WARNING.... My bio has lots and lots of pictures. I loved so many so I just had to post a bunch! It may take a long time to load, and it should probably be viewed in full screen, I know I hate me too!
Welcome to my Married Bio!!! I am so excited to finally be a MRS. My wedding was so beautiful. I was so lucky not to have any major problems at my wedding. I have to thank the Orange County Knot Boards for helping me with; ideas, vendors, advice and support. I really don't think my wedding would have been what it was without you gals!!!
Please use the links on the left hand side to navigate my bio. If you have any questions or would like to use one of my pictures feel free to e-mail me at Brianna@gmail.com. If you do use any of my pictures please make sure to credit me, BriannaNichole. I hope my bio can help you along in your planning. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me or page me on the Orange County Knot Boards.
My bio is sooo not finished yet. Please check back soon for pro pictures, vendor reviews and RD pictures.
I finally got all my professional pictures back. I am a little disappointed. My photographer talked a lot about being a photojournalist photographer, but I didn't really notice it in the pictures. I am just not 100% happy. Enjoy!!
I had all my bridesmaids come over to my house to get ready so that we could all could just enjoy the day. It was really nice not to have to rush around that day. It felt really nice to be pampered.
Carina, working her magic. She was super nice and really good at her job. All my maids looked so good. I think if I had to do it again I would hire Carina for longer so that she could re-do my makeup before the reception.
My poor preggo sister has a hernia so she was in a lot of pain that day. SHe ended up leaving and picking up some pain pills. She felt muuuch better after that.
My Mom and Dad. My Dad came home when we were all still getting ready, I think it was a little too much estrogen for him.
You can see the pictures I hung from the chandelier for the bridal luncheon.
This is a good shot of my hair. This is what it wold have looked like had it not fallen out right away (eye roll).
I love the great tan lines I have in this picture. Its a good thing I had straps on my dress.
My pretty Mom.
Daveshell with THE dress!!
Walking over to the bridal room. Do I have enough purses???
With the BEST DOC ever, Jennifer Johnson. She was a GOD send.
The bouquets were already in the room when I got there. I was just amazed at how beautiful they turned out. Flower Allie really out did herself.
The famous dress in the window picture.
As soon as I saw the ceremony location I started to cry, it was soo beautiful. It was really that moment that it all hit me.
Trying not to mess up Carina's makeup job.
Some maids getting ready. We were not happy with the alterations gal when we found out that she hemmed daveshell1's dress but left the pins in the crinoline and never hemmed it!!! Shell had to cut the cariole with these tiny scissors that, luckily, my DOC brought. It was kinda funny to watch her cut it, even though I didn't dare laugh at the time.
We used the sashed from the BM dresses to make sashes for the flowergirls. It looked really great.
Time to put on my dress!!
I felt kinda bad, there were sooo many buttons down the back of my dress it took so long to do them all up.
Ready to go take pictures.
I love this picture, DH is looking kinda nervous.
DH opening the wedding gift I got him.
My Mom sticking the boutener on my brother.
MIL sticking the bout. on DH.
Mom and Dad, they look so serious.
The Guys
My hottie DH.
Hee hee they totally are trying to look GQ here.
DH looks like a midget here.
I love this picture of all the guys.
DH and my Dad.
DH and his mom.
The Girls
My Dad and I.
I love that you can really see my bouquet in this picture. It was so pretty, but really, really heavy.
The over the shoulder glance.
Smellin the flowers.
This picture reminds me of when little girls twirl their skirts to see how they will spin. I totally felt like I was playing dress us here.
My sister, flowergirl and I.
Daveshell1 and I.
Oh the ceremony was just wonderful. The location looked so amazing. The officiant did such a wonderful job. He made the ceremony short but it never felt rushed. The only drawback was that the sun was right in my eyes the whole time. Between crying and my eyes watering from the sun, I am surprised I had
any makeup left.
