WMR #11 - The Wedding Date

I started this post a long time ago but never cared to finish it. But I figure I should because I actually liked this movie.

The Wedding Date: 2005

Watch Date: 6/5/11

So I've been a little burnt out on wedding movies because of SO MANY bad ones (Hangover movies aside) that I was a bit afraid of starting another one. But finally Math convinced me to watch this one and wow!

Kat (Debra Messing) is coming up upon her sister's big wedding in England and the only problem is that Kat has no boyfriend. In a desperate last attempt at coupledom redemption, she hires Nick the gigalo (aka male escort) (Dermot Mulroney) to play her "boyfriend" at the wedding.  She does this because her sister's future husband's best friend is her lying cheating ex - or something like that. And...of course...even after 5 years or whatever, she still think she has feelings for him.

Pause for a minute and listen to this song...It kind of embodies the spirit of Dermot's character:

So now that you've heard this song, I can summarize the movie quickly. They're both lonely and they fall in love. The End.

I mean, I guess there were other pieces to the puzzle like how her sister was having an affair with Kat's ex. And Nick realizes that Kat is only using him to piss of her ex and make him want her back yadda yadda yadda. But it all works out for the best. Everyone gets who they're supposed to and the jerky ex gets no one. 

I liked this movie because it was cute, thoughtful, intelligent and witty. I can't give specifics because it's been so long but maybe I'll rewatch and report back. Or maybe not. Just know that this one IS recommended. I guess that's another good reason to not give away much....you're trying to actually get people to see it here!

The male escort/gigalo is quite the cutie though. And such great smiling eyes!

So I'll give this movie a 4/5 because, let's face it...it's a romantic comedy and you know that none of them are actually "Great". (Or at least very rarely). Which reminds me...I should change my rating categories to "Unwatchable", "Watchable" and "Rewatchable" heh.

Wedding Movie List: 
1). Father of the Bride  2/5
2). My Big Fat Greek Wedding  4/5
3). The Wedding Singer
4). Made of Honor
5). The Wedding Crashers
6). Four Weddings and a Funeral
7). 27 Dresses
8). My Best Friend's Wedding
9). Bride Wars 2/5
10). The Wedding Planner 1/5
11). Bridesmaids 1/5
12). Muriel's Wedding
13). Runaway Bride
14). You Again 1/5
15). Something Borrowed 1/5

16). I Love You, Man 4/5

17). The Hangover

18). Wedding Daze 1.5.5

19). The Hangover 2

20). Wedding Date
21). The Wedding Date

Move Over Diamond - There's a new stone in town!

One of these is a diamond...

This is something interesting that a coworker and I were talking about at work today. She was researching this stone called Moissonite (found from a meteor by Henri Moissan).  Most Moissonite is lab created because we don't have THAT many meteorites on Earth. Moissonite is a colorless stone like a diamond and a hell of a lot cheaper.

Now while I have to say that I LOVE my diamond and still believe that Ikuma is a non-De Beers company (or rather I can't find any info to the contrary), I wanted to give a shout out to this other stone for all my friends who may not want (or want to pay for) a diamond.

One of these is a diamond...

Here's an example of the price difference:

• 5 CT Ideal Cut, I Color, VS2: $1,422
  .5 CT equivalent Moissanite: $114
  
  Difference: $1,308
• .75 CT Ideal Cut, I Color, VS1: $3,545
  .75 CT equivalent Moissanite: $230
  
  Difference: $3,315
• 1 CT Ideal Cut, I Color, VS1: $6,671
  1 CT equivalent Moissanite: $295 

Explanation and more price comparisons on THIS site. And in the spirit of Henri Moissan I'll say, "À bientôt!"

And one of these is a moissonite. $5 to someone who can tell the difference (and explain why)!

On Caterers, Lawn Gnomes and Family Traditions...

Oy...Well...now that I have returned from multiple vacations, including a cousin's wedding in Virginia, it is time to start again with the wedding planning.

According to The Knot, I am overdue to pick a caterer. It says I should be planning my reception menu right now. Well, I talked to a couple caterers a few months ago when I was looking for venues so I have a general idea of how things are run and what the price will be. I've been putting it off because I know that no matter what I do it's going to be too expensive. I know that I'm going to have to make choices that are going to be hard. I know that I'm going to have to give up certain things in the name of practicality - DAMN YOU, PRACTICALITY?! Why can't I just make money grow on trees....

On the flip side, menu planning will be fun once I get over the initial shock of cost. We already know the style that we want: all appetizers, light and heavy. Maybe vegetarian, but I do like the idea of having seafood like scallops or salmon or something. I want it to be more veg because poor Math has to compromise 90% of the time for meat-eaters. So I think it's only fair for him to feel like this really is his wedding, too!  I think little tomato soup shooters with grilled cheese toast points would be really fun. Or maybe a light colored soup like mushroom. And baked brie. Or veggie sushi! And a crepes station. Ooh..maybe each food station could have a theme from a place we like...American, Japanese, French and Italian....What a great idea!

So many choices. =)

We want paper or compostable/recyclable plastic for all our dining-ware.  I think this might also be cheaper, but who knows. I should warn everyone that we are not going to be able to seat all of our guests since our venue is too small for 200 people. There will be open seating with a couple tables reserved for family as well as a few cafe tables and benches to sit on. But I think it'll work out. We are expecting people to DANCE!!!

Anyway, while I should be calling up caterers and setting up tastings, I chose to look into lawn gnomes instead. Yes, you heard me....lawn gnomes.

 I'm workin' on Math to agree to having these little guys as our cake toppers. They'd be wearing a tux and wedding dress with the standard red pointy hats, of course! Since we're thinking of an English garden theme with statues and vinery, gnomes would be just perfect!  Plus we can use these again when the wedding's over in our plants and gardens for years to come.

I was hoping we could find these 2''-4'' little gnomies at a paint-your-own-pottery place but so far the places I've called only have males. And that just won't do for this type of wedding. Since, I'm a girl...after all. =) So upon further searching, I discovered a lady on Etsy who "specializes in garden gnomes and lawn and garden ornaments" for over 30 years!  I'm hoping it won't cost too much to custom order mini-gnomes. Seriously...how cool would that be? You gnome you'll love it!

It's a little non-traditional compared to the more normal "humans" that grace the cake top, but so what? Who says we have to do everything according to tradition? Which reminds me...I've been thinking a lot about family traditions in relation to weddings.  My parents no longer practice the Catholicism that they and I were raised on.  This is great for me because I'm not being forced to get married in a church and I'm allowed to pick my own ministainer. Yeah, you heard me, ministainer. It's a minster and an entertainer all in one! But that secret is reserved for later. ;-)

So what other family traditions do I have to uphold?  Well, my mom has a 1975 (I believe) penny that she put in her shoe to follow the old rhyme: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a penny in your shoe." Needless to say, I get to inherit this worthless yet priceless one-cent piece. The only problem is that I plan to have open-toed, strappy 4'' heels. Maybe I'll tape it to the bottom. As for the rest of the rhyme, I am working on it. My "Something blue" will probably be the blue snakeskin on my shoes (they're also purple and silver!). My "something new" is the pendant Mom bought be in Santa Fe. Something old...not quite sure on that one, but it could be my wedding band which used to belong to my Grandma. And as for something borrowed...anyone want to loan me something? =)

Lastly, I am planning to uphold the (presumably) long-standing Jagiello family tradition of having a rockin' wedding; where people may drink a little more than they should, dance harder than they ever will (at least until the next J wedding) and close down the bar.  That, I can promise you, is a tradition worth keeping!

Some pics of the fams getting' down at Justyn's wedding!