Love. Wear. Return.

That’s the tagline for Rent the Runway, an online retailer that lets you borrow high end fashion for less.

I was considering borrowing a friend’s never-worn wedding jewelry but then I came across this fantastic piece for $50 for 4 days (retail $375). I think it’ll go swell with the hair accessory I’m getting from Etsy’s Pegasus Maiden with the coordinating feather below.

Ciner Antique Cascading Crystal Necklace (Rent the Runway, $50)

Velora by Pegasus Maiden (Etsy.com)

Pink feather for Velora

This real wedding story and all of the wonderful photographs associated with it were submitted by Bay Area wedding photographer Sabrina Wong.  Thank you for sharing!

Katherine and Rudy’s wedding was very much about the love they share with each other as well as with their family and friends.  Their intimate wedding ceremony was held under the beautiful rotunda of City Hall in San Francisco.  After the ceremony, they had a fun cocktail style reception in Union Square where more friends and family helped them celebrate and they danced the night away.  Katherine and Rudy were able to reflect their own style and truly made their guests a part of their special day.

Sabrina Wong Photography

• Everything about Katherine’s attire, from the veil headpiece that she made herself down to her teal blue heels, showed Katherine’s fun and stylish taste.
• Katherine was whisked from the hotel to City Hall in a red Mini Cooper.  Rudy waited anxiously for Katherine to arrive and when he finally saw the Mini approaching, he excitedly ran to open the car door for Katherine.  This was the first time they saw each other that day and tears of happiness immediately welled up in Katherine’s eyes as Rudy held her bouquet and helped her out of the car.  The cutest part was when Katherine pulled out a handkerchief to dab away the tears while they both laughed with joy.
• Friends and family were included in the event through the blessing of the rings.  Before Katherine and Rudy made their grand entrance at the reception and exchanged their vows
  

  Blessing of The Rings

  and rings, everyone had a chance to bless the rings.  All the guests held a part of a long, silk ribbon that zig-zagged across the room.  The rings were placed on the ribbon, and each guest sent the newlyweds their best wishes when the rings got to them.

• Included in the endless spread of delicious food was a Yucatan food called Panuchos.  This was special because Rudy introduced Katherine to Panuchos early in their courtship, and it quickly became one of her favorite foods!

Congratulations Katherine and Rudy!

One of the first steps in wedding planning is the photoshoot that comes after the engagement. The Bay Area is filled with so many scenic locations it can be a daunting task to pick a place. We at Bay Area Bride Guide have come up with a handy list of some of the best engagement photo spots in San Francisco.

1) Golden Gate Bridge

Nothing screams “Bay Area wedding” quite like a photo shoot with theiconic Golden Gate Bridge in the background.  There is no better place for an engagement photo shoot than the Golden Gate.

2) Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park provides you with the perfect backdrop: miles and miles of lush greenery.

3) Palace of Fine Arts

It is no surprise that this place provides for some stunning photos. ThePalace of Fine Arts is so beautifully structured that it would be impossible to take any bad pictures there!

4) San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden

Situated inside the Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden boasts well-manicured lawns and unique architecture.

5) Fan Favorite: Legion of Honor

When we posted this poll on our Facebook page, the overwhelming response was for the Legion of Honor. The Legion of Honor is a fine arts museum in San Francisco, It’s beautiful white pillared building makes for wonderful black and white photos. The area around it is also picturesque with green grass and a fountain of water.

We welcome feedback and suggestions of your favorite places for a photo shoot that may have no made our list!

Images sourced from Wikipedia, Michael A. Levin Photography, Amoeba.com, Ron Niebrugge Photography,  and LAstheplace.com

By Erin Frank

Flowers + Vase = Centerpiece…right?  What about putting a spin on this basic principle?  Skip the cut blooms that die out in days. Try centerpieces tailor-made for their little glass houses by Botany Factory.

