Weddingbee Blog

My friend and maid of honor is an amazing make-up artist in Los Angeles. She did the make-up for me and my bridesmaids on my wedding day, and she’ll be doing my make-up again when I’m a bridesmaid in my brother’s wedding. This is her website. She mostly has fashion pictures on her site, but she’s done a lot of weddings, movies, music videos, fashion shows, etc. Contact her if you want to look phenomenol on your big day.

Some pics from my wedding…

It looks like I have double eyelid… but I don’t!

PS - my friend did not “create” a double eyelid. It just looks likes I have it.

Quick… what did the centerpieces look like at the last wedding you attended?

I had to look at pictures, but still didn’t recall.

For the most part, I’ve based my wedding budget on how much my sister spent 5 years ago on her wedding. While this sounds sensible enough, what I’ve only recently started understanding is that my sister spent way too much on certain things. She probably spent around $7K on her flowers which I thought was okay until I saw that girls on theknot were spending no where near that amount. While my sister’s flowers were nice, they certainly don’t look that much better than the flowers I’m seeing in girls’ bios. Perhaps it was the peony covered chuppah.

I think the way to spend less money without having fewer flowers is to go with rose centerpeices. Who knew that roses were some of the cheapest flowers! While roses are hardly my favorite flower, I’ve realized that few people actually remember the centerpieces.

So without further ado, these are some of my current thoughts (btw, I’m not completely settled on the peach/green/off-white color combo, but I think it will look very nice with my dress).

This is the color, but I think the arrangement is a bit small for the tables at Battery Gardens. (from Knottie Kally)

This is a similar arrangement - a bit larger and obviously in a different color - taken at Battery Gardens where I’ll be getting married! I would go with peaches, but this shows how square rose arrangements would look in the room. Jennblossoms is one of the florists I’m contacting.

I can also split it into 3 smaller arrangements - medium square vase of roses, tall tulips and a small arrangement with candles throughout. I’m looking for some pictures of examples.

Here are some arrangements that I like that aren’t just roses. Since I don’t know the price differences, I will show everything to the florists I meet:

What do you girls think? Is just roses okay if, lets say, I save $1000 doing it? I’ll post pictures of bouquets later. Since I’m having only 2-4 bridesmaids, I actually don’t mind splurging on the personal flowers - they’re in so many pictures! But I’m actually starting to like the look of a tight rose bouquet.

I think official etiquette states that every adult over the age of 18 should be invited with a guest. These rules were clearly written before weddings cost a zillion dollars and you could easily spend $100/$150/$200 per head.

Today I think it’s perfectly acceptable to invite single people sans guest, especially if there will be other singles at the wedding. My plan is to invite married/engaged/seriously attached (dating 6 months?) friends with guests and all the rest solo. I hate when people have to “look for a guest” to bring to a wedding or simply ask a friend. I have two exceptions to this rule: (1) all older guests will be invited with guests and (2) friends who won’t really know others at the wedding will be invited with guests.

One word of caution, make sure that your friends are actually single before sending out the invite. I was already engaged to MK when I received an invite to go to a wedding solo. The friend who got married lives in another city, but I know that a mutual friend told her that I was seriously dating someone when she sent out the STDs and that I was engaged when she sent out the invites. Needless to say, I didn’t go to that wedding!

What are you all doing?

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MK and I bailed on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire try outs yesterday. Oh well… I guess we’ll have to pay for the wedding.

I sent in the contract for my second hotel block yesterday, so one more item to cross off the list (yeah!).

as of friday, august 19th we’re officially engaged. woohoo!

i left work with hanyoung on friday a little past 5. as we went our separate ways i called up c on my cell. he told earlier that day that he had a client visit and that he was probably going to get out of work early and go grocery shopping.

