Hater comment from Battle of the Wedding Planners post

Peeps I got my first hater comment!!! & guess who it's by??? yup you guessed it, the infamous Anonymous!!! I'm sure you've read their stuff before, Anonymous is pretty prolific around the web, their specialty is making snide comments on people's blog and hiding behind anonymity.

I want to respond to Anonymous comments because I feel they must have only read my post title "The Battle of the Wedding Planners are big fat liars" and not the entire post. I stand behind what I said!

So here is what Anonymous said...

During the show the wedding planner actually said he was calling in a ton of favors from vendors and that he was promising them jobs for weddings coming up. this was not budget deception especially since they actually showed scenes of the planner promising vendors future jobs if they would help him on this one. Don't be bitter because a couple got a good deal for their wedding, and if you are sign up for a tv show and im sure you wouldn't be complaining then.

Well Anonymous, apparently you did not read when I clearly stated that the planner was calling in favors -"The London is Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. The meals per person are around $100 so that alone (with tax & gratuity) is almost 15k not including decorations, favors, drinks, photography, space rental etc. They tried making it seem like the planner called in a lot of favors but it still wouldn't be a 15k wedding."

This IS budget deception because it doesn't matter how many favors were called in, unless Ramsay was footing the bill for the food, the food alone (no alcohol) would cost $19,755.
Let me give you the breakdown: 150 guests, $100 {range $80-$96 I rounded up} per plate (15,000) + 3,000 (20% service fee) + 1,755 (9.75% CA state tax) = $19,755. That's right honey bunches, Cali allows venues to add the state tax to the total that includes the 20% service charge. Ya this was a shocker to us too. This total doesn't even include the rental fees that range $500-$15,000, nor does it include all the other items that go into having a wedding. Also, I did give one of the planners credit stating that "The only one that could have been 15k is the Griffith Park option." and I even provided a link to a wedding that supported that statement, cause that's how I roll! I roll with evidence!

It's too bad you missed my point, but luckily my wedding blogger friends who commented did not. To make it clear my point was " I really hope that people who are actually planning a wedding in L.A don't watch this show for ideas because it is bull caca! They are show big fat liars for saying that the three options shown are $15k. The only one that could have been 15k is the Griffith Park option."

You say if I had been on the show I would not be complaining, well I was not complaining nor was I jealous or bitter, I was merely looking out for people planning their own wedding & looking for ideas from this show. Like many other brides out there planning their own wedding, I look to the internet, tv, books, magazine & friends for wedding ideas, so it's really nice that there are places you can find REAL info on items but we also have to be careful with that same information & make sure we are not deceived. I got a reality check when I started researching what things actually cost. I don't doubt that the couple only paid 15K, I am sure someone else paid the rest of the bill (hello TLC!) so hi high five to them for scoring a wedding that really cost more than they had to pay. My problem with the show is only with the part that talks about the budget & places you can get married at for these budgets. The show would be better if it did not mention budgets at all, which would be best even for the planners so the competition could be fair & you would not have planners that actually listen to the 15K budgets (Griffith Park option) vs those that don't (Marimon & The London). I actually like the planners, they had great ideas & their competitive behavior was quite entertaining. My fav was the spunky one :-)

Anonymous, you are the one that sounds bitter apparently you took the post very personal, perhaps you are some how connected to the show itself? hmmm?!?!? You mention I should sign up for the show so I wouldn't complain, but I don't know how that has to do anything with my point of budget deception, but to answer you, I do not want to be on tv, heck I have a hard enough time posing for family photos let alone television cameras. I think weddings are all beautiful in their own way whether they are 100K or 1K because it's an event of 2 people committing themselves to each other in front of all their close family & friends & they are paying what ever price they are comfortable paying for & should not be judged for it. Love rocks.

Now two quotes dedicated to Anonymous:
Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it. Harry Emerson Fosdick
The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves. William Penn

My church is in the wedding featured on Wedding Chicks!

