The Great Wedding Binge
When my mom bought her airplane tickets to come out and visit, I was beside myself. After all, a wedding is something a girl plans with her mom! So I hatched a plan that I thought would lead us to finding the reception site and the dress.
Oh, how naive I was. Really, I had only tried on wedding dresses twice, and Andy and I had checked out a few reception sites in Rancho Palos Verdes one day. And even though I'd done a lot of research on line and requested a lot of quotes, it's nothing compared to the actual footwork.
In my mind, I'd dreamed up a reception in a ballroom on the top floor of a tall hotel, with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the ocean and the coast at night and all the city lights. So with this in mind, I planned a weekend of dress shopping and reception site hunting (around my hectic work and school schedule).
Day 1: dresses
First, dress shopping. I got up and managed to get gas and coffee and be only 5 minutes late in picking up my mom to go to our first appointment at Mon Amie. I was a little worried about the traffic but the carpool lane worked out pretty well. We were there plenty early, and still had to wait a little before being assigned a consultant and starting to seriously pick out dresses. At first I was worried - I'd heard that the sample sizes run small, and while I wouldn't call myself big, I'm not a size 2 any more. It ended up that the samples were closer to a street size 6 or 8, and every dress had to be clamped up and down the back just to stay up! They were all the finest designers, with price tags in the $4,000-$5,000 and up range! That really wasn't what I wanted to pay, and although the dresses were all very nice, they weren't quite what I thought I wanted. There was one Lazaro dress that I really liked, but for $4,800, it wasn't going to work.
I'd mentally prepared myself to be in my underwear all day (and made a point to wear good ones). Even still, it was awkward to be the only person undressed in a room where everyone is looking at you. The most priceless moment was when the consultant asked if my strapless bra was the Victoria's Secret . Nope, I said - Penney's!
I was a little afraid the appointment would run long and we wouldn't have time for a fancy lunch at South Coast, but we did! Our fancy lunch ended up at the Rainforest Café - with cookies and Victoria's Secret afterward. After odd encounters with the salespeople - we ended up with about 6 cookies and one clerk at Victoria's Secret told us to just take a pair of underwear - we started off for our second appointment.
A lot of people had recommended Jinny's Bridal to me, but I didn't know much what to expect. The store was much smaller, and the designers were not ones you'd see right away in Martha Stewart Weddings, but each dress was beautiful. Gorgeous. Perfect. And there were hundreds. My mom and I wandered around a while, just in awe of each one. And the owner not only helped my try on as many dresses to my heart's content, she pulled out even more. I tried on a dress so incredibly similar to the Lazaro dress at Mon Amie, that it might just be the big winner. We managed to narrow it down to two, very different, dresses at that store.
Day 2: reception sites
Saturday, the first thing we did was hit McDonald's for breakfast and head straight to the Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach. I thought for sure this hotel would have what I was looking for. Right on the ocean, and just across the street from the pier, not to mention the convenience! First off, we started poking around the ballrooms, looking for one on the upper floors. Nothing upstairs but guest rooms, and the ballrooms we saw had no windows. The concierge was kind enough to show us around, give us a TON of information, and show us their one ballroom with windows - that were tiny, curtained, and overlooked the street. I couldn't have been more disappointed. But it had a lot of other wonderful points, so it made the consideration list.
We then drove up and down Ocean, thinking there'd be a hidden restaurant or boutique hotel that might be just the ticket. We stopped and toured nearly every restaurant and picked up information (except for the Cheesecake Factory. Really kind of had a problem with that). But everything was either too small, or too open, or too something that just wouldn't work.
Day 3: MORE reception sites
The day started off with my mom and I going to Sunday service at the Wayfarer's Chapel. I really wanted to go, even though we have a copy of the ceremony and I'd investigated the church pretty thoroughly - you never know what kind of kooky ritual a random church has, right? The service was sweet, and there were only 40 or so people in attendance. It was also not-too-sunny, but still beautiful.
Afterward, we went to the Reef. I was really hoping that, once my mom saw it, she'd be sold. The bridal fair, however, was held in the side ballrooms, while they served Sunday brunch in the main restaurant. I was hoping they'd have the Pacific room set up as an example we could see. Inside, the Garden ballroom had just a few vendor booths and in the center was a giant table of cheese, fruit, and a chocolate fountain. With the hors d'oeveurs that were being passed (and tasty), we certainly didn't need lunch!
The breezeway between the Garden and Harborview ballrooms was open, and we got cornered by what seemed like a friendly, nice pastor. Who proceeded to tell us that the Wayfarer's chapel was overpriced, a rip-off, and he would have done our ceremony for free. And so, my mother was initiated into the bridal fair experience.
