All posts tagged san francisco

Destination San Francisco- Bachelor Party & Bachelorette Party Ideas

by admin on August 17, 2011 in bachelor party, Bachelor Party Ideas, Bachelorette Party, Bachelorette Party Ideas with No comments

 

Bachelor parties and bachelorette parties cannot go wrong in San Francisco.  When we first set-up in San Francisco came across a huge number of party ideas. If you’re looking for a great alternative to Las Vegas try San Francisco. From great food and music scenes to the world famous trolleys it’s got it all. Downtown, North Beach, and all the colorful neighborhoods boast their own personalities and have flavor enough for everyone. Alcatraz keeps a sleepy watch over the gorgeous bay with the iconic Golden Gate Bridge looming overhead. Your bachelor party won’t be disappointed when you show them the grilling classes, stripper cruises, or night club tours. The bachelorette party will love the nightclubs, relaxing spas, and sailing adventures.

When we check out a city for the first time we look for a few things:

  • Transportation - is it easy to get around?
  • Proximity – Is everything ie. bars, clubs, hotels, etc close to each other? Are there some cool daytime excursions close to the area for the bachelorette party?
  • Saturation - Does the area have a strong selection of clubs, restaurants, bars, etc?
  • Safety – Would a group feel comfortable wandering around the streets at 2 in the morning?
  • Lodging – What’s the hotel or vacation rental situation?

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5 Great Bachelor Party Cities

by admin on December 15, 2010 in bachelor party, Bachelor Party Ideas with 3 Comments

Anywhere but Las Vegas! We hear that constantly in from bachelors that are weary of hearing about Vegas. It’s an institution but not everyone is into loud clubs, long lines, and a the Sin City light overload. A client recently  inspired us to put together 5 great bachelor party city alternatives to Las Vegas. We went looking for top bachelor party destinations that were strong in the following areas:

  • Transportation: Can you get around the city with your party without a car? Easily?
  • Lodging: Are there plenty of choices for hotels, motels, and vacation rentals? Are they friendly to bachelor parties?
  • Day/night Activities: Is there a nightlife? Is there a central area for the nightlife like a downtown? Is there stuff to do during the day?

With that criteria in mind we started looking and seeing which cities we felt a bachelor on his bachelor party could have some fun.

Golden Gate Bridge

Image by vgm8383 via Flickr

San Francisco

If you live in California then San Francisco is a no-brainer since it’s only a commuter flight or long drive away. For everyone else it’s sunny Southern California’s slight colder cousin to the north. Don’t let the lack of a plastic surgeon’s playground(orange county) fool you, it’s a prime destination for any bachelor party group. Their public transport is first-class. You can travel to any point in the city using BART or their trolley and bus system.  Your bachelor party  actually gets to choose from a few different neighborhoods to party in at night. Between North Beach and the Financial District you can find great restaurants, big clubs, cozy clubs, and a plenty in between. You can take daytime excursions to Napa Valley for some wine, jump in a kayak on the bay, or get your pulse up with some whitewater rafting. Here are a couple of party packages in the area:

Platinum Package: Defcon 4 – High-speed carting, stripper cruise, dinner, and shooting

Bachelors and Bullets – Shooting range and paintball

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Vendor Love – Creative Events by Ashley

by admin on April 12, 2010 in Vendor Love with No comments

Creative EventsCreative Events by Ashley is a wedding and events co-ordinator in the San Fransisco area of California.  Ashley is doing what she was born to do and that is wedding planning and design.   She is currently a Co-Director for the Association of Bridal Consultants in the Bay Area.  Her team creates extraordinary events that are representative of each of their clients personalities and individual styles.  They are there to help make your wedding uniquely personal.  Thanks Ashley for your great advice and fun feature!

What’s your favorite or most popular trend in your field?

My favorite trend right now is that that many couples are choosing to go back to the traditional wedding with the pinks and champagne colors schemes.  I love the romantic wedding with lace, candlelight and tons of flowers.

What FireFly package would you pick for your bachelorette party in San Francisco?

I would pick the Culinary Walking Tour – Aromatic Luxury.  What can I say I am a sucker for good food and who doesn’t love a great spa treatment.

