Delicacies for your taste buds!

On a rare (and precious!) weekend off, my husband Alan and I decided to spend a Sunday in the city. As crazy as it was to have pouring rain at this time of the year, we still enjoyed a really great day together eating and shopping! There were so many cravings that we had that day, so we decided to do the "small portions, multiple meals" deal. We must have ate at 6 different places that day but there were two that were especially worth mentioning here!

For those of you that haven't caught wind of it yet, the new Beard Papa Cream Puffs shop is now open across from the Metreon! I have actually been very familiar with this name and their out-of-this-world delicious cream puffs starting from about 4 years ago. I was vacationing in Hong Kong at the time and curiously decided to stand in line for 30 minutes to buy this cream puff that was THE hottest thing in Hong Kong then. After standing in line for 30 minutes, it only made sense to buy multiple cream puffs to justify the amount of wait time right? I bought 4 different flavors and I remember loving the chocolate puffs the most! So, when I found out that Beard Papa was opening shop here in my very hometown, I did not need to be convinced to try it out and that was our first stop this Sunday! I was a little disappointed to see that they are only offering the vanilla cream puffs at this time. The chocolate flavor will not be available until June. I still bought half a dozen though and they were every bit as fresh and delicious as I had remembered it! I have now marked on my calendar to go back in June to get the other flavors! Check them out online at www.muginohousa.com/creampuffs

Halfway into the afternoon, it was time for a little indulgence! We stopped at one of our favorite spots in the city--the Ferry Building. There are so many neat little places in there! We love the oysters at Hog Island, the potato croquettes at Delica rf1, and the handmade marshmellows at Recchiuti Confections. This Sunday though, we indulged in one of our all time favorites--Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, a "caviar cafe". This charming little place has a wide variety of premium caviar, both domestic and imported. We ordered their American Sampler , which consisted generous portions of 7 different types of caviar delicately presented with their homemade buckwheat blini with creme faiche. My favorite was the truffled whitefish caviar and the hackleback sturgeon caviar. Yummy!!!!!!!!!

Happily Ever After

When I first met Jason and Yunnie last year, my first impression was "Wow, what a beautiful looking couple!" I knew they were going to be a Prince and Princess on the wedding day, and what better place to have it than the Palace Hotel in San Francisco! Its grandeur and opulence was the perfect setting for the beginning of this fairytale-like couple. Kudos to Jason for being a very involved groom during the planning process. It's always great when the grooms are a part of the wedding planning! For all of the brides out there who think that their grooms do not have an opinion on wedding-related matters, try asking them! You may be surprised!

Jason and Yunnie's wedding day was so beautiful in every way! They got married at the Stanford Memorial Church, followed by an elaborate four course meal at the Palace Hotel. Yunnie made her entrance in her cute pink Han-Bok, a traditional Korean wedding dress. Thank you to Michelle Walker (www.michellewalker.com) for the fabulous photos! How lucky am I to have 2 weddings with Michelle already this year! She's definitely one of my very favorites! The gorgeous flowers were creations of Nancy Liu Chin (www.nancyliuchindesigns.com), lighting by Got Light (www.got-light.com) and music by Carl Mindling (www.reachcarl.com).

Food for Thought

My husband and I are big time foodies. We love trying out new restaurants and have a shared appreciation for good food. Recently, we experienced the new Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino. Upon arrival, I was a bit taken back at the rows of meat hanging in a display window when I walked in the restaurant, reminding me of butcher shops in Hong Kong. However, a few steps forward and you will be greeted by multiple maitre d's: one to take your coat, one to find your reservation, and one to simply make you feel welcome. The waiting area has a nice fireplace and a sophisticated designed lounge so no sweat if your table isn't quite ready. Their menu has all the traditional steaks, but proudly boasts of their imported Grade 8+ Kobe Beef, which was really the reason my husband and I decided to try them out in the first place! Alexander's Steakhouse is a traditional steakhouse infused with many creative and interesting Asian-Fusion dishes. We couldn't pass up on the Maine Lobster Tempura, the Fois Gras "Squared", and Sea of Cortez Scallops. No worries though, that still left us room for the Kobe Experience--a four course tasting menu that left us yearning for more. No room for dessert? They don't give you a choice...every guest gets a big fluffy cotton candy (yes, the kind you get at theme parks!) with the bill. Every dinner should have a sweet ending like this one. Check out their menu online at www.alexanderssteakhouse.com


Okay, there has to be a balance to life. One cannot fine dine all the time! There's plenty of great restaurants out there without an eye popping price tag, and Shabuway is one of them! The first Shabuway opened in San Mateo about two years ago, and there has hardly been a night without long lines at its doorway. For those of you unfamiliar with the term Shabu Shabu, it is a traditional Japanese cuisine known as the "beef fondue". The term shabu shabu means "swish-swish", describing the swishing motion of cooking a very thin slice of beef in very hot water.

