I'm a happy-go-lucky do-gooder and owner of Va de Vie Events. Through this blog, I hope to share inspiration, budget ideas and DIY tips on how to pull off a budget wedding. {Savvy shopping, a bit of craftiness, and flexibility is what it takes!} I would love to hear from real brides, vendors, photographers, and more with their budget savvy tips or real weddings. Please email me at vera at vadevie-events.com.
You can also check out my underground dining adventures on Canvas Underground, by clicking here.
NOTE: In accordance with new FTC regulations, vendors I spotlight on my blog have not sponsored me or their post in any way -- it's strictly editorial and because I admire their work. I also credit photography as best I can and will gladly take it down if necessary. Thank you.
Masthead and profile photos were taken by Davina plus Daniel Photography (c) 2010. All rights reserved.
Wow, it's been waaaay too long yet again since I've posted. But since August, I've coordinated 5 weddings -- from Kohl Mansion to a private estate in Napa, and then Sebastiani Winery and Cornerstone Sonoma. The brides and grooms were wonderful to work with and the details for each of them were unique and dripping with "wow" factor. I can't wait to share in the next few weeks.
And in the midst of coordinating these weddings, my husband and I moved to a new nest, Pt. Richmond, a quaint bayside town whose most famous lady is Rosie the Riveter.
I've been busy fixing up the place and last night I bought a couple of beat up dining room chairs for $20 each. I'm reupholstering them with this beautiful yellow and gray Waverly fabric from Jo Ann Fabrics (the one on the left is one of my favorite linens you can rent at a high end rental company). Hurry on in -- right now, Jo Ann Fabric is having their Moonlight Madness sale -- all their fabric is 50% off, which means I got 2 yards of this for $44 versus $88!
I don't remember how to sew, but there are lots of cool things you can do, like:
Spotted this interesting way to celebrate Kate and William's wedding: throw a party and raise money for poor kids around the world! The suggested activities include getting you and your married friends to wear your dresses again or even pinning the tail on the corgi (my chi-corgi, Munch, wouldn't like that!).
Celebrate Kate and William's big day and help raise money for the world's poorest children. Even if the royal wedding doesn't float your boat, you can party for us anyway!
BORN TO KNOW IT ALL
Test your colleagues’ royal knowledge with our quiz. Charge for entry and the winning team get to be treated like royalty for the day. Another cup of tea your Highness?
WEAR YOUR WEDDING DRESS AGAIN
Throw a fancy dress party with a difference and get your guests to wear their wedding or bridesmaid dresses. The blushing brides make a donation to attend – a small price to wear their favourite outfit again – and you could sell mini wedding cakes to boost your fundraising total.
I apologize for not blogging the last few weeks. I've been dying to post more pics of our wedding but I've been shopping around on where to get it published and the rules are that you can't have previously shown them. Argh!
Anyways, Fred and I spent an early Christmas with his family in Florida a couple weeks ago (here's a pic of us at Epcot, such a magical place!). And we spent our very first Christmas Eve alone -- just the two of us. I admit it was a bit lonely not to be around either of our families, but we did the best we could to stick with the traditions we grew up with, like buying and decorating our very first Christmas tree and attending midnight mass. He got to keep his tradition of watching A Christmas Story (I still haven't seen it all the way through to the very end) and I got mine -- to watch one, actually two, at the theaters (although Black Swan was a bit intense for Christmas). Fred reluctantly opened his gifts after midnight mass (that's what my family does) and we are going to go with his next year -- open one gift, then the rest on Christmas morning. We also got to spend some time in the company of good friends on both Christmas Eve and Day, so that was comforting.
Did any of you spend your first alone, or did you spend if with yours or his? What new traditions did you make or old ones did you hang onto?
The goal was to get married and it seemed like it might not happen...at least according to my well thought out plan. ;) Our wedding coordinator fell through and I kept telling myself, as long as we make it to the altar, the goal has been reached. Little did I know that the minister was an hour late (he was supposed to be there at 2pm) due to parade-related traffic in San Francisco. I had already had a stressful morning and everyone was walking around eggshells trying to protect me from the hiccups that always happen at a wedding until the very last five minutes before he actually showed up. But in the end, we tied the knot (Reverend Wilson outdid himself and delivered a truly meaningful sermon and our friend Jeremy wrote a personal "reading" for us that made me cry. What struck me was how there was so much love in the air from all our friends and family. We have a truly special community that surrounds us.
