One of the things I learned when planning a wedding the first time is to expect the unexpected. That's good advice for event planning in general - stuff is going to come up that you hadn't planned for, and the ability to roll with the punches is a good thing.
Our original plan was to have a small (25-30) person cocktail reception for the wedding party, immediate family and performers before opening the doors to the extended guest list (100+) for the cabaret show wedding, with a dessert buffet and dancing afterwards. A good friend of ours who is a chef had offered to cater the cocktail reception at an amazing price. He doesn't have a commercial kitchen so he was going to do all the cooking in our kitchen, which isn't far from the venue. We'd just need to find someone to help transport all the food from point A to point B and help set it up. (He's the friend who I collaborated with to design and who prepared the food for the amazing 7 Deadly Sins Birthday dinner party last year).
...and then along came a monkeywrench.
My darling fiance and I both have a good chunk of Irish Catholic in our backgrounds. That means lots and lots of relatives. Whereas the majority of my relatives live either on the east coast or in the UK, the majority of his family live in BC - and his family is really close knit. So, our 25-30 person cocktail reception has grown to a 100 person cocktail reception (80% of which is his side). I don't really mind that it will be mostly his people - I love his boisterous, happy family, and they've embraced me as one of their own.
BUT - complete rethink of the catering is required. Do we attempt the insanity of trying to cater for 100 people out of a residential kitchen? Do we blow the budget and hire a caterer? (I got one catering quote yesterday that came to almost 9K - I think they misheard me when I said we were on a budget). Do we order sushi from the restaurant across the street?
Excuse me while I go calm down my stressing-out fiance.
On a brighter note - my sweetie's gorgeous Brian Boru jacket arrived from Edinburgh today! *happydance* He wants to wear a formal kilt outfit to the wedding, but he's Irish (literally! He has the citizenship papers to prove it!), and the local rental companies just do Scottish Prince Charlie jackets with lion buttons. I found an ex-rental 100% Barathea wool Brian Boru (it's got a shawl collar instead of a notched collar and harp buttons) jacket and matching vest on Ebay - $166 with shipping. Great thing is that he'll be able to wear it with his Irish National Tartan kilt when we go to burlesque shows and parties. (gotta love a man in a kilt!)
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