Summer Essentials

…..as applied to weddings.  Gotcha!

You thought this was going to be an un-wedding related post didn’t you?  I fooled you with my master deceiving skills.

Our wedding is a few short weeks days away (sorry, this was supposed to be posted a while ago, but my work computer's firewall has been against me blogging lately), and you can definitely tell summer is here to stay in Texas.  Gone are the cool nights, short days, and mosquito free evenings.  I personally welcome the sun filled, heat scorching days, but I know that others don’t necessarily share this love with me.  They also don’t necessarily share the heat/sun tolerance with me that I have spent 27 years perfecting.

The first (and at the time, I figured only) option I thought of to aid our people in surviving the 30 minutes spent outside during the ceremony was fan programs:

But as time draws near, and other things start to take precedence, I’m thinking just a simple program would be easier.  We also haven’t met with the Reverend yet (remember, meant to be posted sooner, we have now met with the Reverend) to solidify what would actually go in the program as far as the ceremony and readings are concerned, which means fan programs would end up being a week of diy.  I am trying to avoid the last minute must have details at all costs.

Other thing’s I’ve considered were fans, misters (aka spray bottles), and the combination spray mister fan. 

That’s its technical name. Look it up.

But the practicality and logistics of these ideas comes in to play, and buying 200 of any of the above named things just doesn’t seem like a good idea.  What if I end up with 50 leftover?  How will everybody get one?  Can I put them on each seat since the ceremony seating is amphitheatre style?  Who is actually going to need one?  More than a few of our guests have spent more years then me perfecting their “tolerance” and will be fine. 

Luckily enough, I can avoid all these questions with a simple “Sun Bar” (thank you Pinterest!):

While this isn’t exactly what it will look like (the above is a little “backyard bbq” and we’re going for a more formal look), I’m thinking a plethora of wooden fans, mosquito spray, chapstick, sun screen, spray misters, and whatever else I can find at the Dollar Store will be ideal.  This way guests can choose to use any of the above options, or not choose if they don’t want to, to aid any mosquito, sun, or heat induced issues they might have. 

We will also have drink (alcohol, sodas, and water) readily available to quench their thirst at our drink bar which will be outside between the ceremony and reception area.

I’m hoping this will alleviate any hardships our guests will face by sitting in the sun for our twenty minute reception, but I have a feeling no matter what we do, the sun is going to be a bi@!h and there’s not a lot we can do to fix it.  Oh well. 

I LOVE SUMMER!!!! Woohoo!!!!