1 Year Later...

Hello all.

So, I've realized that people still read this blog even though I stopped updating it over a year ago. I've been feeling guilty about it ever since. Kind of like how I felt guilty for six months following the wedding about failing to send out the thank-you notes on time.

But rest assured: the wedding did happen. And it was glorious. Stressful at first, but glorious. Actually, there was quite a bit of stress prior to the wedding for multiple reasons, and that's why the blog took a backseat.  Even after the Seattle honeymoon we had a lot of uncertainties and changes to sort out with our jobs, living situation, etc. But I can honestly say that with our first year of marriage under our belts, we've become stronger as a couple, in our faith, and with our family and friends. There is seriously no way that we could have pulled-off that wedding without the help of our amazing bridal party members and their families. I'll admit I can be quite the anxiety-ridden-perfectionistic-control freak at times, especially with something like my own wedding (duh), but I was amazed by how much they stepped-up and took care of business over the course of that weekend.

Throughout everything that has happened since the blog took a pause, my husband has been the strong, calm one. That may be the main reason why I married him, besides being the perfect combination of nerdy and manly. One of my favorite wedding memories was when I was getting ready with my bridesmaids, just about to get into my dress, and wondering what the heck was going on outside with all of the vendors arriving and setting-up, when he knocked on the door and told one of the girls, "Just tell her not to worry, everything looks beautiful." That's all I needed to hear.

There are way too many pretty wedding pictures to upload on here, so here are the links to my Facebook albums here and here.

One year later, we find ourselves with new jobs, in a new apartment, with our two kitties, and lots of Ikea furniture. Everyone keeps saying that they can't believe it's been a year already, and I have to agree. It doesn't even seem like last year really counted, maybe more like marriage orientation. So although I'm not in much of a position to give marital advice quite yet, I do have some advice for brides planning their weddings:

1. It may be cliché, but don't expect perfection. I thought I'd thought of everything, and I mean everything, after having over two years to plan that wedding, and there were still things that didn't go quite right. For the sake of a good laugh, I'll name a couple:

• Even though I forgot to bring glass hurricanes for the unity candles, the coordinator insisted that we still use them during the ceremony with a lighter hidden behind them as a back-up. It didn't work. What resulted were several photos of us posing with unlit candles, and several laughing guests. So if you're having an outdoor wedding, I'd try something other than candles, it's just not worth the risk. 
• In case you haven't seen the pictures yet, let me preface this by saying that we got married in a mountain resort in a very small mountain town, where there is 1 and only 1 store for many miles. About an hour before the ceremony started, the caterer told my maid of honor that apparently I was supposed to buy plastic cups for the drinks, which was never in any of the contracts that I signed, or brought up prior to the big day despite the several emails sent back and forth about many other details. So, my maid of honor's husband ran to the only store in town on a mission, and came back with red, blue, and yellow solo party cups. This is why, despite spending extra money to have real china and champagne glasses on the reception tables, people walked around with red solo cups of wine. Classy.

2. Delegate. Don't think you can do it all on your own. Seriously. Just stop it.

3. Don't bother getting your dress dry cleaned prior to the wedding if you're getting married in the woods and taking pictures before the ceremony. The extra expense went right down the drain as soon as I stepped outside. 

4. If you're having a honeymoon, don't plan anything for at least the first couple of days. We flew out to Seattle early the next morning and spent the majority of that day passed-out from exhaustion. The rest of the trip was fueled by the fine espresso of Pike Place Market. I've never been a huge fan of exotic beach-y vacations, mostly because of my pale complexion that can't handle more than 10 minutes of direct sun exposure, but I understand now why almost everyone plans a honeymoon that only consists of a nice hotel room at an all-inclusive resort within walking distance of a nice beach where cocktails are served endlessly. That's about all one can ask of a bride for a week following the wedding. Just saying.

That's about it. I might start-up another blog in the future, when I feel that I have things to blog about without embarrassing the husband. Until then, we'll be carrying on with our lives in Chino, learning more every day about how to be married. 

For those of you planning weddings, I wish you the best of luck, and don't worry, they'll be fabulous. 

Etsy is our friend.

Hello, fellow wedding-obsessers! My, the time is going by quickly, as we only have 56 days to go until I have to start a new blog and move-on with life.

There are many wedding projects that I am conquering little by little at the moment, but I wanted to take this opportunity to bask in the awesomeness that are my recent purchases on Etsy, a site for all things handmade, vintage, and quirky.

First of all, I ordered our custom guest sign-in poster about a month ago from Baumbirdy, and it just arrived in the mail yesterday. I must say, it's pretty genius. It's a guest "log" on which everyone signs on a ring of the tree print, and then we'll have some wall art for our future place. Neat, right?

Also, I just purchased my wedding veil (!!) from Alex Bridal. I've been searching and searching for months for just the right fascinator and birdcage veil, and now I've forced myself to make a decision. Darryl had requested that I wear some kind of feather hair accessory, similar to a peacock headband I have, along with a short vintage-y veil to go with my short vintage-y hairstyle. The bleached ivory peacock feathers and pearls in this veil should fit the bill.

