Our pro pics!

I working on some tight deadlines right now, but here are a few shots from our awesome photographer Kristi Klemens of KLK Photography.





And one last sexy one....

Swoon - I am reliving all over again!

More non-pro pics of San Diego nuptials

I learned alot from this wedding. Namely, I just did not have the time to do a perfect job and that kind of kills me. It is mainly because I don't live there and we were planning from a distance (you should have seen our hotel room). That being said, I am so happy that I could help a dear friend and also attend his wedding - and meet his awesome wifey. I'll say it again, that their wedding was such a heartfelt event and I feel that it was even better because it was 100% friend and family run, well besides catering (which was to-die-for amazing).

So here are a few pictures of the event from family and friends:

Here I am setting up their very important "Love Tree" which consisted of sandblasted manzanita. I didn't even try to look nice for set up btw.


And here is Ralph, my dear husband, cleaning and brushing off all the dirt on these planted succulents that the bride and groom so painstakingly planted.



He also was in charge of tucking all the dendrodium orchids into the napkins rings, which were twine covered wire from JoAnn's.


Ralph and I then set up the decor at the ceremony site, which consisted of old manzanita branches and leftover flower heads from all the other floral decor (cushion mums, cockscomb, china mums, carnations, and other non-descript mums). The shepherds hook arrangements were white hydrangeas, yellow cockscomb, and green amaranth. In a few vases which we ran out of hydrangeas, I substituted a collar of white carnations. The ring bearer carried the rings on some succulent plants.

The happy couple were married in front of the stunning Sunset Cliffs and were framed by bamboo that was found in the groom's childhood home. The groom arranged the bamboo and Ralph and I (and the rest of couple's family) tied faux Phalaenopsis orchids on them. We had a blast doing it and drinking too much wine.

The bride's bouquet was made of white china mums, gold cockscomb, and some yellow carnations. She wanted texture and variety in her bouquet. I brought a bunch of fabric from my collection and this orange silk dupioni was what she chose. I wrapped some blue ribbon top for her something blue (it was leftover from my own bouquet).

At the reception home, guests walked into to the yard and were greeted by their "Love Tree". Their guests were asked to bring something written from their heart to put on the tree, which would be left on display in the couple's home. Because of this, I was careful to tie the orchids on the tree with twine, so that all would be removable once the orchids were no longer fresh.


Here is what it looked like at the end of the night:


They used a combination of high and low tables for the reception. For the high tables, I wrapped wide cylinders with Ti leaves and placed 3 white china mums and gold cockscomb in them. People were talking about those gold "brain" flowers all night, which were one the couple's favorite flowers of the wedding.

The main centerpieces were at the low tables and they mostly consisted of the potted succulents. A manazanita branch with white and yellow-dyed bombay dendrobium orchids on them were placed into each pot. Because it was so windy, I didn't want to chance it, so I (and Ralph) glued the orchids on the branches and trimmed their penduncles.

The awesome table numbers were all DIY by the groom!

A toast by the step father of the bride,
who was a great help throughout the wedding
and a source of wine and cheese!!!

Well, I wish I could end this with a picture of Ralph and I from the evening, but unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to take any pictures. I am sure there are a few pro pictures of me pinning on boutonnieres, but nada of Ralph:-(

Larry and Jenny's San Diego Wedding

It was such a wonderful, heartfelt event. One of the best parts about arranging the flowers for my friend Larry, is that I got to know his new wife, Jenny, so very well over the last month. Over the past month, we exchanged at least 100 emails. It was wonderful to learn so much about her and how well they are suited to each other. When I met her in person, she was exactly the way I envisioned her. It truly warms my heart that they found each other!

As for pictures, well, Ralph and I were pretty busy, so there aren't a ton from us. However, there were plenty of other friends tasked with documenting the event as well as several sets from pro photographers, so those pics should be popping up soon. In the meantime here are a few shots from us.

Boutonierres for the groom and the fathers

The groom's

The ceremony flowers

We lined the aisle with leftover blooms

The aisle overlooking the cliffs

Just beautiful (minus the head)!

San Diego Inspiration Board

Following the flower trial last week, the bride and I discussed a few options. Namely, we decided that the spider mums were just too spikey for her bouquet. Perhaps a bit too much texture, especially sense she is wearing a vintage style sheath. We decided that soft ivory football mums might be a better alternative.


