Pasadena – Page 10 – IAMNOTASTALKER

August 10, 2009June 16, 2011

The “Rumor Has It” House

Out of the blue last week, fellow stalker Owen and I became a bit obsessed with finding the white clapboard colonial style home used in the 2005 Jen Aniston movie Rumor Has It. For some extremely odd reason, neither Owen (who is also a HUGE JA fan) nor I had ever tried to locate the house before. I didn’t especially love the movie, though, in spite of the fact that it starred my girl Jen, so that’s probably why I never sought it out. But, last week, when Owen mentioned the movie to me, we both got the exact same thought in our head at the exact same time – “We have GOT to find that house!” LOL And find it, we did! Well, he did, actually!

Even though the movie supposedly takes places in Pasadena and even though the house looks like a very typical Pasadena area home – there’s a white clapboard colonial on practically every corner here – I was convinced that, in typical Hollywood fashion, the house would most likely be located elsewhere. Because Pasadena stands in for pretty much every city in pretty much every state in pretty much every movie LOL, it seemed only fitting that when a production called for a Pasadena area home, the location scouts would find it in a city other than Pasadena. LOL

So, imagine my surprise when Owen texted me to let me know that he had found the house exactly where the movie said it would be. While searching the IMDB Rumor Has It message boards he found a thread entitled “White Colonial In Pasadena Used As Movie Set” where a man had written the following entry: “It was quite a shock seeing Rumor Has it while flying back to Boston. I suddenly recognized the home my grandfather built in Pasadena at 717 South Hudson Avenue in 1920 and that I lived in briefly in 1946-47 while my father built a new home near the Annandale golf course. Not often that one sees one’s childhood home used as a movie set — and sees Shirley MacLaine walking out the front door or Kevin Costner arriving.” So, Owen googled the address and, sure enough, it was the house!! THANK YOU, IMDB!

So, of course, as soon as I had the address, I immediately ran right out to stalk the house! 🙂 Surprisingly enough, I had actually parked RIGHT in front of the Rumor Has It house just two weeks prior while stalking the Dickie Roberts house, which is ironically located just two doors down!!!! I felt like such an airhead for not recognizing the house at the time, but, in my defense, it actually looks quite different in person than it did in the movie. The paint color has been changed from white and forest green to more muted tones and, sadly, the house just isn’t as charming in person as it was in Rumor Has It. Don’t get me wrong, the house is cute, it’s just not AS cute as it was in the movie. But there was also something else that looked quite different to me that I just couldn’t put my finger on – until I got home.

In person, the house seemed much smaller than it did in Rumor Has It and I couldn’t figure out why until I was able to compare screen captures from the movie to the photographs I had just taken. As you can see in the above screen capture, producers actually put large hedges over the real driveway of the home and extended the curb and grass area on the sidewalk in front of the driveway, making the front yard appear much larger than it actually is.

In the scene when Jen Aniston’s father pulls up to the house, he actually parks in the real life home’s neighboring driveway (pictured above)! LOL Why go to all of that trouble just to give the illusion that the house is larger than it actually is? Why not just film at a bigger house? As I mentioned above there are houses similar to this one on practically every Pasadena street corner. LOL Ah, the magic of Hollywood!

But even though the house looked quite different in person than it did in the movie, I was still absolutely floored to be stalking it! It was soooo exciting to think that my girl Jen – and Shirley MacLaine and Kevin Costner – had once stood on the very same sidewalk that I was now standing on. 🙂 LOVE IT!

Had to do it! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Rumor Has It house is located at 717 South Hudson Avenue in Pasadena, just two houses down from the home used in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.

August 4, 2009August 3, 2009

Watching the Filming of The Mentalist!

Last week, while out and about stalking in Pasadena, I just happened to run across a large production crew filming underneath the Colorado Street Bridge, so, of course, I just had to pull my car over to ask what was being filmed. 🙂 Well, when I found out the filming was for my new favorite TV show The Mentalist,I just about flipped my lid with excitement!!! And I was even more excited when one of the crew members told me that I was welcome to hang out onsite for as long as I wanted to watch all of the action that was taking place! YAY!

