Engaged Encounter Retreat in Malibu

As part of a pre-requisite to getting married in a Catholic Church, we needed to do an engaged encounter retreat.

So we decided to look around for places that provided it. My sister, Joy, and her husband, Tom, did theirs in Santa Barbara before they got married and had recommended and showed us the Serra Retreat Center in Malibu. Although there were places up here in the Bay Area to do the retreat, we decided to make a trip out of the whole experience as well as getting a chance to hang out with Geri’s family.

Our facilitators were really awesome and shared some really great and touching stories about their lives. The retreat grounds were very peaceful and had scenic views of the ocean and hills.

It was an intense and very enlightening weekend and at the end of it all felt very connected and on the same page about things and even more excited about getting married. We definetly recommend doing this type of retreat prior to getting married.

Serra Retreat Center in Malibu, CA

Our facilitators, Cherrie & Adrian  were such a sweet couple – 50 years strong

Gorgeous views of the ocean

The grounds around Serra Retreat House

Just such a serene place for being peaceful

Statues in their garden

Eric’s Boys Weekend!

A few of Eric’s boys including his best man and brother, Rich, planned a trip to Las Vegas (Sin City) a few months ago to celebrate his bachelor party Hangover-style.

Luckily his boys did not loose him on the rooftop of Cesar’s Palace nor were there kidnapped tigers from Mike Tyson’s estate, stolen police cars left in the middle of the Las Vegas strip, missing teeth or a baby Carlos found.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas! But pictures are worth a thousand words.

Photos courtesy of Darryl Wong’s Facebook photos, since other photos have not yet surfaced “P.  Thanks Darryl.

Room Accomodations – Suites at Planet Hollywood

This is Eric pre-partying

Let the partying begin…

Speed Racer

Starting Lineup for the 2010 Indy 5000

On you mark…get set…GO!

Post Racing – Good times, Good Times!

Suite view of the Las Vegas Strip at night

Eric and His Boys

(Top Row: Darryl, Jayson, Noel, Eric (the Groom-to-Be), Kormann and Scott; Bottom Row: Rich and Pete)

Are you guys ready to let the dogs out? What? You know….who let the dogs out?

Engagement Photo Session by Photographer, Ann Hamilton

We had the pleasure of having the fabulous photographer, Ann Hamilton, shoot our engagement session in late June at Cavallo Point in Sausalito.

It was a bit windy, but we braved the weather and the pics came out gorgeous. It’s a bit odd having the cameras turned on you. We’re so used to being the ones taking the pictures.

You can view our engagement photo session here:

http://gerianderic.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=13232588&AlbumKey=68Bka

Enjoy!

Wedding Registries

We are registered at the following places:

Williams-Sonoma

(click for link)

Crate & Barrel

(click for link)

Macy’s

(click for link)

Wedding Countdown

Hi Everyone….

It’s been a while since we’ve updated our blog. We’ve just been so swamped with different things and wedding details.

T-Minus, two months from last Monday. Eeks. We’re getting very excited and at the same time feeling a bit surreal about everything.

Here’s a rundown of the festivities:

We’re getting married on Saturday, October 2, 2010.

Ceremony will be 3pm at St. Ignatius Church (at USF) – 650 Parker Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117.

Wedding Ceremony Parking – Parking is located at the Law School directly across the street from the church. Street parking may be available on Parker Street. Parking is only permitted for the duration of the wedding ceremony.

Reception is located at Sofitel Hotel – 223 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, California 94065.  Cocktail Hour will be at 6pm. The Reception will be from 7pm-12am. This will be an “Adult Reception“.

If you would like to stay at the hotel, we have a rate of $89.00 for Superior, $109.00 for Luxury & $189.00 for Sofitel Suites.
Please call their Reservations Department directly at (+1)650.598-9000, Monday through Friday, 6:00AM-8:00PM and refer to the de los Santos – Yee Wedding.  Please submit your reservations prior to Friday, September 10, 2010  before 5:00 PM to receive the special rates.

We can’t wait to start our new life together as husband and wife. We look forward to having you all there to celebrate with us…and of course, get your

boogie on and dance the night away.

Xoxo,

Geri & Eric

More to Come…Stay Tuned

We will try to keep our blog as up-to-date as we can. Especially when we know more about time schedules.

