Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Believe it or not, I was never one who had thought too much about my wedding before I had gotten engaged. Never thought about my e-ring, never thought about my dress, never thought about the theme. But there was one random thing I did think about prior to getting engaged. Don’t laugh, but that one aspect was what our table names might be! I know, RANDOM, right?! I’d seen personalized tables done at a wedding before and thought it was such a good idea. Whatever our wedding would be like, I knew I wanted our tables names to reveal to our guests a bit about our journey as a couple.
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Now it’s time for the finishing touches, namely the outer portion of the invite! Read more…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
With the exception of the flower graphic (which I describe at the bottom), I designed everything in MS Powerpoint, a) because I don’t have Illustrator, and b) because Powerpoint is pretty easy to use. For the layered inserts, I wanted to maximize the use of each sheet of paper. I drew boxes with an extremely light and thin dotted edge to help guide myself, exactly where the paper would eventually be cut (and thus eliminate the lines). The dimensions were as follows: Read more…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
We wanted our invitations to have both a modern yet traditional feel, but to spice it up a bit, I thought it might be fun to get creative and add a little bit of texture and dimension to our invites.
To give credit where it’s due, the paper flowers were actually Mr. D’s idea - He was accompanying me on a random trip to the scrapbook store, spotted the bottle of flowers, and said, “Hey these might look pretty cool on our invitations.” Well, those flowers ended up serving as the theme for all of our wedding stationery, inspiring all of our designs! Anyway, without further ado, here’s the how-to below!
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Remember my DIY invitations? Well, here are my long overdue instructions, starting with the pocketfolds! In an effort to keep costs down while having a perdy invitation, we opted to make our own pocketfolds. I bought 8.5×11″ metallic cardstock paper (in Spring Green!) from bluedotpapershop.
What you’ll need:
- 8.5×11″ cardstock
- 0.25″ wide supertape (seriously, supertape is the only thing that will work)
- Paper cutter and scissors Read more…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Hello Hive! We’re back!!! I’ve missed you, and I can’t wait to share everything with you!
The wedding was nothing short of the most amazing, perfect, surreal, awesomest day of our lives. All of our loved ones from all different parts of our life journey there in one place for that one rare and precious day, smiling down so much love on us, sharing in our moment as we exchanged our vows and made our lifetime commitment to love one another…There simply are no words to describe how priceless the whole experience was.
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Everything is so surreal. The past few days have been a complete whirlwind…wrapping up all the final details, all our friends and family members flying in, my bachelorette party on thursday, our rehearsal yesterday…A part of me can’t believe it’s all really happening .
Eight years of friendship. Five years of dating. A year and a half-long engagement. All the planning, prepping, papercutting . And now here we are. Today, I will marry my best friend. Today, I will declare in the presence of the most special people in our lives, my love and commitment for Mr. D, my soon-to-be husband.
I had a rare hour alone yesterday, sitting in the church before our rehearsal, finishing up the final version of my vows. And in that moment, I was able to just pause, reflect, and bask in the overwhelming outpouring of love around us. Our parents, sisters, brothers, friends…they have been so loving and accommodating, going out of their way in every possible way to truly make this the most special weekend for us. I can’t describe how precious it is to have everyone here in one place. Read more…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
It is so worth it to let your vendors know when you are not 100% satisfied. Back in February, Mr. D and I went to the florist to see a sample of our centerpieces. It was…OK. That morning, the florist had called and didn’t have the exact flowers we had wanted, but said to still come in so we could get a sense of the colors. They were fluffy and pretty, but to be honest, just looked very washed out (the dominant color had been white).
Well, we kindly requested to view another sample - We were going in again this past weekend anyway, to finalize all the details for the wedding day. Since our wedding colors are pale green with hints of blush, we thought we would try and see how things would look if we went all the way with the pinks.
