Credit to Photos By Winnie

As someone who’s sensitive to blood sugar highs and lows I was really worried about forgetting to eat and crashing on my wedding day.  I think it’s a fairly common problem for the bride and groom to be so busy and excited that they don’t have time for eating and drinking.  I knew for me that would be a disaster so I asked one bridesmaid ahead of time if she would kindly make sure I eat and another aunt sweetly carried around a water bottle for me in the hot July Californian  sun.  Shortly after my wedding I discovered Marrylicious.  Had I known of them earlier I could have had them mail me a little kit and been worry free.

Marrylicious creates beautiful, gourmet bridal survival kits that are perfect for your wedding day.  They feature local Seattle foods and beverages and come in elegant boxes with decadent ribbons.  Each package also includes tissues, mints, a sewing kit, stain removers and dental products!  I’ve heard of maids of honor and MOB ordering them to be delivered to the ceremony location or to the place for getting ready.  Brides occasionally order them for themselves and their posse as well.  They do overnight shipping and even 1-3 day global shipping. 

Credit to Photos By Winnie

For more information on their Tulip, Rose and Orchid packages click here.

As with all other aspects of wedding planning it’s easy to spend money on wine.  My advice is to pick your budget and stick with it.  Purchasing wine in bulk will also bring the cost down.  Find out in advance if your reception space or caterer has a corkage fee.  If you can negotiate with them to allow you to choose and purchase the wine, you’ll be ahead of the game.  One final tip: When it comes to wine tasting, you like what you like, don’t worry about the “tasting notes” or what you should like.  Here are my recommendations:

L’Ecole No 41 is on Highway12 west of Walla Walla in the town of Lowden.  It’s hard to miss the former schoolhouse with its distinctive architecture.  I’d been curious about the label for a while (a watercolor by a Ryan, grade 3 I discovered), and decided to check them out.  The 2007 Columbia Valley Semillon is dry and refreshing and would be a perfect wine for your cocktail hour with cheeses and seafood.  At $15 a bottle it’s a great value.  You’re sure to find a deal on wine.com and other places if you shop around.  L’Ecole No 41 has a giant tasting list and a wide range of wines.  Surprisingly, I didn’t like any of the others as much as the Semillon, with the exception of the 2006 Pepper Bridge Vineyard Apogee, but at $49 a bottle it’s hardly a steal.

Continuing on into the town of Walla Walla be sure to check out Forgeron Cellars where Maria-Eve Gilla creates masterpieces.  Any bottle you find there is sure to be a hit on your big day. It’s difficult to choose a favorite but for price and uniqueness, I recommend the Walldeaux Smithie.  Forgeron calls it “bold and juicy with firm structure.”  It’s a fun, original and fantastic wine sure to delight. At $16 a bottle it’s easily half the price they could charge.  Forgeron’s 2006 Chardonnay ($25), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon ($30), and 2001 or 2005 Zinfandel ($30-$40) are all excellent.

For romance and really good wine tasting, but not necessarily wine purchasing on a wedding budget be sure to visit scenic Pepper Bridge Winery.  As an estate winery, it sets out to make ultra-premium wines.  At $55-$110 a bottle it might be best to get one for yourselves to toast with on your first anniversary.  The wines are swanky, plumy, smooth and sophisticated.  The mineral of the estate stamps its mark and the winemaker has highly entertaining descriptions of his wines including “pencil lead” and “pain grille” which makes for a fun wild goose hunt, attempting to track them down on your palate.  If you do splurge, I loved the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon $55.

Taking a break from the wineries, be sure to check out Walla Walla.  It has a classic main street, (which happened to win the 2001 Great American Main Street Award, lest you think I’m exaggerating.)  For old school breakfast, follow the Sunday church-goers to Popular Donuts (706 W Alder St) and enjoy a light and fluffy donut with a coffee for prices you haven’t seen since you were too short to see over the counter.  Top off the evening with an ice cream shake from the stuck-in-time Ice-Burg (616 W Birch St), just steer clear of the food.  As for dinner, I can’t vouch for Brasserie Four (4 E. Main Street) but it definitely had vibes.

Other Budget Options

Heading north of downtown Walla Walla you’ll find the Airport Wineries.  It’s just as it sounds, a bunch of wineries by the airport.  It’s a really unique setting that I loved seeing, especially the old military barracks.  There you’ll find small wineries just starting out among more well-known names like Dunham Cellars.  Be sure to stop by the incubator on Piper Ave.  It’s a complex funded in part by the state to help fledgling winemakers.  There are five buildings with five different wineries that have 6 years to “make it” before moving on to create a winery elsewhere.

On your way out of Walla Walla, if you still haven’t found that budget wine you were looking for stop by Columbia-Crest (Hwy 221, Columbia Crest Drive, Paterson, WA).  Their Grand Estates ($10-$12)  line is always dependable as is their Two Vines($6-$8).  I particularly recommend the Merlot.  If you purchase the wines you like there, they’ll arrange to have them shipped free of charge to their local office in Woodinville closer to the time of your wedding.

Here’s a toast to a fun trip and tasty wine!

They have great sampler packs as shown above and can do special orders.  I could see using them as part of a welcome bag especially if your wedding is in the Southern California region or even west coast.  They could also make nice favors, especially as they’re both kosher and organic!

For more information:

Wedding at Colman Park

 
Seattleites are lucky to have an abundance of parks to choose from when planning a wedding in the Emerald City.  The trick is to choose a day when the sun is out!

One of my favorite park weddings was my friends’ in Colman Park.  It was a spectacular day and the scenery was beautiful.  I especially loved the big tree that the ceremony was held under on the water’s edge.

Here is some information for scheduling a park wedding in Seattle.  (Although the Parks & Rec Department hasn’t updated the date for registering, most parks were opened for registering on January 2nd).  Three of the most popular garden wedding sites, Parsons Garden, Washington Park Arboretum and Kubota Garden can be booked 12 months in advance of the wedding day. 

Giant Tree at Colman Park in Seattle

Beautiful Balcony at Colman Park

Thank you Anny and David for the lovely pictures!!!

In regard to food, making your wedding more environmentally friendly can be as simple as swapping Chilean seabass for wild-caught salmon.  The former is not only overfished but is also known to have high levels of mercury.  When you’re reviewing your menu choices months ahead of time think of the produce that will be in season for your special day.  Fresh baby greens, asparagus and peas in the spring, cherries, berries, corn, beans and anything else you can think of in the Pacific Northwest in the summer, and squashes, apples, and nuts in the fall.  A couple local caterers known for sustainable, organic ingredients are Herban Feast and Ravishing Radish.

More Green Blogs to come…