Bio

Our Wedding

We were married on October 7, 2006 at the Firestone Crossroads Estate in Los Olivos, CA, which is in the Santa Ynez wine country just about 30 min. north of Santa Barbara.

Our wedding really went better than we could have hoped, and my expectations were extremely high. We put our heart and soul into planning it, and incorporated lots of personal, DIY touches. We also had the help of a wonderful wedding coordinator, who helped us bring our vision to life. It was so amazing that I wish we could relive it all over again! At least we have these pictures…

Our Wedding
Wedding Pictures (Professional)
Wedding Weekend Events (Thursday-Friday)
Day After the Wedding
Non-professional Wedding Photos
Pre-Wedding Parties
Honeymoon-Australia
General Wedding Planning
Save the Dates/Invitations

Wedding Pictures (Professional)
Back to Top

My dress

Getting Ready at the Crossroads Estate (in the bridal suite)

My little sis and me

Putting my veil on

Can you tell how excited I was?

Mirror shot

It got very emotional when my dad saw me in my dress and veil.

With my parents in the bridal suite.

I like this series of heading out of the room.

Going down the stairs...

With my parents downstairs (for some reason really love this shot)

Making an entrance (btw, no one was out there but our photographer :)

Pre-wedding shot with my parents

Pre-wedding shot w/ my bridesmaids

Runaway bride! :) Actually, we noticed a few guests arrive (early) and thought everyone was there (turned out it was just one couple that had not taken the shuttle)

Seth gets his own photo session - he is so cute.

We call this the "Men's Wearhouse" Ad (where suits are from)- we decided on dark brown suits instead of tuxes to fit the relaxed, outdoor setting.

Two of the groomsmen - we got each of them personalized, Vineyard Vines ties in blue as a gift

Ceremony setup

Ceremony flowers

Our DIY programs.

I took the pic but Seth did the clever cropping.

Guests Arriving!

We chose school buses over greyhound-style shuttles. Looked so kitsch - love these pics.

Welcome beverage table. (Seth made the sign in our backyard using wood left over from our various construction projects and chalkboard paint)

Guest Book - two of our guests took digital photos to be inserted later.

Part of Spanish Guitar duo we had for ceremony & cocktail hour

Seth and parents coming up the aisle (music was "Sheep May Safely Graze")

He probably cracked a joke before it got serious...

My beautiful sister (Maid of Honor) (bridesmaids processed to "Canon in D")

Here I come! ("Moon River" was playing--a meaningful song for me.)

Seth begging for a hug -- he cracked everyone up.

I was so happy I thought I'd explode!

We had a nontraditional ceremony that we wrote ourselves (w/ some help from books of course)

We had 6 short readings. Each reader got up one after the other w/o prompting by the officiant.

Our friends read the Spanish and English version of a short poem I love.

My favorite part of the ceremony--we called it "The Circle" but it's really called the Declaration of Support

Our parents and siblings formed a circle around us and each read a few sentences they wrote (our 1st time hearing them). Starting to lose it here (and making a weird face!).

My older sister's statement made us break down. Waterworks continued w/ his brother's.

Getting pretty emotional... I was told the guests were all crying too.

My parents' statement.

His parents'

Seth reading the vows he wrote (that day!)

My older sis getting weepy.

Like this bridesmaids' pic.

My uncle was the officiant (deputized for the day). He is about to say...

You may kiss the bride!

Seth does not hold back...

We are married!

Per usual, Seth made me laugh.

Showing off my wedding ring (it's antique and I wear it on my left, w/ my e-ring on my right)

Our good looking best man/maid of honor (my younger sister & his younger brother)

Enjoying a well-deserved champagne cocktail

A few quick posed pics

Back to the cocktail hour- where my beautiful sisters posed for this pic

Cocktail hour eats (pulled pork sandwiches - yumm)

Our lounge area and firepit (it was primarily for cocktail hour but people used it throughout night)

Our "photo session" during cocktail hour

Bye bye veil... (after this we took a break to eat and drink a bit)

Acting silly (how ridiculous is my expression?)

Reception time! Here is a pic of our placecards

Seth came up w/ the idea. His mom wrote the cards. Our friend borrowed the wheelbarrows. Our coordinator assembled them onsite.

