Email me at nannersp at gmail.com with any questions. Please let me know if you decide to borrow any of my photos. Pro Pics Non Pro Pics Vendor Reviews PRO PICS You can see more teasers in my Flickr album here My Mrs. hoodie! We saw each other before the ceremony. This was our "big reveal." Brent joked, "What if I choose the wrong door?" I was showing my friends my dad's pin and the locket with his picture that I attached to my bouquet. Brent "eeew"-ed when our photographer said to kiss. Lounge area centerpiece Brent's cousin's daughter using the lounge area. Table numbers & menu. Wedding Programs Our serious look Garter toss This is when I gave my mom part of my bouquet to put on my father's grave. That's my brother and my nephew. NON-PRO PICS The entire album on Flickr here At the rehearsal with my BMs The ceremony set-up (that's Kerim near the arch) Brent's father married us. The bridal party - Brent had a groomsmaid Brent's family & I > Checking out the Polaroid guestbook - it was a hit! The venue set-up! Place cards - we used frames so they wouldn't blow away. Taking some romantic shots as the sun sets. Cake cutting - I love this photo so much because of our little flower girls. They "eeeew"-ed everytime we kissed. Brent and I lounging. We LOVED this furniture we rented from Kerim at My Wedding Blooms. Dancing! VENDOR REVIEWS All my vendors deserve A+++++++++! :) Ceremony and reception location: LA River Center and Gardens We LOVED our venue! We knew from the moment we saw it that it was the place for our dream wedding. The venue doesn't provide anything beyond the actual location (and 150 chairs), so we brought in our caterer, rentals, alcohol, coordinator, etc. It was a lot of work, but well worth it! Zenia, the site manager, was easy to work with and very responsive. TIP: The LARCG books up really quickly, so you have to book early! Photographer: Next Exit Photography Next Exit are absolutely AMAZING! They were the first photographers we met with and we instantly clicked, but we interviewed three other photographers just to make sure our choice was solid. Next Exit - with their photojournalistic style and our chemistry with them - had raised the bar so much that the others we interviewed didn't even compare! We had a blast taking engagement photos with Cat & Adi (Next Exit) on the beach back in September, which was great practice for the big day. Along the way, Cat was super, super responsive to all my questions. On the big day, they were so great to work with! Chemistry with your photographer really does make a big difference. They made it easy for everyone to relax and everyone thought they were great! When we saw the pics from our wedding, we about died because they were so beautiful and EXACTLY what Brent and I had hoped for! All my married friends who have seen them have commented that they wish they could go back in time and hire Next Exit instead - they're really that great! We'll continue to use Next Exit for all our photography needs - pregnancy photos, kids' portraits, family portraits, serously! TIP: Don't skimp on the cost of your photography! It's an everlasting record of your big day and something you shouldn't regret! Florist & Rentals: Kerim from My Wedding Blooms Kerim, a Knottie favorite, exceeded my expectations! He was so great to work with the entire step of the way. Even Brent was thoroughly impressed (and that doesn't come easy). I didn't have a specific floral vision in mind, although I went in not wanting tall centerpieces - until Kerim invited us to swing by his wedding (also at the LARCG) to check out his amazing, beautifuly, tall centerpieces. I changed my mind to tall centerpieces then and there! Kerim made all my floral wedding dreams come true! He provided gorgeous bouquets for me and my gals, boutonnieres for the guys, flowers for the mothers, petals for the aisle and flower girls, a floral arch for the ceremony (which we put over the cake during the reception), centerpieces, cake flowers, and an arrangement for our lounge area - and everything was GORGEOUS! Kerim officially expanded his floral business into a more full-service wedding business, including rentals and a day-of coordinator (named Ana), just in time for us to try them out. All the rentals we got from him were great, especially the chivari chairs and the furniture for our lounge area! Brent and I had so much fun taking pictures on the lounge furniture. And the lounge area was a bit hit with the guests, especially those who weren't into dancing but still wanted to be close to the festivities. TIP: Consider keeping an open mind with your flowers, maybe just a color palette and a few flowers you definitely don't want (like no carnations, for me). Day-of Coordinator: Ana from My Wedding Blooms (discount if you're using MyWeddingBlooms.com for flowers) Ana was definitely one of our best wedding investments! Because LARCG doesn't come with a coordinator (like a hotel would) and because you have to arrange everything yourself (ceremony and reception set-up), Ana was invaluable as she dealt with all of that. Ana provided a great timeline for me and another version specific to the vendors. She constantly checked in with me during the planning process to see if I need anything. (She got a quote for me from our alcohol vendor, which was really above and beyond her day-of duties.) She's also done more than 20 weddings at LARCG (including Kerim's!), so she knows the place (and its rules) inside and out. The only question I had to answer all day was how to pronounce someone's name. Ana took care of EVERYTHING! She made sure that the set-up and teardown happened without a hitch. If there were any fires, I certainly didn't know about them. TIP: If you can afford it, DEFINITELY consider getting a day-of coordinator. Despite all the planning you put into your day, you don't want to act as a planner ON the big day. Let someone else take care of the hassles while you enjoy your day! Hair and make-up: Tess from The Artistry Group NOTE: TESS NO LONGER DOES HAIR AND MAKE-UP FOR LOS ANGELES BRIDES. Even though I was wearing a big white dress, it was Tess, another Knottie favorite, who made me feel like an official bride! I did a hair and make-up trial with her, which was lots of fun and turned out great. And on the day-of, her hair and make-up made me look (and most importantly FEEL) so, so beautiful! My make-up was great and looks amazing in all the pics I've seen, yet not overdone in-person. My hair stayed fresh and new for the entire day and night, even after some heavy duty dancing! Tess' assistant, Marlyn, did such a great job on all my girls. They all had updos, but they were all unique. She also did our moms' hair, which turned out fabulous (along with the make-up done