Flower Power

I just love flowers! They bring a sense of life to any room. While these bouquets and arrangements below may not all fit the theme of our wedding, I think they are absolutely beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bottom Line

Let's face it...weddings are expensive. With that said I found a great article at www.theknot.com on ways to save money on your wedding. Check out these helpful tips:

Reception

1. Cut the guest list. This will slash your catering costs and save on invitations and even the number of centerpieces.

2. Think off-peak season and save thousands!

3. Hold your ceremony and reception in one spot -- it will cut travel time for vendors you pay by the hour.

4. Skip the Saturday wedding.

5. Have bigger tables so you need fewer centerpieces and tablecloths.

6. Shop the off-season for extra decor -- get modern black vases on sale after Halloween and pretty pink ones after Valentine's Day.

Flowers

7. Use more greenery than flowers.

8. Swap out costly flowers -- did you know peonies can be five times more expensive than roses?

9. Stick to just one or two kinds of flowers.

10. Buy flowers that are in season.

11. Include non-florals, like lanterns.

Food & Drink

12. Serve entree duets.

13. Skip the main course -- apps and drinks are fine too.

14. Offer beer, wine, and a signature cocktail instead of a full bar.

15. Serve comfort foods like barbecue chicken, mac and cheese, and corn. It's fun and often cheaper.

16. Skip the champagne toast.

Cakes

17. Order a small one or two-tiered cake and then supplement cake with a larger sheet cake (hidden back in the kitchen).

18. Keep the add-ons simple.

19. Use fresh flowers, not sugar ones.

20. Reuse ceremony flowers for the cake table.

21. Skip exotic fillings like guava and mango.

Stationery & Favors

22. Get single-page invites to save on postage.

23. Give out one favor per couple.

24. Make your cake the favors.

25. Have favors double as escort cards.

26. Email your save-the-dates.

27. Make your own menu cards, escort cards, and other stationary.

Photo, Video & Music

28. Have a photographer you love but can't afford the prices? Ask them if they have an associate shooter who will do your wedding for less.

29. Opt for a smaller band.

30. Hire a band or DJ who can do both the ceremony and the reception.

How sweet it is...

My fiance and I are excited to begin our menu tastings in the next couple of months. At the end of January we will be doing our cake tasting. The number of choices for cake flavors is insane, and I am sure we will be walking away from the tasting in one hell of a sugar coma! Here are some of the flavors:

MADAGASCAR VANILLA CAKE with Chocolate Truffle Filling & Raspberry Mousse
LEMON CHIFFON CAKE with Tangy Lemon Mousse
DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE with Chocolate Truffle, Chocolate Mousse and Mocha Mousse
SPICED CARROT CAKE with Whipped Cream Cheese Filling
POPPYSEED CAKE with Grand Marnier Mousse
NEAPOLITAN CAKE with Madagascar Vanilla Mousse, Chocolate Mousse & Raspberry Marmalade & Whipped Cream Frosting
CHOCOLATE CAKE with Peanut Butter Mousse, Chocolate Ganache filling & Whipped Cream Frosting
CHOCOLATE CAKE with Butterscotch, Banana crème and Pistachio Filling with Butter Cream Frosting
PINA COLADA- RUM INFUSED VANILLA CAKE with Pineapple Frappe, Coconut Crème filling & Whipped Cream Frosting
RED VELVET CAKE with Classic Cream Cheese filling & Butter Cream Frosting
VANILLA CAKE with White Chocolate Mousse Filling, Fresh Strawberries & Whipped Cream Frosting

Icings (Select One)- Whipped Cream, Butter Cream, Cream Cheese, Fondant
Sauces (Select One)- Raspberry, Chocolate or Caramel

After picking a flavor, next comes the design. Here are pictures of a few that we are going to be giving to the pastry chef for inspiration:

 

 

 

Inspiration for Our Black & White Theme

I thought about black and white for a while, but couldn't really picture the idea. I was actually leaning toward an antique fall theme prior to honing in on the black, white, and chartreuse color scheme. Then I came across a black and white damask print, and it just clicked. I could just picture it! Here is a swatch of damask print:

Then I stumbled across this bride's shower, and she happened to have a very similar idea...black and white damask with green. A different hue of green and a lot more of it, but still fantastic.

 

What is Chartreuse?

One of the first questions I get asked by friends and family about the wedding is, "What are your wedding colors?". Well, the simple answer is black and white...yes, just plain, old black and white. Most people respond by saying how elegant and fancy that is, but I wouldn't necessarily say that is what we are going for. I just like the classic simplicity of it. When it came to flowers, however, I knew we needed a pop of color. Red seemed to be the easy choice as I have come across tons of black, white, and red themed weddings since I started this planning process almost 3 months ago. So, we ruled out red immediately. Both my fiance and I love the color green, and while sage is probably my favorite hue of green, I have been to so many weddings recently that have jumped on the sage band wagon, that I just wanted to do something a little more outside of the box. So, we are going with chartreuse. The brightness of chartreuse florals should contrast well against the black and white theme. In case you are still wondering what chartreuse is, here are some pics:

 

 

Dresses I Love!

There are so many dresses out there, a bride-to-be can easily find herself overwhelmed with the plethora of choices. Well, I am happy to say that I THINK I have managed to narrow it down to a final choice, however, I am having a hard time finding a local store who carries it. I can order it online without seeing it in person first, but I am hesitant to do so. So in the meantime, I will keep searching for it. I have until March until I need to order it.

