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I received an email earlier today from Mr. Dahlia’s mom with some exciting news- the rehearsal dinner is booked!You may recall from my earlier post that we have checked out a couple of places. Over Thanksgiving weekend, we went out to another wonderful dinner with Mr. Dahlia’s parents to Lola, (the new!) Iron Chef Michael Symon’s flagship restaurant. Mr. Dahlia and I had already been to Lolita and loved it, and we were really looking forward to visiting Lola.
Originally, we hadn’t planned on having a ring bearer or a flower girl - neither of us had any nieces or nephews, nor did we know any children… or do we? It completely slipped my mind that my best friend from elementary school had two adorable, well behaved, awesome kids! So one phone call later, we decided that her son would pull his sister up the aisle in a radio flyer!
Bad News…
The forecast is out. You guessed it. 60% chance of Showers. Now, this is over a week early and anything can happen. No need to panic (I realize you, reader, are not panicking. This is merely a reminder for myself). Nonetheless, when I opened weather.com to see the unimaginable this morning, I was quite sad.
After a few hours of moping, I think I’ve come to terms with it. Mr. Peppermint immediately started trying to cheer me up. After all, weather is one of those factors that you can have no control of. Tents will be rented and everything will still be wonderful (we are getting married, remember?).
In addition, I’ve been trying to focus on the positive…
1. Good luck (I think that’s merely a consolation, but nonetheless, it symbolizes good luck!)
2. Higher chance of snow up on the top of the mountain (easily accessible by the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway)
3. Nice soft, even lighting for photos
4. Photo ops with cute umbrellas
5. Flowers & makeup stay fresher longer
6. Romantic!
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
I completely stole this off of the Boston Knot Boards awhile ago. I’m not entirely sure how good the facts are - in fact, I’m pretty sure the budget one is wrong, and I’ve added the correct numbers at the bottom.
*The average bride is 25.3 years old.
*The average groom is 26.9 years old.
*The average number of guests is 178.
*99 percent of newlyweds take a honeymoon.
*Approximately 75% of those married lived together first.
*The average budget is $20,000.
It looks like we’re pretty much the average. :/
*I will be slightly older than the average bride, as I will have just turned 26 a week before our wedding!
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
We finally DID it! Mr. Gardenia and I now have a place of our own to call HOME.
What a relief it has been to finally have found our new place. This has been one of the most mind boggling things we have had on our wedding checklist, because we were so uncertain as to our living situation. We were beginning to really consider living with his mom after the wedding in order to give us some time to look around for our place. But our goal was to really find a place and move in right before the wedding to get most of our things settled in.
While the wedding is a momentous event, for us moving out is just as momentous. Mr. Gardenia and I have lived with both of our parents all our lives, and I mean ALL of our lives. We both attended commuter schools while we were in college, so we didn’t have the need to live in dorms or move into an apartment. With that said, moving out was truly something that we both have been looking forward to for a while now, starting this new life in our own space.
When we made the decision to be together it was with the unspoken understanding that we were committing to forever. So when he asked what kind of engagement ring I wanted, I knew. Something simple and elegant and timeless and traditional - words that I like to think describe me. I also wanted something vintage, ’cause they just don’t make things like they used to, and I wanted to be sure that my diamond was conflict free. On a trip to Beijing we stopped by Tiffany’s to do a little browsing, while back home in Mongolia I was busy scouring the internet (there are no fine jewelry stores in Ulaanbaatar) for The Ring.
{This is what my ring looks like, only mine is prettier. 
}
As fate would have it, I found it at Lang’s Antiques in San Francisco. I say fate because we had actually already planned to stop very briefly in San Francisco to visit friends on our way back to Mongolia last Christmas. We made a quick trip down to Sutter Street where I tried it on without even looking at anything else. It was so perfect but there was a small problem - it had to be sized down. John, the super sweet salesman, assured us that he could put a rush on it so that we could have it by 9 the next morning, just in time to catch our 11 am flight.
Mr. Caramel and I debated a few times on whether or not we wanted to do the traditional Korean ceremony. We kept thinking that we would do it for the few relatives traveling from Korea to see us get married. But after going to my cousin’s traditional Korean ceremony and seeing the big headache of arranging a whole other event on top of the wedding– we basically said “heck no, please.” Our parents were okay with whatever we wanted to do–they knew that we weren’t very traditional so they left the decision to us. (Yeah lucky us we had very non-demanding parents!)
At the last moment we decided to have one if we only invited very close family members. We held it at my parents’ house and it ended up being only about 25 people, which was perfect for us! It wasn’t crazy and it was comfortable and pretty painless. The whole thing took about 30 minutes and we got to eat delicious food afterwards! Plus we made a lot of extra money, which was helpful for our honeymoon.
If anyone is teetering on the idea of a traditional ceremony, I would really have to say that I’m glad we did it. You only get married once in your life– what’s one more thing? Plus you have pictures to remember the event and it might mean a lot to your relatives. We even got to tweak things around to make it more comfortable and less stressful.
Our fantabulous wedding videographer Chris Watson @ Dalls Wedding Films worked his magic. He was there for us from 5 am until 11 pm shooting - a long 18 hour day! He did a really great job capturing everything considering we had so many wardrobe changes and multiple venues. When we received both the hard copies and a link to preview the clip, we thought the video quality and editing were both quite good. But above all, we thought he was extremely professional. Also, his creative use of the video images blended well with our musical selections.
I’ve got 4 clips total so I will be posting one every day instead of bombarding you all in one post. As you can tell, I don’t like kissing (pda) in public - even on my wedding day. I’m one shy Apple.
Enjoy our morning tea ceremony.
My Myrtle and I got together over a bottle of Amador County wine last night to discuss our ceremony script. I’m excited to share with you the second draft… it’s long for a post, but it’s so special! Mr. Penguin and I will submit our vows to her privately, so those won’t be revealed until after the wedding. We’ve yet to decide on readings, but the main “idea” is all there, and most of the script is based on readings and passages from the book “The Wedding Ceremony Planner” by Reverend Judith Johnson, PhD.
We’ll be broadcasting all day today, so click on over to the Bee TV tab. See ya there!
PS - Isn’t the tv icon adorable?! Thanks Irene!
Here are a few getting ready shots. My hair was in curlers for about 15 hours straight, which I must say isn’t the sexiest of looks. When my photographer and I went to the hotel bar to get a drink the night before the wedding, I looked like such a freak with my rollers, “Bride” tank, pj bottoms and lamb slippers.
Here are my clothes before the wedding.
Okay, Weddingbee readers… I have a request.
Mr. Magnolia and I are lucky enough to be having a holiday-themed couples shower this Saturday night, hosted by four of our fabulous friends. We’re so looking forward to it — I know that they’ve gone all out with the planning, and we’re anticipating a great crowd and a fantastic time!
Here’s my dilemma: hostess gifts. I’ve purchased four damask serving bowls from Target…
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