If you need personalized bags with the skyline of your city (many to choose from) go to this site. This is where we got our cool bags with the San Francisco skyline (and our names and wedding date) for our out-of-town wedding guests.

They were a really good price and so much more unique than the other ones you can buy online. My mother-in-law said the people here were really easy to work with, too, and were very helpful when she made the order. Everything arrived right away, too, and looked great. According to their website, this business is located in Allegra's Bridal and Invitations.

SF skyline bag is on this page:
http://www.favorsyoukeep.com/welcomeSkyline.html

The oatmeal sage color scheme (with the flower ribbon) on the bottom of the left hand corner of this page is also nice (this is the color scheme we used). The picnic basket box at the bottom of this page is also cute:
http://www.favorsyoukeep.com/welcome.html

We ordered blueberry and chocolate personalized fortune cookies from Fancy Fortune Cookies for our wedding out-of-town gift bags. They arrived at my mother-in-law's house and she e-mailed us about how impressed she was at how generous they were. 100 cookies were ordered and they send a third more for free on top of that! And only 6 arrived broken.

It was cool to try to blow people's minds with the blueberry flavor but everyone was afraid of making their mouths blue. :( They tasted good though. And good price, too.

Here are the fortunes we used:

Marriage lets you annoy one
special person for the rest of
your life. Kathy & Mark

The love that Kathy and Mark
share is worth a fortune...
cookie. Kathy & Mark 8/12/07

Never go to bed mad.
Stay up and fight it out.
Kathy & Mark August 12, 2007

Marriage is about 2 people - 1
who never remembers birthdays,
and 1 who never forgets. K&M

Marry the one you can't live
without, not someone you can
live with. Kathy & Mark

www.fancyfortunecookies.com

I was so excited when I found this place.

Cute dog cookies + SPCA donation = perfect wedding favors for dog crazy bride and groom

The idea was good in theory. The cookies were $1.75 each or 4 for $6, so they were reasonably priced despite a premium for shipping. The only problem was how many arrived broken. I was assured ahead of time that hardly any arrive broken. Knowing that, I ordered 88 to play it safe for our 74 or so guests. However, as it turned out about ONE QUARTER ARRIVED BROKEN. That meant we had to bag up wedding favors with broken cookies hoping that the recipient would think they just broke in transit to the wedding that day. Grrrrr. Putting together some of the broken dog cookies also had some funny combinations of dog parts that didn't match up, like one dog we had with five legs.

Also, although the cookies were very pretty once decorated, they tasted good but not amazing (GBNA). My husband thought they were too shortbready and not sugar cookiey enough.

Our yellow and chocolate lab cookies were cute even if it didn't work quite as planned. And Chris was quick to communicate via e-mail.

Having photo stamps made through Zazzle was definitely the easiest thing I did for my wedding that got the most compliments. Their prices are the lowest out there for customized stamps. For only $9 more than the cost of regular stamps (after finding a discount code) for my 80 envelopes, I got really cool big photo stamps of my fiancee and I jumping over the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Guestbook Store makes the most unique guestbooks I've ever seen. Each guest gets their own page, and they have to draw a picture of themselves as well as a picture of the bride and groom. They they have to answer how they know the couple, their favorite memory of the couple, and their guess on when the first baby will arrive and what it will be named.

My guests really enjoyed filling it out, and people are always asking what everyone else wrote. It was a big crowd pleaser.

The only disappointment I had with Guestbook Store is that their guestbook covers are are really drab. They need some better designs.

As soon as you step in the door, one of the people who works at Geoffrey's immediately slips off your ring and polishes it! It doesn't even matter if you bought your ring there or not. I love it!

Their customer service (particularly Stephen who usually helps us) is just generally outstanding. I went in needing a jewelry appraisal for a ring I didn't buy there. They ended up providing it to me for free (possibly by accident but they couldn't be nicer). I told them my insurance might require a jeweler to check my ring once a year to make sure the prongs and everything was in order. They said they'd be happy to do it for free.

I also asked them about rhodium plating my ring, since my white gold ring is looking less platinum and more gold. I was told that the rhodium will wear off within a year and although they could do the plating if I wanted it, they recommended letting the ring age. What nice honest advice! They were the first place we went to when it was time to buy wedding bands. It's the kind of place I want to bring my business to.

I think I am the whitest person ever to set foot in this place.

This was my first time trying a spray tan (it's buy one get one free for new clients), and I was doing a test run for my wedding next month. They had me watch the video on how I should prepare for my Mystic Tan. And afterwards I had questions.

"So, where is the nasal plug in the video?"
"Oh, no one uses that. They don't use the protective eyewear either. They just hold their breath and then run for the door for a breath in the five seconds the machine turns off while they turn around to spray the back."

"Wait, wait, wait. People don't use the eyewear?"
"No, no one's *ever* used eyewear. They just close their eyes."
"Well, I want to be safe and use the eyewear."
"Oh, we don't actually have any protective eyewear. We have creepy tanning glasses for $3."
"Wait, you would be charging me for the eyewear shown in the video?"
"Sorry but we don't have the glasses."
"So when you said no one's ever used the eyewear, that was more because you don't actually have it?"

Their concerns about safety seemed iffy, and then when I get to the spray tan room I notice there's no lip balm either! (Lip balm is also advised to be used in the video.) I had to fish out a stick of lip balm out of my purse.