Based in San Francisco, Botany Factory, specifically plant pro Katie Goldman Macdonald, creates terrific terrariums that are like a green thumb’s version of a ship in a bottle, full of twee plants that are cleverly combined. Katie works with Oakland-based glass artist, Evan Kolker, to come up with hand-blown glass shapes for her creations. Put one of these beauties on each table and you’ll be sure to blow a few minds.  Give them as gifts after the wedding to close family and friends who helped out at the event, but be sure to keep one for yourself as a treasured keepsake from the day.

By Megan Peters

If you have not already read my bio, than you may not know that a few years ago I became a certified wedding planner. I always have been asked to help with friend and family parties.  Then it started to pick up through referral and finally I hunkered down and became certified. I realized this was my calling, and I just have to listen to it and follow wear my heart is. So it’s official I am a wedding and event planner!

I guess I was just born with an artistic eye, the ability to multi-task, and be very organized. It’s like second nature to me. I am thrilled that my company has taken off with flying colors. I feel incredibly thankful for all that has come my way, and each experience just strengthens me and prepares me even more for the next event. I absolutely have enjoyed all my clients this past year and look forward to what this industry has to offer me in the years to come. It is wedding season now, which means my life is full of meeting clients, vendors, and getting quite crafty with DIY projects.

I have a handful of bride clients who grew up in the Bay Area but live out of town and are coming back here to have their weddings. What a great idea, California is such a beautiful place to get married. However this means they are trying to plan an out of town wedding. Which is why I step in to be there second pair of hands and eyes as their local liaison to plan their Bay Area Wedding right.

As well as having these types of weddings another very popular client are those on a budget, and who isn’t these days? My company La Vita Bella Events now offers a Day-of-Wedding Planner Package, which is very budget friendly and enables the bride, groom, wedding party and family to truly enjoy the event and be the guests, not the helping hands. As well as help the wedding run smoothly and look beautiful.

Which leads me to say this; even if you are a DIY bride from start to finish on your actual wedding day you will want and need someone there to be the go-to gal. So that you the bride can actually enjoy your wedding day, as it should be, stress free. Even me, the Plus Size Bride to be and wedding planner will have my very own helping hands from Vera from Va De Vie Events as my personal Day-of-Wedding planner. I highly finding a planner that is right for you.

By Lauren and Haney

We see our wedding as an opportunity to bring together those in our past and present—and those who will be a part of our future, and we are working to make the entire experience fun and simple for all so we can maximize the time we have with these very special people. Without our friends and family, we, as individuals or as a couple, wouldn’t be who we are today.

We are trying to create a stress-free environment for everyone by making logistics easier for our guests. While it does take extra work to plan ahead, it’s definitely worth the effort. Here are some of the ways we’ve attempted to add a personal touch to our destination wedding planning approach:

1. Hotel Discounts: We have hotel blocks at 4 different hotels, and this allows for diversity in prices and atmosphere. Each is within walking distance of the reception venue.
2. Airfare Discounts: United Airlines is giving our guests discounts on their lowest published fares to the Bay Area for our guests. We worked with United to strike this deal.
3. Early Communication: Destination wedding etiquette says invitations should be sent 6 months to 1 year in advance, and save the date cards should be sent earlier! Keeping with this rule of thumb, we sent our invitations early to ensure our guest had enough time to plan.
4. Website: We used Wedshare to design our website, and this is a 24/7 resource for our guests. It also keeps communication simple and consistent. We included travel information, background about us as a couple, and wedding party information.
5. Transportation: Our website has public transit and airline information, and we are also coordinating transportation to various wedding events, including a bus on the wedding day so our guests don’t have to drive and coordinated transportation for the wedding party for other events like the rehearsal.
6. Personalized Information: When our guests arrive they will receive a packet of wedding information including a schedule of events and local area information.  They will also get in advance the bios that we are writing for our guests so they know who they’re sitting with and have info they can use to strike up conversation.
7. Outreach: We send regular emails to our guest list; these blasts help communicate important travel and wedding information, and it helps our guests plan better.  We limit to one or two a month and do not mix informational topics; we also don’t want to overwhelm our guests with too much information.

We made our plan well in advance, and then we had to work our plan. Our goal is to maximize simplicity and convenience; this way everyone can relax and celebrate more.

