A PRIDE Anniversary - Real Wedding of Allie & Meg

Shouting from the rooftops a very happy anniversary to allie & Meg, whom we are so grateful to have celebrated their love during pride week 2019 in oakland, california.

What. a. Wedding! As a Wedding Planner you just get plain lucky in working with the most down to earth, fun loving Couples. We couldn’t let Pride week come to a conclusion without a trip down memory lane with some killer photos from Tara Beth Photography of this absolute love fest!

Our Couple is sharing their number one priority in planning their wedding, the highlight of their night, and of course the very meaning of their union: the sacrifice, resilience, and commitment of the LGBTQ+ Community in standing up for their human rights in the name of love.

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LGBTQ+ Vendor Selection

“I picked out our photographer as someone I wanted to work with before we had even gotten engaged because she is the perfect embodiment of the LGBTQ+ community. I knew that she would be a vendor that I did not have to explain anything to in terms of my wife and I’s relationship. She validated us from the first time we spoke. After meeting with Tara so early into planning, I decided everyone we hire needs to be as supportive as she was, and this is what really drove the process for us.”

“It’s 2020, you don’t need to do the traditional wedding things if you don’t want to! For us, it was important for our wedding to be less formal and more of a party to celebrate us and the people that have loved and supported us. We ditched a lot of wedding traditions!”

“Our favorite aspect of our wedding was that it genuinely felt like us. I saw a quote shortly after our wedding posted by another amazing LGBTQ+ photographer Jamie Thrower with Studio XIII Photography: “I remind myself that having a wedding has nothing to do with the flowers or napkins or pressure to have “the best day of your life”, and it has everything to do with community and resilience and celebrating Queer love out loud - which feels like a beautiful miracle all in itself.” I think this is the perfect way to describe getting married to the person you love in front of people that have loved you and supported you throughout your journey as a Couple.”

VENDOR PRIDE

PLANNER Hitched by Haley

VENUE Camron-Stanford House / Oakland, California

PHOTOGRAPHER Tara Beth Photography

VIDEOGRAPHER SmartFlight Weddings

FLORAL Farmgirl Flowers

ENTERTAINMENT Heart of Gold DJs

TACOS Madd Mex Cantina Food Trucks

RENTALS Pleasanton Event Rentals

BARTENDERS Twist of Lime

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Love Note from our Newlyweds:

“When I did talk with Haley, there was a huge sigh of relief that I finally met someone that got us. She did not skip a beat when talking about our relationship. We connected instantly and I am so happy we crossed paths. Every single vendor we worked with was extremely supportive and professional and I would recommend them to any couple!” - Allie & Meg

Elopement Season - When a Pandemic Throws you Lemons

Photos by our Friends at JBJ Pictures

Arielle & Kyle have been together for 10 years! a big celebration was planned for june 2020, but Covid threw us some lemons; so we just had to make like our best beyonce and fresh squeeze some elopement lemonade!

No doubt this years wedding celebrations were supposed to turn out differently, but we absolutely love that Couples are still getting married, despite the circumstances, intimate guest counts, and quickly reconfigured wedding days.

Enjoy these sweet Elopement photos.

(Need we mention how smokin’ these two make a mask look?! C’mon now!)

Our gorgeous Bride Arielle said that her favorite part of their Elopement was being fully present with an intimate group.

After going through some of the emotional turmoil that postponing such a special day presents, she dove into planning the details of her tables cape and florals, which she thoroughly enjoyed and loved the special touch it added to the day.

Arielle encourages any Bride to wear the dream dress you always imagined wearing on your wedding day to make it that much more special!

We can’t wait until later in the year when we can celebrate your big day with lots of dancing & hugs!

Photographer: JBJ Pictures

Shelter in Place Wedding: 10 Ideas to Honor your 'OG' Wedding Date!

