rsvp help

I need some help y'all. I've been neck deep in invitations for the past few weeks and am just about ready to start printing my RSVP cards. I thought I had it all figured out, but now I'm second guessing myself.

Here's the original wording:

We have reserved ___ seats in your honor

Name(s): ______________________

___ Wouldn't miss it for the world!

___ Will toast you from afar


My concern is that if we invite Mr. and Mrs. Joe Blow, indicating on their RSVP that we have reserved 2 seats for them, and only Mrs. Blow intends to come will they know that they are only supposed to write Mrs. Blow's name on the name line? Or what if Mrs. Blow thinks that since 2 seats are reserved for them and Mr. Blow can't come, that it's okay to bring Katie Blow who isn't invited to the wedding? Or am I just being crazy?

I did some research and discussed it with the future mister and here are the two other options that we are now considering.

Option 1:

We have reserved ___ seats in your honor

Name(s): ______________________

___ Wouldn't miss it for the world!
___ Number attending

___ Will toast you from afar


Option 2:

Name(s): ______________________

___ Wouldn't miss it for the world!
___ out of ___ attending

___ Will toast you from afar

Thoughts? Suggestions? Your help is much appreciated!

guestbook prompts

As I mentioned, here is a possible contender for the prompt books that my mom and I found at Hobby Lobby:


It is obviously meant to be used as a photo album, but the pages are blank card stock inside (rather than plastic sleeves). And I LOVE that the future mister and I can incorporate some of our engagement photos if we end up using these.

Now, what are some good prompts?

Here are the questions that MSW provided with their template:

Some good...

1. What's the best marriage advice you've ever gotten?
2. What's your favorite memory of us? What's your funniest memory of us? (one or the other, not both)
3. What should we name our kids? (this one could get some funny responses)
4. What should we do on date nights?
5. What's the most romantic place we should visit? Where should we go for our 10-year anniversary? (these two questions are too similar, don't you think?)
6. What should we do during our first year of marriage?
7. Where do you see us in 25 years?
8. When did you know we were meant for each other?

Some not so good...

1. What's the most romantic movie you've ever seen?
2. What were you really thinking during our vows?

And here are a few others that I found online:

1. Share your favorite moment of the wedding so far....then update later if you have a new favorite moment.
2. What are your predictions for our future? (very similar to "Where do you see us in 25 years?" - I think I like this wording better)
3. Why is Heather perfect for Sam? Why is Sam perfect for Heather?
4. What's the best thing about being married?
5. What are your tips on how to be a great husband/wife?

What are your favorite questions of the ones listed above? Do you have any others to share?

Also, we will have about 20 tables (6 - 30" hi boys, 8 - 36" rounds and 6 - 48" rounds) in total at the reception. Should we have a book for each table or just 10 to 12 scattered throughout?

mmmm menu

One of the items we finalized (basically; of course we can still change it if we want to) at our meeting last week was the menu! Just a fair warning - if you're not hungry now, you might be at the end of this post!

After the ceremony our guests will be greeted with an open bar and a scrumptious hors d'oeuvre station consisting of:

• Baked brie filled with raspberry preserves, wrapped in a puff pastry and baked until golden brown
• Hot baked crab dip with sherry - served warm with french bread rounds
• Warm blue cheese and bacon spread - accompanied by grain and butter crackers
• Hummus trio - served with pita chips
• Seasonal vegetable display - accompanied by herb dip
  

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Are you ready for some more??? We will also have a main buffet consisting of:

• Signature Moser salad - field greens, strawberries, blue cheese, walnuts and Moser Vinaigrette
  
• Marinated and grilled chicken breast slices seasoned with jerk seasonings - served with peach salsa
• Smoked brisket, rubbed with spices and smoked slowly
• Pulled pork - served with apple butter BBQ sauce
• Old fashioned tomato bread pudding - a mixture of tomato, cheese, scallions, bread crumbs and herbs
• Baked garlic cheese grits
• Roasted vegetables
• Cheese biscuits
• Soft yeast rolls
  
• Assortment of fresh fruit - served with sweet cream fruit dip

AND to top it all off, a delectable display of:

• Seven assorted cakes - three white velvet raspberry, two Spanish lemon and two chocolate

You have already heard about the cake many times before. Oh, and my parents even got to enjoy their very own cake tasting this weekend since the future mister picked up a strawberry cake for my birthday. They loved it!

Mmmmm....now I'm in the mood for pulled pork. I hope our guests enjoy what we selected. The future mister and I tried to get a pretty good mix of foods we both enjoy (i.e. baked brie, grilled veggies for me, blue cheese dip and grits for him). Hopefully we get to eat some of the deliciousness on the wedding day!

What are/were some of your favorite items on your menu? Those of you who are already married - were you able to eat any of it on your wedding day?

thumbprints, signatures, thoughts and well wishes

A long time ago, probably pre-engagement, I saw this lovely guestbook and thought it was the greatest idea ever.

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But alas, we won't be having a photo booth - so throw that idea right out the window.

Luckily the Internet is chock full of unique ideas:

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(source - probably more appropriate for a smaller wedding or bridal shower, but still so cute)

My personal favorite, though, is the thumbprint wedding tree - such a great piece to hang up and display after the wedding! And, of course, there are many different kinds to choose from.

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Last week, I saw a twist on this idea that I thought was pretty cool. The bonus is that guests don't have to walk around the reception with green thumbs.

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But....with something like this all we'll have at the end of the wedding are signatures. What if Grandma Patsy or Great Aunt Irene want to write a nice congratulations or share a piece of marriage wisdom? I'll fully admit that I'm a sentimental sap and love to read through old cards and notes. And the first thing out of the future mister's mouth when I showed him the thumbprint trees was something along the lines of - I don't like it because our guests can't write us any messages. Good thing I already had a plan!

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I saw these books months ago in the pages of Martha Stewart Weddings and thought that by putting a different one on each of our tables it would be a great way to get our guests to mingle! The reception is a cocktail buffet, so there will be a mixture of 36 and 48 inch rounds and 30 inch hi boys. Personally, I would find it fun to hop around from table to table to write an answer in each book.

Initially, I was thinking of just purchasing some kraft paper moleskines to use as the different books, but mom and I found something better while browsing through the craft stores this weekend. I'll be sure to share once I get around to taking a photo!

What did you use as your guest book? Do you think having a thumbprint tree and books on the tables would be asking too much of our guests?