There was only one entrance into the ceremony so I had to wait in the bridal room, all by myself, while I waited for the
groomsman to walk the grandmothers and mothers down. Apparently the String Quartet was supposed to stop playing once they were in place to go, but they kept playing and playing and playing until the song was finished. So this left me chillin alone for about five minutes. It felt like and eternity and I started to get nervous. My Dad was so cute. He kept going back and forth letting me know what was going on. It actually was a really special moment. I could hear the musicians playing this beautiful music and, over the music, I could hear my bridal party talking. It all hit me at that moment. It was really a nice moment that I could take to myself to pray and get ready for what was about to come.
The aisle decorations
DIY invitations.
DIY programs. Its too bad this is the only picture of them my photograpger got. I really spent so much time on them and they turned out amazing, but you really cannot tell that from this picture.
My brother walking my Grandma out.
My brother walking my Mom out.
DH and his Mom.
I love this picture of all the girls walking out.
WOW, I was so nervous at this point I could not stop smiling.
You can see just how amazing my flowers are here. The were so bright. They looked so amazing against the blue of the ocean.
DH waiting for his bride.
You get a really great view of the whole location here.
My Dad helping me take off my shoes. By the end of the ceremony they were killing me.
My niece decided to pick all the petals off her bouquet.
Trying to fix my makeup before the formal pictures.
My niece fixing her makeup before the formal pictures.
We decided to take our Bridal Party and Bride and Groom pictures down at the beach. It was really cool because it was where we got engaged and where we took our engagement pictures.
I love the way the palm trees look in the background.
My brother looks so funny with the boquet in his hand.
The gals.
The guys.
My Boobs are way to big in this picture, it looks like they are going to attach me.
I love the way my brother looks in this picture.
This is us laughing at the people eating. They kept saying stupid stuff to us.
Trying not to get my dress sandy, I got over that.
DH hates this pictures, but I think it is really cute.
I think this one is so artsy.
Where DH proposed!!!
When we were taking pictures on the beach a wave came up. I swear I have never moved that fast in my life!!
I thought is was so funny.
Too bad the videographer didn't get it, he was running for his life, too!
Crap thats a lot of dress!
The photographer insisted on a feet shot, I HATE my feet. I made sure there was plenty of sand on them.
I'm not going to post any of my reception photos because I am really unhappy with them. A bunch of them have a really yellow tint to them. I am going to edit them, and then post them.
BriannaNichole Edited Photos
I have been playing around with my professional pictures in Photoshop. If you know Photoshop and you are looking to edit your pictures email me an I can help: brianna.fabulous.morrow@gmail.com. Here are some of the photos that I edited.
I added a tilt to this picture, sharpened the colors and added a blur. I think it gives it a cool effect.
Here is the origional picture
I just added a blur to this picture to make it look softer. I, also, cropped it. You can find the original in the 'Bridal Shots" section of my bio.
I really didn't like the original of this picture because the way I was leaning against the post made me look preggo. So I cropped the picture and made it softer. I think it makes it look more artsy.
This picture I made into sepia (red-brown tone) and added some noise to make it looked older.
Here is the same picture with a softer look to it.
I really love this picture. It looks so glowey and artsy. I made the colors really sharp and added a glow. I think it feels dreamy.
Here is the original.
I just gave this picture a sepia tone.
Here is the same picture with more of a blue tone to it.
I think this picture looks much better edited. I just took the simple picture, tilted it, added a color overlay and blurred it a little. I think it looks really artsy now.
Here is the original photo:
My photographer took some boudoir shots right before I put my dress on. Like all girls I am really self conscious and I don't really like the pictures. I have edited some of them so they look much softer.
My Dan's Bride underwear. It was supposed to be much cuter but I bought a size that was too big. I added a color overlay to make it more artsy.
Here is the same picture but with a softer effect.
I love this picture. I changed the photo to back and white then I just colorized certain parts of it.
This is probably my favorite edited picture. I totally changed the photo my photog gave to me.
This is a crazy picture. Its a copy of the old way they did photography in the 80's. Its changing the colors to be all funky, kinda cool/
This picture is really weird, I still kinda like the effect.
Here are some of the non-pro pictures that my guests took. Hope you enjoy them:
Getting Ready:
I had everyone come to my house for hair and makeup. It was really nice to get to hang out with people
before the wedding.
It was, also, a lot less stressful because; 1- I didn't have to worry about people getting there
on time, 2- I didn't have to
drive to a bunch of different places to get ready.
