Coupla More Links

The semi-closeted, future-fabulous event planner in me stumbled upon this cool blog by Soiree Special Events as I was looking for creative ideas for escort cards. I love the ideas that they and their clients came up with which are featured in the blog. So cute and creative--although the pumpkin one is a little cliche for a Fall wedding. We'll probably do something nature-y but not anything that screams 'Autumn!' even though our wedding is in September. We're trying to be as unique as possible. We're trying to be as eco-friendly as we can with our wedding without totally alienating our family or doubling our budget (don't believe the hype--getting recycled everything isn't always cheaper, as evidenced by the cost of cloth versus paper tablecloths, but we do believe in paying a little bit more so that Mother Earth can be happier).

Speaking of tablecloths, almost definitely going to go with Piedmont Party Rental for our rented tablecloths for the reception. Their customer service so far has been really good--friendly, knowledgable and efficient staff--and their prices are decent. Plus they have a good set of choices for china (aka plates) and silverware, which at some places is just downright ugly. But we're probably going to end up buying our own cake platter, at the suggestion of our reception staff coordinator, since we'll definitely use it again when we have parties in the future.

And with the whole gay marriage thing just exploding over here on the West Coast, I have to say there's a big part of me that wants to become a wedding planner and specialize in gay weddings. How much fun that would be! H. and I were very happy to see our colleagues Carol Cantwell and Rachel Lanzerotti featured in the San Francisco Chronicle this past week. How cute they are! And you can't beat a wedding 'album' complete with a full spread of photos from a major daily! Congrats Carol and Rachel!

Booked! And a New Vendor Link

So we finally booked our reception event staff, who will pick up the food for our pan-Asian (mostly Chinese and some Filipino and Vietnamese) dinner buffet from Chinatown, set up all the food and the drinks at the venue, and serve and clean up. Awesome!

The vendor is Gina's Party Staffing, a small, woman of color-owned company that I found, bizarrely enough, the old-fashioned way: by calling a number posted on a bulletin board at the Piedmont Grocery. I was attracted to Gina's use of 'diverse staff' on her business card--it's important for H. and I to have an ethnically diverse, culturally competent wait staff who won't be freaked out by the whole suckling roast pig (lechon) we'll have at the reception, or the very diverse (in terms of race, gender, language, sexual orientation, etc.) group of guests we'll have at our wedding. Gina and her crew totally fit the bill, and she's got lots of Filipino friends so the lechon will be no problem!

I vibed with Gina immediately when we talked on the phone, and as I explained in previous posts, that 'realness' that we've found in the vendors that we've chosen to book for our wedding is (wedding vendors take note) extremely important to us. We didn't want to go with a corporate, impersonal staff for our wedding who wouldn't make it feel homey and welcoming and fun. Gina had great referrals and was super-helpful from the get-go. We booked her and her team (we'll have four waitstaff and a bartender as well) the other night and I'm so excited to work with her!