Love the shot with Jose's (our photographer) antique camera

Nice shot of the barn

Reception set-up - we mixed round and square tables

Round tables got low arrangements

Low arrangements looked similar to my bouquet

Square ones got higher ones w/ olive branches and berries

We bought the copper-looking containers online (bucketoutlet.com)

We bought burlap to add to the top of each table to add to the rustic feel. We made the wine cork place holders.

Tables were named by the renovations we did to our house (we had so many!). Seth made photo collages. (photo from a wedding guest)

Sweetheart table

Favors--totally DIY - we wanted to bring in our hometowns (Phila. and the Adirondacks) - label says Tastes of Home

Boxes contained Tastykakes, Choc Pretzels, maple syrup and maple sugar candies

Our cake - so yummy

We served Curtis wines with each course except the first course (paired with champagne).

We taste tested sparkling wines for a year - any excuse to drink champagne)

We had a multi-course tasting menu so we made menu cards (DIY of course)

Totally out of sequence but here is a pic of our invitation (DIY though had cards printed - we painted trees on each one)

Entering for our first dance ("You're My Home" by Billy Joel)

I was a professional dancer way back when, so I tortured my DH by choregraphing our first dance.

To everyone's surprise, we sort of pulled it off.

His brother's toast. It was very touching.

My sister's toast. She has an improv comedy/theater bkground, and did not disappoint!

Father-daughter dance to "Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)" - also by Billy Joel

My dad is too tall to try any dance moves so we didn't!

Mother-son dance to "In My Life" by the Beatles

We could barely keep people in their seats for dinner - people (and we) were dancing machines!

I seriously could not have had more fun.

Dancing fools

Cutting the cake!

I made Seth promise to feed me nicely (he did), but then I got him after. :) Not sure he found it as funny as I did.

At about 9:30, I changed into a different dress (JCrew!) and we did a swing dance/jitterbug.

My grandparents both died in the last 2 years - we were very close -they love to jitterbug so this was our tribute to them.

We had secretly taken classes, and only a couple friends knew about our dance. I choreographed a dance to "In the Mood," a favorite of my grandparents.

Lots of emotion from my sis, mom and aunt.

Mason jars we had everywhere.

Cool night shots

Wedding Weekend Events (Rehearsal Dinner, Wine Tasting, Welcome Reception)
Back to Top

The Thursday before the wedding, we had our rehearsal dinner at American Flatbread, a restaurant specializing in organic, local ingredients.

They are a working bakery open only on Fri-Sat, but they opened on Thurs. for us. This pic is from a typical night there.

We served salads, pizza and yummy desserts. We started with some wine in the bar area.

It was pretty informal--some people were at long tables, while others were at two tops.

Three of my Bridesmaids (on the tables you can see we had old fashioned milk bottles with candles in them for decor)

Family and friends of the family

Seth and his friends - 1 was a reader, 2 groomsmen

There were TONS of toasts, all in front of the huge hearth where they make the pizza. It was really amazing for us. Here are Seth's parents.

The groomsmen were hilarious - especially the one pictured - and at times pushed the envelope. ha ha

Bridesmaids...

Cousins...

Maid of Honor :)

My uncle, our officiant.

My parents getting weepy (everyone was crying)

At the end, we gave out attendant gifts. First, the ties for the guys, then after (no photos) I gave out personalized totes to the moms, b-maids and our wedding planner.

The next day, we had a wine tasting in the afternoon, which 50 people went on. We took a school bus. Seth was our tour guide.

First winery was Melville for a private tasting

We started with a guide outside.

Then went into the barrel room to taste about 6 wines.

We provided a cheese plate from Los Olivos Grocery (Seth's family orchestrated that)

My sis and bridesmaid Carrie (w/ me)

With my dad and sis

Our close L.A. friends

Enjoying the wine

It finished outside, where we tasted the last wine.

The day was off to a great start!

The scenery on the way to the next winery.

The next winery was Lafond

Lafond has beautiful grounds. It was also a perfect day weather-wise.

My aunt and uncle

Friends relaxing and taking it all in (and drinking wine)

Almost time to get everyone back on the school bus...

Apparently the winery's dog wanted to get on the bus too! (One of our friends had to carry him off.)

Everyone then went back to the Wine Valley Inn for the champagne welcome reception. Most people stayed there.

Some other shots of the Wine Valley Inn

Here is the area where the reception was--without 150 people in it!

Soon it was filled with our wedding guests--most people came to this event (sunset champagne reception is what we called it). These are college friends.

Seth's mom (on the far right) and her friends.

