On Saturday, I had the honor and pleasure of attending THE MOST FUN WEDDING OF ALL TIME in sunny Malibu, California. It was billed as "the wedding to end all marriages," with a Bar Mitzvah-carnival theme and an invitation that encouraged women to wear a wedding dress if they had one. It surpassed all my wildest dreams...View Article
I am a shameless Daddy's Girl to the core. And my friends know I love "Father of the Bride" so much, they threw me a "Father of the Bride"-themed party right before Tony and my wedding. So, the very thought of my dad as Father of the Bride, giving his speech, made me cry multiple times leading up to the wedding. It was just too emotional for me to think about. But, never in a million years did I expect the speech he actually gave...View Article
Last weekend, one of my lifelong besties, Ali, got married at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, not far from where we grew up. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and I was so honored and thrilled to be one in hers. It was the first wedding that Tony and I went to after we tied the knot, and it was so exciting to be at a wedding again... Given my feverish obsession with all things bridal, I wasn't sure how I would feel going to weddings after we got married. Nostalgic? Sad mine was over? Relieved and relaxed? Noticing details I missed, and would never have the chance to replicate? Overjoyed for the couple? In all honestly, it was a combination of all of those feelings. But above all, it was happiness for my friend Ali and her brilliant, sweet groom, Garrett.View Article
Tony and I drove home from my parents' house late last night, and we are still delirious. We went straight from Vancouver to northern California for one of my childhood best friends' wedding, and had so much fun we didn't want to leave... Which resulted in us not rolling up to our driveway until the middle of the night. We've been gone for almost 2 months, and married for 6 weeks, but for the first time, we're arriving home as newlyweds... Any advice on how to beat the bridal blues and savor the newlywed phase?View Article
My ever lovin' mama Laura Baria wrote this beautiful love letter to all the other MOB's out there! (*MOB serves as both Mother of the Bride or, on my darker days, Mother of the Bridezilla and, on my darkest days, Mother of the Bitch.) We didn't always see eye to eye on certain major wedding details - I thought a large portion of the budget should go toward making it look like Martha Stewart and Pinterest made 10 million flower babies just to decorate my wedding, and she thought a large portion of the budget should go toward inviting everyone she's ever met, and every celebrity she hasn't. But (thanks in large part to the men who love us), we made it to the wedding without killing each other. We both compromised. And it was the happiest day of my life and, I think, one of the happiest of hers (next to the day I was born of course. And the day my brother was born. And, probably the day I moved out of the house and out of her hair.) She writes below about her favorite moment of the wedding, which was one of my favorite moments not only of the wedding, but of my life, too. Mom, thank you for making my wedding dreams come true. I love you and I will always "be your girl forever."View Article
I am addicted to wedding announcements. This probably doesn't come as a surprise, given my feverish obsession with all things WEDDING. But even as a kid, I would flip to the back of my mom's Town & Country magazines to pore over the beautiful pictures of society ladies' weddings, and steal The New York Times my dad would bring home on weekends to read the wedding announcements. So, it was a very exciting moment for me yesterday when my hometown newspaper, The Davis Enterprise, featured Tony and my wedding announcement yesterday!View Article
WE'RE MARRIED!!!!!!!!! I still can't believe it. Tony and I drove back to Los Angeles from Lake Tahoe last night, and both of us kept saying that it feels like we're playing house. We giggle every time we say "husband" or "wife." We leave for our honeymoon tonight and there is just too much to say and too many emotions to process for me to really write about the wedding yet... Plus, I still have to do laundry, pack and see if I can get my husband (HUSBAND!) to help me laser my bikini line (TMI!) So, I'm going to rip myself off and share what I wrote on my personal Facebook page yesterday, along with all of my favorite pictures from the days leading up to and following the wedding! BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE.View Article
