Simple Summer Weddings

Next weekend, The Irish Charmer and I are getting married. This being a second wedding for us both, we decided to keep things simple. After watching a couple of reality shows where the bride loses her mind over the dress or the details of the big day, I knew I didn't want to go there. I want to enjoy every minute. Our goal has been to share this moment with the people we love in relaxed setting, without going bankrupt, or crying for hours. So far, we have managed to keep the cost around $1,000. I thought someone might benefit from what we learned.

* Location - I like to say we are having a party with a time-out to get married. We decided to have both the wedding and reception at my cousin's house. Her husband even installed a misting system on the patio. What a guy! Even though it is an evening wedding, it is still Arizona in June. Not renting a church or hall saved a lot of money. Of course, I have bought a gift for them to say thank you.

* Drinks - I bought the beer, sodas, and water over a holdiay weekend. I checked the local flyers and discovered Frys grocery store had them on sale cheaper than Costco.

* The Dress - Can be a huge expense. My sister loaned me hers, but I soon discovered I would have been overdressed for this simple wedding. Instead, I found a cute white sundress for $100 at Pennys. They had a wide selection of white sundresses to choose from and some were less expensive.

*Shoes - Kohls turned out to be the perfect place to buy heeled sandals. I received a ten dollars off card in the mail and the shoes were on sale. I paid about $12 for the shoes. Great deal!

*Food - Catering is not cheap. Costco couldn't be beat for food. Yesterday we loaded our cart with frozen appetizers we will heat up that day. Tip: to get them all in the freezer, I had to take the plastic packages out of their cardboard containers. I saved the preparation directions and tossed the rest of the boxes.

*Extra expenses - Relatives and friends want to help, so let them as long as they don't have outlandish ideas. I have wonderful people in my life who want to be a special part of our big day. My adult daughter is taking me out to get my nails, hair, and makeup done. It will be a wonderful bonding moment. My sister is paying for the minister who is a friend of hers from work. My aunts and uncles are bringing coolers and long tables. And a friend from work is providing 20 of the chairs. We are renting the rest from a place with reasonable prices.

*The cake - The Irish Charmer and I were going to get a sheet cake. We didn't want to spend a huge amount of money on a traditional wedding cake. My daughter said the resorts are using cupcakes these days so my mother is ordering dozens of red velvet cupcakes. We have three towers to put them on for a decorative display.

*Decorations - Don't forget your local dollar store. I bought eight centerpieces; simple glass bowls to float roses inside. My mother donated satin rose petals for the table. I did splurge for bubble tubes, candy, and the netting to put them in at Party City. I'm sure I could have found it cheaper elsewhere, but I was running out of time to compare prices. They did have satin ribbon for only 59 cents. Cheaper than most places I had checked for ribbon.

* Photography - Again, this is a second marriage so we didn't feel the need to spend hundreds of dollars on pictures. I bought a package of fun cameras to place around on the tables for guests to use and we are also bringing digital cameras. I'm confident there will be enough photographs to capture the spirit of the day.

* Flowers - I could have ordered flowers at Costco, but Frys has them for about ten dollars a dozen. I ordered 3 dozen and with floral tape and ribbon will make my bouquet and the flowers the ladies standing up with me will hold, plus the roses for the centerpieces. Much cheaper than going through a florist.

Overall, I am very happy with what we have accomplished. I haven't lost my mind and am enjoying every moment. And at the end of the evening, we will be happily wed. That is what matters most.

1500 Century Trivia

How we got some of our 'old sayings'

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't

just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting
married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying It's raining cats and dogs. There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house..

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a thresh hold. (Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge
in the pot nine days old.. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would
have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !