First comes love

Alternatives to the sit down meal

I love food. OMG I love food.  I can probably stand to be a bit more adventurous (black pudding? no thanks) but there's enough out there to keep me happy.  Not only do I love food, I love feeding people food.  I get a glow when Craig's eyes light up when I mention there's seconds of a particularly good meal I made.

We haven't given much thought to our reception dinner yet, but it's basically going to made up of a menu list provided by the venue.  I'm sure it'll be great (trust me, there will be taste tests) but I wish we had room to explore these alternatives to the sit down:

BBQ

From Snippet & Ink.

When San Diego was still a possible location, I was totally all over this idea. My friend mentioned that she got Phil's BBQ to cater hers and she raved about their service.  If you're ever in San Diego I highly recommend this place.  Tip: Do what we did.  Go to Phil's. Laugh at the ridiculously long line. Call them from the parking lot.  Go into the bar and have a cool drink while waiting for your order. Waltz out with your bag of pulled pork and ribs.

Lobster

Now, I know what you're thinking. Lobster, ooh that's so hoity toity. But I'm not talking about lobster already shelled and dressed beyond recognition and served on fine china. I'm talkin' 'bout LOBSTER:

From Snippet & Ink.

Instant source of conversation and interaction.  If I had my way though, I would serve crabs. I like the taste better but more importantly it brings back some fantastic memories of my childhood. My auntie used to work in a fish packing warehouse and once in a while she would bring over a boon of fresh crabs and we'd have a "crab picking" party.  The whole family would sit around the kitchen table with 3-4 crabs, cracking and chatting away.  Good times.

Burgers

From We Met in a Bar.

I think serving burgers would inject such a fresh dose of relaxation and fun to the reception.  You're all there to celebrate and party right?  And if you're in California, there is really only one way to go with this:

Aww yeah.  From Green Wedding Shoes.

A twist to the photo booth

Most of photographers will stay through the dinner speeches. Some may even be coaxed through the first couple of dances.  But that's just when people start to let their hair down and get ready to the party!  Disposable cameras were/are a popular way to capture these moments but they can get pretty expensive for very chance-y photos.

This is why I love the idea of setting up a photo corner somewhere with a fun backdrop, props and a digital camera on a tripod set with a remote control.

One great idea has been to use fabric as a backdrop like this wedding:

(from here, via here)

Cute non?

But THEN! I was walking through town the other weekend and saw this window display in Jigsaw.

It's a bit hard to see with the reflection but it looks like they took MILES of ribbon and looped and stapled(?) them onto a big board.  Can't you imagine that as a fun, textured, photobooth background? Of course you can, there's some mannequins there to help you visualize. ;)

Craig just suggested why don't I just ask if I can have that one when they're done with it.  Clever, but if that fails I'll need to find some ribbon, staples and a whole week to myself.