By Elizabeth Zachry

How many of you have been to weddings where you leave with a photo of the bride and groom, a mug with their names and the date, or any number of cute, but useless, trinkets?  I definitely have, so I made it my mission to help my friend come up with a useful and cute favor.  During my search I discovered “The Perfect Pair” slogan, and websites went overboard offering different pear shaped items including cookies, candles, salt and pepper shakers, and even soap.  After a while I noticed that the simplest option of them all was missing: an actual pear!

Instead of buying any of the above-mentioned pear shaped items, why not take an actual pear, and tie a tag to the stem?  As a favor, labels could be printed on cardstock with the name of the bride and groom and the date, and the ribbon and cardstock could match the wedding colors.  They could also be turned into a great place card by including the name of the guest.

Pear Place Card From Sunset Magazine

In addition to reducing waste by providing everyone with an edible gift, guests would have a tasty and healthy treat to take home that they will actually use and enjoy.  Now, the trick is to get married while pears are in season!

Elizabeth Hurley Photography - Michelle & Ben

For this Thursday’s scoop, I’d like you to meet Elizabeth Hurley. No, not Hugh Grant’s ex. I’m talking about a talented San Francisco wedding photographer with an exquisite eye, organic and earthy style and easy on the budget without sacrificing quality!

I met Elizabeth (Beth) at a wedding fair at the Four Seasons a couple weeks ago. I was immediately impressed by her style: vintage wire baskets held 11×14 mats dedicated to three unique weddings and the tables were accented with branches and peonies. Beth was also very friendly and flipping through the photos, I sensed that her clients were relaxed and clearly felt comfortable with Beth’s direction.

Visit Beth’s blog for recent weddings and reviews, and her website to browse her photo galleries, including horses! She also shares with us some tidbits about herself as well as some great photos below:

1. Why did you decide to go into photography? What are you passionate about?
I have been a photographer since I can remember. I started out at 10 years old with a Kodak Disk Camera, which I used to document my very exciting life. I continued to study photography throughout High School and College and my camera just became an extension of the way that I viewed the world!  So I am not so sure that I decided to go into photography, as much as photography became a part of me!

My wedding photography business was born of my passion for photography and the need to do something I love everyday!  Needless to say, I am most passionate about taking pictures, of documenting the people and places that are part of my life.  I consider myself to be a visual record keeper — archiving the extraordinary events that make up life.  Simply said, my passion is for documenting people and their connections to the world!

Elizabeth Hurley Photography - Rachel & Steve

Elizabeth Hurley Photography - Win & Hannah

Elizabeth Hurley Photography - Michelle & Ben

Somewhere in my wedding notebook I found a scrawled phrase HEY LADY SHOES.COM. I’m not sure where it came from or why I originally wrote it down, but it might have been the wedding fairy. These shoes are totally rad.

The designers and founders of the company are sisters based in Palo Alto whose mission it was to create the “anti-dyeable, actually dance-able wedding shoe.” These girls are not messing around. Their shoes have full arch support and some crazy NASA-developed material insole commonly found in running shoes.  Each design comes in both 3-inch and 4-inch versions. The taller heels have platforms so that the angle of the foot stays the same. Why haven’t shoe designers thought of this before?

The prices clock in at around $200-300, so they’re not cheap, but how many expensive pairs of shoes have I bought that were also insanely UNcomfortable? Sensible expensive shoes would be a step up from ridiculous expensive shoes. I haven’t tried any on yet, but I know the Unique Bride in Burlingame carries them. I’ll keep you all updated…

Marry Me Live Guest Post

We often immediately think of the Sonoma and Napa area when grapes and more importantly wine comes to mind. In reality, we have so many local wineries in our backyard spanning from the Peninsula, to the North Bay, and even in the East Bay. These wineries range from small family vineyards to large generations old estates. So often overlooked, these local wineries make a great option for your “staycation” wedding spot, and an easy way to cut down on travel emissions.

I would like to introduce you to a cluster of wineries located in the Livermore Valley. In this post, I will give you a brief glimpse of the area and some starting points allowing you to explore and delve into the details at your own leisure. The Livermore Wine Country hosts over 40 wineries throughout Castro Valley, Sunol, Pleasanton, and Livermore region with many that have on-site wedding spaces or event spaces affiliated with the winery. For example, the Palm Event Center in Pleasanton (see photo above) sits next to Mitchell Katz Winery while Garre Vinyard and Winery hosts multiple weddings options on their grounds.