c: what up babe
me: hi hun.
c: where you at
me: at wtc path
c: you done work?
me: yeah. can you pick me up at pavonia station? my feet hurt from my new shoes
c: no
me: shut up. for real hun
c: for real no. i can’t do it.
me: shut up hun. stop playing
c: ok bye
me: WAIT! you’re bein for real?!
c: yes. can’t do it.
me: why not?
c: i just can’t
me: but why not?
c: *sigh* cause it’s a surprise!!!
me: ….ok fine

ok it’s not me going into princess mode people. i have 2 blisters on my feet. damn new shoes. plus the last time he said he had a surprise for me I got a new bottle of midol for pms and cramps. so i get home, open the door and all i hear are pots banging around in the kitchen and as i’m taking off my shoes all i hear is “DON’T COME IN THE KITCHEN! DON’T COME IN THE KITCHEN!!” relax son, i’m not gonna blow your cover. hahah it’s cute how he gets excited about surprises. now, he makes me dinner all the time but if he says that it’s a “surprise” there’s a reason behind it. so i asked him what the special occasion was. he said it was cause i was doing so well tryin to quit smoking. awwww….. so i’m in study room and mind you i haven’t eaten all day so i ask him if i can eat my usual daily snack which is crackers, cheese, and sausage. he says “no and if you do i’m gonna get really mad!” chi~ don’t threaten me! ok fine. so i check my emails and he comes out carryin this little plate of6 pieces of shrimp evenly spaced out with cocktail sauce in the middle. i said “are you gonna eat with me?” he said “a chef’s work is never done” and then leaves to go to the kitchen. so i eat by myself. he comes out to make sure i’m done, takes my empty plate and goes back to the kitchen. he brings out 2 bowls of noodles. he calls it egg noodles in black bean sauce with asparagus and shitake mushrooms. AND he points out that all the ingredients that he used were organic. we eat together. he’s being really sweet. i’m thinking i should quit smoking more often. for reals yo. after we’re done that he takes the empty plates back to the kitchen and comes out with 2 wine glasses and a bottle of sparkling cider (we have a wine rack that has bottles of wine and liquor for him and 2 bottles of sparkling cider for moi). our wine glasses are dusty since we never use them so he went back to the kitchen to wash them and then comes back with a towel on one arm like an actual server, pours me 2 sips worth, waits for me to swirl it in the glass as if were real wine, then waits for me to taste before he starts filling up my glass. we drink together and then he goes “would you like to know what the main course of the evening is?” sure!!

c: tonight’s special is a pan seared tuna served medium rare, encrusted with pepercorn and thymes
me: thyme. it’s not plural
c: fuck you it will also be served with sauteed squash.
me: how lovely.
c: and dinner will be followed with dessert and coffee
me: i love dessert and coffee. wait can we drink coffee this late?
c: it’s ok. it’s friday night. i only have the best coffee for my yuja chingoo.
me: oh yeah?
c: yes. it’s maxwell house
me: oooooooh!

so after he served dinner (where he pointed out that all the ingredients were organic 2 more times), we ate and then he asked me if i wanted to have coffee and dessert in the living room instead of the study. so we moved over to the living room and as he’s pouring the coffee he asked me if i’d cut the cake. the cake was in box with a tissue paper taped to the top window of the box.

me: why is this taped to the top of the box
c: i don’t know
me: did it come like this?
c: yeah.
me: why would they do this it doesn’t make sense.
c: i don’t know. can you just cut me a slice

so i open the box and sitting straight up in the icing is my engagement ring. awwwwwwwwww…. he grabs my left hand takes the ring out of the box. looks at it, notices there’s icing all over the bottom of the ring, gives it to me and says…

“lick it!”

yes. that’s what he said. lick it. SO ROMANTIC I ALMOST PEE PEE IN MY PANTS! hahaha j/k. so, i lick it, give it back to him, he slides it on my finger and says those 4 magic words “will you marry me?” and i laughed and said “nooooooooooooo” then we kissed and laughed and he said “for real?” and i said “of course i will” silly boy.

afterwards we’re in this funny argument cause he said he got down on his knees. um HELLO! we were both on BOTH of our knees because we were having coffee and cake at the coffee table which is FLOOR level! hello! i’m not gonna give you points for that. only we would argue about something so stupid after a very beautiful moment. hahaha…..go figure.

MK and I are officially living in sin. He’s been moving his stuff in for the past several weeks, but he closed on his house and moved himself in this past Thursday. I love him. His stuff is another matter.

We went to the Barney’s Warehouse sale and MK bought a tux. Just tried on one tux, didn’t even look at the pants and bought it. I wish dress shopping had been as easy.