I love the pic of Seth's 90 yo grandmother with a glass of bubbly!

We gave a little welcome toast at sunset.

With 5 of my bridesmaids in one of the cottages at the Wine Valley Inn.

Our immediate families had dinner together the night before the wedding at the Ballard Inn. It was wonderful--I was so glad to have that time--and it was fun that lots of other wedding guests were dining there as well.

Day After the Wedding
Back to Top

We found a bakery in the area to supply food for the brunch. Friends of the family (one of whom is pictured above) pulled it together.

It was very relaxed - people were inside and outside (at the Wine Valley Inn)

The flowers were our centerpieces from the wedding.

There was a huge football game on for Phila. Eagles fans so we organized a party at a local bar after the brunch. It was so fun and the Eagles beat the Cowboys - yay!

Seth's friends enjoying the Danish-town of Solvang (hilarious!)

Wooden shoes are so cool. ;-)

When in Rome…

Non-professional Wedding Photos
Back to Top

Morning of the wedding--my shoes and tote bag (I had one made for all b-maids and the moms too)

My sis and bmaid after having their hair and makeup done

This is what Seth and his friends did while the women were getting all dolled up. The benefits of being male ...

Here they are at Melville, the winery we took our guests to the day before.

Notice Seth in the background checking in on the wedding set up :)

They even brought proscuitto...yumm.

Next they hit Sanford, the first winery featured in "Sideways."

Finally, a random foray into one of the fields. Definitely looks like they had fun!

In the lobby of the inn, ready to head to the wedding -so excited!

My sister and mom gave me a garter once we arrived in the bridal suite

Bridesmaids' bouquets

I had a lot of help getting into my dress and veil.

Another "Runaway Bride" shot. I was so afraid Seth would see me before the wedding b/c we were running late.

Our coordinator, insuring every detail is perfect. :)

Firestone house

The guys on their way to the wedding

Cocktail hour set up before the festivities had begun

Guests arriving

Ceremony flowers

View of the barn from the ceremony

My parents enjoying the cocktail hour

One of my bridesmaids (Sarah), wearing the wrap I gave all of them.

Our cocktail "tables"

My mom and my uncle, our officiant

Seth’s dad made the containers for our centerpieces out of birch bark.

Closeup of the birch bark container

Our menu card

Our favors

Here you can see our table markers up close--this one was Douglas Fir (the wood our floors are made of). The photos show us tearing up the tile before redoing them.

Placecard closeup

Our first dance

Big finish!

Listening to toasts

With Seth's mom

Enjoying our food at the sweetheart table

Our first course--tuna tartare with avocado and wasabi

We paired it with a French rose sparkling wine.

Second course- scallops in a beurre blanc sauce (paired with a Viognier)

Next was an heirloom tomato salad with burrata cheese(mozzarella filled with cream -soo yummy). It was served with a red blend (Curtis Heritage Cuvee)

Finally, steak with garnet yam and regular fries. We offered 3 different dipping sauces. We paired this with a Mourvedre.

Our cake

Those are SOME dance moves...

Seth's mom pulled Jose (our photographer) into a photo

Seth and my sis - I don't even remember this.

Our swing dance

The fire pit/lounge area was used all night long

Seth's parents

Seth with some of his friends

People did a LOT of dancing

Seth and his dad

After the wedding--our guests on one of the school buses. Alas, the party's over…

Pre-Wedding Parties
Back to Top

I had a bachelorette party in L.A. - here are some of us at AOC

More from that evening

Because I am from Phila., I flew back (w/ one of my L.A. b-maids) for another bach-ette

My bachelorette dinner in Philadelphia.

At this point we were in full bachelorette mode. :)

Oh how we loved the crazy boa that night.

Too funny. (My sis and me)

How sketchy was that guy? ha.

Four of my friends threw us an amazing couples shower in Hermosa Beach.

Sarah, the hostess w/ the most-ess, enjoying a pomegranate martini.

The spread was incredible - so much yummy food.

My sister and I enjoyed it!

I made Seth open the gifts for some role reversal - He LOVED his new knife.

Picture w/ the hostesses

I also had a traditional "girlie girl" shower--it was a total surprise--when I visited home (Philly) in June

My sis (MOH) did a great job - she made each table reflect my interests--purses, dance, food/wine, and Seth

The tables were decorated to reflect those themes (note Dancer Barbie on this table), and she and my b-maids got cute wine bottle-vase favors

I loved how the flowers looked, as well as the tables overall.