The photos by Davina + Daniel aren't in yet, but our friend, Jason Chong, took really awesome photos! He's got a great eye. :)
Broken nails, sleepless nights, half-done favors, out-of-towners and more. After eighteen months of planning, our wedding converged and hit us like a hurricane. On top of that, my car was stolen two weeks ago and our wedding coordinator got sick and left us without a replacement yesterday, so it looked like my world was falling apart.
Noticed I said "my"? I was falling into the bridezilla trap where it's all about me. And it's not. Fred's birthday was this week. His friends and family from Florida flew in earlier this week and they have been so great and I wish we could've spent more quality time with them.
When I learned that we wouldn't have a coordinator for today early yesterday, I spent time scrambling to find a replacement instead of running the last couple errands I needed to. It was 9:00AM and we had to be at rehearsal 40 minutes away by 10:30AM. We still needed to take showers, buy our flowers from the Oakland flower mart and pick up additional table numbers (you'll see them in a future post).
My motto is "make it work" and in the height of the moment, it's easy to forget that.
I'm resistant to asking for help since I'm always the one helping or getting the job done, but when you're getting married, just let go. Don't forget how many people love you and want to make sure you get to enjoy your day.
I learned that the hard way. Thank God for Fred. He is always so relaxed and level-headed. That's why he's so awesome. He reminded me that we didn't have to do it all. And everything that needed to get done, did because we asked for helped or else let go.
Yesterday, our friends and family banged out the finishing touches of our reception setup and it is looking great!! They did such a great job. Our friend, Stephanie (bless her heart) volunteered to step in and take care of coordinating our wedding. Afterwards, the wedding party and families headed to the Marin Headlands near Point Bonita for our rehearsal picnic. The view of the Golden Gate Bridge was stunning and we had a bonus: the Blue Angels! :)
So I admit, I'm up at 6:30AM blogging to you all when I should be sleeping considering I've only had 4 hours of sleep every night for the last two weeks. But I got at least 6.5 this time. I had to sketch a little diagram -- last thing I swear I'll do (haha) -- and drink some water. I had a couple glasses of wine (finally) last night and I have a tinge of a hangover. But that's okay. It was worth it.
Today, my goal is to get married to Fred. Not to make sure escort cards are in place, or that the programs are out. They won't affect the goal. They're just a bonus.
It happens to be my boo's birthday today! Momentum towards our big day is starting to build since his family gets into town (in just 3 hours from now) and his friends from Florida arrived yesterday. Tonight, we're celebrating at Everett and Jones, a local BBQ fave, and he and the boys are hitting up the Pacific Coast Pinball Museum for a low-key bachelor party.
To kick off the celebration, I'm baking rainbow cupcakes but in our wedding colors -- so not so rainbow-y but fun to eat nonetheless. I got the recipe from my friend Britt Piehl (of Appeale via Living Eventfully).
Rainbow cupcake - Photo by Brittany Piehl
Mini Rainbow Cupcakes
1 box of white cake mix and all the needed ingredients
Food gels
Mini Baking Cups
Ziploc Sandwich Bags
6 drinking cups
Frosting: Premade, store bought, homemade or whipped cream
Line a mini cupcake pan with paper cups and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare the cake as directed on the box.
Line 6 drinking cups with one Ziploc bag each.
Pour a scant cup of the cake mix into each bag.
Add one color of food gel to each bag.
Zip the bag closed and gently massage the bag of food gel and cake mix until there are no streaks left.
You can also place the cake mix into 6 small bowls, mix together with the food gels then place into the individual Ziploc bags.Whatever works for you.
Snip off one end of the Ziploc bag.
Squeeze about a dimes (or more for full size) worth plus a little more of the cake batter into each cupcake well.
Don't go crazy, remember you have 6 colors that need to fit into that tiny cup.
