Weddingbee Blog

Mexican weddings could be the most fun ever. I went to my first when I was about 7, and it was there I became obsessed with all things paper. The banners, the streamers, the glittery flowers. Did I mention the banners? Mexican papel picado can be amazingly beautiful.

Photo via The Illustrious Bean.

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#1 from Snowbride

A duster. Not even a feather duster but a fluffy cotton sort. Were they trying to imply my house needed to be dusted? Please!

I also received a jar of salt and a jar of pepper-but no shaker, no grinder… Just the salt and pepper inexplicably in a box.

#2 from Jamia

I’m sure there are far worse things, but this freaking hat was the worst thing EVER in the moment. It looks like a Jo-Ann Fabrics exploded on my head. And I had been having a pretty decent hair day until they made me put this on. Evil people. By the way, there was an accompanying Groom’s Ball & Chain hat. Of course. Where do people even find these things???

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I know I am not the only one to have ever seriously questioned the appropriateness of a wedding gift, so now I’m calling all my fellow candy underpants recipients to spill the beans.

Tell me all about the bad wedding gifts you’ve received. I’ll post the entries, pick the worst, and reward the winner with a lovely Eternity Garter from Spoylt.

How about that?

~~~
1. Email entries to Mrs. Caterpillar at caterpillar@weddingbee.com.
2. Pictures are always welcome.
3. Contest closes Thursday, October 5th.

Mr. Caterpillar and I attended the Sapuquezes’ wedding in mid August. By the end of August, we had a thank you note filled with lovely handwriting and heartfelt sentiments. Mr. Caterpillar and I are not the Sapuquezes. We have yet to write a single thank you note.

I’m tempted to blame our lack of thank you notes on our current homelessness, but I’m pretty sure more organized people would have just found a Starbucks in which to sit and write, throwing fear of artic air conditioning and repetitive stress injury to the wind. I suppose that the real problem is just not knowing where to start.

The Morning News has a great primer by Leslie Harpold, which breaks note writing into these steps:

1. Greet the Giver
2. Express Your Gratitude
3. Discuss Use
4. Mention the Past, Allude to the Future
5. Grace
6. Regards

Very useful.

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Aren’t they gorgeous?

For all the surliness at Thread, I have to say that the dresses looked amazing.

Vendor Review — Makeup

Rita Brown
Shu Uemura San Francisco
1971 Fillmore Street (corner of Pine)
San Francisco, CA 94115
415.395.0953

Quality — A+
Service — A+
Value — A+

Rita Brown is a superhero. When the makeup artist I had booked in March basically cancelled on me 9 days before the wedding, Rita came to the rescue.

Really, as soon as I walked into my trial appointment at Shu Uemura, I knew Rita was going to be perfect. She is one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen in real life, and her makeup was flawless — it was hard to tell if she had makeup on at all. I basically told her that I wanted to look like her. If she thought I was crazy, she was polite enough to keep that to herself.

The trial took a little more than an hour and a half. Rita asked me questions the entire time, making sure I liked each application — from foundation to false eyelashes (Shu Uemura makes the best ones, you can custom order mink and diamond sets). Then, she told me to wear the makeup for a while, and email her comments.

Day of the wedding I decided to make some last minute changes, and she didn’t flinch. It looked perfect.

Did I mention that she rented a car and drove 90 miles to get to us? at 8:00am? Or that she did makeup for 6 people — personalizing each look? Or that everyone looked amazingly beautiful? My bridesmaids loved her so much they made future appointments with her.

I so love Rita Brown.

$200 — bride’s makeup
$75 — bridesmaid’s makeup

Vendor Review — Alterations

Lynn Gallagher
Galigula Bridal Services
2266 Union Street (between Fillmore & Steiner)
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 345-9200

Quality — B
Service — D
Value — C

Because I left for California more than a month before the wedding, I couldn’t have my alterations done at Mark Ingram. Or rather, I wanted to do them closer to the wedding date in case my body wanted to have a full scale revolution and do something completely unexpected in the six weeks between the fitting and the wedding. Mr. Caterpillar’s mama found Galigula through a recommendation from Atelier des Modistes, a really wonderful couture gown maker in San Francisco.

