What will it be: Team Pink or Team Blue?

Friday is a really exciting day for us- not just because it's the start of the long holiday weekend for Memorial Day, but because that's our 20 week anatomy scan on our baby.  It's been 2 months since our last ultrasound!  I can't believe our appointment is finally almost here.  :)

So our intent is to have the doctor tell us if we're team pink or team blue (which maybe should be Team Yellow, or Team Green) if baby cooperates.  At the 12 week scan, we didn't have a terribly cooperative baby!

Because we're due in the middle of October, and the weather in CA can be so unpredictable (ie, it's RAINING and COLD at the end of MAY!) I wanted to start looking for some potential going home outfits- plus I just like to shop as it is!

Here are a few darling (in my opinion!) options I'd consider purchasing for the big day (all from Baby Gap)...

Girl:

 Boy:

So, could you tell I like orange?!  I love the little giraffe print for the little girl, and the boy onesie is cute too!  Hopefully a denim jacket isn't too scratchy for a newborn.  I'm sure these options are a bit trendy for a coming home outfit, but they're so fun to look at! :)

Until Friday! Ta-ta!

Wedding Details: Reception

So far in my wedding series posts, I've shown you the colors we're using, some info about the dresses and tuxes, and about the location of the outdoor space...

This post is all about the reception.  :)

Because we're getting married in downtown Walnut Creek, CA, there's really an abundant amount of good food choices for the reception.  However, since our list grew from 50 to around 70 people, we needed to find a fun banquet space that could accommodate.  I've had my heart set on a buffet style (so much easier when you're the guest, I feel...) so we found Pyramid Alehouse to be a great fit!

We've rented one of the large dining rooms for the night, and will set it up buffet style with not only food (which the menu can be found here) but also a drink buffet!  We're talking all you can drink- beers, wines, sodas even.  They replenish the pitchers all through the night.  Ironic though, to have our wedding reception somewhere where I can't FULLY enjoy the surroundings!  I'm totally ok with it- I love being pregnant, and our wedding day is going to be filled with so many great people, it'll just be a blast.

Here are some ideas of the place:

One of the next things I had to work on was our decor in the room.  I had this crazy idea to use manzanita branches in tall glass vases, probably filled with clear stones, and the branches potentially adorned with small floral.  I'm about 30% there... I have the branches, which I ordered from a local farmer off of eBay (here's a sample posting of theirs) and they look great.  I've purchased one sample vase so far, $10 from IKEA, but need to go back for more.  That was the best price I could find for a 15" glass vase!  I think I'll need around 10 of them, so 9 more to go...

Here are some manzanita centerpieces I just love.  Ours are going to be simple- after all, it's a summer wedding, with a reception in a brewery...  How formal does it need to be?!

Next, ah, the piece de resistance- our cake!  While I don't have an ACTUAL shot of OUR cake yet, here are some ideas, that may help you visualize.  First off, we're using master pastry chef, Katrina Rozelle (website here) out of Alamo, CA (also in Oakland) for our cake.  As much as I'm having a diversion to sweets right now, cake tasting at Katrina Rozelle was fun, and yummy!  I settled on the "Erica Torte" which is a chocolate cake with a caramel ribbon through the middle of the layers.  We're doing a three tier cake.  Katrina even came out herself and helped me design it with the images I had brought.

We're talking:
3 tiers
Rounded (always thought I'd have a square...)
Fondant
Quilted
Green color bands on each tier
Pearls and star accents in the quilting

Very simple, clean lines, the way I like it!  This cake is going to be decadent.  I can not wait to try it!  Our only issue is size... since our list grew, I may need to order a larger size!  Yikes!  Or maybe cupcakes to supplement?  I always thought I'd do that option anyway from the start...

So basically, that's our reception in a nutshell.  Of course, I'm looking forward to finally using the services of a recently graduated, sister of a friend to be my coordinator.  I just kind of started freaking out wondering who was going to actually get everything where, and on time, and so on.  I'm giving up control, and going to ask for help.  :)  Thanks in advance, Lynn!

So, is this too cliche and trendy?  I'm hoping the colors work, and that the small details don't really matter.  We've got so many things to look forward to this year that I'm just not taking the whole thing completely seriously in terms of getting worked up.  For godsakes, one of my friends got married 4 days after September 11th, 2001 and they pulled it together.  I think we can make it happen too.

