This is huntingtonbeachbride's Pink Wedding!

Sorry I have been absent for so long! I have been super sick, and my son got into an accident and fell on his head, so we have been busy with doc appts, and making sure he is ok. He is fine! no concussion, just a happy baby!

So Mike keeps saying he wants pics of me for his wallet, so I used my photoshop skills to make these pics for him! I hope he likes them! I will be getting professional pics done for him later on before the wedding. Let me know what you think!

Oh, and I am at 135, so I only have 15-20 more to go! Woo Hoo! That's 77 lbs lost in 7 1/2 months!

Also, I just got sick, BUMMER! So, I had to cancel the meeting with the wedding planner. Oh well. Just resting!

Booked Murrieta's Well Winery today. Also reserved the photographer.

I can now check off of my list:

Venue
Photographer
Caterer
Cake
Dress
Veil

I have such a long ways to go, but I want to take care of it now, and get it out of the way!

So I had been toying with the idea of getting my hair cut. Ever since I had Robbie, I have really done nothing with my hair besides pulling it in a bun after I get out of the shower. So, I decided after much debate that I would cut my hair! So glad I did. It is going to cut my flat ironing time in half, cuz half of my hair is gone!

I also got my highlights done again... ABOUT TIME!!!

Plus, I have enough time to grow out my hair for the wedding if I choose to.

So I had to post this! Let me introduce to you our little man, Robert Thomas Jarm. He is the sweetest little thing ever! He just turned 7 months this past Monday!

He will be our ring bearer!

By the time we have the wedding, he will be almost 2! God, he is going to grow up so fast!

So, saturday we had our appointment with Bella Pictures. I love their work! Are we in luck! This month, they are having a March special. If you book with them, they will upgrade your package from Classico (worth $3100) to the Bellisimo package (worth $3900)!!! So you get the Bellisimo package for the Classico price! Woo hoo! So instead of getting only one premiere option (with the Classico), we can get two! I already know I am picking one to be our engagement session, and there are many other options to choose from. PLUS, we will own the rights to our photos! EVEN BETTER!

Bellisimo:

One Bella Certified Photographer for up to 8 hours
Unlimited photographs
Custom album design
DVDs containing your digital negatives
Ability to view your photographs online
Three 8" x 10" archival-quality prints
Six 5" x 7" archival-quality prints
Basic photo retouching on up to 5 images

Album sizes
12" x 16" Modern Italian Book, 40 pages
12" x 12" Classic Flush-Mount Heirloom Album, 40 pages
12" x 12" Classic Matted Album, 40 pages

Choose two premier options
Additional 3 hours of photography from your Bella Certified Photographer
Upgrade to a 14" x 18" Modern Italian Book
Add 10 more pages to your album
Add a custom-designed DVD montage (3 copies)
Add an engagement/bridal session
Add two 20-page unique parent books with design services
Add two 40-page clone parent books
Add four 40-page clone mini books
Artistic photo retouching services on up to 10 images and $100 extra print credit
$400 deluxe print credit to apply towards prints or other print-related merchandise

We also had our official tour of Murrieta's WEll Winery and Wente Vineyards on Saturday. I still like Murrieta's Well becaue of the rustic charm, but Wente had some +'s.

Got "guestimate" proposal from Murrieta's Well today. If we have 85 guests, the total comes to be $12,598.21. This includes dance floor rental and set-up, tray passed hour's doeurves, 3 course sit down dinner, alcohol. This also included tax and 20% service charge.

Only concern with Murrieta's Well is if there is enough room for dancing.

Going to check out Bridge's Golf Course, Wedgewood Banquet Center, andThe Lafayette Park Hotel this Saturday. (Although still really want Murrieta's Well. I love the Winery setting!)

Hey, I was bored! LOL! Can you blame a girl for being SUPER EXCITED?!?

You know what sucks though? I just got it a month ago, and I already have to get it sized down. The size 5 is too big now! I can't believe that!

I was just playing around on the computer, and I think I made our monogram!!! Well, I used to be a graphic design major... I should be able put something together! How does it look??? What do all of you think???

