My man & his whole immediate family moved to where I live after Katrina. (Or, as we call her "that bi*** !, Katrina.) I have never even been there, but I want to somehow honor his traditions.
My wedding colors are probably eggplant & celery/kiwi green with chocolate accents. Is there a way to add in some gold to pay tribute, or do the mardi gras colors need to be "true" green, purple & yellow?
I also read about the 2nd line, but his family didn't even do this at their weddings. I think it is a nice idea and could use the hankies for favors. I am just not sure my relatives, mostly from the midwest, would get it...and I'm not sure if they will even like the hankies (not sure we can afford 2 favors)...
OK, any advice on how to subtely honor NOLA? (I would feel ridiculous going over the top, since I have never even been there. He hasn't wanted to go back since he moved his parents out of the house, and I haven't pushed too much.)
One more idea was to do some Cajun food, but I have food allergies...most Cajun food has wheat, right? My man doesn't seem to care about the wedding, except the music and honeymoon, and of course marrying me! So, I think he would be OK if I didn't do it, but I think it is a nice guesture to his family, etc.
oh i think theres oodles you could do. Depending upon the style of your wedding you may need to either vamp things up a bit or tone it down. And even if you have food allergies you could still serve it to your guests. I don't live in New Orleans but I do love it sooo much!
Here's some ideas;
Serve chikory coffee and mini beignets at the end of the night mini po' boys oysters
jazz trio playing Harry Connick Jr songs
Maybe your favor could be donations to the Katrina relief- or the house registry that Oprah does for the houses they are building there (pots, linens,furniture, etc.)
You could incorperate cake pulls. These are little charms attached to ribbons that placed under the cake. Before the cake is cut the bride gathers the single women around the cake and they all pull out a charm. The charms mean different things. (rattle+baby, ring+next to marry, etc..) They have lots of resources for these on the internet.
You could serve drinks associated with New Orleans. Abita beer, Hurricanes, daiquris, Barqs, bloody Mary.
Favors could be pralines, or chocolate is the shape of a fleur de lis, alligator.
I think using subtle Mardi Gras colors is fine. sometimes it can depend on the formality of the ocassion as to how they are represented.
As far as food. Seafood, rice dishes (jambalya). There is a lot of French influenced as well as cajun food in NOLA. Bannas Foster for dessert.
One other suggestion, if you want to incorperate something in the wedding/reception that you think some guests may not understand put a short explanation of what is on a sign or in the program.
I would go on more but don't want to overwhelm you.
not sure i'd do hankies as favors. seems a little odd. and i think i'd stick to your orginial color palatte instead of trying to incorporate purple green and gold. our area are big on food and music, so you can play those up.
ideas: fleur de lis (decor?) pralines as favors cajun / zydeco / jazz / blues / mardi gras music mini muffalettas serve hurricanes as a drink option
LibraryGirl2 - I don't know that serving Hurricanes would be the most appropriate thing, seeing as how they were displaced by one. The fleur de lis is a great idea though!
I did not think of the connection there. Just in case anyone is interested this is a link to the bar that is famous for Hurricanes (the drink not the storm)
Hurricanes were famous long before Katrina. Nobody in their right mind would be insulted by one. They are waaaaaaaay too yummy to be insulting.
What about having a crawfish boil for your rehearsal dinner? We're actually having one this weekend and I can't wait. You could have a hot dog vendor set up as people leave...get him a Lucky Dog hat and shirt somehow and he would be a Lucky Dog guy. NOLA is famous for them.
tx isn't that far. we've brought over crawfish mnay times to houston and such to have a crawfish boil, etc, so i think katenw has a good idea there.
if i were you i think l'd play up the n.o. music if possible. nothing says n.o. like mardi gras music! and it's super fun at weddings. not that you have to do a whole cd or anything. one song would be plenty.
You don't have to have nice hankies for 2nd line. Even napkins will do, anything to wave! And if you decorate a little umbrella for you and you guys start it, I'm sure others will jump in!
I love the eggplant and celery, you could add a bit of gold it dosen't have to be soild purple, green and gold.
The groom's cake is a great place to bring in his tradition, maybe order a king cake or a cake decorated with something like the Saints, fleur de lis?
The idea of making the rehearsal more New Orleans style keeps the reception a bit more simple.