The Mentalist was being filmed in a little wooded clearing in the Lower Arroyo section of Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco Canyon. To stay out of the way of the cast and crew, I parked myself on a walking trail located just above the clearing, which turned out to be the PERFECT spot to watch the filming, but, unfortunately, did not offer me the best vantage point from which to take photos. 🙁 So, please accept my apology for the less than stellar pics. 🙁

When I first walked up to watch the filming, none of the actors were yet on set. So, I just had to ask one of the crew members if cutie Simon Baker would be filming that day and I just about spazzed out right there on the spot when he told me yes! LOL As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely LOVE me some Simon Baker!!! 🙂 Then, literally, the next thing I knew, out walked the ENTIRE Mentalist cast and, let me tell you, I just about died!!!!! On site besides SB were actors Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Amanda Righetti, and Owain Yeoman. When I watched The Mentalist being filmed this past March, only actor Tim Kang was in attendance, so, as you can imagine, I was SUPER excited to see them all this time around.

I am very happy to report that Simon Baker is JUST as cute in person as he appears to be on TV. 🙂 And, let me tell you, I just about fainted when I saw that he was wearing his cute little Patrick Jane vest and carrying that ubiquitous stick of his for the filming!!!!! SO CUTE!!!! The highlight of the day for me came during a break from the filming, when SB looked up at me, waved, and said “Hello!” Sigh! I could have died a happy girl right there on the spot!!!! 🙂 SB seemed very sweet and very friendly in person, but unfortunately I never got close enough to him to ask him to pose for a picture with me. 🙁 Such a bummer!

The actor who I thought looked most different in person was Owain Yeoman, who plays Detective Wayne Rigsby on The Mentalist. While Owain is just okay-looking on the show, let me tell you, in person he is downright dreamy!!! 🙂 I was shocked! Owain is much taller and much thinner than he appears to be on TV and actually looks quite a bit like Josh Duhamel. And you all know how I love me some Josh Duhamel! 🙂

The scene I watched being filmed involved (what I am assuming was) the murder investigation of a woman who had been pushed off of a Sacramento area bridge. And while the above picture shows the actors filming around a mannequin, for most of the takes there was a real woman lying on the ground playing the murder victim.

The filming of The Mentalist was an absolutely HUGE production!!! On site were hundreds of crew members, numerous filming trucks, a myriad of props, and a large machine on wheels which provided shade for the area being filmed (pictured above). It was pretty incredible to see!!! At one point I looked down at my watch to check on the time and was SHOCKED to see that three hours had passed since I’d first arrived on the set! LOL Like they say, time flies when you’re having fun! After the scene I was watching had been wrapped, one of the crew members was nice enough to invite me to watch more filming later that afternoon on top of the Colorado Street Bridge, but unfortunately, because that was a closed set, I couldn’t take any pictures while there. It was EXTREMELY cool to see, though!

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The spot where The Mentalist was filmed is actually a very popular filming location that has also been featured in NCIS, The Shield, and JAG. Ironically, it’s also the same spot where I watched The Closer being filmed last October.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Mentalist was filmed underneath the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, just off North Arroyo Boulevard. Filming also took place on the Colorado Street Bridge. Look for the episode to air in about six to eight weeks.

July 17, 2009April 20, 2010

The Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever Special

I know, I know – it was just last week that I promised not to let my blog go on Michael Jackson overload, but I’m sorry, this one was a must-post! 🙂 The other day, while reading one of the many Michael Jackson tribute magazines that have been published since the pop star’s death – and yes, I bought them all 🙂 – I came across an article that just about made me pass out from excitement! The column, which was featured in the July 13th, 2009 issue of People Magazine, stated that Michael Jackson’s iconic – and now legendary – “Billie Jean” performance from the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special had been filmed at none other than the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Now I have lived in Pasadena for over nine years and until that article came out had absolutely NO idea whatsoever that what is arguably Michael Jackson’s most famous stage performance EVER was filmed right in my own backyard. WHY IN THE HECK IS THIS INFORMATION NOT MORE WIDELY KNOWN???? I mean this is HUGE!! Absolutely HUGE! It was on the Auditorium’s stage on a March night in 1983 that THE most definitive moment of Michael Jackson’s adult career took place – it was here that he introduced the world to his now-infamous signature dance move – the Moonwalk. What an amazing piece of history! If I ran the place, I’d have a freaking 80 foot by 80 foot banner put up telling everyone it was here that Michael Jackson made musical history! 🙂

