Cosmo Clambake | Wicked Wonderful Weddings

Cosmo Clambake Wedding

Let your guests experience the “Big O” at your wedding! Share some aphrodisiac pleasures with your guests by serving a smorg of seafood dishes highlighting of course the most romantic shellfish. It is sure to put love in the air.

It is the Oyster.

But, food isn’t all the pleasure this Cosmo Clambake can provide. Think of the afternoon sun illuminating the water and seagulls serenading guests as they stand at the Raw Bar and await your entry.

The sun-kissed warmth of this wedding is a paradise awaiting for any bride. And even if you don’t live near water, never seen a seagull in your life, you can still re-create this intoxicating Cape Cod paradise.

Venue

CosmoClambake Wedding Guide

FINDING heaven on the shell

Obviously, one of the best places to hold the Cosmo Clambake wedding would be a beach! A beach setting would give you the ultimate site for your reception. However, let's face it, some of us are not blessed with the ocean rumbling near our home towns or perhaps you want to forgo the beach with some other options. Here are a few other suggestions that your might want to consider to hold the Cosmo Clambake Wedding:

A Wave Pool Recreational Center or Local Community Pool
A Yacht, Ship, Boat or Historical Battleship
A Pier Front or Seafood Restaurant
A Lighthouse
Your Home or Friend's

TRAPPING your guests

In today’s busy world, finding time to gather loved ones can be a challenge—try to captivate your guests and make your sun-kissed wedding day an unmissable event. Its warm, inviting design will have your friends and family clearing their schedules to celebrate your love.

Choosing a coastal design is sure to win over their hearts and secure their calendars. Here are a few ideas to spark your inspiration:

SHUCKING out style

The oyster is famous for that beautiful gem - the pearl! Use pearls throughout your reception area. Place them on your tables, have your guests all wear pearls etc.

Use huge hurricane lamps as your centerpieces.

Use silver buckets and have your florist place flowers in them or you could place children sand toys inside them, a stuffed animal lobster etc.

You can do a variety of things with seashells - put them on top of your wedding cake, or place them in wineglasses for unique centerpieces.

Fill bowls with water and tint it with blue food coloring. Buy somefake tropical fish and float them in the bowl.

Scatter driftwood and other sea artifacts such as seashells and sandon the tables to create a unique effect.

Use tablecloths with different hues of blues. Select different blues foreach table to give the room a more optical illusion of the ocean.Alternatively, use red and white checkered tablecloths for a more casual look of a clambake. Or go very authentic with your tablecloths and simply use newspaper. Newspaper is widely used as the tablecloths due to themess a clambake creates.

Attach string fishnets throughout the reception area. You could alsoattach plastic sea creatures and shells to it.

Place fake lobster traps throughout the reception area or on buffet tables etc.

Place sand on the table and etch words on each table such “love’ and “forever” etc.

Buy an assortment of beach balls in a variety of colors and hang them from the ceiling.

For seating arrangements, use the names of seafood to designate the tables such as Crab, Lobster, Shrimp etc.

Have your guests dress in authentic clamdigger pants or the modern capri pants. If your wedding is going to be quite casual, have your guests wear cut-off shorts.

CREATING the crab shack

In the 19th century, North American’s were in oyster craze! Towns were filledwith oyster parlors, oyster bars, oyster saloons, oyster houses and oysterlunchrooms! Remember your budget though! Oysters can be pricey.

Economically, mussels tend to be a better buy over clams as they arepurchased by the pound. Since, the clam shell is heavier they tend to bemore expensive than mussels. Remember, a fresh clam or mussel is onethat has never been opened!

Here are a few different suggestions for serving up seafood feast:

Authentic Clam Bake Menu

Raw Bar Menu

SHORE tips & traditions

Oysters

Watch out how many oysters you serve! Aphrodisiac’s can be potent. In1498, His Holiness Pope Alexander VI forced his son, Cesare Borgia, to takea wife and renounce his role as a cardinal. Cesare hired a herbalist toconcoct an aphrodisiac for the night we was to marry. The bride and groomconsumed large amounts of the potion - only to realize they had been givena strong laxative instead!

Jewelry for the Bride

Which Month to Marry?

Select a month with an "R" in it for your wedding date! These months are the oystering months!

Toasting Glasses

For unique toasting glasses for your fiancee and you, wrap raffia and seashells around your glasses.

Wear pearls on your wedding day! The pearl is one of the oldest knowngems and for centuries it was considered the most valuable. Pearls symbolizepurity and innocence. Pearls are as much a nuptial gem as diamonds aretoday. Often fathers of the bride or the grooms give gifts of pearls. Orconsider giving your bridesmaids a pearl bracelet or earrings.

Matching Up Your Friends

Oysters get the best of both worlds! All oysters begin life as males and become females after a couple of years. And if they get tired of being a female, theycan switch back to become males again. Oysters appear to be able to detect ifthere is sexual imbalances within the group. If there are too many women,they change back as males as needed. When doing up your guest list, thinkabout the men to women ratio! Give your friends some opportunities to meetperhaps the love of their life!

COLOSSAL of thanks

A colossal amount of oysters can be found throughout the world. There areactually more than 100 species of oysters living in colonies on natural beds andbanks that can be found in most parts of the world. Give your guests a “colossal thanks” for participating in your special day:

Give each of your guests a lobster bib with your names and date ofthe wedding written on it.

Give away metal lobster crackers and wrap ribbon around it to make it more attractive.

Buy some small stuffed animal lobsters and place them into buckets(either little silver ones or kids beach buckets).

Have a custom scent concocted for your wedding! Make it a little heavieron the aphrodisiac side! Fill small tubes with the potion and give it to yourguests. Guests can use it in their bath, make potpourri etc.

Create individual candles and embed sea shells into the wax.

Seaside Candles Buy or create individual candles for your guests!	Lobster Crackers Give away metal lobster crackers and wrap ribbon around it to make more attractive.	Lobster Bibs Give each of your guests a lobster bib with your names and date of the wedding written on it.
Spa & Bath Give the gift of relaxation with spa gels. Guests can use in their bath and create their own oasis.	lobster Buy small stuffed animal lobsters and place them into buckets (either little silver ones or kids beach buckets).

ROCK-EFFELLE up the party

Oysters Rockefeller’s were invented at Antoine’s in New Orleans around theturn of century. So, why not give Antonie’s some credit for creating such anarousing dish by adding some New Orleans jazz to your wedding!

Some Jazz songs to consider throughout the reception could include:

The Look of Love - Diane Krall
What You Won't Do For Love - Mark Douthit
I Thought About You - Miles Davis

APHRODISIAC'S for you and your other

Try writing each other a love letter! The key here is arouse different senses thanjust touch. Words have a way of bringing out some wonderfully romanticgestures. Talk about the first time that you met, what did you feel, what were each of you wearing, what sparked that fire that you knew you couldn’t live without.

Or write about your future and what you see holding for the two of you, what your expectations are, what you want when you are both 80 years old.

Just write it and exchange your letters. Try doing this more than once also. Makeit a yearly commitment to exchange letters on your anniversary so you can neverforget what it means to be married to each other.

CLAMDIGGING into your soul

You probably have many thoughts that come to mind when you think of the beach,ocean, seafood etc., but here a few suggestions to get your soul to open up:

Just hang out for awhile. Either a hammock, porch or a playgroundswing will do. Close your eyes and focus on one of your wedding worries then, swing high and watch the worry float to the ground.Repeat a few times and by the time you are ready to slow down; your worry will be gone or sorted out!