Every Last Detail Wedding and Event Coordination

There are couples that get caught up in the flowers being perfect or the cake design be exactly how they saw it in the latest issue of Martha Stewart but Eryn and Ryan had more important things to focus on.  You see, Eryn’s dad had been battling brain cancer and just as he was going through rigorous treatment at UCSF, Ryan’s father was diagnosed with a cancerous lump behind his ear.  What are the chances of that happening to one person you know much less your dad and your future father-in-law??

Well, these two fine men were the focus of this wedding and that they were blessed with their health to be there on their children’s wedding day was truly a miracle.

The ceremony took place at Eryn’s old school, Santa Catalina Chapel, and their celebrant was the former Bishop of the Monterey Diocese, Bishop Sylvester Ryan, 3rd cousin of the groom.  I always enjoyed working with him and was reminded of how much I missed him since his retirement with his warm and personal ceremony.

The bridesmaids had bouquets not made of flowers but of sea shells created by the bride herself.  The flower girls carried pomanders made of hundreds of tiny shells with a little silver charm with their initials.

The party continued on Cannery Row with music provided by Sound in Motion DJ’s, cake by Freedom Bakery and photography by an old colleague from their Disney Days, John Remus, flowers by Nancy at Mid Valley Florist and ceremony music by the Tipsy Gypsy Trio.

When the bride danced with her father, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, myself included.  To think of his journey and now on the solid road to recovery, I’m sure assisted by his great sense of humor “Call me Pop Top and Ryan’s dad Flip Top” referring to the brain surgery they had both undergone.

What a beautiful family.  What a beautiful day.  Many years of happiness and health to them all.

Okay, okay, I know I’m kinda late getting this posted but although it was less than a month ago, we’ve been so swamped with weddings that it seems like it’s been months!  Enough with the excuses so here we go…

What can I say about Jessica and Samuel?  A perfect couple, both to work with and for each other; Sam an accountant by day and Jessica a chef at the Sardine Factory by night.  With having a chef as the bride you just know food was going to be important, enter Paradise Catering, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The wedding locale chosen was the Historic Holman Ranch.  The day was absolutely PERFECT!  The weather wasn’t blazing hot (the norm for an August wedding) and we really had the A Team as far as all the vendors were concerned.

The photography was provided by George and Cindy McCullough, cake by Patisserie Bechler, music by the Paris String Quartet and then Darion with DNA and video booth by ScreenBooth, flowers by CC Creations and hair and make up by Joette at Salon on Lincoln Lane.

Some really cool ideas for this wine-themed wedding was the favor of a glass grape cluster wine stopper, wine themed menu cards and instead of a guest book, guests we asked to sign a giant bottle of wine that was bigger than a magnum.  It came in it’s own coffin and needed to be wheeled in and out!

A party crowd hit the dance floor although people got shy when it came to the Electric Slide so Darion and I had to show them how it’s done.  The things I’ll do for my couples!

Anyway, the perfect day and Jessica and I will be friends for a long, long time )

Don’t EVEN get me started but my colleague Diana Miller from Diana Miller Photography in Sacramento (www.dianamiller.com) hits on some really great points. 

So you think you got a good deal hiring a cheap wedding photographer?

I thought this video was pretty interesting to watch.  The photographer obviously doesn’t know much about photography – she can’t even answer a basic question like “how fast is your lens”.  The bride is close to tears over her bad photos and even the judge is questioning why is she calling herself a “professional”.   I take my job very seriously and wouldn’t even consider photographing a wedding until I had many years of photography classes, good professional equipment, back up equipment, an assistant, and knew about how to plan the day with my brides. Maybe it is my background in being a RN for 14 years, but I believe in planning, knowing what you are doing and going above and beyond for my clients.  I realize that this is a one-shot deal, and you can’t do a re-take of a wedding day.  I was also very disappointed with MY wedding photographer (August 11 is my 25th anniversary!) and I STILL regret that I didn’t research photographers more and invest more into my wedding photography.  I remember thinking, “he must be good, he has nice pictures on the wall and has an office” and  also didn’t realize there was such a wide variety of photographers out there.  We didn’t spend any time planning, he took a super long time taking all of the photos, we did nothing ahead of time so the guests were kept waiting and waiting, and to top it off he was grouchy and arrogant.  Great memories, huh??