Sourced from LVWA

To start you off on this journey, a great resource to check out is the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association which details wineries that provide wedding services along with all the contact information to reach out to them. This is just a quick overview to help you get going in your search for the perfect winery location. Look out for follow-up posts with dedicated blog entries highlighting a few wineries that are not only wedding friendly, but also promote sustainable practices!

By Erin Frank

Choosing your wedding cake is about more than just baked goods—it’s an experience. From the tasting, to the planning and design, to the baker herself, everything should come together to give you the best possible feeling for your big day. And, if you’re really lucky, by the time you are done your cake designer will feel like a good friend.

I met the talented Tracy Auseklis of The Buttercream Studio at the San Francisco Wedding Fair at the Four Seasons last week and just had the pleasure of meeting her one-on-one for a bit of follow-up and cake tasting. You immediately feel like Tracy is your pal, someone who is on your side to help make your wedding day fabulous. This Columbia grad and former city planner turned foodie years ago, baking cakes for family and friends and working in pastry kitchens and restaurants. When she got engaged in 2007 the joy of designing her own wedding cake led to scrapping her plans for a big, fancy wedding of her own in order to buy a bakery instead. After tying the knot at City Hall, followed by cocktails and cake (naturally), Tracy opened The Buttercream Studio in South San Francisco.

The Buttercream Studio uses recipes of both Tracy’s creation and variations on those shared by cake designers at the top of the profession to make rich, velvety cakes with creamy frosting. In addition to traditional chocolate and vanilla, the bakery’s menu includes flavors like Lemon Butter Cake with Lemon Curd, Raspberries and Cream Cheese Frosting, Strawberry Cake with White Chocolate Mousse, and Belgian Chocolate Cake with Oreo Buttercream. Do you have a favorite flavor that’s not on her list? Custom flavors are welcome. The Buttercream Studio’s cakes are made from a butter-based batter, baked to light and fluffy perfection rather than the typical spongy wedding cake you’ll find, and the cake is never frozen. This allows for greater stability and support for tall, tiered cakes and specialty orders, and makes the cakes taste just as good as they look. The frostings, other than the cream cheese version like the one you’ll find on the Old Fashioned Red Velvet Cake, are a delicious Italian merengue buttercream. For sculpted cakes Tracy’s fondant is all made by hand in the studio.

The designs for Buttercream’s cakes are inspired by anything Tracy sees: from a swatch of fabric to a ruffle or a terrific floral arrangement, or any bride’s wildest desire. No challenge is too great—take for example the cake she created for San Francisco’s celebration of Barack Obama’s inauguration which was a replica of the White House, or the specialty cake she made for a Yahoo! celebration, a behemoth of an order made to serve over 3500 guests.

The Buttercream Studio doesn’t stop at traditional wedding cakes. Tracy’s specialty cakes are perfect for bridal showers, rehearsal dinners and grooms cakes. From a Coach purse stuffed with a champagne bottle made of out sugar, to a suitcase cake perfect for a travel-loving couple, her designs are inventive and authentic. And for the DIY bride The Buttercream Studio offers classes for making and decorating with buttercream or fondant, as well as an intensive 2-day crash course in decorating cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. There’s something for every bride here, and Tracy will make you feel nothing but welcome. Happy tasting!

The Buttercream Studio is located at 158 South Spruce Avenue in South San Francisco, 415-730-3313.

Tastings are by appointment only. Suitcase photo courtesy of The Buttercream Studio.

by Erin Frank

Paulette Knight knows ribbon. Currently the owner of The Ribbonerie, a charming Presidio Heights shop filled with colorful ribbons straight out of a fairytale, Paulette has been in the ribbon business for 25 years. After discovering wire-edged ribbon on a trip to France, Paulette tracked down a manufacturer, set up shop as a wholesale buyer and became the original importer of French wired ribbon to the US. Years later she opened a retail store, eventually sharing this quaint corner shop for the past 2 ½ years with Thistledown Cottage Gardens, a boutique florist making unique arrangements. Paulette has seen every trend, color, and design in the book. Her ribbons are sourced from around the world, with scouts keeping an eye out overseas for the vintage French ribbons she adores. Whether you are looking for a basic ribbon in the right shade for tying favors and programs, or a wide, fancy brocade ribbon to showcase in a custom wedding dress, this is the place for you. And while brides flock to the store for ribbons in hues and textures to complement their dresses, bouquets and décor, they aren’t the only ones. The Ribbonerie caters to everyone from sewers, crafters, and florists to the woman who makes pasties for strippers. The selection at The Ribbonerie doesn’t stop at just ribbons. Paulette carries a carefully curated selection of buttons, rhinestone chain, Victorian calling cards, vintage French lace, embroidered handkerchiefs, and other sweet notions. Be sure to check out the 50% off rack, plus the discontinued spools sold in bulk for a steal. The Ribbonerie is a treasure trove for brides looking to infuse their wedding with one-of-a-kind, colorful, feminine details.