by Tess). TIP: If at all possible, do a trial. One of BMs is getting married in July, planning to wear her hair up but isn't doing a trial with her hair lady. However, after seeing how my hair turned out, she's considering wearing hers half-up. A trial would probably help her decide. Caterer: Cook's Gathering Tim Mcgrath is the owner and chef of this catering company. Tim regularly caters dinner parties for Brent's parents and their circle of friends, so he was very eager to do our wedding, which he's recently expanded his business to include. Tim doesn't provide rentals, so I had to secure those, but he was happy to work with our rentals folks to secure quantities, types of items needed, etc. He doesn't do tastings, but we've been to dinner parties he's catered and it's always delicious. Tim's food is absolutely delicious! He catered our bridal shower (we had a tea party) and our day-after brunch, in addition to our wedding of course. Everything was fresh and amazing and yummy! And he's just a really nice person to work with. I highly recommend him! TIP: Make sure you set as realistic expectations as possible about guest counts. We ended up with around 115 guests, instead of 150 like we had originally expected. This threw off the catering needs quite a bit, but we got everything straightened out with no problem. DJ: Tom at California Sounds I focused on the dinner time music (our quartet played during our cocktail hour) and only gave him a few must-plays for the dancing, along with DO NOT PLAYS, which he really stuck to. My brother (he and I aren't close) really wanted Tom to play some country song for us, but country was on our do-not-play list. (Brent and I loathe country, as do most of our guests.) Tom had promised he would only play anything on our do-not list if I personally told him it was ok. So Tom wouldn't play the song and I told my brother that we did not want to hear any country. I really appreciated Tom sticking to his guns! He was exactly what we wanted - there for the announcements and not cheesey at all! Even my very proper FMIL said he was great! (And she's hard to impress.) One of my BMs, who is a country FANATIC, said that for a non-country songs wedding, she really enjoyed all his dance music. The only thing I'd do differently is I would have paid him ahead of time instead of putting my FFIL in charge of it. He hadn't given him the check yet and it was almost the end of the night (I had promised Tom he'd be paid before the night was over), so he had to ask me who was paying him. I think FFIL was waiting to see how big of a tip he'd deserve. So, if I could change it, I would have paid him ahead of time and then had my FFIL give him another check for a tip at the end of the night. I don't blame Tom at all for asking - I can only imagine how burned he's been by not knowing who was supposed to pay him but didn't. TIP: I collected all the songs I wanted to hear during dinner (from my iTunes collection) into one playlist and did a screenshot of that for Tom. I listened to that playlist again and again on our honeymoon (while lounging by the pool), which was like a mini-time machine back to our big day. Cake: Susina Bakery Brent and I tasted cake at like 6 different places (Susina, Porto's, Rosebud's, Bee's Knees, Cakery Bakery, Jackie's) and Susina was BY FAR OUR FAVORITE! We saved a couple hundred dollars by having the cake tiered instead of stacked. (The bakery doesn't have to insert rods to hold it up, etc.) Jenna, the bakery owner, is sooo, sooo nice and down to earth - an absolute pleasure to work with. We chose the Raspberry Lemon Dream (although we were torn between that and the Berry Blossom, Susina's most popular flavor). On the day of, we had so many of our guests tell us that not only was the cake the best wedding cake they ever had, but the BEST CAKE EVER (in general)! We will celebrate every wedding anniversary (and possibly other celebrations) with Susina's Raspberry Lemon Dream cake. TIP: We tried to cram as many tastings into one day as possible. Anything more than 2 in one day is probably too many. String Quartet: No-named quartet with students from Northridge. The leader is Petros, who can be reached at ando63 @ pacbell.net. I found a posting on Craigslist from this quartet, so I checked them out. I never met them in person or saw them play at an event, but I did get their demo CD, talk to a few references and got one of their pictures of them at an event to see how professional they looked. As a former band geek myself, I'm a big supporter of student arts (and these students have been playing for about 12 years - very well-trained), so after sufficient investigation (and their very reasonable price) I happily went with them. I didn't get to hear a lot of their playing at our wedding because I came out last for the ceremony (obviously) and was pretty busy during the cocktail hour, but what little I heard was really great. My guests also told me they did a great job! Alcohol: Valley Beverage (818) 981-WINE (ask for Dawn). This company will deliver a full bar and all the alcohol you need for your wedding (including wine). They charge you for everything and then they refund you for any unopened alcohol, typically 1/3 to 1/4 back. They were easy to work with and met all our requests for specific kinds of drinks (lots of different kinds of martinis) and kinds of beer. This was perfect for a venue like mine as we didn't have to deal with lugging our own alcohol, ice, etc. Jewelry (rings): Icing On The Ring Another Knottie favorite, we really enjoyed working with Icing on the Ring. Their prices were great and this family-owned business didn't make you feel like you were doing them a favor (like some of the other jewelers in the downtown jewelery district did). We went during one of their 20% off sales. The only issue we had is that they ordered the wrong size for Brent's band, even though they had measured him. So they had to order another one, which arrived quickly. I'd definitely recommend them! Jewelry (earrings): Ebay Seller 1goldone, also with a site ParkAveDesigns.com Fast shipment, great price. I love my earrings! I hope to find an excuse to wear them again! My dress: Chrissy O Bridal Very, very easy to work with. They price-matched another online bridal vendor. I was lucky enough to order from them before Maggie Sottero started cracking down on discounted prices. Jessica, the woman who handles internet orders, was really nice and super responsive. The dress arrived exactly on time in fabulous condition (along with a garment bag and a blue garter). Bridesmaid dresses: Pearl's Place Easy to work with and all the dresses arrived to the four separate addresses with no problem. The designer is Dessy, style #2018 in Cotton