Archive for Personalizing Your Wedding

Great California Venues that Stay Open Late!

November 20, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Personalizing Your Wedding, Wedding Design ·Tagged , , , ,

Are you interested in finding some great California wedding venues that stay open late, and allow the party to go past the usual 10 p.m.? Then this post is for you.

Honestly, hells wedding bells, why must most venues shut down at 9 or 10 p.m.?!?!

Take this beauty.

Nestldown, in Los Gatos.

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It shuts down at 10. But if you have a wedding there, you could have an after party until 2 a.m. at the nearby Toll House Hotel.

The Ebell Club of Long Beach is more flexible.

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This beautiful, historic woman’s philanthropic club is gorgeous, and lets you party into the wee hours!

MacCallum House in Mendocino.

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Situated in the beautiful seaside village of Mendocino about three hours from San Francisco, this is a favorite spot of mine to visit. The MacCallum House allows music outdoors until 10 p.m. in their wedding tent, but guests can mingle in the hotel and bar until 2 a.m. with music indoors. Only downside is it’s so far from any major airport.

The Green Room in San Francisco.

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You can rent this affordable gem in the city of San Francisco into the wee hours as well, and there are NO time restrictions! You could have the reception there, and still have a beautiful outdoor wedding at a local park, with a lighthouse:

Point Montara Lighthouse

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Another park for an outdoor ceremony:

Marin Headlands

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However, beware the S.F. summer fog. It is FREEZING and unpredictable and the lighthouses are often too windy. Think fall for an S.F. wedding.

Those are just a few of the dozens of venues I’ve researched up and down the great state of CA. Contact me if you’re interested in learning about more of them!

How is the venue search going for you? Is it a struggle to find a venue with a later-than-typical curfew?

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Craigslist Deals Galore! Stuff I’ve Scored (And You Can, Too!)

November 16, 2009 at 1:05 am · Filed under Deals, Personalizing Your Wedding, Wedding Design ·Tagged , , ,

I’ve had some interest from readers on finding good deals. I’ve scored big time on the classifieds on Wedding Bee, The Knot’s Trash-to-Treasure board, and Craigslist. Why, just last weekend, my dear cousin picked up another 40 cylinder vases for my collection (I have about 200 more!), which I found on Weddingbee. See, you can have a cousin way across the state or even across the United States pick up items for you second-hand! You’re not just limited to your hometown!

Some of my favorite finds?

Antique Spanish-style candelabra, with six LED flickering candles, Craigslist $35 Photo: Personal photo

Shepherds Hooks, Craigslist $40 Photo: Style Me Pretty

15 gorgeous white moroccan lanterns, Wedding Bee for $7 each Photo: Z Gallery

Sexy Little Bride Hoodie, Craigslist $20 Photo: Victoria

Probably the best deal I got was finding four gimongous glass beverage dispensers on Craigslist. I save my brides lots and lots of moula using good ol’ CL! They love that I’m frugal! All that money can go into making your wedding even more amazing!

Italian Glass Beverage Jar Photo: Infusionjars.com

Even designer veils can be found. I purchased one from Wedding Bee for $150–the “Corby” by Jennifer Leigh. I just think she makes the prettiest veils, but they are expensive. This one is cathedral length, edged in fine silver thread and embellished with freshwater pearls and rhinestones ever-so-delicately on the edges.

Jennifer Leigh Corby Veil, Wedding Bee $150 Photo: Jenniferleighveils.com

My advice if you want to scour Craigslist: You CAN get some great deals and save a TON of money–just start early in your wedding planning process. About a year is a good amount of time. I typically can save about $10,000 on decorations, centerpieces and lots of other wedding things if given a year in advance to start shopping. Happy hunting!

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How to Make Custom Favor Boxes

November 10, 2009 at 8:37 am · Filed under DIY Projects, Personalizing Your Wedding ·Tagged , , ,

Sometimes the right color is JUST not available for favor boxes. One solution (and it’s a money saver, too!) is to hand fold your boxes out of custom paper. Mine came out costing a grand total of 3 cents each! I took a favor box from a past wedding and took it apart to use as a template. Then I drew out the design on a bunch of Michaels’ discounted sheets of 18″X18″ paper in one of our wedding colors. I’m not going to lie. It takes a ton of time. This is the project for the bride who likes to keep her hands busy while watching Grey’s Anatomy or Desperate Housewives.

My favor boxes in progress. A pattern drawn in pencil on a slightly-worse-for-wear sheet of paper.

You see from the above that one of my sheets got a little munched. That’s bound to happen when your work station looks like this:

My dining room table overfloweth with crafts. Yes, those are some Christmas cards.

 

Testing out ribbon colors. I like both. For different weddings.

I ordered the eyelet punch off eBay for $3.

I just traced the favor box pattern and scored the flaps with the bone folder, cut the patterns out with scissors and assembled my boxes, securing with gluestick. They’re pretty plain right now; no writing, no “thank you” or cutesy message like “sweet endings for sweet beginnings.” Those come later.

With cute eyelet details:

If you’re in need of custom favor boxes, let me know, I’m your gal!

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There’s Nothing You Can’t Do, Now You’re in Lake County!

October 16, 2009 at 6:52 am · Filed under Personalizing Your Wedding ·Tagged , , , ,

This is a quick plug for my hometown as a potential setting for your wedding! I’m from a rural county nestled next to Sonoma and Napa. But for some reason, it’s not as widely appreciated as those other two. But, it’s just as gorgeous!

Photo Credit: Lakeport Chamber of Commerce

Rolling vineyards flanking North America’s largest, oldest lake, Clear Lake.

Clear Lake with Mt. Konocti in the background and flowering Redbud. Published in Via Magazine

If you want to learn more about the area, or need vendor referrals, don’t hesitate to let me know!

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Sweet Georgia Peach!

August 16, 2009 at 1:22 pm · Filed under Inspiration Boards, Personalizing Your Wedding ·Tagged , , ,

Here is a storyboard I created featuring peach and aqua. The peach along with the homey and handmade details bring warmth to the pale aqua palette. This bride loves homemade, vintage touches but a traditional design aesthetic as well. Lots of pale taupe linen with mostly-white and peach-colored florals, sparkling silver candelabras, mercury glass vases, and candles grace the tables. But eclectic, meaningful details are sprinkled throughout the tablescape: perhaps a collection of small glass bird figurines that belonged to the groom’s grandmother are perched here and there on the tablerunner, or the bride’s mother’s limoge box collection may grace the candy table, holding hand-calligraphed signage noting the various flavors of truffles, french macaroons and other delightful chocolate confections.

Peach and light aqua board

Credits: Style Me Pretty (12), Wedding Bee (8), Project Wedding (2), Jennifer Longaway (4), Beth Helmstetter (6), Jose Villa (4), Melissa Sweet (2), Luxury & Lifestyle (2), the knot (2)

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