Wear What When Blog

Wedding Wednesday

The Wedding eBay: Bravo Bride

Mini top hats? Diamonds rings? A local entrepreneur launched Bravo Bride to help you buy and sell them.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Nov 16, 2011 at 06:50AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

SLIDESHOW: What you can find on Bravo Bride. Here, a diamond and sapphire engagement ring.

View Slideshow »

Well, why wouldn’t you? The wedding’s over, you’ve got no use for the eight damask linens you had to buy because no one rented the exact shade of gray you were set on. So why not sell them to the next couple?

And, why not buy them?

A local bride, Susan Shapiro, started an online resale marketplace in 2008 after her own wedding. Having searched eBay and Craigslist for wedding items, she realized the opportunity to utilize that type of framework, but focus it on ceremony and reception items, dresses, rings, and other things. There are now over 15,000 preowned items listed on bravobride.com.

We chatted with Shapiro about how the site works, and how it can work for you, and the slideshow illustrates a few key offerings.

WWW: We get excited about local businesses around here because we support shopping at home. But I suppose Bravo Bride is a great way to shop the country via a Seattle entrepreneur. Does Seattle factor in at all? Is there a bigger share of regional sellers or buyers? It would actually be great if so, because then the site could function a bit more like Craigslist; brides and brides-to-be could meet in the real world and do the try-before-buy thing.
Shapiro: California and Texas actually have our biggest share of merchandise with the state of Washington coming in fifth in terms of listing volume. The vases a bride just used at her wedding in Savannah, Georgia might be the ones I want even though I live in Seattle. That was actually a problem I had when trying to use Craigslist for my wedding before I began Bravo Bride. That said, we have definitely had brides meet each other before purchasing merchandise. There is an option on the site that allows users to search by location so brides can meet each other. I recently received an email from a bride whose wedding was called off and through our site, she was able to sell her brand new gown to another bride-to-be in her area. She told me it made her feel so much better about everything and that it was a wonderful way to truly move on from a bad experience, especially now that she had made a new friend.

What kinds of things are most popular on your site? Dresses? Decor?
Dresses are the most popular, followed by wedding decorations, table centerpieces, table linens, and bridesmaids dresses.

What item or sale has been the most surprising?
That is a great question! We had one seller list a miniature mannequin torso dressed in a wedding dress to use as a table top decoration. It was a little creepy and not surprisingly, it didn’t sell. I also had another seller list miniature top hats for dogs to wear at a wedding and those were actually really cute.

What should brides-to-be know about looking for goods on the site?
If brides-to-be are looking for a wedding dress and they can’t meet the seller in person, I recommend trying on the same dress or a similar style at a bridal shop before they make a purchase. With anything on the Internet you have to be very careful when purchasing items online. At Bravo Bride, if you are purchasing an item over $100 we recommend using escrow.com because they are able to protect both the buyer and seller. PayPal does not offer this same type of protection. There is a section on Bravo Bride that provides helpful tips for buyers and sellers and we use an advanced secure messaging system to prevent spamming and scammers from contacting our website users. We also now allow wedding retailers to sell their sample gowns and discounted merchandise our our site, too.

What should recently married brides know in terms of selling items on the site
Almost all items are free to list on Bravo Bride. There is a one time $19.95 fee for wedding dresses and engagement rings. Items remain on Bravo Bride until they are sold and we never take a commission upon sale. This allows our sellers to get the best possible price for their items. Good photographs, especially professional ones from your wedding are very helpful in making your listings stand out. Also, describing your item in detail is also a great way to get an item sold quickly.

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Tags: Receptions, Home Decor, Seattle Wedding Gown, Seattle Wedding Details

Wedding Wednesday

Spanish Tables

Thinking rich tapas or paella for your wedding reception? Get to know Spanish Caravan.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 22, 2010 at 06:00AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

Slideshow: Dishes from Brian Parks’s Spanish Caravan; here: Lamb Albondigas

View Slideshow »

Among the big-deal gastro-pubs in Seattle of late is Quinn’s on Capitol Hill (yeah, tell us something we don’t know, Laura). For a time, the chef there was Brian Parks. Since being dismissed last May, he’s been getting back to the Mediterranean flavors that colored his years of cheffing in NYC in order to launch Spanish Caravan Catering.

