Now that you've all heard about the honeymoon, I'd like to write a few things about the wedding!

Congratulations to Daisy who was married to her college boyfriend on June 4th in a lovely ceremony at her home parish!

The service was beautiful in every way. Daisy selected a cheeful yellow with iris accents for her wedding colors, which brightened the earthy tones of her church. She looked elegant and perfectly happy as she walked down the aisle. Mr. Daisy's eyes lit up as soon as he saw her and he too couldn't stop smiling! The presider did a beautiful job with the ceremony, stepping to the side as Daisy and her husband recited their vows and exchanged rings to emphasize that the grace comes from the couple's unity. Mr. Daisy commented later on how fitting the ceremony seemed for them with the powerful proclamation of the Gospel by heart and the presider's singing of the marriage blessing. When Mr. and Mrs. Daisy were announced for the first time, they positively radiated joy!

Now for the details! The bridemaids wore yellow knee-length dresses of different cuts, chosen at their own discretion. Their hair was styled up, some with accents such as a headband or flowers, and each carried a bouquet of what I would call blue flag flowers. The contrast between the rich violet and the bright yellow was as vivid as Daisy's yellow North Face fleecy against campus in the dead of a grey Indiana winter, back in the day!

Daisy herself wore a simple strapless satin gown. The bodice was styled as a corset, with visible boning, and had pleated satin at the bust. The dress had a drop waist and unadorned satin skirt with a chapel-length train. Her hair was intricately braided and modestly covered with ribbon-edged tulle veil. Mr. Daisy wore a black tux with an iris in his lapel and looked very distinguished.

photo credit: the Larsons

The reception consisted of a cocktail hour followed by a formal sit-down dinner. The room had warm, dark wooden trim, and swanky orange chandeliers against blue-lit ceilings. The chairs were draped in white, with a bright yellow tie around the back. Daisy and Mr. Daisy had worked hard to grow the centerpieces themselves -- terra-cotta pots of deep violet petunias! The cake was square and four-tiered with yellow ribbon around each layer and blue flowers on top. Music was provided by an excellent live group who played a wide variety of songs, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. The atmosphere of the reception was relaxed and joyous, with nearly everyone on the dancefloor for much of the evening! Daisy and Mr. Daisy had their first dance to L-O-V-E (you know, "L is for the way you look at me...") which was sweet and suited them very well! Many band favorites were played, since Daisy and Mr. Daisy had met in the marching band, and their friends from the band comprised the majority of the wedding party as well as a good number of the guests. Our school fight song and alma mater were both sung before the evening ended, in addition to an enthusiastic rendition of Don't Stop Believing. All in all, the reception was a perfect conclusion to a wonderful day!

In Daisy's words, "I don't think that day could have ever been more fun. It was probably the most fun day in the history of the universe. I mean, yes, the Resurrection was probably a good time, but I don't think they danced to Don't Stop Believing back then. Although, they probably should have."

Enjoy these photos from the happy day!

photo credit: Gabrielle Cubera

photo credit: Kathy Cappa

photo credit: Patti Strausborger

photo credit: Gabrielle Cubera

photo credit: Kathy Cappa

photo credit: the Larsons

Honeymoon San Francisco: Part 4

Last one! And this part's my favorite too.

The second to last day of our trip we drove out to Napa Valley and Sonoma. These two towns have a little rivalry over their wines, but from what I understand, they aren't all that similar.

We decided just to drive through Napa Valley in the morning. We found a driving tour route to follow online--try this one if you go. You pretty much get a good idea of Napa just by driving up and down this one road, Highway 29. We stopped in downtown Yountsville, and drove past many famous wineries, such as Beringer and Robert Mondavi. I'd never seen so many grapes! The way the valley is shaped offers a great view--looking up on both sides of the road you can see oceans of vineyards.

We didn't feel like stopping in Napa--it's very showy, tastings are expensive, and we were a little put off by all the vineyards whose wine we could just buy in our local grocery store (although I should note that we found out later that those wineries always make sure to carry releases of wines not available in grocery stores). So we drove on to Sonoma, where we visited several vineyards. The vineyards here seemed more smaller, more family-like, and much more down-to-earth.

Since we know some Larsons, we stopped at the Larson Family Winery (no relation to our friends). Tasting there was only five dollars (waived if you buy a bottle). Derek thought their gold medal chardonnay was very interesting, and I really appreciated how patient the staff at the tasting room was with me.

We also stopped at Sebastiani Vineyard, which was much more of a commercial operation than Larson Family (not that Larson Family wasn't business-like). This was one of the oldest vineyards--they survived Prohibition as one of only ten wineries allowed to stay open, for the purposes of providing wine to churches. Tasting there started at $10, but what was nice was that they let Derek and me share a tasting glass. They had a great tour of the winery, where we saw huge old oak barrels and got a good glimpse of the wine-making process.

