I Lurve my BFF
July 31, 2008
Filed under Wedding Dresses
Tags: Alica Padrul, Michelle Roth Polka Dot, Taylor Vineyard Collection
I think my BFF might be as excited for me to get engaged and hitched as I am…
After I shared with her my love for Stephanie James (and my disapointment with the local bridal salon that carries her gowns) she sent me, being “bored one night” searched The Knot and found some other fabulous, Tea Length, dress options. (Let me stop here and say I definitely haven’t ruled out Stephanie James, I contacted her about my experience at that Bridal Salon and she was very nice and told me who to work with there that knows SJ’s gowns).
Not knowing about BFF’s search I found these dresses separetely in my inbox one morning, last week…
Option #1 – Michelle Roth Polka Dot Dress
I love polka dots and I love this dress, but it may be a little too poofy for me. Eventhough, I will definitely try it on.
Option #2 – Talor by the Vineyard Collection
This is my FAVORITE dress, I think out of any other dress option. I would definitely add straps, because, if I haven’t already told you, I have a fairly large chestal region.
Option 3 – Blanca by Alice Padrul
This one is cute, but not for me and especially not for my wedding… put it is far too expensive (4 $ signs).
Power of the Internet
July 31, 2008 
Through the power of this internet I was able to “meet” a bride who had her wedding at the Del Marcos Hotel. She was kind enough (VERY KIND) to send me the link to her wedding photos and tell me about her experience, and while her wedding was lovely and her experience was wonderful it helped me rule the Del Marcos out as one of our options. Thank you MidModLover 
Okay maybe another location (or 2)…
July 23, 2008
Filed under Wedding Venues
Tags: Bella Victorian, Camarillo, Del Marcos Hotel, modernism, Palm Desert, Rat Pack, Venue
Option 7 – Del Marcos Hotel, Palm Springs, CA
Del Marcos Hotel
How Cool it that!?!
FH discovered this hotel while looking for places to take his best friend (we’ll call him B) for his Rat Pack themed Bachlor party, FH is the Best Man. FH & B are all about modernism, FH and my first date was the weekend after they went to Modernism Week.
I haven’t been able to find pictures of other couples who have had their wedding here, so you’ll have to use your imagination along with me…
Cocktail hour by the pool maybe?
Del Marcos Pool
Getting ready pics in room like this…
Room w/ Kitchen
Option 8 – Bella Victorian Gardens and Vineyard, Camarillo, CA
One of my future BMs suggested this location after hearing that her Brother and SIL were attending a wedding on a vineyard in Camarillo, a location neither of us had ever considered. The very next day The Knot had a wedding in Camarillo as their Real Wedding of the Week and Mrs. Bird of Paradise featured ChelseyMiller’s Knottie Bio of her wedding at the SAME LOCATION. Someone is trying to tell me something.
Beautiful Location…
Bella Victorian
Beautiful outdoor Ceremony…
ChelseyMiller's Ceremony
Trolley for a GREAT photo op…
SO CUTE!
Fun outdoor Reception…
I'll take it!
Decisions, Decisions…
Location, Location, Location – Part 2
July 14, 2008
Filed under Wedding Venues
Tags: OCMA, Sherman Library and Gardens, Venues
The last two locations we’re considering are relatively close together.
Option 4 – The Orange County Museum of Art
Honestly, I got this idea when a good friend of mine said she was considering the The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, so part of me wants for forget this idea just in case she decides to have her wedding at the San Diego Museum… I don’t want to steal her wedding thunder, since her wedding won’t be for 2 more years (law school smarty, waiting til she graduates). If this one becomes a bigger contender I will obviously discuss it with her. Moving on…
Beautiful outdoor ceremony…
Orange County Museum of Art
Modern/Contemporary Cocktail hour, inside…
Cocktails
Nice outdoor reception…
Orange County Museum of Art
Option 5 -The Sherman Library and Gardens
My only problem, right now, with this location is the ceremony site. I really don’t want to get married w/ a fountain between us and our guests…
The Sherman Library and Gardens
But, in its defense, I haven’t actually been there yet, so there could very well be other options, although I haven’t seen any on the photo blogs I’ve stalked. So, because this location is close enough to my church, I would probably get married there and then have the reception here, because look at these options…
Indoor
and/or…
Outdoor
Location, Location, Location – Part 1
FH and I have also already been discussion locations so I thought I’d share with you a few of the top contenders…
Option 1 - Winery/Vineyard Wedding in Solvang, CA (or neighboring city ie Los Olivos, Santa Barbara etc)
FH and I love a good (or sometimes bad) bottle of wine, so a wedding at a winery or vineyard (or both) would be perfect for us. We invision our friends and family coming up for the weekend and having wedding activities like - Wine Tastings and tours.
