I don't think we're in Kansas anymore... (or choosing a venue.. the FINAL installment)

The seed for this venue was actually planted before we were even engaged.

The story goes that the fiance's dad was having a business dinner in Houston. He was asking the FFIL about how his family was, and he mentioned "oh well if your son ever wants to get married at the venue in his area let me know. I can help. When my Fiancee mentioned this to me, I was excited and wary at the same time. I was excited because it is a fairly unique location. I was wary because it was.....

THE ZOO !

I was excited about the idea of somewhere so unique. It was also one of the first places we went on a date, it's across the street from where he proposed, it was IN the city. There were several pluses before even visiting. My worries was that it wouldn't have the element of elegance and slight formality I was looking for.

We arrived and met with the event coordinator. She was very nice, answered all of our questions with out making it feel like she was trying to "sell" to us, and gave us a packet of all the necessary information we needed.

She showed us the several areas that are available to rent. This is the circular patio where ceremonies can be held. The arch pictured is not there normally there. There is lush trees and flowers around the whole area though.






Cocktail will be on the Africian savanna. The guests will walk a little further into the zoo and there is a patio that looks out onto the African savanna habitat where the animals will still be wandering. We can also choose to have animal encounters where zoo volunteers will bring some smaller animals for guests to pet !

The reception will be here in the great hall. It is a reception room that can fit up to 200 people. It has high wood beamed vaulted ceilings, a stone fire place, and one wall has floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors that lead out onto a patio area. It has an feel of rustic/natural but can still be dressed up quite nicely. The pricing was not crazy out of line, and was very inclusive (Linens, tables, chairs, glassware all included). I was excited !

I still wasn't completely sold however, because even though it was much more than I had hoped for in the elegance department, it was nothing in comparison to getting married at the Legion of honor. We went home and crunched the numbers for each venue, and did pro con lists. Since they each were different in the way the charged, we tried to come up with our best estimates of the price for everything we would need (space, chairs, tables, food, etc) at each venue.

It turns out the zoo to be one of the cheapest options. They also had a date that worked for us available. It took us about two weeks to make the final decision, we debated having a ceremony at the Legion of honor, with a zoo reception, pictures at the legion, or some other venue, we contemplated Wente again (although not very heavily because of the date constraints) we tinkered with many options.

In the end we decided it would be easier for everyone to have the ceremony and reception at one venue, and that it was so unique, and the room had such personality that we called them, and sent our deposit.

In sickness and in health

I don't think any of the weddings I've been to recently have included these words from the traditional wedding vows. For my Fiance and I, whether or not we end up choosing to have them included in the actual ceremony, they have special meaning. After Mrs. Lemon's post on wedding bee, it gave me courage to write about how medical issues have effected my relationship and wedding planning.

While neither of us have issues which require 24/7 special medical attention or that make us not be able to have a"normal" life; we both have medical conditions that we've dealt with our whole lives, and will effect our relationship through out our years together.

In fact I think our understanding of each other's medical issues and shared experiences of many Dr. visits and scary medical tests when we were young is one of the things that helped us bond.

My fiance has epilepsy. (it is actually much misunderstood disorder, and epilepsy foundation has a lot of info if you have time, click the link and take a gander!) He has dealt with it since he was very young. His is very well controlled with daily medication, and I don't expect any problems. However unlike a seating chart, signature drink, or first dance, all the planning in the world can not guarantee a seizure free wedding day. It's something you have to take as it comes.

I have a genetic condition effecting one in 2,000 women. While my medical issue does not effect me, or my fiancee as much on a day to day basis as his epilepsy, it certainly will effect our marriage. It (pretty much 100%) will make it necessary for us to get A LOT of medical help to bring any little ones into the world, and requires me to visit a Dr. a bit more often than most.

We both have known about each others' medical struggles since the first few months of our relationship. It was hard in the beginning to figure out how and when to tell him about it, especially since it's not something that I share with many people. He has always been supportive and caring, and I try to be the same way.

It's not always easy. Even though I know he's not really in immediate danger from a seizure, they are scary, and I do worry about him. We just don't let it get in our way. We do what we have to do to deal with it (Hello Ambulance bill we received since he's in a waiting period for insurance at a new job!), and move on.

We have discussed having donations to the foundations for our conditions as favors at our wedding. I know this is a hot button issue, so we'll see if it works out !


Has anyone else had to deal with either a medical issue of their partner, or worry about how and when to explain theirs to their partner. Did you work it into your wedding day at all ?

Third times the charm ?! (or Our search for a venue part 3)

Ok, so I lied... third time wasn't the charm for us, but I did LOVE The Brazilian room.
It is in the Berkeley hills, in a Tilden county park, and is surrounded by trees, and flowers.


