DOC da What?!

DOC. A Day of Coordinator. Someone whose job it is to step in and say, "I got this..." all day on your wedding. For someone like me who's constantly worried about logistics, a Day of Coordinator sounds amazing.

Now I've really enjoyed wedding planning, and I have a pretty good idea of what I am doing and how things are going (or at least it's fun to pretend to think so!). I don't know if I need a whole wedding planner, but getting some help on the day of the rehearsal and the wedding would be so helpful, and would take any pressure off of my mom and me during the wedding.

I want my family and friends to enjoy our wedding! I don't want to assign people vendors to keep on top of or give my mom a bunch of envelopes with tips to be responsible for handing out later. If vendors have questions, I don't want to hear about them on my wedding day unless it is a dagnabbit emergency. A DOC would be responsible for being that point of contact person on our wedding day, answering all our vendor's questions and helping to set up and take down my wedding vision.

My mom and I both felt strongly about having a DOC, so I set off to find one available on our big day. I call up the first DOC. She sounds amazing! Her services include a meeting to walk through the venue, time at our rehearsal and all set up and tear down on our big day! The cost? $2000.

I'm sorry I'm not sorry, but $2000 for roughly 15 hours of work, TOTAL? That's not going to be happening. Also, after my wedding, I'm quitting teaching and becoming a DOC. 

I called around to some other coordinators and their prices were all similar. $1700, $1800...not much of a difference between $2000! We haven't found a videographer yet, so I really worry about splashing out this money. On the other hand, a DOC feels almost like a necessity to be our detail person on the big day.

Here I am, stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I had a larger wedding party, maybe this wouldn't be as much of an issue (I could be delegating!) but since it may be a small bridal party, I really don't want all of this falling on my mom and me. 

I'm going to keep looking around, but what are your thoughts? DOC or save that $$$?

Why Can't Tastings Happen Everyday?!

We had our tasting with our caterer today and um...it was awesome. I'm almost regretting getting it done so early, but it was either get it done now-ish or wait until November or December, which is crazy time for me as a teacher. With the wedding in February, I'm trying to get as much done earlier rather than later, so today's tasting worked out just fine.

We drove out to Watsonville where our caterer's kitchen is located. We also invited Joel's mom and sister because I can't make a decision for the life of me and Joel wanted their opinions as well. It was so fun and we all walked away wishing we could do tastings all the time.

We started off by tasting some of the passed appetizers.

Beggar's Purse with Fontina and Pine Nuts

Polenta Triangle with Caramelized Onions, Walnut and Bleu

At the bridal expo, we met up with this caterer (recommended by our venue) and they had samples of these delicious chicken with cheese skewer things that were so delicious. We were sold on having them as one of our three passed appetizers. When we tasted the beggar's purse and polenta triangle, we enjoyed both of them but thought they were pretty similar in taste profile, but the beggar's purse was easier to eat and a little bit more delicious. We wanted a lighter, less cheesy appetizer to be passed and our coordinator suggested the ceviche shooter. I wasn't convinced, but she brought out a couple for us to try and we were sold. 

Ceviche Shooter with a mini fork! How could we not?

The shooter has tilapia and shrimp and it is so light and cute-looking, too! Plus, as Joel's sister pointed out, we are getting married at the beach, so some seafood would be appropriate. 

Then we moved on to our vegetarian entree, butternut squash ravioli in a sage butter sauce. 

Yessssss...pasta...

Perfectly sweet, savory, tender and light. I think anyone looking for a veggie entree will be very happy. Did I mention we're also having grilled veggies and garlic mashed potatoes? Yes, I think we'll be all set for vegetarian guests! Next up, meats:

Tri Tip

 Tri Tip Sauces: Mushroom Port, BBQ, Peppercorn, and Au Jus

Salmon with Orange Glaze

The tri tip was delicious! Perfectly cooked and seasoned. We're serving it with the peppercorn sauce and horseradish. The salmon got mixed reviews: Joel's mom and sister liked it, especially the sauce, while Joel and I weren't sold on it. To us, it tasted a little fishy (yes, we know it's fish). We wanted a fish entree because of Joel's Kosher grandma, so we're trying to figure out what to do. Keep the salmon, and add a different sauce? Switch to halibut or sea bass? We'll see. The nice thing about our caterer is we can make changes to the menu up to two weeks before the wedding (maybe that's industry standard but... I don't know!)

So here's the final menu as it stands right now:

Appetizers:

• Stationary Cheese and Fruit Display
• Chicken with Fontina and Lemon Beurre Blanc Sauce on a Skewer
• Beggar's Purse
• Ceviche Shooter

Salad:

• Plated Caesar

Buffet:

• Grilled Tri Tip with Peppercorn Sauce
• Salmon with Orange Glaze
• Butternut Squash Ravioli in Sage Butter Sauce
• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Mixed Grilled Veggies

There's still a few things to decide. What type of plates to use (smaller stylish square or less attractive larger round), bread on the buffet or at the table (a $0.50 difference per person), linen colors, chair covers or Chivari (yeah, I might go there). 

But overall we are all pretty pleased as punch with our food choices. I know it may seem like a pretty standard 'wedding buffet', but to be honest, we like that. I don't think our guests want us to splash $100 on each plate of food (and we couldn't afford it if we wanted to!). We just want some tasty, simple food that will fill every one up, make them feel like they had a nice dinner, and not hold them back from hitting the dance floor. Hopefully our menu will help us achieve our goal!

Did you have a tasting for your wedding food? How did it go?!

I Love You, (Wo)Man

In the movie 'I Love You, Man', remember how sweet it was to see the Rashida Jones character being walked up the aisle by her best friends?

how sweet.

c/o Ace Showbiz

Yeah... I'm going to be more like the Paul Rudd character in that movie: totes friend-less.

c/o All Posters

After my third grade year, I moved two hours away from my school and started fourth grade in a new place. I had two year to make connections before I upped and moved to a new middle school, where none of my new friends were attending. I made close friends in middle and high school, but then I moved far, far away for college, and never kept super close ties with anyone.

When will my Shrek come along? I'll make them waffles...

I've kind of been friendless for the past 8 years I lived here. I'm not unhappy not having close friends (that's what JOEL is for! And the internet!!) and I definitely have people I count as 'friends', but I'm not close enough to anyone to ask someone to by my bridesmaid. It's a pickle that I've been thinking a lot about.

So what's a girl to do? Joel has guy friends that he's been close with since elementary school and he wants them to stand up beside him on his big day. I can't stop him from having groomsmen! But it's going to look pretty lopsided when the bride has got...no one. I have some girls in mind that I may ask, but I know that a lot of the big bridesmaid/bride traditions won't be the same. For example:

Pros of not having any bridesmaids/Only having a few:

• Not having to please a huge group of girls with an outfit choice 
• Saving beau coup $$$
• Less drama 

I'm okay with that and having a lopsided wedding party. The only person I care about standing up with me is Joel, and he's going to be by my side all day, and of course, for the rest of my life : )

Was picking a wedding party an easy choice? Did you have to pay someone to stand up for you? Or are you keeping it simple with no wedding party?