Holy Moly my YouTube bride has excellent taste in flowers and details.
I loved her wedding and I am so happy to be a part of it!
She was the CALMEST bride I have had to date.
My assistant, Deb, commented all day how calm and zen like this bride was and she hit it on the nose when she told me she could work weddings with me every day if we had weddings like this one. True that.
{So let me share with you my YouTube Wedding}
"Rain Rain , go away , come again some other day"
That was my mantra for the week. I was stalking the
weather channel.Guess what? It worked. I'm magic, no rain.
Our day started after I went to go to Emeryville to drop off flowers for my Wild Child Bride.
We made a stop to pick up dry ice and then on to
Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco.
They were not going to have a cake, instead they would treat their guests to ice cream sandwiches. Check out the flavors that Bi-Rite offers:
ICE CREAM SANDWICHES • Coconut macaroons with chocolate ice cream
• Chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream
• Dark chocolate cookies with mint chip ice cream
• Lemon gingersnap cookie with pumpkin ice cream
OMG. drooooool.
I also picked up some Mexican cookies for their pre-ceremony snack. The brides !sister kept askingus if we had tried to cookies, and I balked and said, no, of course not, I would be too embarrassed, I'm working. She laughed and said -no listen, these cookies are good, they are cookies on crack. I laughed and she said, ok this is ridiculous, I'm going to get you some. So we ended up tasting these cookies and they were freaking good!
You saw the venue the first time around when I went out to meet with my bride and the wonderful
Andrea from Pelican Inn, in Sausalito right?
Side note:
These beautiful Pink Dahlias grow outside the Inn and they are HUGE!
I was greeted to these delightful out of town bags that the bride made.
From this little number, I knew the details would all be fabulous.
So we got there pretty early and had to kill time because the Inn is actually open to the public for lunch and from the food I tasted, I would highly recommend you go out there and have some food and a pint of something. The food is Zagat rated and lives up to it.
So I went over the timeline and phone numbers of vendors to make sure I was ultra prepared to start dialing if they didn't show up as scheduled.
Well, once we got started the set up started rolling pretty fast.
The florist showed up first. They were wonderful ladies that came out to deliver for a studio out of SF. They were made by Patrick and I promise once I get the full name I will update because I think it's fair to make sure I get all the vendors on here when I can. The flowers were beautiful!
I must admit, I had flower envy. I have always wanted to do a succulent wedding so any brides out there, email me and I will take care of you!
So we helped unload the flowers to get the ball rolling because the chairs didn't arrive at 2pm like they were scheduled. It was more like 3:15-3:30.
This bad boy was placed right outside the window in front of where they would be married.
This beautiful floral wreath had blue hydrangeas, maple, lemon leaf, seeded eucalpytus and these green berry things that I can't remember what they are called. :(
Got swag?
Over two of the the fire places, floral swags were hung.
A closer look at the centerpeice.
Green dendrobium, green and blue hydrangea, succulent, and purple thistle.
This was the indoor set up.
This was the outdoor setup.
So right about now, I'm thinking:
"where the hell are the chairs?"
What, I'm gonna roll out a new trend where everyone stands around the bride and groom as they are married in a hug of life???
Hmm....
Part oft he problem is that there is no cell coverage down there. By down there I mean Muir woods, Stinson Beach area where we are. I know crazy right? Everyone is so addicted to their phones. So thank goodness that Andrea let us use their land lines because the phone is the friend of a DOC wondering where the hell people are!
So I ask Deb to please call the chair people while I track down the sand for the place cards.
She leaves a message and here they come rolling up, you order chairs???
UH. Yeah!?!?!?
So they started settin gup and at first they set up in straight rows and then I hear the bride call down, wait, I want a semi circle! So cute, she was like snow white up there in one of the windows, so we quickly changed the front row and we were in full semi circle mode.
Look at the pew florals? GORGEOUS!
So right about this time is when the bride and groom are scheduled to leave to take pictures with the wedding party, Deb and the photographer and leave me to finish the final details.
