zbandicoot

Christine - TJ's is a great idea (love their $12 potted orchids), thanks for the heads up on the wine tours, & please send me your photographer's info, thanks! zchance@hbs.edu akh - Thanks, I just updated my profile Anyone - I'm booking a picnic spot for a rehearsal dinner barbecue, here's the skinny: "Smoky's Den" Group Picnic Area in Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, Guerneville (This link has the wrong email address but the right phone number) Armstrong Redwoods SR Good: beautiful forest, seating for up to 150 people, you can reserve a spot months ahead of time, less expensive than most wedding-related things ($150), barbecue pit & 3 grills Bad: you can't have an official reception here, there's no cover in case of rain, there's no electricity Thanks for welcoming me to your posse!

Christine - TJ's is a great idea (love their $12 potted orchids), thanks for the heads up on the wine tours, & please send me your photographer's info, thanks! zchance@hbs.edu akh - Thanks, I just updated my profile Anyone - I'm booking a picnic spot for a rehearsal dinner barbecue, here's the skinny: "Smoky's Den" Group Picnic Area in Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, Guerneville (This link has the wrong email address but the right phone number) Armstrong Redwoods SR Good: beautiful forest, seating for up to 150 people, you can reserve a spot months ahead of time, less expensive than most wedding-related things ($150), barbecue pit & 3 grills Bad: you can't have an official reception here, there's no cover in case of rain, there's no electricity Thanks for welcoming me to your posse!

I'm getting hitched in Guerneville next August, and I thought I'd start a thread so anyone who's doing the deed west of Napa can share more localized info. Our families will be spending about a week there, and here are my tentative plans for actitivies & vendors - if you have experience with any of them (or recommendations for better ones), please chime in! If you have rather specific questions or advice, you can email me at zchance@hbs.edu. Catering - Preferred Sonoma Caterers Preferred Sonoma Caterers - Catering in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, and San Francisco These caterers were recommended by a very enthusiastic bride on indiebrides.com, and they have been incredibly friendly and responsive (got a proposal within an hour of my request). Their rates are reasonable and the chef is excited to do a vegetarian/vegan reception - she says she considers it "an exciting creative challenge" - what a cutie! We haven't decided on the menu yet, but the proposal was for heavy apps, a chocolate fountain, 2 servers & all taxes & delivery fees for $30pp for 30 people. Their proposal includes beautiful fancy displays & I'm going to supplement with pizza delivery & ice cream bars :-) See their web site for very detailed menu & pricing information. Oh yeah, and they'll do day-of coordination for I think $350. Since their carryout meal prices are quite reasonable, we're going to hire them to cater some additional meals for the family during the week as well. Bulk Flower Delivery - California Organic Flowers https://californiaorganicflowers.com...yword_weddings I'm not sure whether we'll do the flower thing or not, but if so, we'll probably get a bulk delivery of organic flowers from these guys. For around $250, you can get either 90 calla lilies or a party pack of bunches 12 different kinds of flowers. Photography - Donya Photography (Deeba Yavrom) Donya Photography (This guy isn't local, he's in Davis and charges a transportation fee.) I found this guy through indiebrides as well, and we're not going to hire him until I get out to California to meet him, but I really like his web site and he's extremely friendly and responsive. He shoots on digital, both photojournalistic style and portrait style, which is just what we're looking for. His rates start at $1,049 for a 6-hour shoot + editing, and for $200 he'll bring a 2nd shooter. We're going to have the 2nd shooter set up a portrait area for fun portraits of extended family and friends, which we're going to stock with costume accessories. Live Music (national search site) Live Entertainment Booking Agents, Wedding Music, DJs, Party Music Bands I came across this site randomly, and it has tons of information on performers, including sound bites for many of them and bid price history for most of them, and it makes it really easy and fast to get quotes from a number of bands or solo performers. I made 10 requests and got 8 quotes back within 24 hours. I think we're going to hire a cover band (for $1400, but I got quotes as low as $300), and maybe a xylophone player. I also want to find a balloon artist (to make balloon animals during the cocktail hour) and a firedancer or two, so if you know people who do this, please let me know. Activities Winetasting We're going to rent a few limos to take the family on a 4-hour winetasting tour, and I think we'll probably use this company, but I'm not sure. Napa winery tours, Sonoma winery tours, and transportation from California Wine Tours It comes out to $10 per person per hour. We haven't narrowed down our list of vineyards at all and we've never been to any of these, but we want to visit 3 or 4 places that offer maximum variety - free tasting, incredible wine, beautiful location, champagne, organic, educational tour, etc. Here's our current list: Korbel Champagne Cellars, Guerneville http://www.korbel.com/ Davis Bynum Winery, Healdsburg Davis Bynum - Russian River Valley Wines Alexander Valley Vineyards Winery, Healdsburg Alexander Valley Vineyards Hanna Winery, Healdsburg Winery - Tasting Rooms Hop Kiln Winery, Healdsburg Hop Kiln Winery Welcomes You Sausal Vineyard & Winery, Healdsburg Sausal Winery Estate Zinfandels Toad Hollow Tasting Room, Healdsburg Toad Hollow Vineyards Michel-Schlumberger Winery, Healdsburg http://www.michelschlumberger.com/ F. Teldeschi Winery, Healdsburg Teldeschi Winery Sunce Winery & Vineyards, Santa Rosa Suncé Winery : Suncé Winery Paradise Ridge Winery, Santa Rosa Paradise Ridge Winery Beach Activities, at or near Bodega Bay Go horseback riding on the beach Bodega Bay horse riding stable Chanslor Ranch Take surfing lessons Bodega Bay Surf Shack Russian River Activities Go fishing, canoeing, kayaking or tubing (is the water cold for tubing??) Burke's Canoe Trips on the Russian River http://www.guernevillesport.com/King...r/Welcome.html Other Activities Safari West Home - Safari West Take a safari at an African wildlife preserve in Northern California (??!) Miniature golf, Guerneville Pee Wee Golf, Guerneville, California Calistoga - Mud bath: Golden Haven Hot Springs (couples treatments) Napa Valley Spa Specials at Calistoga Golden Haven Hot Springs or Indian Springs (maybe nicer) Indian Springs Resort and Spa - Petrified Forest - Old Faithful Geyser Leopards, Etc, Occidental Maybe we'll have some wild cats in our wedding? Leopards, Etc. Home Restaurants & Cafes Mosaic Restaurant & Wine Lounge, Forestville www.mosaic.com/about.htm East West Bakery Cafe, Sebastopol Screamin' Mimi's, Sebastopol Screamin' Mimi's Ice Cream - Ice Cream is fun, but we take it seriously! Coffee Bazaar, Guerneville Coffee Bazaar Guerneville | Yelp.com Pat's Restaurant, Guerneville Yelp | Pat's Restaurant Guerneville Adorno's Pizza, Guerneville Forestville Club Forestville | Yelp Union Hotel Restaurant, Occidental and Santa Rosa Family-style Italian dining, also bulk take-out orders Restaurants and Facilities Bars Russian River Resort, Guerneville Russian River Resort :: Triple R Bar & Grill Stumptown Brewery, Guerneville Stumptown Brewery Main Street Station Pizza & Cabaret, Guerneville Main Street Station Ristorante, Cabaret & Pizzeria Club Fab, Guerneville Gay dance club index Forestville Club, Forestville Forestville Club Forestville | Yelp Thanks for your input, and good luck!!

