Frances & Hiram
August 19, 2018
Our couple met for the very first time when Frances began working at the same design studio as Hiram. They connected over a shared interest in illustration, design, music and travel. Their relationship moved quickly from simply being two work colleagues into being very close friends.
By the next year, the friendship had developed into something more...
Frances and Hiram attended a friend's Saint Patrick's Day house party. The both of them were inseparable, spending almost the entire evening deep in conversation with each other. Later that evening, they shared their very first kiss.
Over the course of five years, Frances and Hiram shared and experienced a lot together — travel, concerts, museums, movie nights, outings in the park, quiet evenings at home, and more.
They made many wonderful memories, celebrated each other's successes and supporting each other when things were hard. They helped each other learn from mistakes and came out the other end of trials stronger.
In the fifth year of their relationship, Hiram invited Frances for a walk along the Embarcadero. As they paused beneath Cupid's Span, Hiram proposed to Frances.
She said, "Yes!"
That evening, Hiram and Frances celebrated their new engagement with dinner for two at Bar Agricole. A couple weeks later, they were flying off to New Orleans to celebrate their new status as fiancé and fiancée.
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Frances's Mother
"Mama has an endless well of love for her children. Whenever I struggle with something she is there with a comforting word, a prayer, and a wealth of good advice. From her, I have learned to be tough but tactful, ambitious, and most importantly, to love myself."
— Frances Liddell
Frances's Father
"Daddy fostered in me a love of music and computer technology. I may be the only one of his children who did not play in a marching band, but I am the only one to have made a career in tech. From him, I learned the importance of independence."
— Frances Liddell
Hiram's Mother
"My Ma was a loving mother who sacrificed for us and taught us the virtues of gratitude, generosity, forgiveness, compassion, responsibility and humility."
— Hiram Rodriguez
Hiram's Father
"Mr. Nicolas Rodriguez Sr. was the model for the man I am today. Stern and honest, stoic and charming. He has never left my side."
— Hiram Rodriguez
Frances's Younger Sister
"Christie is my one and only sister. I cannot remember a single day when Christie was not there. We are both opposites in so many ways, but unlike many other sister relationships I've witnessed, we are rarely rivals. We've been through a lot together, giving each other a lots of laughs, support, encouragement and being real with each other when it counts. I cannot imagine stepping into my married life without her sharing the moment with me."
— Frances Liddell
Hiram's Niece
"My beautiful niece Gabby is going to be the first Rodriguez to break into the animation industry. Look out for her soon."
— Hiram Rodriguez
Hiram's Niece
"Ari is athletic, intelligent, and she'll take on any challenge she's given. She's an inspiration to me."
— Hiram Rodriguez
Hiram's Cousin
"Jessie is my bestest cousin ever and the only person to ever own 16-Bit pants. I feel grateful to have him in my life and as my Best Man."
— Hiram Rodriguez
Hiram's Brother
"My brother Nick has always been the guy I wanted to be. I'm getting married so I'm halfway there."
— Hiram Rodriguez
Frances's Younger Brother
"Calvin is my youngest brother, a navy veteran and medical professional. No matter how old he gets as his big sister, he forever will be "the baby of the family" and "everyone's favorite sibling."
— Frances Liddell
Hiram's Niece
"My lovely, little niece Nayeli is that great artist you haven't heard of...YET. I'm honored to have her in my wedding."
— Hiram Rodriguez
Frances's Little Cousin
"My little cousin Genesis is a ray of sunshine with an infectious laugh. She loves to dance and is already a good reader."
— Frances Liddell
I absolutely love my wedding website made with Appy Couple! Other free options for wedding websites were fine, but they felt generic in comparison to Appy Couple's offerings. The application features dozens of elegant, responsive website themes with matching wedding app design. Adding different wedding events and customizing them was easy. Managing the guest list was a breeze. They even included email templates that I used to send out details to the wedding party and guests. During the year that we planned the wedding, Appy Couple released other functionality (Appy Card, splash page, App Notifications) that were really cool additions. It was well-worth the investment of $70.