At Shabuway, every person gets their own pot of boiling water, a plate of high quality beef slices, a plate of assorted vegetables, a bowl of rice and two different dipping sauces--ponzu and sesame. It's fun, delicious, filling, and reasonably priced (expect to spend around $15 per person for dinner). The second Shabuway recently opened a few months ago on Castro Street in Mountain View. It's definitely worth a try, but it's not the place for large groups of people. Check them out online at www.shabuway.com

Looking for Inspirations?

I am a big fan of the Japanese. I have travelled to Tokyo 6 times in the past several years and each time I still feel as excited as the first. In Japan, you are constantly surrounded by eye candy everywhere you go. A simple trip to the supermarket can be jaw dropping as you admire a perfectly packaged group of peaches only to put it back when you see the price tag. Somehow, it's hard to justify spending $20 on a peach, even though it promises to be perfectly riped and delicious. But who says you can't look?

With their attention to detail and their amazing ability to take an ordinary object and transforming it into a work of art, it's hard not to break your bank account when you are in Japan. I once bought a small bag of marshmellows for USD $10 because of its packaging. I admire how much emphasis the Japanese places on appearances. Nearly every person you see on the street, regardless of age, is dressed elegantly and with style. Needless to say, they carry the same level of delicacy in their wedding details. Every element of the wedding is carefully designed and executed to perfection, which is why I love pouring over the Japanese wedding magazines. I can't understand the content in Japanese, but the pictures alone are worth the $20 price tag. The popular titles are Nonno Wedding, Graceful Wedding, and my all time favorite 25ans. You can find these at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in San Francisco Japantown and Saratoga Avenue in San Jose.

Let's Go Retro!

I had an amazing wedding this weekend! Melissa and Noah knew from the very beginning that they wanted the wedding day to be one big party to celebrate every aspect of their lives! There was indeed a lot to celebrate--Melissa officially being titled as Dr. Melissa Reyes, the joining of two wonderful families and their Filipino / Jewish traditions, and the opportunity to bring their closest friends and families together to party the night out! The wedding day started off with a bbq in the morning at Crissy Field in San Francisco. A roasted pig was eaten in celebration of Melissa's Filipino heritage, and the boys enjoyed a nice sweaty game of toss football! Mid-morning, the ladies went back to the Hotel Vitale and got ready in the beautiful circular suite with a 180 degree view of the bay. I have never seen a more relaxed bride than Melissa! Brides that are getting married in San Francisco should definitely consider splurging on the suite that they get ready in on the wedding day, especially if you have more than two bridesmaids! To add a fun twist to things, they decided to have the party revolving around a 1950's theme. The bridesmaids had on fun flirty Betsey Johnson dresses and Melissa looked stunning in a wedding gown handmade by her aunt who is a seamstress! Noah's father's 1950's baby blue cadillac was the perfect method of transportation! Pink and Lime were Melissa's favorite colors and we completely transformed the Presidio Officer's Club with this palette as inspiration!

For all the brides out there who are designing your own wedding, CONSIDER LIGHTING! It's a must-have to create any type of ambiance that you are looking for. For the lounge area at this wedding we started off with pink uplighting for the cocktail hour and changed it out to a ruby red uplighting later on in the night to create the sophisticated club feeling that Noah wanted. Lighting does wonders. I worked with a fantastic team to produce this wedding--Mandy Scott Flowers, John Woods of Enhanced Lighting, Teri Menchini of La Bocca Fina, EVER Music Group, Spintronix, and Neil Adams of Neil Adams Event Resources for the furniture. EVER provided a sexy jazz music during the cocktail, dinner and the first hour of dancing. Spintronix then took over with a more clubbing style of music for the late night dancers. Everyone was having so much fun!! Thank you to the fabulous Gene Higa for these great photos....which are just sneak previews to the thousands that he took on Saturday night! Gene is an incredibly fun and stylish photographer who is daring and bold and not afraid to think outside of the box! He does amazing destination weddings so check out his website and blog--www.genehiga.com. There's a picture of Gene and I below and a picture that he caught of me holding Melissa's delicate veil.

