Weddingbee Blog

It’s the day before the wedding. I arrive at the church an hour and a half early with a couple of my bridesmaids. It’s still pretty quiet, which was a blessing considering that I felt like I hadn’t had a single moment of quietness in months! As my girls change into their sun dresses, I steal away into the sanctuary for a moment to force myself to sit. breathe. absorb. Believe it, girl. This is all really happening. I run through my vows, making some final edits. Then I sit… for just a little bit. Before I know it, the parents arrive, then the boys, then our musicians, officiant, and everyone else.

And then, before I know it again, my parents are practicing escorting me down the aisle… and woah, my dad is practicing giving me away… and what the, I’m standing up in front, next to Mr. D, in front of our college pastor!

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The rehearsal day is, after all, the first time you will see your entire wedding party together… and more importantly, the last time you will see your fiance before you guys take the plunge! What a great excuse to buy a pretty little dress! I wanted something cute, light, yet would convey “bridal”. These were the candidates in the running…

Satin Bridal Dress from White House Black Market ($158)
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If there is one thing I totally underestimated (not just in the wedding planning process, but in life in general!), it is the power of video. Now, I am all about photography and always have been… I am an avid scrapbooker and also hold the title of unofficial historian among all my friends . And there is nothing more beautiful than a perfect moment captured on film (or memory card, rather ). But you’d be amazed at how quickly we can forget. Lately, perhaps due to the fact that the wedding brought together so many old and new friends, I’ve been reminiscing more… and I’ve found that video has the amazing power of bringing me back to a certain time in a uniquely different way than photography does.

Anyway, for your workday viewing pleasure , I thought I’d share the “Getting Ready” video that one of our buddies put together for us. I can’t describe the giddyness and “awwwww, I miss everyone so much!” feeling that clinched my throat as I started watching it. So much fun and love. Enjoy!

Music by one of me and Mr. D’s favorite bands, Caedmon’s Call.  Thanks to our buddy, Lawrence Chen, for your amazing work!

Every element of my bachelorette party was a blast, but the games were what really took the cake!  I thought I would share some of the games that we played, for those of you who are currently or will one day find yourself planning a bachelorette party!

The Spinner. So simple yet ingenious! One of my bridesmaid put together a spinner for me to wear around my neck the whole evening. The idea was to have the guys I would encounter throughout the night take a spin, and then perform that action for me! And each time, my girls would of course be documenting it by taking all these pictures. Embarassing, perhaps even mortifying, but definitely a ton of FUN! And the guys were all such good sports…!

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My bachelorette party was classic, fun, and perfect!! Our wedding party was spread out across the US, so both Mr. D and I didn’t have our bachelor/bachelorette parties until two days before our wedding! Yes, definitely a crazy hectic wedding week, but oh so worth it, to get to party with ALL your bestest friends together!

The day started with my sisters and one of my bridesmaids desperately trying to pry me away from my last minute wedding planning task list! “Drop it!” I heard a million times. “We are forcing you to relax!” After finally letting go (both figuratively and literally ), I was whisked off to the opening ceremony: brunch at Border Grill in Santa Monica.
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I think it’s safe to say that it is proper etiquette to feed your vendors, particularly those who are providing 6+ hours of service for you. But beyond that, there seems to be some gray area: What to feed them? When to feed them? And where should they sit?

I’ll start with our story…
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It only took a few extra minutes, and it was just a small personal touch that I thought would be a little treat for ourselves.  Consider this an addendum to my post last week about our place cards… I forgot to mention the place cards I created for Mr. D and myself! During all the planning, I found that in the craziness of crafting all these perfect details for your guests - the programs, the place cards, the favors, etc. - it was nice to spend a couple extra minutes on a little something for ourselves. Just a sweet, simple, and special souvenir, that now sits displayed on our mantle with our toasting glasses .

I have to admit it was pretty trippy to see my new last name (on public display, no less) for the first time! It felt a little weird in the crafting process… but on our wedding day, as I sat down at our sweetheart table and looked over at my place card, it just felt pretty cool in a quiet kind of way. Like, wow, we really are married now.