Candy. My hubby had a groomsmaid and she wore the same dress as my girls but in black. Parents' Gifts (embroidered handkerchiefs for moms): Linen Classics (ebay seller - MaineMomOf4) This seller was really fast and the gifts turned our really nice. Our moms loved the hankies! Honeymoon: Hawaii, 5 nights in Kauai, 5 nights in Maui via Costco Travel- I'll do the honeymoon review later. These vendor reviews took a long time to do! :) PLANNING BIO THE PROPOSAL We had planned a trip to Santa Barbara for the weekend. My FI Brent had originally told me that we had reservations at a place called Eagle Inn. When we arrived in Santa Barbara on Saturday, though, Brent said he had a surprise for me in Goleta (10 minutes north of SB). We pulled up to a place called Bacara, which turned out to be a lavish resort (with lots of celeb clientele). Brent revealed that he had booked a massage for me there because he had heard the spa was great. After my massage, I was presented with an envelope that contained a hotel room key. I found the room, which had a note from Brent indicating that we were spending the weekend there and a map leading me to where Brent was waiting. He was there, all dressed up, on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Then he proposed! I squealed with happiness (and then cried from joy, too). We had dinner at a great restaurant that night and continued to have the most romantic and enjoyable weekend ever. SECURED VENDORS Ceremony and reception location: LA River Center and Gardens Photographer: Next Exit Photography Florist: Kerim from My Wedding Blooms Hair and make-up: Tess from The Artistry Group Caterer: Cook's Gathering DJ: Tom at California SOunds Cake: Susina Bakery Day-of Coordinator: Ana from MyWeddingBlooms.com (discount if you're using MyWeddingBlooms.com for flowers) Rentals: Kerim is expanding his business to rentals. My Wedding Blooms String Quartet: No-named quartet with students from Northridge. E-mail me for contact info. Jewelry: Icing On The Ring My dress: Chrissy O Bridal Bridesmaid dresses: Pearl's Place Parents' Gifts (embroidered handkerchiefs for moms): Linen Classics (ebay seller - MaineMomOf4) Honeymoon: Hawaii, 5 nights in Kauai, 5 nights in Maui via Costco Travel COLORS Pink and green You can reach me at nannersp at gmail dot com. Our engagement photos! This is the e-ring. I knew what I didn't like, but wasn't sure what I did what. Turns out this is exactly what I wanted, I just didn't know it until I got it! Here's an official pic of the ring: The wedding band I'm getting to go with it: We're getting married at the LA River Center and Gardens. Thanks to Saige&John for allowing me to use a couple of her pics. I took some of these, too. My centerpiece samples from Kerim at MyWeddingBlooms.com. The first photo below is actually from my florist Kerim's wedding! The second is another tall centerpiece from our florist at our location. < /a> We're going to have a lounge area, similar to this: My maid of honor, Shelby, and I Our save-the-date postcards designed by us, printed by SaveTheDateOriginals.com My invitations (sample photos) Scan of our actual invites What we got for our moms as gifts for the day of the wedding. From ebay seller mainemomof4 What my bridesmaids are wearing, but in a shade of pink Our flower girls (dresses from http://www.butterflyxc.com) . My dress, the ever-popular yet oh-so-lovely Maggie Sottero CapriMarie. FIRST FITTING - March 22. The seamstress said I can't lose anymore weight or else my dress will be too big!!! The back. Love the bustle! OLD PHOTOS - A couple things to note: The dress is too big because I've lost 30 pounds since I ordered it. Therefore we couldn't get the corset back tight enough, like we will on the big day to make my waist look teeny tiny after I've gotten it altered. Also, because it's so big, I couldn't get it to stay high enough on my chest, so imagine the top an inch or two higher than it is in the pics. A model in the dress... The dress on knottie Young_Love. I'm removing the row of roses, as illustrated here. I must have been subconsciously attracted to this dress because it's so much like the one in my all-time favorite movie... My shoes - Coloriffics "Sierra" in silver from ShoeBuy.com My earrings My FI and I did Weight Watchers to lose weight for the wedding. Before the wedding I lost 35 and he lost 60! Here are some before and "almost after" pictures. Ironically, I think this cartoon is freakin' hilarious! Bio Builder Is Back! Search the Los Angeles Boards
Email me at nannersp at gmail.com with any questions. Please let me know if you decide to borrow any of my photos.
Pro Pics
PRO PICS
You can see more teasers in my Flickr album here
My Mrs. hoodie! We saw each other before the ceremony. This was our "big reveal." Brent joked, "What if I choose the wrong door?" I was showing my friends my dad's pin and the locket with his picture that I attached to my bouquet. Brent "eeew"-ed when our photographer said to kiss. Lounge area centerpiece Brent's cousin's daughter using the lounge area. Table numbers & menu. Wedding Programs Our serious look Garter toss This is when I gave my mom part of my bouquet to put on my father's grave. That's my brother and my nephew. NON-PRO PICS The entire album on Flickr here At the rehearsal with my BMs The ceremony set-up (that's Kerim near the arch) Brent's father married us. The bridal party - Brent had a groomsmaid Brent's family & I > Checking out the Polaroid guestbook - it was a hit! The venue set-up! Place cards - we used frames so they wouldn't blow away. Taking some romantic shots as the sun sets. Cake cutting - I love this photo so much because of our little flower girls. They "eeeew"-ed everytime we kissed. Brent and I lounging. We LOVED this furniture we rented from Kerim at My Wedding Blooms. Dancing! VENDOR REVIEWS All my vendors deserve A+++++++++! :) Ceremony and reception location: LA River Center and Gardens We LOVED our venue! We knew from the moment we saw it that it was the place for our dream wedding. The venue doesn't provide anything beyond the actual location (and 150 chairs), so we brought in our caterer, rentals, alcohol, coordinator, etc. It was a lot of work, but well worth it! Zenia, the site manager, was easy to work with and very responsive. TIP: The LARCG books up really quickly, so you have to book early! Photographer: Next Exit Photography Next Exit are absolutely AMAZING! They were the first photographers we met with and we instantly clicked, but we interviewed three other photographers just to make sure our choice was solid. Next Exit - with their photojournalistic style and our chemistry with them - had raised the bar so much that the others we interviewed didn't even compare! We had a blast taking