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GoreJess posted:We don't have any good pictures back yet, but here's one that a cousin took during the first dance. Aww, I love this kind of picture. You two look pretty together!
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Oct 6, 2009 21:16
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Nexus-6 posted:Congratulations! You got married at SF city hall, right? I have a few questions, if you don't mind.  1. I used the online system to book the certificate pickup and marriage ceremony (I split them into 2 different dates to minimize complication on the actual wedding day). The online system is easy to use, you can pay for everything online with your credit card (with $3 convenience fee or something like that), and see all the schedules ahead of time. The system offers booking 4 months ahead of time so if you have a very particular time of day in mind you should book early. My only requirements were that it was a certain Friday and there were still plenty of slots open when I booked it 3 weeks ahead of the wedding. 2. I had thought that the ceremony would be in a small room since the City Hall website said the ceremony was restricted to 8 people including the couple...but it was actually on top of the rotunda staircase so actually some other couples had way more than 8 people and the judge didn't mind. First we got to City Hall about 30 minutes earlier than the ceremony time to meet with the photographer and check in at the clerk office, then when they call your ticket you meet the judge, who confirm with you about how you'd like to be called and asks your witness(es) to sign the certificate. Then it's off to the staircase to take some pictures before the judge calls you all up there to do the ceremony. The judge was super sweet and it was a such great experience! 3. I booked the ceremony for 2pm since we wanted to have a tea ceremony at home in South Bay in the mid-morning. After the ceremony we went to take some pictures in Golden Gate Park. 4. I think as long it's not a huge horde of people the judge is cool with it. We actually had 10 (including us and the photographer). City Hall woot woot  Official photographer pictures to come tomorrow 
jomiel fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Oct 6, 2009 |
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Oct 6, 2009 21:49
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jomiel posted:Of course Cool, thanks! I've been stressing out because the website makes it seems like you can only have 6 guests NO EXCEPTIONS, and our total is at 7 with only our immediate family (not even including our photog) Glad to hear it's not set in stone.
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Oct 6, 2009 22:53
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Here's kind of a goofy question... We're in the middle of building out a collection of engagement rings for people who do not like diamonds. I thought I would ask, what stones do the "not diamond" people like? Diamonds are my forte so I'm flying blind on what anyone else would like to wear.
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Oct 8, 2009 18:32
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JohnnyRnR posted:Here's kind of a goofy question... We're in the middle of building out a collection of engagement rings for people who do not like diamonds. I thought I would ask, what stones do the "not diamond" people like? I think sapphire is a pretty popular stone right now. My ring is sapphire and I know like 5 other people who have gotten them as well in the past year or so. Moissanite seems pretty popular around here.
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Oct 8, 2009 18:39
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JohnnyRnR posted:Here's kind of a goofy question... We're in the middle of building out a collection of engagement rings for people who do not like diamonds. I thought I would ask, what stones do the "not diamond" people like? Seconding sapphires. For me, hardness ruled out a lot of other stones, so sapphires were perfect. And they don't even have to be blue! (though mine is )
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Oct 8, 2009 18:50
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I had actually wanted an aquamarine but couldn't find a non-tacky one so I got a sapphire instead.
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Oct 8, 2009 19:21
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Kiri koli posted:Seconding sapphires. For me, hardness ruled out a lot of other stones, so sapphires were perfect. And they don't even have to be blue! (though mine is The engagement ring I had made for my fiance has two pear shaped purple sapphires as the side stones. Many people have no idea that sapphires come in pretty much every color.
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Oct 8, 2009 21:16
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I've been reading through this thread, trying to decide what to do next. I need an engagement ring. I have a general idea of what I want (white gold or platinum band, 2 small diamonds or rubies on either side of a larger blue stone possibly sapphire), and my budget is 1k. In some ways, I feel kind of lovely saying that my budget is 1k when lots of people here have spent 5k or more (and in fact, even 5k is not "3 months of my salary") but we both have a lot of debt and it doesn't make sense to me to spend more than what I have in hand and allocated to this. So, #1 - should I feel bad about that? The logical part of me says "of course not", but materialism can be a fickle thing to overcome. #2 - what further research should I be doing? We have gone to local jewelery stores and looked at stuff, I have a basic idea of what she wants, and would prefer to keep her in the dark about the rest of this process. (We looked in stores several months ago, and so I think it will be some kind of surprise).
