Weddingbee Blog

Dinner after our rehearsal was pretty standard, as far as rehearsal dinners go. We went to Hee Hing restaurant in Waikiki, which conveniently had underground parking. (Parking is a pain downtown.)

My mom spot-ordered off the menu when we got there, and like any good restaurant, they brought the food out hot and quick.
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That title works best when followed by the word “Iago” and when said aloud in a Jafar voice.

One of my favorite trends in wedding decor is the non-floral centerpiece. Since flowers can really add up, using non-floral centerpieces can be an easy way to save money. It’s also a great way to incorporate your theme, allowing for an opportunity to add a little more personality to your decor.

Source: Martha Stewart

It can also bring a seasonal, or perhaps even regional, element to your decor. Liiike citrus…be still, my Floridian heart.
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Others speak of that “dress moment,” and I think I had the “fabric moment.” It was when I was in the fabric store, having just solidified the vision for my wedding dress, and I was looking for the perfect fabric. I was looking at all the ivory silks, and I saw this little glimpse of something and, as cynical as I can be, as I just *knew* that it was my fabric. And after realizing that, my inner girlie-girl screamed, “It’s pink!”

My convictions about this wondrous fabric were so strong that, initially, I didn’t think twice about wearing a non-white/ivory dress.
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Mr. G and I have been spending a lot of time together recently, and it’s been nothing short of amazing. We’ve spent the last year and a half apart, after seeing each other nearly every day for four years when we were in college together.

Here’s what happened—I graduated, and Mr. G had another year of school to go. I moved back in with my parents because I was broke and unemployed. Mr. G stayed down on campus over that summer because he had two jobs down there. I got a job at Jewel, and my hours got cut down (as did the whole store’s) after just a few weeks of work. I was working a 12-hour week, which was like nothing, so I would go stay with Mr. G for a week here or there. It was a giant adjustment from living in the same apartment (with other roommates) to just visiting him, but we still got a good amount of time together.

Then after last summer, school started again, and Mr. G hit the books. I was still at Jewel, so I’d come down and stay Wednesday through Sunday, or something like that, on weekends he didn’t work. (He only worked two of the four weekends a month). This kind of morphed our schedule into us seeing each other every other weekend. When I type it out like that, it doesn’t sound so bad, but at the time it was such a struggle. My mom jokes about how when we hit the two-weeks-apart mark (because we weren’t always able to see each other) that I’d be noticeably grumpier. I guess two weeks doesn’t seem like that much, but it was definitely an adjustment. It was also hard because Mr. G was at our campus, but I was back in my hometown…with no one, really. I have some good friends, some from around here even, but nobody lives around here anymore. It was kind of lonely, I guess, which made driving down to see Mr. G for a few days (even if I was just sitting around while he was in class) no big deal.

Fast forward to March, when I got a job. Finally getting a job was a huge relief, and it was so nice to finally be making the money to finance this big shindig that will be here in nearly six (six!!!) months. Well, I have to wake up early to drive into the city, so I go to bed relatively early to do so. When I first got the new job, Mr. Giraffe worked late at night and slept in because of it.
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One of the most important parts of the wedding for me were the details. Whenever I looked at inspiration photos, the smallest things would jump out at me, and I think they make weddings unique and special. It also meant there were some crazy times before the wedding, but looking back at the photos, it was all worth it to me.

One of my favorite details was the ampersand between our chairs:

I saw this late in the planning process, and made a special trip to Anthropologie to pick one up. I was concerned that it was a frivolous purchase, but I can tell you now that it sits on a shelf in our living room and I smile when I look at it.
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Fabulizz and her fiance take engagement pics in front of the historic Florida Theatre.

Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the Weddingbee Gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.

If your photo is featured as the Gallery of the Day, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! Check out instructions on how to grab the badge here!

Over the past few weeks, I must’ve typed up and then deleted five or six versions of this particular blog post. I’ve had a really hard time putting what I want to say into words. So I beg you to bear with me, readers!

Anyway, this post isn’t about that “D word,” but it’s about another D word that up until recently was considered almost as taboo: depression.

I’ve suffered from depression for almost as long as I can remember, although I wasn’t quite aware of it until I was in my late 20s. As a child and teen, my mother would always give me a hard time for being miserable, or negative, or pessimistic, or for crying for what she thought was a stupid reason. I wasn’t miserable all the time, but I was miserable enough of the time. And by the time I hit my teens, I began to worry that she was right. Was I just a big drag?

I grew up. I finished college, moved out, got a job. I had my good days and bad days. I thought this was totally normal.
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Congratulations to our winner, Miss Knitting!

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Six out-of-this-world vendors have teamed up to put together an incredible prize package for one lucky Weddingbee reader. The packages includes either an engagement or bridal session (for California brides only) or a set of two 5×5 encaustic prints of a winner-supplied photo from Gia Canali Photography. The winner will also receive 100 digitally printed wedding invitations suites (including invitation, envelope, and reply set) from Hello!Lucky, a set of four espresso cups and saucers from Heath Ceramics, two organic bath sheets, hand towels, washcloths and a bath mat from Coyuchi, and 10 PartyTopics Wedding Scatter Card Sets with matching confetti from TableTopics. To top it all off, the winner gets two nights at Bardessono Hotel (good Sunday through Thursday)! The total value of this package is $2,443!