I was so excited when I recognized the church that mi amor & I are getting married at in the wedding pictures featured on WeddingChicks. On Saturdays I sometimes want to pass by the church to see if I would catch a wedding party outside, so I can see a wedding there but thanks to WeddingChicks, I don't have to wonder anymore.

love this calender like a fat kid loves cake

Home skillets, I just bought my calender for 2010! Seriously, it's as if Little Brown Pen read my mind when writing the following:

• Make resolution and break it (mostly only anything having to do with candy or soda)
• Wear sandals and pretend it's warm - At the age of 8 I tried convincing my mom it was all good for me to wear my dress to go ice skating, she was not down & I ended up not going.
• Jump puddles & curse frizzy hair - I jump the puddles but as far the frizzy hair I put it in a pony tail & cap & call it a day.
• Wear boots & pretend it's cold outside - last year I *had* to wear my tall red Hunter rain boots, so I wore them when mi amor & I went to see the Christmas light show at the L.A Zoo. Peeps, I live in L.A who was I kidding, it did not rain, but they did come in handy in the mud.
• Eat candy & regret it. Story of my life
• Scarf stuffing & loosen pants - this is why you wear dresses for the holidays!

Bowie Bride's awesome Bee[high]ve blog

I just read The Bowie Bride's announcement of her brilliant new "The Bee[high]ve" site, it is going to be off the hizzy! If you have not read her Miss Crack Pipe posts you must do so now!... seriously now, stop reading this click the link to open a new tab read it & come back to finish reading my posts. I freaking love it & so excited for her future posts!
Seeing her new banner with two bowie pictures reminded me of when mi amor took me ice skating at Pershing Square in Downtown, it was awesome for 2 reasons 1) Cool to see an ice rink surrounded by Christmas lights & tall downtown buildings 2-) A David Bowie Tribute Band was playing! They are called Space Oddity
I found a great video of The David Bowie Tribute Band Space Oddity playing on the night I was there, how cool is that?! Btw I am not in this video I just found them on youtube...but honestly they did remind me of my MOH/cousin/co blogger & me at concerts, one of us has dark hair the other light, we both dance are socks off, sing along with the band & yell like 15 year old girls - truth be told she's better at the yelling then me, she's the one that gets the stares & dirty looks he he :-)

Oh and if you go ice skating at Pershing Square on a Friday/Saturday night, don't expect the "scene" to look like the pictures they post up on the Pershing Square Ice Skating Photo Gallery, seriously who were they trying to fool with those pics the tourists?

Hours for the Pershing Square rink: Monday through Thursday 12pm - 10pm, Friday-Sunday 10am - 10pm. Special holiday hours from December 18 - January 10: 10am - 10pm every day.

Josh Ross: Los Angeles Based Designer for Girls on a Budget

If there's anything I like about being a part of Westside Wedding it's how much we totally dig the indie stuff. Although WW already has a designer for her wedding invites I wanted to share some info about a local designer here in Los Angeles that I am friends with on twitter: Josh Ross.

Josh is an LA based designer with a very clean look and feel who has a ton of experience working with local printers where he still has contacts (which helps big time when it comes to budgeting). He has worked with clients like the Getty Center, J. Paul Getty Trust and local photographers to create striking and elegant print work using his keen sense of typography and color. Josh has experience designing all kinds of logos and wedding invitations (including his own!)

In addition to his design skills, he's also a photographer. Check out his work here.

Gawker Weddings

Here's something for a good laugh. I recently subscribed to Gawker since (unbeknownest to me) I was a featured artist on the site - um, go figure!

They have a section called "Scoring Sunday's Nuptials" spotting some pretty erm, hot, trends for weddings (think gangsta, mexican wrestling and midgets). Check it out for yourself.