Berry Berry Sweet offers beautiful paper ephemera for wedding events. I loved the simple, clean and elegant typography in our chosen day-of details (ceremony programs, signs, etc.). The downloadable templates were very easy to use. I was thankful that the seller includes helpful instructions for exporting PDFs into JPEGs (I had these printed at Vistaprint which doesn’t support PDF). The suite of designs saved time and money. This is just what we were hoping for!
Bewilder Floral provided beautiful arrangements for the ceremony aisle and altar, the welcome sign, guestbook and gift tables, reception tables, wedding cake florals and the wedding party.
It was really important to us to have an event that is a reflection of our personalities and cultural backgrounds. Since I'm from Mississippi and Hiram's from California, we thought it'd be fun to have our respective state flowers — white magnolias and orange poppies. We received a bunch of proposals and quotes over a week or so and choose Bewilder Floral. The florist provided floral color options that perfectly complemented the look and feel of our venue and the wedding party's attire. She was able to balance her expertise with our original vision, even surprising us by inadvertently touching on Hiram's Puerto Rican roots by including some tropical floral inspirations.
During the time leading up to the wedding, we had a couple of changes in our wedding party roster and wanted some additional florals for the entry to the aisle, welcome sign garland, guestbook and gift tables. Bewilder Floral's staff accommodated these adjustments and confirmed details via their client portal. I loved the client portal they used as it helped make it easy to upload sketches, floor plans, and reference photos. It also let me keep track of previous revisions of our proposal/contract and pay schedule.
The day of the wedding, everything was lovely! My only regret is that I hadn't considered a bouquet preservation service for my flowers. However, the elegant arrangement will live on in memory and photos!
We liked that Black Tux site allowed us to see when and who had completed renting their suits. It made it easy to know who to light a fire under to get things done. It was great that they had a location in San Francisco and the process was pretty efficient! The quality of the suits was really good. Only thing I wished that was different was that the deadline to return the suit wasn't so soon after the wedding. I wish that they had more options for suits (for example, there were only a few options for blue suits) and in larger sizes for big and tall men.
Every time we came to Brilliant Earth, we were met with professional and courteous staff. My groom selected a ring that he felt was "the classic ring" — a crystal clear solitaire with a row of pavé diamonds set into a white gold band. It was the perfect ring and perfectly suited my personal style. A day after accepting his proposal, I visited their showroom to get his wedding band and submitted my ring for resizing. The representative showed me a variety of men's rings. I selected the clean white gold band my now husband loves. My ring resizing was finished just in time for our trip to New Orleans to celebrate our engagement! However, when I got back, I had to visit BE again to have one of the small stones replaced. I was not accustomed to wearing a ring like this! The staff helped educate me on how to maintain the integrity and beauty of our rings. Brilliant Earth has knowledgeable representatives who never pressured either of us with an up-sell. Instead, they asked us about our budgets and showed us an array of options based on that.
The shop owner, Bala Subrahmanyam, has been working in San Francisco as a wedding cake baker for 30 years and has done a lot of work with our venue in that time. We initially met him at a wedding expo that was being held at our venue and decided to set up a meeting with him soon after for a cake tasting.
He sat us down in the front of his shop where we tried four different fillings and four flavors, mixing and matching combinations before we found one we really loved. I provided him with a photo of what we were thinking of for our wedding cake and he showed us examples of similar cakes that he had done in the past. When we saw our cake on the day of our wedding we were in awe. It was beautiful — and delicious! We will be reaching out to him again to recreate a smaller version of our wedding cake for our first anniversary next year.
We had a wonderful time at our rehearsal dinner party. A huge part of it's success was thanks to Chow on Church. When booking I was provided menu options to choose from to make sure all guests were satisfied. We were happy that they also waved the corkage fee for our group of near 30 people.
