July 3 Brunch Wedding - details so far...

wesnick

Not sure if people are lurking or not here yet, but I'll get things started! We're doing a Sunday morning brunch wedding on July 3 in San Francisco. He's a teacher so it needs to be summer, and since our families are so spread out across the country we hope that having days off on either side of the wedding will help with travel. San Francisco will be much more pleasant than the East Coast for a July wedding, plus I grew up there. We hope that we won't interfere with people's other plans, but we completely understand if folks can't make it. We prefer a smaller wedding anyhow.

We decided on brunch because we're both morning people who enjoy getting out and about early and then spending quiet evenings at home :-) We'll probably do mimosas, bloody Marys, and coffee "spikes" plus beer and wine. Currently considering a crepe OR omelet bar, bagel and schmear station with lox plus all the other trimmings (we're both Jewish so it's like comfort food to us), mini passed pancake stacks on toothpicks, french toast points and mini shot glasses of syrup for dipping, big fruit display or some sort, and maybe some sort of other protein/meat selection (we're not kosher so it's cool!). We'll have a combination of high-top and low-top tables, plus maybe some cushy couches and chairs, for a very casual feel - almost like a cocktail party. We're thinking about setting out some boardgames and customized crosswords for guests too. Hoping for a small dance floor so we can do some dancing but so it won't look super empty if not a ton of people want to shake their groove thangs so early in the AM. Music will be a small live band  that can do jazzy, folky, morning-appropriate music and then we'll supplement with an iPod for whatever they can't do and to give them breaks/let them eat.

Something a little offbeat that we're thinking about is having a small coffee/pastry station set up for guests BEFORE the ceremony so they can grab a little to-go cup of something right away since it'll be early. I'm hoping we can do a 10:30 or 11:00 ceremony (will only last 30 min max), so some noshes will be helpful if guests didn't eat beforehand either.

Hoping other people will show up here when they start planning and share some of their plans - can't wait to "meet" you!

iloveu4ever

We plan a July 15th wedding.

jenandcris

I'm doing a vow renewal on 7/2/16 in the Columbus, OH area. Nice to see other ladies here already!

AuroraRose41

Hi there @wesnick! Your wedding sounds lovely! Just make sure that everyone has a seat during your reception. I don't think there is anything wrong with having high top tables too, as long as there is a chair for every guest . But all of that food sounds amazing!

Oh hi date twin @iloveu4ever . 

ETA: I have been extremely ambitious and already have a venue, date, hotel room block (hotel is on site at the venue so that happened when we booked), and a photographer. I have a florist in mind (was a client of my mother's and very well known in the area), and a DJ as well, although I haven't exactly booked those yet. But I have set up video conferences with both. 

wesnick

@AuroraRose41 Yessss I've been telling that to *certain parties* who don't want the room to be "cluttered." We were at a wedding last year where there were NOT enough chairs (like, 30 chairs for 70 people) and our 7 mos pregnant friend had to sit in a window sill and balance her plane on her belly! I wish I were kidding.

I see that you're doing your wedding on a different city than where you live. I live on the East Coast and we're getting married in SF, so same boat! Any tips for booking vendors from afar? I might suck it up and hire a planner to reduce stress, but I'm not sure...

Can you share more about your wedding? I'd love to hear about it! And Mad props for being so on top of your biz

AuroraRose41

@wesnick okay good! Glad you understand why that's such a huge deal (and I couldn't tell whether or not you planned for that in your original post!). Also your poor friend! 

My FI and I both are originally from NY, and our families are all in the same area. We meet at college (3.5 hours away from where we lived) and discovered that my cousin went to high school with him. I got a dream job offer in San Diego after graduation, and was able to pass his resume on and get him a job here too (we both majored in Electrical Engineering). 

Since we are very well off compared to most of our family and friends, we decided that it would be easier for us to fly back to them to get married. We also have elderly relatives who wouldn't be able to fly, and neither of us could imagine getting married without them there! 

Our wedding will be at a historic farmhouse from 1790 that was turned into a restaurant. There are two large ballrooms that are connected by two sets of wooden doors in the restaurant in addition to the main eating area with the bar. We have the smaller ballroom for cocktail hour and the larger one for the main reception. The smaller one will also be used during our reception for our dessert tables, coffee station, and an area for guests to get away from the loud music and sit and talk if they so choose. We have an after party planned in the bar with sliders, pizza, and wings. A few decades ago the restaurant owners decided to build a hotel on site to cater to the guests of banquets and weddings, and it is absolutely charming (but has many modern conveniences). Our ceremony will take place outside behind the hotel under a tent in the gardens that the venue sets up during the warmer months, and it is right next to a nature trail with beautiful tall trees. The food is apparently to die for at this place, and it is all cooked to order. The venue even includes menu cards as part of the package! Our package also includes a scotch tasting during cocktail hour (in addition to our open bar) and warm baked cookies as a favor! Another really cool thing about our venue is that for every meal that they serve (whether in the restaurant or for an event), they donate a meal to the local food bank. My FI and I really liked that aspect. 

