Weddingbee Blog

I first met our featured bride, Jenny, at a summer camp when we were in elementary school. We were in the same group and she even came over to my house once after camp ended… but soon thereafter we lost contact. Fast forward nearly 15 years when we subscribed to each other’s xanga sites. We’d been reading each other’s sites for years before we just recently realized… that we knew each other! I can’t tell you how many people I’ve reconnected with through my blog!

Jenny recently had a gorgeous Southern California wedding, so I asked her to share the details with weddingbee…

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THE COUPLE

Bride: Jenny, Attorney
Groom: Andy, Investment Banker
August 26, 2006

THE STORY

Usually when you hear about a school mixer, you cringe. Two disparate groups of people forced to mingle and have a good time. But, when it came to the UCLA business school and law school mixer, it was more than just that. That’s where we first met! Fast forward three years — graduations, LA-NYC long distance, wonderful memories of unmemorable moments, an amazing proposal in Catalina — then the happiest day of our lives happened on August 26, 2006.

Click on any image to enlarge.

THE VENDORS

I’ll list some of my vendors here and comment on a few. The others - please feel free to ask and I can give you a detailed review. Overall, our vendors were awesome. We couldn’t have done it without them!

1. Venue: The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel
2. Bridal Gown Designer: Monique Lhuillier
3. Bridesmaid Dresses: Barijay
4. Photographer: Red Loft Studios
One of our favorites…we fell in love with Jenny’s work after having visited 15 photographers. She’s so easy to work with and really cares about the couple. We had a lot of fun working with her through our engagement sessions and the wedding. *Please note that none of the photos have been edited so they would actually be even better with retouching!
5. Videographer: Video Artistry
Definitely one of our favorites…Jeanette and Karl are awesome to work with. We knew they were the “one” right away. We couldn’t sit through even 5 minutes of the countless DVD samples we received until we saw Video Artistry’s demo. We ended up watching the entire DVD. We loved working with them! By the time the wedding rolled around, we were like old friends.
6. Officiant: Reverend Clint Hufft
I first saw Reverend Hufft on Trista & Ryan’s wedding and I remember thinking he’s the type of officiant I’d love to have. We met with him and instantly connected. He is so charismatic and funny and truly passionate about what he does.
7. Makeup: White Simon
I had 8 (yes, different hair/makeup trials. I paid in full and my person ran off. After that, it was a nightmare trying to find someone I actually liked. Thankfully I finally found White who was able to give me exactly the look I wanted. She used to be first assistant to Kevyn Aucoin so I had no doubt about her talent.
8. Hair: Helen Kim
Since Helen is my regular hair stylist, I was sure that she’d do an awesome job. Yay Helen!
9. Florist: Keith J. Laverty
10. Wedding Coordinator: Stephanie Lairson
11. DJ: DJ Peace - Mark Thomas
12. Cake: Heidelberg Bakery
13. Honeymoon: Italy (Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice), French Polynesia (St. Regis, Bora Bora and Le Taha’a Private Island & Spa), Michigan, NYC

THE DETAILS

- laying out photos of our friends and family all over the suite when we were getting ready so we’d be surrounded by love
- the flip flop baskets
- advice bowl and flower pens (so people could write advice and get a chance to win prizes)
- sweets buffet with chocolates, candies and cookies (from Diddy Riese where we had one of our first dates)
- parasols for guests to use and keep
- the photo collage with a photo of almost every guest
- the card box my maid of honor made
- our RSVP book featuring the postcards our guests sent us
- centerpieces that each couple could take home
- bathroom baskets and gum/mints baskets
- couches for people to lounge on
- Frappuccinos, water & animal crackers for guests to take for their drive home
- our flower monogram - which consisted of custom designed flowers created from both the Korean and Taiwanese national flowers

Wedding Preparation

Invitations

RSVP’s. Bottom right - letter from Governor Schwarzenegger

Thank Yous

THE MOMENTS

- spending the night before the wedding with two of my favorite people - my mom and aunt
- receiving a puppy stuffed animal that looked exactly like our Bella from Andy since she couldn’t be with us
- getting half off on our suite because the Ritz sent my bags to the wrong room
- seeing Andy for the first time before the ceremony
- presenting white roses to our parents at the ceremony
- looking into each other’s eyes during our vows (cheesy, huh?)
- looking out during our ceremony to see all of our closest family and friends there with us
- hearing that everyone at the cocktail reception did a collective “wow” when they raised the curtains to the ballroom
- halfway during our first dance our parents and bridal party all joined hands and danced in a circle around us
- seeing the expressions on people’s faces as they won prizes like $100 gift certificates to Bloomingdale’s, Morton’s, etc.
- taking photos with our friends and family in the mini photo studio

THE CONCLUSION

It was all really a dream come true! I feel that our love for each other, our friends and family made our wedding amazing.

I truly believe that a wedding on any budget can be wonderful because it doesn’t really take much to incorporate DIY projects that will add personalized (and memorable) touches. I did a lot of the projects myself (from tying ribbons on each pair of flip flops to putting together the photo collage to shrink wrapping our boxed invitations, etc.) so if you have any questions or need advice, I’d be happy to help! You can always find me on Xanga at www.xanga.com/skippeeahn.

Thanks for reading! Best of luck on your wedding planning…I’m sure it’ll be one of the best days of your life!