The California men dreamed of...

One of the (many) amazing things about getting married at Point 16 is the view. It is a stupid view. It is as ridiculous as views come. So obviously we are having a day time wedding. This view is also the reason why we had to search so long and hard for a Rabbi who would marry us on the Sabbath. But that is neither here not there. As far as décor- we don’t have to do too much. My mother and I have been collecting lanterns for months, which will be hung at different lengths from the trees, with tea lights in them, but other than that, we plan on letting Big Sur do the talking. Once the sun sets, however, I would like lights like this to do the talking… Thanks Martha!

oh, and this one, this is the site Point 16 after dark. Good thing no one reads this blog or else people would want to kill me out of sheer jealousy!

Ringbearer

I am super excited about this. I happen to have the most adorable little nephew. He is my favorite living thing. He will be in a three piece seersucker suit (yes, j crew makes them). These pictures reminded me of him... heaven.

I know many couples and families decide not to have children at their wedding, and I agree with the justifications- for example, He and I are getting married on a cliff. It is about 180* of cliff. It is not a playground. Parents will be responsible for watching their little nuggets. HOWEVER- kids (at least the ones in my family) are simply better looking than we are. I NEED pictures like these. They will take the places on our walls of the pictures where my face looks jacked because our photogs shot me from the wrong angle. And it will make me look less vain. Our house right now is covered in pictures of us... my friend, VanNuysHousewife, says that if i could wallpaper our house with pictures of us I would. She knows me pretty well.

But this little boy is heaven and the thought of my little man walking down the aisle in a getup like this makes me a very happy soon to be married woman.

*side note- another thing that makes me a very happy soon to be married woman: This morning, my man comes into the bedroom with his towel on from his shower. I am still in bed as I do not work Fridays. He sits on the bed and sighs and says "I don't want you to take this the wrong way...but... I think I am going to do my own laundry from now on." I'm like, seriously? He says: "yes, I seem to always have to iron my own t-shirts and..." I'm thinking, good logic buddy- you don't like doing the final step in the process, so you figure the next best move is to take over the whole assembly line. I replied: "OK honey, if that's what you want to do..." HAHAHHAAHAH such a silly man. One less chore for momma! Yahoo!

Dear Diary

I was having lunch on the grass with one of my best girlfriends yesterday and we somehow got to talking about blogs… she had mentioned that at one point she had attempted a blog of her own VanNuysHousewife. She said she ultimately stopped the blogging because she was tired of trying to be witty on the internet when she was the only person reading it. I was chuckling to myself thinking- no one knows that I started this silly little project, and unless I tell friends, no one will ever read it.

This is fine. I started this little blog, which is actually only a journal (since no one will ever read it), as a way to gather my thoughts. I have twice lost my email group that I sent to myself with all of my genius ideas and pictures. I am also incredibly bored and unsatisfied with my job- so it is a great way to kill and hour, or eight, a day. Is that bad? Well, since I am the only one reading this- thus the only person who can answer this- hell no it isn’t bad- your job freaking blows.

I really did start this as a way to stay organized for the wedding though… for example- here is what I would like to do to my hair for the rehearsal dinner. I think it is fabulous and ridiculous and I also think the only time in my life that I will be able to do something like this. BAM! Who's the bride now?
from ruffled.

I think this is so soft and earthy and just oozes pretty summer bride. I am going to be very simple on my wedding day so this will be my "statement" that will set me apart from all the others at the rehearsal (or at least you will be able to see the top of my head through the swarm of people we are going to be surrounded by the whole time- this makes me very uneasy). AND- I have one batshit crazy friend who will probably show up in a bridal gown so this wil help people tell who is who from afar.

Bouquet

Is it bad that I would forfeit serving dinner at my own wedding for this bouquet? I made a committment to have in season flowers at our wedding- but these make me want to change my wedding date to spring... ahhh peonies, I am going to have to stop looking at you. Goodbye forever.

Would it really be so bad if I cheated just a little. I'm about to get Bridezilla over some big peonies.

Both from ruffled.

Fresh Beats

My man is a very good man, and he is pretty darn involved in the planning process, but there is only one thing he was put 100% in charge of- the band! I will admit, we have fought over this one thing. More than once. We have driven to industrial parks in South San Fran to go see a band that he has contacted only to find that we didn’t quite “fit in” at the venue. We have driven up to Monterey when I was just coming out of my second bout (yes, SECOND) of swine flu- to go to some hotel to hear a band that he immediately did not like and wanted to leave. He has searched tirelessly on the internet, probably even read a blog or two, and complained about it to me weekly since we found out we were going to have a Big Sur wedding. Alas, my man has decided on a band- or maybe just the jazz trio, or maybe just the DJ- but nevertheless, he has “booked” the “band” that will either be performing or DJing at our wedding. We are both music people- not that that makes us original- but it is very important to us to have FREAKING AWESOME entertainment at our wedding. We both like to get down- as do our friends and family. We cant decide between having a good band that can sing certain songs really well, or having a DJ that can push play really well. Not everyone can pull off Van Morrison, Paolo Nutini and Gnarls Barlkey- right? I am pulling for a jazz trio during the ceremony and cocktail hour, and then a DJ to get the party started… but as I stated- this one is up to my man. I’m sure he will make the right decision.


I don’t care if we end up with a boom box- I want THIS at my wedding.

And lucky for us- this gorgeous bride is my bestie and bridesmaid and her hubby is coming too! Must put "purchase cowbells" on my to-do list. Party on.

Food!