Super-new place.  Very romote and no chance of party crashers. 

Had a great time at the Wedding Industry Professionals Association (WIPA) quarterly meeting in at the artsy and fabulous St. Regis Hotel.  We had a fabulous speaker who helped launch Walt Disney Fairtale Weddings. 

I’ve attached some great photos of the cool decor and a couple cool pics of the treat buffet.  Can’t wait for the next one!

Here are some thoughts on what makes an excellent videographer, submitted by Thom Giap from Infinity Video Productions of San Jose, Ca

 Meet with your videographer (or any vendor you work with) and make sure that they are listening to you, the customers.  It is very important to listen to your customer’s wants and needs and be willing to work with them.

• Equipment is very important because the best equipment brings the best quality. 
• Also, the videographer should have backups for equipment and personnel.  Too many times there are problems you don’t know about and the wedding is a once in a life time… no repeats.
• Experience or proven work is key to finding any videographer.  Too many times I’ve heard stories about brides finding excellent deals on craigslist but call us back to ask us to fix the editing.  It’s important to sit down with your videographer and ask them about their style and have them show you samples of their work and make sure it’s current work.
• Membership to associations lends credibility, seriousness, and commitment to the business.
• Editing makes the final product special so when reviewing the sample work listen to the audio to make sure that it’s clear, look at the lighting, make sure that it’s in focus

I totally agree about the Craigslist comment; Although there are lots of bargains to be found, do you really want to worry about a “bargain” videographer or photographer or……..?

There are so many things on the minds of any bride and groom as they plan their special day: catering appointments, decor decisions, gown fittings and the whole gamut of tasks and concerns.  Now imagine having all of the above to deal with while either you or the love of your life is facing a terminal illness.

No one should have to do that but thanks to the wonderful supporters of Wish Upon a Wedding, couples don’t have to face it alone.  This wonderful non-profit group was created to grant special couples their dream wedding with most of the services and goods donated by Wish Upon A Wedding Sponsors - yours truly being one of them.

Whereas Make a Wish helps children with terminal illness, Wish Upon A Wedding helps engaged couples.

That said, they are having a fundraiser so please see this important info below:

There’s something special about animal lovers and this couple proved that notion to be true.  Sarah and Brian took advantage of summer break from vet and medical school at St. Georges Medical School in Granada to have the wedding of their dreams at the Highlands Inn in breathtaking Carmel Highlands.  Michele, of the Highlands, was a blast to work with and the florals and decor at the ceremony gazebo were breathtaking and got plenty of positive compliments from the guests but took the Bride’s breath away when she saw them.  In her words, they were “amazing” and everyone agreed.

Steve Ezzo of Ezzo Entertainment provided the ceremony music as the Bride walked down the aisle escorted by both her mom and dad.  The ceremony was so sweet with the Bride and Groom sharing “heart vows” and sharing with each other the feelings in their hearts.  All of the magic moments were captured by Kevin Gould and “Prince” Albert from Jane Morba Photography.

Afterwards, the guests made their way to Tarpy’sRoadhouse which was transformed into a Caribbean Chic theme with the expertise of Illusions of Grandeur and M&M Party Rental.  Drapes separated the dining area from the restaurant then the Library was transformed into a chic, yet comfortable, party venue.

Guests enjoyed a delicious meal thanks to Alethea and Corinne of Tarpy’s, along with the wonderful waitstaff.  Steve Ezzo played classical guitar then morphed into the DJ for the party portion of the evening.  The guests were thrilled to see an authentic photo booth – provided by FUNtastic Photo Booths – complete with a huge variety of props.  Each participant received a cool photo strip to keep as a favor while an identical one was added to a custom wedding album which was being created by Mae, the photo booth owner/attendant as guests were writing their wishes on the page.  That booth was packed the entire time it was there!