Aimed at creating delicious parties not unlike the one you’re planning for your Great Big Important Day, Parks’s menus touch on all manner of Spanish traditions.

In a sort of welcome-to-the-wedding-industry how-do-you-do, I put before him three hypothetical wedding receptions and asked him what he might suggest preparing for each. See what you think — and don’t forget to flip through the slideshow, too.

WWW: This couple has announced themselves as huge fans of yours; they loved Quinn’s during the time you were there. They’ve pretty much gushed. They want you to make whatever you want to make, in whatever presentation best fits the menu. Money is no object. They’re practically willing to pay you for the pleasure — and the bragging rights. Do your thing.

Parks: I’ll go with a seven-course meal here:

1. Fried chicken liver terrine with golden raisins and sherry
2. Oxtail stuffed calamari with piquillo peppers and black truffles
3. Crispy Guinea hen leg with a cockscomb gravy
4. Grilled sweetbreads with a boquerone vinaigrette
5. Braised whole goat crepinettes with Swiss chard and cana de cabre
6. Suckling pig stuffed with Spanish chorizo and mushrooms escabeche
7. Foie gras bunuelos with membrillo

WWW: This is one of those mixed couples. You know — one’s vegetarian and one’s a carnivore. Their friends are similarly split. Compose a menu with meatless options and meaty options that’ll please the whole party.

Parks: This is the perfect scenario for one of our paella parties. We get two paellas going, one traditional with seafood and meat and another strictly vegetarian using the best of the season’s vegetables. The paellas are the main courses with some crusty bread and a green salad. We’ll feed the arriving guests with some tapas and raciones first. For the vegetarians: tortilla Espanola with sweet sherry aioli and garbanzo fritters with escalivada. And for the meat eaters grilled calamari (see slideshow) with romesco and chorizo with cider.

WWW: This couple is on a budget. They know and appreciate the best food, but times are tight. To mitigate this, they’ve only invited 50 people to their wedding, and they’re doing it during the day to get a discount from their venue, and so that they don’t have to serve cocktails. What kind of midday meal can you offer them in order to give them spectacular, unusual flavors at a bit of a savings?

Parks: This screams tapas. We’ll serve about six to seven tapas all together to give their guests a wide range of flavors:

-Bacon wrapped dates with Valdeon blue cheese
-Porcini Mushrooms with egg and asparagus
-Stuffed piquillo peppers with oxtail with onion marmalade
-Goat cheese with apricot mostaza
-Lamb albondigas (see slideshow)
-Pan con tomate with Serrano ham
-Bacalao (salt cod) and potato crisp

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Tags: Weddings, Receptions, Seattle Wedding Catering, Seattle Wedding Details

Wedding Wednesday

Thrilled for You

The Seattle company behind Thrilled for You really is pretty thrilled for you, and they want to help you document your wedding.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Sep 15, 2010 at 08:15AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

A couple things you know for sure about your wedding: You absolutely adore every single human being who’s coming to celebrate with you (whether there are 30 of them or 300), and, you’re petrified that you won’t be able to spend enough time hanging out with them all. Weighing heavily on my mind is a solution all this … how will you record, capture, document, or otherwise bottle their presence so that once you’re out of that dress and that suit and those heels and that tie, you can relive the whole thing in really meaningful way?

The Seattle company Jackson Fish Market has a solution they’d like you to try. It’s called Thrilled for You, and they designed and built it (right up the street from my office, actually) so that you can set up your own web-cam enabled computer (must run MacOS) wherever you’d like at your reception and invite guests to record an unlimited number of video messages. Think: those video confessionals first made popular by The Real World — only, presumably, not about who got so drunk that they ended up in whose room but rather how wonderful it is to see you all grown up and gorgeous next to the love of your life and who Uncle Bob danced with what they thought of the Yakima cab and the triple chocolate torte. You know, how thrilled they are for you.

