Going with PMA for my bridal hair and makeup was honestly one the best decisions I made for the wedding. I cannot express enough how incredibly awesome Maria and her staff are.

First of all, Maria is an incredibly talented hair and makeup artist. Maria herself is Latina (despite her Chinese last name), but she does Asian makeup incredibly well. She listened to all my concerns and ideas and came up with a look that I loved and was truly me. I didn't want to look overdone but wanted a look that was dressed up enough to show up in pictures, and she accomplished just that. The day of the wedding, I felt like I really looked like myself, but perhaps a version of me from 1920's Shanghai :) Maria and Sue did a fabulous job with my bridesmaids' hair as well, capturing exactly the look that I wanted that went incredibly well with their dresses.

But Maria goes way above and beyond this. Most makeup artists would leave right after getting all the girls ready. But Maria and her wonderful assistant Tanya stayed with us until after the ceremony. She touched up my makeup all throughout our pre-wedding pictures, touched me up after the ceremony, helped me change my hair piece for the reception. Not only that, but she helped my bridesmaid with their dresses, provided double sided tape to make the dresses secure, helped one of my bridesmaids cover up her tatoos, pinned the boutonnieres onto the guys' suits, applied lipstick on the girls (even though I didn't pay for makeup for the girls). She made sure that we stuck to the timeline and got us to the church in time. And this is all part of her service.

As far as price goes, PMA is definitely on the upper end of the range. But honestly, PMA is worth every penny.

I had some pretty specific ideas for what I wanted for my wedding flowers. With these ideas, I interviewed about 6 florists in all, in a variety of price ranges, including one of the most sought after florists in the Bay area. Honestly, I had my heart set on hiring that particular florist, but after receiving her quote and basically being told that she's completely unwilling to negotiate on price or even work within a budget (her quote was $1,800 over our target budget), we decided we just couldn't hire her. A few weeks later, I interviewed Laura and was extremely impressed not only with her portfolio but also her willingness to work with a set budget and to find ways to cut costs. Her prices are much more reasonable than other florists, because she works from home and doesn't have all the overhead of owning a studio. My ideas were kind of elaborate, so she suggested that we reuse the pew flowers for the centerpieces, to cut down on overall cost of flowers. We even made an agreement where, in exchange for 8-10 professional photos, she would provide the welcome table arrangement for free. Most of all, Laura is extremely creative, bringing in lovely contrasts of color, textures, and shapes. We decided to hire her shortly after that.

In the following months leading up to my wedding, I had about a zillion different ideas and changes of heart of all the floral arrangements, and the whole time, Laura was incredibly patient with me and tried her best to fulfill my vision. Right before the wedding, because she knew I was the type of bride who really wanted to know in detail what everything would look like, she gave me detailed descriptions of all the arrangements, including the colors, shapes, and types of flowers and branches she would be using.

The flowers on the day of were incredibly amazing. I thought all the bouquets and boutonnieres were extremely beautiful, and I was blown away by the tall centerpieces that she made. Everyone commented on how beautiful and unique all the flowers were. Not only did she realize my vision for the wedding, but she really exceeded my expectations.

I truly believe that for her price range, she's one of the most talented and artistic florists out there, and I wouldn't be surprised if, in the near future, she becomes one of the more sought after florists in the Bay area!