BACHELORHOOD CELEBRATION: AUSTIN, TX
Thursday evening, April 22, my fiancé is calling me as I’m prepping for this evening’s SportsCenter. As I see his name and red hearts appear on my cell, I assume this is my goodbye call before his plane departs – destination Austin, TX. “Babe” he says, “our plane has been cancelled”. Quickly confused, I rack my brain for plausible explanations and can come up with none; on-time arrival – check, security – check, weather – check (well LA weather that is…); the Austin skies were producing some pretty serious lightning from a big storm that wasn’t ending any time soon. In lieu of this, Spirit airlines informed it’s passengers their flight that night was a no go. Now it’s decision time; do they stay at the airport and try to get another flight? The answer is a resounding yes! A bachelor party is to be had! However, their first event of the weekend was scheduled for Friday morning, and this was made several months in advance. Brian said all he wanted to do for his bachelor party was go boar hunting… and Austin, Texas was the place… and Friday morning was the time, but mother nature delayed their plans.
The Austin skies finally cleared for safe travel, and Friday morning their journey began. They desperately tried to delay their boar hunting trip a day later, but the schedule was all booked up, so no boar hunting this time around. Best Man, Donovan Drake, found the absolutely most perfect bachelor pad in the Austin city limits… the Float House – check it out on AirBNB – it’s made for epic vacations. Dirty 6 was calling their name and bar hoping commenced. A weekend in Austin, TX with your best friends is always amazing but celebrating your bachelorhood in Austin, TX with your best friends, is an all-time record-breaking top 10! All that’s left to do is complete those boar hunting dreams.
BRITTANY'S BRIDAL SHOWER
March 25, 2023 – a perfect Spring Southern California day sprinkled with showers of love, gifts and food, but no rain at my bridal shower! A huge shoutout and thank you to my cousin Stephanie who hosted the event. Many of my special friends and loved ones drove to Murrieta, CA to attend the event, and Laura brought her baby Olivia for everyone to meet! Thank you, Amanda, for the time and effort put into the home-made photo booth, it was a great success! She handpicked the lovely lace that created the background and I still have it; figuring out what to make with it, maybe curtains? Our tech team was able to stream a live Zoom feed for people throughout the country to connect. We played ffffffun games that the lovely maid-of-honor coordinated as we all guessed whether the answers belonged to me or Brian, and the winners took home prizes! My mom took her dessert job seriously and surprised everyone with some awesome Italian gelato – chocolate & peanut butter or cookies and cream… YUM! Thank you to everyone who attended in person and virtually to help me celebrate in style - I love you all!
PASO ROBLES TASTING WEEKEND
February 3, 2023 Brian and I head to Pasadena to meet Amanda and Ray, hop in her car and head north. First stop, the old Santa Maria Inn. Here is where we will have our first tasting - the cocktails. Boy oh boy are we excited for this one. Audrey, our awesome wedding bartender, hand makes her own mixers. We tried a vodka, a mezcal tequila and 2 whiskey drinks. We will be picking 3 cocktails creating our his, hers & our options and we can't wait!
We enjoyed the night and then continued our journey to check into our cute air bnb in downtown Paso. Saturday morning came quick and Amanda and Ray started their day at the CF gym! Once ready for the day we went to go pick up our cake tasting from The Cakery!! However, the tasting for this will have to wait. We then drove to Cass for our menu tasting! We started off with Cass' GSM wine (Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre), yes please! We tried 2 appetizers; beef bulgogi skewers and kielbasa on bellini bread. The skewers were amazing and spoiler alert (they'll be one of the apps at our wedding!) We then had a glass of the syrah... this one was Ray and my favorite!! For the entree trial we had angus steak and local halibut. The steak was my favorite! Now that we finished dinner it was time for dessert... the cake tasting!!! Our second favorite was chocolate with salted caramel, but we're going to save our favorite flavor for wedding day!
With a glass of cab now in our hand, we walked the property while Brian and I got to vision more of our wedding day here and Amanda and Ray seeing it for the first time. We had a fun time checking it all out!
We headed to our next stop picking out our table setting and we're so excited!!! This is some of the fun part, but we're also going to keep these picks a secret too ;)! Amanda and I left the guys downtown to hang out while we headed to the hair salon for a trial run! I didn't have anything specific in mind, but mentioned a low bun and braids and voila! Found the hair style and dresser for our day! Amanda and I met back up with the boys and checked out the Tiki Bar and that was super cool!!!
After a long day, we returned to our weekend home had a little more fun and laughs before the bed called our names. In the morning, we started our journey back to LA after and packed-filled weekend! Brian and I thank Amanda and Ray for their time and questions haha and serious help getting more and more wedding planning accomplished. This was an important weekend tasting our way through it!!
BRITTANY SAYS 'YES' TO THE DRESS!
