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| My Community Bio | ||
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| Knot Name: soon2bmrs.stone | ||
| Wedding Role: Bride | ||
| Wedding Date: October 08, 2005 | ||
| Location: Firestone Estate, Los Olivos CA (live in L.A.) | ||
| Age: 23 | ||
About our wedding:We're Married!!October 8th was the most amazing day of our lives! Everything turned out perfectly and I am so lucky to be married to the love of my life! I had so much fun planning our wedding (as stressful as it could be at times!) and am loving married life. Thank you to all you girls for the advice and ideas along the way!
Professional Photos!The following photos are from our insanely talented photographer Jose Villa! I scanned them in myself, so don't mind the horrible cropping, centering job I did! Check out Jose's work on his site! (www.josevillaphoto.com)Non- professional pics!! My handsome husband before the ceremony...  Peeking out the window to see what it looks like outside...  My bridesmaids and I are being total dorks doing little dances to make all the wind outside go away...  The girls helping me in my dress  The girls drying their tears before getting ready to walk down the aisle  Bridesmaid's hair shot!  The girls getting ready to walk down... The cutest ringbearer and flowergirl ever! My dad and I walking down the aisle- he is trying to fight the tears! You may kiss the bride! Walking down the aisle as husband and wife. So surreal! My eight beautiful bridesmaids group shot group shot with our adorable flowergirl and ringbearer and our handsome "best dog" Chester. Cocktail hour..let the party begin!! Four of my bridesmaids wearing their pashminas I gave them as part of their bridesmaids gifts. Stealing a kiss during cocktail hour Guests at cocktail hour My handsome husband trying to get a bite to eat A shot of our outdoor living room set-up. It was such a hit! Guests going in to the barn for dinner. Guests seated at their tables... The height of the curly willow centerpieces looked more dramatic in person than here though... Dave and I at our sweetheart table.. Awwww..... The best man and his girlfriend at their table. My dad giving his toast. I love the shot of the kids at their kiddy table. This was officially the only time of the night they stayed in their seats! The kids enjoying their crayons and books. Dave and I posing in front of our ceremony area while the sun was going down. Another posed...walking down the aisle.. Looking off towards the sunset... Now we are getting the posing thing down... Awwww...Chester is getting tired... The shepards hooks and hanging candles in the trees looked so great after the sun went down.. Comfy shot in the lounge area.. Our first dance!! So romantic... My dance with my dad. Nobody could believe my dad's moves- including me! I was cracking up the entire time trying to catch up with him! More daddy daughther dancing... Dave and his mom's dance. It was the cutest thing.. Now the party starts! My hair was falling everywhere- but I didn't even care- I was having too much fun! Dave and his groomsman, being goofy! A shot of the cake Our getaway car! Getting ready to leave...  I love this shot- some of my bridesmaids at the end of the night taking their share of the krispy kreme donut favors and leftover gummys from the kid's table. Bye bye! Heading off to our hotel! Vendor reviews:Location: Firestone Crossroads Estate. Los Olivos, CALocation coordinator: Tonya SayleAlthough it is not technically her job description, Tonya acted like our wedding coordinator day of making sure everything ran smoothly. From the time of set-up to the very end, she was always working. Every time I looked, she was lighting candles, moving something that didn’t look quite right or coordinating the timeline for the dj and caterer when impromptu speeches were being given left and right. She was absolutely amazing. She went way above and beyond her call of duty. Also, Tonya was so incredibly helpful in the whole planning process. We would communicate constantly and despite how annoying I must have been at times, she was always there to help. I owe so many thanks to her for the success of our event. She is a wonderful person and so passionate about what she does. Caterer: Pure JoyPure Joy was fantastic. All the good things I had ever heard about them I was lucky enough to experience for myself. If you have hired Pure Joy, you will not be disappointed. From our first meeting, to the day of the wedding, they were wonderful. Lynette answered all of my millions of emails and was so helpful in creating an incredibly memorable evening complete with a dinner tasting menu with four mini-courses each with its own wine pairing, to warm cookies and shot glasses of milk passed later in the evening. The service day of was perfect. The cocktail hour with passed and stationary appetizers