I can still remember watching that iconic performance with my parents the night it aired on May 16, 1983, almost two months after it was filmed. I was six years old at the time and I can still picture us all sitting in front of the television and my dad telling me that I was about to witness something really extraodinary. And it was, it truly was! We actually taped the Motown special that night and years later my dad and I were still re-watching it. So much so, in fact, that the VHS tape eventually wore out. So, we were absolutely floored when my mom found a DVD of the Motown special for sale on Amazon about five years ago and immediately purchased it. I was still living with my parents at the time, and whenever a friend would come to visit my dad would invariably ask “Have you ever seen Michael Jackson’s Motown 25 performance?” Shockingly, most of my friends had no idea what he was talking about, so my dad would lead them into the TV room and show them Michael’s history making dance. It was absolutely fascinating to watch my friends see this performance for the very first time, their eyes absolutely glued to the TV and filled with wonderment. Pretty soon it got to be a thing at my house – anyone visiting would ask my dad to see the Motown 25 performance and he would happily oblige. It’s fascinating to me that 26 years later that performance still has the ability to awe and inspire. You can read a great article about Michael’s Motown 25 performance written by a man named Christopher Smith who actually witnessed it firsthand here.

Michael was actually nominated for an Emmy Award for his Motown 25 performance, but did not win. Michael said his real award came the morning after the performance aired when dancing sensation, and his former neighbor, Fred Astaire called him up screaming, saying it was the best performance he had ever seen! Fred said he had taped Michael’s routine, watched it twice, and was absolutely mesmerized. He also said “Michael, you put them on their *ss! You’re a hell of a mover! You’re a hell of a dancer!” Love it!

The Pasadena Civic Auditorium, which was built in 1931, has also been featured in the movies 10 and Red Dragon and episodes of Last Comic Standing, Alias, Lie To Me, and American Idol. The auditorium has also hosted countless awards shows, including the 2008 ALMA Awards, numerous People’s Choice Awards, and the Emmy Awards from 1977 to 1997.

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I went to stalk the Auditorium today under the assumption that it is open to the public and was really dissappointed to find out that isn’t the case. 🙁 Because of that, I can’t say that I’d really recommend stalking it. The manager of the place is also a TOTAL jerk, which only added to my dissapointment. 🙁 Nevertheless, it was still very exciting to be standing in front of the very spot where Michael Jackson made musical history just a little over twenty-six years ago!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special took place at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, which is located at 300 East Green Street in Pasadena.

June 22, 2009June 26, 2009

Don Draper’s House from Mad Men

Got an email last week from fellow stalker Karin who wanted me to locate the house belonging to Donald Draper (played by Jon Hamm) and his wife, Betty (played by January Jones), on the AMC television series Mad Men. It turns out that my good friend, and fellow stalker E.J., over at The Movieland Directory, had written down a bunch of addresses where Mad Men filming had taken place over the years off of the On Location Vacations website. Using those addresses, it wasn’t long before Karin and I had located the right house. 🙂 Thank you, E.J.!! So, while out doing some stalking with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, last Friday, I dropped by the Draper residence to snap some pics. 🙂

On Mad Men, the Draper family supposedly lives in the town of Ossining in Westchester County, New York. In reality, though, their home is located in the suburbs of Pasadena, just a stone’s throw away from the Father of the Bride house. It’s such a small movie world, isn’t it? 😉

I had a heck of a time making screen captures of the Draper home as it seems that, for some reason, the exterior of the house is rarely shown on the series. I guess the producers of Mad Men aren’t big on doing establishing shots! LOL You can see a paparazzi pic of Jon Hamm and January Jones filming at the house a few weeks ago here.

I am happy to report that Don Draper’s house looks exactly the same in person as it does on TV. Except, of course, for the color of the front door. On the series, the Draper’s front door is painted red, while the door of the real life home is blue.

If you look at the house on Google Maps Street View, the front door is also red, which leads me to believe that the Google photographs must have been taken while Mad Men filming was going on. So cool!

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Before Karin’s challenge, I had never watched even a single episode of Mad Men. My fiance has been a longtime fan of the series, though, so, last night I popped in the pilot episode from his Season One DVD’s for a quick peruse. It’s actually a very entertaining show about a wealthy group of Manhattanites living in the 60s, when everyone smoked everywhere, having a cocktail at the office was commonplace, and all husbands cheated on their wives. Doesn’t sound like a very reputable show, but it definitely makes for some interesting storylines. 🙂 A bit of a disclaimer – the house that was featured in the pilot episode of Mad Men is not the same residence that is being used now. The house from the pilot episode is pictured above and as you can see looks quite different from the Pasadena residence that is used in all of the other episodes.

