[Banana] Split Decision: Kids' Condundrom

I've been questioning the idea of having an adult only reception for a while now. I've asked several family members and friends what their opinions were on an adult only reception was, and the end result: split completely down the middle.

Since I can remember, I've envisioned my younger cousins being a part of my wedding day. I've asked them to be in the wedding as Junior Bridesmaids and Ring Bearer/Page. I truly feel in my heart, because I'm asking them to be in the wedding, they should also have the opportunity to attend the reception afterwards. They will likely be the only children there, as the majority of the people coming are either older and/or do not yet have children. But thankfully, they have each other. I just really want the experience to be enjoyable for their parents as well, as neither really get to have date nights or time to themselves.

Because I actually didn't attend my first wedding until I was in my 20s, I wasn't quite sure how the kiddos would feel attending an all-adult "party". I definitely don't want them to be bored. They also don't see each other that often, so they get SUPER excited when they are together, and feed off of each other's energy :) Which can make for a fun situation, but also one that can be tough to curtail midway through. So, I came up with some ideas that I thought might help.

I decided that at their table, I would have 3 buckets with their names on them. Inside the buckets there would be a few goodies to keep them entertained for a portion of the evening (I'm being realistic here--I KNOW this won't keep them entertained long, ha). These items included:

1. Stickers and Washi Tape

2. Markers/colored pencils

3. An intricate coloring book (because they are 10 and 7)

4. An [old] iPhone (yes, I know what you're thinking)

5. A photo scavenger hunt

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

Above is a photo of some of the items that I included. I found all of them at target in the Dollar Spot section. It was a pretty good deal. About $10 for everything. What I don't have shown in the photos are the iPhones that I'm planning on placing inside. They are both mine and Mr. ICS' old phones that are no longer connected to any sort of data plan, but still work extremely well for taking pictures. The kiddos ALWAYS steal their parents phones, so I thought, why not give them their own to snap photos with for the evening. And while we're at it, why not make a contest out of it?

I'm planning on using an "I Spy" sheet that I saw on Martha Stewart's website a while back. I think it will work out great, and will keep them busy for a bit :) Because I'm turning this into a contest, I really want to have 2 more contests (at least), so that each of the kiddos has a chance to win (yes, this will be rigged--I don't want anyones feelings getting hurt!) 

For the other contests, I'm deciding between: 1. Quiet as a Church mouse: who can be the best behaved in Church?, 2. Strut your stuff: Who has the best dance moves?, 3. Decor Galore: Who can decorate their bucket the best?, 4. iPhone Scavenger Hunt: Who "found" the best pictures? 

Next on the list? Picking out non-gender specific toys to give at the end of the night that the kiddos will like (and are not too expensive). Honestly, I've put more time and effort into this than I ever thought possible. I just really want them to have fun, but also want to allow their parents to have fun too :) I think this is a good start, though!

So, hive, here's where you come in! Do you have any tips or tricks up your sleeves that helped/will help you keep kiddos entertained on your big day? Any advice/recommendations? I want the day to be enjoyed by all :)

A Sweet Surprise: Mama Sundae Visits San Francisco!

Mama Sundae is here for a visit! I'm SO excited! I'm trying to plan a slew of fun things for us to do, but one of them is essential to wedding planning: finder her a dress. She has been quite hesitant to shop for a dress, although I've been fairly persistent in my requesting for her to do so. I understand where she is coming from, though; she is worried that she will find one that she likes better, closer to the wedding. But, now that the wedding is just about 3 months away, she has agreed to shop! Woohoo! To make this process easier on her, I decided to do a bit of pre-shopping prior to her arrival.
I've gone several times to Nordstrom and Macy's, to see if they had the same dresses in the store as they had online. Unfortunately, this approach did not work. So, last weekend I tried something different. I decided to go based on only what they had in the store.

I asked the employees if I could grab some dresses, hang up them up, take photos, and then make a list of what I picked out. Mama Sundae doesn't love to shop, so I wanted to make it as easy as possible.

Here are the dresses that I chose, all hanging in the dressing room.

Personal Photo

Originally, I was thinking of rose gold for Mama Sundae, but it was extremely hard to find a dress that color! I was really only able to find the one that you see hanging. (The dress all the way over to the left was just one that I thought was cute and wanted to try on to see how it looked). Navy blue was really the go-to color, so it seemed.

I put all of the dresses on hold the Friday that she arrived, and we went back to try them on that Saturday. We didn't waste any time! We even had quite a tough time deciding which ones we liked best. We ended up narrowing it down to two, and called on several people to help us choose. They made it so easy, because their choice was unanimous! The two that we narrowed it down to were: the one all the way to the right (dress with sleeves), and the one in the middle (dress with sequence top).

