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.

Wish Upon A Wedding, founded by local San Jose based wedding planner, Liz Guthrie is the first wedding specific non-profit dedicated to wedding wish granting. Because of Marry Me Live’s participation in Wish Upon A Wedding, I had a chance to sit down with Liz and discuss her organization. I was very inspired by her words and wanted to share with you some very heart warming things that are taking root not only in the Bay Area, but across the nation.

Wish Upon a Wedding was conceived from the San Francisco Dream Wedding Giveaway, which awards a wedding to a couple in need, with respected wedding vendors donating their services to award the wedding couple with a “Dream Wedding”. From that concept, Liz wanted to take this idea national, enabling national wedding vendors a way to give back through a formal 501-c non profit, while also benefiting wedding couples all over the country.

Wish Upon A Wedding’s growth has all been organic. Liz relies on word-of-mouth to convey the message, and that message has spread like wildfire. There are already 20 chapters everywhere from Northern California, to Houston, to Indiana, and New York City.

One of the main messages that Liz wants to spread is not only about giving back to wedding couples with terminal illness, but also to send a message of tolerance. Wish Upon a Wedding supports same sex marriages and asks all wedding vendors who participate in Wish Upon a Wedding to support the cause as well.

The Wish Upon A Wedding Mission is large and the expansion plan to boot. Liz plans to expand nationally in the immediate future with international chapters in a couple of years. With a noble cause that allows so many to give back, finding wish granters should be no problem. I look forward to seeing how Wish Upon A Wedding evolves and grows.

If you are looking for a wedding reception site that is conveniently located but feels completely isolated, then Cinnabar Hills Golf Club is the location you have been searching for.  Cinnabar Hills Golf Club is in San Jose approximately 10 minutes off Highway 101.  Once you arrive at Cinnabar Hills, it is nearly impossible to see any of the nearby households or hear any typical city sounds, making you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.

In addition to its wonderful location and scenery, Cinnabar Hills provides you with everything necessary to plan a fabulous ceremony and reception.  I met with their wedding coordinator, Brittany Dawes, to get the scoop on the facilities.  If you choose to have your ceremony at Cinnabar Hills there is a gorgeous flower-filled arch on an outdoor patio where couples can tie the knot.  The large club house is great for receptions and can hold up to 250 guests.  If you have not yet begun your planning, Brittany even has a list of vendors to help you get started.  The catering is all done in-house, and everything on the extensive menu tastes fantastic, leaving you with the tough job of narrowing down your appetizer and entrée choices.  Unlike a lot of places, Cinnabar Hills gives you access to the room for the entire day, allowing for ample time to set-up.  In addition, Brittany is there to help coordinate with all of your vendors to make sure that the day runs without a hitch, giving you extra time to relax and focus on more important things.

Cinnabar Hills offers a number of different package options, with Sunday packages starting at $6000.  The greatest part is that everything is done á-la-carte, making every package flexible which means that you are not going to be stuck paying for options you do not want.  After my tour of the golf course, I was not surprised to hear that you need to book about a year in advance to get your ideal wedding date.  After helping coordinate weddings for over twelve years, the staff at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club knows just what it takes to make your day special.

For more information about Cinnabar Hills Golf Club check out the website: www.cinnabarhills.com/weddings.html

Or, you can e-mail Brittany Dawes – events@cinnabarhills.com

Planning a wedding can be much tougher than it seems, and when you are looking for help you would probably like to turn to your best friend.  You should make Stephanie Anderson from One Fine Day Event Planning your new best friend.   She works closely with her brides to make their wedding special and unique by focusing on their visions and coordinating with the vendors to make sure the day goes without a hitch.

Focus Photo Tahoe

Stephanie started in event planning in college with an internship for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and assisted in coordinating their star-studded events.  After college, she worked in the hotel industry helping grow their wedding business.  Eventually, she decided to branch out on her own and formed One Fine Day Event Planning, based in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe.  Aspiring event planners need to be able to multi-task (how many brides do you think can you juggle at once?), stay organized, and work on a number of different styles, and Stephanie possesses each of these qualities.  Her events are formed around the inspiration boards she and the brides create using ideas pulled from a variety of sources, with these boards focusing on what the bride wants incorporated into her special day.

Catherine Hall Studios

For Stephanie, the best part about her job is being able to work with every client on their vision, creating the look and feel of the wedding, and putting all the pieces together to make sure the wedding runs smoothly and is exactly what the couple wants.  One tip she has for brides is to determine first the number of guests, and then make an excel spreadsheet with your budget and estimate the number of dollars you intend to spend on each category (flowers, cake, venue, etc.).

Focus Photo Tahoe

One Fine Day is the perfect choice for every bride because packages are offered regardless of how much (or little) you already have planned.  If you have all your vendors, then Stephanie will be there to coordinate with each vendor and give them time lines for the wedding day and be their go-to person day of, taking the pressure off the bride.  For brides who are just starting the planning process, Stephanie is happy to help with vendor suggestions.  Packages of all types range from $1,500 to $7,000, and everything is customized around your needs.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or do not know where to start, you should give One Fine Day a call.

Stephanie Anderson

http://www.onefinedayevents.com/

sa@onefinedayevents.com

Lake Tahoe: (530) 386-1609
San Francisco: (415) 350-9639