UPDATE:

Just got an email from fellow stalker Kevin who happened upon some Mad Men filming at the Draper residence just a few weeks ago. Kevin was nice enough to send me some photos he managed to snap of the many antique cars parked on the road, some of the filming equipment, and best of all, the Draper house all dressed up with its red front door. Big THANK YOU to Kevin!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Don Draper’s house from Mad Men is located at 675 Arden Road in Pasadena.

June 12, 2009June 11, 2009

Robbie Hart’s House

Thanks to fellow stalker Owen, last week Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were able to stalk Robbie Hart’s house from the 1998 romantic comedy The Wedding Singer. I had actually been wanting to find The Wedding Singer house for quite a while now, so when Owen told me that he knew where it was located, I just about died!!! And Mike and I literally ran right out to stalk it. 🙂

I am very happy to report that Robbie’s house looks EXACTLY the same today as it did when The Wedding Singer was filmed there over eleven years ago. I mean, even the paint colors are still the same!! LOVE IT! The home was originally built in 1908 by one of Pasadena’s first major landowners and prominent citizens, David MacPherson, who was a design engineer for the Mt. Lowe Railway.

In The Wedding Singer, the home actually belongs to Robbie’s sister and her husband. Robbie lives in the basement area, which, as you can see in the above screen captures, is reached through a little side door marked 1075 1/2. LOL In reality, though, that door and basement area do not exist – they were built solely for the filming of the movie.

Robbie’s house, especially the front porch area, is featured numerous times throughout The Wedding Singer. It is a very cute and very unique, almost barnlike, structure and I highly recommend stalking it!

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Robbie Hart’s house from The Wedding Singer is located at 1075 East Topeka Street in Pasadena.

June 5, 2009June 4, 2009

The Bedtime Stories House

Got a challenge last week from fellow stalker Owen who wanted me to find Courteney Cox’s house from the 2008 movie Bedtime Stories. And even though I had yet to see the movie, I was actually in luck with this challenge as one of my acting classmates had worked as a production assistant on the Adam Sandler flick. So, I immediately called her up to ask her where the house was located. But, sadly, as is often the case with this sort of thing, she could not for the life of her remember. UGH! But she did tell me that she thought the home might be in Pasadena. So, I got Mike from MovieShotsLA in on the hunt and we started our search there. And, as usual, it wasn’t long before Mike had found the house! He’s so the man!! 🙂 The Bedtime Stories house is actually located on a quiet, tree-lined street in South Pasadena, a few miles south of Pasadena proper. And yesterday, I ran right out to stalk it. 🙂

The Bedtime Stories house is absolutely adorable and looks much the same in person as it did in the movie. And, while I was there stalking the place, I was lucky enough to get to chat with the owner, who gave me some scoop on the filming! 🙂

She told me that some filming actually took place inside of the house, too. Filmed inside of her home were the living room scenes;

the kitchen scenes;

and the backyard party scene.

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The children’s room where Adam Sandler tells his bedtime stories, however, was built on a soundstage at Universal Studios. The owner said that producers changed the interior of her home quite a bit for the filming and that in real life it looks much different than how it appeared on screen. All in all, filming at her house took just about two weeks to complete.

A few months after the filming had been completed, producers returned to the home yet again to film one more exterior set-up shot. Apparently, long after filming had wrapped, it was decided that a shot of the home in the rain at night was needed. So, they brought in a huge rain machine and set it up behind the house. So cool!

What I found most interesting, though, was that for the scene when Keri Russell and Adam Sandler meet, producers actually painted fake parking spaces up and down the entire street in front of the house! Apparently, they so loved the idea of Adam taking up two parking spaces and Keri giving him a hard time about it, that they created fake parking spaces along an entire city block!! LOL When I watched that scene while trying to locate the house the other day, I remember thinking how odd it looked for a cute little house in a cute little neighborhood to have vertical parking spaces in front of it. LOL Ah, the magic of the movies! 🙂

Amazingly enough, the lines from the fake parking spaces are still visible in front of the house! So cool!!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Bedtime Stories house is located at 800 Adelaine Avenue in South Pasadena.

