By Ami Sampat
Jessica and Matthew’s wedding was a true San Francisco wedding.
Jessica found her dress at Bridal Galleria, where she say s the staff was, “really friendly, professional, and knew exactly what I wanted, even when I didn’t really know what I wanted.” The groom found his suit at Nordstrom’s in downtown. 
The dessert was cake and a cupcake tower provided by BiRite Creamery in San Francisco. There were two types of cupcakes: midnight chocolate cake with butter cream with cocoa nibs sprinkled on top and a blondie cupcake with marcona almonds and sea salt on top. Jessica and Matthew cut a mini cake topper of midnight chocolate. The bride and groom also got Izzie’s sodas for their guests and hired a beverage server from BiRite Creamery.
The music was provided by a solo guitarist from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Out the Door program. They were inexpensive and set a wonderful tune for the ceremony.
Chairs are one of those things that can be overlooked when planning a wedding, but they are very essential. Jessica and Matthew found great chair vendors who were very helpful. Not only did the vendors give them a great price, they also helped disassemble chairs that were still present at the venue from the event previous and assemble the chairs for the wedding at no extra cost.
Jessica had a picture of exactly the kind of bouquet she wanted and was pleasantly surprised when a small flower shop, Not Just Flowers replicated it down to the last petal.
The venue, Le Colonial, provided the food, alcohol, flower decoration and so on. The bride and groom took care of the rest of the things needed for the wedding.
A wedding is such a special ocassion overall, but one of Jessica’s favorite moments of the wedding was when they walked into the reception hall, with the DJ introducing them as “Mr. and Mrs. Montes” for the first time. As she entered the reception area, she saw her family and friends, dressed to the nines, laughing, clapping, and cheering for them, while the song “I Choose You” by Willie Hutch was playing in the background.
One tip that Jessica would give to those that are currently planning their own weddings would be to not waver from your decisions. Don’t let your family pressure you into doing something you are not fond of, she advises. The bride and groom wanted a small wedding, of about 100 people, while their parents wanted around 200 people. It was hard for them to put their foot down and insist on having a small wedding, but they are so glad they did. Approximately 90 people were at their wedding and Jessica and Matthew were able to talk to each and every guest, which was important to them, while being able to dance with each other.
Having planned and executed a beautiful Bay Area wedding, Jessica says that one of the most important things she learned was to not overwhelm yourself with too many ideas. Having read so many bridal magazines and websites, Jessica and Matthew found themselves second guessing all their selections. They realized that they had to stop overloading themselves with information and believe in what they were doing. And sure enough, everything came out exactly how they wanted!
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