The Hitchhiking Bride and Her Genius Fiancé: Wedding-Day Transportation

Mr. Seal does a pretty fantastic job of not only letting me indulge in all of my unbridled wedding-day dreams, but of being just the right amount of involved. Without being controlling or, on the other end of the spectrum, mindlessly grinning and nodding, he gives his honest opinion —reason 3,476,301 why I love him.

I don't want to give away all of his amazing contributions right off the bat, but I'll at least introduce you to his unparalleled ingenuity.

Mr. S being a goofy/slightly creepy, creative genius:

Remember how our wedding party is 543 people large? Okay, I exaggerated a little bit, but I was close—25 (including us, our two flower girls and our ring bearer). I, in typical me fashion, started to get anxiety trying to imagine how we would affordably and comfortably transport all of us, plus our parents, to and from the ceremony. Crazy, I know, but I am ridiculous by nature.

Getting to the ceremony wouldn't be an issue—we'd obviously be making two trips anyhow, first to let the guys head over and then the girls. It was the getting to the reception that gave me a headache. Mr. S really wanted a vintage Rolls Royce to transport the two of us after the ceremony, and seeing as how he rarely requests anything, I was keen to oblige to his request (plus it fit the vintage feel we are going for). So this now meant that we could deduct two people (us, duh) from the group transport back to the reception but add in a whole new cost for the Rolls. Yikes.

The Rolls Royce he had in mind:

Image via Silver Lady Wedding Cars

Though at this point our wedding was still well over a year out, that didn't stop me from requesting quotes from just about every limousine company in the greater Bay Area. I'm fairly sure our wedding date is going to be a popular one and my competitive side really did not want to lose out on the best deal just because I waited too long.

Anyhow, after months of discouraging Rolls Royce quotes (3-hour minimums? $700?) and equally depressing limousine discoveries (even the stretch SUVs only held a max of about 16 people!), I was ready to throw in the towel and hitchhike to our ceremony and reception. It was just not in our budget to spend almost $2000 on transportation for a vintage car and an ugly limo bus.

Image via MixNews

Enter Mr. Seal's innovative savvy.

One day, while driving to who knows where, I was sideswiped—and no, not physically by another driver, but by the most wonderful idea EVER. The Sealman casually asked, "Why don't we rent a cable car for our transportation?" Ahh! Why hadn't I thought of that?! Iconic San Francisco-themed transportation that would likely fit our entire wedding party! He even said he'd be willing to forgo the Rolls if we managed to charter a trolley car.

I researched and requested quotes from a few different companies as soon as I got home. As fate would have it, the company (Events West) with the best reviews came back with the most affordable rate I could have ever hoped for. After improvising a couple of love songs for Shaun in light of his fantastic idea, I put down the deposit and signed the contract.

Events West's fleet of cable cars:

Images via Events West

The rates were so affordable and their seating capacity so generous that I am even considering (if my rapidly increasing budget allows for it) chartering a second car for the guests.

Is your ceremony in a different location? How will you get you and your wedding party to and from? Are you providing transportation for your guests as well?

Until next time!

Miss Seal

Diary of an Indecisvie Bride: The Colors

Before further developing on the "Old San Francisco" motif, it was important to establish a color scheme. I mean, that's like the second thing people ask when they find out you're getting married—"what are your colors?!" This seemed like a pretty loaded question and I had to be prepared!

Prior to coming up with the San Francisco theme, I was dead set on black and white with red accents, like a thiiiisss:

Image via Designer Confectionery

Image via Weddings by Color/Photo by Shane Carpenter

I still think it's a beautiful color combination and compliments our theme nicely, but I gradually became disenchanted with it. For me, I guess it felt a little too "winter-y"? I can't put my finger on it. Anyway, my gears moved in a completely different direction and I sought something that would compliment our venue and theme even better—something a bit more vintage, almost Victorian.

Recall our venue:

Image via the San Francisco Sentinel/Photos by Drew Altizer

I really wanted my bridesmaids in black—something about seeing those 10 pretty ladies in floor-length dark gowns felt very glamorous and classy to me, so I figured I'd stick with black as one of my colors. I decided to replace the white with champagne and get rid of the red entirely. 

Here's what I had in mind for the champagne and black scheme:

Inspiration board via 1 Wedding Source

I am still 100% in love with the inspiration pictures, but I felt too limited. Eventually I started to get frustrated and bored with the color scheme and decided I needed to pull in some other colors to properly execute the look I was going for in my head. Ultimately I decided to just refine this palette a bit and go with something a bit more monochromatic and developed.

Our color palette. Cream, feather, gold, soft pink with black accents:

Color swatches via 100 Layer Cake

Some inspiration pics:

Inspiration board via Zenadia Design; Photo credits L-R by row: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Inspiration board via SW Daily Blog/Photo Credits L-R by row: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

So hat's that. I'm not changing my mind again.

Probably.

Did your colors change? How did you know you had finally found THE palette?

