back on the blog--our wedding details

as many of you know, james and i had been planning our own wedding over the past few months, and we just got married on saturday, march 28, so that explains our very long absence from the blog. we are super far behind in posting, but i wanted to take the chance to share with you some of our fabulous pictures, posted on our photographers' blog and our wedding details as we have had some questions on where we got everything.

here are the details: we got married at the la jolla financial building, which has an awesome patio and is catered by norm bradley at the imperial house, and is super affordable. norm is so easy to work with and will do anything and everything to make your day extra special. andrea roy at gila rut salon in hillcrest was responsible for my amazing bridal hair (and the rest of the stylists at the salon did all the bridal party) and jennifer emerick from stila transformed me to be beautiful on my wedding day. and if you were wondering how james and i looked so buff (in james' case) or toned (in my case), we owe a special thanks to chris adams at 24 hour fitness in mission valley, our personal trainer who got us into the best shape he could (considering we didn't give up our cheeseburgers).

for the most part, we used smaller vendors with whom we had a relationship, and we weren't disappointed. jeff and erin youngren of the youngrens captured the magic of the day, and fit in perfectly with our wedding party--everyone commented on what a great job they did all night long, and they are super fun to work with. we are so glad we chose them as our wedding photographers, and knew from our first meeting they were the ones for us.

our cake was from crumbs of paris, chocolate and vanilla cake with chocolate chip filling, it was absolutely delicious--we got so many compliments which is rarely the case with wedding cake. all the flowers were done by michelle shumard at sweet pea flower company, she did an amazing job and designed exactly what we were looking for at a price that was extremely competitive. gary davis from sounds perfect entertainment provided all our entertainment, and he did an absolutely fabulous job not just with the music, but he made sure we never wanted for anything throughout the entire evening. the music was great and the party didn't slow down once (we'll post our playlist later). rae peterson provided our day-of coordination, and she did a great job ensuring that all the details were taken care of.

we bought candy and cookie jars from the container store and had our friends and family make cookies for the favors, super personal and very yummy, they were a huge hit with everyone and very affordable. the lanterns were from asian ideas, an online store that sells everything asian and ships it super fast. gary brought the lights and hung the lanterns (with a special thanks to atlas for the decorating advice!) which made the tent look magical for the reception.

finally, i got my dress from isis bridal, which is the perfect bridal salon, located in mira mesa. they have dresses in every price range and the service is excellent, so much better than the larger salons in the area. the bridesmaid dresses were from david's bridal, cotton with pockets, super-comfy and really affordable, and the shoes were from target. james got his and the groomsmens' gear from macy's--all calvin klein suits which we got at an amazing price, much better than renting.

we had the most amazing wedding, everything was exactly what we had wanted, and we are enjoying a relaxing honeymoon now in hawaii. we'll be back posting pictures soon, aloha!