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I just love our wedding date… personally, I think it is just as cool as 07.07.07! 
It stormed the day before our wedding, so I was seriously worried about our outdoor ceremony. But apparently all my finger-crossing worked! I think I got less than 3 hours of shut-eye the night before… I was too excited to sleep so some of my out-of-town friends came to visit and we hung out in my hotel room until after 1 AM. Then I kept tossing and turning and at 6AM finally decided that I couldn’t take it anymore and got out of bed. I woke my sister, who was staying with me, up at 6:30, but she was a good sport about it as she was excited too! We waited until 8 AM before we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast with my friend K, visiting from England (the lone redhead in my pictures).
Whoa, I never thought those words would be coming out of my mouth, but apparently, never say never! I was one of those girls who has been envisioning their wedding day (to a mystery groom) for as long as I can remember… always flipping through wedding magazines whenever at the library or bookstore… clipping inspirational pictures and saving them in a binder… devouring all those wedding related shows on tv (Platinum Weddings, Who’s Wedding Is It, etc.). I’m sure some of you can relate! 
I was sure that after my own wedding on 9/8, I would go through “withdrawl” and wish that I could do it all over again. But recently, I’ve been experiencing wedding burnout. I see Platinum Weddings listed on my scrolling TV Guide channel, but don’t feel the urge to flip to it. Yesterday I was at Barnes with a friend and automatically picked up the newest Martha Stewart Weddings and InStyle Weddings, which have always been my sacred handbooks of all things wedding. But I flipped through a few pages of Martha and had to put it down. I honestly could not STAND to look at another picture of a slim model in a gazillion dollar wedding gown, the “perfect” favors, or an overly styled wedding cake. Maybe my words sound kind of extreme, but it literally felt like I had a physical aversion to it all!! Bizarre, I tell you!!
I got a few questions regarding my escort card table in my last post, so here’s the dirt (or the rice, har har har 
). I was waiting for a good picture of it before I posted, so here we go!
YAAAYYYY, after a nail-biting month, Dennis Lee emailed us the link to our online slideshow!! He also sent the link to our online order website, with an unbelievable 959 pictures! And there are SO many good ones! I can’t wait til we get all the pics on DVD so that I can share them with y’all, but for now, here’s a snippet borrowed from his blog. And don’t forget to check out the slideshow!
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I love love love my wedding band and my engagement ring… but as individual pieces! What exactly do I mean by this? Well, my engagement ring has a very dainty band, it’s literally 1/16th of an inch (no joke, I just busted out my ruler and measured it!). So I picked out an equally dainty eternity band to match. However, I’ve recently decided that I prefer the look of both pieces worn separately, versus stacked. Wearing them stacked seems to detract from the delicateness of each ring.
So as an experiment, yesterday I started wearing my e-ring on my right hand, and leaving my wedding band on my left hand ring finger… And I kinda like it!!! Does anyone else do this, or would you think this was odd if you saw my rings worn this way? I also like the fact that now, both of my hands are graced with a bit of *bling bling* hehe. 
There isn’t any sort of superstitious mumbo jumbo associated with this action, is there…?
Day 5 - Friday
We took an all-day catamaran excursion with Trilogy. Even though we picked what’s called their “Sunset Tour” we still had to arrive at 10am. They sailed us to the private island of Lanai where we had a driving tour of the quaint town, and then some time to snorkel on the famed Hulopoe Beach, supposedly one of the best beaches in the world. I wish we had spent more time actually snorkeling, but I kept gagging at the salt water and it hurt my ears…
Then they served us a BBQ dinner in their pavillion and we sailed back with the sunset as one of the crewmen played the ukulele. It was so picturesque! They also fed us all day: fresh cinnamon buns, (non-alcoholic) drinks, fresh fruit, wraps, chips & salsa, and the BBQ. Cost: Approx $190 per person (ouch, I didn’t realize it was so much until I checked our credit card statement!)
P.S. Apparently we weren’t wearing enough sunscreen cuz we got painfully FRIED. 
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Part One: Kauai
Our Hawaiian honeymoon came and went in a blink of an eye! We only had 7 days to split between two islands, Kauai and Maui, so I really wish we had the luxury of a two week honeymoon! I decided to list some prices to hopefully help anyone considering some of these activities. Please keep in mind that the prices I list are intended only to give you an idea of the approximate cost. Actual pricing will vary depending on how you book/who you book through!
Day 1 - Monday
We lost the entire day traveling. Between waiting at the airport, flying time, layover in LAX, getting lost on the dark winding Kauai roads in a rain storm, we traveled for about 15 hours and were pooped when we arrived!
We just got lei’d.
Oh, how I miss my wedding! How I wish it wasn’t over and just a beautiful memory in my mind… just kidding, I love being married! But all the same, I miss the whole process, all the minutia, the DIY, the excitement and the anticipation…
But let me recap one of my favorite aspects of our wedding, one which we dedicated a lot of thought, effort and uhmm, dough, to getting *just right.* The decor!
Flowers - Fleur Couture
Fleur was one of my favorite vendors, and I really, really enjoyed working with the owner, Kelly Marie. Her work is so amazingly fantabulous… and reasonably priced to boot (ok, she’s not “cheap” by any means, but relative to her competitors, she’s definitely reasonable). She was so patient with my numerous emails and did her best to answer my questions in a timely manner. We met 3 times over the course of 9 months, and I always knew I was in good hands. (FYI, I decided to be crazy and provided ALL my own glassware, candles, votives, lanterns, everything right down to the river rocks!!)
by Sister Emerald
[My sister’s paper, How to be Maid of Honor for Your Big Sister’s Wedding was a big hit, so as promised, here is her toast! She actually chose to write a poem instead of a traditional speech, and she was still writing it the morning of the wedding!]
