There’s something really cool about a man in uniform–even better than that is a man in uniform, riding a horse, wearing cool CHP boots. Yes, Erik Estrada did not gain his fame by playing a homeless bum on TV.

You too can see our sexy (mostly) CHP riding on horseback around Capitol Park. They are out in full force lately, thanks to the Guv’s recent executive order and the ensuing rallies on the steps for state employees. Someone’s gotta keep the peace. So why not let the CHP do it, when they are on the “exempt” list, and they know for certain their salaries are secure? I’m not sure if the governor’s plan to cut wages backfired or not. Certainly placing more CHP in the public eye means more CHP getting paid. No salary savings there.

I really don’t mind watching the parades of men in uniform. However, had there been no executive order, there would be no great need to put the Capitol on lockdown. Had there been a budget, there would have been no need for an executive order. Had you voted last go around, there may have been a few good legislators in office, willing to compromise to keep the state moving and grooving as the happening place that it is and should continue to be. But then again, I’m counting the “shoulds” and “coulds” and not the reality of the grand BS that is the annual state budget.

What does it all mean? If you’d like to see your tax dollars at work, come for a stroll around the Capitol on a weekday. You’ll see an ocean of people, dotted by CHP, surging along in a sea of disillusion.

I can’t help but wonder if the extra brown shirts on patrol remind the governor of his childhood European home. Definitely a disturbing thought.

The temperature here in Sac is supposed to reach triple digits by Thursday. I have a few strategies planned to beat the heat this week. First off, I’ll be bringing shorts to change in to for my bike ride home from work. Second, I’ll be making frequent use of my apartment building’s pool. Finally, on the hottest day I plan on making a stop at the snow cone window at Osaka Ya.

How will you be staying cool?

Today is my 9th wedding anniversary. The only place my wife wants to go is, believe it or not, P.F. Chang’s. She loves going there because of her food allergies and their extensive gluten-free menu. I love her, so there we’ll be going.

Where do you like to go to celebrate? Waterboy? Masons? Let us know where and why!

It’s all finished: Eight posts on planning a wedding in Sacramento. Hope it proves useful. Share your own experiences, tips, reviews, or warnings in the comments section - or use the Suggest A Story link on the right. Best wishes!

Day One: The Series
Day Two: The Dress
Day Three: The Photographer
Day Four: The Music
Day Five: The Cake
Day Six: The Flowers
Day Seven: The Legal Stuff
Day Eight: Random Other Stuff

Chaircovers - you laugh - but these may become the. single. most. important. part of your day.

There are a million little decisions involved in wedding planning. It’s best to keep a pad of paper on you at all times because you never know when your mom will call to remind you of the million and first decision you need to make.

The series so far has covered some of the bigger, obvious decisions: where, wear, who, etc. What about the other stuff like hair, make-up, chair covers, invitations, registries, and so on? They can drive you mad and there’s even less information available on these items than on the big stuff. Here are some parting pieces of advice:
Read more

Aren’t you glad you live in a small, relatively centralized county like Sacramento? Well, you should be. Obtaining marriage licenses is crazy easy. There’s a helpful website full of FAQ answers and during normal business hours a live and helpful person actually answers the listed phone number.

Walk-ins are allowed, but appointments are encouraged. We made an appointment during their first slot - at 8am - and were in and out in about half an hour. Bride and groom must be present, at least 18 years old, and have photo ID. That’s about it. There is an online application form the site asks you to fill out, but it didn’t seem mandatory once we were there.

Actually, the only criticism we have about the system is this online form. You enter your info, diligently check it for mistakes, and it prints out, nicely filled. You’d think perhaps that info gets zapped over to the clerk’s office for easy import into the actual license document. Not so. Best we could tell, someone then re-enters the info.

Accordingly an important word of warning: Check Their Work. Twice. Then once more after that. And again after they fix the mistakes you found on previous readings. My name is frequently mangled, but in this case, they badly butchered my groom’s name and the word “England” - didn’t even know that was possible. Of course, in our rush to correct the litany of typos on his section, I noted only that they had not forgotten the oft forgot “a” that turns my name from “Christina” into what it is.

But what I didn’t notice was the missing “i” before the not-forgotten “a.” So we had to go back and file an amendment after the wedding to get it corrected. Not the end of the world, but an unnecessary extra hassle.

Out of all wedding chores - getting the license is the easiest part. Grab your fiance(e) and your IDs (and your checkbook or cash - no credit or debit cards accepted) and head on down to 600 8th Street. You’ll be in and out in no time - allowing for typos, of course.

