the first of many...
considering that i use LJ to record my day-to-day activities and that i'm getting married, i'm sure this post will be the first of many to include wedding information. i usually don't feel like cutting or creating different special lists of people to receive this stuff, so if you don't feel like reading this, just move along.
venues
even though my mom said to figure out budgetary items first, i've gone ahead and started looking at venues. my pie-in-the-sky dream venue is the california academy of sciences. they just completely renovated the place and it has a living roof AND a live indoor tropical forest! i just think that would be totally cool. but, i also know it might be just a tad expensive. that's why it's my "dream" venue. along the same lines (and down the street) is my second "dream" venue: the conservatory of flowers in golden gate park. even though it would be february in san francisco, being surrounded by beautiful plants and flowers would be almost fairy-tale-like. i know both of these places would be out of the way and really not very "convenient".
i looked at two other venues that have come up in conversation. the first (and my personal favorite right now) is pasatiempo golf course in santa cruz. it's gorgeous! the brochure totally sold me, especially with the photo of the indoor ceremony room with the roaring fire. how perfect would that be in february?! marshall and i have eaten dinner there before, so we know how great the food is. PLUS the prices are actually reasonable. considering that we met in santa cruz, it would seem rather fitting to be married there. we are planning an evening wedding and evening above the monterey bay is gorgeous. it's also really high up above the water and town below that it doesn't get hit by the fog AND in february the inland areas aren't warm enough to pull the fog in from the coast. right now - this is my top choice.
the second choice is kohn mansion in burlingame. it's north along the peninsula, but it's not san francisco, so it is convenient. it's also SUPER gorgeous. the prices might be a little more than what we're looking for. they don't offer their own catering (which is something pasatiempo DOES offer), so we'd have to pay separately for that. my godfather's sister got married here a couple of years ago and my mom said it was a beautiful wedding. theirs was also rather small and i'm thinking ours might be close to 100, if not more. i'd like to keep it below 150, just because i like the smaller weddings. in any case, this is a beautiful venue and something to keep in mind.
+_+_+
it's weird writing about getting married. as a kid i never dreamed of getting married. i dreamed of living the bachelorette life, jet-setting around the world and doing my own thing. being the confident modern woman, independent and free. of course, at one point in my childhood i wanted to have a sex-change and be a boy, cuz i thought they had it easy. i'm quite certain a number of my friends' moms thought i was gay throughout elementary and junior high schools.
although it is weird, i'm really excited. this is a new feeling for me. i love marshall and i love the prospect of sharing a life with him. i feel like i'm ill-prepared for all this girly stuff, though. i feel like i should've had my dream wedding all planned out. the only wedding i imagined growing up was in vegas and the officiant was an elvis impersonator. my groom would be dressed as tarzan, i jane and my MOH (sarah, of course) dressed as cheetah (the monkey). i don't think my in-laws, and marshall, would be too happy with this type of ceremony. but i do feel like those other girls who will get married soon or have already gotten married had a vision of what they wanted at the beginning. i don't. i'm still unsure whether or not this is a good thing.
we'll see how this all pans out. if i had the money, i'd hire a planner. but for now, we'll just have to manage it ourselves.
wish us luck!
venues
even though my mom said to figure out budgetary items first, i've gone ahead and started looking at venues. my pie-in-the-sky dream venue is the california academy of sciences. they just completely renovated the place and it has a living roof AND a live indoor tropical forest! i just think that would be totally cool. but, i also know it might be just a tad expensive. that's why it's my "dream" venue. along the same lines (and down the street) is my second "dream" venue: the conservatory of flowers in golden gate park. even though it would be february in san francisco, being surrounded by beautiful plants and flowers would be almost fairy-tale-like. i know both of these places would be out of the way and really not very "convenient".
i looked at two other venues that have come up in conversation. the first (and my personal favorite right now) is pasatiempo golf course in santa cruz. it's gorgeous! the brochure totally sold me, especially with the photo of the indoor ceremony room with the roaring fire. how perfect would that be in february?! marshall and i have eaten dinner there before, so we know how great the food is. PLUS the prices are actually reasonable. considering that we met in santa cruz, it would seem rather fitting to be married there. we are planning an evening wedding and evening above the monterey bay is gorgeous. it's also really high up above the water and town below that it doesn't get hit by the fog AND in february the inland areas aren't warm enough to pull the fog in from the coast. right now - this is my top choice.
the second choice is kohn mansion in burlingame. it's north along the peninsula, but it's not san francisco, so it is convenient. it's also SUPER gorgeous. the prices might be a little more than what we're looking for. they don't offer their own catering (which is something pasatiempo DOES offer), so we'd have to pay separately for that. my godfather's sister got married here a couple of years ago and my mom said it was a beautiful wedding. theirs was also rather small and i'm thinking ours might be close to 100, if not more. i'd like to keep it below 150, just because i like the smaller weddings. in any case, this is a beautiful venue and something to keep in mind.
+_+_+
it's weird writing about getting married. as a kid i never dreamed of getting married. i dreamed of living the bachelorette life, jet-setting around the world and doing my own thing. being the confident modern woman, independent and free. of course, at one point in my childhood i wanted to have a sex-change and be a boy, cuz i thought they had it easy. i'm quite certain a number of my friends' moms thought i was gay throughout elementary and junior high schools.
although it is weird, i'm really excited. this is a new feeling for me. i love marshall and i love the prospect of sharing a life with him. i feel like i'm ill-prepared for all this girly stuff, though. i feel like i should've had my dream wedding all planned out. the only wedding i imagined growing up was in vegas and the officiant was an elvis impersonator. my groom would be dressed as tarzan, i jane and my MOH (sarah, of course) dressed as cheetah (the monkey). i don't think my in-laws, and marshall, would be too happy with this type of ceremony. but i do feel like those other girls who will get married soon or have already gotten married had a vision of what they wanted at the beginning. i don't. i'm still unsure whether or not this is a good thing.
we'll see how this all pans out. if i had the money, i'd hire a planner. but for now, we'll just have to manage it ourselves.
wish us luck!