-NOTE- The color looks different on the other computer screen, so I'm not sure how it looks to all of you.

I wish I had Katherine Heigl's "super blonde" hair like in the first picture!

And she was super excited about the flowers! We are thinking along the same lines now. The more we talked, the more she was saying "Oh, no, that will need to be bigger!" I have been trying to figure out how we could stretch our budget, because, here in California, everything is SUPER expensive. Having a guest list of almost 100, I was starting to stress out. My mom had given us a number, and then we are going to save up atleast $5,000. Then we got the great news that Mike's Aunt and Uncle are contributing, and then IF, and I do mean IF, we need to, there is always Mike's trust fund, but we really want to save that for after the wedding, and also to pay off Mike's school.

I have compromised. Moving the wedding from Southern California to Northern California (local) we will be saving money in vendor fee's, ceremony fee's, and most importantly travel fee's. The location we are most likely going to book is smaller, maximum guest capacity of 110, and has an intimate, rustic, charming feel to it. It is at a vineyard in the Livermore Wine Country. It is actually quite reasonably priced. Ceremony, reception, tray passed hors d'oerves, sit down dinner, premier alcohol package, champagne toast, and wedding cake came to about $10,600, which is about the cheapest I have found up here in our neck of the woods. I told FH that if we had a bigger backyard, we could have just had the ceremony and reception at our house and just save the money!

I AM STILL IN SHOCK AT HOW MUCH A WEDDING COSTS! IT'S LIKE, "WHOAH!"

JUST COLLECTING MY THOUGHTS...

Here is what I am thinking for the ceremony decorations. Either hanging pommanders on every third chair along the aisle, or hanging in a small bucket like the first picture, a big floral arrangement on top of the Wrought Iron Trellis along with hanging swarovski crystal tear drops and strands hanging down in the center, maybe flower petals on the aisle (I have a semi-cathedral length train, and my mom says that the flower petals would just be swept under my train, so not sure about that idea), possibly just having the flower petals lined up along side the chairs?

Entrance to Barrel Room (where the reception will be held), I am thinking of 2 tall vases on both sides of the doorway on pedestals, with gold painted branches with some gold glittler on them, with 3 hanging pommanders (these will be made by the florist) on each, along with some crystal tear drops hanging from clear fishing line. Mom and I will be doing the DIY route with these, except for the pommanders.

Centerpieces, we are thinking very full, beautifull arrangements, not sure of which flowers we will be going with now, or colors for that matter, but I am sure once I go to the florist, they will be able to help me in what direction I want to go. I know roses, and I know I want some centerpieces in low, rectuangular or square vases, with some tree branches protruding from the top with crystal tear drops. Mom and I are thinking about just adding the branches and tear drops to the florist made arrangements to cut some cost. Then I want to mix it up with a few tall arrangements, maybe just on the head table but not sure yet.

I like them both so much! The first ones are a little cheaper ($130), and I think the second ones are like $200+. I need some help, cuz I like the second ones a lot, but my mom says that you won't be able to see the beautiful ankle strap, which is true, so I guess it wouldn't make sense to have the expensive ones, but think about the great shoe/dress pictures that they take while you are getting ready before the wedding!

Just had to post about it again, well, because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Can't wait til it comes in in my size, and I loose those last 15 or so lbs, it will look even more awesome!

Yesterday, my mother, myself, and two of my bridesmaids went to Livermore to look at different wineries. We went to Garre, Rios-Lovell, and Murrieta's Well. I liked different aspects of the first two, but I fell in love with the Murrieta's Well location. It has a rustic charm to it that was very appealing to me. I think we could have a wondeful wedding there... Oh, and a big plus, there wines were amazing! We spent the whole afternoon tasting wines at the different wineries, so that was fun! It was a good day!

Just one more place to check out, The Palm Event Center. Don't know if it is in the budget, but it is beautiful. E-mailed to ask about pricing.

