Weddingbee Blog

I’ll take one. Or 12 (of the stripey thing that also comes in a vast array of solid colors; note: not the chivari chair, to which I still ask, “what’s the big deal?”).

K, our caterer/linens diva at Miraglia Catering in San Leandro, CA, turned me on to these beanbag dealies over at LaTavola, a linen company with a warehouse in the Laurel Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. I had already checked out the linens and napkin samples from Miraglia’s book o’ goodies, so I didn’t think the store would be that big of a deal. It turned out to be a lot of fun, especially because I’m a tactile, touchy kinda person.
Read more…

Etsy.com has saved my life. And my sanity.

Shopping in actual (i.e. not online) stores for something specific (like, say, a birdcage veil or a fascinator) kind of gives me a headache. It involves a lot of traveling around, a lot of touching, head-tilting, then ultimately deciding it’s not exactly what you’re looking for. It also requires patience, which isn’t something I’ve got in spades.

images

So instead of schlepping around from boutique to boutique trying to find the perfect thing, I’ve been finding some really awesome stuff on Etsy. It’s especially perfecto for the little things: hair accessories, jewelry, veils, and little touches for manageable DIY projects.

“Manageable” DIY projects is key for me throughout this process, too.
Read more…

They (and by “they,” I mostly mean my fiancé) told me it would happen. I’d plan, plan, plan, obsess over details, then obsess over more details once the first details were attended to. And I would plan on repeating this process for a year.

Then, miraculously, I’d stop thinking about it, given the 5 months we have left until Go Time.

Diving wholeheartedly into non-wedding life (including the freelance jobs I’ve taken for some extra cash-moneys) turns out to be a lot more satisfying than obsessing over the napkins.

I often find myself thinking more about being married than about being a “bride”. And it’s a nice transition of thought, helped largely by winning examples of married friends. Once I stopped thinking about the registry, the food, the wine, and the new signature I need to perfect, thinking about being this guy’s wife really makes my day.
Read more…

This whole wedding-planning thing involves a pretty steep learning curve, as well as a pretty good poker face. (“Ah, yes, $10,000, then. Thank you, we’ll be in touch if we have additional questions…”) I’m sure I’ll come up with a lot more lessons learned in the next year, but here are some biggies almost three months in.

1) Flexibility isn’t actually the end of the world. I never thought I’d say it. But sometimes, letting your vendors do some of the talking and the planning (and, therefore, the worrying) works out pretty well. Telling poor Amy (our florist) about my feelings on manzanita branches vs. curly willow really doesn’t matter. I gave her my vision and she understood. That’s her job.

2) No one will notice if your burgundy napkins don’t match up exactly with your burgundy dresses and burgundy ribbons. A color palette is exactly that: a palette of unifying visuals.

3) Price isn’t everything. Yeah, your estimate has to come fairly close to the number I have in my head before we can do business, but sometimes, you just have to like who you’re dealing with and respect their talent enough. But, um, refer back to the need for a good poker face before throwing that budget out the window.
Read more…

My mom’s not the most practical woman in the world, but she does make sense every now and then.

One day after I got engaged, mom kindly offered to pay for my wedding dress. I think she might have seen too many David’s Bridal sales touting the elusive, perfect $300 gown, so she seemed a bit shell-shocked when I noted my dress (a sample, for a price I haggled for at Rin’s Bridal in San Carlos) came out to a little more than she thought. Three times as much as she thought, in fact.

I made a point to say I was equally comfortable with her paying for all of it, some of it, or none of it, but she still looked understandably perplexed. She observed that I could have gotten one a lot cheaper, and that I’d only wear it once, anyway, after all. I was a little huffy at first, then decided, well, she’s pretty spot-on. I am only going to wear it once, then whenever I feel like sitting around the house in it. (Seriously, I might just bust it out to wear every now and then while I’m watching TV.) I’ll probably get it cleaned. I will love the photos, and I will love me wearing it. But then, I’ll put it away in the closet, or sell it on Craigslist if I can bring myself to do so.