This is what the guests would see as they walked toward the building. Soo pretty, with the flower garden, right ?!






The ceremonies are performed out doors over looking a fabulous view of the hills beyond the park.




Here it is all dressed up for wedding. Those windows are floor to ceiling and also afford a view of the hills beyond and the patio courtyard area where the ceremonies are held.

It is run by the county park and recreation department, and they have "open houses" for people to come see the space instead of personal appointments.

At these open houses, they also have various "preferred" vendors showing their stuff. There were 2 caterers with h'or dourves and drinks, musicians, and 2 florists who had set up some pretty table scapes. All of this gave a much better idea of how the room looked when actually set up for a wedding.

I loved everything about this place. It would fit our 100 person guest list, it had a beautiful area for an outdoor ceremony, AND the rental fee is nominal, especially if you live in Alameda County (which my father does)

The problems were
Because it is an extremely beautiful place, at extremely fair pricing, it is VERY hard to get a date you want. We would've been limited to a morning slot, or a Friday evening wedding, and we started searching for venues a year and 4 months in advance. We didn't have a specific date in mind in the beginning either, just a two month span.

They also have rules about the music. They also are very strict about the ending time if your reservation. You can't even pay a fee for over time. There are more, but these are the ones that bothered me the most.

Because of the price, and the beauty of the building and its surroundings it still remained on our list of possibilities until we found..... THE place... More to come....

First rule of Real Estate LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION !!!!!!! or( where we will get married part 2)

So after heading out to Wente, and deciding it was a bit too far and a bit to "cookie cutter"
We looked closer to the city, actually we looked IN the city at the Legion of honor Museum. Info to Rent the legion of honor IT. IS. GORGEOUS

This a a photo of the outside of the building. It definitely has that indescribable "ohhh... Ahhh" factor when you arrive and approach the building.


You can have your ceremony in this gorgeous greek inspired courtyard/entry way with Rodin's Thinker






PLUS it's on top of a hill, so there are view like this ALL around for picture taking !



The bummer is, unless you want to shell out 20,000 JUST for the fee to rent a gallery your reception is held. Just not as awe inspiring as everything else about this venue, and this is where guests would spend most of their time. They also do offer to do a tent in an outside courtyard, which could be a good option.




The "awe" factor definitely tugged on our imaginations and *almost* made up for the (I think) kinda blah look of the actual reception area. However when we started looking into the costs of the little extras they charge for... like coming in the main beautiful entrance way, Extra time at the end of the evening, security, tent rental if we didn't want the "blah" reception room, etc... it started to get WAAYYY out of control financially. Then we thought of another factor. The weather. Our date was chosen to give us prime weather (Aug. and Sept. are usually VERY reliable good weather months in San Francisco. even so the location on top of the hill lends itself to lots of wind and fog, even if the lower lying areas of the city are calm and blue, so we were nervous about guests being cold in an out door setting.

So..... we kept looking.

TOPLESS CAKE: Wanted for indecent exposure

FROM WIKIPEDIA The origins of the tradition of the wedding cake date back to medieval times, when each guest at a wedding was supposed to bring a small cake, the cakes would be stacked on the table in levels and layers (If the bride and groom were able to kiss over the top of the stack it was considered good luck). These cake stacks would eventually merge into one cake and evolve into the modern wedding cake.

There is even more to the article if you care to learn more about the origins of the wedding cake. But for now, for now I don't want to talk about the cake ! I want to find something to dress up the top of it so the poor thing doesn't have to go topless !

I know the monograms are popular, but I'm not so much a fan of those. Also not so much a fan of the traditional stoic bride and groom topper either. So I have gone in search of something a bit different I found some here (designstudio.com)

- Wouldn't this look fab with bouquets or centerpieces that used calla lilies ?!















This one is one I'm thinking of using myself ! I think it's whimsical, and contains swirls AND my it's my colors, and it's sparkly and and and it's just perfect ! ( and it's $60...maybe not so perfect, we'll see)









I think this one would look very pretty amongst some real or sugar flowers to add some sparkle!













Here are some neat porcelain ones which you can purchase here (wedding collectibles.com)


- a snowflake for a winter wedding?! I think so !









A bride and groom, but in a bit less traditional way, I love the way this has "movement"









Another bride and groom, in color, but still I think different than the traditional "bride and groom topper"










and some very creative ones I found here (design by dorian)


This would be cute for a reception with a travel or Parisian feel











Then there is this one ! It is certainly..... different ! It is called "love never dies"












I shall continue my search for the perfect top so that my cake will not have to go around topless at my wedding !!!!!!!!!!