jeaninemae's biography
{WEDDING DAY}
This day went by so fast. I still can't believe it's over. Well, I'm going to make this recap on the short side because it's a lot of details to post here. Anyhow, we stayed up really late and got up really early. We had to set up the venue first and thanks to a lot of friends and relatives, we were able to get everything done. My poor FI (now husband) was so exhausted but everything turned out amazing. There were a few details that didn't go how I wanted but overall it went off without a hitch. Some major highlights for me was seeing everything for the first time and just being amazed at how my vision was realized, our cake, our surprise dance, and seeing friends and family who flew in to celebrate with us. Some non-highlights, or things I wish were different, having more time for pictures and video, the DJ mispronouncing our last name, the catering company making noise during some of the ceremony, the big fans we had to turn on because of the heat, and me crying the whole way down the aisle. I so didn't expect to cry at all but when I was at the end of the aisle and I saw how amazing everything turned out, I just became overwhelmed and it was thanks in large part to the man I was about to marry. Everybody loved the wedding and said that it was the most beautiful wedding they've been to. I think it's because we put a lot of our own talents and a lot of love into it. Everything from the ceremony to the littlest details had our stamp on it and was very personal to us.
It is very true what they say in that this day goes by so fast and it was very easy to lose track of what was really important. That's why even though there were a few things that didn't go the way I had planned, to me it was still a perfect day and I was sad to see it go by so fast but very happy and thankful to have such love surrounding the celebration.
NONPRO PICS
PRO SNEAK - a few of my favorites
Photos by Erica Berger (please do not use photos without proper sourcing)
PLEASE READ: Thanks for looking at my bio page. Now that my wedding is over, I will be cleaning up this page a bit and slowly updating some things (i.e. recap!). Please make sure to credit me for my pictures or my awesomely talented photographer Erica Berger. I have done my best to include sources of photos I have used but should you find one that is not correctly sourced, please let me know and I will make the correction.
My wedding is going to be Sunday October 10, 2010 (10/10/10.. i couldn't resist!). The ceremony and reception will be at a clocktower. I love this location because a) FI loves history and this is a historical site and b) it reminds me of a castle c) I got a discount on the rental because I work(ed) in the city the venue is located in.
A LIL ABOUT US
My fiancee is in the Air Force and I'm currently going to nursing school. We met 4 years ago while I was still in college. We spent a lot of time apart during those early years because I was going to school and working and he was going on missions and deployments but we got through those years and it just seems to get better and better as time passes by.
So, it's kind of weird but the first vendor we hired was our photographer. This was even before we had a venue. I grew up taking photography classes so this was one thing that was super important to me. We ended up going with Erica Berger (in SF) because she is uber talented. She is also suuuper fun!! I fell in love with her pictures and can't wait to do our engagement session. Check out more of her work on her blog...
I actually picked out my ring before we even got engaged. Definitely not traditional, but we had talked for a while about getting married so what basically happened is that I knew a proposal was in the works but I didn't know when or where. Anyhow, I love love love my ring. FI doesn't really have great taste in jewelry so he really wanted me to pick out my ring but I wanted him to do it, so we came up with a compromise. I ended up choosing a top 5 and he would pick the one and surprise me with it. And here's both sides of the story...
His Story...
The ring was bought, now I just needed to think of a time and a place to ask the big question. Should it be a private event or should I make a big spectacle of it all in front of people I may or may not know? I decided to ask her after a big night out on the town in San Francisco for our 4 year anniversary. The anniversary of when we first met by the way. I bought tickets to go see Wicked at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco because she had mentioned several times that she wanted to see it. So naturally I thought that would make a great present. My plan was to get back home and pop the question over a bottle of champagne and the quietness of our empty house. However I did not figure in that it would be 1:00 in the morning and we would be both so tired and worn out. As I fumbled around to get the ring out of its super top-secret hiding place, I realized that my window for asking her had passed and that a new plan needed to be put into place.
Fortunately for me, her birthday was right around the corner and that gave me a perfect opportunity to ask her. For her birthday I took her to Sacramento to see “500 Days of Summer” at a really cool old theater that mostly show indie type films. After the movie, we headed off to dinner at The Melting Pot in downtown Sac. It was a really nice fondue dinner that I had never had before and we both really enjoyed it. Being sure not to make the same mistake that I had before, we got home earlier than before at about 10:00. But what I didn’t plan on was catching her before she changed out of her nice evening clothes and into her PJs. I didn’t want that to hinder me so I decided to press on. The final thing to do that night was to give her birthday presents. The first was a bluetooth speaker for her car to talk to people hands free. The second was something that I knew she would recognize. It was a small ring box that looked like ones that she had seen before. As a big exciting expression came over her face as she was opening the box, it soon turned to confusion when the box was empty. She started looking around and saying "where is it, I know you have it". Sure enough to keep things in suspense, I pulled the ring out of my pocket and in so many words asked her to marry me. Luckily she had a glass (or two) of wine at dinner and said “Yes!"
Her Story...
