Weddingbee

When Mr. Jasmine and I got engaged in March 2007, Weddingbee quickly became my savior, my confidant, my lifeline. I was among the first of my girlfriends to get engaged and I had a million questions, concerns, and ideas. And poor Mr. Jasmine was in way over his head– he had no idea about this world that revolved around “fondant” and “chiavari”.

So when I found Weddingbee, I knew I’d found a home. A wonderfully supportive, kind, and inspirational community where no question is too silly and everyone is just as excited as you are that your invitations came in or that you booked your photographer. And when I joined the team as “Miss Jasmine”, I joined a really special group of women who have definitely become my friends.
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I’m happy to report that I’m blogging from sunny Southern California! I’m here to enjoy a wonderful, relaxing week at home before the big day and I’m getting so excited. I realized today that I never blogged about our ceremony and reception furniture, so I’m backtracking a little bit.

Our ceremony will be held at the InterContinental garden, underneath a billowing white canopy adorned with dark pink blooms. Mr. J and myself, along with our parents, will sit on the chairs below, swagged with complementary dark pink silk shantung:

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I know I post about my mom a lot, but I really do think she is the best. She is just so creative and talented and generous– she is everything I aspire to be. She’s put her whole heart into adding special homemade touches to our wedding and I tear up when I think about being surrounded by little reminders of her love on my wedding day.

Her latest (and possibly greatest) DIY project is a guestbook for our mehndi. We’re having a polaroid guestbook for the wedding, but we wanted to do something a little whimsical for the mehndi, which is traditionally a more casual event. So my mom came up with a really creative idea, inspired by something she saw in the Stampin Up catalog.

First, she cut out tons of orange and yellow flowers using different hand punches(orange, yellow, and green are traditional mehndi colors). She layered cut-outs in different colors and patterns to create the lovely, sweet flowers below.

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I’m in a grumpy mood today because of a court appearance that didn’t go quite the way I intended (as a lawyer, not a defendant, thank goodness!). Anyway, don’t these people know that I’m getting married soon and my priorities are all askew? I’ve decided to channel my case of the grumps into something for the greater good. Here are a list of my registry gripes and grumps: hopefully this will help some of you who are considering what stores to choose for your own registry. And so I’m not a complete shrew in this post, I’ve listed the number one pro of each store.

(1) Crate & Barrel: No Thank You Manager!?!?
WTF Crate & Barrel? It is so bizarre to me that one of the most popular stores for wedding registries lacks a thank you manager. So far, I’ve found the thank you manager to be a really indispensable resource and it’s so annoying that Crate & Barrel lacks an easy way to manage who sent you what.
BUT…Crate & Barrel has such a great variety of items at different price points.
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This is my last week in my apartment in downtown Chicago. On Saturday, I leave for California where I’ll spend some quality time with my family before the wedding. And when I return to Chicago, I’ll be moving into Mr. Jasmine’s apartment.
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If you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said, “No bouquet!”. I just assumed that as an Indian bride, I wouldn’t carry one. That is, until I began fantasizing about a bouquet of my favorite flower: peonies. I know I’m not the only bride out there who’s in love with round, fluffy, full peonies. When else would I have the opportunity to carry around a beautiful bouquet of my favorite blooms? Plus, my wedding coordinator pointed out that a bouquet makes a lovely “prop” in wedding portraits.

A bouquet of these beauties was beckoning me and I broached the idea with my florist. My wonderful florist and I decided to go with an all-white peony bouquet because it would be a beautiful contrast against my burgundy and gold wedding outfit. Here are some photos of my floral inspiration:

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Saturday afternoon, Mr. Jasmine and I set out to the Oakbrook Mall to purchase our wedding bands. It was taking us forever to find bands that we (1) loved and (2) could afford. We were lucky enough to find a beautiful band for each of us during this trip (or was it just the pressure of knowing we’re getting married in two weeks!?!). And then I remembered a purchase I made several months ago: an orb to hold our bands!

Early this year, I purchased the highly coveted and oh-so-pretty “to have and to hold” orb. I purchased mine from Everyday Artifact. The didn’t have any with a blue interior, so I chose a lavender exterior instead. I think it really nicely complements the bright copper exterior.

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For the last week or two, Mr. Jasmine and I have been wrestling over what song to choose for our grand entrance into the reception. Now maybe we’ve inflated the importance of the song in our minds, but we can’t help but feel that the song we choose sets the tone for the evening and gets everyone in a spirited mood. So we humbly ask the Hive to help us choose our song!

Contender 1:
Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel”

Sorry YouTube wouldn’t let me embed the original video with the super hot girl that MJ is chasing. Anyway, Mr. Jasmine and I are both huge fans of 80’s MJ and this song makes me feel uber-sassy.

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Yes, Mama Jasmine is at it again! Some of you might remember that we’re having a mehndi the night before the wedding at my parents’ home in Los Angeles. The mehndi will be an informal party for everyone with music, singing, dancing, food, and mehndi artists to decorate the palms and feet of our female guests. I’m really looking forward to it!
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Mr. Jasmine and I will be traveling to England in late August for the wedding of our very dear friends. Unfortunately for me, my passport has gone missing. After turning my apartment upside down, I’ve realized that I will just have to apply for a new one.

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