To write a speech for two people so dear
And have it sound perfect, so very sincere.
You’d think it’d be easy to jot down the lines
But I’ve begun over and over a number of times.
And now you sit here on your special night
Listening to this poem that still isn’t quite right.
Dear favorite big sister, yes, I only have one
You’re beautiful, loving, and lots of fun.
You’re kind, caring, and thoughtful, too
And everyday I become more thankful for you.
And Borton, I’ve enjoyed the times we hung out
There’ll be more times for watching basketball and movies, no doubt
Charlene and Borton, you mean a lot to me
And I love that we’re all family!
We have just completed Week Two of married life, and it sure is blissful! I love knowing that we are a Team for LIFE!! 
Anywhoo, our major task over last weekend was tackling our wedding presents. Strangely enough, our guests bought the majority of the “miscellaneous” items off our registry such as vases, crystal, candle holders, etc., instead of the “practical” items such as our dishes, pots and pans, knives, bedding, etc. As much as we appreciated their generosity and wanted to keep all the fun and pretty stuff, we decided to return some of those items in exchange for the necessities. I really don’t want to sound ungrateful, ‘cuz that’s not it at all, but we were really trying to be practical.
First of all, here are 2 important things we found out about our Crate & Barrel and Macy’s registries:
Crate & Barrel - you only have TWO chances to redeem your 10% off completion coupon, (once in-store and once online) within 3 months post-wedding. Also, if there are any additional items that you want to get the discount on, you have to actually add them onto your registry (even if your wedding has passed).
by Sister Emerald
[My sister, who is a Junior in high school recently had to write a "How To" paper for English class, and this is what she wrote. I don’t think she meant to be intentionally funny, but seeing how she translated her experiences from my own wedding, I found the whole thing to be super cute and rather tongue in cheek! Yes, it’s super long, feel free to skim, I italicized the amusing bits! And yes, I did get permission to post this! 
]
A wedding is an unforgettable milestone in one’s life. Some dream about it well in advance and have a perfect vision of their wedding day. My sister is one of those people. Having recently been maid of honor for my sister, I find it fitting to lend a few pieces of advice in supreme hopes that they will prepare you for your sister’s big day.
I know I haven’t really gotten into all the meaty, nitty gritty details of our wedding day yet, but I’m going to jump ahead with a brief overview of our Chinese Banquet the next day.
That Sunday morning, we had brunch at my parents house with most of my extended out-of-town family. It was rushed but fun, and we were still exhilarated (and pooped) from our wedding the night before. Then I frantically went to Zazu Salon in Hinsdale and had my hair done by TJ, having never even met the stylist, let alone having done a trial with her! But I just crossed my fingers and figured it would be fine. I was right, A+ for TJ! I decided to go with a “low, messy, bun” (my exact descriptor words to her) since I had my hair half up/half down for my Saturday wedding. Actually, my first reaction when TJ finished was, “Hrmm, I think this updo makes me look OLD.” But then I realized it worked very nicely with my traditional Chinese chi pao.
Not the greatest picture, but this was taken right after we arrived at his parents’ house.
It was no surprise I cried multiple times during our wedding day. I cry at everything… sad books, sad tv shows, sad movies, sad commercials…even HAPPY books, tv shows, movies and commercials. 
So I was prepared to be a teary mess on our big day and just hoped that I wouldn’t have the “ugly cry” face in half my pictures (thank goodness for waterproof mascara and a professional makeup artist!). But Mr. E is a different story. He is one of those guys who NEVER. EVER. cries. So the months leading up to the wedding, I always said to him, “I really hope you cry when you see me walk down that aisle.”
And he would say, “Why would you want me to cry?! Sorry, it’s not going to happen.”
Ok, it’s not like I wanted him to bawl like a baby or anything. But I just hoped that it would be one of those amazing moments that moved him so deeply, he would just be overwhelmed with emotion. But I figured since we were seeing each other before the ceremony to take pictures, my walk down the aisle wouldn’t have that same *BAM* effect on him. How wrong we were! See evidence below, Mr. E wipes away some tears as my parents lift up my veil.
I mean our photographer… Dennis sent over some pictures for us to potentially use on our thank-you cards. These were from our brief portrait session right before the ceremony. I am absolutely ITCHING to see MORREEEE!!!
Miss Emerald is alive and kicking, and unfortunately, already back at work!! These past 2 weeks went absolutely way too fast, and I’m still trying to live on our wedding-day high. The weather was spectacular and everything went without a hitch. I have never shed so many happy tears, and Mr. E shed some too!!
I have tons of blogging to catch up on, but I’m still waiting for friends to upload more pictures to our site. Until I have more time, I leave you with a few candids from our best day ever!
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Mrs. Emerald, Chicago Age and Occupation: 26, Wedding Planner Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Paralegal Engagement Date: October 8, 2006 Wedding Date: September 2007 Blogging Since: November 29, 2006 Venue: Hyatt Lodge, Oak Brook IL About Me: I have been dreaming about my wedding forever, and flipping through bridal magazines since high school, so I am in my element! I am calling our theme "Vintage Inspired French/Asian Fusion." Mr. Emerald is very involved in the planning process, but of course he generally defers to me cuz I have a strong opinion of how I want everything to be :-).
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