Our 4 year anniversary had just passed a few weeks ago and I was hoping for a proposal at that time but it never came. So when my birthday came I was pretty excited to see if this was the night. We went out to a movie at this vintage-indie theatre in Sac (never been there but they show all the movies I usually want to see but never show in the big chain theatres). We saw 500 Days of Summer and loved it (Zooey Deschanel is awesome!). We then went to a fondue restaurant called The Melting Pot; that was cool too (we got to cook our own food). We ate a huge 3 or 4 course meal (I can't remember) and I was stuffed by the end of the night. Daniel had mentioned earlier about taking a walk around the Arboretum garden at UC Davis but by the time we got done with dinner it was late and we were both well into our food coma. Anyhow, when we got home I figured the night was done and there was to be no proposal (again) so I quickly changed into my PJs soooo ready for bed. Daniel came out from the restroom and said "Oh, you're in your PJs already." I said "Yea, and.." He asked me if I wanted to open my presents and of course I did. I opened my present and it was the hands-free speaker phone I'd been eyeing at Costco. Then he gave me a little box all wrapped up, I immediately knew what it was and teared it open. Empty!! I knew it was somewhere so I quickly started patting him down trying to find it. He took it out of his sock, got down on one knee and the rest is history.
{The Dress}
It's a Mori Lee. I don't really know if this dress is the one. I feel really beautiful in this dress but I guess I expected or imagined I would cry or something when I put on the dress that was "the one". I actually went back to this dress after trying on about 20 or so other ones at other bridal stores. I guess I won't feel like it's my dress until it's the day of my wedding when I have all my hair and makeup done. Anyhow, I'm going to have to start working out my arms and shoulders to make this dress look gooood, haha :)
Dress Twin(s) heather080809
EDIT: So I am a two dress bride! FI and I went shopping at a sample sale in Burlingame and ended up buying a Watters dress. This dress definitely feels more "me" and the fact that I don't want to take it off is a good indication that it's the dress for me.
{Hair & MU}
So originally, I was going to get my hair done and then DIY my MU. But I decided that I want to get pampered on my day of and it will be one less thing to worry about so I decided to hire Nini from A-List Makeup and she has been fantastic at the trials. So here are the pics...
INSPIRATION & TRIAL
I lost the sources for these pics. Please, let me know if these are your pictures so I can give proper credit.
So the feel/vibe I'm going for is a rustic, vintage, organic, nature-inspired wedding (that's a mouthful). I'll see if I can come up with an inspiration board for this but might take me a little while to put one I like together.
Dark Purple (Eggplant), Dark Chocolate Brown, Ecru/Cream (dark whites)... there will also probably be some hints of sage green in the wedding just because I'm going for a nature inspired wedding
Please let me know if any of these are your pictures so I can give you credit (Top, Right is a DIY Burlap Table Runner submitted to Style Me Pretty)
My postcard STDs that my uber talented lil sister designed for me.
{BM Dresses}
INSPIRATION: I was drawn to Bari Jay dresses. I love the long Grecian, flowy feel of these styles.
Sources left to right (Exquisite Bridesmaids, Rissy Roos, Top Bridal Design)
REALIZATION: This is not a Bari Jay dress but definitely has the feel, style, and color I was looking for. We went shopping in the Fashion District of Downtown L.A. and got these dresses for $75 each (that's a saving of over $100). I really need to get real pics cause these don't do it justice. Not bad eh?
Crappy cell phone pics but I'll post real pics whenever I go back down to L.A. and get a chance to make one of my sisters try their dresses on again. Anyhow, they kinda look a little more blue in the pics but they're a dark royal purple color and are so awesome. I wanted to get one. The dress flows and you just feel pretty wearing it.
{Groom & GM}
I'm leaning towards a dark grey suit for the groom and GM. The groom will probably have a vest with a dark purple tie and not so sure yet about the GM. I love the slim fit suits but we'll have to see how they look with our guys.
INSPIRATION
Sources Top to Bottom, Left to Right (Asos, Mad Men, David Beckham, Banana Republic, Unknown Source, David Beckham)
We've had our engagement pics done for a while now but I guess I never posted them on my bio page so here are some of my favorites. 'Twas a cold day in SF but it was still fun. Thanks to our awesome photog Erica Berger.
I have a few projects I am DIYing so I'll be posting them up here when I stop procrastinating and start working on them. :)
{Faux Capiz Shell Curtain (directions here)}
{Ribbon Wands & Sign}
{Bar Signs}
{Wedding Programs}
So I love PW as many of you do. It's a great sounding board and source of inspiration. So thank you to all the lovely ladies on here who are active contributors. I know I don't get to post much (at least not as much as I want to) because of school and studying but I am very thankful for PW and the ladies on here :)
Bios I find inspiring [there's a lot more ladies whose bios I love, just have to get around to listing them all]...
Kohler44
amkbrown
Tovaqt
emeraldlover
pinkpan
Special thanks to...
lizziethelittlebit - thanks for all the advice and help!
We're going for a nature-vintage-rustic inspired wedding so we definitely wanted something that had trees and something rustic for the invites that would incorporate the decor so here is some of the inspirations for the invites. I will post pics of how our invites turn out once we've done them.