May 22, 2009May 21, 2009

The Starsky & Hutch Mansion

A few weeks ago, my mom drove me by what has to be one of the biggest houses I’ve ever seen in my entire life! The property spans almost an entire city block! When you drive by it literally just keeps on going and going and going! LOL My mom showed me the absolutely ginormous Tudor style mansion to see if I recognized it from any movies or television shows. She had an inkling that, because of its massive size, it was probably used as a filming location at some point in history. And she was right, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

Then, last week, as I was scanning through Starsky & Hutch, making screen captures for my post about Rae’s Restaurant, I saw the house and almost fell out of my chair! In the 2004 comedy, the mega-mansion was featured as the home of Vince Vaughn’s character, Reese Feldman.

The mansion appears twice in Starsky & Hutch. We first see it when the detectives show up there to interrogate Vince Vaughn about a dead body they have just discovered.

Later on in the movie, Vince Vaughn throws his daughter a bat mitzvah party in a large tent in the home’s backyard.

During the party, Ben Stiller accidentally shoots a pony in front of all of the party guests just outside of the mansion’s large garage.

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This same house was also used in the short lived Rebecca Romijn series Pepper Dennis. As you can see in this Movieland Directory link, Arden Road is no stranger to the silver screen. Numerous houses on Arden have been featured in productions over the years, most notably the “Carrington Mansion” from television’s Dynasty, which is located just a few houses down from the Starsky & Hutch manse. Unfortunately, though, it is not at all visible from the street. 🙁

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Reese Feldman (aka Vince Vaughn’s) mansion from Starsky & Hutch is located at 1050 Arden Road in Pasadena. The “Carrington Mansion” is located just a few houses away from it at 1145 Arden Road.

May 4, 2009October 6, 2022

Church of the Angels

A few weeks ago, my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry, who was a HUGE fan of the show Knots Landing during her high school years, set about to locate the church where the characters Joshua and Cathy got married in the Sixth Season episode of the series entitled “For Better, For Worse”. And it wasn’t long before she found it. That church turned out to be none other than Church of the Angels, a place that is no stranger to the silver screen. So, last weekend I dragged my boyfriend right out to stalk it.

Church of the Angels, which was built in 1889, has the distinction of being Pasadena’s oldest church. The church was built by the widow of one of the first settlers of the Pasadena area, Mrs. Frances E. Campbell Johnston, in memory of her husband, Alexander Robert Campbell Johnston. In 1883, the Campbell-Johnstons, who were natives of Great Britain, purchased 2,000 acres of what is now known as Pasadena and named it San Rafael Ranch. Alexander passed away only five years later in 1888 and his wife decided to build a church in his honor on their land. The church was designed by English architect Arthur Edmund Street and was based on Holmbury St. Mary’s Church in Surrey. The cornerstone of the church was laid in place on April 20, 1889 by Frances herself and construction was completed a short six months later on September 29, 1889. Originally named Mission of the Church of the Angels, the Episcopalian church is now simply called Church of the Angels.

When Frances passed away in November of 1893, her sons had a large sundial placed at the front of the church in her memory.

Church of the Angels is an absolutely idyllic place. It honestly looks like it came right out of the pages of a fairy tale. As we walked up to it I felt like I was in the middle of Disney’s Fantasyland – the sun was shining, the sky was bright blue, and (no joke) birds were chirping everywhere. I half expected Snow White to stick her head out of a window and start singing “Someday My Prince Will Come”. LOL It’s really no wonder why the church has been featured in hundreds of productions over the years. It’s a simply magical place.

Practically everywhere you look there is some small, but exquisite detail that adds to the church’s charm. The tiny wooden doors, the sandstone walls, the arched walkways, the three acres of beautifully maintained landscaping. It’s like no other church I’ve ever seen.

The interior of the church is just as beautiful as the exterior. The first thing you notice upon entering is the amazing stained glass window located behind the altar. The window, which illustrates the resurrection of Jesus, was built in London and, according to the Church of the Angels website, is said to be “one of the finest examples of stained glass in America”. Frances Campbell-Johnston actually commisioned the church to be built facing the West, so that the sun would better radiate through the amazing window.

The church’s walls are made of red pressed brick and the peaked ceiling is made entirely out of redwood, giving the interior the feeling of a medieval castle. The church is actually much smaller than it appears – it can accomodate only 130 patrons – thus creating a very warm, intimate atmosphere.

