dilemma

This is where we are getting married. Isn't it gorgeous?

It's inside this garden located in this bigger garden that is one of my favorite places in town. It's the smaller of two spots one can have the ceremony in (there is a bigger location just around the other side of the garden but in my opinion, it's not nearly as picturesque). Thankfully we are having a smallish wedding and I, for one, am thankful that we'll only be surrounded by our closest friends and family.

With that bring said, I have several problems to pose to you faithful readers:

1) How do I arrange the seating in his pergola area? We're allowed to use the benches as part of the seating and we'll rent chairs for the rest but there are big beams running through the middle of the space. Do we face forward towards the pond and just place seating on either side of the beams with a mini aisle running through the middle or should we turn the entire thing around and have the guests face the little deck just off to the side at the left? Either way, it will be slightly awkward. I am leabing towards the pond view only because it would be the prettiest view.

(By the way, can you see the MOH? That's her, half hidden behind one of the beams; she's a peach.)

2) What kind of decorations should we go with? I am thinking very minimal decor as I wanted to let the natural beauty of the place shine. It's all overgrown and green and right now the whole place is blooming. There are cherry blossoms bursting from every visible space in the gardens (oh how I wish they would still be in bloom at wedding time!)

Above our heads also hangs wisteria in bunches. I'm not sure how they'll last in the sumemr heat but I also hope they hang on till then.

What do you think? Should I leave it alone like I think I should and just place the seating out? Or should I try to decorate the beams or something? I kinda like them bare myself but I'd like your opinions on it.

And psst, what do you think of this view for marching down the aisle? It makes me feel like throwing on my wedding dress and having a strut up and down for real.

With less than our months away, we have so much to do and decide on. But you know what? I'm excited. I can't wait for the party to be over with and to start this new adventure in married life.

(All pictures by me)

please don't judge me by the books I love

I preface this post with a statement that may or may not turn you off to this blog completely (all two of you who read it): I love Twilight. Yes, I know there are things about it that should turn me off and my feminist self is sometimes repulsed by how much I adore the character of Edward. But I'm a sucker for stupid vampire love stories and for that, I hang my head in shame (that's for you, Jenn! Sorry. You still love me, right?)

Anyways, if you haven't seen the movie then you probably won't understand the next part of this post. I saw it with giggly bridesmaid and well, I just about fell in love with the sweater Bella Swan wears at the end of the movie during the prom scene as seen here:

(image by TwilgHt)

I love the soft look of the little shrug she is wearing over the blue dress (which, incidentally, is a very close match in color to the bridesmaids' dresses). There is some pretty beading of white and blue flowers along the edge of the shrug which gives it a lovely vintage look (plus what a fantastic way to include the whole "something blue" idea). So ever since giggly bridesmaid dragged me to the movie and thereby dooming me to love the Twilight series, I have become obsessed with the idea of finding this sweater (or a pretty close simulation of it) to wear at my own wedding. Though it's a summer wedding, the reception is at night and being held close to the bay where the wind does chill even in July.

So I browsing etsy for the millionth time today (really, it is a bad habit but thank goodness I've been pretty self-controlled when it comes to spending money frivolously as I've got a nice case of don't-buy-it-unless-it's-necessary-for-the-wedding guilt these days), when I came across a number of contenders for wedding shrug/sweater:

I came across this little beauty when I was first shopping at etsy. It's a little scalloped lace shrug that screams out vintage gorgeousness. I fell in love on the spot. But after buying my Dress, this no longer was an option as the two did not play together well. I needed something that played nicely with a garden feel.

(shrug by Rohm)

The next little pretty thing I found was all fluff and airiness; I was smitten. My heart still skips a beat when I see it. But somehow I think it won't do as the ruffles are a little much for my dress and would compete with it. If I had picked a simpler dress (maybe the one I thought about going with) this added details would've been just the thing to make the wedding outfit pop! But the two combined, it becomes busy.

(silk organza ruffle jacket by the English Department)

And then I went shopping with giggly bridesmaids and a few other friends this past week and stumbled across this while out on the town with the girls:

(capelet by Anthropologie)

I just adored the yellow trim and it really looks like it could keep me warm from the bay winds. I'm not sure whether or not it goes with the Dress but it is simple enough that it might. I am hopeful.

And then there's this last discovery which has completely won by heart. It has all the qualities I was looking for: vintage, beading, and warm! Plus out of all the other possibilities, this fits most with the Bella Swan sweater I longed for. Is it wrong that I want this based on a movie--let alone a teen movie? I feel a little ashamed by the thought but nonetheless, I adore this shrug. It is so very sweet and would go great with my dress.

(shrug by Breathless)

What do you think? Should I go ahead and buy it?

time goes by really fast when you're planning a wedding

(image by dakokichidekalb)

Today marks exactly 4 months until the wedding.

Huzzah!

beware birds bearing messages

Now that our little postcards are safely away crossing air and land and water to reach their ultimate destinations, I think I can reveal a little of their making.

