Photo Phun

F's family has a tradition where the bride and groom pose for pictures with a wider range of extended family than is usually the case (not just the parents and grandparents -- all the aunts and uncles, the cousins, etc). This can take a long time, so I was thinking of things that might make it a bit more fun, and help us get cooler pictures. I brought this question up to F., and we thought of providing some props for fun posing:

A picture frame
Cowboy hats
Turbans
Space helmets
Giant foam Illini fingers
Feather boas
A multicolored dupatta
Something Chicago-themed -- what is Chicago-themed? Wind?
A giant beach ball

If you have any ideas, post them in the comments!

Cakerpieces

My mom had the bright idea to use smaller (10-person) cakes as centerpieces rather than have one big wedding cake. I like this idea! The flowers in this photo are not the right color and the cakes will probably not be white, but the cakes I imagine would look something like this:


What I like most about this plan is that we can have a few different flavors, so everyone with different dietary needs will be happy. The folks on my mom's side who have gluten allergies can get a gluten-free cake (flourless chocolate, maybe?) and we can also have a vegan cake to satisfy the vegans and the folks on F's side who don't eat eggs. And then we can have a third kind of cake that's just cake.

I have also found out that it's easy to come up with DIY cake stands. That bumps this idea out of the "maybe" column and into the "hell yes we're doing it" column.

We started talking with our contact at the venue about setting up a tasting in February. The ideas we've got for the wedding menu sound absolutely delicious, the decorations will be beautiful, and everyone will be very happy.