Dress Shopping Part 8: The Dresser

My mom & I go to the Dresser in Fullerton to check out wedding dresses, this was only the second time that I had taken her with me for fear I would leave the store crying or upset. You see my mom like many moms thinks that she knows whats best for me especially as far as clothes are concerned. She says she will tell me the truth of how I look even if I look bad because she is looking out for me...true but we also have different tastes, but luckily as I mentioned before as far as the wedding dress goes we have the same vision for me & my dress. My mom & I picked some dresses out, but all the ones that we picked were a no. Then my mom saw this girl try on two dresses & asked me if I would try them out. I did and I was surprised that I liked both, the layers of the Pronovias were flattering and classic, but I liked the Casablanca a lot more. I *loved* the detail beading on the sweetheart neckline, loved the low back, loved the beading on the dress and how it fit me. My mom loved both of them, she even out a veil on me. But no she did not cry but I can't blame her, I did not cry either. I am my mothers daughter after all :-)
The Casablanca fit my body very nice, it flowed well and did not cut me off in places, I thought ya I could wear this dress, my mom loves it, I dig it, I can see myself wearing it on my wedding day & snap it's under $900!!!! The people at the Dresser were very sweet & I must say that I really appreciated the sales girl, I was so close to getting the dress but she told me that they are having the Winnie Courture 2010 dresses in Nov 22 & that they are more the style that I was looking for, I think she knew my heart was not 100% into it. I thought I had finally found the dress, I even sent a text to mi amor, MOH/cousin & bridesman. I was happy to finally be done! BUT then the next day I wake up & make a mad dash to my mac & score the Internet for the dress. It took a couple of hours but I finally found it by doing a search on brides.com & it was just as I suspected...the dress was an A line! Argh!! No no no this just won't work, I can deal with not having satin, I can deal with not having the bling belt but I can not handle not having a mermaid fit. I do some research & find out that the dress can not be made into a mermaid because of the lace & beading. Many store told me that any dress can be made to a mermaid but that is just not the case, especially for a lace dress. Coincidentally, I saw the dress this week on WeddingBee Mrs. Champagne wore it & she looked beautiful, I read her posts about her search & she had also wanted a mermaid dress. So, it was back to the drawing board for me. I spent that Sunday looking for dresses online, making a list of dresses to find at stores to try on, making a list of stores to go to, emailing & calling for appts. Here are some pictures of dresses I tried on:

Mon Cheri 28227 Pronovias Galatea


















Romona Keveza

The Dresser 112 W. Commonwealth Ave. Suite A Fullerton, California 92832

love this christmas sweater

{Source}

How freaking cute but oh so scandalous is this sweater from Urban Outfitters!

Dress Shopping Part 7:

I have to start of by saying that I am done dress shopping, I am having my dress made, more on that as soon as I finish posting all my dress shopping! So now onto part 7 of dress shopping!

After leaving Pebbles Bridal on Friday I left with the thought perhaps the Dakota Enzoani was the dress, it was the first one that finally had the fit I imagined but I was still not 100% down with it. I decided to make an impromptu trip to try on the dress again, this time at a bridal store I had never been to- Mariposa Boutique in Anaheim. I figured kill two birds with one stone, they had the dress so I could try it on & I could check out the other dresses. Mariposa had many beautiful dresses, I would say it had the best selection so far with pretty good prices, not as inexpensive as Pebbles, but not as expensive as Mon Amie. The owner was so helpful in finding me dresses to try on, when I told her that I am very picky and am having a hard time finding a dress that is trumpet, satin & sweetheart, and if it has ruching, I only want it on top, she replied "you're not picky, you just know what you want", that made me good & at ease. I tried the Dakota Enzoani, this time with a beautiful crystal sash that around my waist, I freaking loved the sash, it defined my waist and gave me the bling I was looking for but again..lace & the sweetheart was not as defined as I wanted it to be. I know I could have it altered but peeps it was already more than I had wanted to spend. I also tried on this beautiful Jasmine dress that had ruffles in the back, I *loved* the way it fit, the satin was beautiful, it had ruching on the top, the train was gorgeous, it was trumpet, it had some glittery bow by the train but it could easily be taken off, but I had one big issue with it, it was GREY! The dress had a natural waist line that was defined by a thin sash the same color & material as the dress. The owner later told me that it was discontinued :-( but that she would sell me the dress for 50% but color is a big thing & I just can't have it be grey. I don't know what the name of the dress is, but when I had found a picture online, it did not do the dress justice what so ever. These dresses confirmed with me that I wanted a dress with a natural waist line, trumpet & a bling sash. I also tried on this dress which is by Enzoani Blue, I liked it but was not down with the ruching top going up and then the bling pointing to the bottom but it was a pretty dress. I could tell I was closer because I finally was finding dresses that were more my style. Oh and the Jasmine dress had this inner bra corset thing that made me feel I had a tiny waist, highly recommend!!