For other county services, keep reading . . .
Read more

Bouquet detail, photo by cd

We tried to save money on flowers. Swear to god. We gave it our absolute best shot. We met with two florists - one in Sac and one in Davis (sister-in-law of a friends’ wife, did their wedding, lovely stuff, too costly for us; plus, in-town is just easier). We ended up going with Twiggs - located on J Street, conveniently next to The Raven - into which you’ll probably want/need to duck after contemplating the cost of flowers. Flowers that while pretty and nice smelling, will die and leave you with zero tangible benefit. You can’t eat them. You can’t drink them. They look really great, sure, but if you’re a non-weak bride, flowers will make you angry.

I hate being made angry by flowers. I love them. I take endless numbers of flower photos. I’m all flowers, all the time. But that sh*t is expensive.
Read more

photo by Rachelle Stogner

Freeport Bakery. ‘Nuff said.

Oh, but I’ll say more anyway, of course.

With the recent closures of several Sacramento bakeries like Philipps and Brioche, the Sacramento vendors are harder to find. No matter, though. I knew I wanted Freeport from the start and after an initial scare when they said they were booked on our day, we ended up able to get our wedding cake there anyway.

There’s not much personal attention involved in cake buying - at least not after the initial tasting session (which is the BEST part of wedding planning, by far). I don’t need to be all BFF with my bakery, and given my hatred of the industry’s prey-on-emotions ways, I guess there’s no point complaining that it was very arms-length.

The inside of the cake was perfect - just as moist and delicious as one would expect from Sac’s top bakery. The outside came out very nearly like what we’d spent quite a while describing to the cake consultant with whom we met. We carefully measured and determined the width of the stripes on the cake - which were to start wide on the top stripe and be thinner by the bottom stripe.

All the stripes came out the same, non-interesting width.

And, though one side of the cake had straight, even stripes that curved beautifully down the side, the other side - the side displayed toward most the guests - had more wobble than paving stripe in landslide country. What’s up with that? Why the wobble? And why have THAT side facing out when the other was better. The problem is very obvious in the above photo. Especially when you can compare the two sides.

All in all, though, the cake was what we wanted and I’d recommend Freeport (not cheap, but never less than tasty). Oh, but, Freeport, if you read this, you should include more than one excess cake box. Granted, we ended up with more cake than we needed, but we could only take home half of the excess because there was only one cake box. Oh well.

For more:
Day One: The Series
Day Two: The Dress
Day Three: The Photographer
Day Four: The Music
Day Five: The Cake
Day Six: The Flowers
Day Seven: The Legal Stuff
Day Eight: Random Other Stuff

photos by Rachelle Stogner and Robert Nicholson (top right)

What kind of music do you want at your wedding? Canned from a DJ? Live from a band? A bit of both? We knew our goal was a kick-ass dance party after the day’s formalities concluded, but what about before that point? Initially, we contracted with a DJ company to provide a sound system and cue classical tracks at the appropriate point for the ceremony. But after a dear family friend (and my former music teacher) offered to help coordinate live music, we opted to go classy for the ceremony. Budget-wise, what we saved on the DJ’s ceremony services and an extra hour of his time pretty much balanced out the cost of the trio we hired. And, though my fiance and I weren’t in the room to enjoy the bulk of the trio’s music, we hear it went very well.

The Trio: Through our friend’s help, we found - heck, she found and contracted, the Kelley Maulbetsch Trio - a NorCal based group of talented players. We had a cello, violin, and flute trio. They knew all the wedding standards plus all the traditional classical music that makes a place seem all warm and wedding-y. And in a small-world moment, Kelley Maulbetsch turned out to be the former roommate of one of my close friend’s now fiance. Crazy! They’re union players - and we love unions - but the rates are fair and the performance was excellent. You really can’t beat live music. Want to hire them? Contact Kelley at kelleymaulbetsch at gmail dot com.

Now for the DJ . . . .
Read more

photo by Rachelle Stogner, Rachelle Photography

When both the bride, the groom, and most of the wedding party are shutterbugs (not to mention when the bride’s father is a former wedding photographer), picking the right photog quickly becomes one of the most important decisions a couple can make. Like, second only to the decision to get married in the first place.

As mentioned earlier in the series, the internet and especially Flickr helped research in this category tremendously. Though I did pick up a few cards at various wedding expos, only one of those photographers made it onto my “people to call” list. When the first few desired photogs were booked, and both independently recommended Rachelle, I figured that was a good recommendation. Was it ever!
Read more