| About our wedding:
We're married!! Please ask before borrowing any personal pictures and credit my bio (and my photographer if applicable) if you post the pictures somewhere/anywhere. Questions? Page me on the Nor Cal board.
Link to my planning bio and stuff for sale:
planning
bio
The weekend was a surreal overwhelming blur, but I had an amazing time and left married...which was the ultimate goal :) All weekend our guests commented on what a fabulous time they were having (and about the great food and wine!) and in those moments, all the stress, excel sheets, and decisions were worth it. One relative described it as elegant yet relaxed and casual...how did she know that was exactly what I was going for! Plus...knottie weddings are always the best, no?
Below are (a ton of) my favorite pics from our super fabulous photographer Michelle Walker and vendor reviews. Thanks again to the wonderful Nor Cal knotties...best of luck to all of you!
Pro Pictures
All photos copyright to Michelle Walker
Welcome BBQ
 
 
The big day!
 
I was calm all morning until I sat down for hair and makeup
It took a team of people to get me dressed
 
Ready to go!
 
Bouquets
 
Off to meet my groom...
Meanwhile at the guys place...
 
U of M cufflinks for DH
 
Groomsman bout
We took pictures before the ceremomy which turned out to be a great decision for us. This is the first sight:
 
 
 
 
Our fab looking wedding party
Time to get married!!
 
 
 
The guys showing off their sports team cufflinks
 
Ready to start!
 
I like to think he said something like, "Isn't he the luckiest guy ever?!?"
Ring bearer pillow
So cute!!
I was so nervous (again) walking down the aisle
 
 
The wine ceremony
A very full glass...
It's official!
 
Cocktail hour
 
Our parents' friends loved the lounge area
The cocktail table arrangements
The line of escort cards
 
 
 
 
The reception room all set up
I absolutely loved the centerpieces
 
 
 
 
The chandelier garland was one of my favorite details
 
 
Being introduced: one of the best moments of the night
DH was nervous about the first dance, so we got it out of the way early
The food was so good! We started with a stacked heirloom tomato salad
My dad's speech (mainly focusing on what a bad driver I am)
My MOH giving her speech
After the entree, we had a cheese course. We were in Sonoma after all...
Dancing with my dad with our wedding party looking on
 
We seriously needed a tutorial in cake cutting
Port station with chocolate dipped strawberries
The night went by so quickly...
A Few Non Pro Pics...
The ceremony set up
I LOVED the aisle!
Program placed on each seat
My brother giving his reading
We're married...bring on the drinks!
Specialty cocktail bar
Laughing through our first dance. I shudder to think what it would have been like without lessons.
 
