Oh, Calistoga

Oh how I love Calistoga. It's a beautiful area, cute little town, and fresh as a daisy. I especially love all the hills and valleys, how the homes are tucked here and there, at least where I have spent most of my time there.

Having a wedding and reception at the family compound can be a precious experience, not to mention a memory you can walk through over and over again throughout your lifetime. It can also be a nightmare. Carefully weigh all the facts, account for each detail as mini events, consider the flow of each and every minute. You should consider consulting a professional for this rather than guessing.



This particular wedding was, as you guessed it, at the family compound. Beautiful and charming, no doubt about it. Parking, virtually non existent. Okay, you remember I'm fond of the shuttle idea? Still am, and yes they used it, only with full size buses! Note regarding buses: can the bus get up your driveway AND turn around. Remember, even if it can during the planning stages, can it when the property is set up for your event and with a ton of possibly inebriated loved ones wondering all over? Another note on parking. Buses, shuttles, or horse and buggy... you will almost always need SOME parking, perhaps for the bride and groom, wedding party, special circumstances, but most always for the VENDORS; especially caterers and entertainment, and you will want it to be in an accessible location for them to do their job, and hidden enough to not spoil the atmosphere of your cherished location.

Back to straight up positivity. STRINGS! Always a very classy touch. Duo, trio, quartet ... whatever is appropriate for the space you have to work with and are trying to fill with sound. In this case there was a trio; a cello, viola, and violin. Quite nice. They played during the ceremony something traditional and romantic, and again for cocktails, some upbeat stuff.

On to dinner....Dinner. You may find that I do not write much about dinner in general as for the most part it is all quite fabulously standard. It's really whatever you're into, no need to impress anyone with extravagance. But by all means if that's your style, go for it! In this case it wasn't the dinner that so much impressed me, but the ultra militant wait staff. They weren't just experienced or polite, they actually ran drills during set up! Yes, they ran basically a dress rehearsal with aprons and plates in hand, marching in and out in line like an army of ants. Unobtrusive and efficient. Necessary? I'm not so sure, but it seems to work for them. I can tell you what doesn't work...bad wait staff, not enough help, no help, or untrained help. These guys were great because while their style and efficiency catches the eye of someone like me who is looking for that kind of stuff, for the most part they go unnoticed, exactly what you want. The 'untrained' or 'inexperienced' help you often find scrambling or wondering, not getting things done in the manner you need for your flow to go the way you want it to. This has the potential to be disastrous. Consider a professional caterer, and check their references.

Speeches can be comic and leave your guests in stitches. Speeches can be very heartfelt and bring many to tears. Speeches can be long winded, redundant, babbling and boring. Be sure to screen anyone considering doing a speech. Make sure they have something prepared and appoint someone to screen what they have; perhaps even work with them to help get their message across. As back up have someone, the MC or a planner, prepared to cut anyone off and move on at your signal.

Are you an animal lover? Do you have animals at the family compound? Of course everyone loves your pets and your pets are so well behaved, aren't they? Well there is a time and place for this and it is not at your wedding or reception. Here's the scenario...Two large family dogs at the wedding. Cute. They start barking occasionally...during the ceremony. Still in a kinda cute ' wanna be part of this' kinda way. Now they're barking at your guests. Not cute. Now they're getting hair all over your guests clothing...maybe fine for you, probably not for your guests. Dinner. Sure, like I said your dogs are well behaved. But come on, there is succulent steak, chicken or whatever all over the place here. What dog can resist? Well in this case, they managed. Didn't notice how. Okay party time! Band starts up, everyone is drinking and dancing, having a great time letting loose. Including the dogs, only not drinking and dancing. The party is going great, everyone is having a ball until someone slips and falls. Too much to drink? Or did someone spill on the dance floor? Oh no. One of the dogs let loose, literally. A big doggy poo poo, right on the dance floor! Now not only is it on this poor guys shoes and now his suit, but it's apparently been there for long enough before the fall that several people had stepped in it and smeared it all around the dance floor. Oh the aroma. Talk about instant spoiler. Well it's true, it gets cleaned up and the party goes on, but did you really need that? No. Give the puppies a night off and let them get their rest. They'll love you again in the morning:-)

Location, location, location (with adequate space)
Strings!
Caterer with references
Screen speeches
Give the puppy the night off

And cherish the memories....