Tag Archives: smog shoppe

wedding wednesdays

29 May

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After eight months of insane focus on wedding planning, I hit a wall. For the last month I have done nothing towards the wedding. My therapist recently told me that she thinks I am an “all or nothing” kinda gal. I couldn’t really argue with her. Either I’m on a crazy five-day juice cleanse or I’m eating frozen yogurt for dinner every night. Either I’m going to yoga every day or I don’t go for a month. Either I’m writing for hours on end or avoiding my computer like the plague. I think I may need to work on finding a bit more of a balance, huh?

So true to form, I obsessed about all things wedding for eight months straight and then I didn’t want to think or talk about it for a few weeks. Thankfully, I don’t think taking the month off put us too far behind because of all the work I got done during my eight month obsessive period.

Things we have-

+a venue– Obviously this was one of the first things I checked off the list. Still very happy with our choice of the Smog Shoppe!

+a wedding planner–  I met my wedding planner, Lina, for coffee once and knew she was the one. She has a very calm way about her and that is very important to me on the big day. Anything to keep me calm.

+a wedding dress- After trying on a bunch of different styles from a million different shops (and having one panic attack in a store packed with dresses. Really, I think anyone would have felt claustrophobic), I settled on a dress that makes me feel like the very best version of myself. I seriously can’t wait to marry Brian in it.

+flowers– I had a very clear image early on of what I wanted the flowers to look like- dahlias, peonies & ranunculus! I wanted them to be bright, playful and whimsical. After meeting with Heather from Twig & Twine I knew she could make my vision come to life. Flowers are so important!

+music- At first we thought we wanted a twelve piece band but then we learned how much they cost and we changed our minds to a DJ. Ha. Music was/is Brian’s job to handle. One because he really needed a wedding job, two he cares more about music than I do and three because he has better taste in music than I do. I even sent him to meet with the potential DJ alone. He said he felt like he was going on a blind date. Ha. Poor boy. But he came home with a smile on his face and we had ourselves a DJ!

+a caterer – I had a very clear image of what I wanted the dinner to feel like too- amazing food served family style on long wooden tables. I want it to feel very warm and intimate. So I looked for a caterer who could create that.

+photographer– This was also a job perfectly suited for Brian considering he is a talented photographer himself! I knew he would find the right person to shoot our big day and he did. The photographer he chose has such a fun and playful style.

+make-up artist– I love my make-up artist. She has such a fun energy and she made me look like this for our engagement shoot- so I hired her.

+a cake – we are having two cakes! Because one is never enough, right?? A decadent chocolate cake and an Almond Orangutan cake with orange scented buttercream and Kumquat preserves- YUM.

Things we still need to tackle-

+groomsmen attire – this has been such a fun topic to discuss! not

+ liquor – again I would be happy if we only served buttery chardonnay but I realize that would be unfair to my guests. So Brian is on this job as well. Full bar here we come!

+ wedding rings – Just give me more diamonds and I’m happy but Brian has never worn jewelry before so he has no idea what he wants. Although he knows he doesn’t want gold. He feels very strongly about gold.

+ vows – Does anybody have any brilliant ideas for the vows? We’ve decided to write our own which both excites me and terrifies me.

+ honeymoon – I’m thinking Bali! Bali! Bali!

+ photo booth –  Every wedding needs a photo booth, right?

+ and allllll the million other little details from seating cards to parting gifts.

T minus 5 months!!!!!!! I can’t believe it’s so soon.

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hysterical, mother.

22 Jan

So, you know how I mentioned that Brian and I are getting married at a venue called the Smog Shoppe in November? Well, my mother sent me this in the mail the other day….hysterical, right?

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you’re getting married where?

30 Dec

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We picked a date and venue for our wedding! Originally I wanted to do an out-of-town wedding in the central coast of California but it ended up feeling overwhelming to coordinate. I didn’t like the idea of having to work with vendors who I had never met. We also decided we didn’t want to make all our guests travel for a weekend wedding. As special as we think our wedding is, we realize not everyone wants to travel for it! So we set our sites on finding the perfect LA venue. We wanted to find an indoor/outdoor space that wasn’t a hotel. We were both set on not getting married indoors- we want to be outside when we say “I do”.

Many months ago, before we got engaged, Brian and I were at an open house in Culver City and stumbled down the street into space called the SmogShoppe. Once a 1980’s smog check center, SmogShoppe is now a converted 6,500 square foot indoor/outdoor space. The outside is pretty nondescript with big tall cement walls covered in succulents (Brian’s favorite though), but when you walk behind the cement walls you find yourself in a magical space. There’s a big beautiful succulent garden outdoors to get married in. Inside is a huge long space with wood tables and exposed beams- it feels rustic despite not being a barn. It’s eclectic and fun. It’s the perfect place for us. At the time I said “This would be a great place to get married” not thinking it would really be were I got married.

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Eight months later with a ring on my finger we chose the SmogShoppe to become man and wife, November 2013 and we are oh so excited about it!

Telling our family the name of the venue has been funny though.

My poor grandmother was like, “What? You’re getting married where??? A smog shop????”

My mother took to sending me texts that read “It’s not everyday your daughter get’s married at a smog shop.” Hysterical mother.

I’m so happy that choosing a venue and securing a date is over because that sucked. I can’t believe how fast things book up! This whole wedding business is insane! We originally wanted a September wedding but are learning to be happy with a November wedding because of this very problem. Luckily LA doesn’t get that cold that time of year. Although I would prefer to be cold in a big white heavy dress then hot. I hate being hot.

So now we attack booking everything else for the big day. Let the fun begin!

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