You have 2 chances to enter this contest!

Simply comment below for your first chance to win! For a second chance to win, follow Weddingbee on Twitter and retweet this contest (if you’re already a follower, simply retweet by clicking here!). Then come back here and let us know that you followed/retweeted. You have until October 7th, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST to enter. Good luck!
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We kind of sped up the cocktail hour because I’m awkward and don’t mingle well (yes), so we segued into our first dance.

We had a shortlist for first dance songs, but ended up choosing Sam Cooke’s “That’s Where It’s At.” Incidentally our DJ, Michael of The Flashdance, just listed this song as the best first dance song. Represent. (Hint: That blog post of his has a ton of great ideas for first dance songs, check it out!)
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…and help me find something to do with myself?

When we were in the midst of wedding planning, I would occasionally turn to Fancee and say, “I think I’m going to have post-wedding depression. What will I do with all of this energy post-wedding?”

Don’t worry, the downtime will be short lived: derby tryouts start at the beginning of next month, if I decide to do them. And there are about a million volunteer opportunities I should be taking advantage of… but none of it involves so much love, so many crafts, so many things to show to internet strangers! And, at the same time—and I thought this might happen—I am just way less interested in weddings than I was a month ago. I even unsubscribed from some wedding blogs that I used to love. Yay less blogs to feel bad about not reading! Boo less blogs for when I’m bored and don’t know what to do with myself.

Anyway, here’s what I have been doing: “wifely duties.” I’ve been doing a whole lot of cleaning, and I’m trying to channel the creative energy into creating delicious food. That said, I am not interested in food blogs. If I want to look at it, I want to eat it; and if I can’t eat it NOW, I don’t really want to look at it. That said, I’m typing this while standing next to the caramelized butternut squash that’s baking in the toaster oven. NOM NOM NOM.

So, okay, whine whine whine. Speaking of favors, where’re the pictures? Where’s the good stuff? Fine. Here are our favors, part 3. Or maybe 4. Sorry, I have no idea.

First, we started with our awesome wedding stamp. We had to stamp carefully so that the tree didn’t get on the tags, and only the words were actually inked.

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I’m finally getting serious about our flowers. Of course, I’ve drooled over lots of wonderful wedding day flowers, but I just started collecting inspiration pictures strictly for our day; not just the stuff I like, but the stuff I want.

My motivation is strictly it’s-the-end-of-the-road procrastinator, also known as an upcoming vendor meeting! We’re getting together with our florist for the first time in less than 2 weeks from today (Squee!) so it’s time to finally get down to business!

It’s never easy to describe the vision in my mind, which is why blogs and pictures are such a great resource. Right now, I need to figure out what we’re doing for the escort card display and gather the inspiration to share to be able to convey my wants to our planner and the florist. If it’s a DIY project, hello! I need to get cracking! If not, I just need to know what I’m asking of the florist.

I’ve looked at a lot of really cool and unique escort card displays, but I really like the more clean look for these spaces. I’m immediately drawn to the photos below. I think it looks very classy, yet whimsical at the same time.

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It was time!

The guests had arrived and everything was ready to go. We lined up for the processional next to the bar just inside the lodge, and waited for our signal to start the long walk across the decks, down two sets of stairs, across the grass and down the aisle.

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Otherwise titled: “Why did I have to fall in love with someone from a different country!?”

“All you need is love” goes the song, but for some of us it is more like “all you need is love plus a passport with the proper stamp that makes it legal for you to live happily ever after in the same country as your spouse.” Phew. Not as melodious as the first. This post is for all you couples who not only have to deal with the stress of wedding planning, but also have to deal with the stress of immigration and visa issues before (and often after) you get married. I know there are quite a few of you out there who have experienced these issues, whether it involves your own immigration status or your other half’s, including even our own Mrs. D’orsay, Mrs. Poodle, and Miss Glasses (I’m sure their are more but I can’t think of them off the top of my head).

Mr E and I have wrangled with visa processes for practically our entire lives because our families moved to Indonesia from our respective “home” or “passport” countries when we were both very young.
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This is how I grew up.

I was about two when that picture of my brothers and cousins was taken. Sprinkle in a neighborhood with a severe lack children without a y chromosome, and you’ve got me. I didn’t stand a chance, and neither did most of my boyfriends. My tomboy act was never convincing. I’ve always been a girly girl at heart, but I’m a guy’s girl.
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Our guests definitely enjoyed the candy, but there was one thing I think they enjoyed more: the photobooth!

(Is it sad that even though it was a huge hit, the bride in me still looks at that photo and wishes I’d had time to replace the red curtain with a pink one?? Oooh well! C’est la vie!)

Anyway…we rented our photobooth from The Photobooth Experience. The company is affiliated with our photographer, and we fell in love with their booth when we first discovered it at a bridal show long before our wedding. Ever since we booked them, I was totally excited about finding vintage accessories for people to use as props in their photos.
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