Word

Wow, I have to tell ya, I never thought much about invitation wording. I contacted a calligrapher, the famed Michele Clark, many moons ago about hand-writing our invitations. I know she is going to do a fabulous job, and every time I see a calligraphied invitation it only confirms my absolute love for their simple elegance. source

I have been so caught up in the look of the invite, that I've completely disregarded the actual text. Our whole wedding is comprised of the perfect marriage of formal and casual. While calligraphy is consistent with a traditional, formal wedding, the fabric sleeve gives it that home made, rustic edge.

source

So how to merge the two with the wording? I must admit I'm not a huge fan of the traditional "honour of your presence" wording. I've always loved the more personal, celebratory language. My personal favorite is "...request the pleasure of your company" because really, that's what we're doing. We're only inviting the people that we really want to be around while we make the biggest commitment of our lives. As for the rest, I'm not sure. I'd like as little wording as possible so that the calligraphy can really shine.

Also, since we're doing the fabric pocket, with part of the invite peaking out, I'd like to start with our names. Technically, my parents are hosting our wedding (we are paying for certain details ourselves) but since I'm trying to go with as little wording as possible (especially up top) I decided against including their names. My parents were completely understanding and seemed like they could care less.

Here's what I have so far:

Amy ... .... & B... ..... .... (this will be up top, peaking out above the fabric pocket)

Together with their families,

Request the pleasure of your company

at their wedding ***
Saturday, the blank of October
Two Thousand and Nine
at half past blank in the afternoon***
Taber Ranch

Capay California

Drinks, Dinner, and Dancing to Follow***

***these are the lines I'm not sure about. Suggestions wanted! What time does afternoon end and evening begin? 5:00pm? Do you like the drinks, dinner and dancing line? I'm just a fan of the alliteration and think it will be so pretty written out. I'm going to send this over to Michele soon. Your feedback is appreciated!

Bake me a Cake!

I've posted about cake before. It's not anywhere near the top of my priority list. So long as it tastes delish, I'm good. My dear old grandma made me promise not to get a grocery store cake. I think her exact words were, "Don't chintz on the cake!" Moments later, she offered to pay for it. Despite her generosity, I was still determined to keep the cake reasonable. After contacting several brides who have been married at our venue, the overwhelming recommendation was for a bakery in the small town of Woodland. Timothy's bakery is much closer to the venue than any of the Sacramento bakeries and has a great reputation. Apparently Tim is the only "certified master baker" in the area.

our samples

Last weekend, my bridesmaid K took a break from her life as a medical student in Ohio to visit me. I made an appointment at Timothy's for Friday morning, and we headed there for some extra sweet breakfast. There's no denying Woodland is a small town, and being in the bakery is like stepping back in time. The air is dense with sugar and the people are refreshingly casual and helpful.

Timothy's is known for their champagne cake, but unfortunately it is too light and airy for a stacked wedding cake. We tried it anyway. It was good, but I wasn't dying over it. Their white cake was really good, nice and moist and dense. We also tried their applesauce cake just for the fun of it. It definitely tasted like a muffin, so good.

This is what the simple edging will look like. source

While I had mostly brought in pictures of 3-tier cakes, when we looked at the crazy-cheap prices (compared to any Sacramento baker) we began to toy with the idea of a fourth tier. Timothy's wife helped me to articulate exactly what I loved about the four pictures I had brought in to show her. She definitely understood what I liked and what I didn't like, and we wound up ordering a 4 tier butter cream with dotted edging. She customized the size of each tier after noticing that I preferred to have each tier be very close in size, rather than having several inches difference. With the 4 tiers we will have more than enough cake to feed the entire crew.

This is the best picture of my favorite 4 tier cake. This is when she noticed that I liked my tiers to be very close in size. I love it! Source

The best part is, I told K before we went in that I was trying to keep the cake at $400. After adding the fourth tier, tinkering with the measurements and adding a fresh strawberry filling, the grand total? $399. Yeah for being under budget!

Hey Mr. DJ...

I cannot find a decent DJ that we can afford. I have a couple problems:

1. I want a really, really good DJ. The kind of DJ that people are talking about. The kind of DJ who can keep 120 people dancing all night. The kind of DJ that we beg to stay because no one wants to leave.

2. I have never witnessed this type of DJ. It's like a wedding myth to me. I always really, really don't like DJs. I'm always the one complaining about how bad the DJ is. Always.

3. I want a DJ who knows what he's doing. With experience at weddings. Weddings are a whole different animal. It's not prom. It's not your office party. It's a gathering of people from 80-2 years old. I want them all dancing. All.

4. I need a DJ who is prepared to deal with the non traditional set up of our barn reception. This isn't a ballroom and I'm worried some Djs won't know how to adjust their routine and equipment to fit our venue.

Any help out there? How did you know you had found the right DJ? I have referrals to 2 of the "best" DJs in the Sacramento area, but they are both mind-blowingly expensive ( around $2k for their smaller package). Is that mind blowing to you? I thought we'd be able to get an amazing Dj for about $1k. I guess I was wrong.

Just to add, we are not considering a band reception. I have my heart set on a DJ. Any horror stories, success stories, referrals, do's and don'ts would be appreciated!

Images

I Love my Photog!

My beautiful photographer, Terra Tabbytosavit told me that while she's been shooting boudoir shoots for a while, she hasn't found a "model" who was willing to allow her to post the racy shots on Terra's blog. I guess she finally found someone because Terra just posted the most amazingly gorgeous shots today. I had to share. I love the idea of a boudoir shoot. I know B would love a little private book of photos for him to enjoy.

So tasteful. So beautiful.

These last two are my FAVORITES!

These shots really show a different side of Terra's talent. I absolutely adore them! Terra also mentioned she is getting ready to launch a new website! I'll have to let you know when it goes live.

I Love my Ranch!

I can't get over how much I love my venue. I wasn't able to get many pictures of the ranch when I visited in September, but I noticed they recently listed themsleves on The Knot. I think they are finally starting to market themselves. I know when I found them there wasn't a single listing for Taber Ranch on any wedding site. They were relatively new, and that's what I loved about it. I felt as though I'd found a hidden gem. I'm excited for their growth, and feel so lucky to have found them so early on in my planning process.

I found my venue while browsing on Pictage. I literally searched "ranch, ca" and a recent wedding at Taber popped up. Let's just say it was love at first sight.

Their Knot page featured some photos I'd never seen before, and it just made me fall in love all over again!

This very large tree is out toward the middle of the five acre property. We'll have to be driven out there after the ceremony to get some sunset shots.

There is a small vineyard near the reception barn.

There is also a small pond (although it looks larger here) that is directly in front of the barn. They've strung large outdoor lights along it's edge to add some ambience. I just love this sunset shot.

A shot from atop the ceremony hill where we will say our vows.

photos via: The Knot

The Closest Yet

So I've finally decided I would like my bridesmaids to wear varying shades of berry: plums, purples, raspberry, fuschia. I know in my head how I would like for it to look, but have yet to see anything close. That is, until I saw this:This is pretty darn close. I'm not so sure about the two-tone look, but it does help to give a visual of the berry idea. While we're probably going to add a more pink dress and one more royal purple dress-this is the core of what I'm envisioning. I love the different styles, the different colors, I just love it.

What do you guys think of the flowers here? Would all white pop more against the different colors? I'm thinking mostly white with little pops of the berry. Ideas?

photo: Pix of Life