HUGE fan of the cake.

My mom was the official hostess, and she worked so hard to pull this off (as did my sis and b-maid Carrie)

I swore a pink-y girlie shower was not me, but I had a blast. I even agreed to wear a bow hat…

which was pretty hilarious…

and cheesed it up showing off my new gifts.

My mom bought this beautiful book about Mothers and Daughters and had written all kinds of things in it about my childhood, along with pics. Really touching.

Thank GOD this turned out to be a gag gift. I had no idea how to react until I was told.

With Alison and Carrie (2 of my b-maids) plus my sis (MOH)

Pics of my sisters and my mom

Honeymoon-Australia
Back to Top

Arriving in Sydney, Australia after 15 hrs on the plane. We spent 16 days in Australia.

Little known fact- Australia has insanely good coffee

First stop - Melbourne

Our hotel suite

We stayed at the Hotel Como in South Yarra, which was great

Train station

One of the amazing dinners we had out - Melbourne is like the S.F. of Australia

After 3 fun days in Melbourne, we drove to the wine country. And yes, I do realize we got married in the wine country...

We stayed at a wonderful place there - Chateau Yering - our hotel suite

We had a wonderful balcony overlooking the vineyard

View one morning

The vineyards there had really amazing architecture

We stayed for the weekend, driving around and doing some wine tasting as well.

And they were so GREEN

We did a tour here. It is Australia's Domain Chandon.

The views from this winery were astounding

Our last morning we took a pic of the "Great Room"

then did an amazing coastal drive called the Great Ocean Road

We ended the day in Apollo Bay, where the famous "Twelve Apostles" are

We stayed in a tiny fishing village that night, Port Campbell

This place looked so much better online than it was. Still, it was clean...

The next day we continued to drive the Great Ocean Road, and saw another landmark called London Bridge.

Apparently, it used to be connected and one day the middle fell into the sea.

Next stop was the Grotto, another landmark. And I am not referring to the one affiliated with Hugh Hefner. :)

It was about 80 that day (it was 55 the day before) and we so wanted to take a dip!

We made one more stop.

This is the Southern Ocean you are looking at, btw.

That night we stayed in a hotel adjacent to a historic mansion. We were flying out early, so we got there at the end of the day.

We explored the entire property (in a hurry), incl. the gardens

There was a walk through some odd outdoor "art" like this picture frame.

More weird art.

The hotel is on the right - historic mansion on the left.

Loved the lobby.

We could not resist a dip in the pool.

The next day, we flew from Melbourne to Cairns, then connected to Lizard Island. This was how small the plane to Lizard Island was!

Views from the plane were incredible

It gave me a new understanding of the Great Barrier Reef.

At last--Lizard Island!

The island is a national park, and contains only the resort and a research center.

Upon our arrival, this greeted us.

I was a tired, but very happy, girl at that moment.

Our room, a Sunset Point Villa

Relaxation 101 starts with this.

View from our room

Our first night we watched the sun set on the rocks.

All meals were included, and oh were they good! Breakfast one morning...

Oysters...

Lamb...

Their version of lobster, called marron.

We enjoyed many dinners in the outdoor dining room.

One day we took a boat around the island

We spent the most time on this beach. Those dark spots in the water are actually the Great Barrier Reef.

We did a LOT of reading and this was our view.

We also enjoyed a few of these...

The main building is behind me.

Seth hiked to the highest point one morning and took this.

You have a good view of the reef here (dark blue spots in the water).

There were LOTS of interesting creatures there.

This frog was on our balcony so Seth took a close up.

These were in the room as well

Lizard in our toilet tank

This was the scariest looking creature, though they are harmless.

Under the steps of our room...

A 2 min walk from our room led us to this beach.

Our last day - we did not want to leave!

Truly the best vacation ever! And an amazing honeymoon. Oh wait, .. we have 2 more days!

View from our room in Sydney. We arrived really late at night.

The next morning, we took a wonderful, informative tour of the Sydney Harbor, called a "coffee cruise." The famous Opera House…

And the Harbor Bridge

It was a glorious, sunny day.

All the houses on the harbor reminded Seth of the French Riviera.

There are sharks in the harbor, but that did not stop kayakers or the occasional water skiier.

It was Seth's birthday, so we had a nice lunch. Starting with, yep, more oysters.

