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.
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.
With the latest announcement of the iPad 2 coming out in March, everyone (at least the people that I know) is claiming that March is the month of the iPad 2. (Hey, isn’t it supposed to be the month of the French Toasts’ wedding? I kid, I kid…)
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.
“Just tell me the location, date and time of the wedding and I’ll show up,” joked Mr. French Toast when we first started planning the wedding.
Or was he?
Early on in the planning process, Mr. French Toast expressed his desire to not play a big role with planning the wedding. After all, he couldn’t tell the difference between chiavari vs. folding chairs, pintuck vs. regular linens and all the other wedding details I bombarded him with. His only objective was to get married, even if it meant a small and intimate civil ceremony.
In retrospect, I’ve had moments where I wished I could have his attitude toward our wedding. That way, the money we saved up could be spent towards insulating our home, buying a new car, or taking a grand vacation. But like all little girls who dreams of a fairytale wedding, I was set on making my own come true and had Mr. French Toast’s full moral support. 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 week I received an email from our DJ informing us that he’ll be spinning at a local lounge on the weekend and asked us to swing by if we had a chance.
Mr. French Toast was on his boys getaway weekend and I figured …well… since the boys are away, the girls will come out and play. So a few girlfriends and I went out for a night on the town for some dancing.
We initially found DJ Quantum through Yelp. Mr. French Toast and I took a leap of faith by booking him because I exhausted my referral list from other couples and couldn’t find a DJ who met our criteria. We went with DJ Quantum is because he was quick to respond, personable, attentive and I liked the music tracks that he shared on his website. When we met in person, it was like we were old friends and hit it off instantly. He also sent me a workout mix he created, which was really the icing on the cake for 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.
I always thought that we were going to order our wedding cake from a Chinese bakery. Since Mr. French Toast doesn’t have a sweet tooth, he didn’t mind where the cake came from or how it looked. Me? Put anything sweet in front of me and I’ll devour it.
If you haven’t tried a Chinese bakery cake before, then run, don’t walk to your nearest Sheng Kee, Ranch 99 market or any Chinese bakery.
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.
Is it me? Or has the bridal scene exploded with new offerings?
Maybe I’m more sensitive to the ongoings of the bridal industry since I’m in the midst of planning a wedding, but I can’t help but notice that more and more companies are launching a “bridal” line.
Apparently these companies got the memo that the wedding industry is recession proof.
Of course, an affordable Vera Wang line is now available at David’s Bridal..
Anthropologie’s BHLDN made many of us swoon… 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.
When I took my first dip into social media with sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it was merely a channel to connect with my friends and acquaintances. Little did I know that slowly, my life would be consumed with daily use of aforementioned sites, and at the same time, it became an extremely helpful resource throughout this wedding planning process.
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’ve mentioned before that as a kid, my favorite show was Full House. I recall one time, after watching an episode, I turned to my mom and asked, “Mom, how come you don’t hug and kiss me like Mr. Tanner does with his daughters? And you don’t say ‘I love you’ every night before I go to bed?” My mom answered, “Turn off the TV and practice your violin.”
So between homework and violin practice, I’d sneak a little time to watch Full House. My favorite character was Stephanie Tanner because we were similar in age.
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.
A few weekends ago, my bridesmaids and sisters threw me a bridal shower at my mom’s house in San Francisco. When they first started planning the shower, they asked me if I had any specific requests.
My reply? “Games. Lots of games! And mango salsa.” They’re the two things that I loved the most (aside from Mr. French Toast). I love to organize and play games at parties and showers. And I could eat a whole gallon of mango salsa everyday if I could. (Just kidding, but I do love to eat mango anything.)
And boy did they deliver.
The first game was a scavenger hunt—in our own purses! Everyone had to dig through their purses to find specific items on the list.
Here’s my sister Maggie diligently scouring through her purse.
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, 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’ve never heard of a blueberry donut before so I was really excited to try it when Mr. French Toast told me about a bakery in San Francisco that made sinfully delicious blueberry donuts. One day he drove me to try the said donut. To our utter disappointment, the bakery shop was out of business.
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!
In the moments before our walk down the aisle, Papa Jelly and I waited patiently inside the front entry hall of Casa Real while the bridal party processed through the venue’s large wooden doors into the outdoor courtyard where our ceremony would take place. Papa Jelly and I both giggled nervously and made small talk while we waited for our turn to walk. Like father, like daughter.
After the bridal party finished walking out, the Casa Real staff closed the large wooden doors while the processional music faded out and the song I would be walking down the aisle to came on:
Unique Wedding Favors