.....the one that we ended up choosing?

The one in the middle :) It looked absolutely beautiful on her. It was so slimming and went extremely well with her complexion. We did end up shopping for about 5 hours, though, because she was so inspired to find pieces to go with it after purchasing. We knocked out her entire look: earrings, bracelet, and shoes in that one afternoon.

She was so happy with the end result, which in turn made me extremely happy. This was truly the cherry on top of our Sundae Saturday shopping spree.

How did you dress your moms, hive? Did you have them choose a dress, or did you guide them towards one? Can't wait to hear all about it!

Bake Me Away: Rehearsal Dinner Dessert Decisions

I'm not sure why, but when it comes to providing dessert for functions, I tend to go full force. I get super excited because, as I have mentioned before, I absolutely love to bake. Naturally, when there is an opportunity to do so, I jump at the chance. Of course, I wasn't going to take on the challenge of baking our wedding cake because I'm still such a novice baker, and I am really particular about how I want the cake to look. I knew that I couldn't produce what a professional could, so I chose to leave that to them.

But, when it comes to providing desserts for things like the bridal shower, bachelorette, and rehearsal dinner, I go for it! I baked a few test recipes for the bridal shower and my lovely coworkers and Mr. Sundae were able to reap the sweet benefits :) Thankfully, all enjoyed, which led me to try my hand at a few more recipes for the rehearsal dinner.

I've contemplated what dessert to provide at the dinner for a few weeks now. I've gone back and forth between cake, cupcakes, Italian cookies, pasticiotti, and cannolis. No matter what I was deciding between, I wanted there to be some sort of Italian element, because my family is Italian, and Mr. Sundae loves that (and Italian food). That's also why I chose the restaurant that I did (Francesca's Cucina).

I've been searching for recipes and have narrowed down the dessert options to:

Option 1:
Cannoli
Pasticiotti
Italian cookies

Option 2:
Cannoli cupcakes
Spumoni cupcakes

I did a test recipe for the cannoli cupcakes, and was quite satisfied. This coming weekend, Mr. Sundae and I are planning to tackle the cannolis. They are expected to be quite the labor of love, but we'll be doing it together :)

Here's a photo of the final cannoli cupcakes. I had to redo both the cannoli filling and the frosting, but thankfully the second time around, both turned out great.

Cannoli cupcakes: Personal photo

Cannoli cupcakes: Personal Photo

So hive, which option do you think I should go with? Should I scrap these two all together and just do a cake? Or, should I choose between the two options, and if so...which? Also, are you DIY'ing any elements for your shower and/or rehearsal dinner?

DIY Hair and Makeup Trials!

First, Mr. Sundae...AVERT YOUR EYES. DO NOT SCROLL FURTHER.

Now that that is out of the way...  ;)

Last week, Mama Sundae and I were discussing what I should do for my hair and makeup. I was having a bit of a difficult time deciding whether or not I wanted to get it done or not. I want to feel pampered on our special day, but I have never been truly satisfied with the results of getting my hair and makeup professionally done. Well, that's a bit of a fib, I was satisfied with my up-do once my Freshman year of High School for a formal dance, but unfortunately I have not been able to find that hairdresser since :(

I have since found amazing hairdressers that color and cut my hair, but they usually refer me to other hairdressers when I need an up-do. For the day of, I'm just not willing to take that chance. Especially because I'm currently living in California, and would have to schedule a trial with someone back in Syracuse prior.

So, Mama Sundae posed a great question: "Why don't you just do it yourself?" Ah ha. I honestly didn't even consider that option. After some reassurance from her, I was mostly convinced. I asked Mr. Sundae later that evening what he thought about me getting my hair and makeup done for the big day, and he said the same thing. I couldn't believe it! I didn't even pose the question of doing it myself, he just came up with the idea on his own, just like Mama Sundae did!

Of course, I had to try this out to make sure that I was capable. Being that I was a freelance makeup artist at MAC, I figured I had the tools necessary to accomplish this task.  I didn't want to try the look together, because I wanted to have an element of surprise on the big day, so I did the trials separately.

Here's what my hair looked like after my DIY trial:

Personal Photo

..and here's what my makeup looked like..

Personal Photo

As you can see, I purposely did my face makeup a little bit darker, because I'm hoping to have a bit more color by the big day.

All in all, I loved the way that both my hair and makeup turned out. I might dabble a bit with different makeup looks, but this has always been the one that Mr. Sundae compliments me most on, so I thought it would be best to wear this look on the day of, with a bit more enhancements (highlight, contour, lashes, etc.)

So, hive, what about you? How did your hair/makeup trials go? Are you having them done professionally, or will you try the DIY method?

Can't wait to hear all about it!