Speaking of hair, my hairstylist friend, Heidi, influenced me to make a rather drastic pre-wedding decision last week. I've been getting some subtle highlights for about a year now, but it seemed like they were starting to wash me out a bit, so I've gone to the dark-er side and become a true brunette for the first time. So far I like the contrast with my rather pale, rosy complexion, and it makes my eyes look really bluish-green. It's only a demi-permanent dye, so it will lighten-up in the coming weeks, but I think I'm going to stick with it for awhile. Maybe I'll even be able to dress-up as Audrey Hepburn for Halloween this year.

Much more news to come! This week I meet with the florist to go over every tiny detail of the wedding day look, and we take engagement pictures on Saturday. Be back soon...

Victory.

This post is designed to commemorate the momentous occasion of me finishing the invitations. With stamps and everything. Heck to the yes.

Altar-ed

Today I had my first dress fitting at L'Mode Bridal, down the street from my house in Tustin. My mom came along since she kinda missed out on the actual purchase of the gown, so she'd never actually seen it on me in person.

The owner, Dorie, assessed the situation with the lower half of the gown as it is at least 8" too long. Having bought the dress off the rack at a sample sale, I figured that this would be a major project, and it turns out I was right. The bad news: she'll have the labor-intensive (i.e. expensive) job of basically reconstructing the lower third of the dress to make it shorter while keeping the intended design. The good news: the dress is made of good quality fabrics (silk, silk taffeta, and alarcon lace) which means it'll hold-up well to the alterations, and the bodice still fits perfectly.

Side note: the owner is a Malaysian version of Edna from The Incredibles. Imagine this conversation as I was taking off the dress in the Edna voice...

"You said this dress is from Macy's? This fabric is wonderful, darling. Silk! Not like that polyester crap those girls come in with from David's Bridal. Pssh..." I love it.

So my dress will be ready May 27th. It'll be exciting to see it all put together for the first time. Also, the tuxedos have been reserved since I last blogged, and we're in the process of finalizing the 'maids ensemble. Oh, and the invitations arrived today! Let's see how long it takes me to get around to gathering the remaining addresses I need...

Bridal Fog

The future hubby and I are sitting in a corner at my very favorite Starbucks in Old Towne Orange, having had a delectable, albeit calorically dense, dinner of philly cheesesteaks and a shared raspberry cupcake from The Perfect Circle (who, by the way, had their winning Grammy display from Cupcake Wars out on the floor!!). Since we've settled here with bold roast coffee, I finished reading through my usual daily dose of wedding blogs, Etsy hunting, and also flipping through the entirety of the latest Martha Stewart Weddings.

Hello wedding coma, back so soon?

The following things have consumed my thoughts, and my internet searches, over the past month or so:

1. Shoes.

More specifically, deciding the color and style of the bridesmaid shoes. I'll admit, I'm starting to get a little touchy about this one. My original idea was for them to be light pink ballet flats, but this is proving to be harder to find than I anticipated. So I started considering other shades of pink, like fuchsia, or pretty much any other color, that would go with the predominantly pink peony floral scheme of the ceremony and the grey bridesmaid dresses. But then most of the people I've discussed this with (not the bridal party, to be clear) have given me strange/confused looks. Tell me if I'm going bridal insane here: is the combination of grey and pink, even a dark pink, weird? Should I go for another color entirely like yellow or aqua...? This also affects the kind of accessories I get them, which has been another marathon of an Etsy search on its own. Plus, depending on what accent color I pick, I may have to alter the original color scheme that the florist put together. Even my own shoes have been an issue, since I have a very clear picture of what I want, yet can't seem to find it anywhere. I've ordered one pair of Steve Madden heels so far, which turned out to be a very different shade than the picture, and were the wrong size. At least mine won't really be seen since my dress will cover them up most of the time, but I'll still know if they're sufficiently cute or not.

2. Groomswear.

Darryl has determined that he would like himself and the guys to wear some combination of grey and black, and maybe some other accent color if it looks right. I've noticed a trend in groomswear that the groom may wear a full suit, but the groomsmen wear matching dress shirts, grey wool vests, and ties, sometimes with whatever dress pants they think fit the outfit best. I figured this would be a good alternative to tux rentals so I did some research. I did indeed find the vests that have become so popular, but I'm having a hard time deciding if this would really be the best choice or not, and also if I could find them from H&M in the various sizes necessary since they can't be ordered online. We might have to make a trip to Men's Wearhouse just to officially rule it out or not.

3. The engagement shoot.

We're taking our engagement pictures at the end of April, and we've already determined the location(s) and brainstormed some ideas. I do have at least two outfits that I think would work, but I can't help but look constantly for other alternatives, just in case I find something cuter. We also need to determine what, if any, kinds of props and whatnot will be included. I haven't even thought about what Darryl's going to wear, but I doubt I'll talk him into doing much of a shopping spree for clothes when we haven't even shopped for his ring yet. I'm sure regardless of what we end up doing, the pictures will be stunning, as I have total faith in our photographer. But I have made it clear that I will die happy if we're featured on Green Wedding Shoes.