Use the drinking cup to place the bag of cake mix in upside down while not in use.
Upside down so the cake mix doesn't ooze out while your working with the other colors.
After each color goes into all of the wells, gently tap the cupcake pan against the counter top to help even out the layer of batter.
Once you have all of the colors in the wells, place pan in preheated oven and bake for about 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frost with your favorite white frosting or top with whipped cream.
Our engagement shoot with Steve Hughes at Piedmont Community Park was fabulous! Check out our e-session at Style Unveiled: Bride in the City, including vendor highlights and how our planning process has been going.
I worked on our welcome bags last night. I printed our Welcome sheets outlining the schedule for the weekend's activities as well as places to go and eat in Oakland, San Francisco and Marin/San Rafael. Goodies include flip flops, pack of gum, toiletries, scented candle, bottles of water and snacks in the Bird Blossom tote below. I put the toiletries in Paula Deen cookie tins ($1.50 at Michael's) that they can reuse again but also so the liquids can be contained in their luggage.
$1.95 Bird Blosson Reusable Totes - Pier 1 Imports
Welcome sheet using Budmo Jiggler font and Bauhaus
Both Guitar Fred and I had early mornings: I had a doubles tennis match and he had a gig at an old folks home. We both napped for about five hours before waking up around 7:00PM to run errands. It was an unusually serene and uneventful day for us -- which is a relief considering how busy we will be for the next few days.
We can't believe we are just one week away! It feels a little unreal now. My last day of work is tomorrow and I just wrapped my last wedding before ours last night. Here's a photo from the venue, it was GORGEOUS. I'm looking forward to a similar scene at ours next week. AHHHH...
Sunset at Diablo Ranch, Walnut Creek - photo by Vera Devera
Here it is. 30 days left! Everyone's asking, "How are you doing?"
From a tactical perspective, we're on track. In fact, last night, Guitar Fred and I finished printing and binding our programs! It took about 4 hours because we had to punch the corners to 250 individual pages, hand stamp and emboss a peony pattern and insert a brad into the corner. We printed the free custom monogram from the Wedding Chicks for the backs of our programs.
I also had my third dressing fitting with Anne Ventresco, who came highly recommended by my friend, Jill. I hadn't seen her since May and the dress was a little bit looser (yay!). I also got to see what the Pegasus Maiden fascinator that you helped me choose looked like with the dress.The whole ensemble looked splendid! More alterations are needed, like deepening the sweet heart neckline (Guitar Fred will appreciate that) and hemming the bottom. My last fitting is October 1. Gulp.
Last night, Guitar Fred and I also revisited our budget, which has been stressful and provides a glimpse into how we'll manage finances for the future. Fred is such a solid guy -- he kept reassuring me and pointing out that we weren't as far off as we thought. Ultimately, we came up with a couple solutions to cover the gap. This exercise helped me realize I'm more the spreadsheet-calculator person in our relationship and he's the big picture (and optimistic) type, which I believe is a good balance.
Things to look forward to over the next few weeks:
Bachelorette party on the wine trolley tomorrow!
Engagement session with Stephen Loewinsohn (www.stevetakespictures.com)
Getting our RSVPs by September 17 and putting together our seating chart
Friends and family flying into town just in time for Guitar Fred's birthday on October 7
I came home from a late night meeting to find Guitar Fred rocking to an Adam Ant song in his undies while mopping the floor. He had no idea I had come home. I watched him for a few seconds, totally amused and thrilled he had taken the initiative. Plus, he looked so darn cute! And the floor looked great too.
Next, he gave our dog, Munch, a bath. Meanwhile, I stepped into the kitchen, I saw that the dishes were done...and he even picked up my dry cleaning.
Looks like our pre-marital counseling sessions with the Rev have been rubbing off on him? ;)
With 6 weeks to go, we've just begun to get our act together in getting our details wrapped up. (Not to mention, I've got 4 more weddings to coordinate before ours!)
Tonight, we have our last meeting with Reverend Wilson to review our ceremony. I'm very excited, not only because Reverend Wilson is tons of fun (it's hard not to smile around him) but also because I'll finally get started on printing our programs.
