Weddingbee

To complement my dress sash, I have amassed a mini-collection of brooches. It was difficult to find just the right brooch since they weren’t a popular fashion item. Now they’re making a comeback! Some of my best finds were from vintage/antique shops. Other places I looked were accessories shops, duty free shops (in airports all over Asia!) and eBay. Like my dress, I just knew when I found the one. I also bought most of these before my dress arrived so I had no idea what to look for in scale and size… I just picked up pieces I thought would fit. I’ll probably have to sell off most of these unless I plan on wearing 30 pieces of flair* every day. *(Points if you know the movie!)

My first gasp-y brooch encounter was with Russell Trusso pieces at Gump’s, a department store in San Francisco. They were so artfully crafted and just mesmerizing, but each piece cost at least 4x the price of my dress. No good. But they make for some nice eye candy! Russell Trusso also has some beautiful necklaces worth looking at.

Read more…

Since I’m close to the six month mark until the wedding, I’ve been going back through all my inspiration notes and was so excited to stumble upon Yvonne’s wedding again. I had discovered Yvonne’s wedding and Knot bio in blogland and immediately fell in love with every detail. Part of it was that Yvonne’s from Seattle and shot at one of my most favorite places in the world, the Seattle Central Library. If you’re from Seattle or visiting, and a bibliophile or just an architecture geek, you must visit the library!

images from john & joseph photography + yvonnewong.com

Read more…

Mama Canary had been having the hardest time finding dresses at home, so one of our big goals was to find her the perfect dress in Hong Kong. We had strolled through Kimberley Road on three separate occasions without any luck, until finally we stepped into Noel Chu, one of the busier shops on Kimberley Road. One of the mistakes Mama and I made on our first few trips to Kimberley Road was just browsing what was on the racks– which usually only showcases the most popular rental dresses (which don’t often parallel U.S. fashion tastes).

The storefront of Noel Chu’s shop on Kimberley Road.

Read more…

Well, I’m back from my fabulous trip to Asia. It was sort of a last minute decision to go on this trip with my mom and her extended family, which included my great aunt and her four adult children (my aunts and uncles). I have to admit that my ulterior motive for the trip was to get a lot of wedding shopping done, along with getting some good family time. All I can say is I got a lot of both! I had a blast sightseeing through Guilin and Taiwan and I shopped my heart out in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is a great place to shop for just about anything, from designer couture clothes at boutiques to street vendors selling fun knick-knacks– you’ll definitely find something you’ll want to buy!

We had a lot on our wedding to do list for Hong Kong including:

- Find a dress for Mama Canary
- Find wedding jewelry for yours truly (namely dragon and phoenix bangles for the tea ceremony)
- Find wedding bands for me and Mr. Canary

Read more…

Well, I’m off! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I’m sure everyone has just been as busy and buzzin’ with activity. With working on getting a mortgage, finishing up work stuff, and figuring out random wedding details… I’ve been preoccupied!

The holidays are always a blast and I’m a little sad to be missing out on them this year. I’m heading to China (Guilin), Hong Kong, and Taiwan for the holidays. I’m very excited since it’ll be a trip with my mom, great aunt, and other aunts/uncles. Unfortunately, Mr. Canary couldn’t join me because of work. But I’m determined to make this the last holiday season we spend apart. I don’t think we’ve ever spent Christmas Day together.

Read more…

I hate the gym. Note, I did not say that I hate exercise. I just hate feeling like a hamster in a wheel, which is how being at the gym makes me feel. I prefer competitive sports like squash or activities like biking that allow me to get from point A to B and see things. I can’t stand the monotony of the gym. The physical aspect isn’t so bad, it’s just staying in one place for at least 30 minutes doing the same motion is NOT at all appealing to me.

Proof that I am not a couch potato! Me and BM Seattle after one of our bike rides. Read more…

Well, there has been so much going on, I don’t even know where to start. Forgive me for the lack of posts… it’s not that there isn’t anything going on… there’s too much going on and it’s been happening so fast I haven’t even had a chance to let the dust settle, let alone blog about it! But I got this wonderful package in the mail yesterday… and I just had to write about it.

As I’ve always said, blogland is such a wonderful place! While surfing blogs over the summer, I discovered one of my favorites, dear diary: martawrites, and met the amazing Marta. The blog alone gives me oodles of warm + fuzzies along with tons of inspiration. Not only is Marta a fantastic writer, she’s also a designer and crafter. While browsing her site, I noticed some really great notebooks (my favorite is the Dear Diary) and stationery that she’s created. I’m not giving it all away, but let’s just say I purchased a few for some special ladies in my life.

Read more…

For any of you looking for cool stuff to do in new york, I just found this guide from New York Magazine - little New Yorker archetypes - how cute!

image from nymag.com

Read more…

It wasn’t until I lived in other cities did I realize that I took New York shopping for granted. Don’t get me wrong, shopping in other cities is definitely great, but (I’m biased here) nothing compares to the varied street vendors, small boutiques, and big department stores of New York. Though I have to admit, I still pine for a Nordstrom’s within city limits. But I digress… I found one of my favorite stores this past summer by just strolling through the small side streets of Soho.

Saja is a great little shop in Soho/Nolita that has the most beautiful dresses. I seriously want to buy every piece when I’m there. The staff there is also very attentive and helpful. The dresses change seasonally and they rarely carry back stock, but the great thing is that they do make bridesmaid dresses. Though I have to warn you that the colors are limited (depending on the season you may only get dark or light colors) and the production cycles are very tight (you have to order within a deadline to get certain styles and colors). But aside from that, the dresses are just to die for!

Read more…

It’s amazing how your wedding choices can change in an instant. Even after you’ve chosen something and thought “That’s it. No more.” But then on a whim, you find something else you like better. I hate when that happens.

I thought I was all set on a theme, well at least a color scheme. Although a color scheme will not necessarily change a theme, but it may adjust it. From an earlier post, I was all over modern chinoiserie, which I still am, but I also thought I had my color scheme all figured out. Wrong.

Initially, I wanted to start with a detail from my dress: the gold sash and then work from the bridesmaid colors (since they would be in about a bajillion photos with me on the day). I had originally wanted a poppy red or pink, but then thought that six girls in bright pink or red would be too much. I saw an awesome photo of a bride and bridesmaids in a champagne/mocha color and that exuded classic elegance so I started my quest down that route.

Read more…