Among the different booths were sample cakes from both Polly Ann and Rossmor bakery. We tried Polly Ann first, and it was really good - even though I'm not a superfan of cake with fruit filling. but Rossmor was, quite possibly, the best cake we've ever had! I was so glad to get to try it, even though I was already sold on their reputation. We hung around until the fashion show started, since I still thought we'd be able to find a dress (although, I should know better by now!). The show started innocuously enough - some nice dresses, some tuxes, cute flower girls. Then came the "bridesmaids" dresses. Which I could best describe as things straight out of a Vegas show. One of the poor girls looked close to tears in a dress that was cut down Jennifer Lopez-style down the back. For the final dress, out came a girl who slinked down the runway like a stripper, and could barely walk in her impossibly high lucite heels. Even though they brought out more, normal, even pretty dresses ... I don't think my mom and I will ever forget that. I took my mom over to see the Pacific room afterward, but the bathrooms weren't working when we left - kind of a turnoff, of course.
At this point, I think, I was done. I suggested we go back and try on more dresses, but the prospect of going to Huntington Beach and crawling in and out of major structures just didn't sound appealing any more. We went back home to meet up with Andy so I could recuperate and regroup. After the break, though, we were back on the move - this time on a mission to hit all of the tall hotels in downtown Long Beach for a high ocean view ballroom.
Four hotels, tours, and info packets later: nothing. All of the ballrooms were buried deep in the hotel, no windows, and on the first floor. Downtown Long Beach is so beautiful, and there isn't a single place that shows it off! I know, we passed by Breakers and the Sky Room a few times. I'm just a little scared of them, given their reputation online.
So, we had just two contenders: the Reef, and the Crowne Plaza. We'd had all kinds of food at the Reef, so we decided on dinner at the Crowne Plaza's restaurant. I'd read reviews of the CP Splash, and they weren't glowing, but they weren't bad either. I don't know if it was just Sunday, but the service was sort of slow. We each ordered a dish that was on the banquet menu, and although I liked mine (I was really hungry), it wasn't anything special. We weren't totally surprised, like when we had dinner at the Reef.
At this point, I was tired, bummed, and generally wedding-ed out. I saw dresses that I liked, but never had that "this is the dress" moment. We at least narrowed the reception sites between the Reef and the Crowne Plaza, and each had such strong good points. But, at least I got to do some wedding planning with my mom, and we did get a lot accomplished!
Oh, how naive I was. Really, I had only tried on wedding dresses twice, and Andy and I had checked out a few reception sites in Rancho Palos Verdes one day. And even though I'd done a lot of research on line and requested a lot of quotes, it's nothing compared to the actual footwork.
In my mind, I'd dreamed up a reception in a ballroom on the top floor of a tall hotel, with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the ocean and the coast at night and all the city lights. So with this in mind, I planned a weekend of dress shopping and reception site hunting (around my hectic work and school schedule).
Day 1: dresses
First, dress shopping. I got up and managed to get gas and coffee and be only 5 minutes late in picking up my mom to go to our first appointment at Mon Amie. I was a little worried about the traffic but the carpool lane worked out pretty well. We were there plenty early, and still had to wait a little before being assigned a consultant and starting to seriously pick out dresses. At first I was worried - I'd heard that the sample sizes run small, and while I wouldn't call myself big, I'm not a size 2 any more. It ended up that the samples were closer to a street size 6 or 8, and every dress had to be clamped up and down the back just to stay up! They were all the finest designers, with price tags in the $4,000-$5,000 and up range! That really wasn't what I wanted to pay, and although the dresses were all very nice, they weren't quite what I thought I wanted. There was one Lazaro dress that I really liked, but for $4,800, it wasn't going to work.
I'd mentally prepared myself to be in my underwear all day (and made a point to wear good ones). Even still, it was awkward to be the only person undressed in a room where everyone is looking at you. The most priceless moment was when the consultant asked if my strapless bra was the Victoria's Secret . Nope, I said - Penney's!
I was a little afraid the appointment would run long and we wouldn't have time for a fancy lunch at South Coast, but we did! Our fancy lunch ended up at the Rainforest Café - with cookies and Victoria's Secret afterward. After odd encounters with the salespeople - we ended up with about 6 cookies and one clerk at Victoria's Secret told us to just take a pair of underwear - we started off for our second appointment.
A lot of people had recommended Jinny's Bridal to me, but I didn't know much what to expect. The store was much smaller, and the designers were not ones you'd see right away in Martha Stewart Weddings, but each dress was beautiful. Gorgeous. Perfect. And there were hundreds. My mom and I wandered around a while, just in awe of each one. And the owner not only helped my try on as many dresses to my heart's content, she pulled out even more. I tried on a dress so incredibly similar to the Lazaro dress at Mon Amie, that it might just be the big winner. We managed to narrow it down to two, very different, dresses at that store.
