Walking on Broken Glass

When you sit down to plan your wedding, first you think about the date, then the venue, then maybe the band...you ask for referrals from friends, because these are the essential components of the evening.

You loved your friend Emily's flowers, so you use her florist, you danced your butt off at your friend Jen's wedding, so you use her band. After the necessities are finalized and you have picked the best of your friends' vendors, you begin to wonder "what will make my wedding A) different from everyone else's and B) better! Maybe you will have speciality cocktails passed around at cocktail hour, maybe you will have everything from the hand towels in the bathroom to the valet tickets monogrammed, perhaps you will hire cirque du soliei entertainers to perform!

Be forewarned...all of these "extras" that in your head will make your wedding worth talking about for years to come will also add on major dollars.

Once upon a time there was an ice bar....aka for my own wedding! I decided (I was convinced by my con artist florist), that an ice bar as well as a coffee table made from ice were essential components of my New Years Eve wedding.

What could be cooler (pun intended) than my guests stepping up to a crystal clear ice sculpture to order their martinis and mixed drinks?

It seemed to fit with my concept of the evening, which also included boas for the ladies and New Years Eve fedoras for the men. The ice bar was definitely the talk of the evening....not because it was the best thing anyone has ever seen, or because it made my wedding significantly more fun....but because in addition to the breaking of the glass which commenced the night....there was glass broken throughout the entire evening.

Picture this...you take a sip of your newly shaken cosmo, place it down for a second to pull up your strapless dress...and whooppsss...in one second the cosmo is on your new Jimmy Choos with glass confetti strewn at your feet. Yes, at my wedding there was more broken glass than at most Jewish weddings...maybe it will bring me good luck in the long run, but totally unnecessary. I don't even have to mention the cost associated with having two self sustaining pieces of ice furniture...you can figure that out on your own.

No matter what your 'ice bar' may be....think long and hard before you commit to spending more money on these 'extras' that no one will remember ...other then if they find glass in their feet the next morning.