The night before the wedding, Mr. Penguin spent the night in our Honeymoon suite while I stayed at my parents’ house. We had to wrap up some last minute details, and my aunts and I practiced how to get in and out of my Thai wedding dress as fast as possible.
It was a restless night of sleep. I went to bed around 2 AM, and had a horrible night of sleep, since we had 10 or so relatives staying with us and I slept in the living room, so I couldn’t really go to bed until everyone else did. Of course, with that many people in the house, the toilet flushed practically every 20 minutes or so throughout the night. I really should have stayed at the hotel with a girlfriend, or up at my MOH’s house, armed with a bottle of Nyquil. So, I guess that’s some solid advice! Find a peaceful dark and quiet place to sleep the night before your wedding, even if it means checking into your local motel for the night.
I think you could title my wedding morning “Peaceful Solitude.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my family, love my girlfriends, and I love company, but I’m very much a only child in mind and spirit. I love my alone time. And I’m so glad I chose to get ready on my own time, at my own pace, and more importantly, all alone. It kept me calm, collected, and completely stress free. I was reachable by cell phone, but the 5 hours or so in the morning of my wedding getting ready, I spent with very few people, and it was absolute bliss. No one asking if I was nervous, excited, if I needed anything, nothing like that. Just me, myself, and I!
I woke up at 8AM, and headed out to my blowout appointment in old town Folsom. For some reason it didn’t occur to me until that morning that my hair appointment happened to be right down the street from my good friend Michelle’s wedding venue! Michelle was getting married that day too, so I hopped on over to her venue to say hello to her, and finally got to meet her beautiful mother!
Today we wed, my friend!
Michelle insisted that if I posted a picture of us sans makeup, that I post a picture of her with makeup on…check out the beautiful bride later that day! I was so bummed to miss her wedding, but I was there in spirit!
Congrats Michelle and Chris! Gorgeousness!
After our mini-meetup I made a beeline to La Bou to get some grub. I worked at La Bou in high school, so it was fun and nostalgic to eat a sandwich from there on my wedding day. Turkey and jack on sourdough, mango iced tea…woop woop, scarf scarf!
My makeup artist arrived at my parents’ house just as I came home, so I ate during my makeup appointment.
Billie watched and wondered if there were any good shades of lipstick to complement her black lips.
In the other room, my family was hard at work prepping for the Thai Water Ceremony…
…and my bridesmaids arrived! They checked out the gorgeous flowers, delivered in the morning by my friend Jenny…
Meanwhile Jenny rushed off to the venue to set up the reception details with my cousins. Their hours upon hours of hard work really showed! Everyone was wowed by the setup!
Our friend Chris DJ’ed, and he and his beautiful wife Diana arrived to set up his turntables.
My dad set up for the slideshow using a large white seamless piece of paper and two metal stands.
Meanwhile back at home, I strapped on my teal shoes and headed off!
I rode with our photographer, Sarah K Chen. We were so lost in conversation that a couple times I swore we missed our turns. Luckily, there were signs to guide us along the way…
And…we arrived!
READY TO WED!
The teal shoes are so pretty! I love seeing a summary with your non-pro pics, it’s fun to see what the day really looked like (not that I don’t think photographers can actually capture the day….)
I am definitely spending the night in a hotel room by myself if at all possible the night before. For sure I will have my own bed in a quiet and dark room. I want to be well rested for such a huge day. Sounds like some melatonin will be in order as well!
You sure did have an army to help prepare you for the day. Doesn’t it feel nice to have so many helping hands?
Thanks for the picture. 
Oh, thank you for this post! Just this morning, FI was quizzing me on the prep timeline for our wedding - and I started to panic a little because I’m realizing that I can’t be everywhere at once to do everything myself. Your post made be relax and see that I can trust all our wonderful friends and family members that have offered to help!
PS - thanks for the Nyquil tip, too!
Man you had a team of helpers! Loved the thai water ceremony, I was wondering who put all that stuff together for you! Did they bring back the chairs and such all the way from Thailand too?
Looks like you had super relaxing morning to start! I want to see mOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I prefer getting ready by myself too and don’t like be asked all those questions. So you didn’t see you BM’s until you got to the venue?
Yeah, I swear La Bou puts some form of addictive substance in their dill dip. Soooo good!
Sounds like your wedding morning was just as delicious! Your signs turned out adorable - and I love the gate to the winery, how pretty!
I love that you spent some of your day solo. I hope to do that too!
Oh, it’s so exciting!
I really hope I’ll find a way to get a few hours on my own on our wedding day too. I’m glad to hear it worked out so well for you
oooh la bou. i’ve only been there once but i fell in love so hard. lol. it’s great you were able to carve out some pengy time the morning of! it seems like it helped you to relax a lot.
oooh, i cannot wait to read more and more!!
you had 10 ppl staying at your house the night b4 the wedding? we had 17! i was always stepping over someone’s body on the floor to get around. LOL. we had a traditional cambodian ceremony.
your thai dress is really pretty!
congrats! how did you hang your rice paper lanterns?? i have the same ones and I’m trying to figure that out, we’re getting married next sat in Tiburon. i can’t believe how fast the days have gone.
@Kate: Hi Kate! Got mine on zappos, but here they are on the Guess website as well…
@MDaggs: It could not have happened without the small army of helpers! I was so lucky to have them!
@ecochicbride: I bought some wire cable (18 gauge i think? Pretty thin but sturdy) and strung 3 strings from pole to pole. The lanterns come with little hooks so we just hooked them onto the wire. Im going to be honest, it looked kind of janky that way, but the setup was superfast. In hindsite, I would have either had them professionally hung, or done without. I’ll blog about the deets when the pro pics come in!
Mrs. Penguin, Sacramento
Age and Occupation: 26, Video & TV Producer/Director/Editor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About Me: I'm a silly mess of a girl who, above all else in this world, LOVES the Spice Girls. I eat sushi at least 3 times a week, and feel guilty about how much it costs the other 4 days a week. I love designer jeans and cheap accessories. I don't like sweets, but I love the UCLA Bruins!
Can’t wait to see more! Where did you get your teal shoes?