Thank you!!

 Thank you so much for joining us for our wedding, and the surrounding celebrations! We danced everything but the chicken dance, we laughed at all your wonderful jokes, we cried only good tears, we modled for awesome photos, we played with our own cardboard cutouts, we ate like Kings and Queens, we loved all of your wonderful faces and smiles and we filled our heads with happy, wonderful memories. We will post our wedding photos when we receive them in about a month. In the meantime, know that we are thinking of you and thankful for all

In case you want to see a bit more of us, our photographer Josh Aull posted some photos of our shoot in Golden Gate park on his blog. Sneak peak and link below:

http://www.joshuaaull.com/blog/2012/10/andrea-jerome-in-san-francisco/

Jerome's Birthday Party: Friday, Sept. 21, 9 pm

Jerome's birthday is the day before our wedding so we'll celebrate it a little earlier than usual. If you're available, please join us to raise a glass to Jerome for his birthday. Address and details below:

Time: 9 pm 

Location: The Irish Bank, 10 Mark Lane (Alleyway off of Bush Street near Kearney) - It can be a little tough to find, but it's worth the hunt. It's walking distance to the hotel and Stockton Street garage (cheapest parking spot close by if you need one). Look for the alleyway covered in flags and potentially drunk people. They serve dinner till 10, and have awesome chips, curry and Shepard's pie. 

We'll be in the main bar or back room.  Looking forward to seeing you there.

Shuttle Service from Wedding to Hotel

Zoom, Zoom, Zoommmmm

We know you'll have a great time on Saturday, September 22. But, how will you get home safely after all that dancing and laughing? If you're staying at the Hilton, or near Union Square we've got you covered.

We'll be providing shuttle service from the wedding venue to the Hilton from 10 pm till 1 am on Saturday night. The shuttle will pick up in front of the venue approximately every 40 minutes and will make it's last trip at 12:30.  We'll post a schedule by the door at 9:30 pm so be sure to check times and plan your dancing schedule accordingly.

Alternatively, you can call a taxi to get yourself safely home. My personal favorite is DeSoto, 877-691-2170. The venue isn't in a prime taxi hailing location, but Mission and Valencia Streets which are close by - check the wedding map for directions. If any locals have other taxi options please post them in the comments section.

Thanks for being such a smart, reasonable group and promising us that you won't drink and drive to or from our wedding. (Apparently there's a problem with texting while driving as well these days so, while I'm at it, I'd advise against that too.)

Sunday Funday: Post-Wedding Gathering, 1 pm

We'll be hosting a low-key gathering with light-snacks and beverages in Golden Gate Park on Sunday at 1 pm, following a great night of celebration, in the Dahlia Dell Garden. Please join us for some relaxed, sporty fun. So we can gauge the amount of snacks and drinks we need, please RSVP by commenting on this blog and I'll count you in.

The main drive in the Park (JFK) is closed on Sunday, so if you're driving find a spot on Fulton near Arguello and walk in. If you're taking public transportation use HopStop, and enter the Conservatory of Flowers as your final destination. Suggested bus route from the hotel is linked here: http://hopstop.com/?tid=kunl8jaew9nei0ui

The Best of SF: Our Personalized Wedding Map

We'd never leave you hanging in one of the best cities in the US. We want you to see and enjoy the best of the best while you're here. So, we developed a Google map with all the wedding locations and our favorite city spots. From the best museums in the city to the best bars to check out, we provided descriptions for each location and encourage you to see as much as you can while you're here. 

Specialty icons (mini volcanos) will help you find the wedding-specific venues, like the bar where we'll be celebrating Jerome's birthday on Friday night, the hotel, ceremony/reception location and picnic spot for Sunday brunch in the Park.


 If you're familiar with Google Maps use this link to download the map to your phone: http://goo.gl/maps/1y2VL (once the map appears in your browser add it to your home screen and you'll have an instant map link on your phone). If you aren't familiar with Google Maps - use the link to open the map in your browser and print a version for your car or purse. ENJOY!


 
View Andrea and Jerome's SF Map in a larger map

 **Thanks to the amazing Marlis who helped me curate this map and added all the amazing locations I forgot (like the Bitter End and Tunnel Top)**

Registry Options

We deeply appreciate you attending out wedding, and finally pulled together a registry that fits our style. We wanted to give guests the opportunity to buy tailored gifts that felt, and looked, like them - since buying off of registries have never really been my cup of tea. 


So, we selected a variety of gifts from 4 different registries.  As we will be flying and already have full luggage all gifts should be addressed/delivered to Jerome's office (address below), not to our doorman-less home, or the wedding venue. Sadly, any gift aside from cards that end up at the wedding venue will likely live at Andrea's parents house for several months (and Florence Collins loves to throw things away) and any gifts shipped to our home will live at the UPS or FedEx office for several months (and the UPS man loves to leave illegible notes on our door).  So, without further ado, here's the options:


Deliver all gifts to:
Jerome Burgos
c/o Phillip Koether Architects
535 8th Ave, Floor 15
New York, NY 10018
Phone (212) 737-7109

Registry options:

HoneyFund (If you're a fellow traveler, support our 2013 honeymoon to Turkey,)

• Look up: Superherowedding, or Jerome Burgos
• Find: Details, and pricing for flights, adventures, and treats for our getaway to Istanbul, Cappadoccia and Duadasi. 
• How it works: Select the category you want to donate to and gift by credit card, check or cash (in person). 

BestBuy (Or if you are tech geek here are a few big ticket items we've always wanted to splurge on and would love your support, that you can chip in for with their 'Pitch In' card)

• Look up: Jerome Burgos
• Find: Television, camera and other such goodies
• How it works: (the pitch in card is at the top of the list, just add your contribution and it will allow you to send us an e-mail message for what item you would like your contribution to go to.)

