The Nest

Good-bye...

Posted Thursday, June 26, 2008 12:52 AM

...to my dream wedding. I'm kickin ya to the curb, and I'm gonna face reality. And you know what...reality is one ugly b*tch.

Giving up on my love for Park Prive. We can't afford her, and it's not worth the miserableness that would be our life after marriage.

So it's back to the drawing board and thinking outside the box.

Here we go again...

teeny tiny rant

Posted Thursday, June 19, 2008 8:43 AM

Sorry for the absence. I'm shooting for a June 2009 wedding, and places are booking up fast. I had a friggin year before now...why didn't I find a place sooner? Dangit!

Anyways...when did the golf club become "the place" to have weddings? I don't know...I don't like it. Neither Dee nor I play golf. Yes, it's pretty, but it looks like all the other golf club weddings...And there's this unnatural feel about the manicured lawn and neatly placed trees and lakes.

Of course, I guess I shouldn't be talking. I've fallen in love with a venue already...Park Prive. And they're smack dab in the middle of a business park...with a lawn filled with huge rocks. And then there's a vineyard next door. I don't know why, but it just fits into the idea of my wedding. If we're conservative with photography, florals & linens, dj, and favors, we might be able to make it. But of course, this would only work if we had 150 people to attend. So far...the guest list stands at 197. Is it possible that more than 20% of the guest list might not show up?

And the money....oh god the money. *cry*

This is getting to be frustrating! Please share your venue hunting rants!

More 6.7.08 Wedding Pix

Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2008 11:09 PM

More pix from the 6.7.08 wedding I attended this past weekend. Tying bows on the chairs was really hard...that's my honey helping out! Sorry...borrowing these pix from a friend's online album...for some reason, I can only get the thumbnails.

Here is us before the ceremony.

Us with this cutie patootie.

My baby had some alcohol and got all cute with me on the dance floor.

I caught the bouquet...I'm still technically single.

And Dee caught the garter.

Yea, it was a good wedding.

Btw, did you see my tresses?? Still there...I've lost 3 extensions so far though. =(

Funniest WeddingBee Boards Post EVER

Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2008 11:07 PM

http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/copy-catterswho-have-no-originality

The responses are so funny!

6.7.08

Posted Monday, June 09, 2008 9:41 AM

Man 6.7.08 was a popular wedding date! Dee and I were up in Nor Cal celebrating our friends' marriage. It was a beautiful day, a little warm, but beautiful nonetheless. Her colors were Tiffany blue, white, and brown. I adored her bouquet! The ceremony was at a winery in Castro Valley, and the reception was a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, Oakland. There was a lion dance and karaoke singing.

I did witness the bride getting upset as we found out the DJ did not have the ceremony music. The DJ said he never received a list. What she really wanted was Pachabel: Canon in D, which I happened to have on my ipod, along with the bridesmaids and groomsmen processional music, but alas...the DJ did not have an AC jack or amplifier. After much searching through his music, we found Pachabel: Canon in D, and I chose the other songs. The DJ kept playing around with the volume control, but at least he had her song. So something to think about when you get to that part. Check with the DJ (or whoever is providing the music) that he/she has what you want to be played during the ceremony and reception. Then double-check, and triple-check.

Oh, I caught the bouquet during the toss, and Dee caught the garter...yea, we were totally meant for each other!

The wedding was a hit still! Congratulations Hung and Cynthia!

Venue Criteria

Posted Friday, June 06, 2008 9:19 AM

Alright...so I probably can't afford my dream venue, but I suppose I could get close.

At first, we were looking at places we really wanted, but could definitely not afford. So now, we've (when I say "we", I really mean "I") created a list of criteria to which our affordable venue needed to meet:

1. complimentary parking
2. outside catering allowed
3. low venue fees and low minimum food & beverage
4. holds 1 event per day
5. can hold ceremony and reception
6. noise constraints are minimal
7. must be in OC
8. allows us to end the evening when we want

Park Prive in Costa Mesa met almost all of the criteria. The only one it did not make was the allowance of outside catering. But we hear that the food is pretty good, so I'm not worried about that. No venue fees for Park Prive either, which I liked! The location isn't as close to the water as we like; in fact, the location is a bit unorthodox, but it's also kind of unique as well. It's in the middle of a business park, and next door...a small vineyard. When driving there, you would totally think you're lost or going the wrong way, but when you get there, you are pleasantly surprised.

Here's the thing though...I've crunched the numbers, and with taxes and service fees, for a guest list of 150, we hit right under our budget. This is not including photography, florals, a dj, favors, and the photobooth I soooo want to have (could double as favors though). I'm estimating we would need another $10k (I'm including tips we would have to pay to servers for the day...are tips really necessary?) for the rest of that stuff.

This venue has been by far the most reasonable, and I'm thinking that this is a good deal. It's hard to feed 150 people. Anyways...I really want it, and I will cut my list down more if I have to!

Some pictures I took on the day I went to tour the site:

The outside courtyard.

The park in which the ceremony would be held. You can also have the reception outside.

1st room

where the reception would be (this set up was for a meeting they did earlier)

This would be the dance floor.

The bridal suite. With climate control and natural light.

The groom's suite. With climate control and TV.

And two of these rooms for the kids...both have TVs in there. I love this.

So here it is...one more thing...a confession. Dee hasn't seen it in person yet. He's letting me pick the venue...so long as it falls within budget. The man has been workin me!

I've put 2 dates on hold...wish me luck!

 

oh man...guest list

Posted Tuesday, June 03, 2008 3:26 PM

So...in searching for a venue, we need a rough estimate of how many people is on our guest list, more so, how many of those people will show up.

Dee and I have our list down. We're waiting for our parents' lists. We've got a number from his parents and no specific names yet, but that's fine. I just want a number. I think I have most of my family's "must invite" list, but I'm afraid of the ones we "just have to invite" also.

We want to keep it at 150...under if it's possible. It's been really hard to weed out people from that list, but we're determined to do it. This would work really well with the venue I want. If we go over 150, it's havoc...not to mention it's going to be way over our budget.

To which I ask...Did you do pick your venue according to your guest list, or did you pick your guest list number before you picked your venue. My etiquette book says pick your venue based on guest list...BAH to that!