I've moved.

Well, just across the web. I decided to move my blog from Blogger to Wordpress because I was having issues with uploading photos onto blogger. You can now find me at http://barbride.wordpress.com/ 

...and I'm back!

I haven't written in a while, mainly due to finals, a one-week trip to Romania and the beginning of my new job - I've been busy busy busy. But, I'm back and I'm ready to start thinking about the wedding again!

One thing that's hard about having an 18-month engagement is there is just so much time, that it still feels too soon to start planning. I've been using a wedding planning binder and I've already done a lot of the stuff on the 12-month checklist, including finding a ceremony/reception site, a caterer (comes with our site), and a dress (I know, I'm nuts). 

My next wedding-related projects will be:

Picking a color scheme/theme

No, a color scheme isn't an absolute must, but I like the way weddings look when there is a color scheme that pulls all the elements together. I tend to like warm colors, and right now I really like the idea of coral, eggplant and buttercream, but I'm sure I'll change my mind several (hundred) times. The theme I like is "Tuscan romance" which goes well with our mediterranean style venue. Check out this website for fun color combinations - you pick up to 10 colors, it finds photos with those colors in them. 

Finding a DJ

DJ's book up fast, especially on holiday weekends, and since I have a specific one in mind, I am hoping to meet with him in the next couple weeks. I saw his work at a wedding in 2006 and I really liked it.

Booking a photographer

Photography is one of the most important aspects of the wedding in my opinion, because it's the photos you keep looking at years after. There are several talented SF-area photographers I have found, and I hope to narrow it down to 3-4 so when Garrett gets back from his trip we can interview them together. 

Some of my favorites so far are:

• http://benchrisman.com/    Great composition!
  
• http://www.kuperberg.com/  She's great at bringing out the emotion in photos - definitely check out this wedding.
  
• http://www.luciexyz.com/  I know someone who used this photographer duo and their photos were amazing. 

Save the Dates

Although our wedding is a long ways out, it does fall on a holiday weekend so I'm thinking I should be sending these out anywhere from 1 yr to 9 months before the wedding so people don't make other labor day plans. So, I want to start thinking about these this summer. So far I like the idea of magnets!

Wedding Website

I really like wedding websites, because it gives guests an opportunity to learn more about the couple, the bridal party and the events surrounding the wedding. We've been working on our wedding website on-and-off for about a month now, and hope to "roll it out" so to speak by the end of the summer. 

Well, I will definitely have things to keep me busy over the next few months. Stay tuned!

Remember Remember the 5th of September

So this is probably going to be my last wedding blog post for a while, since finals are coming up and I should lay off the wedding stuff for awhile...but I wanted to post about this because I think it's adorable. 

Apparently, our wedding anniversary will be the same as my parents'! My mom told me that after I booked the venue and she found out what date we chose. 

I know what you must be thinking - you didn't know your parents wedding anniversary? Well the thing is, my parents have 2 wedding anniversaries - the civil wedding, done at city hall, and the religious ceremony (which was on Sept 5). I knew the date of their civil wedding, but not the religious one.

I have included a couple photos of them on their civil wedding day. I love love these pictures of them in front of city hall. How about my mom's stylish white hat? She looks so classy! My mom never had the poofy white dress because she wore the Romanian national costume to the religious ceremony, so these are the only photos I've seen of my parents on their wedding day. Don't they look beautiful? 

We are thinking of doing a city hall wedding before the wedding too. There's just something about getting married at the city hall/a courthouse (maybe it's the lawyer in me) but it just feels more selfish and private, like you are just doing this for yourself, as adults, making it legal. I think it's utterly romantic. And when people ask me if I got that idea from the Sex and the City movie, I cringe a little. Don't get me wrong, I loved SJP's white suit and blue shoes (and might even copy that!) but the idea of getting married at city hall has always appealed to me, thanks to my parents and their beautiful wedding photos. 

We Have a Venue (and Date)!!

The wedding will be September 5 (Sunday of Labor Day), 2010, at Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery. 

www.casarealevents.com

We are so excited! :)

Girl vs. guy's thoughts on wedding...

Me: So when you think of our wedding, what do you envision?

Garrett: I just see you. 

Me: Oh. Well, is my hair up or down? Or half-up?

Garrett: *grumbles*

Funny coincidence

There is a funny story to this picture, which I just came across a couple days ago. This photo was taken just outside of my dorm room freshman year at UCLA. Garrett, a newly-minted frat boy, was on his way back from a nurses and doctors themed party. He stopped by my room to say hi. At the time, I was back together with my ex-boyfriend after a 3 month break-up. During those 3 months, Garrett and I got to be better friends and even spent one night talking until 3 am! I guess you could say that's when we first started liking each other, but I was way too into my no-good ex and didn't see clearly at the time :)

Anyway, while Garrett was visiting our dorm room, he made a joke about being my boyfriend or kissing me or something - I don't even remember what the joke was. But, me being the feisty one, I said, "Well, you had your chance, but you blew it!" I was of course referring to that night when I was single and we stayed up talking until 3 am. His response to hearing that "he had his chance" was to go into the hallway and yell. He was drunk after a party, and it was funny. So I snapped this photo right afterwards. On February 21, 2003. Six years to the day he proposed.

The search for the perfect venue

So far, the most difficult part of planning the wedding has been trying to find a location! I really want a vineyard setting, and with a guest list of about 200 people, it limits us a lot. We have found several places that fit the bill so far, and they all happen to be in the Pleasanton/Livermore area, which is nice and convenient. Apparently it's the new up-and-coming wine country. Our top picks right now are:

• Palm Event Center (Pleasanton): very nice place with rustic barrels and beautiful palm lined entrance. This is probably our favorite right now.  www.palmeventcenter.com
• Casa Real (Pleasanton): this place is owned by the same people as Palm Event Center. It's location is not as good (right by an intersection) but it is gorgeous both inside and out. www.casarealevents.com
• Garre Vineyards (Livermore): this place is nice becuase it has a beautiful heritage oak tree that serves as the backdrop to the ceremony, as well as an indoor space for the reception. The Yelp reviews are so-so though; we are checking it out this weekend. www.garrewinery.com
• St. Francis Yacht Club (SF): Garrett's dad has a connection there who could sponsor our wedding (it's members only). If we were to do it at the yacht club, we could probably do a March wedding. I don't know if I'm the yacht club type, but the view of the Golden Gate bridge would be amazing.

Stay tuned for our final decision! We really hope to make up our minds within the next few weeks, as this is one of the most stressful parts of the whole process.