The Shower
December 11th, 2007 @ 1:45 pm by Mrs. Gardenia
My bridemaids and family threw me a wonderful bridal shower this past weekend. I’m still so excited from the leftover energy high, that I don’t know where to begin! I think I must start with the details, since there were so many wonderful details that they worked on.
The shower was at PJ’s Abbey, a quaint and charming family owned restaurant in Orange. The restaurant itself is an older Victorian Baptist Church that was built in 1891. It has so many details, like the stained glass windows that draw in just the right amount of sunlight. I discovered this place earlier this year when we threw one of my girlfriends a bridal shower here and liked the location. They have a private room that you can use for parties, so it’s nice to be in the restaurant but still have your own private space.
On with the detail shots:
Inspired by Miss Magnolia
December 7th, 2007 @ 1:37 pm by Mrs. Gardenia
Along with the marriage prep class we have this weekend, I also have my bridal shower coming up this weekend. I’m really excited for this shower since most of the plans have been shielded from me, so everything should be a surprise come Sunday afternoon.
I was so motivated by Miss Magnolia’s hostess gifts that I did something similar using cereal bowls from Target. I was really on the lookout for those damask bowls, but they ran out so I went with plain sangria colored cereal bowls that were on sale. I filled each bowl with 3 washcloths (white, light blue and blue) with snowflake designs, 4 silver ornament balls and Hershey’s hugs. I then wrapped the bowl in some leftover tulle that we had around the house (we have so much we can cover the entire house in tulle!), used a pretty wired green ribbon and finished it off with a teal blue-ish snowflake ornament as the gift tag to tie in with the washcloths inside.
This is them before getting wrapped in tulle.
Engaged Encounter Retreats vs. 1 Day Marriage Prep Classes
December 6th, 2007 @ 12:32 pm by Mrs. Gardenia
One of the last few things that Mr. Gardenia and I waited to do was to enroll in our marriage prep class, a requirement to get married in the Catholic Church. We waited on getting this done because we weren’t too sure if wanted to do the weekend retreat or the 1-day class that’s typically done locally in your parish. Most of my friends preferred the engaged encounter/weekend retreat and recommended that Mr. Gardenia and I attend one if we had the choice. They found a lot of value in the weekend retreats because it gave them time as a couple to refocus on their priorities, get away from all the wedding hustle and bustle, and meet other engaged couples to share similar experiences with one another.
Mr. Gardenia and I signed up for a 1-day marriage prep class this weekend at a local parish. Unfortunately since we did wait until the last minute, we weren’t able to attend a class in the same church where our ceremony will be held. We decided to enroll in the 1-day class since we were in a rush to get this accomplished, and tight with our budget. The 1-day classes typically cost around $70-$100 whereas the weekend retreats cost $200-300 since it covers food and lodging for 2 days.
Tuxes For All
December 5th, 2007 @ 11:49 am by Mrs. Gardenia
I Do Times
December 3rd, 2007 @ 12:10 pm by Mrs. Gardenia
Since Mr. Gardenia and I got engaged, I’ve been interested in putting together a newsletter for our bridal party. I thought it would give our bridal party (including our bms, gms & sponsors) a peek into our wedding plans, since a lot of them have been asking us for a quick update from time to time. But then I thought that the guys might just think that it was a waste of time since I have to put the newsletter together, so I decided to just keep the newsletter for our bridesmaids with information mostly pertaining to them. Since my sister/MOH has a background in newsletters (she was an editor for PASA in college), I recruited her to do all the creative stuff.
She used Microsoft Publisher since she was familiar with it, and I wrote all the articles and got the pictures ready. I started introducing all of the bridesmaids and gave bit of information about the groomsmen - which led me to deciding to send the newsletters to all of our bridal party. The end result surpassed what I was imagining it to be. I’m so happy with how they turned out, and so was everyone that received them! (even our groomsmen) 
Welcome Home
November 29th, 2007 @ 4:12 pm by Mrs. Gardenia
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.
Kids’ Gifts
November 29th, 2007 @ 10:32 am by Mrs. Gardenia
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.
I’m In Love With…
November 28th, 2007 @ 2:29 pm by Mrs. Gardenia
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!
What’s Our Next DIY?
November 28th, 2007 @ 10:32 am by Mrs. Gardenia
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.
Tags… Tags… and More Tags…
November 27th, 2007 @ 2:50 pm by Mrs. Gardenia
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.
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.