Getting my hair done.
My sister (MOH) getting her makeup done by the WONDERFUL Carina. She did such a good job on
everyone's makeup.
Just had to get pictures of Carina's makeup. I sooo want to be here when I grow up.
My niece coloring. She was so good that day.
Hee hee, just one glass of wine will not hurt. 10:00 isn't too early to drink, is it?
SIL getting her hair curled.
MB daveshell1 jumpin in for a pic.
Carina workin her magic.
Carina talking to my Dad, turns out they know each other...small world.
Mom, sister and niece chillin in the limo.
It still hasn't sunk in that I'm getting married in a few hours.
Pre-Wedding Pictures
My amazing, stupendous, beautiful, dazzling flowers by Flower Allie!!!!.
All the aisle pieces before they were setup.
Close up.
Ceremony Location without all the flowers.
The ceremony site with all the flowers set up.
Sand ceremony & columns set up.
More close ups of the flowers. I seriously could not get enough of them!!
I walked into the bridal room and immediately started crying because all of the bouquets were so beautiful!!
My bouquet. It was amazing. It turned out more beautiful than I thought.
The bouquet on the left is a bridesmaids bouquet and the two smaller, on the right, are the mother's bouquets. They
were just amazing in person.
This was a perfect window for my 'Dress Picture'. I am sure the pro picture looks awesome.
My niece waiting patiently. My amazing DOC, Jennifer Johnson, left us a basket with chips and whatnot.
It was so thoughtful of her.
Trying to drink water without spilling it.
Flower Allie made the cutest head pieces for my nieces (flower girls). They were so pretty and delicate, but they
totally stayed in their hair.
I think this is the only picture of my shoes. I forgot to have my photographer take pictures of them. I use the left over
rhinestones from my cake topper to put a heart one shoe, and a our initials and the date one the other.
My poor MIL was so confused by the bouquet. She was like where are the corsages. LOL.
Reading the card from DH.
Crying and reading the card from DH.
SIL reading the card from DH.
My cousin brought in the cutest card that she made for my DH and I.
I have a tongue problem apparently.
Nervously putting on lipstick.
My Grandma and I.
I love this picture of us.
My sister taking my garter off with her teeth.
I am glowing in this picture.
My cleavage looks HUGE in this picture. :)
Ceremony Pictures:
DH walking his mommy down the aisle.
My adorable nice Alexa walking down the aisle with her preggo mommy. Isn't she a doll?!?!?!
Ug they are sooo cute.
My nieces walking down with their mom. Ella (the older one) was so funny. Apparently she way just eating up all the attention.
The sweating groomsman.
Nervous DH waiting for me to walk down the aisle
The squinting bridesmaids. It was kinda hot, and really bright. I could hardly see DH because the sun was right above his head.
Dan adn I about to walk down the aisle.
Side view of the dress.
I love this picture. After we walked down the ramp, the site coordinator had us stop so she could fluff the dress. We must have looked so stupid just stopping.
My Dad and I walking down the aisle. There was a really cool ramp that we had to walk down before we got to the aisle.
Feeling a little bit nervous.
Saying our vows.
Don was soooo funny, he kept making us laugh.
Trying to wipe away my tears without ruining Carina's makeup job.
LOL look at my sister in this picture. What the heck is she looking at?
Doing the sand ceremony.
Wiping away more tears. There was a great part in the ceremony where DH got stuck in his vows. He kept trying to say 'My Friend' and he couldnt. It was so sweet because Don kept repeating it and DH was like I'll get there. It was really funny at the time. It also was so sweet because DH and I were friends years before we started to date. I cannot wait to see that part in our wedding video.
You may now kiss the bride.
Ok, not a cute face. When we were walking back down the aisle one of the flower arrangements fell over on my dress.
I so didn't care because I was in a haze.
A much better picture of us waling dow the aisle.
Posed Pics:
Walking out to take some pics.
My family.
My parents and DH's Mom.
Trying to take off my shoes in between pictures.
My niece and I.
Us and some of the grandparents.
Me,DH and his Mom.
Ahhhhh, Dad to the rescue helping me take my shoes off.
More kissy kissy face.
Limo Pictures
MOH
SIL
Best man and Groomsman
My Brother...Groomsman.
The gals.
Don't ask.
Trying to get my HUGE dress into the limo. I was kinda irritated that my hair kept coming out.
Red eye much? Time for a toast.
Kissy Kissy
Married at last.
We had a blast in the limo.
Reception Pictures:
Our first dance to Etta James 'AT Last'. That song totally makes me cry.
DH was soooo worried about the dance but he did a great job.
He even dipped me!
I love this picture because you can see my pretty hair brooch.
I love the way the lighting is making us look blue.
DIY heritage table.
Close up of Dan's parents picture on the memory table. We couldnt find a picture of there wedding, but this one sure looked like it.
Close up of my parents wedding picture on the heiratige table.
My dads parents, taken at their wedding. I think they are only 16 and 17 in this picture. I loved getting these pictures because now they are in my home.
This is my paternal grandfathers parents. The picture was taken in 1903 when they were newlyweds.
This picture is of my paternal grandfathers grandparents (the guy in the last pictures dad). It was taken in 1933.
DH's maternal grandparents. They got married in Norway, I love her dress in this.
My Mom's parents wedding.
My Mother's Dads second wedding.
Another picture of the whole table.
Our signature mat.
DIY memory table for DH's Dad.
My ever present DOC!
Potty shot.
DOCs and I.
My maids thought it would be funny to hide under the table.
My sister made everyone cry with her toast, but mostly her and I.
He toast was funny too.
My Dad welcoming people and giving the blessing.
My beautiful mother.
This isnt that great of a picture, but you can see how the head table was set. The room was so pretty with all the cadles, but it didn't make for the best lighting for pictures.
Dude, my mouth is huge in this picture.
My niece wore fake hair for the ceremony. After she took it off my grandpa wore it the whole night. Sometimes he wore it as hair and sometimes he wore it as chest hair. Gotta love grandpa!!!!
Daveshell1 and I shakin our groove thang.
Best man dancing.
'My hump, my hump my lovely lady lumps'.
OUR CAKE!!! It looked so amazing. I have to say the cake was not one of the things I really cared that much about, but I thought it ebded up looking amazing.
I told them to stick the cake in a corner because I only blinged out the cake topper on one side. I hope the photog got a better shot of it.
LOL, my dad looks so drunk in this picture! He ended up changing after we ate.
OK, so I may have gotten a little too crazy with the cake face smashing.
This is my dad telling DH that he didn't raise me like that.
My beggin DH not to get me back for smashing cake in his face.
All is forgiven, for the moment.
Bouquet toss
The bride and her red eye gang.
I'm not sure how the flower get in my cleave.
That just looks wrong.
My bro talking to me. He always gets the garter.
Dan and I went to Maui for our honeymoon. It was fun, but not at all like we expected. SIL paid for our honeymoon as a wedding present. Nice gift, huh? We stayed at the Whaler in Kaanapali, which is right near the town of Lahaina. I don't know if I would ever go back to Maui, it really wasn't as nice as everyone says. I would much prefer to go back to Mexico or try Kaui. Hope you enjoy the pics....
The hotel entrance.
The back side of the hotel.
The beach right outside of the hotel. You are literally steps from the beach.
The first day there we drove up the cost a ways, here are some of the pictures.
DH getting artsy with the camera.
Sunset from the Hula Grill restaurant.
Dinner @ the Hula Grill.
Brianna @ the Hula Grill gals.
So we decided the do the Road to Hana and it SUCKED!! All the waterfalls were pretty much dried it, Dan and I get kinda queasy because of all the turns. It was not that fun. We decided to stop at the Garden of Eden and had to pay $10 a person to see pretty much nothing. Here is their claim to fame:
It is the opening scene in Jurassic Park. LAAAAAAMMMMEEEE!!!
Here is DH.. he is not amused on our Road to Hana trip.
The one high point on our Hana trip was stopping at Ke'eane for a pineapple slice, fresh banana bread and some cool pics.
Cool black rock in Ke'eane.
It was sooo windy there, check out the palms in the background.
DH with his pineapple posen for a pic.
Waiting forever for food @ Burger's in Paradise.
Still waiting for food. You cannot really see DH but the view behind him was cool.
