Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
Mrs. French Toast reporting for duty while waiting for pro pics! Hope everyone has been well!
On Sunday, the French Toasts attended our very first wedding as a married couple. I was very excited to get all dolled up again and attend the wedding as a guest.
Justin wanted to come, but we were limited to two seats
It felt wonderful to be on the other side and witness the marriage as someone who recently tied the knot, because I’d get warm fuzzies when thinking about my own special day. During moments of the ceremony, Mr. French Toast would squeeze my hand as if to say, “That was us 3 months ago.”
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
Even though we had taken dance lessons and practiced a lot for our first dance, the dances our guests were really talking about were the ones we shared with our parents. First up, Papa Jelly and I did the father-daughter dance to Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.”
Now, if I learned anything from my wedding, it’s that when your dad has a specific song request in mind for the father-daughter dance, you should just let him have his song. When my dad told me that “You Are So Beautiful” was his song choice, I cringed. It’s a beautiful song (no pun intended), but I felt weird about it. Almost like it would be embarrassing or something, the same way you’re embarrassed when your mom kisses you in front of all your friends when you’re in seventh grade. I tried to convince my dad that we should go for another song, but he wouldn’t budge on this one. And now, with the benefit of hindsight, I have to say: he was right.
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
I talked about the song selection for our first dance here, and I mentioned that we got dance lessons before the wedding. To be more precise, we attempted to learn the foxtrot starting a mere 5 weeks before the wedding. Sound crazy? I’m here to tell you it’s possible! We bought a package of 6 one-hour dance lessons with Laurie Ann Lepoff of Steps on Toes dance lessons in Oakland. Laurie really emphasizes learning the basic dance steps rather than focusing on a choreographed routine, which she believes locks dancers in and causes the whole dance to fall apart if someone misses a step. During the weeks leading up to the wedding, our hour-long dance lessons proved to be a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of wedding planning. Some of my favorite memories of the days before our wedding involve us practicing the foxtrot to our song in the living room, in Mr. Jelly’s parents’ garage, and in my hotel room the night before the wedding. And I’m happy to report that even though we were by no means DWTS ready, we managed to learn a simple foxtrot routine that we felt proud of, and more importantly, had a blast dancing to on our wedding day. Without further ado, some photos from our first dance, along with the lyrics of our song:
Do you hear me, I’m talking to you Across the water across the deep blue ocean Under the open sky, oh my, baby I’m trying
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
As the cocktail hour drew to a close, the bridal party lined up in the foyer, ready to make their entrance into the reception. Our DJ started playing I Gotta Feeling, the song we’d chosen to kick off our reception. It’s a little cliche and definitely overplayed, but we love it and it’s such a fun, happy song that it was the perfect way to get our guests pumped up for the party ahead.
Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
While most brides usually run errands like crazy or pamper themselves a week before the wedding, this is what I did:
Eat an apple?!?!
I was in line for seven glorious hours to get my hands on the iPad 2. I’ve mentioned before that “March 2011″ is considered the month of the iPad 2, so what better way to mark the French Toast wedding than with the gadget itself? Read more…
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
While we were out in the vineyards taking bride and groom portraits, our guests made their way into the Grand Salon for the cocktail hour and reception. Here is what they saw upon entering the reception space:
The tables all set up with Casa Real’s standard chocolate brown linens and a mix of high and low centerpieces. You can see our candy buffet in the background. (Cliff Brunk Photography)
Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
These were the exact words said by our friend-officiant Philip. The French Toasts are now married!
personal photo
Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck all week because the forecast looked like this: Read more…
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
After the ceremony ended, Mr. Jelly and I were ushered into our reception space where we got a sneak peek of the setup and shared a quick toast to our new marriage.
We also rehashed parts of the ceremony, and Mr. Jelly told me about his stressful pre-ceremony scramble: he thought we didn’t have a projector for our slideshow and almost paid $300 to rent a last-minute projector before our DOC caught on and told him we already had one. Phew!
Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
I’m not kidding when I say that I’ve been thinking about my last post as a “Miss” to the hive even before I was accepted to be a bee. I always thought that I’d have something clever yet heartfelt to say as I wrapped up my stint as a “Miss” bee blogger. But today as I sit here, I find myself reluctantly writing this post.
Sixteen months ago when I got engaged, March 2011 seemed like such a far away date. I’ve been reading Weddingbee for such a long time, and I was just counting down the days until I could apply to be a bee. In December 2011, I finally received the anticipated acceptance e-mail from Pengy. Since then, wedding planning has been a whirlwind ride as I find myself trying to source more ideas and stories to share with the hive. Your comments are so insightful, supportive and encouraging. It’s like an adrenaline rush each time I see a new comment. This wedding planning would have never been the same with you guys, so thank you, thank you, thank you. Read more…
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
Last we left off, we had just been pronounced husband and wife.
“Please join me in welcoming…Mr. and Mrs. Garrett and Monica Jellyfish!” Read more…
Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
Growing up, I was never a fan of Scrabble. But Words With Friends makes it so convenient and fun to challenge my friends and play with people from all over the world. It’s my nightly ritual to make a last move on WWF before I hit the sack.
I’ve been thinking of ways to incorporate WWF/Scrabble related themes to the wedding day. Read more…
Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
Two weekends ago, my closest girlfriends whisked me away to Vegas for some girl time. We did the usual wine tasting, shopping, visiting Hoover Dam, and of course, catching a Cirque De Soleil show.
Mr. French Toast, you can stop reading here now.
Whew. Now that he’s outta here, did you really believe we did the above? (I’m sure he doesn’t either). Because the TSA certainly didn’t find a pecker pops while going through my BM’s luggage for nothing!
That incident spiked one the most fun and memorable trips I’ve ever had. We started off Friday night at Venetian’s TAO nightclub in Vegas. The name has a special significance to me so the BM Maggie specifically reserved a table for the 12 of us.
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
After the readings, it was time to exchange our vows. Lili first asked us to express our intent: “The promises you are to make today are both the culmination and foundation of a life lived with intention and integrity. Knowing what you know about one another and about the rewards and challenges of being married, are you now ready to make your promises to one another?” Yes, we are.
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
Hi there…remember me? It’s been over a month since my last wedding recap post, and I’m sorry to have left you all hanging. (You were waiting with bated breath, right? Right?!) Part of it is that I’ve been insanely busy, but the other part is that I’m having a bit of writer’s block. Writing about your wedding ceremony is hard to do, because, well, how do you put all that emotion into words? How do you describe such a life-changing moment? So after starting and re-starting this post many different ways, I’m simply going to share our ceremony with you, as it was officiated by Revered Lili Goodman Freitas.
Lili started the ceremony by thanking our guests for coming from near and far to participate in our special day, and taking a few moments to honor those who could not be there with us. Read more…
Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
Last night, Operation Wine Cork Place cards was a big #FAIL.
Mr. French Toast and I went to our final walk-through at the venue this weekend, and the coordinator gave us a box of used wine corks which could double as our place card holders.
“Enough for mistakes too,” she said, ever so sweetly. And boy, was she right about “mistakes.”
She also gave us a sample of how a proper wine cork place card could look.