A lovely ceremony overlooking a vineyard…
Foley Wine Group
and a reception amoung the barrels…
Foley Wine Group
Option 2 – The Kellogg House at Cal Poly Pomona
Not only is this FH’s alma mater, but it is also a beautiful place to get married. Plus, you get the WHOLE site to yourself –BONUS!
A Ceremony on the hill…
The Kellogg House
and a lovely outdoor reception…
The Kellogg House
Option 3 – Park Ave Restuarant – Stanton, CA
FH discovered this restaurant looking for 1950/60’s modern restuarants on the web… it looked so cool, I took him there for his first birthday we celebrated together. FH and I are both BIG fans of modern design and this place has that AND wonderful food. I really cannot say enough good things about Park Ave.
Sorry I don’t have fun ceremony and reception pics to post here because their website is in Flash, but I do have a picture of their sign…
Park Ave
PLEASE go to the website and click on “Large Parties, Catering” at the top.
P.S. This option would also go perfectly with my dream dresses in the last post.
Stay tuned for Options 4 & 5…
Dress Craziness
July 8, 2008
Filed under Wedding Dresses
Tags: Candy Anthony, Dolly Couture, Stephanie James, the dress, Weddingbee
I don’t remember who it was on Weddingbee who first introduced me to Candy Anthony but I fell in love! Seriously, how gorgeous is this dress?
Candy Anthony
I had been thinking I should try Tea Length dresses after seeing Mrs. Onion in her Wedding Dress. I’m 5′2″, so I rarely wear full length dresses and most of my dresses are Tea Length, so I feel a Tea Length dress is more “Me”. Sadly, Candy Anothony is in London, England and I live in Southern California – not so close. So I tried to Google Tea Length Wedding dresses and didn’t quite get the results I had hoped for.
Then Miss Shortcake posted about Dolly Couture and I had found someone closer to my ‘hood, LA County, YAY!!!
Edmonton
and my favorite…
Pasadena
See…
Stephanie James
Can you hear the angels singing too?
AND do you know where she is located? HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA, about 45 mins from my house and 15 mins from my office. SOOO CLOSE! Wait, it gets better and the Bridal Salon she recently had a trunk show and now features her dresses is TWO MINUTES from my office. I’m headed over there the minute I get a free lunch to check them out in person.
Also, I guess I’ve been living in a hole before I discovered Weddingbee because Miss. Shortcake pointed me toward two (1, 2) previous Weddingbee posts highlighting Stephanie James.
How I know it coming…
How do I know its close? 2 weeks ago, on the hottest day I can remember, FH and I went were eating lunch at The Corner Bakery and trying to decide what to do for the day, when FH asked if I’d like to go to Robin’s Bros and look at rings. (UM YEAH!) Not to purchase, but just to give him an idea of what I liked, since I’d be wearing this the rest of my life.
We also decided to look at cars, because, like most guys FH LOVES cars and wanted to check out few newer models. So we went to Pontiac to check out the Solstice…
Solstice
MKS
Lastly we went to VW, where I bought my Jetta, to look at the new Jetta and Tiguan…
Jetta
Tiguan
So, after looking at all those shiny things we went to Robin’s Bros to look at these shiny things…
Dream Ring
That is my dream ring *sigh*… isn’t she pretty?
We walked around the store and I tried on a bunch of different rings, mostly pave, and I discovered I don’t like pave because, to FH and me, they like costume jewelry. Seeing what I thought I liked, the sales girl/ring specialist that was helping us showed me the ring above and I fell in love!
So that story above, combined with the fact that FH gets an inheritance in 2 weeks, I know its coming.
Side Note
I’m new at this… I’m learning how to put pictures in and video and all that jazz… I also blog mostly at work, when I should be working, shhhhh. So, that is my excuse for the missing words and totally re-edited posts… I’ll get better, I promise.