As far as any tips, most of my vendors have been great about doing things through email, and a few have even offered to Skype with us (The DJ included). I asked at the very beginning if it would be a problem to work with them because we weren't local, and all were very accommodating. I just found a bridal store online here in San Diego that someone on Yelp mentioned that they helped her pack her dress into a carry on for her destination wedding, so finding a bridal store willing to do that is a good idea (if you plan to buy your dress where you live currently). That's it so far but if I think of anything else I will let you know! 

AuroraRose41

Here are some pictures (if you don't mind me being an AW!). Ignore the chairs in the ballrooms; the venue just got nice black chairs with tan upholstery and they do not need chair covers. What is your venue like?

Ceremony: 

Cocktail Hour/Dessert area ballroom (notice the fireplace!): 

Main Ballroom: 

Restaurant Area where after party will be (can't find a pic of the bar inside this room though):

Hotel Room: 

jenandcris

AuroraRose41 said:

Here are some pictures (if you don't mind me being an AW!). Ignore the chairs in the ballrooms; the venue just got nice black chairs with tan upholstery and they do not need chair covers. What is your venue like?

How gorgeous! I really love your tented ceremony set-up! It'll be beautiful in July!

You weren't kidding- you really do have the ball rolling! But I understand it comes with the area. When my H and I were looking at venues (when we were still engaged), reception sites in Connecticut (where we lived at the time) and Boston (where we're both from, and where we ended up getting married) get booked 1.5-2 years in advance! It seems to be different in Ohio... I was looking at venues this past August (for our July 2016 wedding) and was told most places in the area don't book that far in advance! :-/ Oh, well.

AuroraRose41

@jenandcris it's crazy right? Some venues were already booking for Summer 2017 too! Our photographer is also booking that far out as well.

As for the tent, I think FI and I are going to add more decorations than what is shown in that picture. I really want a fabric liner and maybe a chandelier or two hanging from the ceiling. I actually brought that up to FI last night, and to my utter shock he agreed that it needed to look nicer too! I was shocked because he is a fairly frugal guy most of the time and thinks decorations like large floral centerpieces are unnecessary, but I was so happy that he was on board for updating the tent a little.

What are you and your husband planning to do for your vow renewal?

wesnick

@aurorarose41 Beautiful! And thanks for the info on how you got stuff done, too - very helpful. Very generous of you to make your location decision with your family and friends in mind. We knew that one side of the family was going to have to make a big trip so we decided to keep the festivities on the coast with highest concentration of older relatives. I think we might offer to use our miles to help his grandmother upgrade to business or first class to make things easier on her.

We're getting married in the Presidio. It's part of the National Park Service now, but the complex was built in 1776 when SF belonged to the Spanish, then became Mexican territory, and eventually a US military outpost during the Civil War. It's related to Mission Dolores from its Spanish days, and our cat is named Dolores so that's cute. FI is a history teacher and insisted that we do some sort of hisotric site, museum, etc. LucasFilms is located in the Presidio, as is the Walt Disney Family Museum.
View from lawn -


Lawn view with historic buildings (back to Bay/GG Bridge) -


View from inside -


Wide inside shot w/ view -


This is Fort Point (under the GG Bridge!), where my FI wants to do wedding pics if it's not too windy -


I'm likely going to do minimal decorations so the view can dominate. We're thinking navy blue with bright green accents so it complements the GG Bridge color if it's clear but still "pops" if we get a foggy morning. FI likes this look -



Now that we have an idea of what we want and we've reserved our venue, it's time to start making things happen!

AuroraRose41

@wesnick that place is gorgeous! I love the views of the Golden Gate Bridge too! I hope you can take pictures in that Fort Point area; they will be so amazing! I really like your color scheme too, especially for that venue. And it sounds like you made a good decision to have it closer to where more of the elderly relatives live, and found the perfect venue for your FI too! 

There were some venues that were more historic/had much more interesting ballrooms in the area that FI and I are getting married, but unfortunately we didn't feel comfortable going with any of them for various reasons (one was too old and had uneven flooring, another treated us like we weren't important enough and it was only barely in our budget for the basic catering package which includes very little, etc.). I am thinking about doing a first look off site though to get some very pretty pictures elsewhere in the area to make up for the lack of interesting details at our venue. But overall I am happy with the one we went with, as they are great to work with and we were able to get the highest catering package available for the same price as the basic ones elsewhere, and I plan to have a lot of decorations to make it prettier. 