We met with a videographer who we’re going with. I love his style - 30 minute tightly edited videos. He uses super-8, which I love too. He has a couple of old samples on his website: www.filmjones.com.

I think I’m going to send it to MK so he knows what to expect next year.. yeah right.

Anyone have suggestions on the best way to collect addresses from friends for invites and STDs? Did you send personalized emails letting people know why you needed their information, or a blind-cc email just telling people you were “updating your address book?” For college friends, we have an online data base, but not everyone updates their info regularly, so I’m afraid to trust it.

I’m almost done with the hotel block (just waiting for the contract from the hotel) and would like to send out the STDs in September or October (if we choose to wait for the engagement pics).

*****

For those brides who are thank you note challenged, there is now a personalized handwritten thank you note service! The wedding industry has no limits!

I got this in my Daily Candy today…

Base camp, so to speak, is a loft-turned-army barracks that includes the city?s only indoor obstacle course, which was modeled after Fort Knox. The co-ed platoon (that?s you, soldier) even wears fatigues to work out.

In one action-packed hour you?ll be pushed from every angle and sweat like you never have before: rolling logs, hauling sandbags, swinging on monkey bars, and throwing yourself over ten-foot walls. You might puke. We almost did. Apparently, a lot of first-timers do.

Too hard-core? No way. Programs are available for (non-)athletes, new moms, brides, teens, and corporations (imagine: you + your VP = wheelbarrow race). Thinking of going AWOL? Sergeant Lauren Brenner (the badass in the camo bikini top) will hound you on your cell, stop by your office, and call you a sissy weenie until you show your sorry face again.

If you don?t see results after six weeks, Brenner will train you herself for free.

After which you?ll need to take a nap, have a beer, and not try not to think about it.

Pure Power Boot Camp, 38 West 21st Street, second floor, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues (212-414-1886 or purepowerbootcamp.com).

It’s $895 for 6 weeks, $37 per session, 4 sessions per week. 1 hour per session. Perfect for brides and lazy people like me. I’m seriously considering getting my extremely out of shape ass into this program. I’m maid… er matron of honor… in my brother’s wedding, and I’ve put on quite a few post-marriage pounds.

But I’m scared. Anyone care to join me??

Who Wants to be a Millionaire is a having a special where engaged couples compete to “Play to Pay” for their weddings. I found out about it through theknot and signed us up for an audition slot last week. Got an email today that MK and I have an audition on August 23rd!

Even if we do well on the audition, we only *might* make it on the show. And even if we make it on the show, there’s no guarantee that we will wind up in the hot seat. Argh! Anyway, I’m awful at trivia so I doubt we will pass the audition stage, but it will be fun.

Wall Street Journal Article here.

I bought a Monique Lhuiller dress. The skirt and sash are the same one that I had picked out a few months ago, but I decided to go with a different top. It was such a tough choice; I hope I made the right one. I have to go back in two months to be re-measured… hopefully I’ll be a size smaller. In the meantime, they can get the lace in from Europe and the dress will be ready in February.

The Top of the Dress (but in ivory):

Skirt and sash (my color of my sash is “honey” - I think it may be darker than the color below.)

The standard length for the skirt is 59″, which is exactly what I need with 3 1/4″ inch heels. This means I’ll be a bit limited when I go shoe shopping. No 100mm Jimmy Choos , but really, I probably don’t want to be in 4 inch heels all night anyway!

For brides on a tight budget and a lot of time on your hands, check out MrsAmazon’s knot profile. The breakdown of how much she spent is on the bottom. Absolutely incredible! I wish I could do half of that for twice as much!

I’m very excited… I’m going dress shopping tomorrow with my mother! Monique Lhuillier is having a trunk show at Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier. I was on the wait list, but they called me today with a few cancellations, so I’m in. If I order a Monique Lhiullier dress tomorrow, I’ll get 10% off, which is great! Kleinfeld was offering me a slightly bigger discount, but I figure the difference will be eaten up in the cab rides I’d have to make to and from Chelsea for fittings, etc.

This may sound weird, but I don’t feel like I really see what I look like when I look in the mirror. Hopefully my mother can sneak in a few digital pictures when I’m trying on the dresses…