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Weddingbee Blog
We finally DID it! Mr. Gardenia and I now have a place of our own to call HOME.
What a relief it has been to finally have found our new place. This has been one of the most mind boggling things we have had on our wedding checklist, because we were so uncertain as to our living situation. We were beginning to really consider living with his mom after the wedding in order to give us some time to look around for our place. But our goal was to really find a place and move in right before the wedding to get most of our things settled in.
While the wedding is a momentous event, for us moving out is just as momentous. Mr. Gardenia and I have lived with both of our parents all our lives, and I mean ALL of our lives. We both attended commuter schools while we were in college, so we didn’t have the need to live in dorms or move into an apartment. With that said, moving out was truly something that we both have been looking forward to for a while now, starting this new life in our own space.
Luckily we found these cute flowergirl dresses through amazon.com, and they were just what we were looking for.
Since then, I had been looking for cute t-shirts for our flowergirls and ring bearers to wear during the rehearsal dinner. I really wanted something different and something that they would be able to wear again. The thought of making their shirts was an idea I started to look into, so I found some cute pink shirts (they actually came in all colors) at Walmart that had metallic embroidery with rhinestones on the front of the shirt.
PAPER SOURCE!!!
I can spend a whole day at that store. The smell of brand new paper is awesome!! Love it!! Paper source is a crafter’s paradise in my book.
One of my bridesmaid’s bridal shower was back in May, and I volunteered to take care of the invites since I wouldn’t be able to celebrate with her. I love how they turned out!
Right after we got engaged, we decided that we wanted to incorporate our 2 cultures in our wedding favors, so the idea was to find some type of native Filipino wicker container and put authentic Spanish pastries or candy inside.
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All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
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When the candy buffet craze spread, I was among the many brides that wanted to do one as well. But then we decided to go against the grain a bit (not really!!) and do a cookie buffet instead to give our guests that extra something to take home for a snack.
One of my close work friends has a friend that’s starting up her own baking business, so we were invited to her scrumptious cookie tasting affair a couple months ago. I bought 6, 1-gallon glass jars from Ikea a while back to hold all of our cookies, and we were thinking of using 5 different types of cookies. The idea is that we would double up on the most popular cookie, which is most likely chocolate chip. I purchased these awesome white bags from Papermart for our cookie buffet that we need to spruce up with a tag or something to tie it into our whole wedding.
We conceptualized many designs and thought that we should do something really simple, yet affordable and aesthetically pleasing. During a very boring day at work, I started daydreaming about how I could make simple tags for those cookie/candy buffet bags with the different tag punches my sister and I saw at a recent trip to Joann’s.
I got home from work, shared my idea with my sister, and a trip to Michael’s was planned and executed. With cash on hand and a 40% off coupon, we bought a tag punch, card stock paper, embossing clear gloss, stamp (”With Love”), blue embossing powder and spools of green ribbon.
I finally found her – the “her” being my dress!
I’ve always had this idea that wedding dress shopping would be such a delightful experience, but after looking for almost 1 ½ years and not finding the right one, I was starting to get frustrated and wondered if I ever would. It seems as if I’ve scoured every bridal shop in Orange County just to find the right dress for me. I finally found it down the street from my parents’ home at a local bridal shop in our area that I avoided going to because of the fear of very unaffordable prices.
My dress is a Mori Lee original with a strapless bodice that has awesome embroidery and crystal beading for some bling. The beading detail cascades through the back of the dress and hemline. I just love it! I really do. It meets all of the musts that I was looking for in my dress and I’m just so happy with it. I had my first official fitting last week to discuss all of the alterations and bustle that needs to get done.
I guess it’s true that when you find it, you’ll just know.
** Mr. Gardenia, please stop reading!
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Last week, Mr. Gardenia and I finally had our engagement pictures with our wonderful photographer at Cal State Long Beach. We really wanted to go somewhere different, so we decided to use the Japanese Gardens on site as our backdrop (along with the Pyramid).
