Una Bella Sera

On Sunday I went with LeAnne (one of my MOHs) and my Auntie Laura (my official wedding coordinator) to Una Bella Sera, a bridal event held in Livermore’s new Casa Real, owned by the Ruby Hill folks. I was excited to go since I’ve recently discovered which bridal shows suck, and which ones are actually worth going to. The bridal show put on by Nicole Ha of Nicole Ha Designs and Crystal Lequang from Amazae Special Events. I was eager to go since I really need some inspiration for floral designs for our wedding. Since I’m having lazy susans I need to get creative with centerpieces, or just do something very minimal.

Anyway, I knew that three of my vendors would be there, so I wanted to show up to support them. My photographer, Jennifer Skog, my hair and make-up artist, Maria Chang, and my stationer, Susanne of Cards De Luxe were all at the event. I love stationery, though I’m not a very artsy kind of person. I guess I just love beautiful things…but then again who doesn’t.

I had expected to see two other “knotties” (Sarah and Amanda) there, which was funny because as soon we were walking up to the Winery, they were walking up as well. As soon we walked in, we were greeted with champagne and a photobooth. Sarah, Amanda and I jumped in as soon as we could and quickly snapped 6 shots at the photobooth. The company, Photobooth Interactive, starts at around $1700 I think, which is way more than I was willing to spend on my photobooth. I think the photobooth company that we’re going with suits are needs just fine. Though I do have to remember to bring props for guests to use in the photobooth. That’ll be fun.

So after running into Sarah and Amanda, I ran into a girl I had gone to high school with, Kim Vu (i think?). She told me that she’s getting married next year. Small world. Right after talking to her, I turned around and recognized a “friend of a friend” (Hong) who is getting married the week after us. I said hello and she introduced me to her fiance, but I’m sure she had no idea what my name was. Good thing I have a good memory so it wasn’t awkward for me, ha! Anyway, Casa Real did one of their rooms in a ceremony setup. Really gorgeous, and made me wish/hope that I could do the same for our wedding, but my Auntie Laura said that it’s against the Basilica’s policies. Boo! I’m stil hopeful, so we’ll see. I shall borrow pics from Augie Chang’s website since he photographed everything so wonderfully.

While admiring all the beautiful floral arrangements and candlelight, I turned around, yet again and ran into the girl I had sat next to during the bar exam. Since it was a three day exam, we had nice chats. We chatted because she was friends with one of my high school friends, she was also from San Jose, and she was also in an upcoming wedding. So it shouldn’t have surprised me to see her there. She introduced me to the bride of the wedding that she’s in, and then I went on my way. Of course at this point LeAnne’s laughing at me that I ran into so many people I knew and I didn’t even get into the main ballroom yet.

So we walked onto the patio and immediately I recognized another face. I ran into a high school classmate, and fellow CAL alumni, Cheri Kai. Apparently she is also in an upcoming wedding, and so she introduced me to her bride. At this point I was laughing since I ran into so many people in such a short time. Anyway, that was the end of running into people unexpectedly. So we finally made our way into the ballroom and there were so many cool things to see and especially EAT! Cupcakes, cakes, hors d’ouevres! Scrumptious!

Doesn’t everything look so fabulous! It was great. Oh, and after seeing all these wonderful things, and also popping in to take a few pictures using Fotomio, we went outside to the patio and were eating cake. While eating cake, another knottie Grace aka ”pinay” came up to me and said she recognized me. We ended up chatting for a really long time, but it’s always nice to share the excitement of weddings with other brides.

After talking to Grace I went to say hello to Maria and Jen. We talked to them for an even longer time. I talked to them about my upcoming secret photo shoot. I told them that I was nervous and that I was bringing LeAnne for my moral support. I had a fun time talking to them, which makes me really excited about our actual wedding day. I’m so extremely confident in all my vendors. I know that John and I are in great hands. Maria is going to make me beautiful for my day, and Jen will capture it all! Exciting! Being in the double digits sure gets me fired up! Now I still have to pay for the invitations…