She also nixed the hanging amaranthus for the tree. So it will just be yellow and purple orchids dressing the manazanita branches.

So, all in all, we pretty much have it down. I put together a final inspiration board for their wedding.

San Diego Trial II - their Tree of Love

Again, this is a more ghetto-fied version of what their actual Pièce de résistance will be. They have requested that guests write a poem or other loving thoughts on pieces of paper to hang on their "tree of love" which they will have prominently displayed at their reception and then later in their home.

Their tree will composed of large manzanita branches. They are still unsure if it will be sandblasted, natural brown red, or spray painted. If they go out and collect them on their own (again manzanita grows like wild here), I think they should spray it a soft gold. If they buy it, I like the sandblasted.

Here is a pretty good tutorial of how to make your own from the WeddingChicks.

Sandblasted Manzanita

I started messing around with this just to get the feel of what it is like to work with branches. I collected some dead branches from off the side of the road (near the florist coincidentally). I can tell you this, one of the reasons why manzanita is so popular for floral decor is that it is so strong. These dead branches - not so much - I have crap all over my car.

So again, just screwing around, I hung some green amaranthus on them. The amaranthus is really cheap here at $5 for 5 stems, which I used here. Side note - I actually had a beautiful red amarnathus in my garden, but my damn landlord chopped it down. Oh well.


Again, this isn't the same type of branch, not the same type of vessel. But I think I like it better with orchids on them. These are with my cheap dollar store orchids.


If they decide to go for the orchids, I think we will just order yellow and/white dendrodiums as they are so much cheaper than the other orchids (anywhere from $15-30 for 75ish blooms). These fake ones are supposed to be mokara orchids, which I admit are a more interesting flower to me. Sam's club is selling them super cheap, so you never know.


For a tutorial on how to hang and conceal the amaranthus flowers, see this article from wonderful Nettleton Hollow blog.

More florals - a trial for a San Diego wedding

One of my friends from Miami is getting married in his home town of San Diego. He is a great, chill, outdoorsy fellow - very San Diego. Well, I offered my floral services to him and his lovely fiancee and they were so excited to have something off their plates.

The wedding, which will be in a month, will be held on the beach followed by a reception at a nearby home.

For the ceremony, they will have manzanita and/or driftwood branches lining the aisle,

as well as vases hanging on shepherds hooks. Here is a trial go at the ceremony vases

They are a white hydrangea bloom and two marigolds with green amaranthus hanging down.



The bride requested that her bouquet include alot of texture and a variety of different blooms. She also had a preference for yellow and white. Here is what I dreamed up with some excess ribbon leftover from my wedding (I personally dislike this ribbon).










I used white spider mums, yellow button mums, white carnations, and yellow marigolds. This is about half the size I will make for her actual bouquet. I will also add in yellow cockscomb and probably switch out the marigolds with yellow carnations (the marigold stems just don't hold up well).



As for the groom, I suggested rosemary and they loved the idea of it. Here is what I came up with, and I hope they love it as much as I do. It is just two sprigs of rosemary from my garden and three tiny yellow button mums. It smells lovely and I think it will accompany her bouquet very well.





















For the reception, they have beautiful metal rectangular containers, that they plan to fill with succulents like the ones shown and rocks.



























To give it a little more zing and color, I think we are going to add a sweeping small manzanita branch covered with some smaller orchids. Here is my inspiration, using my very own succulent plant garden, a branch from one of my juniper trees, and some dollar store fake orchids - yes it is a ghetto-fied trial

On the tables, they will also have some smaller vases with succulents for their guests to take home


All in all, I think this is going to be a fabulous looking wedding, which will be minimizing the amount of cut flowers, but adding in lots of texture with living plants and branches (manzanita grows like wild in Cali).

More soon on their Pièce de résistance !

Florals on a budget - cheap flowers

When I was planning our wedding, I knew that I had to DIY the florals. Florists just charge way too much for stuff I know what do. Still the flowers and vases themselves can be costly. I did a fair share a research to find well priced flowers. What I found was that online wholesalers are no deal. I actually got better prices getting quotes from local florists (plus no delivery fee). For my own wedding, I used a local flower wholesaler. Miami, as the gateway from the Central and South American floral farms, is filled to the brim with flower wholesalers. But most large cities have flower wholesalers that will sell to the public. If not, get a quote from your local florist and make sure to ask for a better price since they aren't arranging them for you. Other well priced places include Costco (call and place the order with your local store) and your local grocery store.