was beautiful, the presentation with the courses at dinner was gorgeous and everything tasted so, so good. Our guests still talk about the food. Pure Joy really listened to what we wanted for our wedding and it showed in their attention to every last detail.Florist: Lisa Carter, Behind the ScenesWow. Lisa made all our visions come together. She was so much fun to work with and is so very creative. She has amazing taste and beautiful things. She is so much more than flowers- she creates the whole setting. We met with her a couple of times and she completely related to the rustic-elegant effect we were going for and was willing to work with our budget. I had originally wanted to DIY our flowers/décor after receiving sticker-shock from some of the florists we had met with- and I felt good about this for a couple of months. Soon though, I wasn’t sleeping at night and had completely stressed myself out and realized I had taken on more than I could handle. Once we met with Lisa, and she clicked so quickly with us and our ideas- we were so happy. It was the biggest weight lifted. We knew she would make our day beautiful. Day of, we were completely blown away. From the bouquets, to Chester’s wreath, to the millions of candles hanging from the trees, to the lanterns and centerpieces. It was like a fairy tale to see it all come alive.Photographer: Jose VillaHiring Jose was by far the easiest decision we had to make in the planning process. His gorgeous website gives you just a taste of how beautiful his work is. To see it in person is unreal. He is truly an artist. Your wedding photographs will become as precious as fine art- with Jose- they may as well be fine art. I cannot say enough good things about him. Dave and I are not good at posing for photographs, but Jose made us so comfortable. He knows exactly what details to capture, the angle to capture them, the lighting that makes them beautiful. His artistic, photojournalistic style is unrivaled. We feel so lucky that we have such incredible pictures which captured our big day so beautifully.Hair/Makeup: T.E.A.MI have to say that I have mixed emotions when it comes to T.E.A.M.’s services. I hired them early because I had read so many rave reviews and Mar was extremely friendly when I called. I appreciated that they were a full package and did both hair and makeup- which meant that I wouldn’t have to search for a hair or makeup person separately and do separate trials. I felt really good during my trial and she did a really, really great job. The weeks before the wedding I had a lot of trouble getting a hold of Mar, mostly a result of T.E.A.M’s answering service I think- but it was frustrating during that already stressful time to not be able to talk to one of my hired vendors. On the day of the wedding the first couple of stylists arrived right on time around 10am. With 7 bridesmaids, my mom and I all getting our hair and makeup done, they had their work cut out for them. I started getting really nervous (on top of my already being really nervous for my big day..) as the clock was ticking away and only a couple of the girls had gotten their hair done. The other stylists showed up late (I was told as a result of the wedding they were doing right before mine running late, probably something beyond their control- but still affecting us..) When Mar arrived, I pulled her aside and asked if we were going to make it on time. She assured me that she would have us ready by 2 pm-so I took a deep breath and tried to relax. The stylists worked away on all of us and true to her word, Mar had us ready by 2pm. My problem with TEAM was I think that they did a rushed job. They were under time constraints and had to have us all ready in a short amount of time. Had the time been scheduled better, this rush would not have occurred. I felt that though I paid more than my bridesmaids, I received the same service as they did. I was not in love with my makeup- but by the time it was finished, there was no time to change it so I never said anything. TEAM was the one vendor that I was not thrilled with. That said, they did not ruin my wedding day, they did not do a bad job, they weren’t a vendor horror story like you sometimes hear about, they just did not do a great job and for that I can’t give them my highest recommendation.Cake: Katie Scott, Montecito ConfectionsOur cake was absolutely stunning and tasted amazing!!! When we went in for our tasting I brought along a picture of my dream cake to show Katie. I showed it to her and started explaining ways in which I thought we could make the cake fit our price range (like taking off this, and having less of that, etc.) She looked at the cake and then looked at us and told us she could make an exact replica for the price that we wanted. I was so excited. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it for the first time at our wedding. It was so beautiful- but it tasted even better. It was a dark chocolate cake with chocolate and white chocolate mousse and raspberries covered in a poured chocolate ganache. It was serious chocolate heaven. I’m craving a piece just thinking about it! So many guests were talking about how good it was. Definitely call Montecito Confections!String Trio: Dianne SiminskyWe used the string trio for our ceremony only. Dianne was so warm and friendly and the trio was fantastic. I wasn’t sure which songs I wanted and Dianne helped me so much in making decisions and was really patient when I went back and forth in my decision making process. The music the day of was beautiful- and the trio could be heard by all of our 150 guests outdoors while the wind was blowing.DJ: Colin, AMS entertainmentSince Dave works in the music business, he is super picky when it comes to this. He does not like a lot of mainstream music and he more or less cringes at the idea of a dj (imagining the really cheesy ones who like to hear themselves talk more than play music..) Colin was nothing like this. He was so professional and talented. We gave him a ton of music that we wanted to hear and he played all of it. He had a tough job too orchestrating the timing of the entire wedding. There was a slideshow, speeches, impromptu speeches, first dance, father daughter dance, mother son dance, that all had to be timed just right with the plating of the dinner courses- I don’t know how he did it! He made the night flow seamlessly. Also, the guests loved the music he played and were dancing the whole night. We felt good about hiring AMS, since they are such a reputable company, but Colin absolutely blew us away. I would highly recommend him.Rentals: Parties a La CarteWe decided to spring for the fancy Chivari chairs after much thought and consideration. Because our location came with a little more than 200 natural folding chairs (which I think look great, especially outdoors) and we had 150 guests- there were not enough chairs to set up for both ceremony and reception. We didn’t like the idea of people having to move chairs from ceremony to reception area during the cocktail hour (especially because the chairs would literally need to be walked right through the cocktail area to get to the reception area) because we thought it would be too much distraction and commotion. I called a number of different rental companies and Parties a La Carte had by far the best rental prices for the Chivaris. The people at Parties a La Carte were so sweet to work with- and the Chivaris were as gorgeous in person as I dreamed they would be.Antique car: Parties a La CarteLoved, loved, loved the 1933 Studebaker! It was so fun to ride in! The driver Steve, was so sweet too. He showed up to our wedding a few hours before Dave and I were going to leave-wearing a full tuxedo! So cute. The car was a great backdrop parked outside the barn too.Dress: Jenny Lee CoutureJenny Lee is incredible. Her designs are beautiful and her fabrics are exquisite. My dress was the third one that I tried on and when it was on, I just knew it was “the one.” I didn’t buy it that day, I went home to think about it and for the next few nights I dreamed about the dress. (Really, I dreamed about it when I slept.) I had never imagined spending so much money on a dress, but this dress was so special- I guess it is kind of a priceless feeling when a dress makes you feel this beautiful. This dress was it. Jenny Lee was the only place I ended up going to in my search for a dress. It was the first place and the last place. In the end, I am so happy that I got it. There is something pretty special about the designer putting the dress on for you and being there to talk to you about each design. Definitely not the experience you have when you go to one of those big bridal shops and you are being helped by a salesperson. At Jenny Lee, it is just you, Jenny and the dresses- it is a pretty cool feeling.BM dresses: Vera WangMy bridesmaids looked so beautiful in their dresses. The style was so great on all of their different body types. I fell in love with them from the Vera Wang website and my maid of honor and I went to Vera Wang at Barneys to try on the sample. We were really disappointed in the customer service there (or lack there of…) but absolutely loved the dress. My bridesmaids live all over the country so they each had to find bridal stores in their area which carried this particular Vera Wang and try them on. We ended up doing all of our ordering from one of these stores, Anna’s Bridal in Portland, OR. I called from here in LA, gave the sizes we needed and the colors and they came in a couple months later. It was a really easy process which I could do while sitting at my desk at home. The store also gave us a discount for ordering 8 dresses from them, and on top of that, there is no sales tax in Oregon! Score! The whole