Friday Spotlight: Chris & Rachelle's Sophisticated San Francisco Affair

Chris & Rachelle ~ June 2, 2007

Reheasal Dinner Location: Sofitel, San Francisco Bay
Ceremony Location: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto
Reception Location: Sofitel, San Francisco Bay

Color Choices: Light Blue & Silver

Wedding Dress Desiger: Pronovias
Bridesmaids Dress Desiger: Dessy Collection

Unique aspect of your wedding: Chris and I grew up in the Bay Area and were engaged in San Francisco, so we wanted to celebrate and highlight the unique aspects of the Bay Area throughout our wedding weekend. We did this in a variety of ways – from welcome baskets for out of town guests with Ghirardelli chocolates, to using San Francisco neighborhoods and landmarks for reception table names instead of numbers, to a cruise around the Bay for the groom and groomsmen, we tried to give our guest the complete San Francisco experience.

Smart move:
Since we had a lot of guests flying in from out of state, and some even from outside the U.S., Chris and I felt it was important to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible for our guests to attend all of the wedding weekend festivities. Two aspects of our wedding that made this possible were our reception location and transportation arrangements.
· Transportation: We arranged for coach buses to transport guests to and from the Sofitel and St. Mark’s Church for the wedding ceremony and reception. This ensured everyone arrived to both events on time, relaxed and ready to have a great time.
· Reception Location & Guest Accommodations: Almost all of our guests (even those living in the area) decided to stay at the Sofitel the night of our wedding. This was wonderful because almost all 200 of our guests stayed until the band stopped playing, and we didn’t have to worry about anyone driving home after a night of celebrating. It gave us more time to enjoy with our guests the night of our wedding, and many of them also joined us for a farewell brunch in the hotel the next morning.

Advice for other brides:More than anything, your wedding is about celebrating your love & your new life together with family and friends. Your wedding day will be a blur of excitement, anticipation and activity, but make sure you take time to focus on the whole point of the celebration, each other!