Okay, so I stood in the booth naked ready to be Mystic Tanned. I held my breath and pushed the button and I hold my breath. Except... holding your breath is easy when you're under water but it's much harder to make sure you're doing when you're not in water. I was worried the whole time that I was breathing through my nose by mistake. After 15 seconds I rushed to the door for a breath and without thinking opened my eyes and mouth on the way and saw a huge cloud of tanner that I tasted. Ick! I worried that I might have tasted cancer right about then. Oh well, FDA approved... but not in the mouth.

At first I didn't notice any difference in my skin color, but then before I went to bed that night I* really* noticed how much darker I was. Darker for me is still lighter than the rest of the population, but it was pretty noticeable on me. My legs were streaky but everywhere else my tan was even.

Overall this was sort of a disturbing experience but the results were pretty good.

I think I am the whitest person ever to set foot in this place.

This was my first time trying a spray tan (it's buy one get one free for new clients), and I was doing a test run for my wedding next month. They had me watch the video on how I should prepare for my Mystic Tan. And afterwards I had questions.

"So, where is the nasal plug in the video?"
"Oh, no one uses that. They don't use the protective eyewear either. They just hold their breath and then run for the door for a breath in the five seconds the machine turns off while they turn around to spray the back."

"Wait, wait, wait. People don't use the eyewear?"
"No, no one's *ever* used eyewear. They just close their eyes."
"Well, I want to be safe and use the eyewear."
"Oh, we don't actually have any protective eyewear. We have creepy tanning glasses for $3."
"Wait, you would be charging me for the eyewear shown in the video?"
"Sorry but we don't have the glasses."
"So when you said no one's ever used the eyewear, that was more because you don't actually have it?"

Their concerns about safety seemed iffy, and then when I get to the spray tan room I notice there's no lip balm either! (Lip balm is also advised to be used in the video.) I had to fish out a stick of lip balm out of my purse.

Okay, so I stood in the booth naked ready to be Mystic Tanned. I held my breath and pushed the button and I hold my breath. Except... holding your breath is easy when you're under water but it's much harder to make sure you're doing when you're not in water. I was worried the whole time that I was breathing through my nose by mistake. After 15 seconds I rushed to the door for a breath and without thinking opened my eyes and mouth on the way and saw a huge cloud of tanner that I tasted. Ick! I worried that I might have tasted cancer right about then. Oh well, FDA approved... but not in the mouth.

At first I didn't notice any difference in my skin color, but then before I went to bed that night I* really* noticed how much darker I was. Darker for me is still lighter than the rest of the population, but it was pretty noticeable on me. My legs were streaky but everywhere else my tan was even.

Overall this was sort of a disturbing experience but the results were pretty good.

If you want gorgeous wedding photos, but rooms that aren't *quite* as gorgeous, book with Berkeley City Club. This Julia Morgan-designed building (she of Hearst Castle architect fame) is beautiful with graceful arches and fabulous spots for pictures on the stairway and in the tiny garden on the first floor. Unfortunately your wedding won't be in those places. But it's still a super elegant place to get married.

The reception room has pretty architectural windows, but at the same time there's a stage, and it has a little bit of a high school auditorium feel. (Albeit a really pretty high school auditorium). Choices for rooms for the ceremony range from the first floor drawing room (blah) to the second floor library (better, but ideal instead as an intermediate room for drinks after the ceremony) to the terrace room (best; it's small but the roof is covered in ivy filled with lights).

Of all the 11 wedding venues I toured and a couple more that I contacted, the Berkeley City Club by far had the best coordinators. There are two there, Jennifer and Crystal, who are always there to take calls and are very friendly. In addition, they actually give tours on the weekend! (Unheard of! Wedding venues could take a lesson from them.) Jennifer led us on a tour on a Saturday and was amazingly friendly and knowledgeable and really, you couldn't ask for more.

Catering is in-house, and I have to say the menu sounded a bit musty and uncreative. However, a friend had her wedding her and said the food was great. Most caterers don't charge for tastings, but they charge $25 a person.

One major problem with this site is game day parking. If you're getting married in the fall try not to pick a day that coincides with a game day. Unfortunately they fill up fast. Otherwise you'll have to rent out part of a parking garage and pay $15 a head, or offer shuttle service to a hotel like my friend did.

This is the only place I found where it's actually cheaper to get married on a Saturday! They charge 5% more for catering services on Sunday.

I immediately felt as ease with Hank when I talked with him on the phone. We needed a non-denominational officiant for our wedding, and after we met with him in his Walnut Creek office we knew he fit the bill.

Speaking of the bill, he charges $350 (usually $400 but we didn't do a rehearsal with him the night before). That's lower than most officiants around. Niiiiice.

Hank is very organized and requests a list of who's walking with who down the aisle. He practices the bride hand-off with the parents, and he also brings his wife along and she lines all the attendants up and makes sure everything runs smoothly. You feel like you're in good hand with Hank and, with respect to "King of the Hill," Hank's wife.

He followed our wishes on what we wanted in the ceremony. He also included a rose ceremony (no, nothing like what's on "The Bachelor") by request. It's a nice way to include the moms in the ceremony since the bride's dad gets the big role.

His words during the ceremony are all really nice. The only thing that struck me as odd was that he mentioned at the end of the ceremony for no particular reason how I'd e-mailed him asking if I'd left my sweater at his office. It almost seemed like he looked through our correspondence with us so he could personalize the ceremony (since he does about 100 a year) and that's all he could come up with. Nevertheless, we were really happy with him.