Where does one begin with this? I want it all! I do not feel like I have been greedy when it comes to flowers, or jewelry, or a super expensive designer dress (even though I ended up with one) or even presents- I felt so greedy walking around crate and barrel with that registry gun… but I am adamant about wanting awesome food! I love food! My favorite kind of food is MORE! (This is part of the reason why I am starting boot camp with my lover next month- more on that later) We want the food to be delicious from beginning (my dad is the guy at each wedding who stakes out where the passed appetizers are coming from and waits by that door) to end (I want a dessert bar and possible bar food passed out towards the end of the night to keep the energy up, and soak up the booz)- we also want to be local when possible, organic, and look amazing! Easy feat! Now I sound greedy, I know! Inspirations below:

style me pretty
I love this for when people first get dropped off at the site- only ours will read mojito, sangria, and "john daly". A little cool off- and jump start.

style me pretty
I cannot find the perfect picture to depict the raw seafood bar we are going to have- but this will do for now. Are those scallops? In my head they are.

style me pretty
my other true love- heirloom tomatoes and burratta, and on a simple white plate... oh yes please.

thank you for the idea, and you too audge.


ummm, smores... ? does it get any better than smores??? my girl audra had us over for smores the other night! my wedding brain started to quietly churn. we just happen to have a fire pit at the site! consider this done.

image via the ever helpful style me pretty

some late night munchies will help everyone show up for the morning after brunch (I know, mothers and etiquette are forcing all guests to feel obligated to come to yet another wedding activity after the wedding. He and I do not even want to attend. Sorry all...)

Is it bad that this gets me more excited than dress shopping did??? Hence the need for boot camp!

Show, Don't Tell...

When we were initially deciding where to get married- we knew a few things immediately:

We wanted to be outside
We wanted warm weather
We wanted the ocean close by- preferably in clear view where we could see it, smell it, touch it
We wanted to be able to include all of our family and friends, which is approximately 297 people.
We wanted to have a Jewish ceremony- but we also wanted to be married on a Saturday afternoon.
We wanted to get along while having all of the above.

As it turns out, we got every single thing we wanted. Big Sur is magical. Anyone who has never been there- should go (tomorrow!)- and anyone who has been there would agree with me. It is hard to describe. I wanted to get married in Big Sur since the first time I visited- before I ever met my dream man. It turns out, my future also had a connection to Big Sur- it just solidified it for both of us. Our first weekend together there, one of our many roadtripping down from Olympia, WA to Venice, CA, was the first time he told me he was going to marry me. I remember what I was wearing, what he was wearing (birthday suit!) and what the tent cabin smelled like. We have stayed at that campground since, and each time is as fun as the first. It is one of the most magical, stunning, inspiring, sexy places I have ever been.

Now that I have bragged about how lucky I am to be getting hitched in Big Sur- let me say- IT IS HARD FLIPPIN WORK TO PLAN A WEDDING IN BIG SUR FROM SANTA MONICA!

Although the idea of a cookie cutter wedding where the venue had option A,B, or C is my nightmare- now I see why so many couples and families (oh yeah, we have two Jewish mothers involved) go this route. To think that you can just sign a contract and show up! What a relief! BUT! Having a wedding that represents HE and I- well, there was never really any other option. Big Sur is mellow. This is part of it’s charm. I like to describe myself as mellow- but I don’t think I am, at least not “Big Sur mellow”. Our caterer and florist are two awesome women! Cheri Gladstone- our caterer, coordinator, day of master, is rad. She is brief, smart, and honest. I wish I was more like her, even though she scares me a tad. Her food looks incredible is all organic, local and YUMMY! Our florist, Kate Healy is also a bad ass rad woman. She is a local and picks flowers from her backyard for the centerpieces and bouquets. Both these women have made the experience, thus far, pretty cool. There aren’t 10 page contracts, they respond to emails when they feel like it, they know what’s up- basically they keep me in check. The part that scares me is when they find out I cant make a decision for the life of me, and that I have anxiety up the wazoo- but for now- I am a mellow Big Sur bride, who gets to marry the best guy in the best place surrounded by the best family, friends, and vendors!! When I took my first Journalism class, I was told the number one rule of being a proactive journalist and person was: SHOW, DON'T TELL. This is my half assed attempt to show my thoughts- baby steps to the final result. Below are my ideas, i.e. the only due diligence I have done thus far.

1. An outdoor lounge- halfway between the bar and the dance floor-

Both images via http://www.classicpartyrentals.com/

2. A lantern ceremony once the sun sets; all lanterns are 100% biodegradeable and 100% amazing! The chinese lantern ceremony is a representation of hope, good blessings, and prosperity...

Images/lanterns via here , and it was brought to my attention at august and everything after

3. Vows- We are writing our own. We are both going to cry. I am going to look awful in the pictures of our ceremony. We have both just thought about the wedding and almost cried (he) or completely bawled (me). I think we are going to request the Rabbi to read our promises for us, to keep it under control and to keeep me from snotting . I am also going to need to keep it simple (the list of things I love about him is pretty long (and growing!!) so I will spare are all of my hungry and thirsty family and friends), and most of all- make them OURS. I don't want to go too crazy quoting Kahil Gibran or lyrics by every artist I have listened to since getting my first walkman. I guess having too many things you love about your man is a good problem to have.

4. Flowers!!! We want flowers that are in season (!!), local, and of course- pretty. Our florist is awesome and she will make these things happen for us… here are the ones that got the stamp of approval from my future hubby*.

all floral prettyness found here...

* future hubby stamp of approval goes something like this- looks up from cards, "yep, looks good", and back to playing solitaire. Whatever, I'll take it...