Oh, and a big plus... I called Mike's Aunt to tell her about our progress, and she told me that when we have everything set, and know what we are going to do, that they would be willing to help us out money wise! What a relief! I feel like I don't have to stress out as much about the cost of the photography, and maybe we can get more intricate centerpieces! Thank god for their kindness!



The lights are already set up in the barrel room.


Murrieta's Well at night with a tent covering the patio.


The inside, isn't it charming?

I love the look of the centerpiece in the first picture. The second picture is the idea we are having to do on the trellis. I found a website that sold decent price glass crystal balls and crystal strands.

We are going to spend our first night as Mr. and Mrs. at the Rose Hotel (a boutique hotel) in downtown Pleasanton. I grew up in Pleasanton, and both Mike and I went to High School in Pleasanton, so it is meaningful. We will be staying in the Grand Suite.

The Rose Hotel is located in the heart of downtown Pleasanton, California. A 38 room jewel created with an upscale residential flare, offering exceptional service for business and sophisticated leisure travelers.

So, I'm a little bummed. We are most likely having to change our venue to be local, not down in Southern California. BOO! I lived down there for quite a few years and ABSOLUTELY fell in love with Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. But, unfortunately, since both FH and I and our families and most of my friends live up here in Northern California, my mother and FH have talked me into having the wedding up here. So, now we are searching for a new venue. I really wanted my beach wedding, I guess I could still have one since we live in the San Fran bay area, but I don't like the beaches as much. I think we are going to do the winery route. My friend from hs got married this past October at a winery and it was absolutely beautiful. So my mom and a BM and I are going to go check out some wineries this Sunday (Mike's going to watch our son).

And on that note... Mike is such a good daddy! I love it! He wants to spend every waking moment with that child! You should see him, it's like he's a natural! :o)

So, how many of you gorgeous brides-to-be have hired or are planning to hire a wedding planner??? Just curious because I have been considering it, but I am wondering if it is REALLY a necessity. So, any input would be gladly appreciated! Thanks girls!

This is how the tux's will look. Somewhat like this, with a Taupe colored vest and a champagne tie. I think it will look nice with the BM's dresses.

So now that we have established the colors of the BM dresses and Tux's, we can go bold, with more color in the recption! YAY!

They are champagne with a taupe sash!



This is the exact color of the dresses.

We picked out the BM's dresses today!!!

They are BEAUTIFUL! Bill Levkoff, champagne with Taupe sashes. They are form fitting and they flare out at the bottom just a little bit!BEAUTIFUL! The BM's that came today said they didn't want to try on any other dresses cuz that was the one!

Another note...

I BOUGHT MY DRESS... and it ISN'T the Maggie Sottero "Dallas" that I thought was the one! It is WAY more beautiful, and it also cost alot more! And the veil was beautiful! It better be, it was $500!!! Can you believe how much veils cost??? Crazy, huh??? After everything said and done, the dress will be about $1000 more than the Maggie, but it was worth it! My Aunt-in-Law (she's like Mike's mom) and cousin-to-be (call her sis) couldn't believe how beautiful I looked! Oh, and with heels it doesnt need to be hemmed! I still have 20 lbs to go, so we bought it in an 8, and we will take it in.

Well, here's an update. We might be changing the wedding colors to a light pink and light green. Still don't know if we are going to change the colors, seeing as I am still in love with the idea of having a bright wedding, but here are some ideas if we change to the pink and green color scheme.

I have noticed that I absolutely love the quilted looking cakes with beading. SO BEAUTIFUL!

I might be leaning towards a more elegant looking cake as opposed to the whimsical, bright cakes I had picked previously (see earlier post).

We are thinking of getting them done in Lake Tahoe, because that is Mike's favorite place! Currently researching different photographer's in the area. Found two so far, Doug Miranda and Michael Escalera. Need to phone them and set up appt.'s for when we go up to Tahoe in April.

MOH ANN, we have been besties since 2nd grade!


GILLIAN and I out and about.


JILL and I at Disneyland.


KELLY, Mike's Cousin, but my soon-to-be SISTER!


DENIELLE.

It just fit me perfectly, and It made my waist look AMAZING! I got that feeling of NEVER wanting to take it off! I love it, it is my perfect "white wedding gown" with a touch of color!

