I am there at first, and they do I got the look as if I was interrupting them.
MB-Hi I need to pick up the tux for my ring bearer.
She get his name and goes get the tux
MB-Ok great thanks, Now I have another tux for this groomsmen the jacket was the wrong size, I guess a truck comes in today with the new size. What time will it be here?
S-after 5
MB-(dratz!) Great thanks. Now if the ring bearer jacket doesn't fit what time do you open so we can get a replacement.
S-(totally rude)Uh well... he really needs to be here now, and if it doesn't fit then we need to know by 3.
MB-(uh ok I was just asking)The thing is he is in summer camp so he wasn't able to come with me to run around the day before the wedding. And I won't actually see him until tonight at the rehearsal.
S-Well then there is nothing we can do if the tux doesn't fit.
MB-Nothing, you don't have any extra sizes kept in case this happens?
S-No, it is all at our warehouse.
MB-Ok, thanks.
At that point she obviously didn't want to deal with answering simple questions, so I left with the tux completely annoyed. So here is by beef with the store, they were rude. Also the lack of not having spare sizes at the store for quick fixes on there mistakes seems inefficient. I totally understand mistakes happen and in the end everyone tux fit. But I would not advise this location due to the lack of good customer service from the staff. The tuxes were in great shape and the guys looked good in them. The cost per tux was $100 (with the $25 off). It was a little steep but I got the look that I wanted.

Morning sadness

As of yesterday the Butterscotch's have been married for one full month. I am loving all the extra moments we share together now. The only thing I am not loving is when I have to leave in the morning and he is still sound asleep. Most day we leave at the same time but his days off fall on days I have to work. So on those mornings it is so hard for me to leave. I just want to stay in bed all snuggled up and warm next to him. I get a pain in my heart when I leave. I finally fessed up to his about my morning sadness and he just kissed me on my forehead and said "I like it when you leave, I can stretch out" But then he laughed and gave me a kiss. Between us, I don't think he was joking!
Does anyone else have this problem?

Here comes the bride....

Our ceremony was perfect! And I am not just saying that because it was my wedding, it really did go very smoothly. At five o'clock and preceremony pictures are over. I had one more look at my self, dress, veil, earrings, necklace, bouquet all check, ok lets get this show on the road, I was ready to go.

Time to go and hide before guests arrive.

The outside of our church. We got married at Mount Baker Park Church and they are wonderful. The pastor met with us many time during the past year he was patient and never judgemental. He really made our premarital counseling all about what was best for us.


The stained glass windows really set the ambiance.

Guests start sitting down


Line up ladies


Our wonderful church coordinator begin to light candles

Are well all here...

I was wasn't picky at all and I kept the music really tradition. The moms and the girls all walked in on Ava Maria by Schubert

Tears of joy!

The doors are opening

Here we go! I walked down the aisle to Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin by Wagner




Yeah! We are getting married!


Everyone looks happy!


Whoa! That went by fast! Kiss, love you babe!

I am now a Mrs!


We hide away while everyone went outside. We had a few moments to ourselves to really enjoy what we just did.
The Church bells began to ring so it was time for our fabulous rice toss exit to the reception!



Up next its time to party!