engagement photos with Cat & Adi (Next Exit) on the beach back in September, which was great practice for the big day. Along the way, Cat was super, super responsive to all my questions. On the big day, they were so great to work with! Chemistry with your photographer really does make a big difference. They made it easy for everyone to relax and everyone thought they were great! When we saw the pics from our wedding, we about died because they were so beautiful and EXACTLY what Brent and I had hoped for! All my married friends who have seen them have commented that they wish they could go back in time and hire Next Exit instead - they're really that great! We'll continue to use Next Exit for all our photography needs - pregnancy photos, kids' portraits, family portraits, serously! TIP: Don't skimp on the cost of your photography! It's an everlasting record of your big day and something you shouldn't regret! Florist & Rentals: Kerim from My Wedding Blooms Kerim, a Knottie favorite, exceeded my expectations! He was so great to work with the entire step of the way. Even Brent was thoroughly impressed (and that doesn't come easy). I didn't have a specific floral vision in mind, although I went in not wanting tall centerpieces - until Kerim invited us to swing by his wedding (also at the LARCG) to check out his amazing, beautifuly, tall centerpieces. I changed my mind to tall centerpieces then and there! Kerim made all my floral wedding dreams come true! He provided gorgeous bouquets for me and my gals, boutonnieres for the guys, flowers for the mothers, petals for the aisle and flower girls, a floral arch for the ceremony (which we put over the cake during the reception), centerpieces, cake flowers, and an arrangement for our lounge area - and everything was GORGEOUS! Kerim officially expanded his floral business into a more full-service wedding business, including rentals and a day-of coordinator (named Ana), just in time for us to try them out. All the rentals we got from him were great, especially the chivari chairs and the furniture for our lounge area! Brent and I had so much fun taking pictures on the lounge furniture. And the lounge area was a bit hit with the guests, especially those who weren't into dancing but still wanted to be close to the festivities. TIP: Consider keeping an open mind with your flowers, maybe just a color palette and a few flowers you definitely don't want (like no carnations, for me). Day-of Coordinator: Ana from My Wedding Blooms (discount if you're using MyWeddingBlooms.com for flowers) Ana was definitely one of our best wedding investments! Because LARCG doesn't come with a coordinator (like a hotel would) and because you have to arrange everything yourself (ceremony and reception set-up), Ana was invaluable as she dealt with all of that. Ana provided a great timeline for me and another version specific to the vendors. She constantly checked in with me during the planning process to see if I need anything. (She got a quote for me from our alcohol vendor, which was really above and beyond her day-of duties.) She's also done more than 20 weddings at LARCG (including Kerim's!), so she knows the place (and its rules) inside and out. The only question I had to answer all day was how to pronounce someone's name. Ana took care of EVERYTHING! She made sure that the set-up and teardown happened without a hitch. If there were any fires, I certainly didn't know about them. TIP: If you can afford it, DEFINITELY consider getting a day-of coordinator. Despite all the planning you put into your day, you don't want to act as a planner ON the big day. Let someone else take care of the hassles while you enjoy your day! Hair and make-up: Tess from The Artistry Group NOTE: TESS NO LONGER DOES HAIR AND MAKE-UP FOR LOS ANGELES BRIDES. Even though I was wearing a big white dress, it was Tess, another Knottie favorite, who made me feel like an official bride! I did a hair and make-up trial with her, which was lots of fun and turned out great. And on the day-of, her hair and make-up made me look (and most importantly FEEL) so, so beautiful! My make-up was great and looks amazing in all the pics I've seen, yet not overdone in-person. My hair stayed fresh and new for the entire day and night, even after some heavy duty dancing! Tess' assistant, Marlyn, did such a great job on all my girls. They all had updos, but they were all unique. She also did our moms' hair, which turned out fabulous (along with the make-up done by Tess). TIP: If at all possible, do a trial. One of BMs is getting married in July, planning to wear her hair up but isn't doing a trial with her hair lady. However, after seeing how my hair turned out, she's considering wearing hers half-up. A trial would probably help her decide. Caterer: Cook's Gathering Tim Mcgrath is the owner and chef of this catering company. Tim regularly caters dinner parties for Brent's parents and their circle of friends, so he was very eager to do our wedding, which he's recently expanded his business to include. Tim doesn't provide rentals, so I had to secure those, but he was happy to work with our rentals folks to secure quantities, types of items needed, etc. He doesn't do tastings, but we've been to dinner parties he's catered and it's always delicious. Tim's food is absolutely delicious! He catered our bridal shower (we had a tea party) and our day-after brunch, in addition to our wedding of course. Everything was fresh and amazing and yummy! And he's just a really nice person to work with. I highly recommend him! TIP: Make sure you set as realistic expectations as possible about guest counts. We ended up with around 115 guests, instead of 150 like we had originally expected. This threw off the catering needs quite a bit, but we got everything straightened out with no problem. DJ: Tom at California Sounds I focused on the dinner time music (our quartet played during our cocktail hour) and only gave him a few must-plays for the dancing, along with DO NOT PLAYS, which he really stuck to. My brother (he and I aren't close) really wanted Tom to play some country song for us, but country was on our do-not-play list. (Brent and I loathe country, as do most of our guests.) Tom had promised he would only play anything on our do-not list if I personally told him it was ok. So Tom wouldn't play the song and I told my brother that we did not want to hear any country. I really appreciated Tom sticking to his guns! He was exactly what we wanted - there for the announcements and not cheesey at all! Even my very proper FMIL said he was great! (And she's hard to impress.) One of my BMs, who is a country FANATIC, said that for a non-country songs wedding, she really enjoyed all his dance music. The only thing I'd do