Quick Hits for June 13, 2009

Maple Syrup

I just like the idea of having gallons of maple syrup at a wedding. You know those ugly chocolate fountains? Fill them with syrup, have mini waffles on a stick and fruit to dip into the syrup. Oh man. If I did this, I’d probably start eating before the ceremony and miss the ceremony because I’d be eating all the waffles for my guests. I better get a tux with an elastic waistband.

Pop Up Wedding Chapels

A new trend in the wedding industry is to have small chapels popping up in public spaces. One in Brooklyn is sponsored by Martha Stewart. You get space for 20 guests, some cake, a minister, and the works for only $500. I like the idea. Rather than head off to Vegas, stay in NYC and at least get some cake. Have you noticed how no Vegas wedding seems to include cake? You never see pictures of cake or Elvis singing near a cake. There’s never a cake. That’s always bugged me.

12 tips for a frugal wedding

And most of the ideas evolve down to having your friends do stuff for you for free. That’s actually what most frugal wedding websites and ideas are about. You get your friends to take pictures for free. You get them to bake a cake. You get them to arrange your flowers. It’s all about using connections and hoping your friends are crafty. But what if you don’t have crafty friends? What if all your friends can only hook you up with new pop culture gossip? Then a lot of these ideas won’t work for you.

youbuymywedding

Jack and Jill parties have now hit the internet and it saves you the time and effort of actually throwing a party for your friends. I’ve never liked the idea of a Jack and Jill party (and it must be a regional thing because I never heard of it before I got to the North East) mostly because I’m against begging my guests for money to come to my wedding. But there are plenty of people who do it and if you need money, you need money. Sites like youbuymywedding exist to not really help anyone – they’re there to make a quick buck on weddings which are fairly recession proof right now. If you want a wedding you can’t afford, you should do the traditional thing which is charge it and hope your guests give you items you can return for cash. It’s the American way.