Event Planning

My Little Etiquette Shop: Places please! This is a rehearsal dinner, people!

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What the heck? Who needs to rehearse how to eat, right? May is here and from New York to San Francisco, wedding guests are digging through drawers trying to find invitation maps they buried under receipts and take-out menus.  Many will discover that they have been invited to a rehearsal dinner, whether or not they are in the wedding party.  We had some etiquette queries come in about rehearsals and the associated dinners, so we’re going to take them on. Do you have questions about being a wedding guest? Write us! We love questions, rehearsed or not.  MyLittleFlowerShopPS@gmail.com.  Please put the word “Etiquette” in your subject line.

Q:  HI MLFS,

Why was I invited to my friend’s Rehearsal Dinner? I’m not in the wedding party, and I’m not family.  Is it rude to decline the invitation?

-Barbara

A:   Well, Barbara, rehearsal dinners have changed over time.  Many are still intimate affairs where the people who are at the actual rehearsal go out to dinner.  Others, however, have become parties practically as elaborate as the weddings themselves.  Many couples have decided that with guests traveling from afar, it’s nice to invite out-of-towners to the dinner so as to have an activity their first night, and see friends and family.  Others choose to invite those closest to them who are not in the wedding party to join the group to recognize their special place in the bride or groom’s life. Regardless of what your friend’s reason was, it’s a nice invitation, and chances are the food will be better than at the Motel 6 coffee shop so hey – why not?  As to declining, no it’s not rude, as long as you actually decline according to the invitation’s instructions.  If it says to call your friend’s future Mother-in -Law, you should call her, and not just drop your friend an email.  People are dealing with caterers and the bride may not have time to communicate (or remember) all such details. She’s a little busy right now. And, needless to say, thank her FMIL for the invitation.

Let the toasting begin!  More on wedding guests to come.

Malin / Balestriere Rehearsal Dinner
Why am I here? For the party, of course! Photo by Sean O'Shaughnessy

Proms, Moms and Automobiles. No, that’s no good. Hmmmm.

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The title will continue to evolve.  In any case, we’re celebrating Moms and Proms this weekend at My Little Flower Shop. (A wedding too – note to self- order more white roses). Moms across the Valley (and the country!) will fill with pride, watching their kids stepping out on the town in their prom dresses and tuxedos.  Wait, they’ll be stepping into…Automobiles!  Hey! How about that! OK, a stretch. Back to the drawing board on the title.
What did your Mom whisper to you on your way out the door?  Here’s a distillation of some advice and wisdom My Little Flower Shop staff gleaned from our wise Moms once upon a time.  Feel free to pass any and all along to your little darlings for Prom Night 2011, in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, or all across these United States.
–Behave like a young lady/gentleman at dinner.  The other patrons of the restaurant aren’t paying to have dinner with a bunch of rowdy teenagers.
-Be polite to your date. You asked them/accepted the invitation for a reason. Don’t abandon them at a table and run off to be with your friends.
-Please don’t roll your eyes at Mom when she take lots of pictures. You’re going to love having them someday, so smile and have fun for the camera.
-Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with, or let anyone push you too far. Carry enough cash for cab fare home, and you’ll always have an “out.”
Last but not least…
– Make memories. As Lee Ann Womack (also a Mom) put it so well:
“And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Celebrate your prom!
Photo by Sean McGrath - Lic. by Creative Commons
We’re here for any and all corsages, boutonnieres, and prom posies you might need.  Just call. (760)778 7111 (855)500-7111 (psssst…order something for Mom too).

Tulip Tragedy at the Royal Wedding! Off With Their Heads!

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Woe is the fate of these poor tulips, casualties of Royal Wedding Fever.  This article from London’s Daily Mail makes me sad, and kind of irritated – read on to see how a gift of replacement flowers was rebuffed.  I think the gardening company involved should tell the Royal Gardeners to sod off.

Off with their heads! 28,000 wilting tulips to be cut down and not replaced

By George Arbuthnott

Blooming awful: The unusually hot weather has caused the tulips to start shedding petals early
Blooming awful: The unusually hot weather has caused the tulips to start shedding petals early

Thousands of red tulips planted in the gardens in front of Buckingham Palace and expected to bloom in time for the Royal Wedding will be cut down after wilting in the hot weather.

The 28,000 flowers were planted last October but have blossomed too early.

Now staff from Royal Parks – the organisation that maintains all of the capital’s most famous parks – plan to chop the heads off the drooping tulips before the wedding, and say they cannot afford to replace them because of recent Government cuts.

The sight of the decapitated flowers in the Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens could be a major embarrassment as the eyes of the world will be on the Palace on Friday.

Yet when two of Britain’s largest flower suppliers offered to donate 20,000 red geraniums to replace the tulips, they were turned down.

Royal Parks said geraniums were too small to be a like-for-like replacement for the tulips and would be dwarfed by the 29,000 other flowers already there.

Delamore, one of the biggest bedding-plant retailers in Britain, and Thompson & Morgan, which says it is the UK’s largest plant and seed company, made the offer.

They said they would split the £4,000 cost of the geraniums because they both hold Royal Charters and felt obliged to help Royal Parks out of its predicament.

Wayne Eadie, owner and director of Delamore, said: ‘It’s a great shame because we really wanted to help. It’s also a shame that cutbacks at Royal Parks mean it can’t do something about this situation itself.

‘We were hoping to inject red into the beds and therefore have the colour of the cross on the English flag greeting the Royal couple as they return from Westminster Abbey.’

The tulips were planted last October along with wallflowers in red and yellow, and blue forget-me-nots.

Unseasonably hot weather caused the tulips to bloom three weeks early, with the result that yesterday most of the petals’ colour was fading from deep crimson to dark purple. Some of the tulips had shed their petals entirely.

Gardeners' World: The Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens outside Buckingham Palace will be seen by millions on TVGardeners’ World: The Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens outside Buckingham Palace will be seen by millions on TV

The Royal Horticultural Society’s adviser, Guy Barter, said: ‘The problem with tulips is that they are a one-shot deal.

‘Once they come out, that is that. In this weather their bloom will last only a couple of days and it could take only a week for all of their petals to be shed.

‘Royal Parks has obviously given it its best shot, but even the best-laid plans can be thwarted by hot weather.’

Royal Parks, which is overseen by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, says its budget has been cut by 36 per cent this year.

A Royal Parks spokesman said: ‘The tulip blooms will indeed soon be over due to the unseasonably warm weather we are experiencing at present, and these will be removed before the end of the week. However, the tulips form only part of the bedding display.

‘Vibrant colour is provided by the 29,000 wallflowers and 4,000 forget-me-nots, all of which are expected to be in full bloom on the day.

‘The kind offer of geraniums is incredibly generous. However, the colour and cover provided by the existing display would surpass any new planting conducted at this time of the season.’

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.