You can customize the interface so that it feels personal and looks pretty; guests’ heartfelt shout-outs go straight to your hard drive so that later, you can watch them over and over on your 26-hour honeymoon flight to Fiji, upload the best ones to YouTube, or have your videographer edit them into his or her footage. Or you can host your own film festival and screen the things on a white sheet in your living room with your family and bridal party on your one-year anniversary. Just an idea. It’s up to you.

There’s a video here that shows how it all works, and if you’d like, you can download a demo from the Thrilled for You site and give it a test run — maybe record messages for each other and see if you can tug some heart strings.

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Tags: Weddings, Receptions, Locally Made, Locally Designed, Photography, Seattle Wedding Details

Wedding Wednesday

Welcome Back, Cassis

Restaurateur Jef Fike and chef Charlie Durham relaunch the old Cap Hill favorite – as a catering business

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jul 21, 2010 at 08:15AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

This guy makes a mean gougere: Cassis chef Charlie Durham

Try asking this next time you’re among friends who like to eat their way around town: ‘Remember Cassis?’ Nine times out of ten, the askee will pause, his or her eyes will light up, and they’ll start talking about roasted chicken, cassoulet, and actual French-style fries.

Maybe you remember it, too. Maybe you also have a thing for gougeres, coq au vin, and boeuf bourguignon. The restaurant down on the north end of 10th Ave on Capitol Hill is no more (they closed during that other economic bummer, the post-dot com one; we’ve been told the building that once contained Cassis and Spaghetti Reds is now totally empty) but if you want to share that thing with your wedding guests, you’re in luck.

Chef Charlie Durham, he of the duck liver custard and housemade cherry jam, and Jef Fike, most recently of The Ruins but once Cassis’s owner, have relaunched as a catering company.

The duo held a party last week at The Engine Room at Georgetown Studios to kick off their return. Along with traditional French dishes and Northwest summertime salads (cherry, basil, and sweet onions, hello), there were, um, traditional Seattle food folks in the mix. Customers and servers from Cassis’s glory days reunited, and I was charmed to see none other than Mr. Gluten Free Girl, Chef Danny Ahern, once Durham’s sous chef, helping prepare and plate (on buffet platters) seared pork belly and lentils. (Charmed to see the very traditional Seattleite Kim Thayil strut through the post-industrial landscape toward the end of the evening, too; guess he has fond recollections of the cassoulet, or maybe he was once the resto’s dishwasher?) That Ahern took the night off from his post at the Hardware Store Restaurant on Vashon Island help his old coworkers sure says something about the kind of place that Cassis was. And will again be.

Of course, this time around, you’ll be providing the place. Available for small, in-house dinner parties of three or 30, or to kick off post-nuptial celebrations with Nicoise for 300 Durham and Fike present a Northwest-bent proper French option for discerning partiers.

Welcome back, guys. Now please excuse me while I find a friend with a deep fryer – I’m thinking private pomme frite party this fall…

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Tags: Weddings, Receptions, Seattle Wedding Catering, Seattle Wedding Details

Wedding Wednesday

Wedding Wednesday: Check Please

You’ve hired a photographer, an officiant, and a DJ. Now, how about a coat check concierge?

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Mar 31, 2010 at 07:00AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

Illustration: Sasan

May Marni Good take your coat please (and your guests’ coats, and their gifts, and their suit jackets)?

Oh, I know, the last thing you want to hear from me is that there’s another wedding vendor you need to hire. But at a recent wedding-industry event I struck up a conversation with Marni Good of Coat Check Complete, who offers her guest concierge services whenever and wherever two or more event planners or cake bakers converge. A number of insiders have reported thefts at area events, and while I don’t want to freak you out over what may be isolated incidents, it’s good to know about Good’s services no matter what.

I asked Good to share two good reasons to consider hiring her, or someone like her, for your big day.

Here’s what the coat check pro had to say:

1. You’ll get peace of mind and security. With a concierge or coat check professional at your wedding you never have to be concerned that your gifts and belongings, as well as the belongings of your guests, will leave the wedding before you or they do. The last thing you want is for your beautiful day to be ruined by theft.

2. Elegance. My services provide a touch of old-fashioned elegant pampering for your guests. In addition to checking coats and gifts, concierge service ensure that any minor emergency can be quickly and easily addressed. Another level of elegance: We provide a safe place to store coats and jackets so that they won’t be draped over the backs of chairs, detracting from the decor of your celebration.