I got my hands on the sand finally and then started to set up the guest escort cards, wish jar, and card box. Originally we were set to put this outside but of course with any deal you make with mother nature, i.e. if it doesn't rain today I promise to be super nice with all my vendors and wedding couples from now on, some concessions have to be made. So we got the sun which was great, because it was raining early that morning and it was slowly brightening up, but then we started to get this wind...but trust me I will take wind over rain any day.
It was too windy out side to set this stuff up.
We set up shop just inside the Inn doorway. It was the first thing you saw as a guest and I think it worked well. I started the party off inside the jar with a "wish" for couple so that other people would get what to do. You would be surprised. You could have, oh I don't know, a framed list of instructions on what to do sitting next to blank papers and pens, and they will still ask what to do. My favorite is the buffet candy that has bags, scoops and an invitation to eat and people ask me, "Hey. What's all this?"lol!
The seashells were in alphabetical order, weren't they just adorable?
Every one loved them including a couple who were walking into look at the venue really quick during set up. The bride was like....ooooohhh, what a great idea! I was all:
Yes, it is isn't it? My bride has impeccable taste:)
shameless.
So guests start arriving, I wait till a little over a third of the people are there and then go upstairs to get the couple to bring them down to mingle with the guests pre-ceremony. I love, love, love this because it goes against the grain in a good way, ya know? They didn't have a grand entrance and a big reveal to their guests. They were totally laid back and got a chance to greet and thank folk for coming out.
In fact, they walked down the aisle together which was very cool and unconventional for a wedding.
So here we are, ready to walk down the aisle and we all line up right on schedule, 5:50pm.
Get everyone ready, have ten minutes to cue the musician, ask guests to sit, walk through to make sure everything is good, and then walk back and wait for the musician to start the processionals music. 6 pm hits and the pooch, Ravioli goes first, then the parents are walking, then the party, then the kids. The little cutest angel, the flower girl, starts her walk, STEPS completely out of her Mary Jane shoes and turns around, starts to cry and looks at me
and holds out her hand.
Break my heart why dontcha?
So I met her halfway down the aisle, have her do an about face, her mom who was in the wedding party is signaling for her to go and I whisper in her ear" Go to Momma baby, it's ok"
and she walks down the aisle.
WHEW.
Then I as we wait for the ring bearers to go, I reach over to my couple, hand them a mint for a minty kiss, then send them down the aisle about two minutes later.
OMG. Look at this face. It's love I tell you, it's calm beautiful love.
I almost needed one of these!
It's off to the reception and cocktail hour for the transition to switch lead roles with Andrea: I set up and manned the ceremony and cocktail hour, she took over at 7:30 for dinner and dancing.
I placed the bridal bouquet and pomanders on the head table.
Bridal bouquet was stephanotis, succulents, hydrangea, thistle, and dendrobiums
with a lace handle.
I also inverted the pomanders on the vase so that the ribbon hung down just for an added detail.
Look at how beautiful the night turned out to be...
I condensed the table down and kept running gifts and envelopes up to the room so that they would have an easier time at the end of the night.
The whole Inn at this point is dark and romantic with candle light.
Even in the daytime, it's dark in there and I joked with the gal up at the reservation desk that I felt like I should have a tan and black in my hand to which she replied "Me too!!"
We waited for the photo booth, Fotomio, to come and set up. He was the nicest guy, I saw some of his work from the wedding yesterday and I can fully recommend him to you. If you are looking for a photo booth in the Bay Area you must contact Moses at
Fotomio. I took a picture of him after he took a test shot of himself.
Kinda cool huh?
Then it was time to go, I couldn't resist one last picture. Doesn't this look so homey and intimate?
I felt a little CHRISTMAS CAROL-y but it was cute. I loved working this wedding and I thank the bride and groom for letting me a part of their day. I wish you both much love and success in your marriage, and I can dog-sit Ravioli anytime! :)
{And they lived happily ever after}
This is how the day felt here in SF today.
Two other beauties...the first one is an orange dyed cabbage flower and the second are green sunflowers.