The Ribbonerie is located at 3695 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94118, phone: (415)-626-6184. Open Mon-Sat 10am to 5:30pm

As a recently named maid of honor in my friend’s wedding, I’ve been exploring new ideas for interesting (and inexpensive) party favors for bridal showers, bachelorette parties, and even the wedding itself.  As it turns out, caramel apples could easily be incorporated into any shower or wedding.  Everyone loves caramel apples, and while traditionally thought of as a holiday treat, they could easily be made and enjoyed any time of the year.

What originally started as my “quick” answer to a fun gift turned into a slightly messy project with a very tasty finished product.

Recipe:

• Apples
• Caramel (approximately 14oz for each 5 apples, and if you’re really ambitious you can make your own caramel)
• Apple sticks
• Chocolate
• Shortening
• Toppings

Wash and dry the apples and remove the stems.  Securely insert the wooden sticks into the top of the apple.  Melt the caramel (with 1-2 tablespoons of water for each 14oz of caramel) in a microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes and then stir. Alternate microwaving for one minute and stirring, continuing until the caramel is completely melted.  Dip each apple into the caramel, and place the finished apples onto parchment paper (or wax paper sprayed with cooking spray).  Once the caramel on the apples hardens (approximately 20-30 minutes), melt the chocolate, with 1 tablespoon of shortening for every cup of chocolate, by heating the mixture in the microwave on one minute intervals and stirring.  Gently dip the apples in the chocolate and then sprinkle with desired toppings.

After much time spent melting, dipping, and drizzling, I finally had a finished product!  Once tied up with some cellophane and ribbon they looked nearly professional.

Based on this recent experience, these are my tips:

1. Be careful with the initial caramel dip.  Make sure to let the caramel run off before setting the apples on parchment paper or you will end up with a puddle of caramel.
2. Instead of simply dunking the apple in the caramel, it is easier to lightly roll the apple through the caramel, also helping prevent the dreaded caramel puddle.
3. When covering the chocolate apples in other goodies (i.e., nuts, graham cracker crumbs, or coconut) sprinkling tends to work better than rolling.
4. Choose toppings that are lightweight, because the heavier toppings tend to slide down the chocolate instead of sticking.
5. Be creative and have fun!!  One of my favorite apples looked ridiculous because it was covered in banana chips and marshmallows that kept sliding down the apple and were grouped near the bottom, with some nuts sprinkled on top to hide the tracks from the sliding candy.

This would also be a great activity for a bridal shower.  I’m considering having everyone decorate an apple and awarding a prize for most creative.  This way it’s an activity and a party favor wrapped into one.  If  you want to pass these out as a favor for a shower or the wedding, some ideas would be to match the candy and ribbon to the wedding colors, or affix a sticker or tag with the couple’s name and the date or even a photo.

Now for the fun part…slice up an apple and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Hi, there! My name is Vera D. and I’m a bride blogger planning my 10-10-10 wedding. Every Thursday, I’m going to introduce you to vendors local to the Bay Area that you should consider in your search.  I’ve found these vendors on my own, probably like you have — combing wedding websites, blogs, online review sites, Craigslist, you name it.

In the coming weeks, you’ll be meeting an affordable jeweler with ethereal tastes, the most outgoing hair stylist I’ve ever met to date, and a down-to-earth photographer with a great eye.

On this inaugural post, I’m pleased to introduce you to Aaron Lee, of Aaron Lee Films, based in San Francisco, whom Corina Beczner of Vibrant Events recommended. I’ve enjoyed Aaron’s videos, as seen on his website, and his amiable personality shines through!

Mike and Melissa by Aaron Lee Films

1. Why did you decide to go into video? What are you passionate about?
My father was a network news correspondent, so I think I started off in T.V. as a news cameraman in an effort to follow in his footsteps. At the time of course, I thought I was doing it because I actually enjoyed the process of covering “the news.” There was a lot of excitement, danger, and intense emotion. I was operating as a successful freelance content provider, and selling 100 stories a year to local and network news outlets. I did develop a genuine passion for going after “the story”, but the repeated exposure to tragedy, and long overnight hours were taking their toll on my psyche. Plus my wife and I wanted to start our family, so running around the streets of Oakland all night long, sometimes into the day if a story “broke”, wasn’t conducive to the type of family life we wanted.