Lahaina.
One view from restaurant Kimos
Other view from restaurant Kimos
Hee hee, some drunk old man took this picture of us. He talked to us for about 10 minutes about New Orleans.
After the sunset one night.
So we decided to drive up Haleakela Volcano. You are supposed to be able to see all of Maui from there.
Headed up to Haleakela
It starts getting a little cloudy on the way up but its supposed to clear at the top so no worries....
UMMMMM, at the top it is soooo foggy we can hardly see. You can see the mist moving in the wind. The moral of that sorry is that You should always check the weather before driving over two hours to the Volcano.
View from our room.
More views from our room.
Yet another view from our room.
I love this picture.
Sunset from our balcony.
So one night DH decided to take progressive shots of the sunset from our balcony.
Lahaina
The best meal we had was at the Lahaina Fish Co. The service was great, the food was amazing and the view was sooo gorgeous. Too bad DH's camera takes crappy night pics.
I had so many great vendors. I really think that is why my wedding really went smoothly. I am going to rate my vendors really hard, so you will not see a bunch of A+++++++++++++++++++'s from me. I hope these reviews are a help to you.
Officiant: Don Johnson........ A
Dan and I were going to, originally, going to use on of the Pastors at our Church, but we didn't have enough time to finish our pre-marital counseling. I was so upset, because our Pastor had done my sisters wedding and we really liked him. I ended up finding Don's information from the knot. Dan and I were so happy that we used him. Don was so nice and very personable. After only meeting us once, he really understood us. He is very perceptive and picks up on people very quickly. We explained to Don that we wanted God included in our ceremony and Don did it beautifully. He really listens to what you want and includes it into your ceremony. Everyone said they they really liked our ceremony and that Don did a great job. Don is a very kind man and it really seems like he cares about the people he marries. He called me the morning of the wedding and it really made me feel better to re go over some detailed with him before the ceremony.
Ceremony Location: Casa Romantica, San Clemente California.....C
The Casa Romantica is a lovely location. It is set on the bluffs overlooking the San Clemente pier. You only have to look at my pictures to see how beautiful the location it. That being said, I had a lot of problems with the Casa Romantica and their coordinators.
1. It was very hard to get a hold of the coordinator, Susi, there. They said they were having problems with their phone lines the six months up to my wedding. It was nearly impossible to get Susi. When I was able to get ahold of her she was very nice, BUT she never remembered me and had to ask me a million questions every time I talked to her. She neglected to tell me we could not have flower petals on the balcony until months before the wedding.
2. The floor, which is concrete and tile in most locations was really, really dirty. The bottoms of my BM dresses as well as mine got really dirty before the ceremony even started, this was even in the bridal room.
3. As I am walking into the Casa, on the day of my wedding, the gal who gives tours informs me that the Casa will stay open for tours until 4:00. This kinda pissed me off because they never said anything before then and my guests were going to be arriving before then.
4. My MAJOR problem with the Casa was that they scheduled a rehearsal right before my wedding!!!! The patio was all set up and my guests were arriving when all these people were there for a wedding rehearsal. I was soooo pissed!!! I mean I kinda feel bad for the other bride because I wasn't very nice, I think I said something like go home ; (sorry if you are that bride, I'm sure you would have felt the same if that was your wedding day). Before you think I am a total bitch remember that the Casa parking lot doesn't hold very many cards, the Casa is pretty small and no one ever said anything to be that there was going to be a rehearsal. When my Dad said something the Susi she made a flippant remark about this still being a business. I was Shocked when I heard that.
Thank Heavens I had my own LOVELY coordinators!!!! The Casa is overpriced, not that well cleaned and the coordinators are not only incompetent but rude. When you rent the Casa you only get the use of their facilities; you have to rent your own chairs, tables, aisle runner, arch....etc. If you plan on using the Casa Romantica remember this.
Because of the rude Coordinators, dirty floors and expensive location I am going to give the Casa Romantica staff a C and the view/location an A.
Reception Location: Holiday Inn, Laguna Hills California.......... C
The Holiday Inn is a really wonderful location, especially for those brides on a budget. I didn't feel like I was getting nickeled and dimed. I really loved that the package price included the tax and gratuity within the per person price. I would say the Holiday Inn is about $30-$100 less than most locations in South Orange County. The staff was really nice and helpful the night of.
