Weddingbee Blog

We didn’t get many car honks on the girls’ half-mile walk from the hotel to the venue, heels in hand. Thanks a lot, driving public. (Mostly kidding.)

The tide turned once we got to the Green Room, which sits in a busy area on a major artery in town. Plenty of attention came our way from an open-air tourist bus and a bunch of camera-wielding pedestrians and car passengers. The bus line I use to get home, from which I’d stare out the window at our venue almost every day, honked at us, too, and the handful of people inside all waved. Our city bus system is notoriously wacky (to put it mildly), so this bizarro, friendly version of it made me laugh. Part of my vision included unrehearsed elements, but I hadn’t seriously considered footing it. Still, there was something very normal and obvious about me walking to my wedding, just like I walk to work every day in the same city.

It never rains in August, but our weather trends toward dull and foggy in summertime; some describe it like someone stuffed some cotton into a snow globe. And yet, we got sunshine. Weather win.

Here’s us, still separate at this point, on the way to meet up with each other. BIL/groomsman is in the background of the groom pic. All pics by Ashley Forrette and Gem Photo.

I highly recommend a first look. I had my back turned while the girls watched the mister, his groomsmen, and our ushers walk up to us, and the result of that setup is pictured here.

I hoped he would like how it all came together.

I look insane, but I really was that happy. And I make that face a lot in normal life, too.

We both review the goods, and I decide he cleaned up very nicely, indeed.

Many brides express concern that the first look makes the walk down the aisle somewhat anticlimactic, but I think it really depends on how you view the ceremony. Is it the moment for you and your groom? You and whoever is walking you down the aisle? You, your groom, and all 160 of your guests? I’ll go into the ceremony in a later post. But, above all else, our first look and subsequent bridal party shoot was intimate; we spent quality time with our support system before the big show. We spotted a few guests beforehand, but we didn’t have to crash through post-ceremony fray to get 14 people in the same place at the same time. And, since those AM mimosas wore off, nerves would have hit big time if I wasn’t distracted by the task at hand.

The least-romantic benefit was time savings, of course. All bridal party portraits were done before the ceremony.

An important part of this particular first look was my amazement (excited, excited amazement) that the entire grooms’ side was dressed, matching, and ready to go, smiling right back at me. Once I turned from my handsome mister to the rest of the bunch, I must have said, “You’re all here! Look at you, all matching!” at least three times. And what a handsome group they are.

We call this one “Billy Idol. Not Elvis.” Nice day for a white wedding, indeed.

Note: usually in bright sunlight and depending on exposure, the girls’ dresses and the guys’ ties morphed into more of a deep red than a burgundy, but a-plus Ashley says all will be color-matched for consistency before our album gets printed.

This one is very us and a likely framer for the apartment. I like a good photo, but I like a good photo with soul even better.

I opted for a jazzed-up version of my going-out makeup; more eyes (eyelashes, shadow and smoky liner), rather than lips (which were a shade pinker than nude). I am wearing a bunch of makeup, trust me, including a smattering of blush. I was concerned about the unnatural pinking around my cheeks, but it did work out in photos. At this point, I’m trying to control my smiles so it doesn’t look quite like I’m trying to win a pageant.

Here’s the tour-bus moment. They were so nice to wave.

SF City Hall with our bridesmaids, groomsmen, and ushers

Remember how I was big on walking? Here’s some walking.

And after all that walking, we ended up at the nearby Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, a really cool-looking theater. This was Ashley’s idea for a stage and it was a very in-theme, Deco-urban idea. We didn’t realize you could see reflections in the windows, and it turned into a pretty cool series of portraits.

I know everyone does this, but it’s extra funny when they’re your people. Those two fellas are twins, yes.

Ashley created all the mashup pics in this (and subsequent) posts, and this one’s one of my favorites. Mister called it our 12-piece band album cover.

Then we headed to the venue to wait and touch up. We threw the men into the guest fray and waited in our ready-room for the all-clear. I spent the time barefoot (the 3-inch heels did a number on my toes) and folding a tissue to wrap around my bouquet.

Let’s do this.

Next up: ceremony.