XO,

Miss Seal

San Francisco, Let Me Count the Ways I Love Thee: Establishing the Theme

Image via Famous Wonders/Photo by David

“No city invites the heart to come to life as San Francisco does. Arrival in San Francisco is an experience in living.” 
-American Writer, William Soroyan

In case you haven't gathered by now, I love San Francisco. I love the way the lights reflect off the water and twinkle at night. The competing sounds of honking cars and barking seals. The cold crisp air sweeping in from the bay.

My family's roots are in this city.

My father was born in his hometown of San Francisco to my grandparents Sayra, a Georgian transplant to the Bay Area and Albert, an immigrant from the Philippines of split German/Filipino heritage.

Nana and Papa Seal (all personal photos unless otherwise noted):

Young Daddy Seal:

Mama Seal and her five siblings were raised a short 20 minutes southwest of San Francisco in the coastal town of Pacifica by her Spanish-American parents Alfonso and Mary. She and her two sisters spent most of their weekends breaking hearts in San Francisco.

(L to R) Auntie Mary Ann, Mama Seal, Grandma Seal and Auntie Ali:

(L-R) Auntie Ali, Mama Seal and Auntie Mary Ann:

In 1971, in what would be a precursor to "The Thrilla in Manila", Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier. As it happened, there was another, lesser-known fight that evening. My mom and her sisters were at a club in SF called "The Nightlife" and got into a brawl with some envious girls from the Mission District. It was then that my father, a musician in the band that was playing there that evening, first laid eyes on my mother. I'm not sure what it was, but somewhere between my mom and her sisters throwing punches and my dad trying to break up the fight...a love was born. They married a couple of years later.

My young parents with Seal Jr.:

My team is in this city!

My brothers and I were raised San Francisco Giants fans and year after year we languished with no championship wins. Poor Daddy Seal had it worse: he was tortured by close calls and losing seasons for as many years as he is old, 56.

In 2009, the year Mr. S and I got engaged, his Yankees won the World Series. As the 2010 season opened Mr. Seal, demonstrating amazing compromise, told me that my team would win the championship —and boooy was he was right.

A collection of pictures taken throughout the winning 2010 season:

 Daddio Seal with Brother Seal

Mr. Seal (in Giants gear!) with Mama Seal

Brother Seal Jr (my eldest bro) with his bride-to-be, Maria

 Mama Seal with Brother Seal Jr. at the victory parade!

It only seemed fitting that the Seals would marry in the City by the Bay. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Seal is a New Yorker through and through, but he says San Francisco reminds him of home in a way—a smaller version of home and with nicer people (his words, not mine).

As the planning moved forward, San Francisco progressed from simply being the location of our wedding to the theme. My taste went from "Old Hollywood Glamour in the Winter" to simply...."Old San Francisco".

Now sit back and enjoy a little San Francisco-inspired Journey:

Lots of love,

Miss Seal

(all personal photos)

Calligraphy, Envelopes and Stamps, Oh My!: It's All in the Details, Part II

Now that the envelopes were beautifully addressed (thanks to that wonderful surprise by my calligrapher), my next task was to stamp! I had previously purchased a return address rubber stamp through a wonderful etsy seller (studioGdesigns) for use on the back of the STD envelopes.

I know that stamping the back of 150 envelopes doesn't exactly qualify as DIY, but we've established that I'm a crafting wannabe so I photographed my endeavor anyhow:

Not too shabby.

I had originally ordered the Katharine Hepburn stamps via the USPS online store, but after I received them, I realized they were too long (vertically) and obscured part of the addressee's name.

USPS

I had invested way too much time into the calligraphy even slightly mar them with the stamp, so I exchanged them for the favored, "King and Queen of Hearts" stamps:

 

USPS

Exchanging the stamps via snail mail set me back by a few days, but I finished the postage process pretty quickly once I had the right stamps in-hand.

Dropping those bad boys off at the post office was more difficult than I anticipated. After verifying with the post lady for the fifth time that they would be okay, I reluctantly unhanded them. So many decisions went into those little cards. The overall design, the paper, the calligraphy—even the address stamp and postage stamps were all hand-picked. I couldn't help but wonder, should they successfully make it to their respective destinations, if the recipients would take notice of all the details that took me nearly a year to pull together.

Who knows. But whichever the case, I had done all that I could to send off something I was proud of—something that would make the first impression that best represented our wedding.

Do you think your guests will pay attention to all of those little details? Was it difficult for you to let go of your save-the-dates?

With love always,

Miss Seal

(personal photos unless stated otherwise)

Calligraphy, Envelopes and Stamps, Oh My!: It's All in the Details, Part I

With the save-the-dates beautifully printed and in-hand, it was time to address them. I have to admit, I definitely wasn't looking forward to this part. I wouldn't quite say I have chicken scratch for penmanship, but it's not exactly...well...envelope-worthy?

Let me show you:

Personal photo

Notice how each line has a tendency to float up as it moves to the right? How about the wibbly-wobbly inconsistency in letter size? Yeah. Meh.