differently is I would have paid him ahead of time instead of putting my FFIL in charge of it. He hadn't given him the check yet and it was almost the end of the night (I had promised Tom he'd be paid before the night was over), so he had to ask me who was paying him. I think FFIL was waiting to see how big of a tip he'd deserve. So, if I could change it, I would have paid him ahead of time and then had my FFIL give him another check for a tip at the end of the night. I don't blame Tom at all for asking - I can only imagine how burned he's been by not knowing who was supposed to pay him but didn't. TIP: I collected all the songs I wanted to hear during dinner (from my iTunes collection) into one playlist and did a screenshot of that for Tom. I listened to that playlist again and again on our honeymoon (while lounging by the pool), which was like a mini-time machine back to our big day. Cake: Susina Bakery Brent and I tasted cake at like 6 different places (Susina, Porto's, Rosebud's, Bee's Knees, Cakery Bakery, Jackie's) and Susina was BY FAR OUR FAVORITE! We saved a couple hundred dollars by having the cake tiered instead of stacked. (The bakery doesn't have to insert rods to hold it up, etc.) Jenna, the bakery owner, is sooo, sooo nice and down to earth - an absolute pleasure to work with. We chose the Raspberry Lemon Dream (although we were torn between that and the Berry Blossom, Susina's most popular flavor). On the day of, we had so many of our guests tell us that not only was the cake the best wedding cake they ever had, but the BEST CAKE EVER (in general)! We will celebrate every wedding anniversary (and possibly other celebrations) with Susina's Raspberry Lemon Dream cake. TIP: We tried to cram as many tastings into one day as possible. Anything more than 2 in one day is probably too many. String Quartet: No-named quartet with students from Northridge. The leader is Petros, who can be reached at ando63 @ pacbell.net. I found a posting on Craigslist from this quartet, so I checked them out. I never met them in person or saw them play at an event, but I did get their demo CD, talk to a few references and got one of their pictures of them at an event to see how professional they looked. As a former band geek myself, I'm a big supporter of student arts (and these students have been playing for about 12 years - very well-trained), so after sufficient investigation (and their very reasonable price) I happily went with them. I didn't get to hear a lot of their playing at our wedding because I came out last for the ceremony (obviously) and was pretty busy during the cocktail hour, but what little I heard was really great. My guests also told me they did a great job! Alcohol: Valley Beverage (818) 981-WINE (ask for Dawn). This company will deliver a full bar and all the alcohol you need for your wedding (including wine). They charge you for everything and then they refund you for any unopened alcohol, typically 1/3 to 1/4 back. They were easy to work with and met all our requests for specific kinds of drinks (lots of different kinds of martinis) and kinds of beer. This was perfect for a venue like mine as we didn't have to deal with lugging our own alcohol, ice, etc. Jewelry (rings): Icing On The Ring Another Knottie favorite, we really enjoyed working with Icing on the Ring. Their prices were great and this family-owned business didn't make you feel like you were doing them a favor (like some of the other jewelers in the downtown jewelery district did). We went during one of their 20% off sales. The only issue we had is that they ordered the wrong size for Brent's band, even though they had measured him. So they had to order another one, which arrived quickly. I'd definitely recommend them! Jewelry (earrings): Ebay Seller 1goldone, also with a site ParkAveDesigns.com Fast shipment, great price. I love my earrings! I hope to find an excuse to wear them again! My dress: Chrissy O Bridal Very, very easy to work with. They price-matched another online bridal vendor. I was lucky enough to order from them before Maggie Sottero started cracking down on discounted prices. Jessica, the woman who handles internet orders, was really nice and super responsive. The dress arrived exactly on time in fabulous condition (along with a garment bag and a blue garter). Bridesmaid dresses: Pearl's Place Easy to work with and all the dresses arrived to the four separate addresses with no problem. The designer is Dessy, style #2018 in Cotton Candy. My hubby had a groomsmaid and she wore the same dress as my girls but in black. Parents' Gifts (embroidered handkerchiefs for moms): Linen Classics (ebay seller - MaineMomOf4) This seller was really fast and the gifts turned our really nice. Our moms loved the hankies! Honeymoon: Hawaii, 5 nights in Kauai, 5 nights in Maui via Costco Travel- I'll do the honeymoon review later. These vendor reviews took a long time to do! :) PLANNING BIO THE PROPOSAL We had planned a trip to Santa Barbara for the weekend. My FI Brent had originally told me that we had reservations at a place called Eagle Inn. When we arrived in Santa Barbara on Saturday, though, Brent said he had a surprise for me in Goleta (10 minutes north of SB). We pulled up to a place called Bacara, which turned out to be a lavish resort (with lots of celeb clientele). Brent revealed that he had booked a massage for me there because he had heard the spa was great. After my massage, I was presented with an envelope that contained a hotel room key. I found the room, which had a note from Brent indicating that we were spending the weekend there and a map leading me to where Brent was waiting. He was there, all dressed up, on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Then he proposed! I squealed with happiness (and then cried from joy, too). We had dinner at a great restaurant that night and continued to have the most romantic and enjoyable weekend ever. SECURED VENDORS Ceremony and reception location: LA River Center and Gardens Photographer: Next Exit Photography Florist: Kerim from My Wedding Blooms Hair and make-up: Tess from The Artistry Group Caterer: Cook's Gathering DJ: Tom at California SOunds Cake: Susina Bakery Day-of Coordinator: Ana from MyWeddingBlooms.com (discount if you're using MyWeddingBlooms.com for flowers) Rentals: Kerim is expanding his business to rentals. My Wedding Blooms String Quartet: No-named quartet with students from Northridge. E-mail me for contact info. Jewelry: Icing On The Ring My dress: Chrissy O Bridal Bridesmaid dresses: Pearl's Place Parents' Gifts (embroidered handkerchiefs for moms): Linen Classics (ebay seller - MaineMomOf4) Honeymoon: Hawaii, 5 nights in Kauai, 5 nights in Maui via Costco Travel COLORS Pink and green You can