When Stacey's cousin got engaged she was so excited for her to marry Jake...but she was ecstatic when she was HIRED by the family to help plan a destination wedding in Monterey. Not only was it a wonderful experience to get to know each other better as adults and share in helping them map out a milestone event, but they really let Stacey take their vision of Preppy Beach wedding meets a fancy Tiki style reception. Gretchen and Jake had been living in Jake's home state of Texas and wanted to bring his family to beautiful California. And after realizing that a May wedding in San Francisco on the beach, would most likely be cold and foggy, they decide to make Monterey their desired local.
As a wedding gift Stacey offered to join her cousin on a venue exploration tour while she was on a trip home. Gretchen had found a few places on the internet that she thought looked great, were perfect for her budget and she and Jake could have sand in their toes while saying I Do! Never wanting to be the BOSSY KNOW IT all, Stacey made a few light comments and suggested that may she help find a few other options to review while we were down there!
Ten minutes into the 'budget friendly' tour Gretchen said "Wow, this place looked REALLY different on the website!" So we regrouped and headed to the new remodeled Monterey Tides that was originally part of the Best Western family and had recently been taken over by Jjoie de vivre Hotels.
Although they weren't DONE with all of the rehab, Stacey could tell this was THE PLACE for Gretchen + Jake. In the car ride back to San Francisco Gretchen said, "Stacey - I NEED you!" and the rest is history! Stacey really enjoyed helping to plan an amazing weekend that her own family would be attending. The hotel took advantage of the 8 months until the wedding at EVERYTHING was beautiful. From the Bon Fire Welcome party hosted by Jake's parents to the Dirty Dancing inspired first dance, to the Carnival themed sweet treats, it was SPECTACULAR. The amazing catering staff made it a breeze for Stacey to spend quality time with her family and she even got in a few dance with her husband and parents.
The only ISSUE of the weekend has created a new line item in the Stacey & Company Rule Book - NO FLIP FLOPS allowed when stomping the Mozel Tov glass! Because they had been barefoot on the beach, they planned to stomp the glass as part of the grand entrance and KICK OFF of the reception. But OOPS, the glass didn't break very well under the rubber of the flip flop, but did a nice job of slicing Jake's foot. Lucky for them, the bride's step mom is an ER doctors and whipped out her medical bag, glued up the wound and the festivities were back in full swing, after only a short delay.
CHEERS to Gretchen & Jake!