Don't you have any cultural ideas from your side that you'll want to incorporate? Or are you just looking at a NOLA themed wedding? Either way you can mix and match but keep it classy!
Aside from the hurricane, New Orleans is famous for the Sazerac and Pimm's Cup. Both native NOLA drinks that you could use (although hurricanes are much easier because you can buy the Pat O's mix).
How about getting the guys some fleur de lis or red bean cufflinks/tux studs from Mignon Faget? Or give small bottles of Tabasco as a favor.
Loretta's Pralines is an amazing praline shop in nola that was really damaged by Katrina and managed to re-open less than a year later. They have special praline wedding favors that are really affordable: http://lorettaspralines.stores.yahoo.net/weddings.html
evelyn, I can't think of any "traditions" from where I grew up. My family moved around some, so most of my traditions will be the religious ones in the ceremony..my family is very religious...there are also a couple cheesy dances I'd like to incorporate, such as come on eileen with my sisters...also, my BF and I just started taking 2step lessons...I thought it would be fun to end the night w/ a 2step then ask everyone to join us for the cotton eyed joe, which is sometimes the tradition to play at the end of the night at country bars, haha...plus, it's a fond memory for me, as my dad tought me how to do it when I was a little girl...<eyes swell> (OK, is anyone else who isn't normally sentimental feeling the estrogen surge?!?!)
I think all of these ideas above are great. I may be a little more subtle & do a bigger NOLA theme at the reception, especially since the groom's family organizes that.
NOLA ladies, I need your help!
My man & his whole immediate family moved to where I live after Katrina. (Or, as we call her "that bi*** !, Katrina.) I have never even been there, but I want to somehow honor his traditions.
My wedding colors are probably eggplant & celery/kiwi green with chocolate accents. Is there a way to add in some gold to pay tribute, or do the mardi gras colors need to be "true" green, purple & yellow?
I also read about the 2nd line, but his family didn't even do this at their weddings. I think it is a nice idea and could use the hankies for favors. I am just not sure my relatives, mostly from the midwest, would get it...and I'm not sure if they will even like the hankies (not sure we can afford 2 favors)...
OK, any advice on how to subtely honor NOLA? (I would feel ridiculous going over the top, since I have never even been there. He hasn't wanted to go back since he moved his parents out of the house, and I haven't pushed too much.)
One more idea was to do some Cajun food, but I have food allergies...most Cajun food has wheat, right? My man doesn't seem to care about the wedding, except the music and honeymoon, and of course marrying me! So, I think he would be OK if I didn't do it, but I think it is a nice guesture to his family, etc.
Thanks!
posted by cannotwait 4 months agooh i think theres oodles you could do. Depending upon the style of your wedding you may need to either vamp things up a bit or tone it down. And even if you have food allergies you could still serve it to your guests. I don't live in New Orleans but I do love it sooo much!
Here's some ideas;
Serve chikory coffee and mini beignets at the end of the night
mini po' boys
oysters
jazz trio playing
Harry Connick Jr songs
Maybe your favor could be donations to the Katrina relief- or the house registry that Oprah does for the houses they are building there (pots, linens,furniture, etc.)
posted by beesknees 4 months agoYou could incorperate cake pulls. These are little charms attached to ribbons that placed under the cake. Before the cake is cut the bride gathers the single women around the cake and they all pull out a charm. The charms mean different things. (rattle+baby, ring+next to marry, etc..) They have lots of resources for these on the internet.
You could serve drinks associated with New Orleans. Abita beer, Hurricanes, daiquris, Barqs, bloody Mary.
Favors could be pralines, or chocolate is the shape of a fleur de lis, alligator.
I think using subtle Mardi Gras colors is fine. sometimes it can depend on the formality of the ocassion as to how they are represented.
As far as food. Seafood, rice dishes (jambalya). There is a lot of French influenced as well as cajun food in NOLA. Bannas Foster for dessert.
One other suggestion, if you want to incorperate something in the wedding/reception that you think some guests may not understand put a short explanation of what is on a sign or in the program.
I would go on more but don't want to overwhelm you.
posted by LibraryGirl2 4 months agonot sure i'd do hankies as favors. seems a little odd. and i think i'd stick to your orginial color palatte instead of trying to incorporate purple green and gold. our area are big on food and music, so you can play those up.
ideas:
fleur de lis (decor?)
pralines as favors
cajun / zydeco / jazz / blues / mardi gras music
mini muffalettas
serve hurricanes as a drink option
where are you getting married?
posted by birdofparadise 4 months agoI'm getting married in TX, so hopefully some other NOLA guests can make the 9 or so hr drive!