FI pretty much let me pick out the color scheme (with some minimal requirements such as nothing too girly). I decided to base it off of my favorite flower, which is the classic red rose, and he is on board with it. Since it's a summer wedding, I am thinking about doing very small pops of red here and there and the rest will be ivory/gold/champagne/very light pink. I will have a bouquet of red roses, the bridesmaids will be in dark red dresses with bouquets with some red but also some of the other colors too, and all of the guys will be in black and white with a red rose boutonniere (FI picked that out). I think the only other red will be the uplighting and the napkins, and everything else will be very neutral with lots of candles. 

Here's what I am thinking for the bridesmaids bouquet, the uplighting in the room, and the centerpieces: 

jenidubbs

Hello fellow early planners!

Your weddings sound so lovely and it's been fun reading about your plans!  @wesnick, it looks like we are date twins.  Your wedding sounded especially classy and I love how you have planned out so many little details.  @AuroraRose41, I absolutely love your centerpiece idea!

My Fiancé and I are signing our venue paperwork this weekend.  We've been engaged since September and have moved the date of our wedding back twice already.  I like to get things done early and it just seems like time slips by so quickly!  We're planning a rustic elegant wedding at an historic house and farm just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan.  The outside area is a beautiful old house with a landscaped yard for the ceremony and cocktail hour.  There's a barn attached to the property that is a finished hall which we will use for the reception.  My FI's twin sister was married there a few years ago so the place has special meaning to the family.

The ceremony will be outside, either in front of a big tree or in front of the historic house.  For the cocktail hour, we are planning simple appetizers and a mimosa/lemonade bar and plan to set up lawn games for guests to play. 

This is the idea I have in my mind for the cocktail hour.

 

This is the inside of the barn.  We're planning to do similar draping, but those will definitely not be my tables.

I'd like to make this venue feel elegant but laid back so guests can feel special but also be free to have fun.  There are so many little details to look into, but it's been fun planning so far!

 

wesnick

@jenidubbs That looks like so much fun! I love MI, and you wedding looks like it totally captures the "spirit" that I associate with a Midwestern summer. I'm really digging the barn draping you have going on. What will your tables be like? I imagine something a bit less formal than the picture based on your other details.

jenidubbs

@wesnick Thank you!  I like Michigan too but the weather is much nicer where you are!

 

For tables, I'm thinking something earthy and simple but still very sophisticated.  I am a creative person and love to DIY so I plan to collect or make vintage looking pieces over the summer to use for candles and flowers.  I love the idea of each table being a little bit different.  Here are some of my initial table inspirations.

 

 

 

This is the historic houses and the landscaping that's also on the property so I think I have room to class the rustic barn up quite a bit as long as I make sure not to go too far overboard.  That way I can avoid things looking forced.

 

For colors, I am really drawn to shades of blush/peach and aqua/sage with copper and gold accents.

jenni5672

We are getting married in Vegas! Both been married before so wanted to do something for us. I have never had a wedding dress so I am going to do that. We only had a few people coming, now it is up to 60 or so. We are getting married and having reception in an Irish Pub. We both loved the feel of it. I'm Irish and so it most of my family, so was a no brainer. Very simple low key. Not going to decorate the pub since it is such a neat place already. Doing cupcakes instead of cake. 

First dress shopping trip is April 18 after tax season is over (7 days a week working til then). Looking forward to it! 

Glad I am not the only one planning stuff so early.

We have save the dates, venue, bakery, hair and make up already booked. Just about have invites decided. Dress is next. 

jenidubbs

@jenni5672 That sounds so special and personal to the two of you.  I love it! 

You and everyone in this thread are so far ahead of me, I feel like I'm slacking off!  We're going to decide on catering, bakery, and the rest of our vendors next.  I can't wait until spring so I can visit the venue when everything is green.  Then I can start planning all the fun decorations and other details.

jenni5672

@jenidubbs I obsess too much so I was worried this year would be awful if I didn't get the big stuff done. And we weren't going to get back to Vegas til wedding. I just had to see the things I was booking. Glad I did. We completely changed our plan based on what we saw. I'm holding off on dress cause I think I'm too far out on it.

missglitter89

I am also doing a July 3rd wedding. Its not when we were thinking originally but it turned out to be perfect! The venue we chose gives a 10% discount for Sundays and with Independence Day being the next day people will have work off, so it works out perfectly. 

We are still in the beginning planning stages. Booked our venue 2 weeks ago, ceremony and reception at the same place. And I will be ordering my dress later this week. Its all very exciting and overwhelming at the same time. 

jenidubbs

@missglitter89 Yay for July 3rd!  What type of venue did you book?  Do you have any inspirational pics to share?

missglitter89

@jenidubbs My venue is at a golf club. It has a gazebo for outdoor ceremonies which we will be using; that is in front of a pond with a few water spouts. The reception space is in a L shaped room and they put the head table in the corner so that they can see everyone in the room at once. 

jenidubbs

@missglitter89 That's beautiful!! I love the rafters inside the reception space.  The L shape is so perfect too.  I might have to see how an L shape could fit into my venue.  We'll have 12 people in our wedding party and I've been wondering how to fit everyone in without taking up a whole wall!

missglitter89

@jenidubbs Thanks! I love the rafters too, I wanted to hang twinkle lights or paper lanterns like these pictures. But you're not allowed to hang anything from them; but you can hang whatever in the gazebo so that will be fine. 