MyRegistry.com (For some fun out-of the box shopping these items that make our home, and lives, a little more colorful)

• Look up: Andrea Collins and/or Jerome Burgos (search bar at the top of the screen)
• Find: A picnic cooler, awesome toothbrush holders, beautiful tea kettles, superhero water bottles and frames for our wedding photos
• How it works: Use the 'Buy' links to go directly to the website where the items are located and purchase. Since we didn't set up registries at each of these websites, be sure to have Jerome's work address handy for delivery. THEN, return to MyRegistry.com to confirm your purchase so we don't double up on gifts (the page will stay open automatically). 

Macy's (If you're a traditionalist, here are some the beautiful basics) 

• Look up: Jerome Burgos and/or Andrea Collins 
• Find: The kitchen goodies of our dreams including a new toaster oven, Le Creuset dutch oven, juicer alongside new bedding and towels for our fabulous guests and luggage for our travels 
• How it works: Most of you know this drill by now but any questions, reach out to Jerome directly (Andrea gets nervous twitches when she enters the Macy's in Herald Square/NYC)

The Proposal: Andrea Collins and Jerome Burgos

I always knew my proposal story would be a little different than most.  I knew there would never been a big sign at a baseball diamond up, or a fancy restaurant involved. Jerome simply knows me, and us, too well to follow a traditional formula. But, I never would have guessed the he’d come up with such an elaborate plan to completely surprise me and leave me in awe, the day we got engaged.

Of course, we batted around the idea of marriage when we first moved in together 11 years ago in San Francisco; but, we decided that it wasn’t for us and left it checked at the door for someone else to pick-up and carry away.  After we moved to NYC, at the end of 2004, we’d naturally revisit the topic from time-to-time, cracking the door just enough to debate the pros and cons before pushing it back out and shutting the door again.

So, what was the catalyst to do it now?

During a cold winter day around my 32^nd birthday we slipped into one of our favorite bars, Little Branch, early in the night. We’d been out, dressed as Mr. and Ms. Claus for the annual SantaCon bar crawl through town and decided to tuck ourselves into a booth for the night for a long chat. We talked about the future, and apparently I told Jerome that if we didn’t get engaged by the time we were both 35, we’d need to shut the door on marriage for good. I don’t fully recall this conversation, or the age 35 sticking in my head, but I’m glad I said it because it led to one of the best days of my life.

When we first met, in Florence, Italy during our year abroad, I quickly learned of Jerome’s creative talents. He was an amazing cook, incredible artist and incredible humble musician. He wrote me a poem on a leaf for Valentine’s Day, and filled out an entire sketchbook with stories and drawings during our summer apart. And, after his move up to San Francisco and our move to NYC, I am still in awe of his talent and skill.

Then, in 2006 when Jerome learned that Benito wrote love letters to Margarita, decided to begin writing me love letters and sending them to me in the mail on freshly minted stationary. His dad, who was in the Navy and far from home used to write his mom letters to remind her of how much he loved her (full story here). Jerome wrote me letters while we were traveling, or sitting at home alone together. He kept his special stationary tucked away in his bag and wrote me when he had a few minutes to spare at lunch. They were amazing letters about why and how he loved me. They built into chapters about how our future together was better than anything he could have imagined and made me cry with happiness. They were, and are, honestly the brightest spot in my day every time a new letter arrives.

So, how could someone actually tie this 12-year long relationship full of amazing leaps and bounds, bumps and potholes, and incredible adventures together into a single day and tie-it perfectly with a bow?

Jerome and I were trying to come up with a good gift to give our parents for Christmas last year, since we decided to use our Christmas vacation for a trip to Brazil and wouldn’t be home to see them. We decided on homemade calendars and picked a date in early December to go to Central Park for a photo shoot. I asked our best friend Skye along, since she’s also a handcrafted gift kinda girl. The night before our day in the Park, during the unreasonably warm winter, I thought I talked Skye into dressing up with me so we could actually pose in some of the photos and really personalize our shots for our parents. Turns out she actually talked me into dressing up, but I didn’t realize that until months later.

That morning, Jerome decided to dress up as well, and slipped on one of my favorite outfits: black suit pants, silk and wool vest and red and blue tie.  We grabbed the subway down to 81 Street and entered the Park on the west side to meet Skye at Belvedere Castle, our first sight. When we arrived Skye was standing in center of the Castle’s plaza, among tourists, locals, cyclists and runners out for a busy day in the Park. We went to meet her and she stepped away immediately under the guise of being on the phone with her parents (her regular Saturday phone call).  Jerome leaned over to the bag Skye had left behind and told me he had a gift for me.

First, I received a beautiful photo book, filled with photos of our adventures over the years, and scanned copies of all my love letters. I couldn’t flip through slowly enough, I stopped on every page to take it all in. Each page had a new memory and meaning that I wanted to chat through with Jerome. But, now, he seemed a bit nervous and asked me to look back inside the gift box I had pulled the photo book from.  I pushed aside some tissue to reveal dozens of dry maple leaves, all with beautiful black writing on them, similar to the first leaf Jerome gave me more than 11 years ago. This is when I realized something big was about to happen.

He set aside the box and quickly told me of a conversation he’d had with my father that morning. I stood shocked for a moment and then started to laugh and cry, somehow at the same time. He pulled a black velvet ring box out of his pocket and bent down on one knee before presenting me with my grandmother Alice’s engagement ring. I immediately said yes and pulled him up to hug him. He slipped the ring on my finger before pointing out that he’d invited 2 of our friends to take photos and video of the event.  In true Andrea and Jerome fashion we turned the whole day into our engagement shoot throughout the Park.

Our proposal album and pictures of our engagement shoot will be on hand at the wedding.

Thanks for reading!

-Andrea