So after a few unsuccessful practice rounds, I figured it was time to accept defeat and find a calligrapher before I ran out of envelopes. Calligraphy definitely wasn't something I budgeted for, but thanks to my good friend Etsy I was able to find the most amazing (and affordable) calligrapher. Check her out here: NJW Calligraphy. I managed to catch her when she was just starting up and was offering crazy low rates.

For the next week or so, my poor roommates (brother Seal and Mr. Seal) had to hear all about the "Frederick" font, and the "Virginia" font and my personal favorite (and late arrival to my calligrapher's repertoire) the "Citadel" font. Despite having already budgeted and paid for the lesser-priced Frederick font, my heart was secretly set on the newly-introduced Citadel (confused yet?). Eventually, my heart lost the battle and I opted to not upgrade.

Or so I thought.

I sent off my envelopes to the calligrapher and, a few days later, was informed by owner Nellie that she had begun work on my project. She told me to check her blog in a few hours for some pictures of her progress—I, demonstrating excellent patience, checked every 15 minutes thereafter. And unbeknownst to me, I was in for a big surprise.

Nellie is so lovely that she decided to surprise me with the Citadel font I so desperately wanted (without charging me extra). Do not lose hope in humanity, apparently there ARE still amazing people left in the world!

Personal photo

All below photos courtesy of NJW Calligraphy. Kindly disregard the weird blank spots, I had to edit them for privacy:

I am so thankful to have found her.

Next Up: The STD stamp and send-off

Did you address all of your STDs or did you hire a calligrapher? Has a vendor ever pleasantly surprised you?

With love and appreciation,

Seal

Spreading the Word: STD Style, Part II

Hello, Hive! When we last left off on my journey to finding my STD style, I had just recalled the 1999 wedding of Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas. I will now explain what this has to do with my STDs.

In 1999, Rob Thomas collaborated with Santana on the biggest hit of the year, "Smooth". As it so happens, Daddio Seal has been the percussionist for Santana since 1976 and was therefore involved with said song. 

Check out Daddy Seal starting at 1:43:

Anyhow, as a result of recording a song together and performing together dozens of times over the course of the year, Daddy Seal and Mr. Thomas became friends and my parents were invited to his wedding.

Daddio was unable to attend his wedding because he was on tour, but I did keep the STD and invite. When I was 14 (having never heard of a save-the-date before), I referred to the below card as, "an invitation for the invitation". So this, my friends, is the first save-the-date I ever laid my eyes on:

It was so simple. All of the pertinent information printed in a classic font on nice paper. No balloons, no magnets, no pictures.

I had just found my STD style.

Soon after this rediscovery I contacted the Aerialist Press, a highly reviewed letterpress company out of Emeryville, California and requested a quote. Much to my surprise they responded not only with the quote, but with a beautiful mock-up card that perfectly captured my simple vision with a San Francisco twist. Not requiring any revisions, we ordered them exactly as they were and received them only a week later.

Our letterpress save-the-dates:

I couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out! Although I initially thought I wanted something a bit more extraordinary, it turns out that just wasn't my taste.

Will you try something a bit more adventuresome for your save-the-dates or will you stick with a more traditional style? Has a previously received STD influenced your style?

With lots of love and appreciation,

Miss Seal

(personal photos unless stated otherwise)

Spreading the Word: STD Style, Part I

Sidenote: I recognize the difficulty in ignoring the misfortune of the STD acronym and will not blame you for giggling—I happen to chuckle to myself every time I type out those three little letters.

As with the bridesmaids cards, this non-crafty gal had lofty do-it-yourself dreams when it came to our save-the-dates. I think I first started imagining how the STDs would look around January of 2009—nearly a year before we would even send them out. You would think with all that time, I would have been able to accomplish something cute like this:

Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

Or creative, like this?:

Image via Martha Stewart Weddings

Perhaps something a bit more fun, like this?

Images via Martha Stewart Weddings

Ultimately, I learned a life lesson: an abundance of time is not always your friend. With over a year to design, assemble and send off the world's most creative STD (*chuckle*), I felt overwhelmed! My STD taste bounced from balloons to magnets to bookmarks and I kept telling myself I had all the time in the world to figure it out.

Well. Then eight months passed.

With our wedding date landing on a Friday and our elevated number of out-of-town guests, I knew we wanted to send out save-the-date notes at the start of 2011 to give people sufficient time to make proper work and travel arrangements. After twiddling my thumbs for so long, I surmised it was time to get down to STD business. 

I sat down with myself and had a brainstorming session. Could I really see myself assembling over 150 bookmarks or calendars? Did I really want save-the-date magnets? I eventually concluded that the answers to those questions were, "no" and I felt helpless. Until I remembered 1999.

In October of 1999, Rob Thomas married Marisol Maldonado in Santa Ynez, California:

Image via Wedding Sutra

Now you may be asking yourselves what in the world they have to do with my save-the-dates, so I will explain.

Next post!

What influenced your STD style?

Lots of love,

Miss Seal