This was the best squid salad I have ever had.

What a cool looking restaurant. They gave Seth a glass of champagne given he was the birthday boy. And suggested places to eat for the next day - the Australians are so friendly!

We then went to the aquarium and animal preserve.

That night we had possibly the best meal of our lives at Tetsuya's- a few of the courses...

The next day we hiked to a cool neighborhood, and ate at an awesome tapas restaurant for lunch.

Octopus--scary looking but yummy tasting!

We then did a tour of the Opera House.

Our last night!

More views from our room

There were fireworks for some reason that evening.

Perfect ending to a perfect trip...

General Wedding Planning
Back to Top

Our Location (Firestone Crossroads Estate) - we made many site visits beforehand.

Inside the barn

On one side there is no wall, so it is open to the vineyard.

The pic that ended up on our programs (so proud of myself :)

The "Rose Garden" - location of our cocktail hour

My sister in the far end of the Rose Garden

Location of the ceremony

My sister and I decided the most fun thing to plan during her visit would be the wine tour!

We loved Melville and decided we absolutely had to include that on the wine tasting tour.

A winery down the road, Foley, had amazing views but they could not accommodate our large group.

Still, we had fun tasting there and taking in the vistas. :)

Fess Parker Inn, where I stayed during the wedding weekend, and Seth and I stayed on our wedding night

It was great during the craziness of the weekend to escape to the pool to relax a bit.

Save the Dates/Invitations
Back to Top

First page of our DIY Save the Date

2nd page - expected weather and Friday events

3rd page - wedding info

4th page - brunch + options for Sunday

5th page - Hotel info (we blocked rooms at 3 hotels - all guests were OOT)

Last page - other travel information

We sent a winery map, card with our website, and the Save the Weekend of course.

Inspiration for our invitation (soon2bmrs.stone)

We wanted something unique, and also rustic. We decided to use burlap, stitch the cards on, and hand paint the trees.

Most of the ones we sent out were this lighter color.

Inside--we had a RSVP card, an Accommodations card, and a Wedding Events card.

We ordered the boxes and shred online, and bought the cards stock under the label at Paper Source.

We put the invitations in boxes filled with wood shred.

The boxes are ready to be shipped!

Vendor Information
Back to Top

Ceremony Location - Firestone Crossroads Estate
A budget buster because of the need to rent everything--plates, glasses, silverware, etc. However, SO WORTH IT. I honestly cannot even conceive of a better place to get married. The vistas are spectacular, the pole barn strikes that perfect blend of rusticity and elegance. Also, Tonya, Jill and Meghan, the coordinators, are extremely helpful and also very nice people. Even if you didn't add a stitch of decor, this place would wow your guests. The number of raves we heard from guests was really amazing. The location had a lot to do with it.

Officiant - My uncle
He was deputized for the day by the county of Santa Barbara. He did a great job!

Caterers - Mondial (Santa Barbara)
Food was a huge priority for us. Mondial came highly recommended, and the quality of food and service was certainly better than anything I have ever had at a catered affair, a sentiment echoed by our guests (some of whom are major foodies). While Mondial is not as good at the business side (meaning in terms of responsiveness), given the results, I was extremely happy that I chose Mondial. Also, Cynthia, the chef, is a really warm person, and dealing with her in person was always a pleasure. I think because we had problems reaching her and had expressed our concern about that to her, she let us substitute one inexpensive passed hors d'oervre for a much more costly one (unbelievable rosemary crusted lamb chops), which was great.
Cocktail hour: champagne cocktails - white peach puree bellinis and blackberry rosemary (yumm) - we could not serve hard alcohol because we were at a winery (universal rule at CA wineries as far as I know). We also served Curtis wines (excellent - Firestone's 2nd label - and reasonable) and sangria. We served 5 passed hors d'oervres: pulled pork sandwiches, wild smoked salmon app, lamb chops, a blue cheese tart and cornmeal crusted oysters. So yummy. Then we did a 4-course "tasting menu" with wine pairings.

Cake Creator - Decadence in Santa Ynez
Dawn is a pastry chef who only makes about 3 cakes per day--instead of the 8-10 of some other bakeries. It shows. Her cake was so delicious -I cannot wait until our one year anniversary when she will make us our top layer. We had 2 layers of lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd and fresh raspberries, and one layer of serious chocolate action - aptly termed decadence. We arranged for McConnell's ice cream in Santa Barbara to provide Turkish Coffee and Vanilla Bean ice cream to serve with the cake (btw, they sell this at Gelson's and some Whole Foods- totally awesome ice cream).