Stay tuned, because next week we’ll help you jumpstart your invitations and executing your aesthetic theme.

By Elizabeth Zachry

Do you have a beauty schedule for your wedding month/week/day? If so, I bet that your schedule probably includes some (if not all) of the following items

1. Spray Tan
2. Hair cut or extensions
3. Hair-do Trial
4. Make-Up Trial
5. Hair/Make-up On Wedding Day

Would you believe me if I said everything on your list can be covered by one person??  No, I am not crazy, and I have a new haircut that I love, along with some great photos highlighting Rachel’s work, that prove my point. 

I first met Rachel Browning at a Malibu Wedding I went to a few weeks ago.   When I heard that she spray-tanned the bridal party, did the bride’s extensions, up-do and make-up, and styled the bridesmaids, I was amazed.  Everyone looked fabulous!

Rachel is located in Oakland at Weeds Salon and travels throughout the Bay Area to work with brides on their special day.  Your beauty to-do list seems simplified with Rachel because she is a one-stop shop for everything you need beauty related.  She started out in high school, helping people style their hair for dances, but it was not until she was on vacation in Vegas that the styling bug bit her.  After spending the weekend styling her friend’s hair for their nights out on the town, Rachel realized that the best way to make a living would be doing what she loved, so she went to the Paul Mitchell School to become a hairdresser.

With over fifty weddings under her belt, Rachel has come to cherish her moments working with brides and loves the feeling that she has contributed to making her client’s wedding day perfect.  I do not think I could say it better than she did, saying “I get to make dreams come true. What could be better?”

Rachel is a natural with a curling iron, hairspray, and make-up wand, so of course I asked her for some tips to share!

• Go to your own stylist to ask for advice because he/she knows your hair the best.
• Have a basic hair/make-up look in mind.
• Be reasonable with your demands!
• Think about how your overall style will look with your dress.
• If possible, do a trial.   This will help you with peace of mind.
• After the trial take photos after 2hrs, 4hrs, etc to see how it will hold up throughout the ceremony and reception.

Rachel and I chatted throughout my hair cut and I can tell that her friendly and relaxed attitude would be perfect for a wedding day to help off-set the anxiousness of the bride.  I hope she is free in July to style my hair for my friend’s wedding!

Contact Info:

Rachel Browning –

Pricing and a short bio can be found on the Weeds Salon website:

http://www.weedssalon.com/rachel.html

By Guest Blogger Louis Wertz

We all know that the Bay Area is full of spectacular sites for outdoor weddings. Bay Area Bride Guide has given you the rundown on a host of them. Those most profiled places tend to be out in the suburbs or further. But what if you want to say “I Do” under the canopy of heaven? These five outdoor wedding venues within San Francisco provide spectacular settings for your special day. But remember, weather in The City is most reliably sunshiney in the rain-free indian summer, about late August to mid-October, and do have a bad-weather backup plan at hand.

5. Baker Beach

You would be hard pressed to have a more memorable vista for your vows than the view from Baker Beach. The Golden Gate Bridge in the background makes for a perfectly romantic symbol of love and connection, and unlike nearby China Beach with its 50 guest limit and difficult parking, the limit on guests at Baker is set at 200. Permits are required and are available from the GGNRA; more information is here.

4. Alamo Square Park

Remember that amazing park where the Tanner family has a picnic in the opening sequence to everyone’s favorite TGIF sitcom, Full House? This is the park. And that view is still spectacular, with the Painted Ladies (a series of historic Victorian homes) in the foreground and the downtown skyline and Bay Bridge behind. Beware though, parking near this park is very difficult to find, and parallel parking on the steep hills that surround Alamo Square may have your out of town guests arriving in fits. Get a permit to reserve your spot and get advice about logistics from the city parks permit line at (415) 831-5500.

3. Sigmund Stern Grove

This slice of San Francisco’s pre-urban landscape lies in San Francisco’s Sunset District fog belt, which narrows your wedding window, but exchanging vows beneath its ageless redwood trees and towering eucalypts practically guarantees a splendid event. Plus, the historic and beautifully restored Trocadero clubhouse in the Grove makes the perfect place for the reception and a bad weather backup plan. Plus, plentiful parking and a driveway up to the Trocadero means everyone can arrive and leave in style.