I have seen some large wedding parties where they put 2 tables one in front of the other and raise the one in back. Here's a picture for example. 

QOTC2016

Everybody's venue is so beautiful!

@wesnick That view is GORGEOUS! I was trying to figure out what it was about it that I really loved and I realized that you have so much natural light which just makes it all the more beautiful. I really hope you can get those photos in and it isn't too windy! 

@AuroraRose41 Those ballrooms look so elegant! The fireplace is definitely pretty cool! Are you taking any photos inside? Yay for no chair covers! Lol. I dislike those things with a passion but I dislike the chairs my venue has even more so I will be using them. I love the look of the after-party space too!

@jenidubbs The character at your venue is amazing! I love historic architecture and old buildings. The barn looks pretty cool on the outside! 

@missglitter89 That gazebo! That is so cute! It's placement by the lake is awesome! 

My venue is Castle McCulloch, an old Scottish castle in Jamestown, NC. 

Main castle:

This is the ceremony space in 'The Great Hall'. The walk around at top comes from the bridal suite area set aside for the bride and her side of the wedding party to get ready and the bride can either go through there to the offices and down to the doorway underneath or us the walk around and go down the stairs (this is my choice). This picture only shows about half of the hall as the other half is behind where the photographer was standing so it's bigger than it looks!

Inside view:

Entrance to Great Hall: 

The reception is inside the Crystal Garden Ballroom part of the castle which is actually a separate building that is like a 3-5 minute walk from the Great Hall. On the walk there is what is called the "Amber Bridge".

Amber Bridge: 

Outside view of the Crystal Garden Ballroom:

Inside view:

This is the chandelier/dancefloor in the inside.

missglitter89

@QOTC2016 Thanks! The gazebo is my favorite part. They also have 2 swans that hang around in the pond during the summer months. That castle looks amazing! And that bridge should get you some great pictures. 

jenidubbs

@QOTC2016 Thank you!  The look of your wedding is very classy! I love the bridge and the chandelier. It's a little more like what I had in mind for mine originally (an estate garden wedding), but there weren't any convenient places like that around here.  I've fallen in love with my more rustic location now, but a place like yours is fantastic!

QOTC2016

@missglitter89 I hope those two swans decide to hang around for some pictures! That sounds like it would be a great shot!

@jenidubbs thank you! I probably wouldn't have picked mine originally because I wouldn't have known it existed--a family friend just happened to be working there when we were venue hunting originally. Lol.

futuremrshay

All of your weddings sound so fabulous! I love the different themes everyone has and the venues are so varied as well. 

I just got engaged (8 days ago) and am planning to get married in the states (Virginia) on the 9th of July. I live in the UAE so my mom is handling all the stress of finding a caterer/venue. Hopefully that search is concluded this week, because I don't know if I can take it any more. 

These are what I am hoping for a fruitful flower bouquet! 

I will also be doing some DIY with hopefully a Photo Booth and some table arrangements! 

After the venue what have you all done? 

jenidubbs

@futuremrshay

We have booked the cake, DJ, officiant, chosen the adult formalwear, collected bottles and vases for diy centerpieces, planned out the layout of the reception hall, designed the save the dates, gotten quotes for rentals, hairdressers, and caters (to be booked soon). I'm sure there are more items I am forgetting.

QOTC2016

@futuremrshay we have the DJ booked, the officiant booked (and paid off!), caterer booked (though I have zero idea what cake ideas to give her...), photographer booked, dress purchased, know where tux rentals will occur, have half the DIY centerpieces complete (we have bottles and floating candles for one type and lantern centerpieces for another), and purchased save-the-dates.

futuremrshay

@QOTC2016 and @jenidubbs, thanks so much for your reply! October seems a lifetime ago in terms of wedding planning anyway, and I am not the best at checking back at our knot conversations! Sounds like you have done a lot and thanks for your help along the way! 

UPDATE: Photographer, venue & food, DJ, make-up/hairstylist, and officiant all booked. I am still deciding whether I want a videographer or what I should do about that...I know I would love the footage and looking back at the memories, but then there's the price! This week, I am flying home for 4 days (21 hour journey-phew!) and will hopefully find a wedding dress, a reception dress, bridesmaid dresses, book the cake and have a confirmed idea for the flowers. Next time I will be home is three weeks prior to the wedding.