Yosemite in San Francisco

I bet that not many people know about the Log Cabin in the Presidio. It is tucked away like a hidden gem, and my clients Miranda and Joe couldn't have been happier at this discovery! Always wanting a woodsy, rustic wedding at Yosemite, they did not want all of their guests driving the distance. Thus, we started the adventure of finding a Yosemite in San Francisco! When this cute couple laid eyes on the Log Cabin, it was love at first "site"! Surrounded by natural beauty and a sneak view of the bay, the Log Cabin is indeed a log cabin! Throughout the year of planning, we came up with the neatest ideas to transform the space into a warm, cozy cabin with touches of simple elegance. One of my favorite highlights of the day was the surprise that we gave the guests by bringing in lion dancers! What a way to get the party started! I am sharing a few of the fabulous detail shots that Wendy Maclaurin Richardson took for me (www.wmrphoto.com). The photo of myself with Miranda and Joe was taken by their photographer Lawrence Lauterborn (www.lauterbornphoto.com)! The rest of the exceptional team included Laurel Ann Winzler (www.flaurel.com) for the flowers, Enhanced Lighting (www.enhancedlighting.com), Carl Mindling (www.reachcarl.com) for the music and La Bocca Fina (www.laboccafina.com) for the catering.

Memoirs of a Wedding

I am so excited! I got the photos for Sylvia and James' wedding and they are amazing! Michelle Walker (www.michellewalker.com), their darling photographer, did an awesome job! She is one of the most talented, passionate and fun photographer that I have ever worked with and she really knows how to make people feel comfortable in front of the camera! Just look at the way she captured Sylvia and James' smiles and laughter here! As I was looking through all of the photos, I was reliving all the special moments of that day. Sylvia and James were the sweetest couple to work with. They live in Boston and throughout the 8 months of planning we corresponded a lot by phone, email and IM. They were so much fun, and even though the wedding is now over, we still chat a lot as we have become good friends. I love the friendships that are developed with both clients and the vendors that I work with. It's just great to work with people you like. I feel so fortunate in that way!

Sylvia and James were married at the Hakone Gardens in Saratoga on March 25th. Yes, that is the same garden that Memoris of a Geisha was filmed! Their cinematographers, Chuck and Jewel Savadelis (www.savadelis.com), created a beautiful and touching trailer that was inspired by the movie. As a surprise, they worked around the clock on the editing during the two weeks that Sylvia and James were away on their honeymoon so that when they arrived home in Boston, they received this beautiful package from their doorman. Inside the package was a brand new Ipod (aka Bridepod!) and they were able to watch their stunning trailer that very moment. Talk about going the extra mile to delight your clients! I will definitely put this trailer up on my website soon....for now, take a look at it on my web designer Stacie's website www.theflirtybride.com. Stacie was also the designer for Sylvia's necklace and tiara! The beautiful flowers you see below were designed and created by Sarah Kranz of Florabella Designs (www.florabelladesigns.com). The tenting was done by Stuart Party Rentals.

Wynn Las Vegas

I want to share some fun photos from my recent trip to Vegas. Let me tell you though....this was no ordinary Vegas trip! The new Wynn Las Vegas extended a very generous invitation to 30 Wedding Coordinators around the country to experience the Wynn as a bride would. Boy, it was 48 hours of incredible pampering. From the moment we stepped out of the airport, we were greeted by our own limousines, whisking us to the beginning of the most amazing journey! Along with the wonderful people at the Wynn Wedding Salon, we fine dined, enjoyed spa treatments, toured the backhouse of the hotel to see their operations (which was fascinating and jaw dropping!), watched the new Le Reve show, and experienced an over the top, extravagant mock wedding setup as guests! It was definitely opulent and lavish and I got some fantastic decor ideas for my clients! Talk about fringe benefits of the job......we never left the Wynn during the two days that we were there but we didn't feel the need to. The food was superb and the service was first class. The rooms we stayed in had a panaromic view of either the golf course or the Strip, plasma tvs, and remote controlled draperies. Forget the traditional drive-thru weddings that Vegas is known for. Now you can have a top notch, extravagant celebrity-style wedding at the Wynn Las Vegas!

Jumping on the Bandwagon

I have finally decided to start a blog! With my website newly redesigned by the adorable and super creative Stacie Tamaki (www.theflirtybride.com), adding a blog seemed like a fun thing to do to share my experiences with people. Every so often, I would be asked the question "What is a typical day like for a Wedding Coordinator?" I find that question very amusing, as there really is no typical day for me! I love what I do because it gives me the opportunity to do such a wide variety of tasks. That's the best part of being an entrepreneur too. I get to wear so many different hats! On some days I'm similar to a lawyer, helping clients scrutinize every last word in their contracts. On other days I am a Creative Director working with clients to design the wedding of their dreams, an Administrative Assistant keeping all of my clients' paperwork organized, or a Matchmaker introducing fabulous vendors to my clients! Did I mention how I much I love the versatility of my role? I just love being around people! Life is good when you love what you do....I hope this encourages all of you out there to pursue what you are truly passionate about!