Now on with doing your floral centerpieces on the cheap. What I have learned is that cheap flowers look, well, cheap when arranged with other cheap flowers. But when showcased on their own, they can be the stars and become stunning. See, for example, the following....

Carnations credit

Poms or mums
credit

Even baby's breath

The extra plus for working with a monoculture of flowers is that your save time dealing with the placement of specific flowers. Instead there is more emphasis on shape, color, and texture



Next is the vessel. Buy cheap vases. Dollar Tree and Ikea have great ones. You can always cover them in paper and ribbon for pizzaz.

Avoid buying online, they will get you with expensive shipping.

Or just make your own vases, by repurposing containers.

Ball canning jars

credit

Or cut some of your wine bottles. For tutorial see here

credit


Also, for an additional bit of decor, you can always add a punch of color underneath the vase. like these from etsy seller darlingdamask

Sure, you could buy them or always make these yourself. But time and money can be an issue (or sewing prowess in my case). But, why not rent awesome napkins from your local linen company. They usually rent for 50 cents each and come in a range of colors, textures, and fabrics. If you aren't renting anything else from them, pick them up and just mail them back.

I hate to be a stereotype

But I have totally gained weight from our wedding. The biggest culprit is probably eating out for convienence sake. Well, I have been trying to make myself make and not buy the foods that are probably the worst for me. These would include: sweets, pizza, and bread. My reasoning is two fold - (1) If I have to make it, I won't eat it so often, and (2) If I make it, I can control the calorie content and portion.

So without further ado, I present to you my pizza recipe that is tried, tested, and true.

I make my dough in a bread machine - yes, I am lazy.

Pizza dough
Ingredients
3/4 C lukewarm water
2 C flour (bread or all purpose)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast (2 tsp for regular)

Instructions. Put all of the ingredidents in the bread machine in the order listed. Use the dough setting on your machine. Once finished, knead, by hand for 1 minute. Let rest, covered with a cloth in warm area for 20 minutes. Then form pizza, either by hand or rolling pin. Place in a pan sprayed with oil (I use my Misto with olive oil), and sprinkled with cornmeal. Let the formed dough, rised covered for another 25 minutes.


Pizza Sauce (adapted from Cooking Light)
Ingredients
7 tbs water
2 tbs chopped fresh basil - This is very important!
1 1/2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp dried oregano (or tsp fresh)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
1 (14.5-ounce) can petite-cut diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

Instructions. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk.


Pizza Instructions
Spoon sauce onto prepared dough. Make sure to not smother with sauce, as the pizza will become soggy. Place you favorite chopped toppings on top of sauce (bell pepper, onion, and fresh tomato are my favs), and cover with mozzarella cheese (part skim for me). Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if needed. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-25 minutes.

= happy husband

Waffles for my sweetie!

Ok, so my new husband is not a fan of breakfast, which is only my most favorite meal of the day. But there are a few exceptions. He loves my pancakes, frozen Eggo waffles, and bagels with cream cheese. Well, when I happened upon a good recipe on CookingLight.com, I decided that it was high time to put the waffle iron, which I inherited from my dear grams, to use.

The iron, albeit rather old, worked out great and the waffles did not stick - not even the first batch! The recipe listed below is a little fine tuned to suit my taste, since I often like to eat them dry - so some more cinnamon and more sugar was needed. All in all, they were a snap to make and now we have waffles for the rest of the week. I just froze them individually. They have a texture similar to Nutri-gran waffles but with more flavor and heartiness that fill you up. One is just enough for me in the morning.

A baby waffle made from the last of the batter.

Bannana Cinnamon Waffles

Makes 12 waffles

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed - grind in coffee grinder
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large ripe banana, mashed
Cooking spray

Instructions
Spoon flours into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flours, flaxseed, and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Combine milk, butter, and eggs, stirring with a whisk; add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring until blended (don't over mix). Fold in mashed banana.

Preheat a waffle iron. Coat iron with canola oil from your Misto (don't use Pam or other bottled stuff - it will gunk up your iron). Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per 4-inch waffle onto hot waffle iron, spreading batter to edges. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until golden Remove waffles by gently lifting the edges with a fork and then pulling the rest with your fingers. Respray the iron plates and repeat procedure with remaining batter.