Good and others like her work directly with the venue to secure a safe, out-of-the-way yet convenient place to set up shop. There, they not only take jackets, but they can also receive and keep your gifts. Yes, a big pile of exquisitely wrapped presents on a large, prominently placed oak table does look awfully awesome, but if your venue is open to the public or otherwise vulnerable, consider how awesome those packages will look to others who randomly happen upon them.

Good is well-versed on how much space she’ll need for each season (“for 200 guests in the winter, you will get 120 coats, but cold snaps make it 175 coats, so figure on a 10 ft. by 10 ft. or 5 ft. by 20 ft. space; in the heat of late summer we end up checking lots of suit jackets”) but is likewise used to working with what’s available.

She says the one factor she and her fleet of helpers always insist on is that the items be out of sight. If a room is not available for use, she’ll work with the venue or your wedding planner to create a pipe-and-drape set-up that will cloak belongings in an attractive manner.

And about those band-aids: Good always offers comfort kits along with her virtual coat room; these are complete with hygiene products, hair pins, and other necessities of life.

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In the midst of hiring your vendor team?

Hear from the photographers and the floral designers here, and don’t forget the magician.

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Tags: Weddings, Receptions, vendors

Wedding Wednesday

New! The Fields

Herban Feast would like to host your wedding at Willie Greens Organic Farm

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Mar 24, 2010 at 06:00AM Speech Bubble 2 Comments

We do love a story with the word new in it around here, whether its an online boutique or a whole slew of eateries.

This week it’s a wedding and events venue.

Extending the farm-to-table theme to the realm of once-in-a-lifetime celebrations, catering company Herban Feast introduced Jeff Miller’s Monroe property to industry insiders last weekend. Located on the grounds of Willie Green’s Organic Farm, the Fields is a 21-acre working organic farm with fields of ready-for-deliciousness produce (created by executive chef Dalis Chea, also of Fresh Bistro), lush flowers, ornamental landscaping, and storybook Northwest evergreens.

And psst…. here’s a tip: like a few other places we know, the Fields has a few open spots this summer, and they’re offering 15% off for short-list bookings on the venue only; and a special $75 pp rate (special conditions apply) for the whole glorious she-bang. Contact Herban Feast for more details.

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More farm to table celebrations? Fireseed Catering, Corson Building, and Farm Kitchen come immediately to mind… what are your favorite farm-side venue picks?

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Tags: Venues, Receptions, Seattle Wedding Catering

Wedding Wednesday

Saturdays in the Park, the Penthouse, the Winery, and the …

Booked your summer wedding yet? Here’s where and when you could and should get in

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Mar 10, 2010 at 10:30AM Speech Bubble 6 Comments

Slideshow: Book this Venue (here: the loft-like, cabin-y, summercamp-like experience at Island Wood)

View Slideshow »

The early bird does, typically speaking, get the fat, juicy worm. But those who sleep late and/or forgo the 18-month engagement period sometimes do okay, as well.

Inspired in part by my brother’s recent engagement and his let’s-get-it-done, super-short engagement period (he asked on Valentine’s Day, they’re tying knots in, hopefully, July) and in part by a pitch from a contact at one of the venues below who wrote in to ask if I might like to let you all know about her available dates, I am happy to present you with this giant list of available Saturdays from June through September at a variety of fireside lounges, grand ballrooms, grassy fields, and otherwise fantastic locales.

Some are even offering discounts and deals exclusively for you.

Two really important things to keep in mind before you go any further:

1. This is what’s available now. At press time, as we like to call it. If you’re of the later-bird variety, don’t wait too much longer, huh?

2. It’s safe to assume that those who have Saturdays available also have Sundays and Fridays — and you know, Tuesdays at noon — available too. And it’s safe to assume that Sundays, Fridays, and other non-Saturdays come with a budget price tag, too.

(Please note: the dates below reflect availability at the largest/main event spaces at these facilities; if you are planning a small wedding, there very well may be alternate rooms with more availability. When in doubt: it’s safe to assume that it doesn’t hurt to ask.)