Has anyone else found themselves in a similar position? A thrifty sort myself, I laugh sometimes thinking about how much I’ve been willing to shell out for Big Day.
Read more…

Fussing over centerpieces seems like the cool new ulcer-inducing thing for us brides. It helps immensely (i.e., keeps me sane) to remember my inspiration and my vision: feathers, Deco, branches, burgundy. Classic, beautiful things to match a classic, beautiful venue.

Our venue is decidedly indoors, but who says you can’t bring the outdoors in? Art Deco takes a lot of its inspiration from the outdoors: stylized gazelles and forest scenes are big. Behold the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, Ca., an Art Deco masterpiece:

More photos are here (scroll through with the arrows) That is the lobby, and it’s designed to be a stylized forest scene. The thing in the middle is a waterfall, but there’s no water, obviously. The terra-cotta columns are trees, but they’re not real, right? The light (the light!) is simulated sunlight. And, yes, their electric bill comes out to $9,000+ every month.

The ceiling is a dark green canopy, and curled details on the carpet are meant to be fallen leaves and branches. These are hints/shadows of things that complete a unified picture once they’re all together. I want that.

Given my penchant for this old-timey look (I fail at trends) flowering branches and feathers sounded like a great idea for our reception wonderland.
Read more…

Photog and buddy Kevin (from Right Angle Images) along with second shooter A (one of my beloved bridesmaids) went on a marathon 10-hour engagement photo shoot around our favorite places in San Francisco. You’ll hopefully be seeing some of these (and others) on our save-the-dates, guestbook, and honeymoon registry. Here are some of our favorites:

In an alley in our ’hood

Read more…

First things first: give me a break, as I’ve never been proposed to before. Unless you count the numerous times Mr. Taco has “proposed”, which may explain in part why I was so dumb about the whole thing.

(How’s that for a start to the story?)

Anyway, we had plans for weeks to have our two-year anniversary dinner at Range, a very delicious (I think, I was very distracted) spot in SF. I came home after he did, and I assumed his slightly nervous tick was due to some kind of anniversary surprise hidden somewhere in the house.

As per usual with special events like anniversaries and Valentine’s Day, we split a bottle of wine while sitting on the floor of our bedroom. We do this because the first time we hung out, before I even thought about dating him, and far before I lived there, we spent hours one night sitting on that floor and talking. (Yes, that’s all we did, perverts — talk.) So it made sense to celebrate our two-year mark this way before heading out to dinner. He suggested I get ready all the way (instead of sitting there in socks, a dress and no makeup for a while like usual) so we could enjoy one of our nicer bottles of wine before heading out.

Then…he asked me how my day was.
Read more…

A hearty hello to the Weddingbee hive!

So, what am I doing here?

Some people thrive under the stress of other peoples’ events. Others, given only one excited bride and a color or two, put their artistic talents to good use. I write about it: whether it’s an email to a pal, an item on a list, or a blog post read by brides-to-be all over the country. A questioner of my own sanity during stressful times, reading other peoples’ stories and writing my own has been cathartic, reassuring, and a trigger for inspiration. I hope my little corner of this site will serve the same purpose for you.

Why Miss Taco? I live in a pretty purple flat (rented) in a neighborhood of San Francisco known far and wide for its tasty Mexican food. Californians like me are famous for getting into brawls on- and offline over which part of the state wins for best Mex, so we’ll leave that argument for another time (Viva NorCal!!!!). I’ve lived there for roughly a year now with Mr. Taco and a Boston Terrier that often gets mistaken for a French Bulldog. The ‘hood is a funky one (and it has tacos, come on), with its top-tier shops, restaurants, and bars. We love it, as it’s one piece of our SF experience that will surely keep us around year after year.

(Stonehenge, Sept. 2008)

Read more…