Weddingbee Blog

[X] Ceremony site: St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Church (Pasadena, California)

Mr. Pearl and I have known pretty much forever that we’d be married in this church. It has been Mr. Pearl’s church since he was a child — he was even an altar boy here! We were supposed to be married by his childhood priest, but unfortunately Fr. Mylonas passed away from a battle with cancer a couple of weeks ago. They have a new priest now whom I haven’t met (Fr. Stratos). We have heard that this priest is a little more liberal than the previous, so perhaps Fr. Stratos will be more accommodating and understanding of our interracial, inter-Christian marriage.

[X] Reception Venue: Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel (Pasadena, California)
The Ritz Carlton was on my dream list of venues before we started wedding planning. I thought it was a pipe dream, beyond our budget. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we visited and I fell in love with it. But, just as importantly, Mr. Pearl fell in love as well…and he wasn’t really a fan of many of our other venues we’d visited. We chose the Georgian Ballroom because of its old, Fabrege egg-like colors that fit the vintage theme we were thinking of.

[X] Wedding Coordinator: Mistyka Garcia, Dulce Events
I got the referral for Mistyka from a former LA Knottie who used her for her wedding. The thing I loved most about Mistyka when I first met her was that she was willing to come out to the school I teach at to meet with me (instead of having me meet her somewhere). I’m usually at school for at least 10 hours per day, so it’s hard for me to get away for appointments. She was a real trooper about it and had a lot of great ideas. Plus, she listens, which, it seems, is incredibly rare.

[ ] Florist: Undecided
Still trying to figure it all out. I’m really wanting to use Luna Gardens based off the meeting I had with them, but Mr. Pearl is kinda dragging his heels on this one. We know what we want, however…so I guess that’s a good thing???

[X] Photographer: Amanda Copeland, Classic Stories Photography
Our vision for a photographer was one who was more artistic and photojournalistic instead of posed portraiture. We also wanted someone who took soft and romantic shots (not as cross-processed looking) and shot in film. We really liked Amanda, though we spoke with a lot of photographers who we really liked. I’ll post later about our photography adventure.

[ ] DJ - Undecided
We know we’re going to have a DJ because we have guests of a wide age range and musical tastes (plus, I never like how people in a band sing great classics…doesn’t sound right to me). We originally had a DJ, but we’ve decided to keep our options open after deciding to reschedule. We very well might stay with the same person, but we’re just not sure yet.

[ ] Hair and Makeup - Undecided
I originally booked with Tess of The Artistry Group back in June 2005. Unfortunately in the time that’s transpired since then, she’s gone a bit crazy. She moved away to Maine, leaving brides in the lurch. Of brides who have come together to compare notes, we are collectively out more than $20,000…and of course, there are a LOT of women who contracted with her that we dont’ know about. Horrible! So now I need to find a hair and makeup artist who will travel to Pasadena and do my hair and makeup, as well as my sister (MOH), BM, my mom, and my flower girl. Unfortunately many LA area artists raised their prices after the Tess fiasco. Ugh!