2. Conservatory of Flowers

This Golden Gate Park icon has room for small weddings inside (<40 guests), but that’s just fine, because when you’re inside, you can’t see this perfect white wedding cake of a building. The delightfully landscaped grounds in front of the Conservatory greenhouse (make sure you ask to talk to the gardeners about when they have re-plantings scheduled) are a great spot for an intimate ceremony. The grounds are very popular on sunny summer weekends with locals, so beware that you’ll have a wide variety of “uninvited guests” looking on from nearby. The Conservatory has its own thoroughly helpful event planner who can help you make arrangements. Email Morgan Davis at , or call at 415-846-0538.

1. Palace of Fine Arts Rotunda

This neo-classical wonder designed for San Francisco’s 1915 Panama-Pacific exposition by renowned Bay Area architect Bernard Maybeck provides the sort of timeless backdrop for a ceremony that imbues everyone present with a sense of peace and serenity. From the huge columns and dome to the turtles and swans paddling about in the pond just beyond, everything about this place seems designed to host an unforgettable wedding. The space accommodates up to 250 guests. Permits are required; speak with a helpful representative at the permit department at (415) 831-5500 for information. Reservations can, and should, be made a year to the date in advance, especially if you’re planning for a summer weekend.

Got your wedding in the works at another awesome outdoor venue in The City? Celebrate a friend or family members’ wedding at a special spot in SF? Share it with our readers! Comment below.

By Erin Frank

If you’re looking for eye-catching scenery, a destination escape for your guests, and great pours at your wedding, nothing beats getting married in wine country.  This week I had the good fortune to attend the wedding of William and Sabine Wallis at Calistoga Ranch in Calistoga, California.  About a two-hour drive from San Francisco, heading to Calistoga Ranch lets you pass (and stop in at) dozens of wineries in Sonoma and Napa Valley on your way to the wedding celebration.  The Ranch sprawls over 157 acres and encompasses 48 guest lodges and 23 owner lodges, private dining in The Lakehouse, which overlooks Lake Lommel, special events in The Wine Cave, and treatments in The Bathhouse Spa.

Cold drinks and parasols kicked off a sunny afternoon as guests gathered for the ceremony.  After the vows were exchanged we enjoyed cocktails on the lawn until golf carts arrived to carry guests to The Wine Cave.  The Wine Cave is a series of rooms carved into the hillside and is perfect for intimate special events. While you won’t see barrels of wine stored here, it has the feel of an authentic wine cave with all the amenities needed for a smoothly-run event.

Dinner was a smashing success.  With each course a new wine pairing was poured, and the food was excellent California cuisine with bright flavors and fresh ingredients.  Courses included Asparagus Salad with King Trumpet Mushrooms and Sherry Vinaigrette; Caramelized Diver Scallops with White Corn, Cherry Tomatoes, English Peas and Lemon Oil; and Pan Seared Salmon, Leeks Fondue, Cippolinis and Salsa Verde.  The scallop dish in particular was fresh and flavorful, with great local flavor in the vegetables. The whole meal was quite possibly the best I’ve ever had at a wedding.

The wine cave accommodated approximately 80 people at two long tables, leaving room for a modest dance floor.  Despite the generous pours of wine at dinner, the most popular area was the bar, located in an adjoining room with cozy chairs and a large table to gather around.

From an outsider’s perspective, the Calistoga Ranch staff was a team of events professionals, working quickly and efficiently to cater to every guests’ needs.  The whole look of it seemed casual yet chic, and certainly well in hand.  Even the bride and groom looked relaxed—a feat that receives high marks in my book when considering a wedding venue.  Guests staying overnight after the Saturday wedding had all day Sunday to meander home, tasting and trying at the various wineries, champagneries and restaurants that dot the Silverado Trail.  It was a fairytale ending for all…well, all of us who love champagne.

Calistoga Ranch

580 Lommel Road

Calistoga, CA 94515

(707) 254-2800

www.calistogaranch.com