You're cordially invited

Our invites are finally in! I've been waiting for 2 mths for them. We ordered them from Joy's Card when we were in Hong Kong. It was so hard b/c I knew what I wanted but they didn't have it. So Mike helped us design our card. He did a great job. The only thing they messed up on was the front chinese characters of our last names are suppose to be red. We paid xtra money for them to do that. I was really pissed off. I wanted to cry and yell at Mike. But him being in HK, there was nothing really I could do since HK businesses do not beleive in giving refunds. Also, when I looked at the proof, it says nothing whatsoever about the color. sigh....


So I started playing around w/ the front trying to figure out how to add some color. Went to Michael's and scoured their ribbon area. This is what I came up with.


I was really surprised. It's really pretty and authentic. Overall I really love our invites.



The inside is really beautiful. I'm so excited to send these out. Everyone is asking us but I'm not ready yet. It's still too early, I'm 3 months away.

STDs

No it's not the disease, it's short for 'Save the Date'. It's recommended to send these out for couples who plan on having their special day during holidays and for out of town guests to make plans to attend.

There are different versions out there, Martha Stewart always has some great ideas. That woman is a genius. Some knotties opt to send out STD magnets. They're pretty cute but honestly, we can't afford to send out 300 of these. So D designed a STD for us to send out by email.


He did a fantastic job. All these images are from our photographers website. I absolutely think they're really impressive. I found them from Young_Love's bio who was her photographer. I just hope they'll do something just as fantastic for me.

Walking down the aisle

There are so many choices when to decorate the ceremony and the aisle is one of them. It's the most important aspect of the wedding b/c this is where you will walk down to where at the end is your future husband is waiting at the altar. This is the time for you to shine as a bride. All eyes are on you. As frightening as it sounds, I just hope that I don't trip.

Option #1
Aisle w/ some light or heavy petals.






















Option #2
Aisle runner w/ petals


girliebride2b


such a beautiful effect. But as always there are problems with the aisle runner. How dangerous it is if it isn't secured down b/c you might trip over it or if the wind picks up, petals and all will start to blow away.










I really like the monogramed aisle runners. It personalizes the ceremony alot.


Bridestarr



I think it would look fantastic that we could incorporate our invitations into the ceremony. I absolutely love it. I wonder if I could pull it off. Plus I could do one for the reception red carpeting with the words that say: "From this day forward...."

Calm soothing sounds

I've done a lot of researching on centerpieces hoping I would find a cheaper alternative to the regular floral ones. There were some slight problems w/ the regular centerpieces.

1. Cost per centerpiece is $45+ (since we have 30 tables, it's $45 x 30 tables = $1,575) ouch!

2. Lazy susan. Since we're having a 10 course meal w/ the lazy susan, most restaurants take off the centerpiece from the table to make room for the dishes. As a result, would waste the $45 centerpiece placed on the floor for no one to enjoy. [:(]

3. and lastly, $1,575 for centerpieces just isn't worth it. I would rather use that for better food or entertainment.



I decided to head to downtown one morning hoping to come up w/ my own centerpiece.
Target budget: $10
Degree of difficulty: easy and quick
and NO FAKE FLOWERS (ew to that)


so pretty, a field of orchids


Moskatels vases: $1.75
Roses: $5
Filler flowers: $3
Result: not all that great looking.






What to do? I've been racking my brain for ages. And found this on the knot.


photo courtesy of knottie Joobee

Unfortunately they don't sell them anymore at Pier1. She had bought them on sale for $10. So I have started the hunt!

I found it! It's not quite the same as hers but just as good.




photo courtesy of knottie Young_Love

I might do something similar to Young_Love but not sure yet. Will work on that around August. I already ordered them and they're sitting in the garage waiting to be opened and turned on for a calming waterfountain effect. aaaaaaaaahhhhh....

Mon, May 8

Teddy is constantly coughing and sneezing so I took him to the vet to make sure he's ok. He caught a cold, ended up w/ two shots, and some meds to take. Poor lil guy.



Plus no bath makes him a stinker. ew



Sun, May 7

There was a GTG today afternoon at the park in Torrance. So D, Teddy, and I trekked out to Torrance to hang w/ several other couples who will also bring thier furbabies. I didn't want to unleash T b/c I was afraid that he might run off and I can't catch him.


D started to play soccer w/ Clif&Me's kids. Teddy got sooo excited that we just had to unleash him to play.

Go T go!



They're so cute!

Sat, May 6

Jay and June's Wedding was this weekend and the ceremony/reception was held at Hilton Huntington Beach Waterfront. D and I overslept so we ended up missing the quick ceremony but arrived just in time for cocktails. yummy.

The festivities started and I couldn't wait to see June and Jay's grand entrance. Jay walked around like he was king while June clinging on was looking downward b/c she was so shy w/ all the attention and hollering. His wedding was hosted by ABC San Diego news anchor. They had a Korean drum performance, Helen sang Up, Up by Shania Twain, and I won the centerpiece. Woohoo!!!!





the cake came from Great Dane Bakery and the Lounge area was provided by Jay's partner who owns a rental company



Overall the food was really good which surprised us being hotel food and all.


Our table was the most rowdy table at the reception. We were the only ones on the dance floor. It went by really quick and very simple wedding. congrats Jay and June.

Friday, May 5

D and I went out to Twin Palms in Old Town Pasadena b/c his friend Missy was performing w/ her band. I've heard great things about her and D told me that she was going to be performing at our wedding. She was in Miss Saigon and other movies like the Jackie Chan ones.




Of course I'm gonna order the dessert. It was ok though


After dinner and Missy's performance we decided to bar hop. Started out at the new restaurant that opened up but there's a cover charge so we decided to go to Jake's to shoot some pool. Unfortunately, there's a half hour wait and walked over to Wokcano's bar and this is what we saw above the bar.