Along the sides of the church, there are several tiny, little doors built into the brick walls. The doors lead to stairways, offices, and restrooms. As is stated in the Church of the Angels’ informational brochure, the stairways are “steep and narrow. People in 1889 were smaller than we are today.” How cute is that??? 🙂

Church of the Angels has one of the biggest pipe organs I have ever seen!! It was built in 1889 at the Roosevelt Organ Works in New York City and is still in use today.

Amazingly enough, Church of the Angels still looks exactly the same today as it did when Knots Landing was filmed there back in 1985. You can watch Cathy and Josh’s wedding scene here.

Besides Knots Landing, the church was also featured in the Season 5 episode of Desperate Housewives entitled “The Story of Lucy and Jesse”, as the location of Carlos’ boss, Bradley’s, funeral.

It was also where Ashton Kutcher married Brittany Murphy in Just Married.

And it was the location of the many funerals in the 1988 movie Heathers. Yes, that’s Shannen Doherty in the above screen capture. 🙂

It was also recently featured in the Season 7 episode of The Office titled “Christening”, as the location where Jim and Pam Halpert (aka John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) had their baby baptized.

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Church of the Angels was also featured in the Season 9 episode of The X-Files entitled “Hellbound”, the Season 4 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled “Who Are You”, several episodes of JAG, The West Wing, Lawnmower Man, Mick Jagger’s “God Gave Me Everything I Want” music video, and an episode of TLC’s A Wedding Story.

I HIGHLY recommend stalking Church of the Angels. It is literally one of the most beautiful and unique places I have ever seen! My boyfriend even enjoyed stalking it! I have to say it is one of the very few places he didn’t mind being dragged to. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Church of the Angels is located at 1100 Avenue 64 in Pasadena. You can visit their website here.

April 26, 2009April 30, 2009

Speidi’s Wedding

Well, it finally happened! Yesterday was the big day! The reality TV event of the season! What I’m sure was for some fans the wedding of the century! I, of course, am talking about the nuptials of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag that took place yesterday at around 5 p.m. in Pasadena. And, I, of course, was on the scene to stalk the whole thing! 🙂 My boyfriend and I arrived at Westminster Presbyterian Church at around 12:30 yesterday afternoon. The original plan was to snap a few photos of the wedding set-up, leave, and then come back at around 4 p.m.to take some more pics. Well, what’s that quote about the best laid plans of mice and men? 🙂 I took one look at the absolute pandemonium that was already in place at 12:30 and that was it for me! I was not going anywhere! LOL So, yes, I stood out on the sidewalk in front of that church from 12:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. yesterday watching the incredible media shitstorm that Speidi had created. And, let me tell you, I loved EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT! 🙂

I actually have to say that “shitstorm” doesn’t even begin to describe what was taking place yesterday! The wedding was originally scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and three and a half hours prior to that there were already about forty photographers and paparazzi lining the street. The entire city block surrounding the church had virtually been shut down and there were at least 50 policemen and another 50 private security guards on duty. It was absolute insanity! Honestly, it was bigger than any film shoot I’ve ever witnessed. When we first arrived at the church, Heidi and Spencer were already inside getting ready and their Rolls Royce Phantom was parked right outside (pictured above).

From the outside, it looked as if a film shoot was taking place, complete with a ginormous lighting truck set up shining bright lights through the church windows. Being that the whole event was being taped for The Hills, I guess in a sense a film shoot was taking place. But standing outside watching everything, I almost forgot it was a real life wedding that I was there to see. 🙂

The security for the wedding was INTENSE! Every single guest had to show their drivers license upon entering the church, sign photo releases, and have their photographs taken. There were also metal detectors set up inside of the church, which I am pretty sure were there to ensure that no guests brought cameras inside.

Early in the afternoon, Heidi’s real father stepped outside the church in full cowboy regalia to make a phone call. LOL

Lauren and Audrina were some of the first guests to arrive. Lauren arrived at around 2 p.m. and Audrina at around 2:30. All of The Hills stars were shuttled in through a back entrance so we didn’t get to see any of them until after the ceremony was over. 🙁 The only Hills stars who did make an appearance prior to the wedding were Brody Jenner and his girlfriend Jayde Nicole, who were dropped off right in front of the church. Unfortunately neither of them waved or even looked up at the photographers or fans who were screaming their names. 🙁

And then things got really exciting!! All of a sudden I noticed all of the security guards and policemen looking up at the sky. It turns out that Spencer had hired a plane to write both “Spencer Loves Heidi” and “Heidi’s #1 Hit On iTunes” in the sky.

