Wedding Dresses, Tuxes, and Apparel

Bridesmaid Dresses
We used David's Bridal for bridesmaid dresses, and got a good deal ($99/dress).  I went with sleeveless purple taffeta tea-length A-line.  Shipping was free to a local David's Bridal branch, and I arranged meetings with my bridesmaids when they were local to give the dress to them.

Bridal Reception Dress
I used this website (Lightinthebox.com) for my reception dress, which cost $139.  It was strapless, white, tea-length, and actually looked a lot like the wedding dress I borrowed.  My mom also bought her dress from here, and she looked absolutely stunning!

 
Bridal Ceremony Dress
I borrowed this from our hair and makeup artist Jennifer Sun.  Two piece A-line strapless.  Jennifer's rate included veil and hair accessories.

Bride (left), Mom (right)

Bridal Shoes
I got some really tall silver strappy shoes from a local outlet mall to wear under my huge ceremony dress.  For the reception, I used shorter silver dance shoes that I got from a local dance studio.  They were comfy all night long!

Ceremony shoes (left), reception shoes (right)

Groom and Groomsmen's Tuxes
We used Selix and got a good deal ($99/tux) with the 7th being free.  It was cheaper than Men's Wearhouse, but for good reason.  They got some of the sizes wrong on our order and our groom and ring bearer had to get those switched out before the wedding.  Also, the Selix ties are pre-made, which is great if you have guys who don't know how to tie their ties, but it also lacks the genuine feel of a real tie.

Wedding Rings
We got the groom's wedding band from Amazon.com for real cheap.  I (or rather, my now husband) got my wedding band and engagement ring from a local jeweler for a good price (almost half of what you'd purchase at Shane Co)

Tal Diamonds, Inc
Rosalind Ng
888 Brannan Street #4000, Sn Francisco, CA 94103
Office: 415-431-4600, Toll free: 800-410-0090, Fax: 415-431-5034

Wedding Vendors

DJ:  Thomas Gomez (from Discovery Bay)
This includes a review that I wrote of him... Look for "Nancy."  It's a glowing review =).
http://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/eevents-dj-services-discovery-bay/02acb5a48d40d989.html
Exquisite Events DJ Services | 925.478.1787 |www.EeventsDJ.com

Photographer:  Stephanie Secrest (from Alameda)
I wrote one review but cuz it was sooo long, I posted it under two Nancy H accounts.  In short, she's AMAZING!!  =D
http://www.yelp.com/biz/secrest-wedding-photography-alameda-2#query:stephanie%20secrest
http://secrestweddings.com/

Caterer:  Delta Breeze Club (from Fairfield)
Florist:  E&T Decorating Party (from Fairfield)
Cake:  Christine Cowan  (from Vacaville)  http://thecakeshoppevacaville.com/
The caterer and florist I used were specific to Delta Breeze Club, which are at the Air Force Base's officer's club in Fairfield.

Cake:  Lettie Cakes (we didn't use, but she's from SF)
A friend of a friend, Cheryl Woo, makes cakes as a side job and is from San Francisco.  She's cheaper if you're getting married within San Francisco, but otherwise if you're not local, her travel cost makes the price not worth it.  Always better to go with someone local to where you'll be eating the cake!
LettieCakesSF@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000939338349

Hair and Makeup:  Jennifer Sun  (from Milpitas)
The hair and makeup artist is a family friend of ours.  Her name is Jennifer Sun, and she lives in Milpitas.  She did a phenomenal job with my sister's makeup and my makeup the day of the wedding!  I was able to use her wedding dress (borrowed), and she provides hair and real-looking jewelry, as well as veil in her rates.  She only goes by referral, so contact me if interested.
picasaweb.google.com/jen.acuty

Hair and Makeup:  Michelle Woo (we didn't use, but I got a lot of my ideas for hair from her website)
Cheryl Woo's sister, Michelle Woo, does hair.  http://web.mac.com/michellewoo/iWeb/Site%205/Hair%20Portfolio.html

Her email:  michellekwoo@gmail.com

This is a makeup artist she works with:  Julianne:  http://www.prettybyjulianne.com/index.php


Wedding Videographer:  Capture Studios  (from Minnesota)
Here's our videographer's trailer from our wedding.  His name is Matthew Brue (Capture Studios), and he lives out in Minnesota.  If you can get any pitched in help from friends and family... He's well worth the pretty penny!  Simply amazing!  Nothing compares to his rates and his style (FYI, rates are travel inclusive).   http://vimeo.com/22409911
This is Matt Brue's Capture Studios blog website:  http://thecaptureblog.com/
This is his Vimeo website, which posts even more trailers of other couples!  It's really addicting!  http://vimeo.com/capturestudios

Wedding Photo Site:  TheWeddingLens.com
This is great for collecting photos from your guests not only from the wedding but also from your bridal shower, bachelorette party, bachelor party, rehearsal dinner, etc. because it's already all organized with categories. 

Yay, happy planning!  I loved BRIDES magazine, so I subscribed to that to get some more ideas.