Nutritional Information
Per two waffles:
Calories:215 (31% from fat)
Fat:7.4g (sat 3.3g,mono 1.9g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:7.3g
Carbohydrate:31.1g
Fiber:3.4g
Cholesterol:65mg
Iron:1.9mg
Sodium:205mg
Calcium:133mg

It takes a village... (ahem, how much does a wedding cost?)

At first, Ralph and I planned and expected to pay for our own wedding. We figured $10,000 should have been enough to cover it. We are lucky we had lots of help, because our wedding ended up costing more than double that. Keep in mind that we busted our butts to keep costs as low as possible, while not putting out our friends and family. So now, I unveil our wedding budget - but know that it took a whole village to throw this event in terms of emotional, financial, and logistical support.

Wedding Day Costs
Ceremony Site Fees: $350
Reception Site Fees: Included in food costs: $0
Food/Drink (includes tax and service fees): $7,802
Bridal Gown: $2600 for the gown, $50 pressing: $2,650
Bridal Accessories:
*Veil $40
Bracelet/Earrings $40
Shoes $20
*Bra/Garter $40
Groom’s Attire: FREE! Deal w/ 2 other rentals. $0
Stationery/Postage (DIY): $162
Photo/Videography: Won Contest! Only paid for travel related costs of the couple $1,600
Ceremony Music: $350
Reception Music: $800
Flowers (DIY): $400
Cake: (upgraded package) $65
*Favors (DIY): $50
Officiant: $400
DOC: FREE! Won contest! $0
Makeup: (@ counter included trial =$90/4 items, failed trial at counter = $50/3 items) $140
Hair $100
Wedding Party Gifts $210
Out of Town Guest Bags $100
Hotel Rooms: $700
Décor:
*Tablecloths (bought used) $120
Chargers (rented from a friend) $45
*Escort Frames $45
*Glassware/Misc Décor (most of the vases were gifted to me) $120
Flip Flops $50
Wedding Transportation $300
*Sold Leftover Items: -$260

WEDDING DAY TOTAL (excluding non-food related gratiuties): $16,439
TOTAL COST PER PERSON: $193

Other costs
Wedding Band: (Mine was bought w/ my E-ring) $70
Rehearsal Dinner: $900
Day after Brunch $400
Honeymoon: also used Frequent Flyer miles $3,600

OTHER COST TOTAL: $4,970

GRAND TOTAL: $21,149

Wow! That figure kills me. I mean that is 10% downpayment on a trailer home where I live :-)

Anyway, looking back, where would I have trimmed? Nearly nothing. I would not have liked to have an Ipod wedding (why do that to a friend?). Our officiant was wonderful, and worth every penny. I am glad I didn't put out my parents and make them host any event at their home. I am glad we hired a limo - EVERYONE was on time!!! My dress, albeit a huge splurge, was (1) cheaper than the first dress I fell in love with, (2) perfectly made to my body, and (3) AMAZING! I will probably sell it and hopefully recoup half its cost. I mean, I acted as our florist - can you be anymore of a cheapskate? As far as the guestlist, well I am sad that close to $1000 was spent on dinners that people simply did not show up for - but what can you do? I think we are both content with who we were able to invite.

PLUS, we had a blast at our wedding and honeymoon (we hadn't been on a real vacation in many years)!!!!

Thanks to my all Moms and Sister (you are my faithful readers too) for making it happen - there is no way we could have pulled this off without all of your love and support. I love you and miss you - J!!!

We have been blogged

Karla, our lovely DOC, blogged about our wedding, complete with her own pictures from our big day.
What a sweetie!
Here is the link to her blog... Stylish Events by Karla

What we did on the Big Island

I just got a very subtle hint to post some pictures from our honeymoon. Sorry for the delay.


I'll start off with the resort and our room. Yeah, we never stay at resorts - never. We had an amazing stay at the Waikoloa Marriott. Here is our wonderful room and view!!!!

Our first sunset from our lanai

We did some hiking too and saw some great sights...

We also went to see some waterfalls followed by a visit to the botanical garden, where I was mesmerized by all the different species of gingers and heliconias

Then we went and saw some volcanic activity after being rained out a few days before

And on our last day we went horseback riding. On our drive there ,we saw a few rainbows. Hawai'i is the rainbow state. I didn't know that and just thought that everyone in Hawai'i was very gay friendly.

Me on Freckles


In between all that, we watched the sunsets, swam, ate, and drank like good honeymooners

We had a blast and only wish we could have gone for longer.