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Oct 8, 2009 21:25
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JohnnyRnR posted:Here's kind of a goofy question... We're in the middle of building out a collection of engagement rings for people who do not like diamonds. I thought I would ask, what stones do the "not diamond" people like? Sapphires. We're still in search of a great sapphire ring (I've gotten sort of bored with diamonds and we would prefer to save money rather than put it all into a ring). It's hard because a lot of sites that sell sapphires either a) don't list what treatments the stone has undergone (the only treatment we're okay with is heat, though unheated would be cool), b) have terribly cut sapphires, c)only sell loose stones, d) have a limited number of ugly settings, or e) the site looks like crap or has a crappy reputation. If you can pull off making reasonably-priced rings that have great sapphires in beautiful settings, it would be awesome.
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Oct 8, 2009 21:43
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What is the best option for printable thank you cards? I'd like to put our invitation image on the front, and I've already ordered two photos to include into the cards. Should I just go to Office Depot and pick up a pack of blank printable cards with envelopes, or are there better options?
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Oct 8, 2009 22:58
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Pig Boots posted:Sapphires. We're still in search of a great sapphire ring (I've gotten sort of bored with diamonds and we would prefer to save money rather than put it all into a ring). It's hard because a lot of sites that sell sapphires either a) don't list what treatments the stone has undergone (the only treatment we're okay with is heat, though unheated would be cool), b) have terribly cut sapphires, c)only sell loose stones, d) have a limited number of ugly settings, or e) the site looks like crap or has a crappy reputation. You should be able to go to most local jewelers and ask them to find you loose cut stones in whatever size, shape, type, color you're interested in.
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Oct 9, 2009 01:17
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nthing sapphires, it's what I want. My sister would like an aquamarine but is afraid of how soft they are. I'd go tanzanite too, but they are also too soft.
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Oct 9, 2009 02:00
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JohnnyRnR posted:Here's kind of a goofy question... We're in the middle of building out a collection of engagement rings for people who do not like diamonds. I thought I would ask, what stones do the "not diamond" people like? I was just thinking about this earlier today, actually. I just completed my own personal search for 'non-diamond engagement ring stone', and although I ended up with blue sapphire, I had a couple other choices up in the air, namely spinel and alexandrite. I ended up not going with spinel since a) with Burma being locked up tighter than a drum, I didn't have the energy for a search for a good red, b) all of the blue spinels I considered had too much grey, and c) hot pink spinel, while beautiful, is not a color I could stomach wearing every day. I didn't go with alexandrite because I am absolutely incapable of deciding what color metal alexandrite should go in. White? Rose? Hell, even green could be cool with the right color changes. Sapphire became the winner because the price is reasonable without being "cheap" and there really is nothing like a nice, ceylon blue. The superior hardness also made a big difference; if I could have done anything for an engagement ring, I would have gone with a real sick demantoid round, but it's just not a stone you can wear with any sort of frequency. Other stones I've seen used in engagement rings with any sort of regularity are rubies, tsavorites, and aquamarine, but I worry about those last two seeing as their hardiness leaves something to be desired. You have a lot of options for non-diamond engagement stones, but for my money, I'd stick with spinel, corundum, and chrysoberyl. Anything else is an insurance claim waiting to happen.
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Oct 9, 2009 02:03
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Lunchtray posted:You should be able to go to most local jewelers and ask them to find you loose cut stones in whatever size, shape, type, color you're interested in. I know, but we want the process to be as easy as possible and getting a jeweler involved and getting them to hunt down a stone and then make a setting just seems really complicated (especially since a) I'm very picky and b) I hate dealing with salespeople). 