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IslandWood
Available Saturday: June 26

Mountain Springs Lodge
Available Saturdays: June 5, July 3, July 10, July 17, Sept 4, Sept 11
Mention that you saw these dates on seattlemet.com and you’ll get half-off the booking fee

Carnegies Restaurant
Available Saturdays: July 17, 24, 31, Aug 7, 14, 21

Inglewood Golf Club
Available Saturdays: June 19, July 3, 24, Aug 28, Sept 4, 11, 18,

Sanctuary at Admiral
Available Saturdays: every Saturday except July 10 and Aug 7

Hilton Garden Inn Issaquah
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, 26, July 3, 10
*Mention that you saw these dates on seattlemet.com and receive complimentary dance floor for your reception and a complimentary suite

Safeco Field/Gold Glove Wedding (new venue call 206-346-4228)
Available Saturday: July 3

Tulalip Resort
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, 19

Apple Tree Resort
Available Saturdays: June 5, Aug 7

Palisade Restaurant
Available Saturdays: all Saturdays in June, July 3, 17, 31, Aug 28, Sept 11, 25

Cave B Inn at Sagecliffe
Available Saturdays: July 10, 24, August 7

W Hotel
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, July 3, 17, 31, Aug 21, 28, Sept 11, 25

Salish Lodge
Available Saturdays: June 19, 26, July 3, 17, 24, Aug 7, Aug 21, 28, Sept 11, 18, 25 ALL DATES are available for daytime bookings only

Semiahmoo Resort
Available Saturdays: Every Saturday June through September except July 17

Museum of Glass
Available Saturday: July 31

Chambers Bay Golf Club
Available Saturdays: June 12, 19, Sept 11, 25

Sheraton Seattle Hotel
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, 19, Aug 28, Sept 4, 11, 18, 25

At the Quarry
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, July 3, Aug 28, Sept 4, 11, 25

Seattle Aquarium
Available Saturdays: June 12, July 3, 10, 24, 31, Aug 7, 14, 21, Sept 4, 11, 25

Pan Pacific
Available Saturdays: June 12, 26, July 3, 24, Sept 4, 11, 18

Campbell’s Resort
Available Saturdays: June 19, Aug 28, Sept 25

Museum of Flight
Available Saturdays: Every Saturday June through September

Moon Mansion
Available Saturdays: June 12, 19, 26, July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, Aug 7, 14, 21, 28, Sept 18, 25

Hollywood Schoolhouse
Available Saturdays: June 5, 19, 17, 31, Aug 14, Sept 11, 18

Clise Mansion at Marymoor Park
Availability: the Mansion does not accept event bookings until the end of April each year; concerts at the park are being booked through April and weddings and events can only be booked after concert schedule is final; contact venue for open dates at end of April

Harbor Club Bellevue
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, 19, 26, July 3, 10, 17, Aug 14, Sept 4, 18, 25

Edgewater Hotel
Available Saturdays: June 19

Mayflower Park Hotel
Available Saturdays: June 19, 26, July 17, 24, 31, Aug 7, 21, 28
Mention you saw this information at seattlemet.com when you book with Mayflower and get a $400 credit for any vendor of your choice

SoDo Park/Herban Feast
No available Saturdays but mention that you saw this note here to receive 50% off rental rates on all other remaining (non-Saturday) dates

Port Gamble
Available Saturdays: July 4, 10, 17, Sept 11

Ray’s Boathouse
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, July 3, 17, 24, Aug 14, Sept 11

Crystal Mountain Weddings
Available Saturdays: June 12, 19, 26, July 3, 10, Sept 11, 18, 25

Woodmark Hotel
Available Saturdays: Aug 28, Sept 11, 18, 25

Cederbrook Lodge
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, 19, 26, July 3, 10, 17, 31, Aug 14, 28, Sept 4, 11

Arctic Club Hotel
Available Saturdays: July 19, Aug 21, Sept 11, 18

Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort
Available Saturdays: June 26, July 3, 31, Aug 7, 14, 28, Sept 18, 25

Willows Lodge
Available Saturdays: June 12, 26, July 10, 17

Novelty Hill/Januik Winery
Available Saturdays: June 5, 12, July 3, Sept 4, 11

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Tags: Weddings, Venues, Receptions