Immediately, we were a million times happier with the results! Check ’em out…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
I lied when I said that the Xacto Laser Trimmer was the best paper cutter in the world. So then, what is the best, you ask? Well, it’s one that Mr. D found for me…(See how proud he is in this pic !) The best paper cutter EVER is…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
It’s amazing how the to-do list has grown as we draw closer to the big day! The crazy thing is that the list is filled with seemingly random little things too. However, as I speak with former brides, I am starting to realize how big a difference some foresight into these details can have in terms of making the overall wedding day flow much smoother. So I thought I would share a couple of the random tips I’ve heard in the past two weeks (primarily from Mr. D’s cousin who graciously offered to be our day-of-coordinator) that made me go, “woah, I hadn’t even thought of that!”
These small details can certainly go a long way in preventing some unforeseen mixups and potentially even disasters, so I thought I’d share a few that particularly struck me in hopes that it will help you all too! Read more…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Way back when the wedding planning first began, I thought that I would be wearing a headband on my wedding day. Of the weddings I had been to up until that point, most of the brides had worn tiaras or headbands, so I kind of took that for granted. Once I began scouring wedding blogs and checking out “real weddings” on The Knot, I fell in love with the idea of having smaller hairpieces pinned into my hair along with fresh flowers. Thus began my search for the perfect hairpieces!
I am excited to say that after looking for a while, they are finally here! I custom ordered them from Haute Bride, a local San Francisco bridal salon that specializes in bridal jewelry. While there are plenty of other salons that sell jewelry for cheaper, in my opinion, the selection and intricacy of detail they have just don’t compare to what I found at Haute Bride. They turned these around for me in one day, and I also placed my custom jewelry order with them as well, which took two weeks (picking them up on Friday!).
Aren’t they exquisite? I was so excited at how dainty and just “pretty” the detail was!
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Last Wednesday, Mr. D and I trekked over to City Hall during my lunch break and got our marriage license . It was yet again one of those surreal experiences, when you are like, wow this is really happening!
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Um, I think it’s sinking in now. It suddenly feels very very real! I can’t believe it…It seems only a short time ago when we still had a year to go! And now, after 8 years of friendship, 4 years and 10 months of which we were in a relationship, and 1 year and 4 months of which we were engaged…here we are - 30 days away from making our lifelong commitment to each other, from the end of long distance, from moving in together, from starting our new lives as husband and wife..!
Excitement, giddiness, and a little bit of oh-my-goodness-we-are-really-doing-this …that’s sort of how I feel right about now! This isn’t just a big fun celebration…it is a public declaration, a vow, a promise, a covenant. It’s hitting me now…This is for real! I was kind of expecting this ah-ha moment to come at some point…and now my heart is like pounding and going crazy with excitement! Read more…
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
I always love a good proposal story, and just had to share this one with the hive! What a wedding-filled year it will be for the Daffodil extended family…Mr. D’s cousin recently proposed to his girlfriend on a mountaintop - "Operation Snowcone" they called it - and what an operation it was! Check out their engagement video below…Definitely made me tear up!
Mrs. Daffodil, San Francisco/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Nonprofit Strategy ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: December 29, 2006Wedding Date: May, 2008Blogging Since: August, 2007Venue: Church w/ floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Valley; Westin in downtown LAAbout Me: I moved around a lot growing up, but consider myself a Southerner at heart. I love scrapbooking, dancing, doggies, and diet coke. I am all about personalizing everything and hence, I'm a DIY bride who is just loving the entire wedding planning process! Mr. Daffodil and I met in our college fellowship group and were "just friends" for three years before we started dating. We've been together for four years now and can't wait to get married in sunny SoCal, Mr. Daffodil's hometown.
Unique Wedding Favors
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. And now here we are. Today, I will marry my best friend. Today, I will declare in the presence of the most special people in our lives, my love and commitment for Mr. D, my soon-to-be husband.
!) The best paper cutter EVER is…
. It was yet again one of those surreal experiences, when you are like, wow this is really happening!
This isn’t just a big fun celebration…it is a public declaration, a vow, a promise, a covenant. It’s hitting me now…This is for real! I was kind of expecting this ah-ha moment to come at some point…and now my heart is like pounding and going crazy with excitement!