In the last few days, we've been able to check off the following and feel a little bit more sane:
Mail our invitations -- Genevieve Walker created a fabulous custom wedding map for us to enclose with our invites (will share once our guests receive the invites first!)
Ask our uber-talented friends, Jessica, soprano, to sing me down the aisle (to the song that always brings tears to my eyes) and Jard, classical guitar, to mesmerize us with his mad guitar skills for our ceremony at Christ Church of Sausalito
Order uplights from ImpactSF - blue for the stage (where we'll dance) and amber for the reception hall
I started Jenny Craig on June 4, and to date, I've lost 10 pounds! (When I reported 8 pounds in an earlier posting, I realized the scale was inaccurate.) But my awesome JC consultant has confirmed my weight loss. Woo hoo!
This week, I started boot camp with KOI Fitness to up the ante. They offer a one week trial for free and then you pay for the remaining of the session (4 days a week, 6:00-7:00am, for 6 weeks). The first day (Monday), we did intervals of distance running and isometrics (like exploding frog leaps) and ab work. On Tuesday, we had a fitness testing (like high school PE days). I surprised myself by doing 25 push-ups, but was thoroughly disappointed to do ZERO sit-ups. (No cheating allowed, you had to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground and use your fingertips to touch your partners' fingertips just above your knee cap).
The other folks in my cohort have been doing the boot camp for at least one to two sessions, so I felt a little better. After all, if you start at the bottom, you can only go up, right?
At the end of the 6 weeks, I had better be able to do at least 15 sit-ups!
My friends know from my Facebook posts, but yes, I've joined George Costanza: I'm officially on a Jenny Craig program (note that I didn't say diet). I know how to eat sensibly but I'm either lazy (or "busy") and just don't do it.
I finally just got fed up! I was good in December and tried a clean eating thing and joined Ironworks, but I was still overeating, succumbing to delicious BBQ and fresh-baked bread, etc despite the workouts.
So I decided to go with Jenny Craig because you have to buy their meals -- which consist of microwaveable meals and some packaged foods. I spend about $120 a week, which is how much I was already spending eating out. I have to supplement their meals with fresh fruit, veggies and salads. No big secret. Surprisingly, drinking milk also makes me feel less hungry (and water too, go figure).
Since I started two weeks ago, I shed about 8 pounds -- mostly water weight. My stomach's already less bloated and more flat than it's been in years. I haven't hit Ironworks since I got sick with a bad cold last month, nor the tennis courts since I got a bad case of tennis elbow, BUT I've been doing my Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout and hiking a great deal. Tonight, I walked/jogged 15,891 steps on the Sequoia Trail in the hills near our house with Munch (I guess I have to multiply that by 4 for him, poor little guy). I'm loving it!
I meet one-on-one with a Jenny Craig counselor once a week when I go in to pick up my food. Until I hit my halfway goal weight, I'll stay on their planned menu program (usually 4-8 weeks). I've got 17 weeks left to the big day.
Can't wait to strike one of these poses. Go George!
I usually don't blog about political issues, but this one hits close to home and also on our wedding date, 10/10/10!
Guitar Fred hails from St. Petersburg, FL, and although he's all for President Obama, he was extremely against the president's support of offshore drilling. As you know, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is devastating not only for the ocean's health and the creatures that live in it, but also for the people and communities whose livelihoods depend on the Gulf. If you haven't already, please sign 350.org's petition calling for real leadership on clean energy and a ban on new offshore drilling. http://www.350.org/drilling-ban
350.org is also organizing a national day of action on October 10, 2010, starting at 10:10. We're obviously going to be getting married that day, but if you find yourself wanting to do something and make a difference, consider this.
Working with our friends at the 10:10 campaign, we're going to make the tenth day of the tenth month of the millennium's tenth year a real starting point for concrete action. We're calling it the 10/10 Global Work Party, and in every corner of the world we hope communities will put up solar panels, insulate homes, erect windmills, plant trees, paint bikepaths, launch or harvest local gardens. We'll make sure the world sees this huge day of effort--and we'll use it to send a simple message to our leaders: "We're working--what about you? If we can cover the roof of the school with solar panels, surely you can pass the legislation or sign the treaty that will spread our work everywhere, and confront the climate crisis in time." 10/10/10 will take a snapshot of a clean energy future -- the world of 350 ppm -- and show people why it's worth fighting for. It's not too early to sign up here: www.350.org/oct10
I'm getting excited about a daytrip I'm planning to take with my four bridesmaids -- they all don't know each other very well so I thought heading to Green Gulch Zen Center would be a nice introduction.