Table set up
Our group (1 of 4) on the wine tour the next day
Lunch on the wine tour, all 4 groups met up at Castle Winery
Honeymoon sunset...it was hard to come back to reality
Vendor Reviews
Please note that the following are my experiences alone; while I had communication “issues” with a handful of my vendors (ie waiting several weeks- not days here, people- for a response), the results the day of far exceeded my expectations. We had an amazing wedding which was in large part due to the contributions of the people below.
Site
Sonoma Mission Inn- Highly, Highly Recommend
The SMI is a Fairmont property and while I don’t know of any other knotties who used or are using the venue, they do a lot of weddings. I actually liked this aspect as they are not only experts, but were incredibly accommodating to all of my unique requests and weird ideas. In fact, they basically said yes to everything I suggested. The property is gorgeous, like a little Spanish mission oasis in Sonoma and I loved all the details of the reception room…the iron chandelier, fireplace, beamed ceiling, etc. We stayed on site for 4 nights and the experience was perfect: all of my bridesmaids got ready in our suite, after the wedding we moved to the beautiful lobby bar, and spent the next afternoon hanging out at the pool.
Planning with Traci, my sales manager, was a good experience. She was very knowledgeable and made great suggestions. The day of, all the spaces we used looked beyond amazing. The ceremony site, cocktail hour lawn, and especially the ballroom were absolutely perfect. And the food…it was fantastic! Our guests are still raving about the meal weeks later, it was seriously that good and much better than any wedding meal I’ve ever had (and even better than our tasting). The chef worked with me to create the perfect menu and the presentation was exactly as I had envisioned. I can’t gush about this place enough, it was perfect for us! And, as an added bonus, now DH and I have a great place to spend our anniversaries
Photographer
Michelle Walker- Highly Recommend
I love Michelle! At our first meeting, we clicked immediately and hired her on the spot. Besides being insanely talented, she is also incredibly fun, cool, and an all around calming presence. On the wedding day, I hardly noticed her or her assistant which to me, is the sign on the consummate professional. I can’t wait to see the pro pics! We also had Michelle shoot our RD and I love that we will have more amazing photos of our friends and family in a completely different setting. What else can I say, she rocks!
Videographer
Bliss Video Productions- Highly Recommend
Besides being incredibly talented (beyond words, really…Modern Bride named her one of their top trendsetters this year), Kristen is also super nice, understanding, and easy to work with. Her videos’ artistic style, music, and editing blow “regular” wedding videos out of the water. The wait for the final product is long (8 months), but I have no doubt that it will be worth it. There are so many moments that I missed and I’m excited to see what Kristen and her editing team put together.
Flowers
Fleurs de France- Highly Recommend
I hired Jessica after reviewing her online portfolio (she sent me additional pictures) and a couple of phone consultations…I really liked the style of her work and found several examples that were in line with what I wanted. She is definitely an artist and while I provided her with many, many examples of things I liked, I got the feeling that she kind of wanted to take my vision and run with it. And that’s exactly what she did! The final product was so freaking amazing I could hardly stand it. When I walked into the reception room, I was literally speechless everything looked so, so good…her efforts were obvious and even DH thought she was worth very penny (and, admittedly, there were a lot of pennies). While I loved everything, I was completely enamored with my bouquet and the chandelier garlands. Simply amazing.
Cake
Branching Out Cakes- Recommend
We tasted a lot of cakes. A LOT. Jill’s were the best and as an added bonus, the most reasonable. I changed the design of the cake twice (!) and she never seemed even remotely annoyed. I loved my cake…it was simple and understated, exactly what I wanted. She replicated the lace pattern from my dress using just a couple of photos and I thought it came out great. And, at the end of the night, all the cake was gone! DH’s mom couldn’t stop talking about it all weekend…her cake is really, really tasty! My fab cake topper is from Very Different Cakes.
Ceremony and cocktail hour music
Davis Ramey- Recommend
I honestly don't remember any of the music except my processional song (Nora Jones' Come Away With Me) which sounded amazing. Davis is easy to work with and reasonably priced. No complaints.
DJ
Joe Cannizzaro- Can't Recommend At All
The only vendor that didn’t meet my expectations even though he had, in my opinion, the easiest job (play songs from my very comprehensive list). He was unorganized, botched our introduction, and was plagued by several “technical” difficulties. To make matters worse, instead of rising to the occasion and handling the situation like a professional, he seemed completely rattled all night. It wasn’t a total disaster, though: for the most part he stuck to the list and since we didn’t ask/allow him to make any announcements (outside of the intro), I didn’t have to worry about that. The dance floor was packed all night, proof that I did in fact have an eighties-loving crowd just as I suspected (not bad for a whole lot of “non-dancer” types).
