Quote :

"Is Boyz II Men's "Mama" too cheesy? "

I think so. Although my short google search turned up mostly, what I would consider, cheesy stuff. I'd actually love to do Tupac's Dear Mama...but I don't want anyone thinking my mom use to be a crack fiend.

Also...^ that is awesome. Did you just make her a zombie??

8/8/2013 1:59:12 PM

Our DJ sent us a worksheet thing with suggestions for all the standard inclusions. For mother-son dance they have:
“My wish” Rascal Flats
“Sunshine of my life” Stevie Wonder
“A mother’s song” T Carter Music
“Simple Man” Lynyrd Skynrd
"The perfect fan” Backstreet Boys
“I hope you dance” Leanne Womack
“All to you” DJ Keo
“Have I told you lately” Rod Stewart
“Through the years” Kenny Rogers
“Hero” Mariah Carey
“In my life” Beatles

I am not sure if we are going to do the parent-child dances. I never really wanted to, but the decision has become a little more complex than I expected.

8/8/2013 2:03:53 PM

I was thinking "Dear Mama" but had reservations for that exact reason. I'll keep thinking. A google search for "non-cheesy mother son wedding songs" turned up a few decent suggestions.

Also since no one sees the last post:

Quote :

"On an unrelated note: Wedding photos have arrived! http://www.carolynscottphotography.com/2013/08/08/raleigh-offbeat-wedding/"

8/8/2013 2:04:39 PM

“In my life” Beatles


only if the son is a major mama's boy

8/8/2013 2:07:38 PM

I think another thing to add is that our band is an all black funk band (they're awesome). I've heard them before and I know they're going to crush the first dance John Legend song...but I don't know if they can pull off the Beatles. Then again, I'm probably not giving them enough credit because they are mainly a wedding band...so they should be able to do it all.

^ Just listened to that...and although I like it...sounds like its about a guy with an Oedipus complex.

[Edited on August 8, 2013 at 2:23 PM. Reason : .]

8/8/2013 2:23:11 PM

Mine and his mom danced to James Taylor "Secret of Life"
suuuuuuuper slow though.

8/10/2013 2:09:20 PM

Is there a good online resource to determine wedding cost benchmarks? Google shows http://www.costofwedding.com at the top of the list. Just wondering if it's reputable and valid.

9/3/2013 10:51:53 PM

one suggestion: forever young, version by audra mae and the forest rangers

[Edited on September 3, 2013 at 10:55 PM. Reason : mother-son song]

9/3/2013 10:55:13 PM

We're asking the band to learn "I'll Be There" by the Jackson 5. If its too late to learn another song, then we're going to do "Sunshine of my Life". Im okay with either.

9/4/2013 12:39:46 AM

I did "In My Life" because my mother is a huge Beatles fan (and it's one of my favorite of their songs). Yeah, it was written as a love song and you can get something improper out of that if you want to, but if you look at it the right way it's got a nice sentiment.

If any of the guests get the wrong idea...too bad. No one should be reading that much into it, IMO.

9/4/2013 10:14:12 AM

That's what's up.

9/7/2013 12:07:05 AM

didn't read any of this thread, and I think there are pretty good odds that I'll never get married, so whatever, but...

this new-normal of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a wedding is just about the dumbest fucking thing imaginable.

9/7/2013 1:16:46 AM

I don't think it's that "new". And it's probably getting less normal with the economy. With that being said...we're having one of those weddings. Not my preference, but the in laws have the cash and want to do it big time. It's not my place to tell them what to do with their money...and even though its not the type of wedding I would have picked, it will be a blast.

[Edited on September 7, 2013 at 2:37 AM. Reason : .]

9/7/2013 2:36:16 AM

We did it under 7500 and with no debt at the end...


...and then 3 months later I ended up needing surgery that cost us around 5k.

But I'm still super proud of our budgeting, and our wedding was just as legal as a 30k one, and we had so much fun and all my guests claimed to have had a super fun time. That tends to happen when you offer an open bar and car service to the local hotel, though.

9/7/2013 5:30:57 AM

Courthouse is cheap.

9/7/2013 4:33:02 PM

Having a convenient location can be key to your guests letting go of their worries and having a great time. Our bridal party stayed at the Inn where we had the reception and probably 75% of the guests stayed at one of two hotels that were within one block of the venue. The less folks that have to drive, the better.

9/7/2013 7:58:51 PM

Getting down to it. Waiting for my wedding band to come in and have one more meeting with the pastor/preacher/whatever guy...and then thats it.

I feel sorry for my best man...he was suppose to get his braces off before the wedding (he's 30 and never had braces...but developed a serious overbite over the years)...but just got back from the ortho and said it would be an extra month. He's kinda pissed.