Guests continued to be wowed not only by the beautiful decor which was Sarah’s vision realized, but also when Sarah’s dad, Gary, played a soulful song on his sweet Fender guitar and dedicated it to the couple.

After some dancing it was time for the happy couple to cut into their wedding cheesecake created by Melissa at Cheesecake Dreamations.  Deeeeelish!  Another hit!

The party was going so great that the Bride and Groom decided to extend the reception time and all of the wedding team was on board to keep it going.

Ann Ezzo played the last dance as the celebration came to a close.  What a sweet and purrrrfect day for the new Mr. & Mrs. Tran!

Two great people, two new iPhone G4’s and one wonderful day to get married.

It was a great day for Meagan and Patrick’s garden wedding at the Memory Garden in Monterey.  The set up started early with the seasoned crew from Grapes of Wrath California Catering transforming the garden into the party venue it would become.  The Bride and Groom chose the colors of deep grape/lavender and lime green to tie in the garden them to their invitations, flowers (designed by CC Creations), linens, customer fan favors (designed by Meagan’s sister Cat), centerpieces and even their signature cocktail.

There was so much excitement in the air that Meagan was afraid she’d lose it if she chose to wait till she walked down the aisle to see Patrick so we decided to have a “Bridal Presentation” or reveal so they could get their jitters out of the way.  It was a great decision as Meagan was able to walk down the aisle, on the arm of her father, looking as graceful and beautiful as every bride should, to the music of the Beatles. 

Meagan and Patrick’s personal friend, Ray Mueller, performed the beautiful afternoon ceremony which included the bride and groom sharing how they met and how their love grew in their own words.  It was so heartfelt and had guests both laughing and crying.

After the ceremony a scrumptious dinner was served up by the fine crew at Grapes with Tamie running the show.  After everyone got their fill of the buffet, the Bride and Groom shared their first dance before DJ Anthony from DNA got the non-stop party going with all the best mixes.  So, not only was everyone dancing up a storm but it was even more fun for Executive Assistant Irma and I to do all of the behind-the-scenes stuff we do because we could get into the groove as well.

Later, the Bride and Groom cut into their whimsical garden-themed cake – complete with bees, ladybugs and sugar-paste flowers – created by Layer’s Cakes.  Considering they were originally going to go with simple cupcakes, everyone agreed that this pastry definitely had the “WOW” factor.

All the guests had a chance to record a few words of wisdom and wedding wishes thanks to video services provided by David and Blane from Infinity Productions.

The biggest surprise of the evening was the delivery of late-night pizza, which was a total hit amongst the revelers.   These party people needed the carbs for the after-party at Jack’s Lounge at the Portola Plaza.  Needless to say, no one wanted the celebration honoring the love and laughter of Meagan and Patrick to end.

Ya know, I really love helping people.  No matter what it is, I really do like lending a hand.  It’s why I got into coordinating events in the first place 12 years ago.

That said, it pains me to find out when someone has gotten themselves into a pickle or is stuck with a choice when there were other – maybe better – options available to them.

So I figured that I’d use this bloggie thing to spread the word about things to look for and things to avoid when you’re planning your wedding.  

When it comes to putting together the most expensive event you’ll ever host, most newly-engaged couples just “don’t know what they don’t know” when it comes to the order of things, picking service providers, reviewing contracts and all sorts of other stuff you need to know before plopping down your hard-earned Benjamin’s.

I’ve decided that I’ll pick a new topic to focus on each month and will share some points I feel are essential to know.  I welcome feedback, questions, suggestions and comments via e-mail at Patty@eldweddings.com as long as they are constructive in nature.  

Ok, first up will be “Points to consider when hiring a  wedding photographer” but first I have to find a graphic with a set of Guinea Pigs dressed like a Bride and Groom. 

Chow for now people :o)