WEDDING BLOG

The lovely Jaklyn, who said “My father and I have been dancing to the theme song from Footloose since I was 2 months old – you can bet it’ll be our father-daughter dance at the wedding! I can’t imagine doing the slow dance thing together….it’s just not us :)” is the winner of the iPod Nano! Congratulations Jaklyn! And thank you, thank you, thank you to all the rest of you who commented and told us all about the wedding music you’re looking forward to hearing! What fun! 

Here are just a few of our favorite comments, that truly show the brilliance in choosing the music that is exactly right, for you…

“Our recessional is Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder… one of my favorites.” – Hapah

“We’re having a steel drum band play, and the bridesmaids are walking down the aisle to Girl from Ipanema!  I think it will be such a fun way to get everyone in a celebratory mood.” – Ida2010

“I am going to walk down the aisle to “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees!” – Christina

“My dad and I chose “It’s a Wonderful World” for our father-daughter dance song. However, things did not go exactly as planned! A huge storm came through during our cocktail hour and left us without power for the next three hours at our outdoor reception. My dad and I ended up standing on the lawn, surrounded by friends and family, who started singing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” while my dad and I twirled around in the grass. Appropriate song? Well, probably not, but still one of my favorite wedding day memories- I’ll never forget it!” – Emily

“My father passed away almost 10 years ago, so I’ll be dancing with my brother, but we’re dancing to Patty Griffin’s “Heavenly Day” as a nod to my late father. It is a beautiful song!” – Chandra

“I can’t wait to hear a friend of mine sing a Swedish song called Säg det igen (Say it again) by Lisa Nilsson about the feeling the very first “I love you” evokes. It is one of the most emotional songs I have ever heard. I cry every time I hear it now — wonder how much I’ll bawl at my wedding!” – Anja

“Before the ceremony, we’re going to have string quartet of Guns N Roses songs playing. And I’m going to walk down the aisle to a string quartet of I can’t help falling in love with you.” – Lara

“My fiance and I met through music and share a deep appreciation for many genres of music. We had some AWESOME engagement photos taken in an old school record store and we are both very excited to make our musical selections for our wedding as unique as our musical tastes are!! As of right now… (we’ve already changed our first dance song THREE TIMES and have finally settled on The Watson Twins cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”) I will be walking down the aisle to a string version of Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah. I’m wicked excited to make the final selections for all our other ceremony music.” Emil

“I’m walking down the aisle to “Moon River” played by a classical guitar musician. The line “two drifters, off to see the world, there’s such a lot of world to see..” is so me and my fiance and the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s was one of my favorites as a kid.” – Cozette

“I grew up with my dad always involved in barbershop singing, i would love for our dance to be to one of those songs…” – Jen

If you’re a regular Junebug reader, you may have noticed over the past few months that we’ve had a bit of an obsession with Southern California and its amazing wedding professionals! We’ve been spending an awful lot of time traveling down to LA and Orange County, and after I tell you about a couple more of the fabulous So Cal businesses we’ve gotten to know, I’ll fill you in on the full Junebug scoop! Read on!

The Resort at Pelican Hill is a lush, gorgeous, and delightful surprise and we were so honored to get the full tour. As you turn into this Orange County property, youre hit by the beauty that unfolds in front of you, and you’re graciously welcomed by a team of professionals who put you right at ease with their extaordinary customer service. Hearkening back to the Hollywood glamour days of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, youd never guess that the resort opened just three months ago!

Perched high above Newports coastline, the wedding ceremony facilities here include a lovely Italian rotunda with an expansive ocean view, and the reception ballrooms and banquet halls shine with warm inviting décor that is both stunning, and comfortable. The lovely bridal suite is seriously any stylish brides dream come true. With floor to ceiling mirrors you’ll get to take in all of your fabulous wedding day fashion in its full glory! The culinary options at Pelican Hill are designed by world-class Executive Chef, Jean Pierre Dubray, and the honeymoon villas leave absolutely nothing to be desired when it comes to pure indulgence. No doubt, Pelican Hill is one of the few places on the planet where perfection is truly possible. A luxurious and breathtaking option for a wedding, reception, or honeymoon!

Ask anyone down in the LA area where they love to find yummy, yummy cupcakes, and 9 times out of 10 the answer is going to be the Vanilla Bake Shop in Santa Monica!

Owned by husband and wife team, Amy and Jeremy, and inspired by the flavors that came from their mother’s kitchens, these two have created a bakery that inspires love and devotion with each sweet bite. Widely known for their cupcakes and mini cupcakes, their wedding cakes are stunners too! They are filled with the very best fresh ingredients and designed with a modern flair. My sweet tooth is calling just thinking about it! Check out their website for photo galleries, cake options, directions and a cupcake flavor menu of the day.

And now for the scoop on what Junebug’s been up to… 

We’re officially expanding to Southern California! Waa-hoo! Launching June 1st, our Plan Your Wedding Top-Ten Hotlist will include the very best wedding professionals and venues from Santa Barbara down to San Diego, and we can’t begin to tell you how excited we are to introduce you to all of these phenomenal businesses!

When Blair, Kim and I began Junebug Weddings back in 2006, we were determined to connect the incredibly talented wedding professionals that we worked with, admired and trusted, with all the lovely Seattle area couples who were looking to plan their weddings without stress. It was kind of like match-making really, because we’re great big romantics, and because we just knew it would be a win-win situation for every person who got involved. And you know what? It worked perfectly! Now we’re bringing that same level of careful selection, passion for customer service and love for what we do to California readers in the form of our trusted recommendations list. We’ve been going slow, getting to know businesses face-to-face, and checking out their bridal and professional references thoroughly. In order to keep each of our new Plan Your Wedding categories useful and manageable, we’ll recommend only ten outstanding vendors so you don’t get overwhelmed with an endless list of options. We feel confident about creating a truly useful Southern California resource that is unlike any other directory, blog or magazine!

We just started welcoming new members a couple of weeks ago, and our categories are filling up quickly with amazing A-list professionals (think Mindy Weiss, Elizabeth Messina, R. Jack Balthazar…) and dozens of rising stars too. Of course your opinion is what matter most to us, so we’d love to know about the wedding professionals in LA, Orange County and San Diego who are helping you create the wedding of your dreams. If you have recommendations and ideas to share, please visit our “Recommend a Professional” page and let us know who you love! Our team, and thousands of brides and grooms will be grateful that you shared your experience. (Talented, passionate and wildly fabulous Southern California wedding professionals may apply to join our network through the application process found on our Join Us page.)

Stay tuned for more information and updates as we move along toward the launch, we’re bursting at the seams to share this exciting wedding goodness!