Just the Two of Us & Other Table Talk

It's dorky, and even a tad snobby. Since mister and I fancy ourselves foodies, when we're dining out, we usually order two dishes we'd both like to try. Our meals arrive, and we taste our own first -- but quickly load a fork with a bite for each other to sample. We often end up passing our bread plates back and forth, filling and refilling them -- or we just swap entree dishes halfway through the meal. And if we're really enjoying the cuisine, we'll trade notes and attempt to guess any secret ingredients.

We never really even discussed the possibility of not having a sweetheart table. Mr. Bruschetta and I will attend most (hopefully all!) of our cocktail hour, and during this time, we'll make the rounds and greet our guests -- so we can spend our first married meal savoring each other's company, and the delicious dishes!

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What about everyone else? Well, way back at the start of our planning, we found the F.U.E.L. House. And we realized we could go a bit crazy with the other tables! Since second floor (where we'll serve dinner) overlooks the entry and dance floor below, we opted to rent a variety of shapes, so everyone will encircle the wraparound balcony. (Floor plan courtesy of the F.U.E.L. House.)



We're mixing it up, combining 60" rounds with two banquet tables, each seating 12 people -- long-ish, but still small enough to maintain and intimate feel. Two family tables will sit closest to our sweetheart table; the banquet tables will run along the left and right sides of the space surrounding the atrium; and the remaining rounds will complete the circle. Each of these three "groups" of tables will have its own distinct centerpiece -- floral arrangements following along with our quaternary color scheme. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

Do you prefer circular or long tables at a wedding reception? Which did (or will) you use?

Gobo Oh No!

As soon as you walk into the F.U.E.L. House, you're standing on our dance floor. It's gorgeous, but it's also very monochromatic. White marble floor. White walls. White ceiling. Perfect, really, for a bride who wants to blend in very easily with her surroundings.

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We knew lighting would be essential, and discussed our options with the special events production company that's affiliated with our DJ. It was nearly one year ago when the lighting pro agreed to meet us at our reception location, and together, we planned out the design.

During our sit-down dinner (which will be upstairs, with views of the dance floor from the wrap-around balcony), we discussed a pretty simple look -- orange uplighting around the second floor -- since the sun will still be setting.

After the meal concludes, we'll encourage our guests to join us downstairs. Parent dances will come next, and immediately following both of these, we'll open the dance floor -- and flip the switch on the other lighting effects, which will include downstairs uplighting and floor and ceiling washes. For the washes, we were hoping for an abstract or random pattern, not a monogram or "solid" color. Our lighting pro assured us this would all work out and look great. He'd achieve the gobo by making a pattern appear "fuzzy" or "blurry," and agreed that purple would be perfect for the effects we'd be adding later in the evening.

Recently, though, Mr. Bruschetta met up with our lighting pro at the F.U.E.L. House to pick the particular gels, and learned that our plan might have to change. The lighting pro expressed hesitancy at following through on the purple "party" lights, and suggested orange instead. He mentioned that orange is far more flattering for skin tones, and that if we used purple, my dress would appear violet-hued in all the pictures taken on or near the dance floor.

Um...what?! Why hadn't he mentioned this earlier? And is it even true? I'd had my heart set on purple lighting downstairs. But I definitely don't want to end up looking like this...

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...or this...

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...in our wedding photos!

The mister and I discussed a backup plan -- purple uplighting on the second floor with a purple ceiling wash, and an orange floor wash with orange uplighting on the first floor -- but I'm just not as jazzed about it.

So I'm turning to you, hive, for help. Is there a way to have purple lighting without my dress appearing this same color in photos? Feel free to share links to pictures you think might help sway me one way or the other!

That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

It was sugar bliss. The epitome of sweetness. Dessert heaven.

A bountiful cookie buffet, giving a nod to my Italian heritage -- and supplementing the traditional wedding cake Mr. Bruschetta and I had recently embraced. I imagined servers busing ice cold milk, our guests indulging in light, layered cake and dense, freshly-baked cookies.

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And then reality set in.

We've recently passed the two-month mark, and with a sizable to-do list still to finish -- and a quickly dwindling budget -- the mister and I have acknowledged the need to prioritize. Incomplete (but necessary!) crafting projects like our ceremony programs and wedding favors get to stay. But a fleet of cookies -- each batch requiring a cake plate or glass vessel on/in which to be displayed -- when we'll already have enough cake to serve each guest and then some? Not so much.

Am I a little bummed? You bet. I would have loved to bake up a storm to add to the several dozen cookies we ordered -- and will be canceling -- from the bakery handling our wedding cake.

But am I also breathing a little easier? Uh-huh. Crossing this project off our list was tough, but I know it's for the best. Trust me, no one will be going hungry at the Bruschetta wedding. And virtually no one -- except for me and the mister (and, um, the entire Weddingbee community) -- will know that anything's missing during the dessert portion of our reception. In the grand scheme, it doesn't matter that we won't be serving cookies at our reception; really, it's a moo point.

Will you (or did you) eliminate projects in the months leading up to your wedding to reduce stress?

A Blank Canvas

The F.U.E.L. House is a gem of a space, with an impressive facade.


And yet, for all the times Mr. Bruschetta and I have strolled through Old City, we didn't even notice it until we started looking for a reception location!

Step inside, though, and you'll quickly realize why we fell so hard for this gallery-cum-venue. Immediately, you notice the neutral color palette -- and the gorgeous crystal chandelier.


The white marble Grand Hall (set up in these shots for an exhibit -- the furniture won't be there for our reception) is where we'll dance the night away.