Florist - Santa Ynez Florist (Nicole)
I did love the way the flowers came out, but Nicole changed something up on me just a couple weeks before the wedding (a flower was not in season that I wanted - something she should have known and told me ahead of time), and her attitude about it was not positive. The florist also did not bring the proper hair flowers on the day of, and there was some chaos trying to get the correct ones. However, on balance, my flowers were really reasonable, and when I look at the photos, I am extremely impressed with how they came out. I also had an unusual vision in terms of the color scheme (it was inspired by a photo), and most florists really didn't "get it." She did, and it showed.

Photographer - Jose Villa
Jose is a true artist. He is actually the first photographer we looked at, but he was out of our budget. So over the course of six months, I looked at pretty much every decent photographer from Santa Barbara to Orange County, hoping to find one whose work I liked as much, for less money. Never happened. Finally, one of my friends said - you realize you compare EVERYONE to Jose - just hire him already! So we scheduled a meeting, and were both extremely impressed. We decided he was worth busting the budget for. We never regretted it for one moment. The composition of his photographs is top-notch, and he is keenly aware of light, which really makes a difference. He also has such an easy-going way about him that he relaxes you, something very important for "natural" looking photographs.

Disc Jockey - A friend
Our friend, Diallo, who is in charge of entertainment for the Standard hotels and is an L.A. club DJ, agreed to do our wedding as a favor and play whatever we wanted. He did, and he was a HUGE hit with our guests, who I think didn't end up missing the band (something we ended up having to cut b/c of budgetary reasons).

Musicians - Anthony Ybarra on Spanish Guitar
His music is so beautiful. We hired a guitar and bass duo for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Absolutely loved the processional music.

Transportation - School buses!
No one had ever done this at Firestone. Our coordinator, Rebecca, found a place and booked it. She made about 5-10 calls to make it happen, but it worked out in the end. We also used them for a wine tasting tour we took our guests on the day before the wedding. It felt way more natural to me than touring around in a greyhound style bus with tinted windows.

Invitations - DIY
We had the cards printed (done as a favor to our coordinator - normally the company would not do that), but made the invitations out of burlap. Our coordinator and my DH designed them together, and the three of us made them with some help from my FMIL, and one of my b-maids. We used an old sewing machine someone lent us. The stitching added a certain something I think.

Rental Company - Ventura Rentals (Heidi)
Awesome to work with, great selection, and cheaper than competitors in the SB area. Highly recommend.

My Dress - Edgardo Bonilla (dress designer)
Edgardo is amazing! He created a new design at a trunk show based on some changes I requested - I put 2 dresses together and changed a couple other things. I absolutely LOVED it. He is also incredibly nice and warm. Locally (meaning in L.A.), I believe his dresses are sold at Saks and Jobyna's in Glendale. I bought mine in Philadelphia.

Bridesmaid Dresses - Lazaro
I picked espresso crepe de chine as the fabric, and they could choose from 5 styles. I then found them on one of the discount websites (email is gownsales@aol.com) and they ordered them from Lazaro, and all from the same dye lot (essential - the color varies widely in this fabric). My b-maids saved about $100 each, and dresses came in about 6 weeks. Could not have worked out better.

Wedding Coordinator - Rebecca Stone of Duet Weddings
There is not enough space here to explain how much she was a part of our wedding. She was not just our day-of coordinator, she stepped in about 8 mos. before the wedding, when I was working insane hours and realized I would go crazy without help. Rebecca and I started emailing after she responded to a post of mine on the Santa Barbara weddings site, and she had already given me lots of advice (she got married at Crossroads the year before me) when she told me she was starting a wedding planning business. I asked her to help and she was off to the races. She did a ton of work! She even co-designed our invitations with Seth. Our wedding was very ambitious, especially b/c of all of our DIY stuff, yet she handled it with professionalism and grace. She is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet--important when you need to get a pep talk!--and she has a great sense of style. Therefore, I never hesitated to incorporate her creative suggestions. It should be noted that while she provided practical advice and ideas, she never tried to "take over" the wedding. She let it be completely our own, but I can't imagine we could have pulled it off without her, or without the many friends and family who stepped in to assist both during the planning process and during the wedding weekend.