Mariposa Boutique

316 N Anaheim Blvd Anaheim, CA 92805

Dress Shopping Part 6: Sample Sale

So now to our regularly scheduled program of dress shopping.... BF/bridesman was watching Say Yes To The Dress (Countless people kept telling me to watch it) & in the episode they talk about sample dresses, so he asks if I have googled L.A sample sale - nope but I did as soon as he said it. I find out about a sample sale the had started in the beginning of October at Lily's Bridal. Keep in mind, I am writing this now (Nov.) but all this shopping was in October, so I went to the sample sale about 10 days after it started. I called made an appt for Friday & was hoping that they would still have stuff left. The hope did not come through because I did not like any of the dresses and there were only about 20 left. Since I had made the trek to the Valley, I thought I might as well look around. I tried on a few dresses but did not like any of them. I went out of my comfort zone and tried on an organza A line, I actually liked it, not my style but I liked that it felt like I was floating on a cloud. The other dress I kind of liked was a JCH dress (above), I liked the ruching on the top but I wanted the trumpet to flow more instead of just looking like two separate pieces. The sales lady had me start at one side of the store and walk to the mirror so I could see how I would look walking down the aisle, it was pretty cool & it made me more comfortable with the dress. I finally understood I was shopping for a bridal dress and not a dress for a special occasion that just happened to be ivory & that I just happened to be wearing at my own wedding. Coincidentally the organza dress ended up being featured on Say Yes to the Dress a week later (I only watch re runs of it, so I don't know when it was shown originally). After leaving the store I did a search on my iphone map for "bridal", & found Pebbles Bridal, I call them & as luck would have it they don't do appts and they open at 12 score!


Pebbles had ALOT of affordable dresses & many different styles, there were dresses there for $300!!! They had a huge section of sample dresses & bridesmaid dresses. I tried on the Jasmine F157 I can't remember how much it was but for sure under 1K. It had the fit I was looking for, and some bling, but I didn't like the bling it had & it didn't wow me. I then tried on the beautiful Enzoani Dakota & I loved it, it fit perfectly and had more of a dramatic trumpet then I had seen in any other dress...only a few issues - it was lace & I did not think I wanted lace, most lace dresses did some weird thing on my hips, also I wanted more of a sweetheart neckline & some bling. The sales person added a belt to the bust part & it looked very nice. Finally a dress that fit exactly how I wanted it too! But I still was not sure it was "the one" wasn't I suppose to just feel it? perhaps cry? also the ivory was a little darker in color than I had wanted and the white was way too white, oh and over my budget but not that bad. After all my dress shopping, I thought this was the closest I was going to get to what I wanted in a dress & I was so happy to finally find a dress that had the fit I wanted & no ruching. I found out later after I shopped around that Pebbles has the best price for the Dakota by FAR! I still think it is a beautiful dress, if someone bought it for me I would be more than happy to wear it or if it had been 1/2 the price I would have bought it but for the price, it has to be everything I want in a dress. I must say though that it is a great price for the quality of dress. The picture doesn't do it justice since the model is doing some weird thing, seriously what is up with some of these models not showing the beauty of the dress, which in this one would be showing a woman's hour glass figure and the dramatic trumpet.

Stores I went to:

Lily's Bridal 18663 Ventura Blvd Tarzana, CA 91356

Pebbles Bridal 20855 Ventura Blvd #B Woodland Hills, CA