INSPIRATION
Source: unknown, Project Wedding
REALIZATION
Invites are done and mailed!!! Here's some pics. I am so proud to have "custom" designed & printed invitations. These invitations were such a labor of love but were worth it because they definitely have our personal touch and that made it worth while... that being said I am SO glad to have these done!
Oh, and we have an invitation in French because I have a relative who is doing an intensive language immersion course over the next 7 weeks and she's signed a "contract" saying that she will only read and speak French until the course is over. Anyhow, I wanted to make sure she got the invite so I just made ahead and made one in French. The translation is probably off but I used Yahoo! BabelFish translator program and can't really do much about that. But it does look pretty cool :)
So the plan is to have a real laid back picnic/BBQ so that we have some time to just enjoy hanging out with family. Most everyone is coming in from out of town so I guess it's also a kind of welcome get together/family reunion. We want to have it at Blue Rock Springs Park <10 minutes away from where everyone is staying. It shouldn't rain but we have to come up with a backup plan just in case.
Inspiration:
Smores Bar
Games:
Horseshoe
Badminton
Sack Races
{WEDDING CEREMONY}
I think we might write our own ceremony...
INSPIRATION
Yosemitebride
{AISLE & ALTAR}
From Left to Right and Top to Bottom (Lanterns & Petals, Pomander, Manzanita Arch, Ring Pillow, Crystal Garland, Chandelier, Purple Flower & Tree, Cherry Blossom in Vase, Purple Dahlias, Lavender Wreath)
{MISC}
I love these signs from Etsy seller TheBackPorchShoppe
{Misc}
INSPIRATION:
I so want these table numbers from Etsy seller TheBackPorchShoppe
I want to have a vintage typewriter so that guests can type in well wishes but I also want a thumbprint tree. I love the idea and it goes with our nature/tree theme. And I'm 99% sure that I'm going with a vintage birdcage for the cards.
We're also planning on having a family style dinner so we want to go with long banquet tables and burlap table runners.
Sources (Taryn Kent Photography, Snippet & Ink)
{Menu}
Passed Hors d' oeuvres
- Threaded smoked salmon skewers with kiwi lime aioli (cold)
- Sesame mango chicken (cold)
- Mushroom caps with artichoke and 4 cheese topping (hot)
Salad
- Field of greens with candied walnuts, cherry tomatoes, sliced red onions and balsamic vinagrette
- Assorted gourmet rolls
Main Course
- Roast tri-tip beef carved and topped with garlic au jus
-
Riesling poached salmon with lemon blur blanc sauce
- Roasted and seasoned vegetable antipasto of zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, and garlic with basil aioli and asiago shavings
Dessert
- Wedding cake
1. Honey Bee Mine [aromatic lavender and orange blossom cake with honey cream cheese and blueberry filling]
2. Cappuccino [chocolate cake with Kahlua liquor, mocha mousse, and milk chocolate
truffle filling]
Wines
White: Riesling TBD
Chardonnay TBD
Red: Merlot TBD
Cabernet Sauvignon TBD
*Pictures from the tasting...
I only remembered to take pictures after we had devoured most of the food :)
{Cake}
VENDOR: Glass Slipper Gourmet
We are having a small three tier display cake and using a sheet cake to supplement the display cake. FI and I couldn't agree on any one flavor so we are having two. Our two flavors are 1) my pick - Honey Bee Mine [aromatic lavender and orange blossom cake with honey cream cheese and blueberry filling] 2) FI's pick -Cappuccino [chocolate cake with Kahlua liquor, mocha mousse, and milk chocolate truffle filling]
INSPIRATION: Love the tree stumps for cake stands (and we can use the stumps for firewood later).
I do not have the sources for this cake board. If you know whose cake these are, please let me
know so I can give proper credit.
I'm leaning towards DIY for the flowers.
{Bouts}
INSPIRATION:
Loving these from Blush Floral Design
{Bouquets}
Sources Top to Bottom, Left to Right (BrideInNovember: roses, orchids, hydrangea, seeded eucalpytus, greens; Unknown; Simply Blooms/Photo by Mill Cottage
Photography: purple anenomes and hydrangea;
bellabride: white roses, green ribbon; Photo by Catie Ronquillo: peonies, purple tulips; jeslynn02: pink roses and carnations; Floral Verde LLC: bamboo branches, fern curls, schwartzwalder mini callas, amnesia roses, eloquence spray roses, scabiosa pods, seeded eucalyptus, cymbidium orchids and
scented geranium; Photo by SMS Photography: purple hydranges, roses; Simply Blooms/Photo by Mill Cottage Photography)
We wanted to go with something along our nature/vintage theme and one of our cake flavors is called "Honey Bee Mine" so we thought that little pots of lavender honey would be a great fit. We got our 3 oz jars from a local honey farm (Marshall's Honey). It's great to support local businesses.
I had a good friend design our favor tags and she did an awesome job! Check out her Etsy shop here YourMemoriesCaptured.