We'll share photo slideshows with our guests on this flatscreen television. (The space behind it houses the tiny kitchen in which Laurent will cook up our amazing wedding feast. Also pictured is one of the F.U.E.L. House's "rolling walls" -- more on them later!)


We'll either set up the bar right here on the marble dance floor or further back on the hardwood portion of the first floor.


These steps, which will be covered and inaccessible during the reception, lead down to the space that once served as the vault of The Girard Corn Exchange Bank. And the black and beige box is an old-fashioned (but still working!) elevator for providing access to the second floor.


The back portion of the first floor will, in the event of good weather, simply be a place for guests to relax. Should bad weather push our Betsy Ross House courtyard cocktail hour indoors, guests will mix and mingle here before going upstairs for dinner.


The open door leads into a space that will be reserved for the bridal party.


Main access to the second floor is a (somewhat narrow) staircase -- but what a unique place it will be for pictures!




Okay, the upstairs. We'll have our seated dinner up here -- but guests will still have a view of the downstairs!


Along the back wall (see that open door?) is the unique bathroom about which I already posted.


And our DJ will set up in this alcove on the first floor (here you can see two more of the rolling walls), next to the staircase.


We're planning on adding splashes of color throughout the F.U.E.L. House (more details coming about this!) -- our art gallery reception venue that's the fusion of traditional and contemporary.

Is your reception venue classic or modern?

Coolest Bathroom Ever

Like, seriously. Ever.

We'll be using this bathroom -- which is located on the second floor of the F.U.E.L. House -- as the women's room. Two single bathrooms downstairs will be for our male guests, and bridal party members will have access to a small sitting area and restroom, also on the first floor.

(I plan on making signs for the doors of each area, so our guests aren't confused! And yes, I realize the first interior look I'm giving you of our reception site is a bathroom -- but I just think it looks so amazing!)

I've read up on bathroom baskets, but my issue isn't what to include...it's what presentation to use! I figure all three (four?) should look similar, and want to take the design inspiration from the amazing upstairs lav.

My favorite find from Crate and Barrel is actually a fruit basket!

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I keep looking at the vibrantly colored boxes on The Container Store's website -- but want to make sure I pick something I could reuse after the wedding, like these clear organization trays.

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Are you searching for unique containers for your bathroom baskets? And, where else do you suggest I search to find the perfect complement for this super-chic bathroom?

A Tale of Two Cities: Part II

A Tale of Two Cities: Part I

Following our engagement, and a one month moratorium on wedding planning -- because December is crazy enough, and goes way too quickly to not enjoy it! -- Mr. Bruschetta and I began the search for our reception location.

Aided by Google (and the uber-useful Philly area event planning site PartySpace.com), we built a list of potential spots, and started to schedule visits. Dividing the work in half made the most sense, and helped each of us try to advance our own agendas. Yup, that's right. One of our first major wedding decisions, and already the mister and I were at odds.

He favored the city: we frequent Philly, and so naturally, Mr. Bruschetta pictured us partying with family and friends into the late summer night in some hip, urban spot.

I, on the other hand, had my heart set on a Main Line reception: tucked away among the rolling hills of an estate in the suburbs, the newlyweds and their guests savoring an elegant evening celebration echoing the day's stately church ceremony.

Prior to our first walk-through, we agreed on a few attributes of our ideal reception location:

• It should allow for movement throughout the evening: cocktail hour in one location, dinner in another and dancing in a third area.
  
• It must allow all our guests to dine together. (No surprise here, since food is *rather important* to us.


• We both had to love the spot. (Yes, we realized early on that one of our "visions" would have to win out in the end.)

I'm sure other fall- and winter-engaged brides will sympathize: working with minimal daylight made visiting reception sites a challenge! Without the option of swinging by a venue after work (since it was too dark by that time to see most of them!), our weekends became jam-packed running around to lok at reception locations.

Mr. Bruschetta arranged for a Philly site visit a full week before we would be able to head out to the Main Line. I recall moaning and complaining about how I totally wasn't interested in a city reception. But, after work one night in January, we met up and ventured into our favorite part of Philly -- Old City.

We parked, and walked to a destination unbeknown to me. At the corner of Third and Arch Streets, we stopped.

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(Um, ignore the random wedding party members. They weren't there with us.)

Historic. Dramatic. Grand. On the outside, this venue was all of these. But my jaw dropped when we stepped inside. (Excellent material for a future post, don'tcha think?)

The F.U.E.L. House -- an acronym standing for "fostering undergraduate exposure on location" -- once a bank that has since been converted into an art gallery, is the fusion of classic and contemporary, traditional and modern. It can easily accomodate a seated dinner in a beautiful upstairs space, saving the foyer and downstairs for the latter portion of the reception. And cocktail hour? Why not enjoy a perfect summer's evening in the adjacent Betsy Ross House courtyard? (And what a cute way to give a nod to the day our relationship began!)

It truly seemed too good to be true. And, indeed, for some time, I believed it was. I fixated on the shortcomings of the F.U.E.L. House. As an art gallery, it possesses nary a table or chair for our event, meaning we'd have to bring in everything from pieces of furniture to forks for dessert. It also comes with a preferred caterers list, severely limiting the list of professionals with whom we could work.

And so we left the F.U.E.L. House that evening, content with what we saw, but convinced we could find similar elsewhere. We came, we saw, and we continued to seek for far too long, visiting too many locations looking for the one that would surpass F.U.E.L. in our minds.

During our exhaustive tours of the Main Line and Philadelphia that consumed the next month, I began to worry the F.U.E.L. House would be snapped up by someone else. The nagging fear of losing out on the perfect location prompted us to complete the paperwork, reserving a piece of Philadelphia history for our wedding day.

Is your reception venue a departure from the one you always imagined?