Wedding Wednesday

Let’s Get RE Sourceful

Free workshop at RE Store helps brides and grooms get crafty

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Mar 03, 2010 at 07:20AM Speech Bubble 1 Comments

Slideshow: Create cake platters, candlestick centerpieces, ring boxes, name card displays, and more at RE Store’s Salvage Bride workshop on March 13

View Slideshow »

Got crafty designs on your wedding day decor but feeling unsure about sourcing materials, operating a screwdriver, and/or achieving an Amy Atlas-like ultraperfect atmosphere?

First, drop the notion of ultraperfect. It’s just not useful, or fun. Second, RSVP for Salvage Bride, a workshop led by the expert recycling-crazy repurposers at RE Store on Saturday March 13 from 10a – 2p.

Leading the day o’ DIY is Rachel Bair, RE Store’s shop manager and a June bride. She’s also the unofficial Project Lady. People come to her with “what if this?” and “how would I do that?,” so as she began plotting the decor projects that would lend personality and memorable details to her own big day, she figured she should use her employer’s light-filled second-floor classroom space to share resources and ideas with other engaged folk and party people.

Salvage Bride is intended to help you find and transform previously used materials into cake stands, candelabras, cool signage, name card displays, and really, anything your ceremony or reception requires.

Check the slideshow here for some projects that Bair was elbow deep in on the day I met up with her, and then email sarahk (at) re-store.org to reserve your spot on the 13th.

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Tags: Design, Weddings, Receptions, Locally Made, Seattle Vintage, How To, experts, Ballard, Workshops

Wedding Wednesday

A Magical Event

Want your wedding to be magic? Hire a magician.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Feb 17, 2010 at 07:30AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

It’s probably best if no one gets sawed in half, but couldn’t a card trick or three put a little charge into your cocktail hour?

At the core of every wedding is a party; a bunch of people in full-bore celebration mode in close proximity to food, wine, and music. But because stuff sometimes happens — rain clouds create pause, salmon takes longer than expected to bake, someone doesn’t quite make it to the altar on time — it’s nice to think about creating excitement, interest, and little pockets of action throughout the event. It’s hard to imagine the gall of a guest who might dare to feel bored at a party like yours, yes, but why not guard against downtime in general with some unexpected magic.

Yes, magic.

I have a friend who always hires a fellow named Alakasam to come to her dinner parties and birthday fetes (and if that sounds anything other than perfectly random, I’m here to tell you it isn’t), and moms and dads access kid-friendly lists of performers for kids turning two or three or eight all the time. But magic, at weddings? You don’t see it all that often—which is why it’s really fun to consider it for yours.

Today we turn to Nash Fung, a master of slights-of-hand, disappearing acts, mind reading, card tricks, and all-around alchemy. Familiar to many who work in the wedding biz, Fung makes a name for himself by showing up at industry events and baffling, impressing, and entertaining his colleagues.

Here, he answers a few questions about his chosen art form, and how it works at events like yours.

Caught in the act: Nash Fung at work

Wear What When: We don’t see a lot of magic acts at weddings around here, but you’ve said other countries are into the hocus-pocus thing.

Nash Fung: Most magicians, like myself, focus on corporate events and dabble in the wedding market. There are a lot of UK professionals who bill themselves strictly as wedding magicians, and their weddings are a lot like ours. I have colleagues in Hong Kong that perform magic at weddings, too. Now, they operate differently.

Chinese weddings receptions are usually sit-down dinners with eight or nine dishes served throughout the evening. Because of that, the magician’s performances take place in-between courses. They have maybe 5-10 minutes maximum each time they perform on stage. I had the pleasure to perform for my friend’s wedding in Hong Kong three years ago. It was not easy and I do not envy my colleagues overseas.

Wear What When: Where and how does your act typically go down? How do you corral the energy and yet let the party continue to unfold organically at the same time? Is any wedding too big or too small for magic?

Fung: Typically I start during the cocktail hour, where I mingle among the guests and perform what I call interactive magic. This is great because there will be people who don’t know each other, and my interactive magic helps break the ice and brings people together.

