Bio

We're Married!

It was such an amazing day. We had tons of fun (with our share of family drama)! My DH and have been talking about how great the day was. We did not feel it went by fast at all. We enjoyed every minute. That is the best feeling to come away with.

We had so many compliments on everything from decor to the ceremony to our photographer. It was great. All thanks to the knot girls for keeping me sane! Because let me tell you....i was going crazy in the end. But all the stress and sleepless nights are SOOOOO worth it!

We're Married!
Some Pro Pictures (off photographer's blog)
Non-Pro Pics
Vendor Info
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Click Here for our Wedding Slideshow made by our Photographer

Pro Pictures
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Centerpiece - © Trista Lerit Photography

Pew Arangements - © Trista Lerit Photography

Virgin Mary Bouquet - © Trista Lerit Photography

Groom & BM Bout - © Trista Lerit Photography

GM Bouts - © Trista Lerit Photography

My Bouquet (Ivory & Light Pink Peonies & White Lavander) - © Trista Lerit Photography

Our Rings - © Trista Lerit Photography

Wedding Party

Custom Chonies - http://www.customizedworld.com/

Dresses

Flowers

MOH (My Sister) & FG (My Niece) - The 2 FG's walked in together at the rehearsal, but not on the day of.

MOH & BM placing the Lazo on us.

Ring Exchange

First Dance

MOH Speech - My isster did an awesome job, She had everone laughing.

Us! (after a long night of dancing)

I ♥ Pasadena! (Taken from our balcony at the Westin)

Vendor Information
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Ceremony Location - St. Elizabeth Church

A+

We grew up at this church. We've known our Priest (Fr. Edwin) as long as we've been together. He gave a beautiful sermon and a beautiful mass. My boss even said it was the most beautiful ceremony he had ever attended (better than his daughter's!).

Reception Location - La Cañada Flintridge Country Club

A
My review is a bit biased. FIL works there, so we got hooked up with a lot of stuff. But I'll try to hit on the basics.
I have absolutely no complaints about LCFCC! But then again.....the manager is friends with my now FIL and he was around for most of the reception making sure everything was just right.
One thing - I heard the mixed drinks were weak and expensive. We had hosted bar for 2 hours. But I got raves on the hor'derves and food. Food was hot and the chicken was tender and juicy. But again....the manager asked the chef to cook all the chicken that day (they usually cook it the night before).
They have a new coord. She's kind of wacko (Shirley), but they had someone new working our wedding. She was super nice and was all over the place making sure things were right.
Overall, I reccommend this country club. They recently expanded their menu selections and are constantly making upgrades around the clubhouse. We used the main ballroom which was perfect for our 200+ guests. Large dance floor and private restroom.

Cake Creator - Cakery Bakery

A+
We LOVED our cake! All of our guests loved our cake! It was a chocolate cake with bavarian cream filling and a whipped cream frosting. Even non-chocolate lovers enjoyed the cake. It was very moist. We also rented the silver cake stand from them for $40. The cake was included in our package, but we paid a little extra to have 2 squares for the bottom layers. When our guest count went up, they happily supplied an extra sheet cake just in case.

Florist - The Flower Garden

A+
The owner is a family friend who has been providing our flowers for many years. I knew they were the only one's I wanted for this day. Mariano took care of us and did an amazing job! From finding my peonies, hydrangeas, and white lilac's to re-using flowers from the church at the reception on the day of. We loved all of our floral arrangements. They were so fresh and lasted for over a week after the wedding!! The peonies in my bouquet stayed fresh for a whole week. I highly recommend their services, but they are pricey!

Photographer - Trista Lerit

A+ (and a million more)
What a blessing Trista has been. I hired Trista with only 3 months left till our wedding. Our first photographer (J. Clawson Photography - has now filed for bankruptcy) was very shady and I knew I had to get out while we still had time. I followed my gut instincts and lost my deposit. But, boy, was it worth it!!! From my first meeting with Trista I knew I had to have her. She is new to the business, but acts and works like a pro! And her work shows it. Both of our families cannot stop talking about what an awesome job she did, and we haven't even received our pictures!!! She is the sweetest person. Snatch her up while her rates are still low!!! I know we definitly want to work with her again in the future.
Also, her assistant was awesome too. Rodolfo Arpia owns his own company, but has shot with Trista before. Check him out too! http://www.arpiaphoto.com/

Mariachi - Mariachi Alma de las Americas

A+
Contact: Rodolfo Montano Phone: (323) 588-7039 Beeper: (213) 307-0775 (this is on the business card)
We loved them! They had us go to one of their weddings to check them out (we went to the church). We used them for the church (1 hr), outside the church (30 min.), Cocktail hour, and during some of the dinner. Let him know we referred you! Gaby & Gerardo's wedding in November at the La Cañada Country Club.

Transportation - Classy Chassis Rentals

A+
Mel, the owner, was awesome to work with. Great guy who worked with us. He was our driver on the day of. Arrive early and then waited for us outside the church. Highly recommended!

Invitations - DIY!

