Accommodations, Part 1

I am going to start writing about hotel and accommodation options.
As I write about each place I will mark it off on the previously mentioned map.
(oh and i'll know about group rates in the next couple days. )

1.Hotel Le Jolie




Visit Hotel Le Jolie's official site by clicking HERE

Hotel Le Jolie is by far the closest hotel to Pete's Candy Store and pretty centrally located. Though lacking in scenic surroundings, the rooms are great. The hotel is new which is nice, though be aware that the rooms are small and can only accommodate 2 people. Chris and I stayed during our east coast visit and really liked it.
While you could probably find more spacious digs by renting a loft or a hotel in LIC, this place would allow you to not worry about cabs or transportation.

Read more about the hotel from these links:

New York Magazine Hotel LIstings

yelp.com reviews

Trip Advisor

And for more about the neighborhood, ask us! It's our past and future home, and we are happy to answer any questions.
My favorite neighborhood website: FreeWIlliamsburg
It has countless restaurant and bar listings.

The Neighborhood

I started a map of Williamsburg to get people oriented for the wedding. I will update it with all of our favorite bars, restaurants, wedding location and accommodation.
Have any suggestions about what to add? Let me know!
(click link below for full map & key)

View Wedding in Williamsburg in a larger map

you've got mail

i am addressing and mailing our 'save the dates' today!

getting dressed/inspiration

There have been many questions from everyone about what to wear and Chris and I have been defaulting to "dress for a cocktail party" and "something that makes you want to dance and feel great".
But since we've been throwing the word "cocktail party" around so much, i started to wonder- what exactly is a cocktail dress?
So I did some research.

The simplest definition came from 'fashion.about.com':
Cocktail Attire means short, elegant dresses for her and dark suits for him.

Wikipedia gets a little more specific about hemlines:
A cocktail dress or cocktail gown is a woman's dress worn at cocktail parties, and semi-formal occasions.
The length of cocktail dresses varies depending on fashion and local custom. The length ranges from just above the knee to touching the ankle. When it is about 5 cm (2 inches) above the ankle it is called tea length and when it is almost touching the ankle it is called ballerina length, although ballerina length dresses usually fall into the evening gown category.

And there is a fun 'history of cocktail dresses' slideshow on the new york magazine website here:
The History of the Cocktail Dress

If you're stuck here is some inspiration:
(click on photo to enlarge)

little black numbers from jcrew.com


bold colors from net-a-porter.com


some crazy 1960's dresses:

Visiting Brooklyn in August

Some exciting news. Chris and Sarah will be in nyc the weekend of August 8th...and it looks like our parents will be too! All of them!

Some things we hope to accomplish that weekend:
+ book hair and make up places
+ nail down decorations and florists
+ plan ceremony (like "blocking" in theatre)
+ figure out procession route from hotel to Pete's
+ meet with musician for ceremony

Probably more, hopefully not too much less.
Let us know if you'll be in the area that weekend.

Lastly- color swatches going out in mail today!

much love!

SAVE THE DATE

Saturday October 3rd, 2009
6pm
Pete's Candy Store
Brooklyn, New York

final contenders for location

we've narrowed it down to Relish and Pete's Candy Store

Pete's Candy Store:





Relish Diner:




ETA-
we added a few more pictures...
hard to find good pictures for these places. (that show, for example, that relish is fairly pristine since they use it for film shoots all the time) but you can see that they definitely give out the vintage feel we were looking for. They also booth look really nice in the evening. Of course we'll be adding a lot- linens, flowers, etc. Atmospherically speaking, they booth provided really good bases to start from.

something to consider

Our ceremony will be outdoors. Maybe we should move the wedding to October 3rd so we could have warmer weather. It's something to consider.

travel dispatch from sarah

(photo by steph!)

Just got back from a whirlwind 6 days in Philly & Brooklyn. 

It was wonderful to see family & friends...visiting home always makes me feel overwhelmingly lucky.

some wedding planning highlights included:

- cupcake tasting with Tatiana. After 6 cupcakes, one coffee and one glass of milk it was officially decided that Baked in Red Hook, Brooklyn will be our baker. mmm. you have some very delicious frosting to look forward to. 

-dress shopping with mom & steph. tried on some very beautiful gowns. steph snapped one million pictures. hopefully i can use some of the details i saw as inspiration. 

-venue hunting with Steph & Aunt Rosemary, event planner extraordinaire. we did a lot of pavement pounding and i think we narrowed it down to two places. I am only slightly concerned about the weather in October but we are nothing if not risk takers! And whilst scoping out one venue I got a potential lead on a florist... (also sometime during this day Rosie bequeathed Steph with a new moniker: OP. that's right, Optimus Prime. i love it.)