two colors thing is really just a result of my indecisiveness- I could not decide if I wanted them in antique gold or nutmeg to save my life. So I figured, hey- lets just get both! With so many girls, it ended up working out and I was very happy with the end result.Invitations: Julie Dysim, The Dream GardensI was so impressed with The Dream Gardens and Julie. I looked at the selection of invites that they had online and loved them all. They are all hand made and extremely unique. I called and left a message and received a call back the next day. Julie really listened as I described what I had in mind (and I didn’t exactly know what I had in mind.. I just ramble on about what I liked, what kind of a style of wedding I wanted to have, etc.) and within a few days she had a gorgeous proto-type posted online for me to see. I went back and forth on my decisions a few times and Julie was super patient and accommodating. She created the most beautiful invitations for us which we are still (after the wedding) getting compliments on. The boxes ended up being more expensive to ship than we had anticipated they would be- but our guests were so excited to receive boxes in the mail- their excited reactions made it all worth it.Calligraphy: Laura HooperLaura was great. Her prices are very reasonable and she is super talented. She had multiple albums of her work for you to choose which style you would like. She had our calligraphy done in under a week and it looked gorgeous! I had to email her about 5 times in this time period too about last minute changes with our guests and she was able to fix everything for us and was very understanding.Favors: Krispy KremeOur guests were thrilled with the Krispy Kreme favors. I was driving myself completely crazy trying to think of favors for our wedding. I wanted something unique, but also something that people would most definitely enjoy- I didn’t want the Jordan almonds or truffles (not that there is anything wrong with those as favors, I just wanted something a little different.) The closest Krispy Kreme to our location was in Oxnard so we had one of my mother in law’s friends pick them up on the way to the wedding that morning. I called the week before and placed an order with the manager which they had all ready for us the morning of the wedding. When you order Krispy Kremes for a wedding, they give you smaller boxes which hold two donuts. We ordered 150 boxes, and by the end they were gone! (Then again, my bridesmaids were grabbing them by the armful!)Miscellaneous:BM gifts:Pashmina wraps from ebay! They were $32 and free shipping since I had to buy 8 of them! The seller was zenjen and the wraps were so gorgeous and really high quality (definitely as good as the ones at Nordstrom that I saw and a fraction of the price!) My BM’s absolutely loooveeed them. I also got the girls Philosophy (my all time fave…) bath gel in “bridal party” from Sephora. The flavors were “Wedding cake,” “Bridal bouquet” and “Bubbly”.. they were so yummy. I also got the girls the pink sofia mini champagne cans which were so fun to drink and so cute in pictures. I got these at Beverages and More, but they can also be found at Cost Plus and Trader Joes (and sometimes on sale!)Parasols: orientaltrading.com.These were the best price I found online and the quality was great. They arrived on time and were in perfect condition. If you are considering parasols for your wedding- definitely use orientaltrading.com Ceremony tree chandeliers: ebayIt took me forever to figure out how I wanted to decorate the tree under which we were having our ceremony. I did a search on ebay for ‘shabby-chic chandelier” and got a million different hits. I found a bunch of really inexpensive ones made with acrylic “crystals” which were perfect. The “crystals” reflected and glistened in the light so beautifully and you would have had no idea if you saw them that the “crystals” were actually acrylic. Also, the destroyed white paint was so perfect for the whole scheme I was going for. The only problem was the shipping price. I probably could have negotiated with the seller had I ordered them all at once- but I instead ordered a couple to see if I liked them in person (paid shipping) and then ordered another batch when I saw how great they were. I bought the fabric ribbon in downtown L.A. for a really great price. (We needed a lot of ribbon to hang the chandeliers.) Our florist also used a heavy duty fishing line for extra support.Outdoor living room:My biggest undertaking. This was a project that was complicated and stressful and everyone told me I was crazy for trying. I was so determined though, and I have to say that in the end it was all worth it. I contacted a few florists to give me quotes. The quotes were extremely high, and also, the style of furniture that they had was not what I was looking for (sleek modern looks- when I was in search