4. The bridal shower.

My maid of honor is planning my bridal shower, which has officially been set for Saturday, May 7th. Invitations will be in the mail as soon as I get around to emailing her the addresses... heh.

5. The honeymoon.

We decided after much calculation that it would be better to just fly to Seattle than to drive all the way there, since the gas and extra motel expense would make the cost pretty much even. So I've booked our plane tickets to fly out the day after the wedding at noon. We are saving a great deal though since one of my dearest friends hooked us up with an apartment rental for our weeklong stay outside of Seattle in Kent, WA, for a substantially lower cost than a hotel in the city. We'll be able to pretend like we're locals in our very own little place, just like we've wanted for so long now. So exciting :)

6. Post-wedding life.

I'll be honest. It's a bit strange to think about the fact that in less than 4 months I'll actually be married. Don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled that we'll finally be able to move on with our lives and our plans that don't involve a color scheme, besides maybe paint and upholstery colors. It's just odd that when I come home from work everyday, he'll already be there and doesn't have to drive home to Riverside at the end of the night. And that when we go grocery shopping together on Sundays, we don't have to get double of some of the same things because we only have one fridge to stock-up. That when we meet new people they'll be right when they assume we're married. That Dewey and Ginger will finally cohabitate. That we'll actually have to look for a place to live, and that we have no idea yet where that may be. That all, only some, or even none of our current plans may actually happen, and that's ok. That life as we know it will never be the same, and we couldn't be more pleased.

Well, I feel better now. The fog of the wedding coma is starting to clear. Thanks again for making it this far through my rant. More details coming soon...

The 4th and the Last

This past weekend we celebrated the 4th anniversary of us meeting and becoming a couple. This year we had a beach day in Laguna and split celebratory Macaroni Grill baked penne. We also saw "Love and Other Drugs" at the dollar theater, but it wasn't the most outstanding movie we've seen lately so it doesn't really count, haha.

Darryl wrote in my birthday card this year that he knew 3 weeks after he met me that he wanted to marry me :) And since the dream is coming true in less than five months, giving us a new anniversary, this will probably be the last time this January anniversary date is a huge deal. Unless maybe we use it as an excuse for a winter vacation, as if I really need an excuse to plan one of those.

Lovecakes

Today one more thing got checked-off the master to-do list: cake tasting! While this is perhaps the highlight of many couples' planning process, I will admit I was a bit apprehensive.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the one cake designer that was included in my catering contract. The slightly out of date pictures I had seen didn't leave much to the imagination, other than your typical topsy-turvy cakes, and buttercream creations loaded with fresh flowers instead of sugar work. And the fact of the matter is that everyone knows I'm a cake-making-aholic, with rather specific opinions on what is cute, as well as what has crossed the line into tacky. I tend to gravitate towards the more simply-decorated creations, however those can sometimes be harder to make than more busy-looking designs, with lots of swirly-type things or unnecessary use of stencils. I'm all for unique wedding cakes that put a personal touch on a celebration, but some of the ones I've seen leave me to wonder. I mean, a hot pink and zebra-striped wedding cake is enough on its own without crystals dangling from all five layers, regardless of what may have been aired on Cakeboss or even Ace of Cakes. Just sayin'.

So anyway, I had gathered dozens of pictures from Martha Stewart Weddings and The Knot of cakes that I thought were doable for most any baker, but still kept my expectations at bay. I was fully prepared to give-up on the idea that she would be able to create sugar flowers, or even use fondant properly, and settle for a more simple rustic-looking buttercream cake. This morning while waiting for Darryl to get back from SAT proctoring, I narrowed the list down to about five, having received his opinions from the night before. Traffic was terrible on the way up to Twin Peaks, but lucky for us there wasn't really any snow left on the roads to cause further delays.

Much like the other preferred vendors I have met thus far from our venue, I was pleasantly surprised. She had brought more recent photos of her work, which were much more impressive than the ones I had seen. Turns out, she has been dying to do the kind of cake that I had envisioned, and had several magazine clippings that either matched the ones I had, or were better. She did her sketches while we devoured cake samples, and in the end we decided to have three small two-three tiered cakes on vintage cake stands, each a different flavor, and covered in fondant with pipped vintage-y designs inspired by the glassware that will be on the reception tables. Taste wise, the samples were better than expected as well, especially the signature champagne cake with chiffon filling which will be the main center cake, flanked by a red velvet and a spice cake on either side. While I'm still going to expect the unexpected when the time comes to actually see the final product, I'm positive they'll be amazing.

In other news, I'm working on getting whatever vendors we need booked by the end of this month. Honestly, I wasn't in much of a rush until I found out that the DJ I had in mind has already been booked for our date, so we need to decide soon if we should hire an alternate, or go iTunes style with help from family and friends. There are pros and cons to both. On the one hand, a DJ can prevent all-out disasters from happening, such as music cutting-out in the middle of a song, or the sound not working at all. They can also insure that the party will move along as planned without unnecessary delays. But on the other hand, good ones are expensive, and I've been to weddings where they have hired a not-so-good one who totally disregarded the couple's music taste, or didn't announce things at the right time, or even mispronounced their names. So, still thinking about it. In the mean time, I will be accepting song requests on facebook soon, just in case.