Creative Events by Ashley

Name 3 famous people you’d invite on your bachelorette party? Why?

Hmmmm so many people so little time.  I would have to say I would invite the women from the Sex and the City.  They know how to have a good time and love good food and good drinks.

What’s your most outrageous wedding memory?

My  most outrageous wedding memory is when I did a wedding in Carmel and it was going to be a beach wedding. My staff and I had staked out the area on the beach where the ceremony was going to be.  Throughout the morning we watched the area to make sure the waves were not going to wash it out.  Sure enough the waves got higher and higher about an a hour before the ceremony was suppose to start  a huge wave broke and wiped out the entire ceremony area.  We had to find another place on the beach and get everything set up and ready to go in less then an hour.  It ended up being a beautiful ceremony and a great memory and learning experience for my staff and I!

Creative Events by Ashley

Finish this sentence: If I could give one piece of wedding advice it would be…

If I could give one piece of wedding advice it would be to remember that it is about the marriage and not the wedding.  Before going into the planning process decide two or three things that you must have and know that you may have to comprise on some other areas to get those things.  I would also say hire a planner.  They help you stay within your budget, take the stressful parts of planning off of you and make it so you can enjoy every aspect of your day.

Thanks again Ashley! Look for Ashley if you’re ever in need of an amazing planner in Northern California.

Creative Events by Ashley – http://www.creativeeventsbyashley.com

Vendor Love – Dynamite Weddings

by admin on January 26, 2010 in Vendor Love with 1 Comment

dynamite_logo

The lovely Jennifer of Dynamite Weddings a.k.a Wonder Women, who is also the talented owner of The Memory Journalists shares a few insider tidbits.  Dynamite weddings is a premium informational resource for all your wedding needs.  They have daily changing Tips and Trends from a selection of Dynamite Experts.   Along with the Ask the experts category, they even have a section for newlywed advice – great website, check it out!

Its a great pleasure to get to know the amazing Jennifer – thank you!

What’s your favorite wedding trend/style at the moment?
Gosh there are so many – but what I’ve seen (from the photographer side of me) is the desire to have smaller weddings and a smaller wedding party.  This seems to really make the wedding more intimate, family/close-friends only.  And couples are really going with their own sense of style at these smaller intimate days, e.g. their choice of food elements.  At a recent wedding, the bride really wanted baked potatoes.  Odd? maybe.  But it was part of her life growing up, so they made it into a huge potato topping bar.   It was awesome!

What FireFly package would you pick for your bachelorette party?
Wow, can I have a bachelorette party all over again?  I’d be wanting to try the Scents of Style – Perfume Making with the Manicure/Martini.  I have a desire to put my favorite scents together and create my debut scent “Starr-y Nights”.  And what better way than with a manicure and drinks!

Name 3 famous people you’d invite on your bachelorette party?
Madonna (does that show my age?), Princess Diana, and Marilyn Monroe.  Were they suppose to be alive?

memoryJournalistsWho is your Wedding Dream Team for flowers, photography and planning?
Ouch this could really upset the many vendors I love to work with…but…Mindy Weiss.  I have followed her career for years.  Flowers, I’d have to go with my actual wedding florist (she’s the bomb!) Nancy Liu Chin Designs (out of San Francisco).  Photography is tough…since I’m also the owner of The Memory Journalists (a photography studio in Northern CA) and would want to somehow shoot my own wedding!  is that possible?!  :-)

mj1

What’s your most outrageous wedding memory?
Singing at the top of my lungs (karaoke style), a Journey song, while outside atop the penthouse suite terrace at Hotel Vitale in San Francisco!  Luckily they took the microphone away from me after one song!  (but yes I have sang before at weddings so I was only a little off key).  Oh did you mean my best wedding memory as a vendors…oops…cat is out of the bag now.

Which wedding are you: Beach, Mountain, Forest, or Countryside?
Beach Wedding

mj2

Finish this sentence: If I could give one piece of wedding advice it would be…

just remember what the whole day is about…and to look at your fiance’s eyes as you say your vows…it’s the best part of the whole day!

Thanks Jennifer from Dynamite Weddings!.

