Decorations, Caterer, and Other Stuff
So, our plans for decoration are pretty simple. Because we're utilizing the venue's stage for the ceremony, we're going to build that lit backdrop with PVC, sheers, and white lights. It should look something like this once it's done.
It'll be 10' wide and roughly 7' tall. My dad already has the piping, he just needs to get the joints.
We're also thinking about doing this to the cake table:
Haven't decided yet.
Our centerpieces will be something like this:
But with a pumpkin like this in the middle, not that glass bowl:
We also can't burn candles, so I'm going to order a few dozen flameless votive candles to place around the pumpkins. We're planning to just give the pumpkins away at the end of the reception, so that we don't have 15-20 pumpkins sitting around our apartment.
I also want to try and do something like this for the head table (or sweetheart table, if that's what we end up doing, since we haven't decided yet).
Unless we change our minds, these are the invitations we're going to go with:
We don't really feel like traditional wording is really us. But given the givens (both sets of parents are helping to pay for this whole thing), we might choose something else.
I also ordered my veil! I found one on Tradesy that I liked, and it was only $25, so I ordered it. It should be arriving tomorrow. I've got a lot of stuff bookmarked that I'm planning to buy, just the little things. We're probably going to make a card box instead of buying one, since that shouldn't be too difficult.
My mother has also decided that paying for a florist is "stupid", so we're just going to order flowers from BJ's (similar to Costco or Sam's Club) and build them ourselves. So... Yeah. That'll be fun. I'm not going to have time to make truffles for the favors if we're doing flowers instead, especially given that I have no idea how much time I'll be able to get off of work for the wedding.
We're also trying to decide if we want to get rental chairs from our caterer or not. Neither DF nor I are fond of the chairs our venue has, since they're just grey metal folding chairs, the uncomfortable kind. They have a package that we're considering that includes chair covers and sashes, but we could just swap that for the rental chairs (which are chiavari) for an additional $2.50 a person. We both think it's worth it, and would cover the extra charges, but I just know that my mom would have a fit about it. I mentioned it to her last night and she specifically said "No, absolutely not". So... We'll figure it out later.
DF and I are trying to decide between two packages that the caterer offers. The first one is very basic, which is the following:
› White Linen Tablecloths & Choice of Available Napkin Colors
› Skirting for Main Table Sign-in, Gift and Cake Tables
› 1 waiter per every 30 guests
› Crystal, Silver & China Service
› Catering Equipment
› Cake Cutting Service
› Two (2) Butler Pass Appetizers
› Choice of One (1) Regular Salad
› Choice of Two (2) Regular Entrées
› Choice of One (1) Side Selections
› Choice of One (1) Vegetable
› Fresh Baked Rolls & Butter
› Coffee and Sweet Tea Station
We confirmed that there's no fee for cake cutting with an outside cake, which is good, since my friend is making ours. The difference between that package and the one that we're considering is this:
› White Chair Covers (chair model permitting)
› House Champagne or Asti Spumante Toast
It also comes with three appetizers (and they gave us a voucher to add a fourth one, since I saw them at a bridal show), two salads, sides, and veg. We can swap out the champagne for sparkling grape juice, since we're having a dry wedding. As I mentioned above, they said that if we go with that package, we can exchange the chair covers and sashes for chiavari chairs for an extra $2.50 a person. They also said that their linen person might throw in some extra stuff for us, but we're not banking on that. We're likely going to go with the second one, since it has more of what we want. We talked about it last night and agreed that if we do, we'll pay the extra and just surprise the parents with it.
We did decide on a photographer, though, so we just have to put down the deposit. It's someone
@elphie101 had recommended to us previously. So that's in the works
So are we!
We're probably going to do purple lights with it 
