We Found Our Photographer

[All images (c) Jessamyn Harris Photography]

I have to admit--I've been looking at wedding photographer sites/blogs for a very long time. Embarrassingly long for someone who was not engaged until this past winter. I can't even count how many wedding photographer portfolios I've looked through online. Sometimes I recognize that I've already been to someone's site based on the music that starts playing! {By the way, Punam Bean and Natalie Moser---love the music on your websites.}

I would try and justify it by telling myself that it was helpful to my work as a picture editor--not that I would ever need pictures from a wedding photographer, but hey--ya never know!
So in short, since this was the one time, and probably one of the only times, I would be researching and choosing a photographer for myself and not for a work-related project, I put a whole lot of thought into it far before the proposal. My eagerness spanned the world wide web and many sleepless nights of surfing.

After being thrilled with our engagement pictures, I'm happy to announce that we've decided to book Jessamyn Harris! I've been a long-time fan of Jessamyn's style, and I am so excited that she will be photographing such a special day for us. She's also super nice and laid back, which I think will be key for any stress/madness/insanity/baggage floating around on the big day. {Not to scare you, Jessamyn, if you are reading this.}

So, let's see...venue, check! Photographer, check!

It's starting to look a lot like a wedding.

Upcoming Events in San Diego

Sometimes I forget what life was like before getting engaged. It's all a bit fuzzy really...what in the world did I do...
To prove that I haven't been swallowed whole by the wedding fairies, here are two events I will most likely be attending, because I've got other interests besides the wedding too. ...Or do I?

If you are a librarian/teacher/museum geek/art geek/science geek/parent/kid/super cool person, you might like to attend too!

[Image from the San Diego Science Festival]

The San Diego Science Festival's Expo Day is coming to Balboa Park on April 4th. This is going to be a huge event with tons of exhibits and hands-on science fun. Bring the lil' aspiring doctors/engineers/astronauts/geologists/biologists, or any kids really! It's great to give them exposure to science, especially in such a beautiful setting with lots of activity.

On Expo Day, three museums will also be open FOR FREE: the Reuben Fleet Science Museum, The Natural History Museum, and The Hall of Champions Sports Museum.

[Image from San Diego Children's Book Festival]

This year's San Diego Children's Book Festival has a great line-up of authors and illustrators on May 9. I'm most excited about Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, being in attendance.

Books are going to be sold at the event, and the best part is that all the proceeds go to San Diego Public Libraries. And everyone knows libraries are sexy.

PS: I'm sad that I won't be able to make it this year's LA Times Book Festival, ironically because I'll be at a science festival (so many festivals!) So, will one of you attend for me? Thanks.

Nice Legs

[Image from Sarah and Dan's engagement session by Max Wanger]

Love the skirt. Love the engagement photos. Max just seems unstoppable, doesn't he?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

We Found Our Venue

Wow, we've made an actual decision. Like, there's no turning back now or else my deposit is lost and I kinda needed that money decision. Eeeek!!!

After much thought and consideration, we've decided to hold the event in San Diego and have a Chinese banquet in northern California. Hopefully between the two parties we can see all our family and friends. We booked it for July 3, 2010, so that our guests could enjoy fourth of July weekend in San Diego. So without further delay...before there's time to change our minds yet again...

**Trumpets**

Here is our venue.

[All images (c) Orfila Vineyards]

If you've been following the blog, you might remember it as venue #2. Who knew we could have stopped looking after two venues instead of going to eight?

...Did I mention how insanely excited I am?

Surprise!: Our Engagement Pictures

I alluded to a surprise a few weeks back, and here it is! Surprise! I won a contest for a free engagement session with Jessamyn Harris, so while I was in San Francisco we had a fun photo shoot in Chinatown. We weren't even considering engagement pictures because of the added cost, so I was super excited that Jessamyn gave us this opportunity. Thank you Jessamyn!

The contest called for photo shoot ideas, so I sent her an email about one of the first times the boy and I hung out at a really dirty hole-in-the-wall in Berkeley. They sadly gutted the shop and now it's a Tapioca Express, but I thought it'd be fun to relive the night by taking some pictures with food in a kitschy setting. And fun it was! We got to eat, get our pictures taken, and spend some time with the very talented Jessamyn.

{You might remember her work from these awesome weddings around the wedding world:
Alex and Rich in Napa Valley; Lauren and Derek in San Francisco}

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot!

[I love the light in this photo! There was a very high chance of rain, and it in fact poured after we finished taking pictures, so I am happy that we had some sunlight! These photos were taken at Yuet Lee, a restaurant recommendation from my sister who insisted that the place served classic dirty Chinese food.]

[Jessamyn was kind enough to buy us lunch since they were 'props'. Notice the empty bowl in front of the boy? Yeah, he ate his entire prop. I don't know what was funny, but apparently it was hilarious.]

[I think this might be my favorite. Which is funny because we're not posing. At all. We took a ton of photos in the street, so here I am basically grabbing the boy from danger. Don't worry. I got your back. You just keep smiling for the camera.]