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As part of my bridesmaids’ gifts, I decided to make them some personalized stationery.  There is something about having pretty paper to write on that makes it so much more fun to write!  I know that handwritten letters are a bit of a rarity in these days of facebook/texts/emails, and I promise this wasn’t a vain attempt to get my girls to write me (though there isn’t anything quite like receiving a personal handwritten letter in the mail !). I’ve just always loved pretty papers and thought it would be fun!

I made some 5.5″x5.5″ square stationery personalized with each bridesmaid’s name, for letter writing purposes…

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…and a raving vendor review!  Some of you may recall the nightmare of a trial I had back in March! Well, I never got to post about the trial I went to after that, but as you can tell, I loved it and chose this artist… or rather, this company! I’ll admit they are not the most affordable (though they are definitely comparable), but I am a very strong believer in “you get what you pay for”… and when it comes to professionalism, style, and quality, they were AWESOME and certainly worth every penny! Which, on a day like my wedding day, was absolutely priceless .

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I was saving this post for my recaps, but since a lot of you have been private messaging me with questions about my hair and makeup, I thought I’d just put this one out there first! For those of you who want to see the final product, feel free to scroll to the bottom (the vendor review and details on the ’do are coming tomorrow!)…and the rest of you can follow along as we begin to retrace what was truly one of the happiest days of our lives!

The morning began a little past 6 AM with our hair and makeup artist knocking on our hotel room door. She was so on time that she showed up almost an hour early, to ensure there was enough time to set up her station and get everyone prettied up! In a somewhat disoriented state, I answered the door. I had gone to bed at 2:30 AM the night before (definitely not a “bridal best practice” to follow ), and the adrenaline had not yet kicked in. I must’ve been the first sleepy-eyed bride she ever encountered . Shortly afterward, some of my bridesmaids showed up with breakfast.
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You thought the pics from last week were a tease. Um, somebody help me pick up my jaw from the ground. Help me catch my breath. And help me stand up straight (since I am pretty much completely floored). Our photographer, the amazingly gifted Scott Robert, posted up our teaser pics yesterday. And I seriously don’t know if I can handle it!

An apt time for a mini recap, don’t you think? Consider it a teaser recap . That’s me and Mr. D above, awaiting our ceremony to begin, contemplating and basking in all the love around us! Read more…

These are snapshots of some of the yummy dishes we served at our big fat Chinese wedding!

You are what you eat… or at least that seems to be the hope in some circles! When it comes to Chinese wedding banquets, every course served is symbolic of some kind of special wish for the couple. Though I originally envisioned a Southern-style yet modern glam reception and having a Chinese banquet separately, we melded the two visions due to parental preferences (and budget constraints too ) . This meant we would have quite an eclectic group of guests in attendance. For some of our colleagues and friends, it would be their first Chinese wedding! So I thought it would be helpful to create menus, to orient them to the symbolism and also to help them enjoy the full experience! Read more…

…or rather, the wrapping!  Helpful wedding tip: It’s all about presentation!! It’s amazing the difference that great presentation can make.

So…our favors were a bit random. As you all know by now, part of wedding planning is all about compromise: focusing on the aspects you are willing to fight for and letting go on some of the other aspects. As hard as it was, I had to let go on the favors (more on favors that made it in the running some other day!). It was cute, somewhat practical, and guests were either delighted/amused/entertained or possibly all three.

Here is our favor:

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Now that our table cards were finished, it was on to the place cards! We opted for sweet, simple, and similar-to-our-invites! You’ll recall that we had used the Prima paper flowers on the main body of our invite. We also used them here, accenting them with small pink sticker gemstones (which should be available at any scrapbook store). I was also able to use the scrap piece of metallic cardstock that had been cut off during the construction of our pocketfolds! The simple how-to below! Read more…

Every master must have the time to do his work. For that reason, I’ve been calmly and patiently awaiting our wedding photos from the renowned Scott Robert, as I want him to have enough time to perfect his art! But then, out of nowhere, I got blindsided! These showed up on his assistant photographer’s blog yesterday, and now I am left salivating for more!

That’s me above, getting ready in the bride’s room, right before I was headed out to see Mr. D for the first time. Read more…