Here are some other dresses that I love...(you'll have to wait until the big day to see mine though!):

 

Dress #1: "Beth" by Maggie Sottero

Dress #2: "Madison" by Vineyard

Dress #3: "Karina Royale" by Maggie Sottero

Botanica Floral Designs

So, I have to say that I love the florist we found! We haven't reserved her yet, as she is still working up sketches and details, but after my first meeting with her I had a whole new respect for florists. She has a unique vision and uses lots of "out of the box" florals and lots of texture. I am excited to see what she comes up with. Ironically, I found Audrey on my photographer's blog. I saw a picture of her arrangements and really loved them.

Botanica Floral Designs

Audrey's Blog

Some of my favorite arrangements:

Kristy Huston Photography

After much consideration, we decided on a photographer. There are so many great ones out there, and this decision definitely wasn't an easy one for us. We met with Kristy, and my fiance and I both really liked her. Her packages were affordable and included everything we could want or need, and if not she is willing to customize a package for you. She was prompt, professional, and detail oriented, which makes for a stress free bride-to-be! She even agreed to go to Napa to take our engagement photos, so keep an eye out for those soon!

Kristy Huston Photography

Kristy's Blog

Here are some of my favorite photographs from Kristy:

Photos taken from http://kristyhuston.com/blog/

What Came Next? The DJ!

Once the venue was booked, my fiance and I were able to breath a sigh of relief! That was the biggest decision we had to make, and it dictated the date and time, so until that was set there was no point in moving forward with other vendors. Luckily, Wine and Roses includes catering, the bartender, the pastry chef for the cake, and service, so those were already done and dealt with once we signed the contract. Next on our list...the DJ. No problem, right? Umm...wrong! Music is such a integral part of the ceremony and reception, so we really wanted to find someone who would respect our taste (no Brittany Spears or Cha Cha Slide please!) and be able to elaborate on our suggestions and taste in music. The first DJ came with great reviews, but we felt like he was WAY too over the top for our personalities. He kept saying how he is "an entertainer not a DJ" and even had us watch a demo video where he went around kissing peoples' babies and joining the crowd for dances. That is when we decided we must be looking for a DJ and NOT an entertainer...haha! Well, technically, we are looking for both, but there is a fine line between the two apparently. So, next we moved on to yet another DJ who came recommended to us. We drove out to Elk Grove this time to meet him and check out the studio. I should preface this meeting by saying that my fiance and I have a very different intention for our wedding. We don't follow traditions simply for the sake of the tradition or because that is what people expect us to do. So, when we told DJ #2 that we weren't doing a receiving line, cake cutting, garter toss, etc. he nearly flipped out on us. He sounded like a broken record, constantly repeating, "but you have to...". Well, I am sorry, but no, we don't have to...it IS our wedding after all. But rather than argue, we just nodded and told him we would think about it. We took one look at each other after leaving, and both knew that DJ #2 was a no go. So, after our two recommendations didn't pan out, we were left without much direction, so I decided to take a look at the preferred vendor list that Wine and Roses had provided us. Through that we found Elite Entertainment. I was impressed right away with their customer service and response time in returning my email. They gave me a log in ID and showed me that I can input all my desired song choices from their library, so they really get a sense of what we are looking for. If a song isn't in their library, they are willing to download it for you, which is great because the other two we interviewed wanted you to bring them a copy on disk. To top it off they were $500 less than DJ #2...umm...sold!

Elite Entertainment

Venue Selection

My fiance and I knew what we wanted in a venue from the start: a garden area for the ceremony and an indoor area for the reception. Since September weather can be fickle, we thought that having an indoor reception would be ideal and also serve as a backup to the ceremony location in case of rain or extreme heat. We also wanted the ceremony and reception to be at the same location so we wouldn't have to deal with transportation to and from, and paying our vendors for travel costs. Here were our top three contenders:

Wine & Roses, Lodi, CA

The Flower Farm Inn, Loomis, CA

Newcastle Wedding Gardens, Newcastle, CA

We toured Wine & Roses first and were impressed with their services and amazing menus. They seemed to include a lot that others did not, like the cake/cutting, champagne toast, wedding coordination, and a hotel room the night of the wedding for the bride and groom. We were concerned, however, with their high food and beverage minimums, especially for a Saturday evening wedding, which we were originally shooting for. So, we thought we would keep looking and we set out to tour The Flower Farm. Growing up near Loomis I was familiar with the area and felt very comfortable with the location. The Flower Farm just seemed quaint and down to earth, which was refreshing. The gardens weren't as impressive as they were pictured online, but it was late October after all, so things weren't exactly in bloom. We found the venue from a caterer's website and we were excited that they worked with a caterer who we know is great, and their kitchen facilities on site were impressive! The biggest downfall was that they required you to rent all rooms at the inn in order to book an event there. This added $1300 or so to the total cost of the venue...ouch! So, we decided to keep looking. Next was Newcastle Wedding Gardens, and yes, the gardens WERE as amazing as they looked online! The grounds are breathtaking and it is the perfect mixture of quaint and elegant. We weren't too impressed with the menu though. For the price, Wine & Roses included a lot more. We were also disappointed that the bridal party is not allowed to get ready at the site at all, and the bride can only change into her dress there, no hair and makeup preparation. So, after much discussion and lots of internet research, we made our decision to go with Wine & Roses in Lodi, CA . We switched to a Friday wedding, which saved us over $5000! We also found a special through their website...if you booked within 14 days of your tour you received $10 off per person and 25% off the facility fee!!! Now that made Wine & Roses an easy choice! Here are some pictures:

Just Getting Started

Welcome to my wedding blog! I have been inspired by so many of the blogs I have seen out there that I thought I would try one of my own. Once I get the hang of things I will add more posts.