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Oct 9, 2009 02:37
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JohnnyRnR posted:Here's kind of a goofy question... We're in the middle of building out a collection of engagement rings for people who do not like diamonds. I thought I would ask, what stones do the "not diamond" people like? I was going to do a green sapphire with my ring but turns out a Tsavorite garnet has a prettier shade of green that goes better with the gold band I'm getting. I don't have the ring yet (I suspect he's going to propose around Christmas) but if you GIS tsavorite you guys will see what I mean.
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Oct 9, 2009 02:53
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jomiel posted:What is the best option for printable thank you cards? I'd like to put our invitation image on the front, and I've already ordered two photos to include into the cards. Should I just go to Office Depot and pick up a pack of blank printable cards with envelopes, or are there better options? zazzle.com is where I usually do any kind of printing anything.
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Oct 9, 2009 06:28
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We went for a ruby ring instead of a diamond.
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Oct 9, 2009 11:51
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Pig Boots posted:I know, but we want the process to be as easy as possible and getting a jeweler involved and getting them to hunt down a stone and then make a setting just seems really complicated (especially since a) I'm very picky and b) I hate dealing with salespeople). The stores are there to find what you want. I had mine hunt down purple sapphires for me that were .3ct and pear shaped. It took them a while and they tracked them down. I also had them bring in a nice selection of diamonds so I could go in and see the differences. I don't think it's that big a deal for them since all they really have to do is call up their distributors and find what you want. Really, for them it's just a few phone calls. In the end the process was easy for us because really you just give them a list of what you want and let them do their thing. They get what you want in you go look and say yes or no.
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Oct 9, 2009 15:16
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Eight months to go, I've finally sat down and worked on designing an invitation. We're having a 75-100 person lunch wedding, so I didn't feel that many of the pre-made invitations fit what we're looking for. It looks similar to one that someone posted earlier that they made. I really liked the simplicity and clarity of it and tried to make something similar. Here's what I've got so far. Looking for recommendations to improve it now. 
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Oct 14, 2009 20:03
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Very cute! I will probably do something very imilar. Copy-wise, I think "invite you to join in then for a wedding and a picnic luncheon reception" Or something like that. I don't think you have to mention drinks specifically.
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Oct 14, 2009 20:23
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Eris posted:Very cute! I will probably do something very imilar. Thanks. Should the invitation mention outdoors like "outdoor wedding and reception" or should I save that for an insert with dress information?
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Oct 14, 2009 21:02
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dress information? I'm not picking on you, but I don't know if you meant address info, or if you meant some sort of insert about dress code. I think in either case, I would definitely throw the word "outdoor" in there. After recently attending an outdoor wedding in the middle of August and not being informed beforehand, it would be totally appreciated.
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Oct 14, 2009 21:25
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Eris posted:dress information? Since it's outdoors in June and a semi-casual atmosphere, and since I know some of my and my fiance's friends and family, I figure it'd be best to say "dress is business casual" or something similar. Otherwise SOMEONE will show up in either a T-shirt and shorts or a full suit/evening dress. I just want everyone to be comfortable and not overheating, but not so casual that a person couldn't tell it was a wedding. Sneaky Monkey fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Oct 14, 2009 |
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Oct 14, 2009 21:32
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I was wondering if anyone has some advice on how to put together some last minute email save the dates that look decent. We are having a destination wedding and just received room and airfare rates from our travel agent for our guests which need to be paid by November 3rd. We hadn't expected a deadline so quickly and don't have save the date cards printed yet. Alternatively, what does anybody think about the idea of sending out emails with the travel agent information now along with a short note and mailing formal save the date cards out later?
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Oct 15, 2009 00:49
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Pineapple Jones posted:I was wondering if anyone has some advice on how to put together some last minute email save the dates that look decent. We are having a destination wedding and just received room and airfare rates from our travel agent for our guests which need to be paid by November 3rd. We hadn't expected a deadline so quickly and don't have save the date cards printed yet. I used http://www.mypunchbowl.com/ for my email Save the Dates, and I'll be using them for the actual invites as well. Their stuff looks way better than a cheesy E-card.