The staff helped us setup tables before guests arrived and were friendly and attentive throughout the night. They even gave our youngest attendees (flower girl and ring bearer) small sip cups for toasting sparkling cider. The cozy, private covered patio provided a charming and intimate backdrop for our wedding party to relax in.
David's Bridal has been the go-to wedding boutique for many of my friends and family over the years. When I received my proposal, I knew I would find my wedding dress and bridesmaids' dresses at David's Bridal. I liked the convenience they provide. There is a store location within driving distance almost everywhere in the US, their online catalog made it easy to find gowns, and they offer onsite alterations and dress preservation. I found a truly lovely, romantic wedding dress, soft white, a-line, off shoulder, tulle with soft beading and three dimensional flowers — at half the original price. My only criticism is that they don't always have the same dresses in-store as online, but they are open to ordering the dress for try-ons. Setting up appointments for all my ladies and girls was a breeze and the staff was always polite and professional.
Derek I. Dauchan provided security for our wedding ensuring that confirmed guests were admitted to the event. We were referred to Derek by a mutual friend who had worked with him previously. He checked in guests based on the list we provided him. Although we didn't have any wedding crashers, we felt reassured by his presence.
George Street Photo & Video helped connect us with amazing talent to capture all the magic of our engagement and wedding. We felt like we struck the right balance of talent, quality of service and budget. The representative walked us through their process, shared portfolios and we found a package that fit our needs. I liked the online portal for planning the different timelines and other details.
We were introduced to our lead photographer, Robert Morris via our engagement photoshoot and were excited to work with Robert again on the day of the wedding. On the day of the wedding, he was joined by the secondary photographer and lead videographer to capture special moments prior to the ceremony, our vows, portraits and guests enjoying the wedding reception. I also hired a separate photographer for a bridal boudoir photo session. Thank you all for helping create lasting memories!
George Street Photo & Video Website
Robert Morris, Lead Photographer
Kent Kessinger, Lead Videographer
Jessica Layton, Boudoir Photographer
I've tried other options for setting up room blocks and found that Hi Skipper is the best service available. It made looking for rates simple and easy. Just input some basic details and select hotels. I also appreciate the attentiveness of their support staff in confirming and revising details with the hotels' contracts.
Made it easy to go from “Ms. Liddell” to “Mrs. Liddell-Rodriguez.” For a small fee, they provide a packet that includes step-by-step instructions, self-addressed stamped envelopes, notice of name change sheets and pre-filled applications. They even include a concierge who helps answer questions for making the name changes.
It was important to plan out the steps of the process, keep a budget, stay organized, and make progress every month leading up to our big day. The first step was to get a wedding planning guide. We chose to use The Knot and The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planning & Organizer. I really like their online tools for budgeting, wedding planning checklist, database of vendors and articles. They really have the nicest universal wedding registry. It's so satisfying to check the boxes as we complete each step! I also really like the book because it's portable and I can use it to keep track of wedding inspirations, contracts, receipts, etc.
After searching venues, I ran across the Marines' Memorial Club & Hotel. It's a beautiful, historic building close to Union Square. After chatting with the wedding specialist on the phone, we arranged for a meeting and showing of the venue. We both loved the ballrooms with their blush pink walls trimmed in gold, high ceilings and crystal chandeliers. We loved that MMC offered wedding packages that included lots of extras. By signing with them, we would not only have our ceremony and reception site, but also have booked our catering, bar service, day of coordinator, etc. etc. This helped save us money and gave us piece of mind.
The wedding specialist, Lisa Jimenez, invited us to attend the wedding expo to be held later that month so that we could talk to vendors, sample the food and experience the service, and see the ballrooms staged for a wedding day. We enjoyed ourselves at the expo and left knowing that this was it. We had found our venue and had a wedding date.
At our final planning meeting we had a final walkthrough of the venue, reviewed timelines, menu, made notes and dropped off all the items at the venue. Neither of us had seen the ballrooms in months so it was reassuring and a nice reminder of why we picked the venue in the first place. Our Day of Coordinator, Jessica Lynch, was amazing! She worked with both of us for the last few months of the wedding, fielding questions, filling in any gaps and being a positive reassuring presence on the day of the wedding. We plan to come back again to celebrate an anniversary!
Marines' Memorial Club & Hotel Website
Before a friend recommended Meko to me, I was so worried about finding a make-up artist who was well-recommended in the Bay Area and knew how to create amazing looks for black women. I browsed her website and saw beautiful, soft, romantic wedding looks that I was hoping for. After a phone conversation, we scheduled the first of two make-up trials. I was so happy that her service included at my home trials — which is a godsend given my busy schedule. At each trial she got to know what I was looking for, made me feel comfortable and discussed the results so that we had a plan on the day of the wedding.
On the day of the wedding, Meko arrived right on time, greeted us with a smile and got her workstation set up. She worked in skillful coordination with my hair stylist to create looks for myself, my mother, a bridesmaid and my matron of honor on the morning of the wedding. The results were dazzling! The bridal party looks radiant in every photograph, a huge part of that was due to Meko. Meko is not only a skilled professional but also very sweet and makes the experience fun. I would love to work with her again for other important events!
Our save-the-dates, invitations, place cards and favor tags came from Minted. We were really happy with the full suite of designs, the ease of editing items, proofing process, speed of delivery and the overall quality of the finished paper goods. We will definitely be using Minted again for our thank you cards. We were also really lucky to have a Minted brick-and-mortar store in our city, so we were able to review options in person.
Quantum Party Pro helped complete the day-of look I had been dreaming of with the simple addition of the right chair. Quantum provided the gold chiavari chairs with white cushions for our wedding ceremony and reception. The representative, Jason responded quickly to my request for quote and was able to accommodate my request for additional chairs.
Would definitely use them again for any future events!
Quantum Party Productions Website
Sharelle B. Loudd was a huge part of the confidence and beauty I had on my wedding day. I had already been a customer of her salon, Beautique Salon in San Jose and was familiar with her skill for styling all hair types, especially specializing in working with natural Afro-textured hair.
In the months leading up to the wedding, I shared with her my wedding hair inspirations and she helped get my hair in shape for the big day (deep conditioning treatment and trim) and set up hair trials to perfect the day-of look. I was determined to rock natural hair for the wedding. For a fuller more dramatic look, I also wanted to add in hair extensions. Sharelle worked with me to make sure that the bundles from her Seksee Hair product matched my curl pattern. I got so many compliments from everyone and no one could tell where the sew-in began and my natural hair started. Sharelle was wonderful throughout the entire process, listening to what my needs were and getting excited about the look I was thinking of. We chatted back and forth about how different options for hair accessories and jewelry may compliment my overall look. I would recommend her services and product to anyone interested in high quality hair care and styling!
San Francisco Photo Booth was an inexpensive way to add an extra bit of fun to our wedding celebration. Scheduling the service was very simple and only took a few moments by phone to select options. We had the photo booth set to open during our wedding's cocktail hour. It was a hit with guests and helped to break the ice as folks from both sides of the family got acquainted. My only issue with the service was that contacting them for updates/questions leading up to the event proved slow. The website didn't have much information as to what were standard props versus upgrades. All in all it was a good deal for what I considered "nice to have" entertainment.
Veri by The Knot was an easy and fun way to get photos and videos from our guests. We used Veri at all of the wedding events — our engagement party, bachelorette party, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner and wedding. I didn't want to scramble to get photos or video from guests, so it was really great to just invite them to use the app. We used Veri in combination with our wedding hashtag and Snapchat to give our family and friends options for taking and sharing pictures. We got the most of our guest pictures and videos using Veri... over 300 pictures! Even though the guests were informed that it was an "unplugged ceremony" some folks still snuck pictures and videos which made a happy surprise to hold us over until all of official shots came back from the photo-video team we hired. The online galleries make it easy to share the photos and videos with relatives and friends who were not able to attend. I plan on using Veri again in the future!
Frances & Hiram
Gallery