The reason I gave the HI a C was because the On site wedding coordinators there are HORRIBLE. My sister had her reception there so the gal kept mixing me up with my sister. She kept forgetting who I was and had to ask me a million questions every time we met. I just really felt like a burden. She never called me back and she didn't ever call my Mom back. She showed up once at the reception and then was gone for the night. At the end of the night they tried to hand my mom and extra bill, even though we already paid. If it wasn't for the coordinator I would give the Holiday Inn an A++.
Day Of Coordinators: OCs Finest Wedding Coordinators, Jennifer Johnson.....A++
Wow, what do you say about a vendor that saved your butt and wedding? Jennifer and Nicole at OCs Finest were my favorite vendors to work with, they were really a God send!! When you work with OCs finest you don't just get a Day of coordinator. Jennifer was there to help me months before the wedding. Jennifer was so organized, she took care of all the little details so that I didn't have to worry about anything on the day of the wedding. Not only did Jennifer take care of all of my decorations (which there were a lot of) she added stuff that I forgot. For example she added a Thank-you sign to my card bowl and made all the reserved seating signs. My day went so smoothly, my day of coordinators saw to that. I really cannot say enough about those girls. If you need a coordinator I suggest calling them. I never once thought about not having this or that because I knew that my DOCs were going to take care of it. They were always there to help even when I didn't realize I needed help on something. I couldnt have been happier!!
Florist: Flower Allie, Allison.....A++
Wow I cannot say enough about how beautiful the flowers were. Allison did such an amazing job. As soon as I walked into the bridal room and saw the bouquets I started to cry. Everything was so beautiful. I mean I knew that they were going to pretty, but I never imagined they would look that amazing.
At first Allison was not able to do my wedding, until Jennifer (my wonderful coordinator) convinced her to take pity on me. She doesn't usually go to my location since it is so far south. I was so pleased that Allison could help. She sat with me for three hours discussing flowers and my ideas for my wedding. She was able to show me flowers on the spot so we could see how they would look. She gave me her opinions without being pushy or rude. She ended up giving me a great price.
Allison and I spoke only days before the wedding and she was able to add wreathes for my flower girls hair and extra arrangements all at the last minute. She never once gave me any grief about adding flowers at such a late date.
My flowers were so fresh. I didn't have one petal that didn't look like it was in its prime, I was just floored at how beautiful they came out. The pictures will not lie.. they were wonderful. Allison was so nice each time I spoke to her. All my guests gushed about how amazing everything looked. Allison had the great idea to add lots of candles to my reception and it really just put the right mood to everything. I would recommend anyone to Flower Allie. She was one of my favorite vendors to work with. She was nice, very reasonable priced, she knew her flowers, she had great ideas, she worked fast and everything looked just amazing. I don't think my wedding would have looked 1/2 as good as it did if Allison was not my florist. If you are looking for a Florist make sure you call her FIRST!!!.
Photographers: Laurie Ann Martin Photography, Laurie Martin......F+
I was very unhappy with the photos that Laurie did for my wedding.
1. The photos were very dated, her style is very 1980's wedding.
2. Not much variety in the pictures. All my bridal shots were from the same distance in the same location. You should not have to be telling your photog how to take pictures on your wedding day.
3. She missed so many detailed shots. I told Laurie, before the wedding, that I wanted lots of the detail shots. My coordinator even reminded her and her husband (assistant) that I wanted them. They both got snippy with her and said that they knew what they were doing. Apparently not because I didn't get a lot of the detail shots.
4. All the reception pictures (that were in color) were very yellow. The room had very low lighting and there was lots of candlelight, causing the yellow glow. That paired with the fact Laurie’s camera was not that nice (I saw some real pro photographers with wayyyy nicer equipment) made the yellow glow. Here is the thing that bugs me, if Laurie had told someone (myself or my DOC) that the lights were too low we would have gladly turned them up. She is in charge of the pictures being nice.