of puffy, comfy overstuffed furniture..) This was also true for some rental companies that had lounge furniture (furniture wasn’t right, price too high.) I ended up checking craigslist.com religiously for a few months, until I saw something that was right. Eventually I found a overstuffed sofa and chair in the style I was searching for- for a really great price! My husband and I slipcovered them and they ended up being just perfect!! In the mean time, I had also found a furniture company Renaissance Home (on third street) (www.renaissancehome.tv) which let you rent their furniture for 25% of the furniture’s actual price for 1 week. We ended up getting the chaise and the coffee table from them, and these items were gorgeous. Renaissance Home was definitely not the cheapest route- but since we had saved so much money on the sofa and chair, we were able to do it. The Oriental rug was an old one that belonged to my parents that they didn’t want or need, and the throw pillows we rented from our florist. After the wedding, we had the sofa and chair donated. For anyone who is interested in doing an outdoor living room, lounge set up- there are rental companies, florists, and prop rental places here in LA that do it, but the complicated route that we took works too- and you could probably save some money!Votives: Big lots!On big time sale! My mother in law bought out the whole store and we definately saved a lot of money.Paper: Paper SourceI must have been in and out of Paper Source a hundred times before the wedding. The sales people practically knew me by name! I ended up getting all the cardstock for the save-the-dates and menus here, the escort cards and mini-envelopes, supplies for table numbers and all of our thank-you cards here. They have great stuff and inspiring ideas. Be careful with the paper you choose to buy though, a lot of times the really heavy card-stock and textured papers is really hard to print on. (We took all of our printing to Kinkos, which ended up being a problem- because their machines did not like our paper and ate a lot of it.)Honeymoon! Rangiroa, Bora Bora, Moorea.PLANNING BIO..............This is a picture of the oak tree under which we will have our ceremony. I think it is so naturally beautiful it does not need a whole lot of decorations, but I will be hanging a large shabby-chic chandelier (I got on ebay!) from the middle of the tree over top of us. This is another picture of our ceremony site- I love the aisle of rose petals! The three oak trees where we will be having our cocktail hour. I'm planning to hang lanterns and or hanging votives from the trees. This is the outdoor living room set-up that I would really like to have for the cocktail hour (underneath the three oaks) A picture of the pole barn where we will have our dinner reception and dancing Another shot of the pole barn. It has three walls and one side is completely open so it really brings the outdoors in. A shot of the barn all set up for another wedding. I love the elegance of the chandeliers, but I am thinking of hanging paper lanterns from the rafters instead. I love the glow that lanterns give off, and I really like the varying shapes and sizes in this picture. A shot of the barn lit up at night. This is a shot of our getaway car. It is a 1933 Studebaker- I am so excited! I plan on hanging as many candles as I possibly can from all the trees! I want to have something like this on the ceremony chairs- I love the natural look of the moss Since it is a wine country wedding, these grapes may be nice also. (Although I definately will not go overboard on the grape thing..) I'm still undecided about my bouquet- but I think this one is really beautiful and interesting looking. I have eight bridesmaids and half will be wearing antique gold and the other half will be in chocolate brown. I would like green hydrangea bouquets similar to this for the girls in brown because I think the brown and green contrast is so beautiful. I love the idea of branch centerpieces. The cake will definately have to be chocolate! I like the way this one looks. I want to do my hair like this. Simple and elegant. This is the picture I used as the inspiration for my hair and makeup trial. Pics below! I think these half bottles of wine would be cute favors These caramel apples would be cute too-perfect for the fall season pretty star lanterns more lanterns.. A picture of my fiance Dave and I A picture of Dave and I on Christmas eve- right before he proposed! On our trip to Germany. The snow was so romantic! My hair and makeup trial!!!! Mar from TEAM hair and makeup did it and she did my hair exactly how I wanted it!! She was great! Don't mind the little red flower- we had to improvise!! On the wedding day it will be a big white one. , We just booked our honeymoon!!! So excited!!! Bora Bora and Moorea!!! 
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