:)

I love hydrangeas!

Because it was super nice Saturday, I made a trip to the NEW Lowes a short distance from our house, and gathered up some plants to add to my Thrift Store planters I've had for months!

I went in not knowing what I wanted exactly.  But, when I was walking through the indoor garden center, I came across these gorgeous pink and lime green hydrangeas, just under $10 a plant.  Score, and yes please!  Just look at that new growth still coming in!

I also picked a few bags of potting soil that was on sale up, and just let me tell you- you should be glad you can't smell these pictures.  Goodness- all the windows have been down in my car since I got home.  The soil smells disgusting!

Planting was easy for the most part, except my 18week belly (yes, I'm pregnant...) is already making things more difficult.  I added some large river rocks to the bottom for drainage, then added my soil.  The hydrangeas were in large buckets, so breaking up the root ball was difficult, and there was a lot of dirt. 

All in all, I planted two, and they're in front of the house, and just making me smile!  Lets hope they grow bigger, and I don't kill them!  (I have a bad habit of that... doh!  Plus, wow, get that lawn some water!!!)  Oh, and did you notice my spring wreath is still on the door?  Check out that post here.

Ahh, I just love these colors, so I had to show them to you again!

What did you guys do this weekend?  Any planting, home improvement, or crafts?!

Do tell!

Wedding details, Location

Here's some more details on our wedding!  I showed you the pallette the other day- Sangria purple, and apple green accents...

Today, we're adding the purple rhinestone to the mainly green invites, and mailing them out.  The insert is all prepared, just need a few printed at Kinkos since I included a colored map.

So, for those of you from CA, or even the San Francisco Bay Area, you may be familiar with a little suburb called Walnut Creek.  It's a very affluent city about 20 miles east of San Francisco.  It's right where we live and spend a majority of our time.  They've got everything from Target, to Tiffany!

We chose an outdoor casual setting at the Gazebo at Civic Park.  Since the wedding is in July, it'll be hot, but the trees should be shaded by then.  Just in case, we're planning to have some water bottles in buckets at the end of the isle and maybe some fans too.  :)

We're going to set up white wooden chairs, and I'm debating on an isle runner, and tulle lining the chairs at the isle.  Here are some ideas...  (I was thinking of picking up these paper lanterns I saw at the dollar store- they were the perfect color!)

For services so far, I'm extremely happy with our photographer choice- Ultra-Spective (out of Livermore, CA)- we've even done our engagement photo session (a few samples below!) which was so fun, and good practice.  These were the first professional photos Z and I have had done since we've been together (5 years!)

For floral, I'm hoping to mimic something similar to what Tia Mowry did for her outdoor wedding- why not right?  I'm using her dress, and my bridesmaid's dresses are purple too?!  :)  I'm not a huge fan of roses, but the colors are right.

So, there's some more details!  Next time?  Reception details!  That should be fun :)

Until then, we're off to register- yay for scanner guns and shopping- could you guess?  We're registering at Target, Babies R Us, and possibly Pottery Barn Kids.  More on that later as well!

Happy Saturday everyone,

Wedding Palette

As I mentioned yesterday, 2010 for us is going to be a huge year!  A lot has been going on in the months during my blogging absense.  For starters, we've been planning our wedding.

The details are wrapping themselves up by now, and I thought for my sake, and yours (to see what's been coming together) I thought I'd post the palette we're using by collaging our colors, location, and accessories here.  This will be a series post over a couple of days...

Enjoy!

First off, the most important, our colors:

Bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal, in Sangria, and Groomsman wear from Men's warehouse, also in Sangria.  We're going the vest and tie route, not bow-tie for the boys.

Our accent color, and the color on our invitations is an apple green.  We're using Cardstore.com to order our invites.  They pre-print them, and can even address the envelopes too.  The one we picked is by artist "Delphine" and is called "Melissa Lime".  It's not really lime when printed, much more granny-smith-apple-green (this is a sample from the website, not our details, hehe)

I showed you my dress yesterday, but here it is again.  I guess I'll mention it now- I'll definitely need a tan before the big day!  Tia Mowry looks awesome in the dress, and well, I'm just really white!

So, there are the basics.

Still to post?  The other details, like Location, Reception, photographer, and the other nitty gritty details!  Stay tuned :)