I'm just ready to get the fuck out of here and go on my honeymoon. I need a damn vacation.

9/10/2013 11:09:36 AM

Bachelorette party ideas for a super difficult group?

Maid of honor is pregnant and a couple bridesmaids are Muslim so no drinking, vineyard tours, BYOB painting, yoga, horseback riding, etc.

All I can come up with is getting nails done (not sure if pregnant one would want to be in a nail salon), minigolf, or a jewelry making class. We'll need wraps for the wedding (outdoor in October) so maybe making those? I can sew and the ones that can't could help cut things out (it's a super easy design made out of a knit similar to the dresses). A couple non-bridesmaids might be invited (sister and mother in law), but they could buy some fabric if they want to make one too. I can't come up with anything better for a group like that.

9/16/2013 4:44:00 PM

Tea party and spa day sounds good to me.

9/16/2013 5:10:50 PM

Ditto that a tea party would be good. I also went to one that was a recipe party. Everyone brought a family/favorite recipe and some of the ingredients/cooking equipment needed to make it. That's more of a shower than a bachelorette party, but if you combine it with some games like cooking contests or the like it would be fun.

We still have a ton of little things to do. Finding my jewelry, choosing a few songs, buying parents' gifts, things like that. Oh, and we could be moving back to NC like 3 weeks before the wedding. So that will be fun.

[Edited on September 16, 2013 at 5:39 PM. Reason : .]

9/16/2013 5:37:57 PM

I had fun at Elise's wedding! We are going to try to keep it under 10k, but I am sure we will end up in the end pushing that over. Maybe one day we will finally set an actual date

9/17/2013 9:47:14 AM

Not until after March! I want to drink.

9/17/2013 11:15:43 AM

April would be the very earliest so you win!

9/17/2013 11:17:06 AM

Ok, I think the tea party is really the only option. I forget about them because I can't eat cake, but it's just as well since it'll probably be on a Sunday when I'm working.

9/17/2013 11:44:30 AM

We didn't have cake at my tea party bridal shower. Sammiches and scones. We went to the Old English Tea Room in Wake Forest.

9/17/2013 12:36:19 PM

Are there any good Sunday brunch places in Raleigh that would be feasible for a casual day-after brunch? We aren't going to do a formal, hosted brunch, but we'd like to get to see people from out of town again and whatnot.

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 6:22 PM. Reason : so potentially decent sized group without a reservation ]

9/25/2013 6:21:50 PM

I remember Irregardless handled a group of 15 of us after a 5k one Sunday without a reservation

9/25/2013 6:31:16 PM

^^Boylan Bridge Brewpub?

9/26/2013 7:09:31 PM

We don't want anyone driving drunk, and we're also going out after the wedding and need to shuttle people from the venue to the bar, so we are looking to get a van of some kind to do that. I think getting a chauffered van from a limo company would be $$$, so I'm leaning toward renting a passenger van and hiring a friend to DD it. But I am not sure on some of the logistics of that.

I would like to have it available to anyone who would like a ride to the bars/their hotel rather than just the wedding party. Should I make little cards that have the driver's number on it to give to people near the end of the reception? I think it might be best to have a general loop in mind for the driver, but it seems like the people would need to be able to contact the driver to let them know they're with the wedding group. Maybe I am missing something that would simplify this.

9/27/2013 3:52:10 PM

Just give the driver and guests and schedule. Give him set loop to run and certain times to be at each location.

9/27/2013 5:37:27 PM

I thought about that, but that seems like the type of plan that is bound to not be followed 100% and could cause a clusterfuck.

9/27/2013 5:48:30 PM

Not if you get a good driver.

9/27/2013 5:55:58 PM

Not that I expected them or wanted them to come, but my mom's sister's family who lives the closest to the wedding location declined to come. They live in Roanoke Rapids and have a 45 minute drive tops. Again, I don't really care, but in some way that seems shitty to me.

10/9/2013 11:37:47 AM

yeah, that's a bit ridiculous.

Just party on without them!

10/9/2013 11:58:06 AM

I've got a couple cousins that aren't coming who are wealthy and only live a couple hours away while the fiancee's relatives are buying expensive flights from the Northeast to attend.

Oh well...less people I have to talk to during the wedding = more time to drink and dance!

10/9/2013 12:32:48 PM

I'm getting married on the 19th and at this point I'm just hoping we can get our last stuff paid for before the bank runs start.

10/9/2013 3:42:23 PM

^ well at least you planned for State's bye week

10/9/2013 7:05:28 PM

Still have to get some groomsmen's gifts and have no idea what to get. Trying to avoid traditional, but I guess I can get some cool flasks at the last minute if I can't figure anything out.