reach me at nannersp at gmail dot com. Our engagement photos! This is the e-ring. I knew what I didn't like, but wasn't sure what I did what. Turns out this is exactly what I wanted, I just didn't know it until I got it! Here's an official pic of the ring: The wedding band I'm getting to go with it: We're getting married at the LA River Center and Gardens. Thanks to Saige&John for allowing me to use a couple of her pics. I took some of these, too. My centerpiece samples from Kerim at MyWeddingBlooms.com. The first photo below is actually from my florist Kerim's wedding! The second is another tall centerpiece from our florist at our location. < /a> We're going to have a lounge area, similar to this: My maid of honor, Shelby, and I Our save-the-date postcards designed by us, printed by SaveTheDateOriginals.com My invitations (sample photos) Scan of our actual invites What we got for our moms as gifts for the day of the wedding. From ebay seller mainemomof4 What my bridesmaids are wearing, but in a shade of pink Our flower girls (dresses from http://www.butterflyxc.com) . My dress, the ever-popular yet oh-so-lovely Maggie Sottero CapriMarie. FIRST FITTING - March 22. The seamstress said I can't lose anymore weight or else my dress will be too big!!! The back. Love the bustle! OLD PHOTOS - A couple things to note: The dress is too big because I've lost 30 pounds since I ordered it. Therefore we couldn't get the corset back tight enough, like we will on the big day to make my waist look teeny tiny after I've gotten it altered. Also, because it's so big, I couldn't get it to stay high enough on my chest, so imagine the top an inch or two higher than it is in the pics. A model in the dress... The dress on knottie Young_Love. I'm removing the row of roses, as illustrated here. I must have been subconsciously attracted to this dress because it's so much like the one in my all-time favorite movie... My shoes - Coloriffics "Sierra" in silver from ShoeBuy.com My earrings My FI and I did Weight Watchers to lose weight for the wedding. Before the wedding I lost 35 and he lost 60! Here are some before and "almost after" pictures. Ironically, I think this cartoon is freakin' hilarious! Bio Builder Is Back! Search the Los Angeles Boards
My Mrs. hoodie!
We saw each other before the ceremony. This was our "big reveal." Brent joked, "What if I choose the wrong door?"
I was showing my friends my dad's pin and the locket with his picture that I attached to my bouquet.
Brent "eeew"-ed when our photographer said to kiss.
Lounge area centerpiece
Brent's cousin's daughter using the lounge area.
Table numbers & menu.
Wedding Programs
Our serious look
Garter toss
This is when I gave my mom part of my bouquet to put on my father's grave. That's my brother and my nephew.
NON-PRO PICS
The entire album on Flickr here
At the rehearsal with my BMs The ceremony set-up (that's Kerim near the arch) Brent's father married us. The bridal party - Brent had a groomsmaid Brent's family & I > Checking out the Polaroid guestbook - it was a hit! The venue set-up! Place cards - we used frames so they wouldn't blow away. Taking some romantic shots as the sun sets. Cake cutting - I love this photo so much because of our little flower girls. They "eeeew"-ed everytime we kissed. Brent and I lounging. We LOVED this furniture we rented from Kerim at My Wedding Blooms. Dancing!
VENDOR REVIEWS
All my vendors deserve A+++++++++! :)
Ceremony and reception location: LA River Center and Gardens We LOVED our venue! We knew from the moment we saw it that it was the place for our dream wedding. The venue doesn't provide anything beyond the actual location (and 150 chairs), so we brought in our caterer, rentals, alcohol, coordinator, etc. It was a lot of work, but well worth it! Zenia, the site manager, was easy to work with and very responsive. TIP: The LARCG books up really quickly, so you have to book early!
Photographer: Next Exit Photography Next Exit are absolutely AMAZING! They were the first photographers we met with and we instantly clicked, but we interviewed three other photographers just to make sure our choice was solid. Next Exit - with their photojournalistic style and our chemistry with them - had raised the bar so much that the others we interviewed didn't even compare! We had a blast taking engagement photos with Cat & Adi (Next Exit) on the beach back in September, which was great practice for the big day. Along the way, Cat was super, super responsive to all my questions. On the big day, they were so great to work with! Chemistry with your photographer really does make a big difference. They made it easy for everyone to relax and everyone thought they were great! When we saw the pics from our wedding, we about died because they were so beautiful and EXACTLY what Brent and I had hoped for! All my married friends who have seen them have commented that they wish they could go back in time and hire Next Exit instead - they're really that great! We'll continue to use Next Exit for all our photography needs - pregnancy photos, kids' portraits, family portraits, serously! TIP: Don't skimp on the cost of your photography! It's an everlasting record of your big day and something you shouldn't regret!
Florist & Rentals: Kerim from My Wedding Blooms Kerim, a Knottie favorite, exceeded my expectations! He was so great to work with the entire step of the way. Even Brent was thoroughly impressed (and that doesn't come easy). I didn't have a specific floral vision in mind, although I went in not wanting tall centerpieces - until Kerim invited us to swing by his wedding (also at the LARCG) to check out his amazing, beautifuly, tall centerpieces. I changed my mind to tall centerpieces then and there! Kerim made all my floral wedding dreams come true! He provided gorgeous bouquets for me and my gals, boutonnieres for the guys, flowers for the mothers, petals for the aisle and flower girls, a floral arch for the ceremony (which we put over the cake during the reception), centerpieces, cake flowers, and an arrangement for our lounge area - and everything was GORGEOUS! Kerim officially expanded his floral business into a more full-service wedding business, including rentals and a day-of coordinator (named Ana), just in time for us to try them out. All the rentals we got from him were great, especially the chivari chairs and the furniture for our lounge area! Brent and I had so much fun taking pictures on the lounge furniture. And the lounge area was a bit hit with the guests, especially those who weren't into dancing but still wanted to be close to the festivities. TIP: Consider keeping an open mind with your flowers, maybe just a color palette and a few flowers you definitely don't want (like no carnations, for me).