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Oct 15, 2009 00:51
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I guess I just need some reassurance here that what I'm doing is the right thing... My fiance and I aren't getting married until next October, so we still have alot of time, but we thought until recently that we had our reception spot in the bag until this week. Two months ago, we met with someone from the reception spot to check it out and ask questions, and set up a day then to come back and check out a wedding set-up in progress and sign a contract. Two weeks ago, I emailed the woman to double check that the date we had verbally mentioned was still okay (this Saturday)--still haven't heard back from anyone from the venue. I called two days ago and left a voice mail--still haven't heard back from anyone. I'm starting to get nervous, because if I can't get anyone to contact me when I'm TRYING to give them a bunch of money then what happens when they have the money and I need to get in touch with them if something goes wrong? I guess I should've seen a flashing red light when I mentioned we could only come on a Saturday to sign the contract because I live out of state from where we're having the wedding, and the woman told me that "no one works on Saturdays" and refused to come in a half hour earlier before she needed to be there for a wedding set-up to sign a contract with me. Other things that make me nervous about them: -They want to charge us $5 a pitcher for pop. That they're getting from a 2 Liter. Now I know markup in weddings is everything, but good Lord. -They told us that even though they have cloth napkins, we're not allowed to use them because we're not doing a sit down dinner, despite the fact that we're having a pasta bar. I guess I'm just dissapointed that it's not working out and I'm frustrated that the place I like doesn't seem like they want to work at all with me. Am I doing the right thing here by not giving them a deposit after all this and going a different route? Or is all this typical of venues? TLDR: I think my reception spot may not be worth its salt. Now I'm sad that I have to find somewhere else.
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Oct 15, 2009 18:23
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ucmallory posted:TLDR: I think my reception spot may not be worth its salt. Now I'm sad that I have to find somewhere else. Things I find "off" about the venue: 1. Soda is charged based on consumption, instead of a flat fee per guest. I understand charging for alcohol based on consumption, but soda??? 2. They won't meet with you on a Saturday to sign the contract. 3. The cloth napkin thing....I've never heard of a venue that provides linens, not providing them to people that choose a buffet. If you're this frustrated now with the venue, it probably won't get much better as the year goes on & you get deeper into planning. This sounds like the type of place that will keep coming up with extra charges that you knew nothing about.
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Oct 15, 2009 18:32
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ucmallory posted:
If you think that's bad, the venue I had originally as my first choice wanted to charge us 2.50 per can of soda/bottle of water for our guests. That was the cheapest drink option they had. In the end we had to choose another place because their required caterer was charging everything with markups like that. It was pretty ridiculous. It sounds like your place is pretty similar to mine, too much nickel and dimeing and run by people who don't care. They're probably going to be more hassle then it's worth in the long run.
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Oct 15, 2009 18:43
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GoreJess posted:Things I find "off" about the venue: Yeah, this sounds like the kind of place you need an airtight contract with unless you want to find yourself with tons of extra fees and charges, or things not being supplied that you were told would be. It's definitely not typical of all venues. Some places, good places, will be more than happy to help you out and work with you on things, and will definitely get back with you when you have a question or set up a date. I have to second GoreJess with saying if you're frustrated with them now, it doubtfully will get better. Have you checked online for reviews of this place? If you let us know what city or area you're looking to have the wedding at, there may be a chance someone here knows somewhere there that you could look at.
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Oct 15, 2009 18:48
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Sneaky Monkey posted:Have you checked online for reviews of this place? Thanks for the advice, all. I checked online, but the only reviews are for the golf course (go figure). We're getting married just outside of Charleston, WV, so anything around there if anyone has any familiarity with that area. I'm glad to hear from you all that it's not typical. I don't mind the markups and such as much as I am frustrated at the inability to be able to speak with anyone. There's only one woman who runs receptions and meetings there, and so there's not really anyone else I can deal with. I guess I will just keep looking!
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Oct 15, 2009 19:49
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ucmallory posted:Thanks for the advice, all. I checked online, but the only reviews are for the golf course (go figure). We're getting married just outside of Charleston, WV, so anything around there if anyone has any familiarity with that area. I agree with everyone that the markups sound crazy and that you should keep looking. I just wanted to add that I share your pain. I'm planning from out of state and I had these great, affordable photographers lined up. I even met with them when I went home for two weeks and we worked everything out and he said he'd send a contract. That was a month and a half ago. We just again got in touch with him yesterday after emailing and calling a bunch and he said something about health problems...but the phone was breaking up and he said he'd email with details. Yeah, still waiting. I really want these photographers...I like their work and I don't have time to shop around again, but I feel like I'm taking a huge risk now...if I ever even see the contract...
