Isabelle again, back with part two of our COVID wedding coverage. We had some awesome vendors and wanted to share those with you! We were fortunate that many elements of our wedding resembled what it would have been like without COVID, but there were definitely some things that had to be adjusted. Since wedding planning will likely need to be adjusted going into next year, I’ve included a few thoughts about how that went for those of you getting married in 2021.
Wedding dress & alterations
All masks all the time through this process is not fun, but the whole thing was made easier by the great team at Blue Sky Bridal and my alterations expert, and all around lovely person to work with, Andra Bose. Blue Sky made scheduling easy (limiting the number of people in the store) and has a great selection of gowns at amazing prices. Through them I found Andra, who travels to her clients, is really fast, and did a great job turning my dress into what I pictured in my head. You would never know that she built the straps of this previously strapless dress!
Hair & makeup
For my hair I worked with my regular stylist, Rebeka from Noah Salon, who has been cutting my hair for years and whom I trust implicitly. She recommended my make-up artist, who is truly an artist, Carol Le (who works out of Jax Barber). Both of them did a great job making sure I felt like I still looked like me, just fancy :)
Venue & catering
Blue Ribbon Cooking did an amazing job with the food and the venue Sanders Estate was beautiful (which they manage). Working out a lot of the details was challenging as rules kept changing even weeks before the wedding, but we were happy with what we were able to share with our guests. We especially appreciated their investment in tiny picnic baskets (how cute!?) and picnic blankets to help make the reception safe.
Live music
One detail we both really wanted was live music for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Windsong Trio could not have been more perfect. Our string trio covered the classics for the ceremony and ran the gamut of covers to kick off the reception. My only regret is that I didn’t get to hear them more (since we were off doing photos for a good bit)!
Videographer
We wanted everything to be recorded (as well as live-streamed) so that we could share the day with all those who couldn’t attend in person. This meant it was a little last minute and while they were accommodating, we did learn our lesson that you really should spend the time to talk through all the details (like how you feel about a drone during your ceremony if you’re not expecting that… live and learn!).
Photographer
We always say that the photographer is an important part of your wedding since they are the one(s) who help capture the memories and we are so happy we got to work with Aspen. She was professional but kept things fun and she has a fantastic eye for lighting. We love the way our photos came out.
We so appreciate the flexibility and care of our vendors during a year where their businesses are struggling and we were/are all trying to find our footing to be safe while enjoying big moments.