In the meantime, you can check out our cool new wedding website:

http://gerianderic.showitsite.com/

More Bridesmaids…

I know. 1 Matron of Honor and 6 Bridesmaids. That’s a big entourage. But I could not see myself without these girls being a part of and surrounding me on my special day. These girls have seen me through my good times and bad and have always been there for me.

I was excited to ask my other Bridesmaids…

Rach and her husband, Rico, came over to the East Bay to have dinner with Eric and I. I gave her the doll before we left. She was thrilled about her doll and me asking her to be my bridesmaid.

I told Reanne, my cousin, that she was going to be my bridesmaid when I was down in LA. We went to this really cute tea place called royalT cafe in Culver City (per Rita’s suggestion – Thx Rita!). http://www.royal-t.org/

I asked Rey to be one of my bridesmaid over a nice drink of Boba. She was excited about her doll.

My Matron of Honor

(Okay…who didn’t love the pajamas with feet back in the day?)

There was doubt in my mind who would be my Matron of Honor. My big sister, Joy, is my best bud along with my brother. We’re very close and like to call ourselves The Three Amigos.

I was honored that she asked me to be her Maid of Honor and now I was asking her for the same favor in return.

Unfortunately, due to work schedules, my sister wasn’t able to enjoy tea with me up here in San Francisco, so I flew down to ask her personally.

Girls Day Out – Bridal Party

So I had the little dolls all done and ready to ask my girls to be in my bridal party. But unfortunately I couldn’t get everyone’s schedule to work out for all of us to meet at the same time. So I had to split up asking the girls at different times. Unfortunately, the SoCal girls couldn’t make it up.

I had planned a girls day out back in early May. I wanted to have a spot of tea. I had heard of this awesome, cutesy-wootsie place from Missy that had received good reviews and was fairly new.

It’s called Crown and Crumpet in Ghiradelli Square:

http://www.crownandcrumpet.com/

(Store Signage above the Entrance)

(Exterior shot looking inside)

(The front counter area)

If you’ve never been, you should try it sometime. It was soooo super cute and the staff their was very accommodating.

I had scoped it out about two weeks prior to our tea time there. I just loved how there was a hint of a Parisian theme around me at Crown and Crumpet.

On the most part, the girls thought we were going to just hang out. I think for two of them, they were a bit shocked when I asked them to be my bridesmaids. I also wanted to include Eric’s mom to enjoy some girls time as well.

Here are just a few fun pics from that day…

Me holding up the dolls in the background.

Missy proudly showing off her doll.

Ali in shock.

Ali showing off her doll and card.

Rita super excited about being my bridesmaid.

Mom holding up her doll.

(Little details at Crown and Crumpet)

What was cool about the experience was all the personal touches the place and staff offered. They even made a custom menu greeting especially for us which is included with the tea selection.

Me with Mom

Me with my Bridesmaid, Missy.

Me with my Bridesmaid, Rita.

Me with my Bridesmaid, Ali.

The Girls

Something Special

When I was thinking about what I wanted to do and how I would ask my Matron of Honor and Bridesmaids to be in my bridal entourage, I knew it needed to be something special. I wanted to ask them in person.

I was trying to rack my brain in trying to figure out something cool and fun, yet unique and personalized for them.

I like to make cutesy-wootsie characters, so why not make them 3-D. So what I came up with was this idea of these mini dolls that represented each of their persona along with a handwritten note.

So I first came up with a unique shape that no one’s really seen before. Next I gave each of the dolls similar features uniquely to each of the girls.

I then started designing their little outfits. Each of the girls have different personalities. It was so much fun making them and dressing them up.

And then they were all packaged up in little bags and ready to be given to each girl.

Here are the final dolls for my Matron of Honor and Bridesmaids.

I received so many great responses on how everyone loved the dolls and from others who had seen them,  that out of this concept spun out a business venture for me.

I started and created the first ever – “My Best Friend” Dolls line for Geri Designs. I even showcased at my first ever craft show this past December for the SF Renegade Craft Fair.

Check them out here…

http://geridesigns.wordpress.com/

Also check out this cool link….I was featured on the Renegade Craft Fair (San Francisco Holiday Buys) Edition. I was so excited.

http://renegadehandmade.com/blog/?p=782