I read about the Center in a recent issue of Sunset Magazine. Here's a snippet of the suggested itinerary. [Fortunately, you don't have to do all the activities -- as they told me, you can come and go as you please. How Zen is that? :)]
A DAY AT GREEN GULCH 8:15 am: Just be still Make your way down a path to the zendo, a Japanese-style meditation hall converted from a barn. Clasp your hands and remove your shoes for an hour of instruction.When it’s time for meditation, cross your legs. Sit up straight. Gaze softly ahead. Breathe normally. Don’t sleep. Thoughts will arise: Let them. After 45 minutes of silence, a bell rings.
11:15 am: Nourish the soul After a dharma talk on Buddhism or meditation, and before a Q&A with the teacher, it’s break time outside the zendo. Have tea and a fresh muffin or a warm loaf of sesame bread, made from the classic Tassajara Bread Book, from Green Gulch’s parent San Francisco Zen Center.
2:30 pm: Take a hike The sheltered sands of Muir Beach are just a half-mile walk down valley from the gardens, past the center’s organic farm. For a longer hike, head up the ridge on the Green Gulch Trail to link to the Coastal Trail for a loop back to the center with splendid ocean views (about 3 miles).
Take it home: At the 11:15 tea break, look for baskets of produce grown right here on the farm. In spring, that might be spinach, kale, and chard. You can also pick up a jar of the center’s homemade organic plum or quince jam ($5.50) at the tea break or from the bookstore.
What kind of outings do you have planned with your bridesmaids?
Sorry for this mini rant, but has anyone else had any problems with some vendors on here being very rude?
I put out a "match me" for reception location only (catering was to be separate), and one vendor declined and then bitched at me, telling me not to send out low budget leads.
WTF?!?
I'm sorry I have a budget, all you have to do is decline and then say "not a good match" instead of saying in a round about way that I'm a cheapskate! Posted On: Mar 7, 2010 at 6:20 PM
We attended the Bridal Extravaganza a few months after booking our venue. Since our venue package included our cakes from a vendor, we went over to her booth and introduced ourselves. She was RUDE! Horribly rude and acted as if we were wasting her time. The sad part was that we didn't even ask any questions or really take any of her time. We decided that she won't get a PENNY of extra money from our package. I'm dragging my feet on booking our appointment with her. Even though her attitude is bad, her work is beautiful. At least the cake will be pretty!Querida 10*10*10 Sugar Land, TX
It boggles my mind that a vendor in the wedding SERVICE industry would even consider acting impatient, condescending, and pushy.
Have you had any encounters with rude vendors? Would you still book them because their work is stellar, despite their dismal client relation skills?
I know we're all wary about Craigslist -- it's good for finding a free couch, but not so good for finding a date (believe me, stay away from it). A couple years back, I answered a vague Craigslist ad in the "gigs" section looking for people who wanted to be audience members for a cooking show. It sounded fun, so I emailed the anonymous email address and a week later I found myself on Bobby Flay's Throwdown (yep, that's the back of his head, haha).
So when I saw an ad for House of Brides on Craigslist, I applied just for fun. The premise of the show is that you compete with other brides for the wedding of your dreams and a chance to get an "amazing" makeover by a celebrity stylist, doctor, makeup artist -- whatever you decide you want done for your big day.
I didn't hear anything back for a few weeks and I started to get worried that some prince in Nigeria had all the details on my wedding dreams.
But instead, the casting associate emailed and called me to schedule a meeting in San Francisco -- today! I had to complete an 8-page questionnaire in advance. Some of the questions included how do I picture myself on my wedding, would I be willing to change my date for the sake of filming (no! 10/10/10 will never happen ever again), how competitive are you, what do you want done for your wedding (plastic surgery was one of the choices) and describe your dream wedding if money were no object.