Another reason I know it was "THE ONE FOR ME", is it is BRAND SPANKIN' NEW! They just got it last week, and it had never been tried on by another "Soon-to-be-bride"!

We tried on La Sposa, Maggie, and another designer from Spain called Pronovias. Seemed that my mom never had sticker shock on any of them, even the Pronovias which was $1700. It just so happened that the Maggie I fell in love with was about $700.

Edit- Changed my mind. Bought diggerent dress. See a few posts bove.

When Mike and I had talked briefly about getting married last year, I envisioned a purple wedding. Then when we talked about it again in November, I thought Red was the winning color. After he popped the question on Valentines Day, I was sure it was pink and orange. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be this hard to pick colors for our wedding. I know for SURE hot pink, like Azalea, will be the main color. I love pink. I live pink! LOL! I'm still pretty sure Orange, like Palm Beach Coral, will be my other main color. Then what's the problem? Well, I want our reception to be classy, and I don't want to go overboard on the pink and orange. I know the flowers will be in shades of hot pink, orange, coral, and possibly a lighter shade of pink. Where I am having the most trouble is with the reception and BM dresses. I know I am still very early in the planning stage, but I really would feel a lot better if I knew what I was doing. If I go with either Azalea or Palm Beach Coral for the BM dresses, should I go with lighter linens like champagne with color accents being in the napkins and centerpieces? Or if I go with a completely different color for the BM dresses, like a Latte or a Bisque, then should I do the brighter linens? I guess with time I will figure this out, but any input would be great!

YAY!!! I get to buy new shoes! LUCKY ME!!!

So, I was thinking, "What the hell am I going to do for favors?" I don't want something that is cheezy, and I don't want to deal with buying pretty gerbera daisy boxes that has something edible in it, that guests will toss, so I thought this was a very nice idea. I will buy these personalized glass bottles. They already come with sand in it, but I was thinking the day before the wedding, going to the beach where the wedding will be, and filling them up with sand from the location! That way it makes it special, and guests will be able to take home a bit of our wedding with them, literally!

I have found a few that I like, Mike and I are meeting with Bella Pictures (2007 Knot Best Pick) to go over pricing, portfolio, and to see if we would be a good fit. They are kind of pricey, ranging between 1,800-5,000, but their work is beautiful. They lean towards the photojournalistic style of wedding photography, which is def. the style I like.
Here is some of Bella's work:

Just thought I would share this info with any bride-to-be out there! Since Mike and I had our son in August, I have lost 72lbs! Woo-hoo!!! I started using this product from FH's uncles company, and it had been a life saver! It's an all natural meal replacement program and it has supplements and such... I was a teeny tiny 115lbs before I had Robbie, I stil have about 15-20 lbs to go, Mike doesn't want me to be as small as I was before, but, we will see how happy I am at 120. But, I am excited to go look at dresses now that I am atleast a dress size 5 (jean size 7). I def. want to be back to being a "stunner" for our big day!

I'm thinking up, because Mike LOVES it when my hair is back. But Maybe with my dress, having my hair down with it half up would look best!




Don't like her much, but sometimes i like her hair and makeup.

So many to choose from, thank god there is so much time, and the date is not yet set in stone. I really should stop looking, because if I keep looking, I will never figure out what I want!

I am looking at a princess cut channel set wedding band for myself, since I have a princess cut engagement ring. Mike's a really simple guy, and therefore likes just a plain simple band, but he has said he likes the band with just a small diamond in it. There is so much time, so who know on his band yet.

I just don't know what direction I want to go! This is quite frustrating!

I found many ideas for reception decor. I'm trying to find out which direction to go and what mood I want to set for the reception. I also have to keep in mind cost. I don't want plain, which of course would be the easiest and most cost effective way to go, and I also don't want it too loud. I want a warm and inviting mood. Maybe if I go with a tangerine color, or a coral I would be able to achieve that mood??? I also have to keep in mind the colors, I don't want any linen color that won't match perfectly with my BM dresses (which of course I haven't