Thanks, Elle, this is super helpful, particularly since you've seen the place already and your description of all the different villa locations for different parts of the fiesta sounds awesome! I'll definitely try to book there.

Hi Elle! I'm looking at the Quinta del Mar as well (tres magnifique), but are they serious about the $55 pp/day food & drink charge for guests staying at the villa? Yikes! Also, they told me there's an event fee. Is that 1 day's rent? Did you need to hire a coordinator? Sorry to bug you about this, it's just that I'm getting conflicting information. Thanks!!

Thanks, starchild, and great review on Barcelona Tapas! I had checked out El Alacran online and there are a bunch of negative reviews about the service (see here El Arrayan in Puerto Vallarta Mexico) and complaints that the price isn't worth it. But I found out the restaurant/bar La Bodeguita del Medio has live music & a dance floor, and a lot of good reviews: La Bodeguita del Medio in Puerto Vallarta Mexico I can't find a web site for them, not sure yet if they take reservations or have a private room or anything. But I'll check out Epoca too - groovy

Quote: Originally Posted by amyh Hi! I'm getting married on 4th of July at the Mayan Palace. I don't mind selling some decor, but I don't have anything yet. My colors are Lime Green, Chocolate Brown, White and a touch of aqua or turquoise. Great! We can keep each other posted on decoration ideas/plans and see if it works out. I haven't signed a contract for a location yet, but it'll be a pretty small wedding at a villa in Conchas Chinas. I love your wedding logo, by the way, tres cute!!

Keep an open mind when I ask you this... would you consider selling me any of your decorations or centerpieces after the reception? I hate wasting stuff and throwing things away and the idea of all of us buying pretty flowers & things for the garbage makes me sad. I also realize that everyone's tastes are unique, but I think I'm less picky than most brides. I haven't picked a color or a theme or anything like that, so it just might work. So if you're open to it, even if you don't know how you'll be decorating yet, let me know & we can keep in touch. PS The plan is to marry at a villa in PV sometime over the July 4th 3 day weekend, but I haven't confirmed the place or the day yet.

Chicas, since many of you have been to PV and are planning rehearsal dinners, etc, I'm hoping you can help me out - FH & I are just starting to plan a small (20-50 person) wedding and while we'll be renting a villa for the fam, the site fees for hosting the reception there are exhorbitant ($1,250-2,500), plus catering in PV seems just as expensive as in the states (am I right?) So I'm entertaining the idea of having the reception at a restaurant where we can reserve a private room, ideally where they have some music & dancing already. Does anyone know of such a place? (We would soooooo like to pay less than $50pp as well, so fancy is not important, however decent food still is.) Thank you!! I'm so impressed with this site and how nice everybody is, wow!

Wow, I just came across this site today, and the name is right - it really is the best destination wedding forum. My Boston Boy & I are planning a wedding next summer, thinking about Puerto Vallarta, and the information here is tops. I'll post to the specific forums when I have more info gathered. Happy engagement to all of you! Congratulations!