Our session gave us a chance to hang out with our photographer and her husband, and see how they are in action. I think that it’s always nice to have that opportunity to work with your vendor prior to the wedding so that you can evaluate their work based on your experience. Here are some sneak peeks into our e-pic session with Renee Broughton. I can’t wait to see the rest of our pictures.All photos courtesy of Renee Broughton.
With the help of our very creative MOH, combined with some A6 flat cards and envelopes from Paper Source, a rubber stamp, embossing powder and some wrapping paper - our Save the Dates were born.
These went out in August, but I thought I’d share the materials that we used to get to the final product:
Paper Source A6 Flat Cards
Paper Source A6 Envelopes
Paper Source stamp
Stamp pad in Jade Green
Embossing Powder in Gold
Container Store Wrapping Paper for envelope liners
Clear labels for return address
Double sided tape
Bone folder
Save the Date cards
1. Printed the text on the A6 flat cards using Microsoft Word. Tip: Print on a regular 8’’ x 11’’ sheet of paper first and use that to line it with the A6 flat card to see if everything is aligned correctly. This will save you from wasting any of the A6 flat cards.
After diligently looking and comparing different hair and make up vendors, I was very fortunate to have found the right one for me. Last month, I met with Natalie Buketov to have a hair and make up consultation. I’ve read some great reviews about Natalie, but the best one came from Mrs. Tomato and I was very encouraged to contact her.
Within a short period of time, I got a chance to talk to Natalie and meet with her. She put me at ease from the very moment I walked in the door to when I walked out with a huge smile on my face. She really listened to what I wanted. She knew how important it was for me to look like me - I wanted to look as natural as possible. I also bought some unique hair pieces in downtown L.A. a few months back, and Natalie was able to incorporate them in my hair - just like I wanted. I wish that my veil was ready at the time so that I would have been able to try it on, but it’s still a project that my Mom is working on.
Here are a few of sneak peeks into my hair trial…..
I had the best experience during the bachelorette/girlie gathering day that my MOH, bridesmaids and girlfriends threw for me just last month. They really catered the day for me and my loves in life - it was a foodie experience not to be forgotten.
We started the day with a scrumptious brunch that was prepared by my MOH and MOB. We had a full array of French toast kabobs, sausage skillets, fresh fruit, pastries from one my favorite Cuban bakeries (Porto’s), mini red velvet cupcakes from Dots, coffee, juice and much more. It gave us time to catch up with everyone and just relax before we headed out to Burke Williams for my very first spa experience. The girls all came away with treats like matching flip flops, homemade madeleines and nail-tinis for everyone.
They treated me to a spa adventure that started with a bath in lavender and citrus oils, followed by my first ever facial, a body treatment that made my skin glow all through the week, and a mani-pedi session with all of the girls. It was so nice to have that retreat away from all madness of wedding planning and just relax and unwind with everyone. The facial was definitely my favorite out of the treatments and I’m looking forward to going back for more.
For the past couple of days, I know that my very creative DIY MOH/sister has been busy with a certain project, but I couldn’t figure out what it was until yesterday morning. I woke up to my bridal shower invitation sitting on my dresser, which got me so excited! Lately I’ve been constantly stressing out with the wedding that it’s hard to keep my head screwed on, but I try to manage with the help of some of important people. Looking forward to the bachelorette day and bridal shower has really kept my spirits up, so I was so excited to wake up to my shower invite.
Every detail on the invite was hand crafted by my MOH/sister. I’m so proud of her!!!
I was truly so overjoyed when I heard the news about being the newest bee in the wonderful world of Weddingbee. I’ve been anxious to introduce myself so that I could start to blog away!
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Mrs. Gardenia, La Habra Age and Occupation: 30, IT Security Administration Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Accountant Engagement Date: February 6, 2006 Wedding Date: January 5, 2008 Venue: Black Gold Golf Club About Me: After 9 years of dating, I’m finally getting hitched and planning a multi-cultural wedding in Orange County, California. I think making brownies is my secret passion in life - I will make my mark in this world through them (a la Betty Crocker). Aside from baking, I also enjoy scrapbooking, being a dessert connoisseur (current fave: French macaroons), photography and I’m also a self confessed spa virgin turned addict.
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