After some terrible flight delays I arrived back at SFO in the wee hours of the morning. Chris V, my knight in shining armor, was there with a zipcar to rescue me. exhausted & happy to be home after such a busy week. looking forward for the next trip east (late july?) and hoping to bring my betrothed with me next time. 

meet steph

meet steph, sarah's MOH (that's bridal magazine speak for maid of honor). bff since 1999. very tough. probably dangerous. has out biked everyone i know. known to illustrate whales, boats, bunnies. likes to whale on drums. (hates puns) recently relocated from brooklyn to westport, ma. well versed in calming sarah's nerves before parties. (thank god)

meet matt

meet matt. best man. chris' big brother. as if being a harvard graduate could not possibly have been enough, he is also an expert banjo/guitar player, a master sailor, a highly awarded IBM employee, and a baker of delicious holiday pies. suprising that he didn't build the massachusetts house he lives in with his cool wife and three genius children.

meet jane

meet jane, bridesmaid. fabric artist. fashion warrior from the future. hails from the oregon, baltimore, texas, and california. often coconspirator in mayhem and debauchery. tiny and friendly but beware of whip-smart humor. you might be funny, but you're not jane-funny.

meet lamar

meet lamar. groomsman. little brother of sarah, though not in size. lover of sports, organization, and monogamy. prone to bombastic and hilarious acts of physical comedy. always the first to organize drinking games, he prefers the embarrassing performance oriented sort. also a fan of the friendly good-to-see-ya-back-pat. so beware. his hands weigh, like, 80 lbs or something.

meet sarah

meet sarah. sarah lynn. whose dad rides a harley and plays the drums. weird right? bridesmaid. roadtripper. of discerning musical tastes. most likey to skip the wedding for an awesome rock show. doesn't take myspace-vanity self-portraits and thus is never photographed alone. the nicest lucky strike smokin, hard gambling, badass i've ever met.

meet jeff

meet jeff. groomsman. little brother of sarah. not on facebook or myspace and thus a man of mystery. also has mysterious job for a financial company which he mysteriously did not lose during the financial crash. the type of guy that looks good in sunglasses. organizes elaborate (possibly dangerous) pranks but is never ever caught. the kind of guy you'd want to be class president.

UPDATE!- photos have been procured! And I swear to god the sunglass thing was a coincidence.

meet anna

meet anna. bridesmaid. currently residing in her home town of portland, where she does portland things like grow stuff and make art and be really mellow. sarah's first friend in san francisco. known to face daily adventures and the nypd with quiet brashness and great bravery, respectively. builder of tree houses and other magical places. dangerous charmer.

meet matt

meet matt. aka beastman. aka redwood. groomsman. the only one you know who's been invited to cannes to pick up a shiny trophy. chris' former ad partner back in the nyc days. now found pool-sharking/surfing/shenanigans-ing around the bay area. enjoys shooting nazi zombies with his xbox, shooting french landscapes with his camera, and shooting shots with his mouth.

meet jessica

meet jess. bridesmaid. formally of williamsburg crew, currently rolls in philly. infectiously likable, secretly too cool for school. (though she'd never admit it) maker of art. keeper of secrets. grower of food. teacher of small hippie children...and rumored to be slowly amassing her child-army that will one day over-throw bullshit consumerist america. (though she'd never admit that either). and lastly, always wears a helmet.

meet tim

meet tim. groomsman. collegiate associate of chris. will talk about metal anytime, anyplace, at any length, with a love and respect that most people reserve for grandparents who were in the war. he will also talk about the bikes that he's built, the things he's designed, or why something ISN'T metal. when not exploring south america or vomiting all over california's beautiful pacific coast highway, he's restoring a 68 VW beetle in his homestate of pennsylvania.

meet tatiana

meet tatiana. aka tati. aka tati compton. bridesmaid. gypsy. artist. possibly born 30 years late. and the only person i can call a free-spirit and keep a straight face. lives more in a year than most people do in a lifetime. though currently residing in brooklyn, that information will be outdated by the time you read this blog.

meet spencer

meet spencer. groomsman. former river guide, chris' current ad partner in sf. the only one you know who was in that movie "Mr. Holland's Opus". formerly of the pacific northwest. energetically slapstick. has invented more dance manuevers than he owns blue shirts- and he only wears blue shirts. enjoys finding humor in the small things. small things include include shark attacks, golden retrievers, airplane crashes, and cats.

The Line-up

In case you were wondering...

Awesome Bridal Posse of Doom

Steph B (maid of honor)

Jess R

Anna M

Sarah S

Tati K

Jane H

League of Extraordinary Pirates (groomsmen)

Matt V (best man)

Lamar F

Jeff H

Tim S

Matt H

Spencer R

Introductions to come.

(i didn't use last names to keep this google-stalker safe)