There are also some really great blogs and wedding websites out there. 
http://www.theknot.com/
http://www.weddingchannel.com/ (we got our template for our wedding website from here, but Roger actually made our wedding website and hosted it on hsuhu.com)
http://www.weddingwire.com/
http://www.weddingmapper.com/ (this was awesome for embedding into our website)

The Angry Birds Toss: A Welcome Substitute for the Garter

The groom plus three winners of the "Garter Toss" plus a slingshot monkey that we threw in last minute (photo courtesy of John Decker)

For the record, I (the groom) only joined the Angry Birds bandwagon because of an opportunity to try something different for our wedding.  Thanks to Amazon's new Android app store, I recently downloaded and installed the latest Rio game on a HTC smartphone given to me during an Oprah moment from Google's I/O developer conference two years ago.  On this phone, which is already well behind the latest generation of smartphones, the Angry Birds screech and fly across the screen like slow-motion bullets from The Matrix movie.  Despite the aged phone and incredibly slow lag time, you can still get the general idea of how to play the game by watching the YouTube promo videos and waiting the 2-seconds between when you touch and drag the birds towards the left and when you actually hear the tension of the slingshot with the birds suiting up for duty. 

My inspiration for looking for other options beyond the traditional garter toss (the custom in which the groom removes this garment from his bride and then flings this piece of fabric at many unwilling bachelors) stems from my own experience.  I had been to enough weddings that I remembered the reluctant feelings when summoned to participate, once even keeping my hands in my pockets as the garter bounced directly off me and onto the floor at a cousin's wedding.  I was determined to find an alternate form of entertainment that everyone would enthusiastically embrace.

The bride getting ready to launch a "Mooooo"-ing slingshot cow
at her single ladies for her "Bouquet Toss" (photo courtesy of John Decker)

I first stumbled upon these slingshot monkeys and slingshot cows, which had two finger slots that let you fling them across the dance floor and would make an animal sound in flight.  My fiance at the time was stoked at the idea, especially since she loves cows and wanted to make her "Bouquet toss" unique as well.  I knew this was a start, but I wanted something to up the ante on the outrageous scale for our "Garter toss."  It's when I came across these 5" beaked animals that I realized that we could use them for our wedding and invite not only the eligible bachelors but also kids to vie for the prize.  I decided to order 3 of the different birds, splurging an extra $5 for the more popular blue Angry Bird, the one that normally splits into multiple warheads when you tap the screen as it's flying through the air. 

But what would we use for our slingshot?  It's easy for the creators of the game to imagine a propelling device that could defy the laws of physics and cause the birds to have enough potential energy to crash into wood and cement, but my fiance and I discovered while practicing that the slingshots in real life only worked for small marbles.  The stuffed birds with their large diameters just didn't clear the slingshot holds, much less have enough of a seat cushion to keep the birds in place as the rubber tubing was being stretched.  

The groom plus groomsman and groomsman's wife getting ready to
launch the most prized of the Angry Birds (photo courtesy of Stan Hu)

Enter the idea of using water balloon launchers: in the days before water conservation, my brothers and I used to play in the summer with squirt guns and water weenies, which gravitated me towards thinking about what could be used to hurl H2O-based grenades.  These toys were advertised to launch balloons more than 140 yards, well past the length of a football field let alone a dance floor.  I tried to order one off UPS Next-Day delivery, but it got delayed in its shipment and therefore wouldn't arrive in time.  In the hopes that we could find a replacement the day before the wedding, I texted my brother Jeff, a groomsman, to see if he could check whether the local Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Fairfield, CA had one in stock without fully disclosing its intended purpose.  "No problem", he said.  (Later, he said jokingly about this unusual request: "I don't ask questions...I just follow orders.")  Fortunately, the local Big 5 closed late and he bought one for $20 after our rehearsal of the ceremony.  The groomsmen and I had fun practicing the next morning on the dance floor without any of the guests present in the room.

One of our guests who so proudly caught the yellow Angry Bird
for his girlfriend who asked him to catch one for her (photo courtesy of Stan Hu)

The first bird flew well into the air above the draping near the ceiling and past most of our expecting guests, and it became a mad dash for the men to grab that first one on the ground.  We heard that some guys had reshuffled their positions to increase their chances of being in the line of fire the second time around.  I had been a bit afraid that the birds might launch into the reception tables, knock down one of the candles, and ignite a small conflagration, so we purposely aimed the birds from one corner of the dance floor to another and away from any of the guest tables.  The second and third birds were launched at about the same altitude, and two guys were incredibly proud to catch them, one even leaping to the air to grab the yellow bird (see picture above).

"This was so much more awesome than a garter toss!" said one of our guests.  In general, we received compliments on all the twists and turns of the entire event, including this last piece of entertainment.  It really helped cap the evening and epitomized how we tried to keep the attendees on their toes throughout the entire day.

(If you're planning to try your own Angry Birds toss, please heed these cautionary words about candle lighting so that you'll be able to avoid any fire emergencies! Only you can prevent wedding fires!)