If you are one of the couples that had to make the difficult decision to postpone your wedding due to Covid-19, first of all can we get a collective, open-mouth, sighhhh of relief and disappointment: OOOOOOOF! This is rough and our hearts are with you. Having to postpone the most special day of your life is less than ideal; almost as ideal as figuring out how loud your S.O. speaks on Zoom as you navigate working from home together for the first time! Hehe. 

Now that we’ve confided in our collective woes, let’s look at a silver lining: it may come with a new shiny date, but you still get to marry the love of your life and have the wedding you imagined. We are encouraging our clients to take all *clap* the * clap* time *clap* to grieve your original wedding date, break up with planning for a hot second, and slowly but surely, get back to daydreaming about your perfect day… 

One thing we know for sure: LOVE STILL WINS. At the heart of what we do is honor life’s most special moments. As party planners, we have a hard time putting a complete halt on the fun, so we drummed up 10 Shelter-in-Place Wedding ideas for you to kick off round one of your wedding festivities!

Holly Shankland Photo

1. FEAST

Ask your Caterer if they are offering to go dinners! Surf & turf anyone?! Or pick a local date night favorite and Postmates your guilty pleasures. Spruce up your sweetheart table and breakout your fanciest table top items!

2. SIP

Break out a memorable bottle of wine. You know, the one you can’t forget, the one that brings you way, way back. Decant that puppy and it doesn’t hurt to have a second bottle in the chamber!

Becca Ray Photo

3. FANCY

Stuff those Quarantine sweatpants deep into that laundry pile and shake the dust off your upscale attire.

BRIDES TO BE: This step is vvvery important: Dedicate your morning to a strong Self Love Routine; mani pedi / hair and makeup / perfume, jewelry, clutch. What a time to wear those beautiful heels that we both know are too dangerous to wear outside of the house! Get pretty with your Bride Tribe on Zoom.

Double points if you had to postpone your Bachelorette party: You win a bottle of Bubbles pre-festivities!

4. PRETTIES

Consider sourcing a local Florist to drop off a Centerpiece for your dining table, a boutonniere for your Groom, or heck, a flower crown for the Bride-to-be!

5.SENTIMENTS

Exchange Gifts or Cards! Saving dough right now? Good things homemade cards are Free $.99. (!)

SIP Card Challenge: Write 5 things you’ve loved learning about your Spouse-to-be during this special QT.

6. BLING

Did you already pick up your Wedding Bands?! Slide those puppies on and enjoy that extra shine.

Didn’t pick yours yet? What a better night to online shop & pick yourself out something sparkly & well friggen’ deserved.

7. TOAST

Plan for whoever was going to give a Speech at your Wedding, to give an edited version.

Creative Zoom backdrops encouraged.

8. SWEET

Can a local baker make you a mini wedding cake? (Pie, ice cream, who’s Quara-counting?!) Not us!

Celebrate by cutting a dessert of choice on a FaceTime with your loved ones. (Side note: we don’t judge apartment stove top Smore’s or drive through Krispy Kreme, ever.)

9. TWIST

OH! Have you not have a Zoom Dance Party yet?!

You’re Welcome!

Ask your Wedding DJ for their best mix (make sure your First Dance song is on there!), virtually invite the Homies, make sure there is ample wine, & groove!

If you find yourself coming up with a choreographed dance routine for your new wedding date during this Shelter in Place, welp, now we just love you that much more.

Light & Co

10. DOCUMENT

Amazon a Tri-Pod to capture these special moments!

Our hope is that down the road when you are flipping through your wedding album, you also find it down memory lane to open your iPhone photos and flip through the night you celebrated your OG wedding!

We hope you enjoyed our spin on postponement blues and enjoy your special time soaking in the very meaning of your nuptials! We don’t intend to downplay the emotional hardships behind postponing your wedding, but we do think that reframing your mindset and searching for the light in any scenario will help alleviate the stress.

Need one more silver lining?!: Not many couples get this kind of genuine, focused time together on their very own wedding night! How ‘bout that!

If we know one thing for sure, this challenging SIP has realigned our hearts and perspective on just how sweet the simple things are.