Step One:
Go to Boy's mom's place. Make small talk. Have dinner and then when you've finally stuffed yourself silly with salmon, stemmed veggies, calamari, and all sorts of soups and breads, pounce on the moment before complete after dinner stupor to ask her to please take a picture of you and the Boy for some snazzy Save the Date cards.

Step Two:
Once you get her to agree to a rather inarticulately explained idea (for shame, all those long hours of toiling away for an MA in Literature and all she gets is gestures, diagrams and a "Just trust me, I see it in my head"), and you finally drag the Boy in on the fun, then have your brain become suddenly blank.

The boy will turn and look at you and ask, "Well, what do you want to do?"

You will respond coolly, "I dunno. Something funny and dorky, you know, like us."

"Um, like what?"

"You know. Silly."

"OK, I don't know what you want. I can't see inside your head." Turns back to the basketball game on the tele.

grumble grumble. sigh. "OK, let's just take some pictures of us standing and holding these signs I already printed out.

Step Three:
Take a multitude of awkward pictures. Thank the Boy's mom for being a good sport. Now wait weeks to print the pictures out. Got that?

Step Four:
Finally decide it's probably cutting it a little close that the wedding is less than six months away and the save the Dates card really should've been made and sent out (especially for those guests overseas) and then drag one giggly bridesmaid to your local Walmart wherein you proceed to jam up one of their photo kiosks in your pathetic attempt to print out 100 copies of 4 2x3 pictures. Get frustrated and leave and then blog about this frustrating experience.

Step Five:
Wrangle the Boy to going back to said Walmart but this time printing out a few copies and then copying the entire photo and printing it that way (ha ha! I did manage to beat the system and left relatively not annoyed).

Step Six:
Finally put together the postcards using 1) the dorky pictures, 2) some old watercolor paper so generously donated by giggly bridesmaid (I just adored the weight and texture of the paper), 3) one Xyron Sticker Maker, 4) one paper cutter and some odds and ends including stamps and pens.

Here are the dorky picture I spoke of.


Take the picture and run it through the machine. You just turn the little knob on the side and it will cranks the picture through the machine. Just be careful in the timing you put the next picture in so they don't overlap and you don't get sticky coating on part of it.

The picture comes out the other side on the sticker paper. Peel the picture off the paper...

and then put it on whatever paper you want to use (in my case, it's the watercolor paper). I made sure to leave some room on the edges so that when I cut them out I'd have a border around them.

After you get all the photos onto the paper, you'll have sheets and sheets waiting to be put out.

Cut the postcards out using a paper cutter (or a steady hand and a pair of scissors on lines drawn using a ruler works just as well).

Once done, you've got a nice stack of postcards.

I attempted to run the paper through our printer but it was too thick. So racking my brain for other ideas, I decided to punish myself by handwriting all the postcards. I took stamps I had purchased when we first got engaged and I was on this kick that the wedding will be bird-themed (still is though the ideas have been diluted somewhat since the first rush of infatuation or pragmatic sensibility). I stamped he little birdie on the top left-hand side and the vine and birds down the middle of the card to divide the text and the addressee sides. I had wanted to get one of those nifty vintage postcard stamps but time being short and me being impatient I went with the vine and I think it turned out rather well. Then I hand wrote the little note coming out of the bird's beak ("Save the Date!") and the message ("Boy and Girl are getting hitched! (Details to follow)) and when my hand wasn't complaining anymore, I wrote all the addresses of our dearest friends and family and then we sent them out.

(all pictures are by me)

With a sign of relief, I say: Huzzah, they are done!

Next step: invitations, programs and escort cards. Thank goodness I've already a good head start on most of these.

a wind of change

It seems like after the first rush of wedding planning (especially if you've got some down time between the enagagement and the actual wedding) there comes this period where nothing happens. At least in my case this is what happened.

More than that, I couldn't stand anything wedding related. The shows I loved to watch so much (you know, like "Bridezilla," "Who's Wedding Is It Anyway?", "Rich Bride, Poor Bride", etc.) was like this constnt pinprick to my conscience.

Why you ask? It all boils down to this: money.

Basically, I couldn't justify to myself why we were spending all this money on one day when what was really important to us was sharing this special day with our friends and family. We knew that they didn't expect anything from us and for that, we are thankful. However the Martha Stewart in me (and maybe a slight case of too much oogling wedding blogs and other people's weddings) brought out the comptetative side in me.

However, with much deliberation, the Boy and I decided to scale down our wedding. We're much relieved by this news. It made me excited to plan the wedding again. And with the wedding less than 5 months away, I need to get excited again.

To save on costs, we decided to only hold the ceremony at the Garden we had booked for both the ceremony and reception (and cocktail hour). While we love that site and it is gorgeous, there was a lot of extra expenses we didn't anticipate when we first booked it. Luckily, because we're having our wedding on a Sunday, they were gracious enough to let us scale back to just a ceremony.