Day-of Coordinator: Ana from My Wedding Blooms (discount if you're using MyWeddingBlooms.com for flowers) Ana was definitely one of our best wedding investments! Because LARCG doesn't come with a coordinator (like a hotel would) and because you have to arrange everything yourself (ceremony and reception set-up), Ana was invaluable as she dealt with all of that. Ana provided a great timeline for me and another version specific to the vendors. She constantly checked in with me during the planning process to see if I need anything. (She got a quote for me from our alcohol vendor, which was really above and beyond her day-of duties.) She's also done more than 20 weddings at LARCG (including Kerim's!), so she knows the place (and its rules) inside and out. The only question I had to answer all day was how to pronounce someone's name. Ana took care of EVERYTHING! She made sure that the set-up and teardown happened without a hitch. If there were any fires, I certainly didn't know about them. TIP: If you can afford it, DEFINITELY consider getting a day-of coordinator. Despite all the planning you put into your day, you don't want to act as a planner ON the big day. Let someone else take care of the hassles while you enjoy your day!
Hair and make-up: Tess from The Artistry Group NOTE: TESS NO LONGER DOES HAIR AND MAKE-UP FOR LOS ANGELES BRIDES. Even though I was wearing a big white dress, it was Tess, another Knottie favorite, who made me feel like an official bride! I did a hair and make-up trial with her, which was lots of fun and turned out great. And on the day-of, her hair and make-up made me look (and most importantly FEEL) so, so beautiful! My make-up was great and looks amazing in all the pics I've seen, yet not overdone in-person. My hair stayed fresh and new for the entire day and night, even after some heavy duty dancing! Tess' assistant, Marlyn, did such a great job on all my girls. They all had updos, but they were all unique. She also did our moms' hair, which turned out fabulous (along with the make-up done by Tess). TIP: If at all possible, do a trial. One of BMs is getting married in July, planning to wear her hair up but isn't doing a trial with her hair lady. However, after seeing how my hair turned out, she's considering wearing hers half-up. A trial would probably help her decide.
Caterer: Cook's Gathering Tim Mcgrath is the owner and chef of this catering company. Tim regularly caters dinner parties for Brent's parents and their circle of friends, so he was very eager to do our wedding, which he's recently expanded his business to include. Tim doesn't provide rentals, so I had to secure those, but he was happy to work with our rentals folks to secure quantities, types of items needed, etc. He doesn't do tastings, but we've been to dinner parties he's catered and it's always delicious. Tim's food is absolutely delicious! He catered our bridal shower (we had a tea party) and our day-after brunch, in addition to our wedding of course. Everything was fresh and amazing and yummy! And he's just a really nice person to work with. I highly recommend him! TIP: Make sure you set as realistic expectations as possible about guest counts. We ended up with around 115 guests, instead of 150 like we had originally expected. This threw off the catering needs quite a bit, but we got everything straightened out with no problem.
DJ: Tom at California Sounds I focused on the dinner time music (our quartet played during our cocktail hour) and only gave him a few must-plays for the dancing, along with DO NOT PLAYS, which he really stuck to. My brother (he and I aren't close) really wanted Tom to play some country song for us, but country was on our do-not-play list. (Brent and I loathe country, as do most of our guests.) Tom had promised he would only play anything on our do-not list if I personally told him it was ok. So Tom wouldn't play the song and I told my brother that we did not want to hear any country. I really appreciated Tom sticking to his guns! He was exactly what we wanted - there for the announcements and not cheesey at all! Even my very proper FMIL said he was great! (And she's hard to impress.) One of my BMs, who is a country FANATIC, said that for a non-country songs wedding, she really enjoyed all his dance music. The only thing I'd do differently is I would have paid him ahead of time instead of putting my FFIL in charge of it. He hadn't given him the check yet and it was almost the end of the night (I had promised Tom he'd be paid before the night was over), so he had to ask me who was paying him. I think FFIL was waiting to see how big of a tip he'd deserve. So, if I could change it, I would have paid him ahead of time and then had my FFIL give him another check for a tip at the end of the night. I don't blame Tom at all for asking - I can only imagine how burned he's been by not knowing who was supposed to pay him but didn't. TIP: I collected all the songs I wanted to hear during dinner (from my iTunes collection) into one playlist and did a screenshot of that for Tom. I listened to that playlist again and again on our honeymoon (while lounging by the pool), which was like a mini-time machine back to our big day.
Cake: Susina Bakery Brent and I tasted cake at like 6 different places (Susina, Porto's, Rosebud's, Bee's Knees, Cakery Bakery, Jackie's) and Susina was BY FAR OUR FAVORITE! We saved a couple hundred dollars by having the cake tiered instead of stacked. (The bakery doesn't have to insert rods to hold it up, etc.) Jenna, the bakery owner, is sooo, sooo nice and down to earth - an absolute pleasure to work with. We chose the Raspberry Lemon Dream (although we were torn between that and the Berry Blossom, Susina's most popular flavor). On the day of, we had so many of our guests tell us that not only was the cake the best wedding cake they ever had, but the BEST CAKE EVER (in general)! We will celebrate every wedding anniversary (and possibly other celebrations) with Susina's Raspberry Lemon Dream cake. TIP: We tried to cram as many tastings into one day as possible. Anything more than 2 in one day is probably too many.
String Quartet: No-named quartet with students from Northridge. The leader is Petros, who can be reached at ando63 @ pacbell.net. I found a posting on Craigslist from this quartet, so I checked them out. I never met them in person or saw them play at an event, but I did get their demo CD, talk to a few references and got one of their pictures of them at an event to see how professional they looked. As a former band geek myself, I'm a big supporter of student arts (and these students have been playing for about 12 years - very well-trained), so after sufficient investigation (and their very reasonable price) I happily went with them. I didn't get to hear a lot of their playing at our wedding because I came out last for the ceremony (obviously) and was pretty busy during the cocktail hour, but what little I heard was really great. My guests also told me they did a great job!
Alcohol: Valley Beverage (818) 981-WINE (ask for Dawn). This company will deliver a full bar and all the alcohol you need for your wedding (including wine). They charge you for everything and then they refund you for any unopened alcohol, typically 1/3 to 1/4 back. They were easy to work with and met all our requests for specific kinds of drinks (lots of different kinds of martinis) and kinds of beer. This was perfect for a venue like mine as we didn't have to deal with lugging our own alcohol, ice, etc.
Jewelry (rings): Icing On The Ring Another Knottie favorite, we really enjoyed working with Icing on the Ring. Their prices were great and this family-owned business didn't make you feel like you were doing them a favor (like some of the other jewelers in the downtown jewelery district did). We went during one of their 20% off sales. The only issue we had is that they ordered the wrong size for Brent's band, even though they had measured him. So they had to order another one, which arrived quickly. I'd definitely recommend them!
Jewelry (earrings): Ebay Seller 1goldone, also with a site ParkAveDesigns.com Fast shipment, great price. I love my earrings! I hope to find an excuse to wear them again!
My dress: Chrissy O Bridal Very, very easy to work with. They price-matched another online bridal vendor. I was lucky enough to order from them before Maggie Sottero started cracking down on discounted prices. Jessica, the woman who handles internet orders, was really nice and super responsive. The dress arrived exactly on time in fabulous condition (along with a garment bag and a blue garter).
Bridesmaid dresses: Pearl's Place Easy to work with and all the dresses arrived to the four separate addresses with no problem. The designer is Dessy, style #2018 in Cotton Candy. My hubby had a groomsmaid and she wore the same dress as my girls but in black.
Parents' Gifts (embroidered handkerchiefs for moms): Linen Classics (ebay seller - MaineMomOf4) This seller was really fast and the gifts turned our really nice. Our moms loved the hankies!
Honeymoon: Hawaii, 5 nights in Kauai, 5 nights in Maui via Costco Travel- I'll do the honeymoon review later. These vendor reviews took a long time to do! :)
PLANNING BIO
THE PROPOSAL
We had planned a trip to Santa Barbara for the weekend. My FI Brent had originally told me that we had reservations at a place called Eagle Inn. When we arrived in Santa Barbara on Saturday, though, Brent said he had a surprise for me in Goleta (10 minutes north of SB). We pulled up to a place called Bacara, which turned out to be a lavish resort (with lots of celeb clientele). Brent revealed that he had booked a massage for me there because he had heard the spa was great. After my massage, I was presented with an envelope that contained a hotel room key. I found the room, which had a note from Brent indicating that we were spending the weekend there and a map leading me to where Brent was waiting. He was there, all dressed up, on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Then he proposed! I squealed with happiness (and then cried from joy, too). We had dinner at a great restaurant that night and continued to have the most romantic and enjoyable weekend ever.
SECURED VENDORS
Ceremony and reception location: LA River Center and Gardens
Photographer: Next Exit Photography
Florist: Kerim from My Wedding Blooms
Hair and make-up: Tess from The Artistry Group
Caterer: Cook's Gathering
DJ: Tom at California SOunds
Cake: Susina Bakery
Day-of Coordinator: Ana from MyWeddingBlooms.com (discount if you're using MyWeddingBlooms.com for flowers)
Rentals: Kerim is expanding his business to rentals. My Wedding Blooms
String Quartet: No-named quartet with students from Northridge. E-mail me for contact info.
Jewelry: Icing On The Ring My dress: Chrissy O Bridal
Bridesmaid dresses: Pearl's Place Parents' Gifts (embroidered handkerchiefs for moms): Linen Classics (ebay seller - MaineMomOf4) Honeymoon: Hawaii, 5 nights in Kauai, 5 nights in Maui via Costco Travel COLORS
Pink and green
You can reach me at nannersp at gmail dot com. Our engagement photos! This is the e-ring. I knew what I didn't like, but wasn't sure what I did what. Turns out this is exactly what I wanted, I just didn't know it until I got it! Here's an official pic of the ring: The wedding band I'm getting to go with it: We're getting married at the LA River Center and Gardens. Thanks to Saige&John for allowing me to use a couple of her pics. I took some of these, too. My centerpiece samples from Kerim at MyWeddingBlooms.com. The first photo below is actually from my florist Kerim's wedding! The second is another tall centerpiece from our florist at our location. < /a> We're going to have a lounge area, similar to this: My maid of honor, Shelby, and I Our save-the-date postcards designed by us, printed by SaveTheDateOriginals.com My invitations (sample photos) Scan of our actual invites What we got for our moms as gifts for the day of the wedding. From ebay seller mainemomof4 What my bridesmaids are wearing, but in a shade of pink Our flower girls (dresses from http://www.butterflyxc.com) . My dress, the ever-popular yet oh-so-lovely Maggie Sottero CapriMarie. FIRST FITTING - March 22. The seamstress said I can't lose anymore weight or else my dress will be too big!!! The back. Love the bustle! OLD PHOTOS - A couple things to note: The dress is too big because I've lost 30 pounds since I ordered it. Therefore we couldn't get the corset back tight enough, like we will on the big day to make my waist look teeny tiny after I've gotten it altered. Also, because it's so big, I couldn't get it to stay high enough on my chest, so imagine the top an inch or two higher than it is in the pics. A model in the dress... The dress on knottie Young_Love. I'm removing the row of roses, as illustrated here. I must have been subconsciously attracted to this dress because it's so much like the one in my all-time favorite movie... My shoes - Coloriffics "Sierra" in silver from ShoeBuy.com My earrings My FI and I did Weight Watchers to lose weight for the wedding. Before the wedding I lost 35 and he lost 60! Here are some before and "almost after" pictures. Ironically, I think this cartoon is freakin' hilarious!