And then I’ll do something that is different from what most other wedding magicians do. Usually the most boring part of a buffet reception is the waiting. I developed this concept with Adam Tiegs (owner of Adam’s DJ Service): I will perform one short trick (30 seconds to 3 minutes MAX) for each table, and the end of my trick signifies that the table can go get their food! So it creates a buzz among tables keeps people entertained while they’re waiting for dinner.

I’ll usually stop during dinner, but I can resume when its time to take pictures with the newly weds, or if and when people don’t want to dance.

And if they want me to do a trick on stage, I have a few quick tricks that will get everyone involved and hyped up for the reception. I choose material that is short because the real stars are the bride and groom, not me. But sometimes, they just want me to entertain their guests and turn the spot-light off of them for a minute. In fact, I met with a bride recently that specifically told me not to put them in the spot light.

Because the way I perform is by interacting and mingling from group to group, my performance is completely flexible to the time-line or the size of the party. If there are more people, it simply means that I have to be there longer to make sure I get everyone. The flexibility and unique quality of the experience makes magic a perfect entertainment solution for weddings.

Wear What When: What kinds of tricks are we talking about here? Grooms sawed in half? Guessing whether Granny pulled the Queen of Hearts from the deck? Bunnies pulled from hats?

Fung: If I have to use one word to describe my magic, I must say it is modern. My show involves magic that is visually stunning and psychologically driven. The magic is done in an intimate setting for groups of 5-10 people. You will see magic done with everyday objects, such as playing cards transforming when they are underneath your hands, coins visually disappearing, one-dollar bills turn into a-hundred dollar bills. My personal favorite is to make guests driver licenses appear in my wallet.

You can check out some of my performance videos here.

I also do pseudo mind-reading, where I combine magic and psychology. You will see me read the guests minds, influence their thoughts, as well as make them the mind-reader. One example is to have someone make a drawing, and then I read his/her mind and duplicate the drawing.

Wear What When: What is the crazy, best, or most magical thing you’ve ever seen at someone’s wedding?

Fung: A Halloween wedding I performed for last year in Issaquah was a surprise wedding. Everyone thought they were going to a Halloween party, no one knew, not even the best man or bridesmaid. They had a costume contest, and for the last award, the bride and groom came on stage and announced they are getting married. Initially, I didn’t know how it was going to work out, but everybody stood up and cheered when they heard the news. It was the highlight of my year.

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For more offbeat ideas, see our Resource Guide

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Tags: Weddings, Receptions, Party Favors, details, entertainment

Wedding Wednesday

Wedding Wednesday: On Tour

Sign up now to see the sights and sites during Weddings in Woodinville on January 31

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jan 13, 2010 at 07:00AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

Photo: Joann Arruda Photography

Slideshow from our Real Weddings archives: Delille Cellars

View Slideshow »

Whenever I talk to couples about their ceremony and reception locations, I’m thinking of those places as opportunities to show off Seattle.

A wedding at the downtown Four Seasons, for example, means a spectacular view of Elliott Bay; a wedding at the Museum of Flight means a window on Seattle’s history; a wedding at one of the nearby wineries means a very literal taste of one of our chief natural products. If the last of these is where you’re seeing your big day take place, keep reading.

When you sign up for the Weddings in Woodinville tour on Sunday January 31, you get the chance to see Columbia Winery, DeLille Cellars (pictured here in a short slideshow from our Real Weddings archive), JM Cellars, Novelty Hill/Januik Winery, Willows Lodge, and Russell’s Barn all in one day in their fully dressed best.

Tables will be set, flowers in full-bloom, and catering and dessert details will be present, too.

Think of it as a Woodinville-centric wedding show on wheels. With wine. (Naturally, vino will be poured so that you may sample that service, too.)

The wedding industry pros at Taylor’d Events and Event Success are seeing to it that what you see is potential.

For more on participating vendors and the treasure that is wine country, visit the Weddings in Woodinville website.

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Missed last week’s Wedding Wednesday? Click here to Keep it Real.

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR: The return of Secret Lives — next up …. the floral designers

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Tags: Weddings, Wineries, woodinville, Venues, Receptions,

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