We spent some time in downtown Sonoma, which has a very cute square. We ate at Della Santina's, a nice little Italian restaurant, where we celebrated our 2nd "Monthiversary." All in all, Napa/Sonoma Day was a good one.

On the last day of the trip, we went to Muir Woods National Monument. We saw some gorgeous tall redwoods and took an exhausting hike up "Ocean View Trail" (which, due to the fog, had no ocean view...). It was definitely a site to see. Admission there is $5.

In the afternoon we headed to Point Reyes National Seashore (ate at a great little deli along the way in Olema), which is just on the other side of the San Andreas Fault. The weird thing is that it's really like you're on another continent once you cross the fault line. The landscape totally changed, and so had the vegetation--you get grassy fields and ranches (we saw what we thought were California Happy Cows) instead of the mountains.

The lighthouse was pretty cool (although definitely a work out to get back up the 300+ steps!). Unfortunately, the fog prevented us from seeing much of the ocean.

That was our trip! Derek and I had a great time in California, and I hope my posts have been educational and informative. Maybe they have even enticed you into visiting some of the beautiful sites in the San Francisco area.

Honeymoon San Francisco: Part 3

There's a lot going on in San Francisco, as I've said before, so I broke up my "Honeymoon" post into a few separate posts. Hopefully it'll be easier to read.

The Tuesday of the trip we decided to explore Golden Gate Park. At first, Golden Gate Park is a little scary. Real hippies hanging outside the McDonalds near the entrance to the park looked kind of threatening. The park isn't like Central Park in NYC--Golden Gate Park is so big you really have to drive it. Derek and I actually drove from one attraction in the park to another.

Once we got to some of the places within the park that we wanted to see, we had a better time. We went to see the Conservatory of Flowers (free admission on the first Tuesday of every month), which, in addition to a gorgeous exterior, had a display of "Wicked Plants"--poisonous plants, carnivorous plants, tobacco--it was pretty cool.

In the afternoon, we drove by Alamo Square and took a picture in front of the Painted Ladies, a famous row of Victorian Houses. They show them in the opening credits to Full House (but none of them is actually the house that the Tanners lived in on the show--we went and found that at 1709 Broderick St. They have changed the color of the door, though).

We spent some time on Fisherman's Wharf, ate some chocolate at Ghirardelli Square and had a seafood dinner at Cioppino's. Unfortunately, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory is no longer in the square, so we didn't get to see that. Derek had the signature dish at Cioppino's, the cioppino, a stew made from all sorts of seafood, and really enjoyed it.

Of course, we saw some seals on Pier 39 (and also spent a lot of money at the shopping plaza there!). More seals are supposed to arrive later in the season; it's based on their mating season, and they come back in the middle of August.

Wednesday morning we went on a bike tour (Bay City Bike, $55 each--one of our more expensive activities, but also very worth it one of our favorites) across the Golden Gate Bridge, which is a great way to see the city, although even "mild" hills were too tough for me. I am sure I embarrassed Derek in front of the other tourists on the bike tour, who were largely European, when I had to walk my bike up a few of the hills! I swear I wasn't the only one doing it though.

The tour took us into Sausalito, a cute little bay front city with lots of shopping. The tour came with a free ferry ride back across the bay, after which we hiked up and down Lombard Street (not my idea, but the hydrangeas were pretty).

At this point, I ran out of space on our camera's flash memory card. This is not good to do in Fisherman's Wharf, where tourism commodities are very expensive. So keep this in mind when you go on a trip!

That night, we had dinner in Chinatown at Y Ben. Dinner was good, but again, we were the only people in the restaurant! So weird!

Honeymoon San Francisco: Part 2

The first thing we did was go to Mass at Mission Dolores, the oldest intact building in San Francisco. Going to Mass is a really cool way of experiencing a culture, as opposed to visiting a museum or seeing a landmark. Also, it's free! Parking was free at this church, too, on weekends. We did make a donation, however.

The next day we joined up with some friends of ours from college and toured Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. We had a lovely picnic, saw some fantastic nature, and swam in the river on the grounds at a spot called the "Garden of Eden." Very relaxing. Because we parked on the side of the road instead of going in the main entrance, we were able to save ourselves the parking fee.

After that we went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, where we tried fried oreos (at least I can say I tried it) and road their "ski lift" ride to see the whole beach. Admission to the Boardwalk is free, but rides require tickets, ending up costing $3-$5 per person each ride.

On the Monday we visited Sarah's Vineyard, in Gilroy, California, where a family friend works. Tasting there is $5 each, and they let you walk along the vines--the pinot grapes were just starting to turn color! This vineyard is not in Napa or Sonoma--it's south of San Jose--but that made for a quieter, not-so-flashy vineyard, which was nice and welcoming. We ended up buying two bottles of their Cote de Madone Blanc, I liked it so much.