A+
I am so happy I DIY’d my invites. We got tons of compliments so it was very worth all the hard work! I did how ever end up taking my files to be printed by a more professional printer. Print Efex in La Cañada was great to work with. A+ - They are a family owned business with another location in Glendale. I got my invites printed in thermography. Since they actually have this machine, the cost is cut way down! No 3rd party to pay! Great experience, definitely recommended if your looking for someone to print your stuff. Now here’s a list of all my other suppliers: - Paper Source (all paper & some envelopes) - Kelly Paper (Envelopes) - Cards & Pockets (pocket fold envelopes) http://www.cardsandpocketsstore.com/ - Michael Levine in downtown L.A. (custom order ribbon)

Jeweler - Robbins Bros & Icing on the Ring

A+
Robbins Bros – My e-ring and matching wedding band were purchased here. We liked their customer service and their free ring cleaning every 3 months. Icing on the Ring – After reading many good reviews on the knot about this place, we decided to check it out for DH’s wedding band. We ended buying a titanium band for an awesome price. They were about to have a special promotion, and even though we were a week early they still gave us the discount. Great company – also family owned.

Tuxedo Rental - Men’s Wearhouse - Pasadena

A
Good service. Guys used their own ties that we gave them as part of their gift. We didn’t like any of the colors that they had to offer (reddish brown or forest green). I love our tie vendor – Ebay seller “krisar_enterprises” – good quality silk ties.

My Dress - Pebbles Bridal – Woodland Hills, CA

A+
I always had a good experience here. The girls were very nice. I dreaded dress shopping – my Jasmine Couture H338 was the first dress I saw, the 2nd one I tried on, and I was sold. I was so happy I found a dress so fast that I didn’t care to pay their price. I’m sure I could have found a better price, but I liked the place. My gown arrived 3 weeks early and in perfect condition!

My Veil – purchased online at Occansey Designs was cheap! $60 – I got a two layer veil, with a detachable long layer. I got it to my measurements (shorter layer was to my elbow and the longer layer was the length of my dress). Arrived fast and well packaged! http://occanseydesigns.com/veils/TwoLayerSheer/LSH2LY36to108.html
My Shoes – Hurt like a bitch! But they were cute and matched perfectly. www.jcrew.com

Corset – Wizard of Bras in Monrovia, CA – good service and price.
Jewelry – I purchased everything online. I highly recommend Emitations.com.
Garter – purchased two days before at Fredericks of Hollywood. I slacked on this and was stressing to find something quick!

Bridesmaid Dresses - Netbride – Bill Levkoff #555 in Sable

A+ for Netbride F- for UPS
Netbride quoted me the dress for $50 cheaper so I went with them. They are great to work with. Easy ordering and fast shipping. Unfortunately, I had some bad luck. My order had to be shipped in two boxes. Well, mother effen UPS happened to lose one of my boxes!! We had 1.5 month till the wedding (luckily the dresses had been shipped a month earlier than promised). After waiting for a week in hopes that UPS would locate the box (which they didn’t) I had to figure out what to do (just as I was leaving for my bachelorette weekend in Baja!). I still needed 4 dresses. Laura at Netbride was a dream to work with. She went above and beyond the call of duty for us. After the people at B.L. told us there was no way they could make our gowns in time, we got lucky when a higher up at Netbride happened to know a higher up at Bill Levkoff. They did a special rush for netbride and were promised a delivery date of 6 days before the wedding. The gown arrived straight from China with 9 days tills our wedding. Just enough time to get them all altered (since they seem to run big in the chest and on everything in the bigger sizes).
In conclusion – I still recommend netbride. They fixed something that wasn’t they’re fault and never gave me sh!t about it.

Make-up Artist - LoAnn To – Let’s Get Beautified

A+
letsgetbeautified@yahoo.com
Another one of my last minute bookings. LoAnn came highly recommended by my photographer. I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg for this and LoAnn is just getting started. After seeing some of her work I decided to do a trial with just 1 week till my wedding. I loved her work and booked her right away. Since it was so close to my wedding she waived a trial fee and a traveling fee (she is located in the OC). My face looked flawless! She does this awesome shading on your face to make it appear slimmer. She was even able to cover a pimple by my lip that popped out the day before (stupid stress). Make-up felt weightless and it stayed on all night. I only had to reapply blush and lipstick (we used my own). She also applied these awesome fake lashes that looked so good! All of my BMs commented on how great they looked. Another vendor that should be booked asap!

Wedding Coordinator - Angel Swanson – Events of Love and Splendor

A+
I was so reluctant to hire a coordinator (and it was not in our budget). I thought I could do it all my self. I finally came to my senses and hired Angel as my day of coordinator, just a month before my wedding. Angel is a dream to work with. She came highly recommended by fellow knotties and she definitely did not disappoint. She helped so much in that last month. She was always available and on top of everything. In the end, I could not have pulled off without her. I did not worry about a thing on my wedding day. I knew everything was taken care of and it was. I highly recommend at least a day-of-coordinator. It is totally worth every penny!!!!

Other Vendor - Custom Panties

A+
I got them when they were on sale. They arrived fast and we're super comfortable. Big hit with DH!

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