Next thing I know, out walks the man himself, Spencer Pratt, to see the skywriting for himself! 🙂 YAY! Spencer was actually shorter than I thought he would be, maybe about 5’7″, and better looking than he appears on TV. As soon as Spencer walked out, the crowd went absolutely NUTS. And he was extremely friendly, waving and smiling for the cameras. He actually seemed a lot different in person than the guy he portrays on TV. That ever-present chip that seems to reside on his shoulder whenever cameras are rolling didn’t appear to be there yesterday. He actually didn’t seem like a jerk at all. I can’t tell you how excited I was to see Spencer in person!!!! I even yelled out “Congratulations” and he said back “Thank you!” LOL

By the time Spencer had come outside, the skywriting had all but disappeared and one of the young girls standing across the street told him she had taken pictures of the writing. So, Spencer walked across the street to take a look at her photos and then posed for a picture with her and her friends, which I thought was so sweet. NO ONE else from The Hills did anything even remotely close to this yesterday, in fact most of them wouldn’t even wave to the fans, so that’s really when my opinion of Spencer started to change.

The next “celeb” to arrive was Perez Hilton, who pretty much looked like he just rolled right out of bed for the event. He was actually wearing khaki pants and a hoodie!! underneath a blazer. What a complete and total douchebag! I cannot even believe he got invited to the wedding! I so should have been invited instead! 🙂

Next up was Justin Bobby, who arrived solo. And Justin Bobby’s outfit pretty much made Perez Hilton look like a fashion model!!! Justin actually showed up in what can best be described as pirate pants! I’m not kidding! They were calf length and completely frayed at the bottom. Coupled with his black combat boots, the guy looked like he had come directly off the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. WHAT A MORON! I couldn’t zoom in close enough to get a good pic of his pants, but you can kind of see them in the above photo.

Next up was Heidi’s boss, Brent Bolthouse, who is literally about five feet tall, and Brody’s BFF Frankie Delgado.

And then, up walked “Stacey the Bartender”, and all of the fans in attendance pretty much gasped all at once. LOL After the drama she caused between Spencer and Heidi this season on The Hills we could not figure out WHY in the heck she would be invited! It is at this point that I should mention that most of the fans in attendance were 13 year old girls. Why is it always me and the 13 year old girls? LOL

Even though the ceremony was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., it didn’t actually start until right around 5. You can see Heidi’s real dad entering the church in his cowboy style tuxedo right before the ceremony began. LOL

These two idiots didn’t show up to the church until about 5:15 (over an hour and fifteen minutes late!) and, because the ceremony had already started, weren’t allowed inside! LOL LOL LOL What a couple of douchebags! If you were lucky enough to have scored an invite to Spencer and Heidi’s wedding, wouldn’t you have MADE SURE you arrived there on time??

Speidi’s wedding ceremony only lasted about thirty minutes or so. During that time everyone pretty much just hung around, waiting with bated breath for the two to make their appearance. Earlier in the day I had made friends with an event photographer who was on hand to cover the Speidi wedding, so the two of us just chatted while the ceremony was taking place. She was incredibly nice and told me about all sorts of adventures she has had being a celeb photographer. Then next thing we knew, hordes of policemen started walking across the street, I guess as a means of crowd control. They told us to take all the photographs we wanted, but to please not run across the street when Spencer and Heidi exited the church. By this time there were so many people there it was almost unbelievable! There had to be over 100 paparazzi on the scene and easily over 300 fans. Paparazzi were literally climbing the roofs of nearby apartment buildings to get good shots. LOL

The first guest to leave the church after the ceremony was over was Lauren Conrad, aka LC. It seemed as if she left the place pretty much as soon as she could. It was a real bummer, too, as she kept her head down upon exiting the church and would not even wave or smile to the paparazzi or the fans that were there. I thought that was a pretty crappy thing to do, especially being that all of the fans on site were little kids. I can’t say I was surprised, though, as I didn’t get a very good impression of her when I watched The Hills being filmed back in August.

