Mrs. Emerald, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 26, Hospitality Administration
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 :-).
Time For The PARTAY
November 2nd, 2007 @ 4:42 pm by Mrs. Emerald
Part 1:Getting Ready
Part 2: The Big Reveal
Part 3: We’re Getting Maaarrriiieeeed
Our ballroom all set up and ready to go. I’m glad we decided NOT to to upgrade for the chaircovers… I think the dark green ballroom chairs blend in nicely with the decor.
We’re Getting Maaaaarrrriiieeeeed!!!
October 31st, 2007 @ 3:26 pm by Mrs. Emerald
**I forgot to note in my earlier posts that all pictures are courtesy of our pro-photographer, Dennis Lee, You rock, Dennis!!**
After our photo session, the ladies went back to my room to freshen up. At 5 o’clock, my DOC came a knockin’. It was time!
The Big Reveal
October 30th, 2007 @ 7:44 pm by Mrs. Emerald
It was a long walk from my hotel room to our designated “meeting spot” so he waited about 10 anxious minutes for me to arrive. Notice, he’s checking his watch.
09.08.07 - Getting Ready
October 30th, 2007 @ 3:55 pm by Mrs. Emerald
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).
Wedding Burnout
October 12th, 2007 @ 3:50 pm by Mrs. Emerald
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 <3 White Rice
October 12th, 2007 @ 9:31 am by Mrs. Emerald
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!
Lights, Camera, PRO-PIX!!
October 9th, 2007 @ 5:29 pm by Mrs. Emerald
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!
The Wrong Hand?
October 8th, 2007 @ 5:53 pm by Mrs. Emerald
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…?
Aloha Hawaii Part Two: Maui
October 5th, 2007 @ 3:29 pm by Mrs. Emerald
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. 
Aloha Hawaii!
October 4th, 2007 @ 4:37 pm by Mrs. Emerald
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.