My best friend's (and Maid of Honor) parents were also generous enough to offer their home as our reception site. They have a fabulous deck and gorgeous garden and patio; this ended up being the best mistake we ever made. It feel more like us with this change in plans. Plus, with a view from their home, you can see all the beach/bay view that we in Southern California are so luck to have. And additional bonus with our summer wedding is that we will actually get to have fireworks at the wedding! Fireworks are illegal in California but from the home you have a great view of SeaWorld; all summer long, SeaWorld puts on firework shows so that means there will be fun firework at my wedding!

This home also has a very special meaning to our relationship (this was the spot when the Boy first told me he loved me) so it is perfect for celebrating our nuptuialsl.

Other updates:

- We found a photographer we liked and we've booked them. We are schedule to do engagement pictures in April (though I feel a little silly as we've been engaged for over a year now).

- We're having a good old fashioned BBQ for the reception (catered) plus tons of homemade goodies and a touch of Asian exotic foods.

- I'm thinking of having my mom wear a traditional Thai dress as her dress. I've been looking into some other traditional elements of a Thai wedding ceremony and I am hoping to include more than I orignally thought I would. There would be something sweet about it and I feel like it would also be very me.

- Mason jars. Anyone got some they want to give to me? I want to give each guest a mason jar to drink some fine lemonade/pink lemonade/iced tea from.

(image from Style Me Pretty)

- I made our Save the Date cards; they're cute. (I'll post on that later.)

- I also want to make out invitations; I have several mock ups but I think it would be easiest if I had a gocco machine. Anyone got one for sale?

- Bridesmaid dresses were supposed to be untraditional; several ideas later and 5 months to go, we're going traditional.

on the hunt

Okay chickadees,

I am on the hunt for wedding day shoes. At first, I wanted red shoes as I think they are so dramatic and flirty. Heels was another thing on my list of wedding shoe requirements (a must when I stand a measly 5'2" and the Boy is 6'3").

Since the purchase of the Dress, I have been having second thoughts about this seemingly small element of the wedding. Now I'd like yellow flats, cute darling little things. Yellow is such a happy and fun color and would stand out against the paler shades of pink, blue, orange, and copper. It would be unexpected...unless you knew me. Because, you see, I adore yellow and wear a fantastic mustard yellow coat whenever I get the chance. As for the low to no heel portion to the new shoe decision, this is a matter of practicality. Last September I re-hurt my left ankle somehow and it has never gotten better (yes, I am seeking medical treatment about this) so heels are hard to wear. In fact, I don't think I've worn anything that wasn't a flat shoe in forever (poor shoe collection, I have been reduced to living in my Converse, flat boots, sneakers or grey flats). I have a feeling the ankle won't get any better by the wedding (or not much) and since I am clumsy anyways, it's best not to tempt fate. I'd like to think my wedding day shoes will be comfy enough to dance the night away with family and friends but stylish enough for those wonderful shoe shots that I love in wedding day photography.

In light of this, I have been scouring stores and shops online.

This was the inspiration for the yellow shoe love. Plus it has feathers. Could it get any better?

(image from stylehive; shoe by j.crew)

How fun is this pair by Marc Jacobs? It's a shoe that has the cutest rat face you'll ever see. I especially love the little curl of the tail at the back.
(shoe found at zappos)

And lastly, but not least, this little gem reminds of the ruffly embellishments in my dress.

(shoe found on zappos; designed by Diego Di Lucca)

What do you think of a bright yellow shoe as my little secret?

hot guys in vests make my heart beat a little faster

(image from jcrew)
I came across this in looking for things for the bridesmaids to wear (did I mention I was trying to go about buying dresses in a nontraditional way? I just don't want anything shiney or too formal and I was looking for dresses that comfier, as if you put on something very nice to go to our garden party which happened to be our wedding).
The Boy and I haven't given too much thought to what he (and his groomsmen) should wear. Is that bad? In all this time, we've been focused on what the girls should wear: what I should wear, what the bridesmaid should look like, what my mom and his mom could wear...psst, I think I like the idea of my mom going a traditional route and perhaps just dressing up in our native costume). About the guys, well we didn't even think about it enough to even figure out whether or not they were going the tux route, though I do vaguely remember the Boy saying something o this nature very early on into the wedding planning process.
Now, I've never really seen the Boy all dressed up in his fanciest clothes. The summer we first got together he was the best man in his friend's wedding. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see him in all his glory (and the embarrassing story about him forgetting the rings in his truck) because I had another wedding to go to that weekend. But from the pictures I was shown afterwards, the Boy was owning his James Bond self.
Since then, there has been few times that have called for either one of us to really dress up. We're the jeans and t-shirt typical Californian couple in that way. Only once, in all the years that we've been together, have I seen the Boy dressed up in a great fitting pair of charcoal slacks and dress shirt. Wow.
Since then, Ive been obsessed with the idea of the Boy not wearing a tux to our wedding but something along the lines of the picture above. I'd even love it more if the Boy would comply and wear a cool vest like that one. I don't know what I'd do with myself if he did. I think I might just have to marry him if he did (psst, are you listening Boy?)