Officiant
Reverend Blane Ellsworth- Highly Recommend
It was a little strange hiring someone to marry us that we’d never met, but we decided we needed to go the “professional” route even though I loved the idea of having a friend or family member perform the ceremony. Well, after our first meeting, Rev Ellsworth drafted a thoughtful and personalized ceremony for us and I knew we had made the right decision. The day of, he literally had our guests captivated by his style and wording choices. All night guests were asking me where I found him (a few thought he was an actor!). He definitely created a personal and unique wedding and was worth his higher than normal fee (and then some!)
Lighting Design
Illusions Lighting Design- Recommend
Lighting can make a huge difference in the look and feel of your reception. The secret must be out because every company I contacted took forever to get back to me. Granted, I started working on this about 4 months before my wedding, which corresponded with the start of the big wedding season, but the waits were really irritating. I ended up going with Illusions because they had worked at the SMI dozens of times (although I waited 2 months for a contract!). Larry sent the most thoughtful and personalized proposal I received during the whole planning process. He really got my “vision” and I trusted that he would make the space look amazing…even if he was impossible to get a hold of. The day of, the spaces (reception room and patio) looked great…in addition to the flowers and specialty linens, they really were transformed into something beyond my expectations. I am so glad we decided to spring for professional lighting.
Favors
Cocoa Bella- Recommend
Cocoa Bella is an adorable chocolate shop on Union Street with an outstanding selection. Their 4 piece boxes start at $5 and, in my opinion, made the perfect favor. You can create an assortment from any of their over 200 chocolates, although I went with one of the standards because by the time we got around to favors, I just couldn’t make any more decisions. And, because I’m type A, I opted to pay extra for brown boxes (the labels are from myownlabels.com). Their chocolates are the best in the city and at the end of the night there wasn’t one box remaining.
Dress and alterations
Marina Morrison- Recommend
This has to be the prettiest, most relaxing dress salon in the city. Karen, the owner, handled my order and she was a delight. I also had my alterations done in house and after a few “conversations” about what I wanted, we were finally on the same page. The only issue was that my dress ended up being too long for the grass (it worked great on a solid service, but I was tripping on it up the aisle and during the cocktail hour). This is something I wish I would have discussed with them in greater detail. Oh, and I lost a bit of weight in the days before so it was a little big on top (should have eaten more!). The dress was designed by Richard Glasgow and I absolutely loved wearing it. In fact, every one of his dresses that I tried on was fabulous…the fabrics, details, and construction are all top of the line. Too bad he retired in July…
Accessories
Haute Bride- Highly Recommend
I had to add a rave for Haute Bride. Lindsie Jones, the owner, is one of the nicest people I encountered in the wedding industry. Her jewelry designs are gorgeous and I could easily spend an entire afternoon browsing through all of the lovely pieces. All in all, I picked up my earrings and a hair piece on my first trip, fun necklaces for the bridesmaids during the Union Street fair, a custom hair pin for my mom a bit later, and a bracelet at the last minute that Lindsie designed with me. Obviously, I’m a fan! I am still enamored with my accessories and know that I will get to wear them again and again.
Vera Wang purchased through Anna’s Bridal in Portland, OR- Mixed Recommendation
My 4 bridesmaids live in 3 different states on the east coast, so I didn’t really need to order the dresses locally. Once the BMs had decided on a dress, I looked around a bit and found the best deal at Anna’s: $25 less plus a 20% discount for ordering 4 (?) and no sales tax. Anna’s is very busy and unorganized…I stopped expecting them to call me back (didn’t even get a call when the dresses arrived) and realized I would have to be the one to stay on top of things. 3 of the 4 dresses shipped about a week late; the fourth dress was delayed over a month (!) and I still have no idea why. Thankfully, we ordered 5 months before the wedding so had time for this snafu. My other issue was with the sizing. I had read that VW dresses run big and expressed this to Anna (I was afraid the BMs would have to spend big $ on alterations). Anna assured me that she was an expert with the VW size chart and not to worry. No such luck. All needed alterations beyond just the length. The dresses themselves were beautiful…I wish I had somewhere to wear it, I wanted one, too!
Groomsmen suits
Black Tie- Recommend
After reading so many horror stories about tux rentals, I was prepared for the worst. Luckily, we had a great experience: wonderful customer service and a very knowledgeable sales staff. Plus, they offered extra services that I didn’t expect from a rental business. We ended up going with black suits and the guys looked great! Groom’s tie and shirt from Thomas Pink- highly recommended! Everyone else from J Crew or Banana Republic; they wore their own shirts and shoes (rental shoes…ick!).
