Wedding Planning Advice

Best website/blog

http://apracticalwedding.com/

...which even goes into details like how much booze to buy

General Advice

  1. Remember it's just a party (beware the Wedding Industrial Complex)

  2. Figure out what you care about (e.g. for us it was "everyone has fun" and "good food") and don't stress the rest

  3. A good Day-of Coordinator is worth his/her weight in gold

  4. Savor the moment!!

Other random logistics

  • In general we've had the most fun at weddings where there's a whole weekend of just hanging out & spending time with the couple; consider doing something like this

  • Make it very clear to people when/where they need to be, what the dress code is, etc.

  • Don't be afraid to send out multiple waves of invitations, once you start getting responses

  • We decided to hand out cake to everyone as a couple, which substituted for a traditional "visitation line"

Vendors We Used

Notes from our own wedding at Pie Ranch in Pescadero, CA in 2014:

Day-of Coordinator

Alyssa Griffith

lowehousecreative.com

--> now runs her own place, www.rosegoldevents.com she was awesome!! (she is also a contributor to apracticalwedding.com)

Rental Equipment

Alexis Party Rental

info@alexispartyrental.com --> used them for tables/chairs, etc. they were recommended by Pie Ranch and did a good job

Photographer

Ian Martin

ianmartinphotography.com

--> really good "documentary" style photos (not too many posed)

Food

Roli Roti

www.roliroti.com

--> both rotisserie chicken & porchetta were a big hit...we brought our own wine from BevMo

Sound Systems/Caller

Andy Wilson

andywilsondancecaller.com

--> Andy does Pie Ranch's monthly Barn Dance but also does calling for hire for events; he's great for all ages/experience levels. He also did the sound system for our ceremony. www.pieranch.org/work-day--- barn-dance.html

Band

County Line Pickers

Jim Davies

jamesndavies14@gmail.com

--> Pie Ranch's "house" bluegrass band, great musicians although Jim can be hard to get ahold of

Hair/Makeup

Liz used someone else for our wedding, but from a photo shoot she did, she highly rec's Melissa Hoffmann melissahoffmann.com

Dessert

Tartine Bakery

--> chocolate soufflé cakes were a big hit!!

Mission Pie

eatpie@missionpie.com

415.282.4PIE --> alas, they are closed now!

Flowers

Hiro Utsuwa

Utsuwa Floral Design

1288 Polk St (@ Bush)

415-447-8476

utsuwa.myshopify.com

--> his prices are reasonable and he made some beautiful arrangements (he's especially good with succulents)

...for table flowers we used ones from our yard in reused milk jars, which ended up being very pretty: