Wedding Press

One Sweet Day: gift exchange 2

2009-09-10T11:01:00.001-07:00

Earlier in the series:
One Sweet Day: such a teaser
One Sweet Day: gift exchange

While I was opening my gifts, Joe was also opening his gifts a few floors below in his own suite. I had my maid of honor run the gift down to him with a cute little note.

After reading the love note, it's time for him to open his gifts.

I especially adore my wrapping paper, which goes so perfectly with our black, pink and white theme. Unlike myself who got a typical man-wrap of a gift, I really thought about the presentation of my gift. It's nice to see that he was careful when in his execution of the opening process :)

Alas, to the gift itself. I got him a Burberry watch to replace his existing Guess watch, which he did right after opening.

I'm so glad he loves his gift, and still continue to wear it on special occasions.

One Sweet Day: gift exchange

2009-09-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been almost 4 months since I have posted any wedding related items. Since then, I have received the CDs containing all of our images and have since began sorting through the pictures. I'm finally at the point where the professional pictures recap can begin. Here is the first part of the series, the girls getting ready.

During our wedding planning days, I debated about whether to hire the hair stylist/make up artist to come to my suite to do the bridal party hair and make up. After the discussion about pricing, I could not justify the extra dollars to have Ann and her team come to our hotel. So, at around 4:30 am, we loaded the wedding party up and headed about 10 miles north to get our hair and make up done. Saving some money did come with certain sacrifices, including some glorious pictures of us getting ready. I can't say if I were to do it over again that I wouldn't have done the same thing over again. However, I do miss having those pictures as part of our portfolio. So, instead, I'll leave you with what I do have, some post make up/gowning pictures (to be recapped in another post).

Before I started getting dress, the best man Bill came knocking on the suite with a gift in tow. This was before anybody had arrived in the room other than my sister who was the maid of honor and the assistant photographer. I was glad to have this moment to myself to open it in private.

Since long ago, I decided not to wear a necklace with my bridal attire, but had gifted my bridesmaids cute pink pendant necklaces. Joe took the liberty of buying me a gorgeous pink sapphire to go with our whole look. I still love the necklace to this day and continue to wear it quite often.

Here is my maid of honor helping me put it on since my nails make it very hard to work the clasp.

Let's rehearse

2009-05-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Our rehearsal was held the day before the wedding and it went off without a hitch. Because we had so many out of town guests that did not have a car (due to the damn economy), Joe and I ended having to be the transporters for most of the guests. Consequently, we were separated for the majority of the time leading up to the wedding. It was a small price to pay for having our guests came all the way here for our special day.

Well, let's get to the pretty pictures.
I wore a pretty little black and white number from Express. I love the dress because it had these pretty little pockets to store my necessities (phones, lip gloss, etc). The shoes are purple from Nine West that I scored when they went on sale for $21. I love a good sale.

Here I am with my maid of honor in the bridal suite right before we headed downstairs to meet everyone and head out to the church.

Well we arrived downstairs to this pretty sight. Joe was super stressed out that night because he panics easily. Here he is on the phone, probably yelling off the ears of one of his groomsmen.

We didn't have a lot of pictures during the actual rehearsal because expectedly, everyone was busy trying to remember who they're standing next to and when to do their thing. We were in and out of the church within 1 hour and thankfully, everyone was being cooperative.

We held our wedding rehearsal at Dave and Buster's. It was great because we had a private area all to ourselves.
And the food was awesome.

After dinner and some mingling with our guests, we began to give out presents to our wedding party. The guys are up first.

Then it was the girl's turn. I didn't have any picture of them opening their gifts. But here is a pic of all of us after everybody had a chance to open and put on their gifts.

The night ended with me tying each and everyone of the groomsmen's ties, as well as the fathers'. I am very particular about the way people tie their ties and wanted for them to look perfecto, so I lined them up and start doing my thing, while other people are playing shuffleboard.

After the rehearsal, we transported everyone back to the hotel and I gathered all of my wedding party to quickly helped me set up for the following day. The process was much faster than I thought with so many able bodies, we were in and out of the reception room within 20 minutes.

The work of our handy best man.

Notice something very familiar? Well I completely copied Jessica's (over at tying the knot) bow tie on Ikea vases down to the method (which is demonstrated on a video tutorial). Thanks a bunch! I loved how they turned out and so easy to do!

My best friend's wedding

2009-05-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

I have previously wrote about my friend Sarah's wedding coming up after my own. Well, her wedding had came and went, and it was beautiful. So, while I am waiting for my own file of 2000+ images to start recapping on my own day, I thought I show some of her pro wedding pics for you to see how magical of a day it was.

The beautiful bride and groom
The bridal party
The bride and me (I was the maid of honor)
Bride + groom + wedding party
Getting the bride ready for the big day
Having loads of fun in the process
And more fun on the dance floor
Dancing with the groom during the money dance
My husband dancing with the bride during the money dance
And some gorgeous details of the day

Thank you very much

2009-04-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have spent the past few nights (instead of doing other things that I should be doing) writing our thank you cards. Unfortunately for me, I had to write all thousand of them and Joe can't help since he has terrible writing! So, this was the one wedding task that I had to take on by myself, but I'll forgive him since he was an active participant during our wedding planning process.

Thankfully, after a few nights, all of them are completed and are on their way to the recipients. Joe dropped it off this morning; this was his one contribution to the thank you cards.

After the wedding, I was planning on custom design our thank you card with the gocco. But, I completely just ran out of steam and could not for the life of me bust out the wonder machine. Since I wanted to get the writing out of the way, I resorted to ordering them through Shutterfly. They have generic design thank you cards where you can upload your own photos, and we decided on a 4-photo template. Unfortunately, they did not have pink to coordinate with our whole wedding color scheme, but at this point, I didn't care too much and picked the traditional blue cards. Other than that, the process was pretty easy where I uploaded four of my favorite wedding pictures (graciously sent by our fab photog for this single purpose only). I was pleasantly surprised by the result when they arrive at our doorstep about 2 weeks after clicking purchase. They were a bit pricey, came out to approximately $80 for 50 cards, but it sure did beat me having to slave over the design of a custom card.

I was glad I went this route because if I hadn't, we probably would be late to send out our thank you cards or scrap the entire project in and of itself. The wedding tasks is officially over...well, except for maybe sorting out the mess that is still sitting in the garage and try and sell anything we can.

Without further ado, here is what the guests will see when they open it.

One Sweet Day: Such a teaser

2009-04-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

While I was in a meeting at work today, my blackberry did its little buzzing to notify me that I have an email. I scanned to see if it was something important that needed immediate response and I saw my photographer's email with an attachment. I opened to see what it is and lo and behold, it was our wedding teasers. I was so excited that I almost screamed! Of course, I had to wait another two hours for the meeting to be over to open the attachments. Though I could have opened it on the blackberry, I wanted to savor the pictures and see it in its glory, so the wait continues. I won't do the same to you though, so here they are in all their glory. I can't wait to see what else our fabulous photographer has in store for us!

All photos by Jerry Yoon Photography

One sweet day: the price to pay

2009-03-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

Living in the bay area, weddings do not come cheap. I was foolish to think that I can have a wedding for $10,000 budget, as this was the initial budget we set before even looking at anything wedding. Then, all we had to do is google some things wedding and realized very quickly that doesn't even cover the food. Talk about sticker shock. So, of course, we had to do a little refining to adjust the budget to a more realistic one. The final number came down to $30,000.

Now, most of the time, people do not include honeymoon and wedding bands into the wedding budget. I'm not sure why that is as they are an essential and necessary factor in any wedding. So, for purposes of the budget breakdown, I will include everything wedding related.
Budget breakdown (for 100 guests)

Invitations and other paper goods: $1,000 (see detail breakdown in this separate post)

Dressing her

Wedding dress: $1,100
Alteration: $350
Veil: $75
Shoes: $40
Hair flower: $40
Jewelry/accessories: $40
Manicure/pedicure: $80
Hair and makeup: $350 (with $50 tip)
Wedding bands: $1,700 (for 2 rings)
Makeup/hair trial: $180

Dressing him

Suit: $400 (bought)
Shoes: $100
Accessories: $50 for tie and belt
Wedding band: $300

Vendors

Rehearsal dinner: $1,700
Ceremony site fee: $1,100
Reception site/food: $11,000
Photographer: $5,300
Videographer: $1,500
Flowers: $1,800
Linen/chair covers: $450
Cake: $500
DJ: $900
Tips: $500

Others

Honeymoon: $4,200
Wedding party gifts: $1,500
License to wed: $75
Hotel for bride and groom: $700
Miscellaneous expenses: $500 (to cover things I forgot or too small to mention)

Total: $36,530

We are over our budget by about $6,500, primarily for the honeymoon and the wedding bands. It's a lot to spend on one day, but it is an important day of our lives. If you were to ask if it was worth it, I'd say no. We could have just eloped and spent this money on a better and bigger honeymoon, or even put it towards home renovation. But since elopement is out of the question, I would do everything all over again in a heart beat, because I could not have imagined our day went any differently with any other details missing.

On a side note, we received approximately $5,000 in gifts (monetary and non-monetary). This is very very low in Asian culture, but we did not have a typical Asian wedding. In the end, we were just glad to see that the majority of our families made it to the wedding and enjoyed themselves at the wedding. We couldn't have asked for more than that.

Gorgeousness

2009-03-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

Oh my gawd. I saw this invitation suite today on Elizabeth Anne Designs and drooled over it. How gorgeous are these to incorporate photo and pocketfold in one. The little flower on top just make it much more fab!

photos via [Elizabeth Anne Designs]

Coordinated separates

2009-03-26T18:54:00.001-07:00

I think if I had a bridal party that is similar in their physicality, I would certainly do something like this for their attire. Gorgeousness and oh so chic.
photo via [Project Wedding]

One Sweet Day: one bitter moment

2009-03-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

We are now back from the honeymoon. We have one more week of married life until we have to go back to work. I'm taking this opportunity to do a few things: depositing cash gifts, opening gifts, returning gifts, changing up the house a little bit, and viewing pictures from guests that are starting to be uploaded into our flickr account.

As I'm reliving the day through pictures, I am reminded of one single bitter detail of the day. It's not about the linens, or the flowers, or the cake or any other DIY projects that I put my heart and soul into. This was an unexpected event, an event that I could never have suspected to prevent. None of my extended family members showed up to my wedding.

This is a very hard thing for me to write about, or to think about, or to be reminded of. This will be one single post about it and I will let it bury with the relationships with my family that I will let die.

My parents have 7 siblings each. None of my grandparents are alive, but I have a lot of family. Unfortunately, my extended family are mostly in Vietnam. Given the distance and the economic condition, none of the distant family members can make it to the wedding, but they send their best. I understood and appreciated it.

I do however have three blood uncles (from my dad's side) residing no more than 20 miles away from me. Though none of them are married, they have girlfriends with an extended family of their own. I have one blood cousin here that I asked to be one of our readers. Blood or not, marriage or not, I consider all of their extended family my own family. They were all invited, and they all responded yes to the wedding. Except for one uncle, whom I had sent an invitation to, but never RSVP'ed. My parents and I tried calling, but to no avail, did not get an answer. I was very very sad about it, but counted him out of attending. No big deal. He's been known to be absent at these events. I expected it and though disappointed, not surprised.

The day leading up to the wedding went without a glitch. We received all of Joe's out of town guests into town and had a blast of a wedding weekend. On the day of, I dealt with my nerves and walk down the aisle to my soul mate and the ceremony was absolutely perfect. It was the most important aspect of the wedding day for me. I will recap further on that later on with visual interest.

By the time the reception arrives, I was ready to party! We were introduced, danced, seated and served. However, as soon as we sat down and I looked towards the guests, there were several that were missing. None of my uncles were sitting in their seats. Not only did the one that did not respond did not come, the other two failed to show up as well. I wondered what happened, and I whispered my concern to my husband. God forbid, something happened was the first thought that came to my mind. I looked over to the other table where my cousin and "step cousins" sit, and they were present, having a grand old time. If something had happened, they would have panicked. That's when I realized that my family had stood me up, at my own wedding. It was not the time to inquire more about it, but I gotta say, it was the most disappointing stomach sinking feeling I had ever felt. I had no idea why they had done that, because they had showed up to the church for our ceremony. I tried my best to have some fun at the wedding, and in the midst of all of the love that was present there, I managed to forget about it and truly did enjoy the wedding.

After all is said and done, I asked my parents what happened to them and they had no idea. However, I thought I heard a hint of problem, but they urged me to let it go. However, they know me better than that. I don't let things go. At the very least, I have to know what happened, and I have to let them know that I am disappointed. I called my uncle Luke first. The reason for his absent was because his girlfriend's parents were not invited to our wedding. I couldn't believe it! Despite whatever happened, no matter what the problem was, he was supposed to be there, and I let him know so. I hung up the phone after I made myself known, and he apologized.

As for my other uncle, he did not show up because apparently, at the rehearsal dinner (he was the only one that showed up), we did not paid very much attention to him. Be it truth or not (and we were extremely busy), I told him he was supposed to show up, despite what happened. I expressed my disappointment. I hung up the phone. My relationships with them ended as soon as that conversations ended. On one of the most important days of my life, I lost two uncles.

When we got back from the honeymoon, we opened up our monetary gifts for deposit. Sitting in the midst of it was a check from my uncle Luke for $1,000. I set it aside and did not deposit it. Joe understands completely and absolutely supported my decision. That is why I love that man. I did not even have to explain. Tonight, called Luke one last time to let him know that I will not be depositing the check, so there is no surprises. I detected a small defeat in his voice. The conversation was brief, ending with my appreciation. I finally felt at peace since everything happened. I'm now happily settled into my new married life. My relationship with my immediate family is as strong as ever. More importantly, my marriage had given me such a great new family, who are extremely welcoming and genuine. They are crazy, but I love them.

From this experience, I vow to work on my relationships with my own siblings.

Also, this experience rung true to a very wise advice Joe and I received from my mother. Money will come and go, work on the love. This experience was a testament of that. We technically lost $1,000, but we never had it. We lost the love.

One Sweet Day: We're Married!

2009-03-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

After a hectic week full of vendor meetings, family arrival, final setting and non-existent blog posts, we are now married. Husband and wife! It certainly has a nice ring to it! It's the day after. We are resting, trying to do laundry and pack for the honeymoon. A whole 7 days in Cabo San Lucas! We will leave you with a couple photos of us from the guests.
I'll be back to post more about the sweet day after the honeymoon!

Decorating the tables

2009-03-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not talking about the guest tables, because we've got that covered with a cluster of 3 small vases of flowers. I'm talking about the escort card table, the gift table and the cake table. In order to save money on the flowers, we did not purchase any flower arrangement for these tables. Instead, I'm left on my own accord to make these tables look full and decorated, without it costing me an arm and a leg. I saw this on the knot and thought it beautiful. When using candles, cluster a bunch of vases together in varying heights and you will always get an impactful effect.
photo via [the knot]

Weather Stalking

2009-03-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

Of course with only 8 days away from the big day, I had to see what the weather will be like. It's looking okay at the moment. However, I know that weather prediction is not accurate beyond the 3 days. You can bet that I will be stalking weather.com on a daily basis.

Last day of work

2009-03-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day at work before I went on vacation to prepare for the wedding. I am extremely blessed to have an employer who is willing to accommodate to special events in one's life and I do feel that they do everything in their power to allow me to take the time off. On the flip side though, the work still needs to get done and taking off a week before the wedding just tighten the time frame I have to get the work done. I've been working like mad this past week (typical hours is from 9am-10pm). Still there is a lot to do left, but at least the tasks to be done are transitionable to other people.

I am getting extremely anxious now that the week of our wedding will finally arrive. We are setting up meetings with vendors in order to finalize the last minute details. Our communication with distant family members are increasing as we are planning for their arrival. To think, everyone is gathering in one place to celebrate with us and bless us with their support. A marriage is not just about the union of two people, but it is a union of two families. I have always been a proponent of elopement, but at times like these, when you do your wedding right, you'd be able to reap all the love and support exuding from your family that it is priceless. Not to say that there is anything wrong with elopements, certain circumstances calls for it, but if given the opportunity, do your wedding right. It really is a one in a lifetime opportunity to have so many people celebrate you. Bask in it!

And in 8 days (single digit counting had begun), I will call this man that I chosen "husband", and all will be right with the world:
photo via [Jasmine Star Photography]

Last minute budget revision

2009-03-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

Now that all the vendors are paid, I'm thinking I'm free from wedding related cash outflow. Unfortunately, Joe and I sat down yesterday to go over what is left to do and lo and behold, more cash outflow.

Tips - $650 (DJ, photographer, reception site coordinator and priest-as a donation)
Honeymoon - $1,500 - planned spending money in Cabo San Lucas. Is this do-able for 7 nights? I hope so.
cake stand - $100
gifts for flower girls - $50
gifts for anniversary dance winner - $30
gift for groom - $200
other minor decorations - $200
room for groom - $150
hair and make-up: $150
TOTAL: $2,930 (YIKES!!!)

While we still have some money to fund this, I didn't expect this unexpected cash outflow at all. *sigh*

Sarah's bridal shower: the execution

2009-03-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I threw a bridal shower for my friend Sarah, who's getting married one month after me. I have previously wrote about the decorations, so now to recap the day of. The shower is a appetizer and dessert soiree, and boy did we have a lot of food to feed about 15 people.
The mother of the bride provided the appetizers and the bridesmaids provided the desserts.

We also had cheesecake. It was yummy!

We played two games: make the bride's dress (out of toilet paper) and letter to the groom/bride

My dog even tried to get into the mix. hahaha. The first one was the winner, so here is the team that won with the bride-to-be.

The next game is called letter to the groom. Individually, each person gets a list of 50 popular candies. The object of the game is write a letter to either the groom or the bride (the writer assuming the other person - i.e. bride writing to groom or groom to bride), using as many candies as possible and being as creative as possible. After five minutes, the bride read each letter aloud and pick the most creative with the most use of candies. It was much more fun than I thought. Here, the bride is reading the letters aloud to everyone.
After the game, we cut the cake and open gifts.
We took some formal portraits with the guests and the bridal party

I don't know what was so funny here, but I'm glad we got a picture of it.

A more serious pose. Cute! (Notice the matching bridal party shirts. I made these previously for her wedding, similar to the ones I made for mine.)

We called it a day after about 6 hours. It was a relaxing day with just good friends and good food. Sarah seemed to have really enjoyed herself.

Our new toy

2009-03-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I broke my camera during my bachelorette party in Vegas. I had a Sony Powershot T-series and I loved it. It's not exactly broken, but the latch that holds the battery in is...still usable, but ghetto looking. So, Joe and I went out and replaced the camera with a new one. It's still a Powershot, but it's more bulky. I'll have to find the model some time later. We tested it out and love it. Dandelions just seem so evolutionary to me.

Of course, I couldn't help but take a few shots of my ring.

Gifting the Groom

2009-03-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

Although Joe and I have discussed about how we will not be gifting each other anything on the big day, I always knew in the back of my mind that I will be purchasing him something, as well as he will be purchasing me something. It was a nice thought, but while we are in the spirit of gifting (wedding party, parents, other people), we might as well throw something in there for each other. I don't know he's giving me yet, but since we have splurge a lot on ourselves recently (purchased a flat screen TV for the bedroom, and traded in his car for a new car), we need to keep it small and simple. After searching high and low, I've finally settled on this:

[Nordstrom] - $195

I love Burberry and Joe had always wanted a wallet. With the help of my teething dog this weekend, his ever faithful Coach wallet was chewed up. He still uses it because it was my first present to him. I think it's about time for upgrade though, to match my ever faithful Burberry purse that I carry on a daily basis.

Sarah's bridal shower: decorations

2009-02-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

Sarah's party is tomorrow, and I am really really busy tonight after work, I spent about 4 hours last night with Joe finishing up the little touches and prepping the house for the soiree. Because I'm so proud of them, I had to share them early of course. Keep in mind that these are not set up in all their glory, but just complete project scattered around for now.

We'll start with the invite. The flower bouquet was heat embossed, even though you may not be able to see it.

Since this is an appetizer and dessert soirée, I decided to go with a "Love is Sweet" theme. This banner spells it out just in case any guests missed the theme :)
A banner with the guest of honor's name just to make her feel that much more important.
I made these tissue pomanders and coupling them with paper lanterns to give the house more texture. They turn out really well I thought.
Joe helped me put them up on the ceiling, using just clear thumb tacks.
Floating candles. Can you also guess what the bride's favorite color is?
I got these coasters at Michael's for $1/20 coasters. I bought four packs. I thought they were just so cute with the words "You had me at merlot." They fit the theme perfectly. Such a great find.
I made some tags from scrap papers I had lying around the house from the endless paper projects from the wedding. So I just cut them into a form of a tag and attach a cute little ribbon to them to make them more tag-gy. These will be used by guests to leave Sarah a note or two for the upcoming wedding.
Since we will be playing some games, I purchase a few items on sale from Target and Bath and Body Works as prizes. They were all under $10 each. I hope the winners like them. I put a lot of thoughts into these prizes because of my experiences from other parties. The winners always receive these cheap perfumes and knick knacks that they cannot use. I wanted to purchase something that they can use. Those are scrapbook photo albums and body gel, body lotion and loofahs.
Last but not least, some cute phrases meant to be used for various things:

"Love is sweet" for the dessert table
"Love will keep us alive" for the appetizer table
"Sweet treats" for the favor area
"Lovely gifts" for the gift area

I love the way everything turns out and I hope the bride loves them as much as I love putting them together.

15 days and counting

2009-02-26T23:35:00.001-08:00

One last post for the night before I call it a night. I just checked our wedding website today, and we are officially 15 days away! Soon, we will be doing our single digit counting and the day will be officially here. I am getting nervous now...
photo via [WeddingbeePro]

Mayor-ried into the family

2009-02-26T23:23:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I had mentioned it, but my future mother-in-law is an ex-mayor of her hometown Darby, PA. She is very much into politics and takes the position very seriously. Though she is no longer a mayor, she is thinking of re-running for mayor again and I wish her all the success. The town actually really needs someone who cares right now. Here is an article she wrote:

You can check out the article here.

The Role of Mayor in Pennsylvania: Small Towns All Across The State Have a "Mayor"

July 08, 2007 by

Paula Brown
For eight years, I held the position of "Mayor" in a small town in Pennsylvania just outside the City of Philadelphia. For eight years, I read, researched, studied and carried out the Role of the Municipal Mayor in Pennsylvania and to carry out the duties of the Mayor. The residents of Darby trusted me with their vote of confidence for two terms so I was determined to carry out those duties to the best of my ability.

What is a "Mayor"?

A mayor (from the Latin mâior, meaning "larger", "greater") is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. In Pennsylvania, the mayor is an elected politician who serves as chief executive. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor, as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated.

The Pennsylvania State Borough Code is the guideline for Elected Officials to follow in Boroughs located within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Under the Pennsylvania State Borough Code, Mayors have important duties and powers that need to be fulfilled and carried out. Mayor's are in a unique position to exercise leadership because of the status and prestige of the office. Some Mayor's take this seriously, others don't. The extent of the mayor's complete role is defined by the individual office holder's view of civic responsibilities, personal skills, background in intergovernmental affairs and individual interest.

Dressing for the real deal

2009-02-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

Even though I have purchased a rehearsal dinner dress, I am still looking around. Why you ask? Because I'm not in love with it and I want to be able to find something that would make me feel good, and get me ready for the real deal. Why don't I like this? Because it doesn't feel bridal. Check it out.
photo via [Guess]

I also just found this dress.
photo via [Guess]
I love it! It has such a vintage feel to it. Even better it is on sale. Unfortunately, my size is sold out. It is really too bad. I like it lots.

Then, I saw this dress at White House Black Market and I fell in love with it more.
photo via [White House Black Market]
It's actually in a cart awaiting for check out :) It's definitely more bridal yet still pretty modern for re-wear. Should I purchase it and return the Guess dress?

Flower for a flower-phobic girl

2009-02-26T08:44:00.000-08:00

As I may have mentioned before, I am afraid of flowers, but all of the wedding rage right now is the hair flower adorned at the reception. I'm gonna jump on that bandwagon. Today, I made a purchase from Etsy for a cute and simple little number.
photo via [JMG Jewel Design]

I will be adorning this under my veil at the ceremony and will lose the veil for the reception. I love it! I can't wait. My bridal look is now complete:

long sweep train wedding dress in a mermaid type style
lovely flower hair piece
sweeping cathedral length veil
cute up-do
gorgeous make-up with full lashes
blinging earrings (notice the S)
cute peeping pink shoes
well-manicured nails
and one whooping eternity band that will tell the world, "I am a married woman"

Listing it out makes me giddy and I just cannot wait to wear them proud on 3/14/2009. Love it!

Wedding vent #5: Importance

2009-02-25T23:33:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping that this will be the last wedding vent before the big day occurs, because I really really don't think I can take anymore wedding stress. Wedding planning so far has been a breeze, compared to managing the family and guests.

They say that weddings really show you who your real friends are. While I have my own worries with my side of the wedding to worry about, this vent is actually for the groom's side. They don't do anything personally to me, and I, in my own right, have pretty good relationships with each on of my future in-laws and friends in-law. However, their actions really bother me sometimes because they really stress Joe out. While there are way too many details to go into in one post, the biggest thing on the list is the placement of importance. Joe has such high importance for these people, in his life and in his heart, and they can't even come together on the most important day of his life. They can't take one hour out of their busy life to get their suit together, even though we're provide everything else for the attire. They can't even put aside a little bit of money to come see him get married. While all of this is happening, we would never thought to miss anything remotely important in their lives and always, always, try to be there for them. How and when do people get so wrapped up in their own world that they fail to see their importance to someone else, someone who is so utterly disappointed that his family cannot come see him, or someone who can't even put a little effort in. But Joe is so forgiving that sometimes, it upsets me. But more importantly, I respect him for his undying love for these people who do not deserve it.

The one thing I learn about people is that people want to be your best friend when it is most convenient for them. In the case of wedding, when they can walk down the aisle and show the guests that they are the bride/groom's best friend. But when the time of need comes, they fail to show up.

This is the one part of wedding planning that I wish I can avoid, because if it goes further, I really think I will resent people enough to cut off relationships with them. That would be the last thing I want.

Rehearsal

2009-02-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

As I was running out of the door this morning, along with my banana and tangerines packed for a day's work, I also grabbed a handful of pink envelopes adorn with pretty little stamps to drop off to the mailbox. These are our rehearsal dinner invites that are en route to our special guests. The final stretch is here.

Dome of Love

2009-02-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, Joe and I ran speedily to the church after work to meet with our coordinator. I was especially excited about this meeting as it signifies the closeness of the day we're saying "I do." Also, we were to observe another rehearsal that night to see how a wedding should run at the church. I've been to the church many a time, but every time that I step foot into it, it takes my breath away. The colors, the elegance, the magnificence, the light and the dome that sit atop the place where we will be standing 17 days from today and be joined as man and wife and no man can put asunder.
please excuse the blurry pictures. It was taken from my Blackberry.

Peace

2009-02-24T23:41:00.000-08:00

photo via [weddingbeepro]
Soon, I will be looking peaceful, in all my glory, waiting to walk down the aisle to my groom. I wonder what I will be thinking in that moment. I hope it's something nice. I especially hope I will not be thinking of any wedding details.

Local landmark

2009-02-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

It's always nice to see a local landmark captured artistically. I've lived in San Jose my entire life, and have on multiple occasions passed by this very sign. It always just seem so ordinary, until I saw this picture that captures it in a beautifully artistic sense.
photo via [weddingbeepro]

Magazine liner

2009-02-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

photo via [with this ring, i thee obsess]

What a fantastic idea! It's so easy to do since everyone of us must have stacks and stacks of magazines lying around. Let's put them to good use and recycle!

The case of the flower girl dress

2009-02-19T19:57:00.000-08:00

My niece Emily is our flower girl. I love this girl. She is also my god-daughter and therefore really really important to me. So I also want her to feel important and special on our wedding day. I've been searching high and low for a dress for her to wear as she walks down the aisle, but without breaking the bank. I've been eying dresses from JCrew and Janie and Jack such as these:

[JCrew] - $98 on sale

[Janie and Jack] - $140

But at >$100 a piece, I couldn't bear to bear to hit the check out button.

Instead, I browsed Target one day and found something that I like for like 10% of the price.
At $17.99 for this little thing, I think she'll like it because it's big and round and princess-y. I like it! I will go hit the checkout button now.

Ooohhhh and Aaaahhhh!

2009-02-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

This is the reaction I had when I saw the fantabulousness that is this grand entrance. Oh my gosh, it is absolutely adorable. What is there not to love about it! I want, I want, I want.
photo via [eLuckyme]

Finalizing the deal

2009-02-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

You know you are reaching the end of the planning road when your vendors are starting to reach out to you instead of you reaching out to your vendors.

On Friday, I will be meeting the coordinator that was assigned to us for the church ceremony. We will be attending another couple's wedding rehearsal prior to the meeting to see how the mass is conducted.

On Saturday morning, I will come in for my final fitting. I'm really really excited about this one as I get to my dress again, this time, it should fit perfectly.

The rest of the weekend will be filled with wedding planning and finalizing the details. For now, I leave you with these beautiful images taken by our very own photographer. Soon, this will be us.
photos via [Weddingbeepro]

Party planning

2009-02-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

As I'm trying to finalize some details with regards to the bridal shower I'm throwing for my friend Sarah, specifically the menu and decor details, I came across this oh so adorable little appetizer and cannot help but share them!
photo via [flickr]

These seem like they're so easy to make: hard boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and feta sprinkles. Love it!

Rainbows make me happy

2009-02-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

On the way to work today, I saw the most beautiful rainbow on the road. What's great is that from the moment I left my house, to the time I got to work, the rainbow was in plain sight.

I didn't want to get out of bed today to go into work, because Joe got the day off today as well as yesterday. All I wanted to do was stayed in bed, remaining wrapped in our comfy bed with our dog curled up right next to us, and sleep the day away. But alas, I got out of bed and dragged myself to work, and witness the beautiful creation.
I even think that I have reach the end of the rainbow. There is no pot of gold, but it still precious.

Are programs even a necessity?

2009-02-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

No. Do I want them? Absolutely.

Along with many other things I did this weekend, I finished up our programs. We are having a Catholic wedding and the majority of our guests are Catholic who knows how a mass is programmed. With that said, our programs will not include the program about the mass, but it will highlight the important portions of the mass. In addition, we will have a brief wedding party page and a thank you page. All in all, it turned out really nicely and I couldn't be happier with the result.

Adoration

2009-02-16T09:33:00.001-08:00

Oh.My.God! I love this little number from JCrew. Such a classic! That's all I've got to say.

On sale for $120 right now.

This would make an awesome bridesmaid gift, but I am considering adorning this at my rehearsal dinner with a cute little short white dress.

Shower with love

2009-02-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

Along with the many things I had to do this weekend was my friend Sarah's bridal shower invitation. This was a labor of love as the shower is on 2/28, just a mere 14 days from my wedding. I say it was a labor of love was because on top of everything I had to do for my own wedding, I had to make these invites. I'm glad they are done though, and will be in her safe little hands tomorrow to be sent out to her guests.

Sweet love details

2009-02-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love these little details that would make any envelopes. It's even better beautifully calligraph'ed.
photo via [Pen and Ink]

Count down begin

2009-02-14T01:52:00.000-08:00

I didn't do a count down post 2 days ago when we hit our 30 days, because I am waiting for today to come. Today is Valentine's Day, though it had only begun. Today we celebrate love. Today, many women will get engaged. Heck, one of my friends got engaged today 4 years ago. I am not one of those women. I don't do things on Valentine's Day, for fear of being trampled on. I celebrate in a very simple way, in a daily way. I don't want flowers, I don't want candy, I don't want fancy dinner or candlelights. If it had been any other year, today would be another day.

This year is special though. Today, we will celebrate that 4 weeks from today, we will walk down the aisle. We are 28 days away from the big day. Today, it is raining like mad. The weekend forecast is calling for rain! Please rain away, but go away the weekend of my wedding. Though I am tired as mad right now from a long day of working then a long night of wedding planning, I am sitting here at 2:00am writing this post because I am oh so excited that the real count down is going to begin.

Hope everyone is going to have a great Valentine's Day, whatever it is that you're doing.

Bachelorette Party - Vegas style, part 2

2009-02-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

Finally, we arrived at XS @ Encore. Luckily, my sister knew someone who worked at the Wynn Hotel, who was able to give us tickets to go to XS for free without having to wait in line. We were able to maximize our time at XS that way. I have never been to XS before, but it was an awesome place, not too busy, but has a good enough crowd to have fun. Additionally, it had a place outside where you can go and rest your feet if you need to. I loved that! My only peeve about that place is the music. Oh wells. Here are some fav pics of the night.

We arrived at the Encore hotel and there were these lobby chairs that we completely took advantage of for some photo ops.

Then we were inside the clubDancing awayUntil our feet got tiredThen we rest. Then do it all over again until the clock strikes 3am. We called it a night.

Gifts for our reader

2009-02-13T15:14:00.000-08:00

We have two readers, one cousin from each side.

I don't have a lot of family in the state, other than my immediate family. I have three uncles, none of whom had married. However, one had a child name Lindsey and she is my only cousin by blood here. Lindsey has two other half siblings and I consider them family though they are in no way related to me. She will be reading our first reading.

Joe grew up in a large family, with an even larger extended family. Unfortunately, I don't know any of them well enough prior to our marriage. However, I am putting his two sisters in my bridal party. One of his cousins Aimee that he considers family cannot partake in the bridal party. As such, she will be doing our second reading.

I am gifting each of these girls with this beautiful necklace that I found on etsy by seller magpiedesignz. I will have their initials stamped on the disks. I think it is just so simple and personal, that I would have loved to receive something like this and would be proud to adorn it on a daily basis. I hope they like it.
photo via [etsy]

To do list shrinking

2009-02-13T11:28:00.001-08:00

Our to do list is getting much smaller now. Today, I was able to cross off another item on the list, the rehearsal dinner venue. We've decided to do the rehearsal dinner at Dave and Buster's. For those of you who don't know, Dave and Buster's is like an adult Chuck E. Cheese's. It has lots of video games, billiard, golf simulator, etc. On top of that, it has alcohol! Mixing the combination always guarantees a good time.

What we're doing is renting out a part of the area. We will be dining buffet style on billard tables (which is set for dining) and it will be broken down for billiard after.

Even more awesome was that I worked there for 2 years when I was going to college. It's a lot of fun there, from personal experience.

Other things I'm planning to do this weekend is finish up the escort cards, the menu and the program, all the while celebrating Valentine's day. It's a lot of tasks to take on, but I'm determined to get it done.

Wedding vent #4: stress

2009-02-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

I've been so extremely tired lately, since I got back from my Vegas trip. During the day, I can barely keep my eyes open. During the night, I fall asleep instantly and sleep for hours! I wake up and I start thinking about my work and all the things I have to do for the wedding and I get so overwhelmed. I just need the weekend to come so I can finally take a breather. I need Friday night to come already and it just seems like days away.

As we speak, Joe and his buddies are off to Tahoe to snowboard. I don't want to be mad at him for it, but I am very very resentful of the fact that I'm working so hard, with so many things left to do and he's off having fun. I want to be able to enjoy the last portion of wedding planning, but it is getting so hard. I want to enjoy it with my fiance who wants to do his best to support me. I'm so tired, all the time.

Bachelorette Party - Vegas style, part 1

2009-02-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

We arrived to a beautiful room
Resting before having to go out
Getting ready
POSE!
Next up, a night on the town.

All my bags are pack

2009-02-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

photo via [Flickr]

I'm ready to go...to Vegas!

I'm really really excited. This is the first time that there is a party for me and everyone going has been so accommodating to allow me to have a good time. I'll be back with lots of pics!

25 things...

2009-02-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

If you are on facebook, you know that the recent trend is the "25 things about me..." exercise. Recently, I have also put "25 things about me" on here, but not on facebook because it is more private here. Today, I saw my future mother-in-law posted her own "25 things..." and I just have to share it. I don't know what about it, but it almost brings me to tears. Maybe because it shows how proud she is of her children, her passion for politics, or simply just her adventures in life.

1. I love my hometown Darby PA! I've lived here for 48 years and would never trade places with anyone in the world. If you're from Darby, then you understand.

2. My 4 children and their "Step-Dad" are my world. Each one is special. I am very proud of the wonderful young adults they have become.

3. I love my daughter Sandy and am proud of her accomplishments. She works hard every day, takes care of the elderly and infirm as a Nurse at Little Flower Manor and gives them compassionate personalized care. She worked hard to put herself through highschool, Neumann College and Delaware Valley Technical Institute. She has taught me much....with her examples of hardwork,dedication and compassion for others.

4. I love my son Billy and am proud of his accomplishments. He has worked everyday since he was 13 years old....never took a sick day! He has kept his education as a foremost priority. He works hard at two jobs starting at 5 AM and ending at 11 PM while studying hard and putting himself through Drexel University. He has taught me much with his example of outstanding work ethics...

5. I love my daughter Melanie and am proud of her accomplishments. She too has worked diligently since she was 14 years old. She is strong, independent and takes the lead when she needs to. Her extreme sense of calm helps ease tensions that surround us in our daily lives. She has strong convictions and makes wise choices. She has taught me much with her example of "walking softly and carrying a big stick"...

6. I love my son Joey and am proud of his accomplishments. He joined the United States Marine Corp in 2002 and rose quickly to the rank of Staff Sgt. He served two tours of duty in Iraq, served in Okinawa Japan, Australia and is now heading to Israel or Turkey in a few months. He has worked hard for his Marine Corp and our Country, sacrificing much at times in the face of danger. He has strived to make the world a better place and continues to do so every day. He has taught me much about surviving, adapting and improvising!

7. I love my better half Larry and am proud of his accomplishments. He has worked hard all his life, spent 25 years on the Yeadon Police force and is now the Chief of Police of Cheyney University. He has been my rock for many years and has given me the courage to go back to school and finish my education. After I spent 21 years in a violent marriage and "escaped" with the help of my children, Larry has shown and demonstrated to me that life is good, peaceful, happy and memorable. My life is now content.

8. I would like to graduate before I am senile....

9. I work at UPS as a Supervisor, currrently training and following up on all "new hires", helping them adjust to the night schedule, the hard work, obtain their education allowance and many other things. I love my job at UPS. I just wish it wasn't in the middle of the night so I could get a good night's sleep once in awhile.

10. I work during the day doing statistical research and interviews for the University of Chicago. I collect data from people all over the United States that determines how we live our lives, what we need and what percentages of the population work, have health care, obtain higher education and many more statistics. I love this job too! I feel I am helping to create a better future for all of us.

11. I love getting involved in the politics of Darby. I miss being the Mayor at times, because I like to help others. Although even though I don't hold the "position" anymore, I still get tons of requests from residents for information or help in certain areas. I have been involved in Darby politics since I was 10 years old....going to council meetings, campaigning in elections. It's in my blood....I was the youngest person ever elected to Council in 1988 and the first female mayor and the youngest....in 1998. I am thinking about running again this year....I feel I have to contribute as much as I can to the town that I live in and love.

12. I am scared to death of the dark and Thunder storms.

13. Joey Phillips and I swam in blue filmy water (10,000 gallons of tetracyline broke loose from Sentry Paint) down 8th Street in Darby during Hurricane Floyd getting out the Senior Citizens who refused to leave....am I glowing?????

14. I love to sit outside in my back yard on my deck and just look all over Darby....looking up past the hospital, up on the hill, down on Main Street and in front, watching the trains go by.

15. I love my car. People don't understand why, but my car knows why. It's a 93 Buick with lots of colors and duct tape....it has heat in the summer and airconditioning in the winter....it takes me whereever I need to go and when it breaks down? It's usually in front of my house...very convenient and loyal.

16. I love to read the New York Times every day and Newsweek once a week. All the news that's fit to print! I also love the Daily Times of course....all the local news.

17. I am hooked as ever on the new www.darbyboroughboomers.co

m website. I love reading the posts of all the people who grew up in Darby....reliving all the memories and hoping that some day, Darby will come back to life.

18. I try to keep a journal....writing down my memoirs so one day when I am unemployed or retired....I will sit and write a book!

19. I am anxiously awaiting my son Joey's wedding....I can't wait to see him walk down the aisle in his "Dress Blues" Marine uniform and marry his beautiful bride Lyz. I also can't wait to have my family all together....on the West Coast....Look out Cali...here comes the Browns....

20. I miss my mother and father tremendously. Especially now, that my life is content. I only wish my mom and dad had the chance to meet Larry and see how happy I am now...and what a wonderful person he is.

21. My sister and brother have taught me many lessons...early in my childhood and still to this day.

22. I feel closer to my sister now, later in life than I did when I was a child.

23. I wish I would have listened to my sister more often, could have saved me alot of trouble....

24. I am terrified for my children and myself in future years because of the economic shape we are in...

25. I am afraid to grow old....and....I need the list to increase to 50 random things about me...too short for all my adventures!

Candid ring shot

2009-02-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

This is the most beautiful candid ring shot I've ever seen, captured after the bride had overpoured champagne on herself.
photo via [WeddingbeePro]

Texture

2009-02-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

photo via [Nistor Photography]
photo by [Jerry Yoon Photography]

It's almost time

2009-02-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

When you get to the part of wedding planning where you have to think about program and escort cards, you know you are close to the finish line. I'm thinking about escort cards. Well to be honest, I've been thinking about escort cards a long time ago, but it was about the design and how I want to execute it. Now, we are actually in the process of making them.
The escort card is a pocket design whereby I can complete the cards before I have to do seatings. The pink piece of paper, where the guests' names and seating arrangement will be denoted, will slip into the pocket. The ribbon, by color, indicate the meal choices of each guests. I have 5 different meals for each guests (beef, chicken, fish, veggie, and child), which is previously selected. To make it look finished, I slip a photo request in the inside of the card to ensure that our guests load their photos onto flickr for all of us to share. I actually love how it turned out. Now, the debate then is whether to print the name cards or to have my father calligraphy them. He has such beautiful handwriting, and I so want to make it more personal. Would he mind writing out 100+ names and seating arrangement?

So close, yet so far

2009-02-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

I worked in my downtown office today and Joe came and met me for lunch. On our way back, we passed the church that we will get married in in 1.5 months. The church is so beautiful, sitting in the midst of downtown San Jose. It is about 2 blocks away from my workplace, and I pass by it every once in a while, and I always get so excited when it comes into view. As we were sitting there waiting for the light to change, I was in the perfect position to snap a quick picture with my blackberry.

So close, yet it just seems so far.

The Bridesmaids

2009-02-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have never blogged about what the bridesmaid will be wearing, well that's because I don't have a picture. Given that our color scheme is black, white and pink, you can imagine what color the dress is. Well, if not, then I'll give you a little hint, I am a big proponent of the wedding party wearing black!
photo via [Tying the Knot]

Well, the girls are indeed wearing black, but the dress has a bright sash at the waist in fuschia, very bright, and match the groomsmen's tie perfectly. What's great was that I got the dresses on sale for the girls, at $85 a piece, you can't go wrong.

I also didn't want to purchase the regular bridesmaid dresses that the girls cannot wear again. One of the hardest thing during the search was to find dresses that fit all types of bodies. My girls' bodies range from size 2 to size 16. The wide variety of sizes definitely posed a challenge, but I was able to find it, in sizes 4-16.

The only problem now is that my maid of honor doesn't have a dress. She's a size 2. Being that she is the maid of honor, it's okay that she wears a completely different dress. I would like to keep it in black though and I actually think that it's great that she will be wearing something different. However, we have the hardest time trying to find something for her. With 1.5 months away from the big day, we need something fast, and we think we found it.

Calvin Klein - Macy's - $182

This dress will be in black of course, but I think it's a very nice dress. My sister doesn't like wearing strapless dress, so this should make her feel plenty comfortable. I can't wait to get it in our hands.

Finalizing the bachelorette party

2009-02-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

As the weekend is approaching (slowly I might add), that means Vegas is approaching. Unfortunately, one of my bridesmaids cannot make it on Friday with us due to work schedule, but she'll be flying out on Saturday to meet us! She's such a rockstar for coming out for only a day! That's dedication.

Of course, being a tedious planner that I am, I have to finalize at least an itinerary for us even if it will change. Here's a little outline:

Friday:

5:30 - arrival
7:00 - dinner
9:00 - back to hotel to get ready
11:00 - club XS @ Wynn Hotel

Saturday:

12:00 - lunch
1:30 - spa @ Excalibur
5:00 - back to hotel
7:00 - dinner
9:00 - back to hotel to get ready
10:30 - Chippendale show
12:00 - club LAX @ Luxor

Sunday:

11:00 - check out
12:00 - lunch at Caesar Palace
2:00 - shop at the Forum Shops
5:00 - depart to airport
7:25 - flight back home

I love it when we have a plan. I also love that everyone is being really accommodating to my requests. I love that I'm going with a small group of 5 girls.

25 things about me

2009-02-02T16:51:00.000-08:00

I have a fear of flowers. I do not touch them nor do I find them beautiful in any way. The bigger they are, the scarier they are.
I did not learn to speak English until I was 10 and did not become fluent (able to carry a conversation) until I was in the ninth grade. Because it made me very very self-conscious, I was determined to get rid of my Asian accent and had successfully done so.
I have never dated an Asian men before (with the exception of Filipinos).
I shared a room with my sister and sleep on a bunk bed until I was 23 (when I moved out of my parents' house).
I stole $25 from my parents in the 7th grade to buy a school year book and got caught. I serious thought about running away after school because of it.
I have never been outside of the U.S. except for living in Vietnam for the first 10 years of my life.
I secretly wished I would marry a white man growing up. My future husband is a white man.
I grew up Catholic, switched to being a Christian when I dated my ex for 6 years, and have converted back to Catholic since meeting my fiance.
I don't call anyone best friend (with the exception of my fiance), because I feel like the label puts a lot of pressure on both sides.
I've only called two men boyfriend: an ex who I was with for 6 years and my current fiance.
I got engaged after 8 months of meeting my current fiance.
I was a valedictorian of my high school. There were 4,000+ students and 1,000+ in the 2001 graduating class. There were also 9 valedictorians.
I have a true appreciation for the study of economics. I even minored in economics in college.
Before I left for the U.S., my uncle hit me out of nowhere and told me that I don't deserve to have a better life while my cousins remain in a communist country. That memory is forever burn into my head.
I'm a terrible hand holder. Everyone I date tell me that.
I used to have an eating disorder in middle school. Growing up, everyone in my family told me that I was fat, so I spent a lot of time exercising everyday and eating very unhealthily.
I once overdosed on Tylenol by taking about 50 pills at once. Nobody every found out because I tried sleeping it out. I remembered feeling very sick because of it.
I cannot swim.
I have never told my parents "I love you" nor have they ever told me they loved me. We just never have that kind of dynamic. We have recently just started hugging as a sign of affection towards each other.
My first birthday party was when I was 13.
I've only been to the following out of state places: Forth Worth, TX, Chicago, IL, Miami, FL, Orlando, FL, Atlanta, GA, Boise, ID, Philly, PA, Salt Lake City, UT, NJ.
I have a big tattoo of a phoenix on my back, as a tribute to my Vietnamese name.
I think my parents don't know how to feel about me. On one hand, I am considered the black sheep in my family, due to the following reasons: I got a tattoo, I dated outside of my race, I was the first to move out of parents' house (before I got married), I lived with a man (my fiance) before marriage. On the other hand, I can tell that they are proud of me for what I've done so far.
My father fought in the Vietnam war and was taken prisoner for about 5 years because he fought with the Americans.
I have never held a gun before in my life, although my fiance is an expert shooter by military standard on the rifle.

Beautiful centerpiece

2009-02-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

photo via [Hostess with the Mostess]

Weight Loss

2009-02-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

I've never been one to worry about weight loss specifically for the wedding. I have a specific approach to weight loss as I have with work, just do what you're supposed to do and do a good job at it, and everything will fall into place. It's been really really successful at work, not so much with weight.

I have never been a small girl, nor have I ever been a big girl. I remember my first encounter with my weight consciousness was in the 6th grade, after my family beat it into me that I am fat. I was 118 lbs then. You know what happen when you became conscious of something, you become obsessed!

I was obsessed, exercising every single day and became really really unhealthy about my diet. After a few years, I did manage to lose some weight, as my weight settled at 120lb by the time I graduated high school. I think the weight loss is a result of the loss of baby fat, rather than from anything I did.

However, that time in my life was a really shallow time, coupling it with the hormones of a teenage girl, it was out of control. In college when I had more time, I managed to eat a little healthier and exercised as much as I can. I have to say that this is the period when I was most healthy.

After college and I started work, the nature of the work really put a damper on my diets and exercise habits. I ate a lot of things and with no time to shed those food out of the system, I gained some weight. I believeI maxed out at 135 lbs, which was where I was during the time that I purchased my wedding dress. I purchased a sized 8 and it was a bit snug. Breathable but still snug.

Lately, I've been busy with work and the wedding projects that I lost a bunch of weight. I'm down to 125 lbs and it is evident when I put on my dress on at the first fitting, after months of it sitting in the closet. It fits much more perfectly, to a point that the sides has to be taken in. Over the weekend, I also went shopping to get some things for Vegas next weekend, I tried on the guess jeans that I always have, and I had to go down two sizes from my usual size. I purchased them because the jeans I have no longer fit.

Though I was able to lose some weight without very much effort, I know a lot of people try to shed some weight before the wedding. So is anyone else trying to lose weight before the big day?

Pretty ribbons

2009-02-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

Love the look of decorated ribbons, over the ceremony area or the reception hall.photos via [The Bride's Cafe]

Wordle

2009-01-30T23:19:00.000-08:00

I used Wordle today and turned our readings into amazing works of art

First reading

Second reading

These will be printed and hung after the wedding is over. In the midst of it all, I will also hang this.

This can be purchased here

The Asian Curse

2009-01-30T22:03:00.000-08:00

I hate my Asian eyes! While others enjoy the blessings of their glorious full lashes on a daily basis, I have strands that I can count on my fingers. So, to help along the curse of nature, my make up artist will help a girl out.
Here I am on the day of the trial enjoying a full set of lashes. Though Ann used her own brands, she recommended that I try Mac's No. 7 eyelashes.
I never ever put them on myself; the glue and the tarantula look frankly intimidate me. Her tip? Trim them down so they don't look so scary. Duh! But I do wonder why people don't trim them down a bit so they look a little more, hmmm, natural?

Since my bachelorette pary is next weekend in Vegas, I thought this would be a great time to try them. So, while I was out shopping for the trip today, I purchased 2 pairs. I'm excited to try them on and finally beat the curse? Is this the subconscious reason I'm marrying Joe (a white guy), so that my daughter can enjoy the blessing of a full set of eye lashes? lol

Mucho Gracias

2009-01-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

OMG! I saw these thank you cards, gocco'ed no less and fell in love.
photo via [Sara Hanks Giessen]
I think I might have to seriously sit down and decide what I'm going to do with the thank you cards, because there are so many ideas, here and here.

Another Nadri Bride

2009-01-30T21:42:00.000-08:00

When I found my wedding earrings, I was so excited because they are gorgeous! I can't wait until the day I can put them on and dance the first dance with the one I call husband. You know when you think about something, you start to see it everywhere? Well, there was another bride that wear these at her wedding. Now, I found another one.
Soon I would be able to put myself on this list, and I can't wait 'til that day.

photo via [One Love Photo]

RSVPs

2009-01-30T16:22:00.001-08:00

In two days, our RSVPs are due to be returned to us. As of today, out of 120 people we invited, we have received 51 RSVPs. Not even half? Are you kidding? I gave them 1 month to return the RSVPs to me and they can't even pick up a pen and make a few mark and drop it off in the mail? Wow, and here I am trying to finalize ten thousand wedding projects in order to receive them and they can't even return to me the RSVPs on time. Oh wells.

The breakdown of the returned RSVPs is as follows:

Yes: 49
No: 2

I have seen a lot of statistics out there ranging from 10-20% decline rate. We are currently at about 5%. I don't care too much about the rate of decline, as I am willing and able up to the maximum number of guests invited, although I would like to keep it at 100 guests.

One thing I would have done differently with the RSVP is to put a spot for guests to write something. Although we didn't have a spot for it, certain guests did drop us a line and I'm always excited when I see a little note. In two days, I will have to start calling, because after all, I need to do the damn escort cards people! Drop those babies in the mail!

More invitations

2009-01-30T10:05:00.000-08:00

As a follow up post to the inspiration that ultimately resulted in our fabulous invitation suite (can you tell I'm very proud and self-indulgent with our invitations? LOL).

I was finally able to take some quick pictures that shows the similarities between the inspiration and the result. Once again, remember the inspiration?
photo via [weddingbee]
Here is the final result

Stairwell

2009-01-30T07:32:00.000-08:00

I saw this picture featured on weddingbeepro by Leigh Miller and it reminds me of one of my own pictures of our engagement shoot.
photo via [WeddingbeePro]
Here is ours
photo by [Jerry Yoon Photography]

Eloping is looking better everyday

2009-01-30T06:29:00.000-08:00

With the budget approaching zero fast and stress level increasing exponentially, eloping is looking better and better everyday as we are nearing the one month mark from the big day. If I had/could elope, I would wear black! It's flattering on every body
photo via [Ben Chrisman Photography]

Let's talk money

2009-01-30T00:50:00.000-08:00

[flickr]

specifically the budget.

I recently found out that my friend who is getting married in April is paying the second installment of their wedding...ON CREDIT! This is not the only installment on credit, but the ENTIRE wedding on credit. I say it's a poor financial decision.

I've always knew I would plan a wedding where we walk down the aisle debt free. With only 1.5 months away, and most vendors paid, I'd say we are successful. That is not to say that we never charge anything wedding related on a credit card, but the bill we racked up are paid within the same statement period, therefore, not incurring any interest.

I know realistically, not everyone can pay for the wedding off completely, or not have any debt wedding related. However, to put the entire wedding on credit, several credit cards, is a very very bad idea. Why did they not get married in a courthouse?

Back to the beginning...

2009-01-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

The wedding invitation concept

When I was designing my wedding invitation, I always wanted pocketfold. But pocket folds are expensive to buy. If you make them, you gotta buy these extra long sheets of paper instead of the standard 8.5x11 or 12x12 cardstocks. I wanted to just get some cardstocks and make something nice out of it. Then I saw this and it was the beginning of our invitation concept.
I love how there is no pocket, but it still holds everything in one place. Furthermore, it holds everything in place without loose inserts! Love it!

photo via [weddingbee]

When life gives you lemon?

2009-01-29T08:54:00.000-08:00

make lemonade, or course!

Or in this case, turn it into your beautiful wedding aisle!
photo via [Brides.com]

Bachelor parties and its demise

2009-01-29T05:07:00.000-08:00

It's 5 in the morning right now, and I am up trying to catch up on some work after dropping Joe off at the airport. He's catching an early flight to Philly. He's going home to see his family and has his bachelor party this weekend. He doesn't get to see his family very much, so he's always excited to be home. It's always bittersweet to see him go because while it's nice to have him go home, he'll be away from his current home and leaving me and Reggie behind for a few days. I'll get over it since I am so swamped at work right now anyways. Here's a picture of him last night sitting with Reggie. I love these two boys.
So, while he's away, I'm planning to do a bunch of wedding related projects this weekend, especially since work will slow down after today, at least for the weekend. Before I get started on those projects, I want to show a completed project that I have been working on since forever. I was finally able to finish it recently, and it is now sitting there waiting to be used.

She says YES!

2009-01-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

This says it all.

photo via [Nistor Photo]

Rehearsing for THE weekend

2009-01-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

Being that our wedding is 47 days away (as our wedding website indicate), I'm day dreaming about the big day.

This weekend had passed by so fast. I spent the entire weekend working for the most part, over 10 hours of work. I do hate my job sometimes, but it pays the bills, and it pays for the bills well. With busy season among us (only auditors will know what I mean), I have no time to do much of anything. However, with the wedding fast approaching, I had to prioritize and get wedding projects done on top of load of projects at work.

So, yesterday, after getting up and finished getting ready, Joe and I headed out for breakfast at IHOP with their all you can eat special. I was able to have 2 pancakes max. What a waste of a good deal. By the time we left the restaurant, it was around noon and that's when I sat down at my desk and worked the afternoon away. Since it was rainy all weekend, it was a fine day to be cooped up at home. I worked until about 5pm then decided that I had enough of it and packed my work away, and bring out my craft projects. Joe and I finished our floral monogram, which I will feature about later. Then, I finished cutting all of the little pieces of paper that will go into our program, which I will also talk about later. For now, this is what I completed: Our Rehearsal dinner invitation.

The invitation is printed using a laser jet printer. I designed it using the damask pattern we use throughout the wedding. Since it's a rehearsal dinner, it's more casual so I opted to print it on bright pink cardstock that I couldn't have used for any other projects. I like it!

The invitation is lined with black ribbons to give it a more finished look and backed on black metallic cardstock.

One task down...only a few more to go before the big day arrives.

Pretty flowers

2009-01-25T00:41:00.000-08:00

Beauty, timeless, modern all captured in a pretty bouquet and intensified in a pretty picture.
photo via [Jasmine Star Photography]

Wedding earrings in action

2009-01-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

I love seeing my wedding choices in action. Previously, I blogged about the beautiful Nadri earrings I will be wearing to the reception. They are very beautiful and popular amongst brides, so it's no surprise to be browsing through photographers' blogs and see them show up in some other weddings.
photos via [Jessica Strickland]

Reminder of home

2009-01-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

Photo via [Jessica Johnston Photography]

I came across this photo today and it reminded me of home.

I was born in Vietnam and moved to the U.S. when I was ten. I lived in a small town near Saigon, very rural, but I frequented Saigon quite often since my grandmother lived there. She had since passed and I never got a chance to go back and visit the home town since I left. I still have a lot of family over there, over 60 aunts, uncles and cousins (both of my parents had a really big family). I would love to go back one day. Joe and I talk about visiting it again, but being that it is still a communist country (though now friendly with Americans), we thought it'd be best to wait until Joe gets out of the Marine Corps to do so, just to be safe. It's a beautiful country and I can't wait to show Joe where I came from and finally have the rest of the country meet him.

Candlelit dance

2009-01-23T07:10:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful way to start your life together. So romantic.

picture via [Jessica Johnston Photography]

Chuck it!

2009-01-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Previously, I blogged about the ties we will be gifting our groomsman. We will also gifting them argyle socks. Last but not least, these

[source]

All of the cost just to create an image like this on the wedding day.

[source]

I'm just kidding. We want to give the groomsmen something they can use as well after the wedding, and well, who doesn't love a pair of Chuck Taylor.

Beautiful handwriting

2009-01-22T17:58:00.001-08:00

Oh how I wish my handwriting was beautiful enough to create this beautiful masterpiece (from Laura Hooper Calligraphy, a WeddingbeePro).

I heart shoes

2009-01-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

I saw this beautiful shoe shot of a wedding on WeddingbeePro and has to share it. Why? Because it reminds me of ours on our engagement session.

[source]
This one is ours. I do heart our photographer, Jerry Yoon, also a WeddingbeePro

Burberry Love

2009-01-21T22:15:00.001-08:00

There are three berries I love most: Burberry, Blackberry and blueberry, in that order. I favorite accessory is my burberry purse that I purchased in the summer of 2006 while visiting a friend in San Diego. I just got my first raise and bonus as an adult, and it was a good sum so I splurged on a $1,200 purse + $300 wallet. Since then, generous families and friends have gifted me with a matching scarf and beret hat and sunglasses. You can say I have a little soft spot for the plaid design, so when I saw this, my heart skipped a beat.

[source]

I don't even want to know how much this will cost me if I want to replicate the look. I just know it's out of my price range, but how I adore it.

Rehearsal dinner hardship

2009-01-21T22:04:00.001-08:00

I've been searching high and low for my rehearsal dress, and I have yet to find something. I originally ordered this cute little number from JCrew, on sale for $78.
But this is a summer dress. The fabric and style screams summer, and well my wedding is not in summer, it's actually at the tail end of dinner.

I do have a dress sitting in my closet, worn once at a friend's bachelorette party in Vegas in June 2008. Here I am with the dress. I actually love the dress a lot, I've just never had the occasion to wear it again.
Why am I having such a hard time with the rehearsal outfit?

Preparing for the rehearsal

2009-01-21T21:31:00.000-08:00

[source]

I saw this inspiration board over at Weddings Fresh and I just love everything about it. The dress and the shoes are by far my absolute favorite! When I think about what I will wear to my rehearsal dinner, this is what comes to mind. I love all the accessories, but this comes of as trying too much though, what with packing every accessory on with this outfit. I would take out the necklace and bracelet, and adorn only the cute clutch, earring and cocktail ring. Love it!

Twigs and Honey giveaway

2009-01-19T22:43:00.000-08:00

I've adored Twigs and Honey by Myra Callan since forever. Today, she's having a giveaway of one of her designs. Visit her site to enter for a chance to win! You have until January 25th to enter.

I especially love this little number.

Eye Candy: Hand Written Invitation

2009-01-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

[source]

I saw this beautiful invitation and thought it was a handwritten invitation. Apparently, it was printed from a personally handwritten letter. Irregardless, wouldn't it just be great if invitations were handwritten, especially if I had handwriting as beautiful as this?

Cover me pretty

2009-01-17T10:33:00.001-08:00

When getting in March, I'd risk the chance of rain on my wedding day. I've resolved to be okay with it if that was the case. It'll make for some great photo ops. Unfortunately, the ceremony and the reception are not the same place, it's actually about half a mile walk from one place to the other. In order to escape the rain in style during our trek on foot to the reception after the ceremony, I have to find some cute umbrellas, and so far, these are the only ones I could find for cheap.

[source] - $22 from Mariekko at Amazon

Fabric thank you card

2009-01-17T02:46:00.000-08:00

I saw these at Style Me Pretty and thought it is so pretty that I had to share. Of course with any lovely DIY item, an instruction is included.

Materials Needed:
Sewing Machine
Pinking Shears or Rotary Cutter
One piece of Ultrasuede fabric
Satin Ribbon
Coordinating Threads
Metal Ruler
X-acto Knife

Instructions:
Step 1: With scissors, trim ultrasued to 5.5″ x 8.75″. Cut a piece of coordinating ribbon to 20″ long. Align Ribbon to the center of the fabric lengthwise and pin about 3.5″ down from the top on the right side of fabric. Secure ribbon with a sewing machine. Fold bottom of the envelope up about 2.5″. Sew both sides shut with a sewing machine.

Step 2: Measure .5″ in from the top center of the envelope. With an x-acto knife, cute a straight line through the fabric just wide enough to accommodate your ribbon. Measure .25″ up and repeat the same cut. Thread ribbon through slots.

Step 3: Place a standard 4-Bar card in the envelope or download this template of cards and print out onto card stock on your home printer. Follow the instructions in the template on how to trim out.

Step 4: Once the card is placed in the envelope fold top over and pull snug. Using pinking shears or ruler and rotary pinking cutter, trim each side to get the decorative scalloped edge. Make sure to do this step last so that the scallop edges line up. Snip ends of ribbon to points and tie in a bow!

Balloon for wedding decoration

2009-01-17T02:21:00.000-08:00

Remember when you went to you high school prom and it was decorated with balloons? Well, why can't you replicate that look for your wedding affair, but make it less prom-like and more elegant affair? Use this as inspiration.

Along the same line, Martha also shows the tips for a glamorous wedding on a budget:

1. A monochromatic color scheme ups the glam quotient. Try a bold, bright hue like red to make a major statement.

2. Don't have the budget for full-on chair covers? Weave wide grosgrain ribbon through the backs of reception chairs for a softer, polished look.

3. All it takes is one standout glass to make a specialty cocktail, well, special. Ditto the glassware on the reception tables. Choose a rental company with lots of options, and add a colored glass to each place setting as an easy way to bring depth to your tablescape.

4. Give out-of-town guests a little goodnight treat by arranging for hotel staff to leave a small token on their pillows each night of their stay.

5. Take a cue from the silver screen with dramatic black-and-white photography. Black-and-white shots make everything -- and everyone -- appear more chic.

For even more inspiration, see the Spring 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, where the following ideas appeared.

6. Bring on the bubbly! After all, nothing says festive like Champagne. And it can serve a dual purpose, too: A vintage wine bucket with a bottle of the French fizz can make an inexpensive centerpiece, and a tower of coupe glasses lends drama.

7. Let balloons rise to the occasion as a simple yet stylish way to fill a big space. The secret to a grown-up look? A simple color palette. Attach them to ribbons to make garlands for the ceiling.

8. What could be sweeter than confections that sparkle? Dim the lights, then fire up the night by topping cakes and other desserts with sparklers.

9. If you have the budget, do away with the deejay and opt instead for a live band to give your party a spontaneity that can't be bought with canned music.

10. Bid farewell in style with a candlelit path leading from the reception site. It lends just the right amount of romance, and simple glass containers holding candles are affordable as well as safe.

Adorning the guys

2009-01-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

ringbearer

groomsmenfathers

groom#1

groom#2

As part of the bridal party gifts, we will include ties as part of the gift package. Here is the variety of ties that will be adorning on our wedding day. We are undecided on what Joe will be wearing, the plain white or the paisley white. I'm really loving the look of the paisley though. They had all came and they are really really nice quality, especially for the price of $15/each. We got one of the father's tie in extra long for Joe's mom's boyfriend because he's a big guy. For extra long, they run $20/each. All were purchased at The Tie Bar.

Mad about damask!

2009-01-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

Remember this little post about us trying to incorporate damask into our wedding? Well over the weekend I spent about 2 hours finishing up a damask project and I'm happy to report that I'm very very pleased with the outcome.
Our own little card box, made from a Christmas gift box purchased on sale after the holiday season, wrapped in damask fabric. This will help incorporate damask into the wedding in a subtle way and tie in the table overlay with the rest of the wedding. I really really love the way it turned out.

Wedding vent #4: Incredibly Thankful

2009-01-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

We have reached that point in our wedding planning. We are 60 days out from the day of, most of the vendors are paid, a lot of the projects are completed, and all that is left is that wondrous day when I get walk down the aisle in my dear father's arm towards the love of my life. No matter what happen from now until then, that day will arrive, and that moment will leave me with such incredible joy, more so than the joy that comes with the anticipation of that moment to come.

As I spent many many more hours trying to complete the remaining tasks, I cannot help but feel incredibly thankful for all of the blessings in my life. There is a lot of talk about the current economy and the rate of unemployment is increasing exponentially, Joe and I still hold a good paying job. We do not have to put the wedding on hold.

I have Joe to come home to at the end of a torturous workday and he still come home to me. We still sleep in the same bed at night wrapped in each other's arms and feel so completely safe and sheltered from the world. It is truly those moments I feel each night as we climb the stairs hand in hand to go to bed that I feel like the luckiest person alive.

I'm thankful that we have the support of our families and friends. I can't imagine doing wedding planning with these people who are so important to me and Joe.

Aside from all of this, I'm thankful for love. No matter what people say, love will conquer all. It will keep us alive. Because love enable us to do things that we do not think possible.

Table Overlays

2009-01-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

I love damask, as previously posted here and here and here. But like I also said, I don't want it to dominate the wedding. To tie it all together, I only used damask on the outside of the envelopes of the invitations, which is the first introduction to damask that guests are exposed to. They will get more exposed to damask as the wedding come closer, in the rehearsal dinner invitation and program and then at the reception, this:

[source]

Beautiful damask overlay in the same dainty damask pattern. This picture was taken from etsy seller DarlingDamask. She has beautiful damask patters for sale. Unfortunately, for this look, it will run me $30 per table. With 12 tables, I will be out $360. That's too much for my blood.

I found the same damask fabric at BuyFabrics for $6.99/yard. I purchased 30 yards after working out how many yards I will need for 12 tables of 54x54 in overlay. I think I will have about 10 yards leftover to use for other purposes, such as the card box and other miscellaneous items to tie things together. The cost for fabric with shipping at $190, saving me about $150. Was it worth it? I'm not sure. But I love to know that I saved some money.

On another note, my tables will not look exactly like this, since I don't have chivari chairs, but I will have chair covers over the provided dining room chairs which will be tied with the same pink sash noticed here. At first I wanted to have black sash to tie it in with the damask, but Joe was afraid that the black chair sash with damask linens will be too dark. So, after much deliberation, we have decided to go with pink sash instead. It's nice to see the whole combo at work to validate that it will look coordinated. I'm happy with what I'm seeing.

Dress fitting

2009-01-10T01:21:00.000-08:00

I'm scheduled to bring my dress to a local seamstress at noon to get my first dress fitting done. I'm not really sure what I want to do with the dress, nor do I know the type of bustle I will need. I will leave that to the fate of the seamstress. Here's what the dress looks like on me when we purchased it in May of 2008.

The best part of the wedding planning process...

2009-01-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

...is the honeymoon at the end of the road.

We booked the honeymoon for Cabo San Lucas for Monday 3/16/2009 through 3/23/2009. It will be a 7 night stays in the beautiful Villa La Estancia, Cabo's luxury homes on Medano Beach. In order to keep our cost down, we did not go for the fancy ocean view hotel suite. It is simply a hotel room. But it is still a 4 star resort. I hope we can compensate for the lack of view with the amount of time we spent outside doing activities and seeing the view by being there. I can't wait!

Thank you card

2009-01-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

I gotta say, Mrs. Daffodil over at weddingbee is a girl after my own heart. She's a DIY'er without the talent of Photoshop behind her. So, her post today about her thank you card is a complete blessing, all created in Microsoft Powerpoint, which is the tool I use to create all of my paper goods.
I love this thank you card. Similar to her, I want to create my own thank you card to cut down the cost, and I want to make it in a collage format. I love it! I can't wait to get started on these, especially since we are starting to receive our gifts. Of course, I would have to wait to have to wedding first, then wait some more to get the pictures back in order to do so.

Here's her complete instruction taken directly from her blog post:
Ingredients:

8.5″x11″ Sage cardstock from Paper Source
Luxe Cream 5×7 envelopes, also from Paper Source
Double-sided tape
MS PowerPoint (because I still have not mastered Photoshop)
My trusty color printer

The detailed instructions

To create the collage:

I started by drawing a 5.5″x8.25″ white box in PowerPoint. To do this, go to “Insert –> Picture –> Autoshapes”. This should pull up the autoshape menu. Click on the button with the shapes, select the rectangle, and draw it on your slide.
Right-click and go to “Format Autoshape”, which takes you to various options that allow you to specify the size and color.
Once you have done this, insert your photos into MS PowerPoint by accessing the “Insert” menu and selecting “From File…” Select the files. This can get a little messy if your photos are very large. You may have to patiently find the corners of the photos and then resize each one so that you can see them all on one slide.
Once you have inserted all of your photos and can see them all, you can adjust the size of each image and arrange them inside the white rectangle as you prefer. I chose to leave spaces between each photo that was equidistant from the border of the white box.
To insert text, go to “Insert –> Text Box”. Click somewhere outside your white box, and then type out the main message (which was just a simple “thank you” on the front in our case). Highlight the text, right-click, and select “Fonts”. We chose a font that matched the one we used on our invitations. Once you have chosen the color and sized the text appropriately, click on the edge of the text box and drag it to the location you want the text to appear.
At this point, everything on your collage should be in place. Click outside the white box, drag over everything, and let go. This selects every object on your slide. Right-click and go to “Grouping –> Group”. Then right-click again and select “Save as Picture”. Save it as a .jpg file.
The whole collage has now been turned into an image that you can edit and upload for printing. It can also be scaled for 4″x6″ photos. We uploaded our image to AdoramaPix and had them printed on Kodak Endura Matte paper. AdoramaPix was awesome in that they made sure the image was cropped and printed correctly! (We had previously used Snapfish but returned our entire order because the image was printed crooked.)

To create the backing:

We had the entire stack of sage cardstock cut at Kinko’s to the dimensions of 9″ x 6.5″.
In PowerPoint, I drew a 6.5″ tall and 9.0″ wide rectangle, in the same way as I did in steps 1-2 for the photo collage. I formatted the box (right-click on the box and select “Format Autoshape” to have a clear fill and for the outline to be a dotted 0.25″ very light gray line.
I created the text using text boxes (see step 5 under the collages). I rotated the text boxes and arranged them.
I also used the same fonts that we had used on all of our communications and in the same color.
Next, I did a test print using regular white paper with my printer. This allowed me to figure out how to feed our already-cut cardstock into the printer. For my Canon MP530 printer, I only had the option of inserting our pre-cut sheets flushed to the right edge of the paper feeder, so the test print helped me figure out that the box I drew needed to be flushed to the left bottom of the slide (see image above).
After a couple more test prints to make sure everything was set, we inserted the 9×6.5 sage cardstock and printed 200 copies!

Wedding vent #3: the groom's family

2009-01-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

I love my fiance, what I don't love is his family. Now, I realized that when I marry someone, I'm marrying their entire family. Don't get me wrong, they are great to me. I met his mom and his dad and his family twice. They were more than welcoming. More importantly, they allow us the freedom to live our own lives, as they are 3,000 miles away. With that said, I've learned to adore them.

Fast forward to 2.5 months before the wedding. Joe loves his family, and he is always more than willing to forget their faults, particularly those of his dad's, and there are quite a few. Since he had never done anything to me, I can't particularly dislike the man either. It just pisses me off when he disappoints Joe, or does something so unbelievably un-fatherly that makes Joe sad. Case in point, Joe called the house to wish him and his wife and family a Happy Thanksgiving. No return calls. Joe's birthday came in mid December and he waits anxiously for a phone call from his father. Midnight comes and go. No phone call. Christmas and New Year came, and due to the disappointments of the previous two occasions, Joe was pissed enough to not call them. He broke down and called his father a few days after New Year.

It's sad to see that Joe so disappointed, given the circumstances. He's the only of the children who is living 3,000 miles away, who has been away for over 8 years now, who rarely gets to see his families over the holidays, who previously had spent all of the holidays by himself before he met me, who calls everyone on their important dates to show that he is thinking of them, who calls his father from Iraq on his birthday when he was stationed there. It is disappointing to know that the same favor cannot be returned to a man who always have access to a telephone but is negligent enough to not use it to brighten his distant son's day. It is so completely devastating actually. It is a battle each day for me to not pick up the phone and call my future father in law to scream, yell and knock some sense into him. It's completely messed up how some people take so many things for granted.

Now comes the wedding. They know about this wedding since day one. Now that it's two months out, his father has yet to book his flight or show any intention of coming out here for the big day. Whenever he speaks to Joe, he speaks of the lack of money and the current economic conditions, all of which are very real things. All I have to say is that he has to make it, even without his wife and Joe's two half-siblings. His father has to make it or it will completely break Joe's heart. As someone who constantly sees his struggle to disown and forgive his father, I am prepared to do everything in my power to get him here, even if I have to purchase a $1,000 ticket and overnight it to him. The point is that Joe should not have to go through all of these struggle with his father, and I should not have to see his heart break like a 5 year old every time his birthday comes around and his father forgets. We are prepare to take these lessons and not do what father does when we become parents.

If people are not prepared to have children, they should not procreate so much! There are so many children out there whose hearts are breaking because of their parents, be they 5 year old or 25 year olds.

Our first gift

2009-01-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

We received our first wedding gift yesterday. As we were watching the Eagles vs. Vikings game, my bridesmaid Denise and her boyfriend came over to hang out and brought their two dogs to play with Reggie. When they arrived, behind her boyfriend's back was a big box and this was what he was carrying:

[source]

I know etiquette dictates that we not use it until the wedding but we couldn't resist opening our first gift. It was what we needed too!

Time to think about thank you cards.

The biggest cost of our wedding...

2009-01-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

...is the food.

Today, we had a meeting with our reception hotel to try the food. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the food was so delicious, all of the choices. My favorite has got to be the hor oeuvres. Here are our menu breakdown:

Hor Deouvres (3 choices):

Chicken Satay with Thai Peanut Sauce
Grilled Teriyaki Beef Skewers
Seared Sea Scallops Wrapped in Bacon

First Course

Baby Greens with Cherry Tomatoes and Cucumbers Served with a Vinaigrette Dressing or Creamy Parmesan Dressing

Second Course:

Panko Crusted Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach, Cheese and Pinenuts served with Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables, OR
Sliced Beef Sirloin Served with Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables, OR
Wild King Salmon and Pernod Rice Pilaf Served with Seasonal Vegetables and Red and Yellow Pear Tomato Vinaigrette

Third Course

Wedding Cake

All courses served with fresh baked rolls and sweet butter. Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Arabica Bean Coffee or Selection of Specialty Teas are also available.

Also, what came with our food package is two bottles of wine per table. We chose a Carbenet and sauvignon blanc. There is no corkage fee or cake cutting fee. Additionally, there is one hour of passed champagne during the cocktail hour. The price per person with all of the above is $65.95, with an additional sales tax of 8.25% and service fee of 22%.

With our guest list of 100 people, the total for food, including tax and service is approximately $8,700.

However, the package does not include other beverages, such as soda or ice teas. Since my family are big soda drinkers, we will have a soda station which will cost us $10 per pitcher. We're thinking we might need 20 to 30 pitchers which will add an additional $300-$400 bringing us to low $9,000. We are committed to a minimum food and beverage balance of $10,000. With that said, we will have a cash bar of which we will pay $1,000. I think this is a very reasonable balance for Northern California.

A big plus is that the hotel was recently renovated in November 2008 and the inside is very very modern. I love it!

I can't believe the wedding is coming together. There is so much to do left, yet the biggest items are all done. We also paid the remaining balance today of $4,500. It is the biggest expense we have left!

It's T minus 68 days from here on out.

Hair and make up trial - the result

2009-01-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I had my make up trial and I must say, it was a pleasant surprise. I have never really liked having my make up professionally done, but Ann Ho of Styles by Ann did a great job. It felt like me, more enhanced.

I showed Ann my inspirations, and right off the bat, she said that I had to wear extension if I want my hair down. Since I was on the fence about having my hair up or down, but I knew I didn't want to wear extension, so it was a pretty easy decision.

One additional inspiration that I showed her was another one of her work taken off of her myspace page, which inspired the whole look
Here's the result:
I'm so satisfied with the result and will be booking with her. I love it!

Show your face

2009-01-02T02:32:00.001-08:00

My hair and make up trial is this Saturday and the stylist had requested that I put certain inspirations together to ensure that she knows my styles. So I went searching for inspirations:
Down Do's:

Carrie Underwood

Styles by Ann

Up Do's:

Not sure where I got these from, but I love the low bun if I do have my hair up

Make Up:

Knottie - Pootiekins
Styles by Ann

The hair I am unsure of. I don't know if I want an up do or a down do. I love the classic look of an up do, but Joe prefers the look of a down do. Make up is a little easier in that I just want a fresh and clean look. Good thing that the inspiration above is done by my potential make up artist, so I know it is achievable. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Pi

2009-01-02T01:55:00.000-08:00

For all the math genius out there, or even someone who took some math in high school, you should know that 3.14 is the number of pi. We are getting on 3/14/09, so it is also dubbed as pi day.

[source]

Along that line, I was browsing through Southern Wedding and found these cuff links at Cufflinks.com that will be perfect for our wedding day, or any bride getting married on that day for that matter. I'm a little skeptical because it is so dang expensive, at $165. I'll think about it, but meanwhile, I'll post it here for any March 14 bride out there still looking for that perfect groom's gift.

The Most Important Details

2009-01-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

As I am posting all the details away, I remember that I have not yet post about the most important details of all: the wedding bands. I am of the mind that the wedding bands are the most important items on your wedding day, even the wedding process. I have always thought that the engagement ring is just that, something that symbolizes to the world that you are an engaged woman, taken! But, the wedding band is one that says, I am married! So, I have never really understand why people spend so much money on an engagement ring and spend so little on a wedding band. Nevertheless, to each her own.

When looking for wedding bands, I fell in love with eternity bands. They are so timeless, and so glamorous at the same time. I began my search and realized eternity bands of the size and look that I liked were going for about $1,700 (one of which is at Signed Pieces). I was not willing to purchase it online since I don't know what it looks like with my engagement ring. In talking to my mother, she suggests that we go to a local jewelry store. So on we went and after talking to a very nice saleswoman, we got the price talked down to $1,500 for a total carat eternity band made of princess cut diamonds of 1.23 carat. Great deals! Also, to top it off, we purchased my fiance's wedding band using white 18k gold (also custom made to a ring that he liked at Kay's Jeweler) for $300. Another great deal. Last but not least, since the eternity band will not go with my engagement ring too well, as it is too much bling that will outshine the engagement ring, I decided to get a plain wedding band for occasions when I want to wear my engagement ring. It is made of 18k white gold purchased for only $100. Another great deal! They threw in the engraving on both of our plain wedding bands for free. Last great deal. In total, we spend approximately $1,900 for all of the wedding bands. It is an extremely great deals for all the bling we got.

Left to right: Joe's wedding band (size 11, 5mm), eternity band, my wedding plain wedding band, my engagement ring.

I love them!

Happy new year!

2009-01-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

to 2009!

So far so good. We stayed in to bring in the new year this year, with only 5 people present at our house: Joe, Jim and my friend Sarah (who is getting married in April), Sarah's fiance and myself. We talked, we laughed, we drink and we brought in the new year together. It was calm, cool, chill and collected. It was a good way to bring in the new year!

Hope everyone else has a great new year! Here's to 2009! It will be a great year since I will be marrying the love of my life.

72 days until the wedding!