My Little Etiquette Shop: Aunt Marge + signature cocktail + windy roads = Yikes!

martini

Road safety may not be on your wedding planning radar, but is worth considering if you’ve chosen a remote reception site and a potent martini menu.  Read on.

Q:  Our reception is being held at a golf club on a cliff overlooking the Pacific.  The view is gorgeous but I’m worried about guests getting home on the narrow, windy roads having had a few drinks.  What can I do?

A:  “Brides don’t let guests drive drunk” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.  Which makes a good point: you shouldn’t be playing key-master at your own wedding.  Chances are there are at least three reliable people who’ve said recently “if there’s any wedding prep I can help with, please let me know.”  Ask sweetly if they will help watch for guests who shouldn’t be driving home the night of the wedding. Arm them with taxi vouchers, or small envelopes of cash so they can pop folks into cabs. You can also give your bartenders instructions to not serve people who are, for lack of a better term, totally wasted. In summary: as with many wedding worries, this one can be solved with one wonderful word.  Delegate!

An amazing, unique woman. Are we surprised Betty Ford was a beautiful, confident bride? Nah.

What fun in our Betty Ford reading to turn up these happy wedding photos from 1948.  An ‘encore bride’ (who spoke openly about her divorce – not common in those days) she wore a gorgeous satin two piece suit with matching hat and shoes.  As flower folk we love the (now) vintage look of the ribbon actually smack in the middle of the bouquet. Why not? Double faced satin ribbon is so luscious – why not highlight it rather than hide it around the stems?

Enjoy the pictures, our thanks to the Ford Library for keeping them in the public domain.