When I told Laurie that I was unhappy with the pictures her response was; 'I don't have unhappy brides'. The only thing that she was willing to offer me was an enlarged picture. Oh that really makes up for having bad photos on my wedding day. I would have been more than happy if she would have offered me a new photo session, some money off or anything. She didn't even try and she didn't care. That’s what makes me really angry. IMO you should not book Laurie. It was the biggest mistake of my wedding. I would give anything to go back in time and change that.
By the way the picture in my profile is not one she took, it was from a trash the dress session by another photographer. I had to photoshop a bunch of my pictures to fix them.
Videographer: Firefly Videography, Young Lee C-
I almost feel like I should give Young 3 grades; one of how he was at the wedding, one with the quality of the video and one for how long it took me to get my video.
1. Young was amazing at the wedding. We really wanted to have someone who would not be annoying to us or the guests. We didn't want someone who would ask people to say something to the camera and whatnot. Young was great about this. He really seemed to be there anything was happening that needed to be shot and he was quiet so he was not a bother.
2. Once I got the video I was really happy with it, exp. for the price. Young seemed to get everything we wanted. There were some minor things that I asked him to edit and he did those. I really love my video.
3. Here comes the bad part, it took Young 13 months to get me my video!!!!!!!!! His contract said it would take 3-8 months. I kept emailing him and he kept giving me new dates. This happened about 4 times. I will say that I asked Young to 'make it up to me' by throwing in something and he did.
Limo Company: Ride In Style Limo.......A
I let my DH choose the limo company from a list of 'knottie' suggested companies. I think that my DH choose a great company. They came on time, the driver was nice and professional, the limo was in really good condition and the driver even rolled out a little red carpet for us. I have nothing to complain about and nothing to really rave about. All in all they did a good job for a good price. We only paid about $350 for five hours. I would definitely recommend them and I would use them again. The only complaints were with the 'fully stocked bar' and the decorations. They did have some hard liquor but no beer and I would have liked to see them bring at least one bottle of champagne, even a cheap bottle would have been nice. I also think it would have been cool if they had some sort of 'Just Married' sign. Although, we didn't ask for it but that is why I will not overly rave about them. They fully met my expectations.
Makeup: Beautiful Brides by Carina, Carina.....A+
I LOVE HER!!! She really did a wonderful job. Carina is so nice and really does such a beautiful job. My Maids, Mom and I looked wonderful after Carina was done with us. One of my BM doesn't wear much makeup and was really worried that she would look funny with all that makeup on was very pleased with her appearance. Carina was on time and very pleasant to work with. I would totally recommend her, in fact I already told my DH that I want a makeup lesson with her for x-mas. If you are toying with the idea of not using a makeup artist I highly suggest you reconsider. Carina knew just what makeup would look good outside, inside, in photos and in person.
On a side note; I was on the phone giving my Dad's email address to someone and Carina was like wait a second your Dad is so and so? I was like yeah. Carina said that she knew my Dad, Mom and brother because she had meet them at her day job. It was really funny that it is such a small world.
Hair: Designs Hair and Nails, Madeline.......B
I ended up using my regular stylist for my hair. I love my girl, but sometimes she isn't that consistent. So I was a little bit worried about my hair for the wedding. I had two trials with her, one looked kinda bad and the second turned out great. My girl ended up bringing two assistants with her which ended up working well for us since my sister decided at the last minute to have them do her hair. I was kinda peeved because the pins started coming out of my hair after the ceremony. My sister kept having to push the pins back it. They charged more for my sisters hair because it was long but they didn't curl the whole thing and it came out during the night. Overall she did a pretty good job but I don't think it was that great.
Rehearsal Dinner: Salt Creek Grill, Laguna Beach.....A
I will have to talk to my MIL and SIL to get the full grade because I didn't plan the RD. However, I thought it was wonderful. We had our own room which they decorated for us that looked really nice. The server were all VERY nice and helpful. One of the servers was so nice to my niece. She wanted to help pass out the cake to everyone and instead of brushing her off as a little kid she let her help. It really made my niece feel so special. I would really recommend the Salt Creek Grill. Their food was wonderful, the service is very friendly and mos importantly I never felt like they were rushing us out of the room.
