Thursday, September 29, 2011

the music

So we went to a wedding this past weekend where the music was incredible! i mean for the dancing portion, they had a band that could sing all the hits. they could rap and sing! sadly our music will not be spectacular but it was budget friendly.

for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner that is outside, there is to be no amplified sound so we had to find a band. i knew that the ceremony would be classical music and then cocktail hour and dinner would be jazz. i basically googled that and contacted a bunch. a lot of musicians charge by the musician by the hour. I was lucky in finding someone who was willing to work with me. even though he doesnt like to send documents electronically (we signed the contracts through snail mail) he is accommodating. He is bringing in a classical trio for the ceremony and then just him as a jazz soloist for dinner.

after dinner, i found a dj for cheap! even though ive never heard him spin. he does spin for visionshock parties so i feel partly safe because of that.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

the videographer

stephen really didnt believe in getting a videographer. so much so that i basically went to meet and sign the contract on my own. i know it was a bit sneaky but i was really afraid of regretting not getting one to capture the day. we had prioritized photos first but photos dont talk. they dont have sound. and if sound can give another dimension to the memories of the day then im all for it. even cleaning out my dads place and watching the old vhs's that we have made me nostalgic and though a lot of people say they wont even watch their wedding video again, i hope to revisit it every once in a while. just to remind me.

i had contacted (again) many videographers just to compare prices. the thing about wedding vendors is that they never disclose their prices online so you actually have to email them and then get that information. i was looking for more bang for the buck. there were some that i really liked that had a lot of style, was great at telling a story. but they can get so expensive, just like everything else wedding related. some even included super 8 clips. i didnt want my entire wedding to be filmed in super 8, i much preferred the crystal clear imagery of HD.

it basically came down to two people for me. one sounded like he had done many weddings at mountain terrace. his style was a bit more oldfashioned and he often put music to the videos that ive never even heard of. he also did a lot of blurring, or i dont know what the effect is called but the video was blurry on purpose. i didnt really like that. it looked like 80s film to me. the other had videod a few of my friends' weddings. eventually i went with the familiar just because i could trust him. to tell you the truth i dont even remember him at either of my friends weddings but i like that. he calls his style journalistic which means hes there to capture everything but not intrude.

im excited to have him document our wedding!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

the dress

i started this process early as i was afraid that it would take me a long time to find the dress. i had scoured the internet before actually going into stores, trying to find something that was affordable and nice. when i started trying on gowns it occurred to me that i couldve never found something online without trying it on. i had found many reasonable, designer gowns that were used but without being able to try them on, they were pretty much a no go.

i took some fridays and weekends to look with my sister and then with my mom. we went to quite a few places - looking at sample sales and also full priced gowns. some places i stopped in were: priscilla of boston, bella bridesmaid, the bella bride, marina morrison, and glamour closet. the priscilla at santana row also carried vera wang so it was nice to be able to try those on as well as priscilla gowns. i had made appointments at bridal galleria in sf and also jcrew, kleinfelds, lovely, and jenny yoo in ny but i cancelled those because by that time i had already found the dress.

some criteria:
1. trumpet/fit to flare
2. natural materials
3. no jewels/rhinestones
4. some interesting detail: swiss dots, lace, tiers etc

the funny thing about the dress i ended up getting was that i had tried it on once before. marina morrison was having a sample sale and i went in to take a look. i picked out some gowns to try on but the salesperson insisted i try on this particular gown. i told her i didnt like it because it gave no shape and she told me i needed to wear a sash. i left but i keep thinking about how she was right!

my mom and i went to a bunch of places before going into glamour closet. the first day we went they couldnt take us because they were maxed out but my mom loved all their gowns. i actually saw another girl try on the dress i had tried on at marina morrison and i was so jealous! so the next morning we woke up early to be first in line. and thats it!