our invitation and wedding program
This cool idea was Shannon's-- I mean, uh, Dave's. Yeah, Dave's. Not Shannon's at all. We used one of the photos that Jolie took and had them replicated at MetroDisc ($100 for 400 of them!). Then Dave printed them all at work. My mom and I attached magnets (where do all wedding invitations end up anyway? On the fridge...). We purchased envelopes and seals at Flax, and we used a vendor for the reply postcards. I don't remember which. We also enclosed THREE PAGES of San Francisco/ Bay Area information, since we live in such an amazing area of the country. We figured people would use this as an opportunity to have a vacation.
the wedding program
More Flax paper and Wells Fargo printing. Our favors were dark chocolate bars, re-wrapped with this same paper and "AG" logo.
My dress is from Pronovias; my sweet friend Megan Kilian did the alterations. The dress was $1200 in stores where I looked, and I would have received it THREE MONTHS from the day I ordered it . So I went online and purchased it from Pearl's Place, got it in 30 days, and paid $660.
Dave's kilt was purchased from a local San Francisco vendor (Scottish Tartan Shop), but was made in Scotland. He got has sporran online somewhere, but I don't know where.
Our rings are from Shane Company Jewelers. They are awesome-- the salespeople don't work on commission. We designed mine. I didn't want anything sticking up.
Our food was amazing. People said it was the best wedding food they'd ever had. It was catered by A La Heart Catering in Santa Rosa. Deborah was so accessible and worked with us on our small budget. The whole menu is listed below.
Appetizers
Cheese
Display
Shitake Mushroom Pate
Feta Herb Cheese with Basil Chiffonade
Struan and Sourdough Baguettes
Hummus with Pita Crisps
Corn and Cilantro Fritters with Salsa Fresca
Thai Curried Turkey Fillo Triangles topped with Tomato Chutney
Buffet
Grilled Indonesian Chicken Breasts Satay with Peanut Sauce
Thai Curried Fried Rice
Fresh Fruit Salad
Blue Lake Green Bean Platter with Crumbled Gorgonzola, Drizzled with Balsamic
Vinaigrette
Caesar Salad
Rolls and Butter
Beverages
1997 Buena Vista Zinfandel
Some sort of white wine, I don't remember
Calistoga Juices and Water
Fresh Roast Coffee Service
Ah, the cake of insanity! It was catered by Auntie B's Bakery in Santa Rosa. Again, Bea Wilson was very easy to work with and was great with working within our budget. The cake was three layers, with a buttercream frosting in a grapevine pattern and fresh flowers and fruit.
- Bottom Layer: White Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling
- Middle Layer: Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling
- Top Layer and Sheet Cake: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Photo by Johannah Hetherington
the cake toppers
I made our cake toppers out of Sculpey. They are a squirrel and a monkey in our wedding clothes. The toppers now go on our Christmas tree each year.
My
wedding "shower" was dinner at Margaritaville in Sausalito
and night kayaking in the San Francisco Bay.
Attendees: me, Shannon Gallagher, Johannah Hetherington, Nancy Cerf, Kathy
Gettlefinger and Christine Dover. We had a guy guide. I don't remember
the vendor we were with, but it was something like this
one.
- We got married at Griffith Woods in Sebastopol.
- Our flowers were from Wisteria Florists in Sebastopol.
- The bridesmaid dresses were originally supposed to come from Sari Palace in Berkeley. They were being custom-made in India. However, the day before the wedding, the woman bringing them back from India MISSED HER FLIGHT, so Shannon and I ran around and found something- at Sears! Here's what we ended up with. Pretty good, I think.
- The groomsmen wore white shirts, black pants and vests of the Ross tartan. The ushers wore basically the same thing, but tartan ties and no vests.
- Our little flower squirrels, Tess and Cassidy, wore cream-colored dresses we got at Macy's, with a silver sash added by Megan (the original bridesmaid's dresses were silver). They had bright flower wreaths and bouquets.
- Bruno was our ring bearer. Wisteria made him a floral collar.
- We and most of the wedding party stayed at the Sandman Motel in Santa Rosa. It was actually pretty nice and fit our needs and budget perfectly.