Hair and make-up
Lisa Zomer- Highly Recommend
Lisa is another of those vendors that is pretty hard to get a hold of. She does a lot of commercial work which keeps her on location and very busy. Additionally, she doesn’t book weddings more than three months in advance…which works if you are like me and unhappy with your first trial so still looking closer to the actual date. Lisa’s really sweet and relaxed; at my trial, she acted as if she had all the time in the world to talk about my wedding and the look I wanted. If you are someone who does not normally wear a lot of makeup (or any), I HIGHLY suggest going the airbrush route. The day of, she was so much fun to be around and everyone (including my very picky and stressed mother) was happy with the results! And, my hair and makeup stayed put all night which was very convenient since I didn’t as much as think about visiting the bathroom until the reception was over.
Save the dates and invitations
A Day in May- Highly Recommend
Designing the invitations was my favorite part of wedding planning. Eve and Leslie are incredibly talented, accommodating, and just all around nice people. Their response time is absolutely lighting fast…I would make changes to the proof and have the updates the next day. I felt like their only customer, even though they are very busy. I absolutely loved the final products, especially the invitations which were beyond amazing. Seriously amazing. And, I received TONS of compliments on them; I think they set the perfect “casual but elegant” tone for our wedding weekend. I was prepared to pay $$ since I knew I wanted custom design and letterpress. We did, however, completely blow the budget due to a venue change (had to reprint the save the dates) and an error on the invites which I somehow missed during the numerous rounds of proofs (so those had to be reprinted, too). Oh well, they were beautiful and worth every penny.
Programs
Cards de Luxe- Recommend
Due to the above mentioned busting of the paper budget, there was no way I could use A Day In May for my day-of paper goods (besides, letterpressing menus seems a bit much for something that is going to be tossed at the end of the night). Enter Susanne. I sent her the pdf file of my invites and she was able to match the design perfectly. She created and printed my super fabulous fan programs (I loved the way they came out) and sent me the border that I used on my DIY items (menus, table signs, and welcome packets). Her response time is pretty slow (excruciatingly slow when compared to A Day In May), but I had started the process early enough that it didn’t cause any stress.
Rehearsal Dinner
Swiss Hotel Sonoma- Recommend
Chris Estes- Highly Recommend
The owner is a bit aggressive and inflexible, but his managers were great. I had absolutely no worries that everything would run smoothly. My coordinator and her assistant were able to access the patio area before our rehearsal to decorate which was perfect since everything was DIY. The food was actually very good (better than I expected) and the patio looked great. The bar bill was much higher than I was anticipating, but maybe our guests were just in a drinking mood. We also hired a local musician, Chris Estes, to play for the event…this turned out to be a great decision on our part. His music fit perfectly with the vibe of the night. Plus, not having the added stress of one more thing to take care of was worth twice his fee!
Wine Tour
California Wine Tours- Mixed Recommendation
We used CA Wine Tours to provide transportation for the wine tour the day after the wedding. My rep, Soo, was initially easy to work with. But, the closer we got to the wedding the harder she was to get a hold of and she basically stopped returning emails all together. This caused MAJOR stress. However, I was already in over my head with the wine tour…we rented 4 limo busses and divided our guests into groups of 15-20ish. Then, I set up 4 different itineraries (so we wouldn’t all converge on one place together except for the last place) and personally visited each winery beforehand to get approval for our group…some wineries don’t love the busses. To top it off, I loaded each bus with water, champagne, and included a picnic lunch at the last stop. It was a lot of work, insanely expensive, and quite possibly the worst idea I have ever had…but, our guests really enjoyed it and I thought it was a pretty unique experience and perfect for our wine country wedding. Plus, it was so nice to have another day to spend with all of our friends and family who had traveled so far for our wedding.
Day of Coordinator
Kathryn Kalabokes- Highly Recommend
We hired Kathryn as our “weekend of” coordinator…she was at the rehearsal, RD, wedding, and the wine tour the following day. Kathryn was great in the weeks leading up to the wedding. She responds to questions almost immediately and I really enjoyed my visits to her cute SF office. The weekend of, she was amazing. Along with her staff, she carried out my vision PERFECTLY (every detail), kept us generally running on time, and dealt with my basket case DJ. Perhaps the best decision I made.
A special thank you to calicayman, fabriezy, luojjang, MGH, and crystal2006
Happy Planning! |
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