I wonder who's bras are these? Reminds me of Coyote Ugly

Back in Feb'06 D, his bro and I went to Hong Kong to vacay and mostly for wedding stuff. We were there from Feb 9 thru 23 and stayed at Mayfair Hotel in Jordan. It was fun and exciting but stressed at the same time.

Purchase majority of things that were on our list but omg I can't believe how relieved we were afterwards. We mostly spent our time at Golden Plaza, a building w/ five floors dedicated to wedding stuff. OMFG





Finally found a dress I like. Seriously the price couldn't be beat! It came w/ a veil, crinoline, alterations, and the dress! How could I say no. Plus I love the train and it's what I really wanted.



me in the dress!!

D decided to get a custom tux made for him and all his GM. This is what they'll basically look like.

They're so handsome.

Also ended up getting these other things...

Knottie GTGs

I so love them. It gives me a chance to get to know the girls who I talk to all day a face. The very first one I went to was really uncomfortable but eventually it got easier. D thinks it's totally hilarious that I get on the knot and chat w/ this girls all day w/ random things.

Sunday, April 29, 2006

We met at Wokcano in Old Town Pasadena organized by Wan-naBe, since her DH was out of town. They put us out in the patio and we just started talking and laughing so loud that they turned up the music to drown us out. OMG, the stories I could tell. I just can't beleive Clif&me's first wedding. Talk about ghetto. Holy Shit. The pastor comes down the ailse doing the electric slide in his metallic suit, her aunt is drunk walks up I'i while she's walking down the ailse and tells her that she loves her and thinks she's absolutely beautiful. Not only that, her uncle was videotaping the whole thing. Well, apparently the uncle got really bored of it so he starts taping himself booging. lol....i never laughed so hard where I had to go pee and didn't want to leave the table for fear that i'd miss something.

Oh and Pee&Bea shared her story about her boss, whom they call "lord of the rings" ROFLMAO what a winner. we took so many random pics. We were there from 5-8:45. Seriously didn't want it to end. Hopefully we'll do this again real soon.

What a doozie

I'm surfing the knot today and we're talking about photographers and places to take e-pics. Well, there was this site posted to show ie of her work. Lo and behold, I see John and Steph's e-pics. OMFG!!! They're getting married?! HOLY SHIT. I guess I shouldn't be shocked, they've been together forever, I just never thought it would be true, I just never liked her and thought John deserved better. I can't believe it. And they're getting married the same year as me. It makes me think of J. Will I ever get over him? My first true love? I dunno. But everytime something associated w/ him comes up, I start freaking out and hyperventillating. Especially when I talked to J's dad the other day b/c officially now I own my car. I no longer have any ties w/ THAT family.

maybe I should schedule an appt. w/ them. I know I should just drop it and forget about that family. I don't know why I hold onto it. They made my life a living hell. I've never been so depresses like that before. I guess Jacky was right, if it wasn't for that family, I wouldn't have started seeing a psych.

Oh what a weekend! Starting Fri, March 31, 2006

Friday night was Mei's last night in L.A. and she had to catch a ride back up to Berkely early the next morning. So we took her to have some Shanghainese food, yum Shaolung bao. Eventhough we did spend a little time w/ each other, it was totally worth it. It was really good to see her again. She got to see our new apt. as cozy and messy it was, she really liked it. Plus Teddy was so excited to see her again too!

So Sat downtown shopping was cancelled since Mei was leaving already, D woke up w/ a major cold. It was really early and raining and since we don't have groceries yet, I went out in search of jook for him. Garden was open but didn't really feel like getting anything from there. Went down to Har Lam Kee, closed. Darn! Hey, JJ was open and they have some really good prices. So I picked up a HK breakfast, jook, ham and macaroni soup, luncheon meat sandwich, hot milk tea, and hot honey lemon for D. Well, stupid me wore my jcrew slippers which are so worn down that have no traction, so I knew I had to becareful when I walked outside since it was still raining. I carried the two bags out walking ever so carefully. I looked down at one of the bags to make sure it wasn't going to leak, then *swishhhhh* I fall flat on my ass on the concrete hitting my head and the food spilling into the bag. OH no!!!!!!! The chef came running out to help me and asked if I was ok. I had the wind knocked out of me. Still completely confused, the chef grabbed the bag of food from me, and started to replace the food that had spilled. Awww,he was such a nice guy. At this time, I still didnt' know what hit me. I feel so stupid and probably looked like a retard w/ my butt all wet and the side of my jacket w/ stains. This blows. So basically I spent the whole day home tending to D and playing w/ Teddy.

Sunday, April 2, 2006
Woke up really early to make sure I make it on time. It's spring forward the time so I ended up losing an hour of sleep. yawn. Picked up mom and headed over to Jannie's house. We all piled into the car caravaning to downtown to hit Santee st. Started at Cinderella store. Kannie, Amy, and Jessica started trying on dresses that Jannie and I started picking out.


These are all ok but alas, no they're not the one.

Jannie's BM dresses
this dress is definitely cute but Jannie decided on this dress

So we left the store and proceeded w/ our quest. I still have BM and MOB dress. Jannie was all done. Lucky. We stopped at Christie's since I've heard so much about them from the knot. I immediately liked this one. So I had Jessica try this on.
It looks perfect but in pink!


Yay! I'm done w/ BM dresses. Now for my mom since we were all being really picky. I didn't want my mom looking like a drab nor too covered. Then we saw this and had to have her try this on!

She looks so good in this dress. I can't beleive it, she was happy w/ it eventhough it was pretty revealing (i don't think so)

Overall we were really productive and got everything we needed done! yay!!!!