Wedding & Grooms Cake: Heidelberg Bakery, Laguna Hills.....A+
I decided to go with Heidelberg Bakery in Laguna Hills. We used them for my sisters wedding a many other events, including my bridal shower. I had no doubt they would do an amazing job. The were so nice when we went in for the tasting. The owner sat with us and chatted with us while he helped us choose our cake. Our cake looked amazing and tasted wonderful. Everyone said that it was the best they had ever had. The cake was just how I wanted it. I also ordered a grooms cake with the Kings logo for the RD. It was so yummy and it really looked great. I would totally recommend Heidelberg Bakery. You will not be disappointed if you go with them!!
The bridal lunch was a total blast. I made/got the girls brunch and we went to get manicures and pedicures, it was all part of their BM gifts.
I used plumerias, from the backyard, and candles to decorate the table.
Close up of the table. You cannot see in the picture but I took pictures of my maids and I and hung them from the chandelier. It looked really cute.
My DIY bride shirt.
Yummy scones from Trader Joes.
Poor Prego sister can only drink water, no mimosas for her :(
Waiting to get pedis.
Hee hee, there goes that tongue again.
Ahhhhhh
Mom and MOH.
Daveshell1 and I.
Shelley thinks she's ghetto.
Oh we had SUCH a great time at the rehearsal dinner. We has the dinner at the Salt Creek Grill, the food was really great, and the service
Rehearsal:
The groomsman waiting for the groom and his family to arrive.
MOH (sister) and grandma waiting to get it all started.
Sexy Biach!
One of the FGs.
Grandpa.
It was a really pretty day. Maybe just a little too hot.
A GQ cover, or the groomsman? You decide ;)
DOC Jennifer Johnson trailing us to make sure everything goes perfect. She is the BEST.
My sexy ladies.
"This is how we do it"
FG showing off the ribbon bouquet.
It may have been a little bight out there.
Dad waving to the camera.
My boobs were a bit big in that dress, or should I say 'out' of that dress?
Hugging my Daddy, I got kinda emotional thinking about how he would give me away for real in only two days!!!
The girls may have found the rehearsal a tab bit boring.
Denielle (MOH) and the girls.
Ella helping her sissy walk down the aisle.
My brother telling us to 'save it for the wedding'.
See, I do have a tongue problem?
I love how cute my brother looks in this picture. It makes you wonder what they were talking about.
Daveshell1 and her FH....soon to be DH.
Dinner:
Bride and Groom...Drink 1.
Daveshell1 and her FH...... Drink 1
My cousin is kinda a freak...sadly this was only shortly after drink 1.
Grandma and Grandpa.
Bride and groom...Drink 2. Feelin a little looser.
MOH and her hubby.
Grandpa kissing daveshell1's FH, gotta love grandpa!!
FG and her grandpa.
FG looks a bit scary, she may have had a little too much sugar that night. See pictures below.
Thanking our family and bridal party.
FH opening her Disneyland passes we got her. She LOVED them.
Daveshell1 and I.
FG...too much sugar Bride....Too much champagne.
Hee hee.
Mommy and I.
The family.
My parents and DH.
LOL...just, LOL
My brother drinking out of the groomsman gift.
Bro and I.
Bro and sister.
Hee hee I like this picture.
SIL and I.
Groomsman.
Manny giving us the Magnum
Rock or Die man!!!
Mommy and brother.
My in-laws LOVE my brother. Apparently he is their new favorite.
SIL and MIL.
DH's family and I.
FH seeing is cake.
Grooms cake I got for DH from Heidelberg bakery. It was so yummy and DH really loved it.
Close up of the grooms cake.
DH loved his cake.
I mean he really loved his cake!!
My niece was soo cute. She wanted to pass out the grooms cake so bad. She had been staring at it all night. The staff at the Salt Creek in were so nice to let her help.
She did a great job.
Its ok, I'm not her Mom.
Uhhhh, apparently purple and black frosting make this...
...and this
My sister joining us in a kiss.
MIL and my Dad as we were leaving.
My parents with my Mom's dad and his new wife. It is really cool that they came to the wedding and RD. Their relationship with my family has been kinda rocky so we didn't expect them to come down. In fact they didn't come to my sisters wedding or my cousin's reception. It is really nice that things are better with them. Plus I think they had a great time.