10/10/2013 11:29:28 AM

^ Why get them flasks when you could buy them something to fill a flask with? I think a bottle of something would be appreciated as a gift. But it depends on the guy.

10/10/2013 11:46:54 AM

^ Eh...they all have different tastes. One is a wine guy, one is liquor, and the other is beer.

I'm giving each a small camping/tailgating type cooler and filling it with bar stuff (personalized bottle openers/flasks/shakers/pint glasses). I think they'll like it.


Tonight we're going through our band's songs and making a "do not play" list and a "please play" list. They have so many fucking songs!!

10/10/2013 7:08:02 PM

I am glad we had all the important stuff done a while ago because trying to do things while we are in different states and homeless mid-move is not very fun. I still have little things like getting programs printed, buying liquor and deciding what I'm going to toss. And everyone and their mothers is texting me all the time with pics of shoes and cardigans and accessories to ask my opinion. I'll be happy when our abc permit comes through but everything else pretty much will get done if and when we have time.

10/10/2013 9:49:21 PM

I ended up getting my groomsmen a combination of gifts.

A nice bottle of liquor (10 year rum, scotch, and whiskey, and bourbon)
a multi-tool
A cheap Batman flask
a pair of cheap shades that we ended up wearing in some of our photos
and a heartfelt card detailing what their friendships meant to me

Part of the reason was that the wife decided to have earrings made for her bridal party, so we decided to spend a comparable amount on the guys. It went over really well. Oddly enough, the cards were almost as popular as the liquor.

[Edited on October 11, 2013 at 7:47 AM. Reason : mens]

10/11/2013 7:47:06 AM

Ahhh...the little stuff is starting to get annoying.

- "Is Mrs. Hodgson's first name Tracy or Tracie?"
- "I don't know...isn't it on my mom's list?"
- "No...she left off 8 names for the seating chart and we have them under 'Mr. and Mrs. John Hodgson"
- "Ahh...I'm going to guess Tracy"
- "Now is not the time to guess! These are the seating cards...we need them now "
- "It's 10 pm...I'm guessing my mom is asleep, but I'll text her."

Turns out it was "Tracey"


Getting down to the nitty gritty and little shit like this keeps popping up. Doesn't help that Aunt Flow is in town this week. Fuck...where is the fast forward button!!!

10/17/2013 10:22:12 AM

Do y'all have a bunch of people who are still like, "I really want to come but [some BS reason.] So just put me as a yes and hopefully I can be there."

Because something like 10% of our list is like that. Annoying. (LunaK, this isn't directed at you because your reason is legit.)

[Edited on October 17, 2013 at 2:19 PM. Reason : we finally got our engagement pics! ]

10/17/2013 2:15:35 PM

I'm fairly certain our list is 100% solid. If we had that problem, I can't even imagine how that would multiply the already minuscule (to me at least) issues we are having.

10/17/2013 2:21:21 PM

I'm waiting to do the seating cards last minute for that reason. Anyone who is still a maybe is going to get one I guess. I'm sure a lot of them won't go.

I gave my best guess number to the caterer, but it's making table assignments a pain in the ass. I guess I should have Aaron do it since he's the one who wanted to do table assignments in the first place.

The lady making our cake topper is also cutting it down to the wire. We should probably figure out a backup plan.

[Edited on October 17, 2013 at 2:33 PM. Reason : .]

10/17/2013 2:28:31 PM

Should not have agreed to be in a wedding when I work weekends. Can't wait for this BS to be over with.

10/17/2013 3:43:31 PM

What are the traditions on who gives speeches and when are they given??

Right now I have my groomsmen giving speeches at the rehearsal dinner with my best man saving his for the reception. I think my dad is going to give one at the rehearsal dinner with her dad also gives a toast at the reception. I think the bridesmaids are all going at the rehearsal dinner, but I'm not 100%.

Fiancee asked me if I was going to give one at the Reception and I said, "If I have the choice, I'm going to say no." Now my mom just mentioned me giving one at the rehearsal dinner. Is that common?? I'm not really anti-speeches...its just something I'd like to not have to worry about this week. Shit's starting to get hectic and I don't want to think about giving a speech.

10/22/2013 11:22:52 AM

not unusual for reception speeches to be (no particular order):
* maid of honor
* best man
* groom's father
* bride's father

i'm sure that completely varies case by case... some people just aren't comfortable speaking (and some.. well, they shouldn't, especially if they're a little sauced)

fwiw, with the rehearsal we both spoke while giving out small wedding party gifts... doing that at the same time gives you something to actually talk about and kills some of the awkwardness

[Edited on October 22, 2013 at 12:34 PM. Reason : ]

10/22/2013 12:32:43 PM

We weren't going to drink this week till the rehearsal.

LOL at that idea.

10/22/2013 5:03:25 PM