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Oct 15, 2009 20:39
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Wow, sounds like planning is really stressful. This thread needs some proposal stories to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy again!
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Oct 16, 2009 06:09
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Kitten Kisses posted:... wanted to charge us 2.50 per can... How much is it supposed to cost?
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Oct 17, 2009 09:00
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JohnnyRnR posted:How much is it supposed to cost? Are you saying you think $2.50 is a reasonable price for a 12oz can of soda?  I would have paid up to a dollar a can. I get that wedding vendors mark up their prices and I am cool with it to a point, but seriously... 2.50?
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Oct 17, 2009 11:20
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Wow, I can't help but think that we got incredibly lucky, hearing all of your stories. Our place was a charming Victorian mansion, and our all-inclusive package literally covered everything except officiant and alcohol. All soft drinks, coffee and tea were included, as well as decorations, linens, crockery and cutlery, cake, cake cutting, DJ, photographer, flowers, and food (and of course, use of the mansion for rehearsal, ceremony and reception). We had the choice of a few different vendors for food, and the one we went with allowed us to create a specialized menu with him. Our cake was simply phenomenal, and even if we had been able to choose a different cake vendor, we wouldn't have! We had the choice on flowers as well, instead of just standard roses (I went with cream calla lilies and deep red Asiatic lilies). And since it was all provided by vendors who worked closely with the mansion, everyone knew each other and was willing to pitch in a helping hand whenever needed. I can't say enough good things about our package, so maybe consider looking for an all-inclusive place? It saves you from having to seek out your own vendors, and, at least out here in Arizona, it's generally a better deal.
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Oct 17, 2009 14:32
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In our invitations we included an email address and phone number for RSVPs, and so far exactly four people have responded out of the 150+ we've sent out. From what I've heard through family and friends, pretty much everyone is planning to come and bring a guest or two, but only four have given us a concrete "yes" and the number of additional people they're bringing. We've got roughly two weeks to finalize everything, and the number of people coming is anywhere between 8 and 300. I'm starting to see why everyone gets so stressed out while planning this stuff.
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Oct 20, 2009 03:56
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Kitten Kisses posted:Are you saying you think $2.50 is a reasonable price for a 12oz can of soda? The point I was making is that your arbitrary price is completely divorced from the costs associated with putting on an event and making a paycheck. Catering companies can't work for free because food, beverages, rent, insurance, and payroll are not free.
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Oct 20, 2009 05:05
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BulletRiddled posted:In our invitations we included an email address and phone number for RSVPs, and so far exactly four people have responded out of the 150+ we've sent out. From what I've heard through family and friends, pretty much everyone is planning to come and bring a guest or two, but only four have given us a concrete "yes" and the number of additional people they're bringing. We've got roughly two weeks to finalize everything, and the number of people coming is anywhere between 8 and 300. I'm starting to see why everyone gets so stressed out while planning this stuff. IMO you've invited this headache by foregoing response cards, which is a nice reminder that the guest has a TODO.
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Oct 20, 2009 14:07
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BulletRiddled posted:In our invitations we included an email address and phone number for RSVPs, and so far exactly four people have responded out of the 150+ we've sent out. From what I've heard through family and friends, pretty much everyone is planning to come and bring a guest or two, but only four have given us a concrete "yes" and the number of additional people they're bringing. We've got roughly two weeks to finalize everything, and the number of people coming is anywhere between 8 and 300. I'm starting to see why everyone gets so stressed out while planning this stuff. I had a hard enough time getting people to drop a pre-addressed & stamped envelope in the mail. I can't imagine how hard it would have been if people actually had to put forth the effort to call me to RSVP. You need to get your fiance, parents & in-laws to start calling people for you.
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Oct 20, 2009 23:51
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