The initial fittings went well. Lynn is very experienced with all types of gowns, and had no problem altering mine. I paid $488 for the alterations ($50/hour) — a three-point bustle, sizing the dress down, hemming, and having cups sewn in.

I left the dress at Galigula for a steaming and little detail alterations — the sash had to be shortened, and some bustle issues needed to be sorted.

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Mr. Caterpillar and I only had 4 days between our wedding/reception(s) and the wedding of the lovely Megses, so I figured we were going to stay somewhere relatively local for the minimoon — local meaning maybe we could find a tent or build a fort in my parent’s backyard. But, Mr. Caterpillar is a super genius, and he surprised me with a trip to One & Only Palmilla in Los Cabos.

1. The Villa — Casa Miramar

It’s a beachfront suite (beach on the other side) with a wrap around balcony. I think I cried when we had to leave for Los Angeles.

2. The Livingroom

Every evening at 5:30, our butler would bring cocktail snacks — mixed nuts and parmesan tuile, marinated cheese and croutons, or olives and spiced almonds. (These went with the giant bottle of tequila they gave us.) I miss the butler.

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Seven tiers of strawberry shortcake and chocolate strawberry shortcake, all topped with whipped cream.

I loved my wedding cake something fierce.

The wedding is on Saturday, and myriad things remain undone. But, I’m officially stepping out of the fray at the end of the day today. No more last minute crafts; no more last minute errands. If it’s not done by 9pm today, we’re going forward without it!

If I would have changed anything about this process, I think I would have

1. Hired a wedding coordinator — why get an ulcer over vendors who don’t call back? Pay a coordinator for that.

2. Bought my dress online — 30% off is 30% off.

3. Made my own veil — $675 for a piece of netting?

4. Registered at a national store — Michael C. Fina is fine for NYC, but their online system is bunk.

5. Looked into J.Crew for bridesmaids’ dresses — easy ordering, easy returns, no sour faced bridal emporium employees!

6. Ordered more vegetarian options for the reception — as of now, they’re eating mashed potatoes and grilled eggplant.

7. Asked more people for help — and possibly been less of a craft control freak.

Okay, off to run errands!

Marcus Aurelius is my head usher. I wanted him to be in the bridal party, but fears of my putting him in a seersucker dress prevailed, and he’s now head usher.

I searched high and low for an appropriate gift for him, but kept coming up empty. He’s not really a monogrammed money clip/key ring/silver frame kind of person; so standard groomsmen’s gifts were out. So was getting him something from Bonbon Oiseau, which is usually the answer to all my gift giving needs.

Then it came to me. Personalized stationery, in a banker typeface. From Crane, of course.

It took about 14 working days to arrive, but I think it may just be perfect.

($160 for 50 cards and envelopes — if you get exactly the same thing I did.)

More good news for the tiara-fearing.

Kanazashi are traditional Japanese hair ornaments — you’re supposed to change the style of the ornament in step with the seasons. Or just find some nice ones and forego the tiara.

Top: Available online at Kimonome.
Middle and Bottom: Available online at Harumi Antiques.

Tomorrow I will be in San Francisco having my dress fitted for the second time. NB: This is not a second fitting. I actually have to have my dress altered down a second time.

I’m sure this will cost me a billion dollars since the wedding is on Saturday, and it was just last Friday that I realized my pants don’t fit . . . and my shirts don’t fit . . . except for that chihuahua sized one that shrank in the wash . . . and my rehearsal dinner dress is falling down around my ankles . . . . *%#$@!

Don’t let this happen to you. When all the crazy madness starts, put ear plugs in. And make sure you eat food. And just ignore those weird relatives who compare everything in your wedding to the wedding your stupid cousin had in 1986 that had the really really nice dress from Vera Wang or whatever. And if worse comes to worst, just pretend you don’t speak English. Then they’ll leave you alone.

I just do.

And decoupage is my new favorite project. It makes sign painting very, very easy. I just print out the text I want, cut it to fit my sign board and add a coat of ModPodge to the whole thing.

I used the same technique to make these initial gift tags.

Petite Paris — an online treasure trove of wonderous things.

Petite Paris is based in Japan, can be paid in Euros, and ships worldwide. Now go buy some of those little Eiffel Towers. You know you want some.

Via the ever inspirational Oh Joy!.