Turns out Gilroy is also the Garlic Capital of the World! And you can smell it when you drive into the town. We had just missed the Garlic Festival by one day! Unfortunately, on Mondays in small towns, we noticed that lots of the restaurants were closed, so we popped into the Visitor's Bureau, where a helpful lady named Pam pointed us to Mama Mia's, where we could try their Garlic Festival menu. We had a delicious garlicky meal.

We also visited Garlic World in Gilroy, a garlic retail store, and bought some garlic oil. Unfortunately, though, we were fooled: after we'd bought the oil and were in the car, I read the label, and it said "made in Maine." We did buy a Garlic cookbook though, and made sure that that was a local compilation, which it was. Very exited to try it out.

When we got back to Pacifica, where we were staying, we decided to check out Twin Peaks and Fort Funston State Park, which offered beautiful views of San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean. Again, parking and admission were free!

For dinner we went to Taipei Restaurant, which is not actually in Chinatown, but offered delicious Chinese cuisine. A weird thing about the Chinese restaurants we ate at--we were the often the only ones in the restaurant! I couldn't figure out why this was. Perhaps people eat later than we did? Or maybe these restaurants just had really good take-out business? Delicious, nonetheless.

Honeymoon San Francisco: Part 1--General Travel Info

While there are many romantic locations abroad, there's a lot to be said for exploring your own country. We have a lot to offer here in America, and I had never been to California. Since Derek and I ate so much Chinese food at Notre Dame, we decided to go to San Francisco and Northern California for a week after I took the bar exam. Who uses cheap, delicious, unhealthy food to choose their honeymoon location, I don't know. But it turned out to be a great trip.

There is a TON to do in Northern California. Really, I don't think a week is enough. We biked across the Golden Gate Bridge, visited Sausalito, toured vineyards and wineries, ate fresh strawberries from a stand on the Pacific Coast Highway, visited the Garlic Capital of the World, and so much more. I'll try to summarize the trip in a few posts.

First, you should know that renting a car from SFO is a pain in the you-know-what. I think we waited for an hour to get our car, that we had already reserved, just because the line at Hertz was so long. And this didn't seem to be a Hertz-specific problem. Make sure that you get a AAA Membership! This membership has more than paid for itself, even before this trip. I believe we paid less than $500 for our rental car, a Nissan Versa (a good percentage of this was California taxes and fees) for a full week.

We stayed in Pacifica, California, which is about 15-20 minutes south of San Francisco. Turned out this was a good move. We didn't have to pay for parking in the city, which gets pricey if you want to stay overnight, especially in a touristy area like Fisherman's Wharf (best parking in Fisherman's Wharf is on Beach between Taylor and Jones--$7.75 for the whole day if you arrive before 10am). Our hotel, Best Western Plus Lighthouse Hotel, offered us 20% off because we were staying for a whole week. We had a partial ocean view room, and next to the hotel there was a nice hill to climb, from which you could watch the sun set over the ocean. Very pretty.


At the hotel, I put my feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever at Rockaway Beach. It was cold!

We found that it's not actually that hard to find free parking during the day in San Francisco, except in Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown. There's a lot of parallel parking available on the sides of many streets--but make sure you don't get a ticket like Derek did! We got a $50 parking ticket for having our wheels turned the wrong way when parking on a hill. When parking uphill, you're supposed to turn your wheels away from the curb (correct me if I'm wrong), and when parking downhill, you turn your wheels toward the curb.

Derek insists that his wheels were turned the right way, so we're going to fight the ticket. We can't ignore the ticket since the car was a rental. Hertz would not only pay it and charge us reimbursement, but they'd charge us extra administrative fees.

All in all, I'm really glad we didn't stay in San Francisco proper. Many of the things to do aren't in San Francisco itself at all, so staying in Pacifica was a really good choice. And, of course, I like access to a beach (even a cold one).

I'm back!

Why, hello, Blog! I'm sorry I haven't been around, it's been a crazy five months--first, I graduated from law school, then I got married, then I took the bar exam. Between studying for final exams, taking care of wedding things, and preparing for the bar exam, I felt guilty doing anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. So posts didn't happen.

Fortunately for the blog (unfortunately for me) I am not yet employed, nor can I be fully employed as an attorney until I find out if I have passed the bar in November. So while I'll be spending much time sending out resumes, I also have the time to update everyone here.

Since this is a wedding planning blog, I'm going to start with filling you all in on our honeymoon. Once I get the photo CD back from the photographer, I'll go through everything in our wedding and let you know what was worth the money we spent on it, because that is truly what this blog is for.

And as always, at the same time, I'll post thoughts and ideas coming out of weddings my husband(!) and I are attending or involved in.

A new piece of information that I hope to blog about too: I'm planning on starting a floral design class next month at a nearby community college. I'll let you all know what I learn.