Each piece of the wedding story is special and important in its own way, but THE DRESS can truly be a category of it's own. I feel like it's one of those things you have to go through it to understand The Wedding Dress Experience! When you break it down and think about it, it's the ultimate fashion dress a girl will look back on in her defining moment marrying the love of her life. I get it now.
The journey begins at Dreamers & Lovers in Venice, Ca. I should have looked closer at their motto: "For the Laid Back Bride". These dresses were meant for a Mexican beach destination wedding. My mom and MOH Amanda were with me and we all thought the dresses here were very casual and not what I was envisioning. On to the next! The next appointment was Grace Loves Lace in Venice, CA. Unfortunately, Amanda wasn't able to continue on with us because we had champagne at this one!! So what I didn't realize is each wedding dress boutique has an overall style of dress they carry. Who knew?!? So, Grace Loves Lace is an Australian designer and her fabrics are super stretchy and light-weight. Overall, the better of the 2 first experiences!
The following weekend, I had 4 appointments: 2 on Saturday in the OC and 2 Sunday in West Hollywood area. To kick off the second weekend, we begin at Blush Bridal Salon with Linda (Mother of the Groom) and Jessica (Bridesmaid). We definitely missed the memo and were not as prepared as the group of ladies next to us who brought their own bottles of champagne and orange juice. All the dresses I kept saying about this shop was I love the bottom of this one and the top of this one... and then this shop became the best of the 3! On to the next... the three of us went to Love & Lace where we were met with Amanda and Ray (her boyfriend) - yes, we were so excited he graced us with his presence! This was another leg up and thus far the best overall! I tried a dress on here that was unanimously everyone's favorite. I liked the dress a lot but didn't feel the spark. Linda said to sleep on it, so I did. Also, we had 2 locations to visit the next day.
Sunday, West Hollywood, at Claire Pettibone with Amanda and Jessica. This shop was a whimsical paradise; it was beautiful! We were met by Claire Pettibone herself! So cool meeting the designer herself! I tried a few of her dresses on, but still didn't feel that spark. She also had the most beautiful accessories we've seen yet! Keeping this place in mind, it was time to go to lunch before the next appointment.
Hello Kinsley James!!! We were greeted by the amazing Clay and already I wanted to try on every dress. The dress selection here was amazing and beautiful! I put on the second dress and had feels. I continued with other dresses I picked out, and I had a dress on that I liked a lot and Clay asked if I would like to meet the designer of the dress - she was in the store that day from Israel for a trunk show! She asked me questions how I liked the dress and it was pretty awesome talking with her about her design. I put back on that second dress and the sparks turned into fireworks and I knew this was the one!! There are several changes we're making to the dress but finding THE ONE feels so exciting!!!
I can't thank everyone enough who came on this journey with me: my mom, Amanda, Ray, Jessica, and Linda! I appreciate all of your insights, pictures/ videos, and support with helping me find the perfect one!!!
WEDDING VENUE HUNTING SUMMER 2022
I've heard finding a venue is probably the hardest part during your entire wedding planning! I didn't believe it. Now, at this stage in the game boy oh boy do I believe that to be true now! Brian and I were open-minded to where the wedding could potentially be - even in the middle of the country!! With a lot of my family and friends traveling we thought it might not be too crazy of an idea, but I think we always knew deep down we would be exchanging vows in the Golden State. I zoomed with a property in Colorado and checked out another in Texas. We both scoured the internet for weeks both finding out little things we liked or didn't in a venue. Brian loved the idea of having activities to do, whether it was fishing, e-biking or axe throwing he was all about this. I liked having amenities like a pool and a place where we could have an indoor or an outdoor scene (one of the most beautiful accommodations California has to offer - it's weather). Then we both loved the idea of having all of our guests be able to stay on the property, and people could come and go as they pleased. Oh and another thing we jointly were interested in was the idea of a weekend wedding. With friends and family traveling to see us tie the knot (do we actually ever do this haha), we thought it was necessary to spend as much time with them as possible by having a weekend full of events they can choose to be a part of or simply enjoy the time themselves. The special people in our lives is what makes this celebration so grand and that's a huge focus for us during this special memory.
We started out driving from LA to Lake Tahoe to celebrate Independence Day! Neither of us have ever visited Tahoe in the summer so we were stoked to experience something new together. We stayed in South Lake Tahoe and had a blast! July 5 was our first wedding venue appointment in Graeagle, CA (northwest of Truckee about 45 minutes). This place was everything we wanted. Every single one of our guests would be able to stay on property with so many activities from fishing to volleyball, but it was all booked up with winter of 2023... nope! Too cold for us! We then drove down to San Luis Obispo, central California. There were many rustic-chic barn settings here which I totally love!! We toured several properties and it was crazy how they were so different and had many different offerings. Our biggest problem... there was a noise ordinance for 10p on a Saturday night... nope! If you don't know, Brian and I are pretty big night owls... no matter how perfect the venue was, this turned out to be our number 1 issue. I ended up making tons of calls to new venues while we were in town and ended up opening our pool to Paso Robles, just inland about 20 mintues from SLO. This is where we started finding all the WINERIES!!! Why didn't we think of this before?!? AND, these properties were on larger lots of land and more inland were more hills and mountains so the noise ordinance wasn't as strict... who knew?!?
I happened to find this one winery called Cass. The young lady I spoke with, Tiana, was absolutely adorable on the phone and we happened to make a meetup a few short hours later. As Brian and I were driving the roads were a little windy and Brian was like this seems to be in the middle of nowhere, do you have the right address? Then, we turn right into Cass Winery and we see this super cute cafe; when the girl directs me to drive up the big neighboring hill to the top. We follow the directions and we see beautiful vast land filled with green grapes all over and a huge modern building. We're greeted with a beautiful glass of rose and a tour of our 'potential' wedding site; where the ceremony will be, the reception, the whole nine yards. It was perfect - with an indoor and outdoor are guests can go as they please we felt was the perfect California setting we were looking for! Also, because we can party with the DJ in the indoor barrel room, we can reception until midnight after our nuptials and we couldn't have been happier. We unfortunately can't fit everyone on the property for overnight stay, but when she said swim-up wine bar pool is in the works I took a double take at the soon-to-be broken ground. Within 1-2 miles are a ton of air bnb options we felt would be great for our guests as well as a hotel option in the downtown area 15 minutes away (shuttle service provided on Saturday). When you weigh your pros and cons there are many things to think about and this ended up feeling like ours, for the weekend, which will forever be a part of us.
We finally found the venue and the date, July 1, 2023. We can't wait for our nearest and dearest to share in all the love that weekend and Brian is excited to have his e-bike, horseback riding and axe throwing fun! And you can find me at the swim-up wine bar. We can't wait to share our greatest moment yet at Cass Winery in Paso Robles!!!
OUR ENGAGEMENT PROPOSAL
A day we have been looking forward to for months... we decided to try our hand attending festivals and markets for our organic skincare and lifestyle business, The O Word, and we finished our last planned market for the year in Berkeley, California. We wanted to take our time driving back home and stopped to smell the sea spray in Santa Cruz. I had never been to Santa Cruz and it was on my bucket list to check out and Brian hasn’t travelled the boardwalk for several years. He mentioned his friend Ben once took him to a restaurant that had a rotating bar and he was excited to show me. Even during the day, the entire boardwalk was dazzled with Christmas lights as they were blinking in sync with the Christmas songs we all know and love. After a few inquiries and poking our heads in several restaurants we finally found Makai and their rotating tiki bar! A mai tai and appetizer later we were back on the road heading down infamous Pacific Coast Highway, as Brian suggested we take the scenic route since we were in no hurry getting back.
Our next pit stop we decided to check out the well-known Greek restaurant that’s been a Big Sur staple since 1949, Nepenthe. The hamburgers were delicious! I have always heard Brian talk about how he’s wanted to check out McWay Falls, a beautiful freshwater waterfall splashing into a Pacific Ocean lagoon surrounded by huge rocks and trees in the middle of Big Sur state park. A day out from winter solstice, it was already pitch black but the moon was big and bright. Even though we could hardly see he still wanted to stop by to see if the bright moon possibly lit up the falls just enough. I sat in the car awaiting Brian’s thumbs up or down if the falls were viewable or not. Zero cell service, chilling with my eyes closed; Brian opens the passenger door and squats down to my eye level. Well, I thought he was squatting... he then begins to say, “Brittany, I don’t want to go into the new year without you being my wife”. I then realize he’s on one knee as he reaches into his pocket to pull out a beautifully ornate ring box. He opens it revealing a gorgeous vintage ring his grandmother gave him. Just like the movies when everything slows down upon realization setting in, my heart began to race as one of the most exciting moments I have been looking forward to was actually happening. Wide-eyed and trying to remember how to talk again, it dawned on me that I was confined to the inside of the car with my seatbelt on. All I could then say was, “I need to get out!” I quickly unbuckled the safety belt and jumped out wrapping my arms around my soulmate saying over and over “I love you!” HAHAHAHA... you didn’t expect laughter at this point, but Brian proceeds to say, “You didn’t say yes!” And then I just explode with “Of course, yes! YES! YES! YES!” while kissing his face! Now here comes the moment he puts the ring on my finger but it didn’t fit! It was ok though because this moment was filled with so much beauty.
With no human in sight, we stepped into the car light beams and took a selfie which will stand the depths of time. We hopped in the car to continue our 4 hour ride home. We had no service so we couldn’t call anyone and had to contain our excitement (Brian’s relief)! I did not want to be confined to the car’s borders but there was no other choice. We held hands as he drove us safely back home, resting my head on his shoulder daydreaming all my fantasies with the love of my life. (He also told me the reason he quickly juked and jived practically tripping me on the Santa Cruz boardwalk earlier. It was freezing and I was trying to warm my hand in his coat pocket, which happened to be the same pocket the ring was in! Well played, now I understand.)