Check her site out at: http://www.dynamiteweddings.com

Twitter Dynamite Weddings at: http://twitter.com/dynamitewedding

Bachelor Party – Deep Sea Fishing

by admin on December 10, 2009 in FireFly Group Events with No comments

I love fish and chips smothered in vinegar and served up in a newspaper….. agh I miss a good ole chippie!  In fact, I love most seafood.  I LOVED shark fishing in South Africa and Piranha fishing in Bolivia. However, I haven’t made it deep sea fishing yet. What?! I know, I know, it’s on my list. =) Luckily for you Best Main and Maids of Honor we have some friends that were able to make some solid recommendations for California fishing.

You can either go out on a private boat or on an open boat that accommodates up to 70 people.  The trips range from half days, to overnight trips.  It’s a great way to bond and literally catch a bite to eat.  Some boats, for a small charge, will even clean the fish for you (trust me its worth it, your fiance will appreciate it). Either choice will make for a bachelor or bachelorette party to remember. We offer fishing party packages in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and San Francisco.

Check out our different ‘Open Boat’ packages:

  • Fish Fry – 3 Course Dinner & Half Day Open Boat Fishing
  • Fishy Pints – Beer Tasting & Half Day Open Boat Fishing
  • Fish & Fare – Half Day Open Party Boat Fishing
  • School Party – Half Day Open Party Boat Fishing & Party Bus

You can also ‘Charter’ your own boat, check out the following packages:

Flying high at your bachlorette party: Trapeze Lessons

by admin on November 26, 2009 in FireFly Love with 2 Comments

Watch out, Cirque Du Soleil! Here you come! You and your girly daredevils will take to the sky and soar like the sexy Tinkerbells you are on your bachelorette party. Our seasoned professionals will guide you in a completely safe and totally empowering day of flying. It’s an amazing workout and the most fun you’ve ever had in a harness (well, maybe).

Your bachelor or bachelorette party will learn how to swing on a trapeze, perform various tricks in the air including being caught by a catcher on another trapeze, which is nothing short of thrilling. You will practice climbing and jumping, and you’ll be privy to some cool trapezey lingo – listo, ready, hep…Combine the trapeze with shooting and pole dancing and you’ll have a Charlie’s Angels style good time.

Here are a few bachelorette packages that we offer on our FireFly Website



FireFly Love – Michael Daigian Design

by admin on October 12, 2009 in Vendor Love with 2 Comments

I love flowers – my mother used to own a gardening business in the UK.  I spent the summers  (so did a few of my friends) at School,  University and beyond, planting mowing and pruning.  I also made a really good friends bouquet for her wedding.  So I was delighted to feature the talented Michael from Michael Daigian Design.

MDD is a place where craftsmanship, experience, and originality are commonplace.  Understanding the inherent value of perfect design and treating each piece as a work of art.  They offer their work as a tribute and a treasure, where modern design is about the journey of discovery.

As a customer you will feel unique and pampered, MDD understand the importance of your occasion creating a wedding that is personalized and indulgent, expertly tailored to your desires.

We hope that with these few questions, you will find out a little bit more about the man behind MDD.  Don’t forget to check out his fabulous new blog to see more of his beautiful creations.

Michael Daigian

What’s your favorite or most popular trend in your field?
The influence and implementation of contemporary art structures in modern floral design; creativity and endless possibilities.

What FireFly package would you pick for your bachelor party?
Bike tours and beer tasting

Name 3 famous people you’d invite on your bachelor party?
Obama, Einstein, and Frank Lloyd Wright

What’s your most outrageous wedding memory?
From a vendor standpoint, building a 100 foot by 80 foot pavilion in the dark and then lifting it into place.

It’s the morning after the bachelor party, there is a tiger in your room, you can’t find the groom, what do you do?!!
Have fun, we’re in Vegas…right?

Finish this sentence: If I could give one piece of wedding advice it would be…
Choose wisely and work with your vendor endlessly to make sure everything is perfect

Michael Daigian

Michael Daigian

Thanks Michael,

If you are in the San Fransisco area, then I would definitely check out his creations for your wedding or even flowers for your bridal shower or bachelorette party.  I feel that who you are can be expressed with the choices of flowers and colors for your wedding.