Day 2: reception sites
Saturday, the first thing we did was hit McDonald's for breakfast and head straight to the Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach. I thought for sure this hotel would have what I was looking for. Right on the ocean, and just across the street from the pier, not to mention the convenience! First off, we started poking around the ballrooms, looking for one on the upper floors. Nothing upstairs but guest rooms, and the ballrooms we saw had no windows. The concierge was kind enough to show us around, give us a TON of information, and show us their one ballroom with windows - that were tiny, curtained, and overlooked the street. I couldn't have been more disappointed. But it had a lot of other wonderful points, so it made the consideration list.
We then drove up and down Ocean, thinking there'd be a hidden restaurant or boutique hotel that might be just the ticket. We stopped and toured nearly every restaurant and picked up information (except for the Cheesecake Factory. Really kind of had a problem with that). But everything was either too small, or too open, or too something that just wouldn't work.
Day 3: MORE reception sites
The day started off with my mom and I going to Sunday service at the Wayfarer's Chapel. I really wanted to go, even though we have a copy of the ceremony and I'd investigated the church pretty thoroughly - you never know what kind of kooky ritual a random church has, right? The service was sweet, and there were only 40 or so people in attendance. It was also not-too-sunny, but still beautiful.
Afterward, we went to the Reef. I was really hoping that, once my mom saw it, she'd be sold. The bridal fair, however, was held in the side ballrooms, while they served Sunday brunch in the main restaurant. I was hoping they'd have the Pacific room set up as an example we could see. Inside, the Garden ballroom had just a few vendor booths and in the center was a giant table of cheese, fruit, and a chocolate fountain. With the hors d'oeveurs that were being passed (and tasty), we certainly didn't need lunch!
The breezeway between the Garden and Harborview ballrooms was open, and we got cornered by what seemed like a friendly, nice pastor. Who proceeded to tell us that the Wayfarer's chapel was overpriced, a rip-off, and he would have done our ceremony for free. And so, my mother was initiated into the bridal fair experience.
Among the different booths were sample cakes from both Polly Ann and Rossmor bakery. We tried Polly Ann first, and it was really good - even though I'm not a superfan of cake with fruit filling. but Rossmor was, quite possibly, the best cake we've ever had! I was so glad to get to try it, even though I was already sold on their reputation. We hung around until the fashion show started, since I still thought we'd be able to find a dress (although, I should know better by now!). The show started innocuously enough - some nice dresses, some tuxes, cute flower girls. Then came the "bridesmaids" dresses. Which I could best describe as things straight out of a Vegas show. One of the poor girls looked close to tears in a dress that was cut down Jennifer Lopez-style down the back. For the final dress, out came a girl who slinked down the runway like a stripper, and could barely walk in her impossibly high lucite heels. Even though they brought out more, normal, even pretty dresses ... I don't think my mom and I will ever forget that. I took my mom over to see the Pacific room afterward, but the bathrooms weren't working when we left - kind of a turnoff, of course.
At this point, I think, I was done. I suggested we go back and try on more dresses, but the prospect of going to Huntington Beach and crawling in and out of major structures just didn't sound appealing any more. We went back home to meet up with Andy so I could recuperate and regroup. After the break, though, we were back on the move - this time on a mission to hit all of the tall hotels in downtown Long Beach for a high ocean view ballroom.
Four hotels, tours, and info packets later: nothing. All of the ballrooms were buried deep in the hotel, no windows, and on the first floor. Downtown Long Beach is so beautiful, and there isn't a single place that shows it off! I know, we passed by Breakers and the Sky Room a few times. I'm just a little scared of them, given their reputation online.
So, we had just two contenders: the Reef, and the Crowne Plaza. We'd had all kinds of food at the Reef, so we decided on dinner at the Crowne Plaza's restaurant. I'd read reviews of the CP Splash, and they weren't glowing, but they weren't bad either. I don't know if it was just Sunday, but the service was sort of slow. We each ordered a dish that was on the banquet menu, and although I liked mine (I was really hungry), it wasn't anything special. We weren't totally surprised, like when we had dinner at the Reef.
At this point, I was tired, bummed, and generally wedding-ed out. I saw dresses that I liked, but never had that "this is the dress" moment. We at least narrowed the reception sites between the Reef and the Crowne Plaza, and each had such strong good points. But, at least I got to do some wedding planning with my mom, and we did get a lot accomplished!
posted by Emma at
6:36 PM
0 Comments