I won't tell you my answers just yet. Not until I hear yay or nay from the casting director. I better run now or I'll be late!
Last Friday, Guitar Fred and I met up with Rev. Mauricio Wilson, our officiant, at St. Paul's Episcopal to take PREPARE/ENRICH, a 165-question assessment (basically a scantron) of what we think of each other and our roles and duties to each other. I heard from a friend that she and her husband took theirs in separate rooms, but Rev. Wilson trusted us to take ours in the same room as long as we didn't look at each other answers.
We had to rate how strongly we agreed or disagreed to statements such as, "I think the wife should take the main responsibility for chores." or "When my partner touches me, I think they are making a sexual advance." (Sorry, those are the ones I remembered!)
Rev. Wilson mailed off our responses and now we're awaiting the results. We'll spend the next 6 months leading up to October 10 working on areas of improvement, such as communication, conflict resolution, sexuality, finances and spiritual beliefs. I am wondering what ours will be. I have to admit I glanced over at Guitar Fred's scantron and he rarely put down a strongly agree or strongly disagree, whereas I did. This won't make or break us, just make us stronger, right? ;)
I admit it, I've been bad. Last September, I set a goal of getting to a size 10 by 10/10/10 and I'm nowhere near it, which is stressing me out since we now have 7 months until the wedding. So blogging about it is my confession.
I was on a roll -- working out to my Biggest Loser DVDs, eating oatmeal for breakfast and trying to watch what I ate. I had lost 10 pounds by December. Then I got the flu just before the holidays and was off my exercise and eating routine while we were in Florida over Christmas. By January, my "all or nothing" attitude had set in and the consecutive rainy days forced me indoors with the winter blahs. I love hiking, walking or jogging and not being able to get active outdoors depressed me.
A tennis teammate took a photo of us this past weekend and I really hated how I looked! I vowed never to get as big as that ever again and there was a double-chin slowly creeping back. Ugh.
I have been looking for a gym to join to get me out. There's a climbing and fitness gym (Berkeley Ironworks) just 3 blocks from work that offers spin (yes!), fitness group classes and of course, climbing. It's only $67/month compared to the $399 membership (3 months) at another gym that specializes in fitness bootcamp. I even looked into Jumpstart (advertised heavily in local bridal magazines) but I don't think taking weight-loss medicine at $300 a month is really the way to live healthily.
I have committed to going to Berkeley Ironworks today to open a membership and dedicate time to work out at least 3 times a week and build up to 4 times a week like I used to.
I also need support. My MOH lost a few sizes over the last two years; she was on Weight Watchers initially and eventually incorporated healthy eating and exercise into her lifestyle -- the ultimate goal, right? She is a source of inspiration and support.
But it's been tough at home. Guitar Fred has a different approach to eating healthy. He eats like a bird in terms of portions but he also eats a lot of sweets and processed food whereas I'm trying to focus on eating fresh "slow" food. We've been butting heads and he finally said, "Maybe we just cook for ourselves." I was disappointed to hear that since we live together and cooking for one is no fun. Nonetheless, I still made us dinner last night -- right sized portions of Niman Ranch pork, steamed greens and fingerling potatoes tossed with chopped parsley and a tablespoon of sour cream. The meal was satisfying and didn't leave me feeling guilty as I've often been feeling. In addition, Guitar Fred appreciated the meal. It's a good sign. :)
To motivate myself, I'm reposting what I wrote in my September 2009 post.
I vow to give up:
1. Being too hard on myself (this one is tough because I tend to be a perfectionist)
2. Carnitas (oh, Trader Joe's $3.99 carnitas are my cryptonite!)
3. Feeling bloated (yes, I can't wait to give this one up!)
4. My "big" clothes (Crossroads Trading Company, here I come to trade in)
5. 1-2 hours every day (to exercise and cook instead of watching TV right after work)
6. Believing that I will fail after 2 weeks (so far, so good)
7. Believing that jogging the lake or beach with Munch isn't fun (so not true!)
8. Resistance to changing the status quo
What have you been doing to jumpstart your health routine?
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