Right after Lauren left, all of the wedding guests filed out of the church and made their way to the front entrance for the bouquet toss;

including Heidi’s dad in his classy tux! LOL 🙂

While the normal guests filed out of the church’s side doors, all of The Hills stars came out of the front entrance, including Heidi’s mom Darlene (who is super tiny in person!) and her sister, and maid-of-honor, Holly;

Brody Jenner and girlfriend Jayde Nicole;

Frankie Delgado and Spencer’s grandma, aka “Nana”;

Audrina;

Spencer’s sister, and Heidi’s lone bridesmaid, Stephanie Pratt;

and my fave Kristin Cavallari, who looked AMAZING and who was also very friendly to the paparazzi and fans :). I can’t tell you how excited I will be if the rumors are true and Kristin really is joining The Hills once Lauren leaves. 🙂

At this point there were SO many people lined up outside the church that Brent Bolthouse actually started taking pictures of us all with his cell phone. LOL

And then came the moment we had been waiting all day for! Out walked the newlyweds – Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Pratt! Heidi looked absolutely beautiful. I loved her dress – it looked like frosting. 🙂

Then, of course, the couple kissed for us. 🙂

And, finally, Heidi tossed her bouquet, which was caught by Kristin Cavallari. Incidentally, all of the female stars of The Hills were strategically placed right in front of Heidi so that one of them would be sure to catch it. 🙂

Speidi then said hello to all of the fans in attendance and Heidi blew everyone a kiss.

Then, after saying goodbye to everyone,

the newlyweds made off in their Rolls Royce.

After Speidi left, Lo, Audrina, Kristin, and Stephanie hung around and chatted for a bit.

And, then, next thing we knew, there were Spencer and Heidi pulling up in their Rolls once again to say hi to all the fans, which I thought was SUPER sweet! A bunch of little girls ran up to take pics with the newlyweds, but unfortunately the paparazzi immediately swarmed the car, so no one could get photos of anything. I guess one of the little girls was getting pushed out of the way by the paps, and Spencer yelled out “Hey, come on you guys! She’s a little girl! Be careful!!!” See, what I mean, he’s a nice guy! 🙂 After that, Speidi took off once again and the guests and paparazzi pretty much dispersed.

Here’s a pic of Holly’s bridesmaid dress, which came from BCBG and was really, really pretty. 🙂

And there you have it – the whole event from start to finish from a stalker’s point of view. 🙂 I have to admit that, thanks to yesterdays festivities, my opinion of Spencer Pratt, and consequently his new wife Heidi, has completely changed. I love these two now. 🙂 Sure, people are going to say OF COURSE Spencer came outside and posed for the paps and the fans because he is a publicity hound. But that’s really not the impression I got. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I mean, he walked across the street and posed for photos with his fans when no one else from the show would. At one point fans were BEGGING Heidi’s sister, Holly, who is an absolute nobody, to come across the street to take pictures, but she refused. I have a soft spot in my heart for any celeb who is nice to their fans, especially their little girl admirers. Because once upon a time I was that little girl and I can’t even imagine how excited I would have been had I had the chance to meet my favorite star and he was nice to me! From what I observed yesterday, Spencer did not come off as the arrogant douchebag that he portrays himself to be on The Hills. I honestly think that in real life he is a nice guy, who realized very early on that the more outrageous he and Heidi acted, the more money they could cash in on. And now I think the two of them are laughing all the way to the bank. So, you know what, more power to ’em! 🙂 And I thank them sincerely for being so media friendly and announcing to the world exactly when and where their wedding would be taking place so that I could be a part of it, as it was an experience I will never forget! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to my boyfriend who acted as my paparazzi for the day and took all of the above photos! Yes, he actually stood out there with me for the entire six hours! My own father wouldn’t even do that for me, so I guess I really have to hold on to this one. 🙂

Side note – I will not be writing a new blog for Monday, since this one took me pretty much all day to write. 🙂 But I’ll be back on Tuesday with some more stalking!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Spencer and Heidi’s wedding church is Westminster Presbyterian Church located at 1757 North Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

April 25, 2009April 27, 2009

Spencer and Heidi’s Big Day!

UPDATE: Be sure to check out my full write up of the event with a ton of pictures here.

Well, it’s official! The reality TV couple that everyone loves to hate tied the knot at a Pasadena church earlier today . And, of course, I was there to stalk it!!!! 🙂 I have to say it was A-MA-ZING to be there and surprisingly enough, I think I am now on Team Spencer! I can’t quite believe it myself, but he seemed like a really nice guy in the little that I saw of him. Is it possible his douchebag routine is put on solely for the cameras??? Anyway, I promise to do a full write-up on the whole event tomorrow, but for now enjoy the following pictures. 🙂