Without too much planning about what I was going to do, we got pregnant. Yay! I worked through the first 8 months of the pregnancy, and then basically quit the news business. My wife actually went back to work part-time before I did, and with some help from my Italian mother-in-law I was a stay at home dad. We bled cash for about 8 months, but I wouldn’t give that time back for anything.

After about seven months though, I was ready to get out of the house a bit. I had done the video for a couple of friend’s weddings in the past year, so I went ahead and cut a 90 second demo, and bought an ad on theknot.com. I told my first few customers, “Hey, I’m new to weddings, but here’s what I’ve done so far. Yours will be at least this good.” I was very fortunate to get hired by some really nice people who had planned some fabulous weddings, and I never looked back.

2. How would you describe your style? What do you think sets you apart from other videographers?
If I had to sum it up I’d call it “Cinematic Documentary.” I came up in news, but early on in my wedding journey, I discovered this amazing community of event filmmakers who were focused on artistry and cinematography as well as telling the story. Stillmotion, Bob Nicolas, and Cloud Nine Creative were the first to open my eyes to the new heights that wedding “video” had reached, and continues to climb. I try to capture all the moments, but always with an artistic eye. I’m also a musician, so the highlight montages are what I do best.

What sets me and my colleagues that I admire (because I’m not alone in this) is that I truly care. I’m not churning out content with a formula. Of course there’s a style and structure that I like, but each movie I make is done “from scratch.” I’m not in weddings because I couldn’t do something else. I’m here because I love it.

3. What is your favorite part of a wedding?
Wow, it’s tough to choose one part of the wedding day as my favorite. But I’m going to go with the vows. That’s truly the moment. Up there, in front of everyone, eye to eye with each other, and you make that commitment, you say those words, tears roll, and you cross a threshold in life.

4. How do you know what music to use? Clips?
Music is so important, and the selection process varies from client to client. Some brides give me a list to work from, and others will have me pitch ideas. I always have a list of songs that I want to use, and sometimes ideas present themselves. One time when I was procrastinating and reading Perez (don’t laugh), he had a link to an unreleased acoustic version of “Umbrella.” I’ll admit that I wasn’t that familiar with the original at that time, but this acoustic guitar version was making me well up with tears just listening to it. So I immediately emailed a client and said, “Hey, do you like this?” She loved it, so I made this video.  That video got such a great response. In a way, it put me on the map.

5. What has been your favorite wedding so far? What made it so special?
One of my favorite weddings was Heatherose and James. I think that the couple’s clearly unique style, and intense love for each other and their circle of friends made for such an emotional day. Add in the dramatic setting of the Scottish Rite temple in Oakland, and the pure good luck of working with Ben Chrisman and I can’t think of a wedding that inspired me more. Heatherose and James are fearless people. They take life seriously, and celebrate love.

6. What would be your dream wedding to film?
I want to film a Philippine wedding. Like, “in the Philippines” Philippine. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the weddings there, but I love the culture, the architecture, the family bonds, and the desire of the clients to have amazing videos. It’s a big deal over there. Videographers are hired before the photographers. Imagine that!

At the Four Seasons bridal fair, between sipping a mango spice cocktail and sticking my fingers in the chocolate fountain, I gathered some very helpful information.

The standout winner, by far, was my discovery of Cat Seto, a local artist and stationer. She had beautiful and highly customizeable designs and when she told me her letterpress was one of the cheapest in the country, I didn’t quite take the bait. But then I looked at the prices – and she was not messing with me. Apparently she has some guy in Ohio that does the letterpress in his home and is able to do it for about half what most other companies are able to do. And, like the amazingly priced and amazingly beautiful apartment my fiance and I just rented, I said “What’s the catch?” As far as I can tell, there’s no catch. Cat designed some of the invitation suites herself and they’re beautiful. I can’t quote any prices, but give her a call or visit her studio in Russian Hill. She’s lovely to talk to and I’m excited to work with her!

Our friends over at StyleUnveiled.com have a little giveaway that all you local engaged couples with a long road of wedding planning will definitely appreciate. They have two free tickets to the Wedding University taking place January 31st at the Silicon Valley Four Seasons.

The Wedding University covers topics including everything from wedding etiquette to choosing flowers, menus and music. Ideas are illustrated with examples that allow wedding couples to see how concepts can be brought to life.

StyleUnveiled.com will choose a winner at random on January 14th, 2010. Good luck!