Thanks for all the tips so far! I realize now I had only thought of the "obvious" and now I'm hungry thinking of all the yummy food!
posted by cannotwait 4 months agoOh, and here are the wedding hankies I saw for second line that made me think of a favor...(from another post)
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="64" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 48pt"> <tbody><tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt"> <td width="64" height="17" style="height: 12.75pt; width: 48pt">http://www.gemprinting.com/secondline.php</td> </tr> <tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt"> <td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt">http://www.szabospartysupplies.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=18</td> </tr> <tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt"> <td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt">http://www.rndstore.com/rnd_003.htm</td> </tr> <tr height="17" style="height: 12.75pt"> <td height="17" style="height: 12.75pt">http://www.secondlinehandkerchiefs.com/purchasehandkerchiefs.php
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
posted by cannotwait 4 months agoLibraryGirl2 - I don't know that serving Hurricanes would be the most appropriate thing, seeing as how they were displaced by one. The fleur de lis is a great idea though!
posted by ktdid23 4 months agoI did not think of the connection there. Just in case anyone is interested this is a link to the bar that is famous for Hurricanes (the drink not the storm)
http://www.patobriens.com/hurricane.html
posted by LibraryGirl2 4 months agoHurricanes were famous long before Katrina. Nobody in their right mind would be insulted by one. They are waaaaaaaay too yummy to be insulting.
What about having a crawfish boil for your rehearsal dinner? We're actually having one this weekend and I can't wait. You could have a hot dog vendor set up as people leave...get him a Lucky Dog hat and shirt somehow and he would be a Lucky Dog guy. NOLA is famous for them.
posted by KateMW 4 months agotx isn't that far. we've brought over crawfish mnay times to houston and such to have a crawfish boil, etc, so i think katenw has a good idea there.
if i were you i think l'd play up the n.o. music if possible. nothing says n.o. like mardi gras music! and it's super fun at weddings. not that you have to do a whole cd or anything. one song would be plenty.
posted by birdofparadise 4 months agoYou don't have to have nice hankies for 2nd line. Even napkins will do, anything to wave! And if you decorate a little umbrella for you and you guys start it, I'm sure others will jump in!
I love the eggplant and celery, you could add a bit of gold it dosen't have to be soild purple, green and gold.
The groom's cake is a great place to bring in his tradition, maybe order a king cake or a cake decorated with something like the Saints, fleur de lis?
The idea of making the rehearsal more New Orleans style keeps the reception a bit more simple.
Don't you have any cultural ideas from your side that you'll want to incorporate? Or are you just looking at a NOLA themed wedding? Either way you can mix and match but keep it classy!
posted by evelyn 4 months agoAside from the hurricane, New Orleans is famous for the Sazerac and Pimm's Cup. Both native NOLA drinks that you could use (although hurricanes are much easier because you can buy the Pat O's mix).
How about getting the guys some fleur de lis or red bean cufflinks/tux studs from Mignon Faget? Or give small bottles of Tabasco as a favor.
Loretta's Pralines is an amazing praline shop in nola that was really damaged by Katrina and managed to re-open less than a year later. They have special praline wedding favors that are really affordable: http://lorettaspralines.stores.yahoo.net/weddings.html
posted by NYmay08 4 months agoevelyn, I can't think of any "traditions" from where I grew up. My family moved around some, so most of my traditions will be the religious ones in the ceremony..my family is very religious...there are also a couple cheesy dances I'd like to incorporate, such as come on eileen with my sisters...also, my BF and I just started taking 2step lessons...I thought it would be fun to end the night w/ a 2step then ask everyone to join us for the cotton eyed joe, which is sometimes the tradition to play at the end of the night at country bars, haha...plus, it's a fond memory for me, as my dad tought me how to do it when I was a little girl...<eyes swell> (OK, is anyone else who isn't normally sentimental feeling the estrogen surge?!?!)
I think all of these ideas above are great. I may be a little more subtle & do a bigger NOLA theme at the reception, especially since the groom's family organizes that.
Thanks!!!
posted by cannotwait 4 months ago