[My favorite posed shot!]

[This is in front of another Chinatown classic, Eastern Bakery.]

[I'm laughing because the boy very clumsily tried to grab some pastries. Yup, we're big dorks.]

[Our shoes! I hadn't realized they matched until the day of.]

You can check out more pictures and read my email entry at Jessamyn's blog here.

All photos (c) Jessamyn Harris Photography

Are You My Venue? #4-8: The SF Bay Area

Oh boy, was it a long trip of venue scouting.

Some of the questions that I asked while visiting these sites:

- how would you suggest separating the unisex bathroom for my more traditional guests?

- do people usually add flowers or ribbons to the urinals to discourage people from peeing in them?

- no parking? Could you give me an average cost of shuttle buses?

- can we play this piano? There was a rental fee for the piano at the other site.

- so, I would get married on this lawn, and there would be another wedding on that lawn?

- is there a lot of turkey poo in the meadow? How about duck poo?

To keep this as quick as possible, I'm going to list the pros and cons of each place we visited.

If you are interested in any of these venues and would like to know more, please leave a comment and I can PM you!

#4 The Outdoor Art Club, Mill Valley, CA

Pros

-Both of us liked this venue. It was quaint, cute, and could fit all of our guests.

-The fee goes towards a good cause.

-Beautiful architecture. Very SF Bay Area.

-Reasonably priced with chairs and tables (woohoo chairs!)

Cons

-What parking?

-I wasn't too impressed with the ceremony area, which I had hoped would be grass instead of concrete.

#5 UC Botanical Gardens, Berkeley, CA

Pros

-OH EM GEE--I loved it here! The ceremony area is so so pretty and feels completely secluded. I could just imagine someone playing acoustic guitar as we walked through the forest of trees to the middle of the grove. Absolutely beautiful.

-We heart Berkeley like organic jam hearts soy butter.

Cons

-I didn't really feel like asking a friend to drive a van up and down the Berkeley hills so we could save cash on a shuttle van. Yeah, you guessed it--very little parking.

-For such an amazing spot, only 100 people could attend. We'd have to break some hearts in order to keep it that small.

[Le sigh. Image from weddingmapper]

#6 Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA

Pros

-We'd be supporting a good cause.

-The Golden Gate National Park--freakin' gorgeous!

-Building is most definitely unique--nothing standard about it.

-Local, organic catering in-house
-There was a beautiful piano that came with the site fee in the ceremony room. I already had dreams of walking down the aisle to a piano...here was my chance!

Cons

-The bathroom. The boy hated the bathroom set-up. It is a rather old building, so the urinals did not work and the plumbing was a little leaky. Also, it was a unisex bathroom, so we would have to put up a curtain. I could just hear my parents complaining about that on my shoulder while we were on the tour.
-The boy just didn't like the venue at all and put it last on his list.

[The urinals look super charming in this photo by Marla Aufmuth via Snippet and Ink. The boy just wasn't digging it.]

#7 Dunsmuir Estate, Oakland, CA
I can't really write pros and cons for this one. There were a lot of things that rubbed me the wrong way. Enough said.

#8 The Brazilian Room in Tilden Park, Berkeley, CA

Pros
-The cost! This was the cheapest venue we saw.
-Very pretty rustic venue with a lot of foliage and flowers
-Quaint and cute
-Again, we heart Berkeley like flip-flops heart fleece sweaters.

Cons
-Parking woes.
-The drive through the winding hills got me a little car sick.
-We'd only be able to fit 120-130 with a dance floor. Bummer dude.

I'm so lucky to have such a patient partner who got dragged to all of these places. Let's hear it for the boy, and his willingness to drive all over the Bay Area and pay the $6 toll at the Golden Gate Bridge! Woohoo! **Applause**

I bet you're thinking, man Mo, I can't believe I read through this whole thing and you STILL don't have a venue. Well, lucky readers, stay-tuned for what we decided...

Playing Dress Up: Part II

My dear friend and old college roommate, Rosanna, was gracious enough to accompany me dress shopping at Trudy's Bridal in Campbell, CA. She was also very patient, supportive, and took a ton of great photos for me! So, Rosanna, if you're reading this, thank you again!

I still don't think I've found a dress that I like enough to purchase, but Trudy's allowed me to try on more dress styles at different price points. Our consultant, Cheryl, was super patient and pulled a lot of dresses that were similar to what I had printed from the Internet. Overall, Trudy's was a great experience and I'm really glad I went with Rosanna.

Here was our favorite out of the bunch, but I think I'm still on the hunt for something simpler.

[Dress is Manuel Mota Pronovias, Silaba]

I've also realized that my mother doesn't seem to like anything I show her. I'm starting to think of just going it alone in terms of dress shopping from now on because I'm starting to get confused about what I like based on what other people think. I like shopping by myself and don't consult anyone, maybe I can do the same with wedding dresses? But I've heard, more than once, that dress shopping is a stressful experience and that your friends/sisters/anyone else you trust should be there for support. Thoughts?