That to-do list.

The thing about weddings is that you get all of this stuff done and then there are just 1,000 more things next up on your to-do list. We just finalized most of of vendors but we still have some other things that need to be decided here pretty quickly.
First up is the cake. We have done some tastings when we hired our caterer, as well as some other tastings of local bakeries. One bakery even gave us two whole cakes to take home. We ate 1 slice of each...looked at each other...and decided we don't want traditional cake. I ended up taking these babies to work and they were gone by the first morning break.

What we did decide is that we would rather have (our favorite) cheesecake! I did some internet research and found 1 bakery in San Diego that does cheesecake specifically and they do cheesecakes for weddings. They are called The Incredible Cheesecake Company

We stopped by there the other day and grabbed a slice of their classic and their "naughty hula". They were AHHHMAZING. So we will be making a consultation appointment soon. If they are too pricey (or not professional enough) then we might be able to do something like order cheesecakes from Costco and have our coordinator set them up. Here are some inspirations.

Another to-do list item coming up is to reserve the ceremony chairs. This isn't really a big deal I just want to get the best price. I do know that they charge extra to deliver and set-up on a Sunday, which I think is ridiculous but whatever. Here are some ideas on how I would like the chairs to be set-up. Because of the public nature of our venue I am looking to create a little privacy with how the seats are arranged. I also think it will help looky loos to steer clear.

And finally I leave you with a dream and a wish. These shoes are stupid expensive, but gorgeous.

Thanksgiving already!?

Well, time is flying but we are getting a lot of things done that are on the list. Woo Hoo! Also coming up is my birthday and the 1 year anniversary of us getting engaged. That was a fast year! So as of today we have hired a DJ, coordinator, videographer, and guitarist! We also bought our wedding bands!

DJ
DJ Daniel Peterson. We had originally thought he was a little expensive, but he was able to match a deal that a different DJ had given us. Thanks to that we were able to hire him for what we could afford. We are super glad because we liked him more than the other DJ's. We could tell he really cared about the flow of the party and the type of music being played.

Coordinator
Based on an awesome referral from a co-worker who has been a coordinator in the past, we have met with and hired Elisa Suter of Events by Elisa. She was super upbeat, friendly and she cared about us as a couple. I know she will care about our event as if it was her own. Truth be told, hiring a coordinator is one of those expenses that is not totally necessary, but with our wedding being in two separate locations and those locations being city owned property, we are short on people who can do set-up for us. We really need a coordinator! I am excited to now have one! The photos below are from her website.

Videographer
Last week I also met with Luke McCain a local videographer. His style is exactly what I am looking for, but at a price that isn't through the roof! Some companies are charging $5,000 for a wedding video! Ridiculous! He was super nice and easy to talk to. He also gave us a full DVD sample of what we would be paying for. The video is great, below is an example of his work. I am glad we have decided to go for the video because we are putting all this time into our event and don't want to forget it all years later!

Niki + Kyle | October 15th, 2011 from Luke McCain Videography on Vimeo.


Guitarist
We did go to see the guitarist Kenny Earnest live at this restaurant in Rancho Santa Maragrita (an hour drive!). He was good and we liked him, but his professionalism was a little in question when he wasn't really responding to e-mails in the way I thought he should. Maybe I was being sensitive, but oh well. We started looking around for other guitarists and were super happy to find a different one whom we like a lot better! His name is Matt Commerce. We went to see him perform at one of our local pubs, Hennessey's. He plays guitar and harmonica and we really liked that vibe. There are some links below to some of his performances and music.
http://www.myspace.com/mattcommerce
http://www.gigmasters.com/acoustic-guitar/Matt-Commerce/



Wedding Bands
We just happened to be at the mall last weekend to get Chris some sunglasses and I randomly wandered into a jewelry store to see what was there. I wasn't super impressed with any of their ladies bands, but Chris actually found a band he wanted in like 10 minutes. At first I thought he was just trying to get it over with, but no he really just found the one! It is a ceramic band coated in tungsten with a comfort fit. It is really lightweight, and tungsten is harder than steel so it will be durable. It is black which I was surprised he wanted. I really like it!

My band took an extra day to find. We went through some stores together and hadn't really found one. I started off wanting a very thin diamond band such as this one.

Then I quickly realized that it was not enough sparkly bling for me. Plus my engagement ring is oval, so part of the band would be covered up. Here is my engagement ring, just to remind you!

So I thought I might want to get 2 different skinny bands such as these ones...

Or I thought I might just get one big band such as this one (this ring was GORGEOUS in the store!)

I really love the two mismatched bands look, but having two bands is more than we can afford right now. I am hoping for our anniversary I might get one! :-) So what I decided was to get 1 band that had slightly larger diamonds. It is super sparkly and I love it! It was Veterans Day weekend so we got a pretty good deal. All I have is the lame picture from the website and you can't even tell how awesome it is...once it is done being sized I will post a real picture.