Weddingbee

Thanks for the comments on the STDs, girls. As it turns out, we may not need save-the-dates at all. The Rockhouse will hold their rooms open for our guests until the end of January before opening them up to public reservation. This means we can send out the invitations in late November or early December to give our guests a chance to book their rooms.

Derek and I love these invites from passionpaper!

They also happen to combine my two favorite colors, orange and aqua/ turquoise!

We’re creating DIY invites similar to the passionpaper design, with some changes:
- Sheer orange ribbon instead of a thin solid one
- Starfish as well as shells
- Regular fold instead of petal fold
- Different shape (6′ X 6′)

Vendors for Supplies:
- Handmade textured mulberry paper from handmade-paper

- Ribbon, boxes, and large padded envelopes from papermart

- Seashells and starfish from orientaltrading.com

Inner invitation card:
- Personalized w/ a map of Jamaica or a picture of us
- To be designed my artistically inclined sister Annie (she drew the picture that’s my profile icon)
- Printed on cardstock at local printer
- No RSVP card, no extra info card. We’re going to set up a website with all the details and refer the link on the bottom of the invite

Inner invitation ideas:
- Colorful (from passionpaper)

- Black and white (from favorwarehouse)

- Emphasized words (from oblationpapers)

- Fading colors (forgot the vendor source, sorry!)

The funniest thing is that Derek actually got all excited when he found out that we’re making the invitations ourselves. He felt giddy about our wedding DIY project! Haha.

Photography is definitely one of the most important priorities in our wedding. But that doesn’t mean we have to spend ridiculous amounts of money for beautiful photos! I’m so glad that we found a really talented photographer who photographs weddings because he loves capturing life and precious moments… and charges a reasonable price!

Tony Yang Photography

• Full day of photography (10 hours)
• Unlimited digital images
• Photos are retouched (average 400)
• Edited full-resolution photos on CD or DVD
• Proofs uploaded to online gallery available for sale
• Two proof albums. Your pick of (200) 4×6″
• Your pick of (10) 8×12″ enlargements provided in a photo box
• $1900

I doubt that any other photographer could beat that package!

Some of my favorite wedding photos by Tony…

Some photos he took of me and my sister Annie…

Guess which one is me!

I’ve known about the engagement ring for 4 months and been officially engaged for over 1 month, but I still haven’t told any of my friends yet. (with the exception of my very closest friends)

I’m not sure why. I suspect that it’s because I’m scared of further alienating myself from my single friends. We’re all pretty young- around 23. But I’m just in such a different stage of my life relationship-wise. They’re all living up the single life in NYC. Whereas I’ve been living with my fiance for a year now.

Ever since Mr. D and I moved in together, my friendship dynamics have changed for the worse. They don’t call me to go out unless it’s a big get-together. In fact, they hardly even call me anymore just to talk. I don’t know if it’s because they assume that all my time is taken up by him. Or if they don’t want me around when they hit up the singles scene. Or maybe we’ve just grown apart because our lifestyles are so different.

Whatever the reasons, the case is that despite having such a wonderful man in my life, I still feel lonely sometimes. I miss the way my friendships used to be.

My fantasy wedding would be at the Rockhouse Hotel in Negril, Jamaica. The villas have their own stairs to the turquoise blue waters!

The ceremony site

The dining area

The path to the pool.

The pool is set at the horizon!

A wedding here would probably cost the same, or even less, as a wedding in NJ. And it would definitely be a million times more beautiful and exciting!

Plus, we wanted a small wedding anyway. And our favorite memories together have been traveling and “ethnic dining” (aka stuffing our faces with foods from all over the world)!

Should we go for it?!

I wish I could show you the sparkles in my *eyes* when he proposed.

For some reason, I assumed that his proposal and my reaction would be less than extraordinary. Of course, our love is extraordinary, but the concept of spending our lives together was something we talked about every day. There would be no element of surprise, especially because he let me design my own ring. Even moving in together wasn’t a big deal, just a seamless transition.

Really, I should have known better!

The moment he asked me to marry him, with all the depth and sincerity and love in his eyes… that moment was extraordinary. Despite knowing all this time that it would happen, I was still stunned and in disbelief. You know that expression about hearts leaping? Well, that’s what mine did. My heart leapt out of its cage and started pounding in my throat.

This is it! He’s the one! And he wants no one else but me! And we are going to be together for forever and a day!

I was so busy tearing and crying and trying to calm my excited little heart down from my throat to back where it belonged… that I forgot to answer. Poor Mr. D. I think he started to get a little worried when he had to repeat the question again.. and again. It took him three tries before I was able to answer with an absolute “Yes!”

My friend introduced me to the NYTimes wedding section a while back… and I am so addicted! The feature stories are short and not all that sappy. A far cry from the trashy romance novels I used to indulge in. But I enjoy them because they’re beautiful and heartwarming. And, above all, they’re real.

What I find most intriguing are the unusual combinations of characters who decide to venture through life together. Not formulaic combinations thought up by authors. But real people who have found each other and love despite all the realism.

Now, being the silly girl that I am, I’m fantasizing about having my own wedding announcement published in the NYTimes. Heck, I’d be delighted to just have the shortest little blurb dedicated to us. I’ve read through all the instructions on how to apply, but I’m curious to know..

What does it take to have your wedding announced in the NYTimes? Did you or anyone you know apply or get chosen?

I am horrible at keeping secrets. So I have no idea why I ever thought I could keep our pending engagement a secret from my friends… especially when I am soooo excited! I definitely leaked out the impression that an engagement was right around the corner. *SIGH* So much for the element of surprise.

VENUE IDEAS

What we’re looking for:
1) Outdoor ceremony
2) Chinese banquet reception
3) New Jersey location
4) Intimate (60-80 guests)

Our hearts are set on these details, but it’s been ridiculously difficult to find nice venues that allow outside caterers and have outdoor space. Fortunately, hours of internet searches have yielded some great results! There is hope.

I went browsing for a card for some good friends who recently became engaged.. and found this treasure of a comic!

And I looooove this card!!! Haha!

In case you can’t make it out, the wise old lady says “If you meet Mr. Right, make sure his first name isn’t Always.”

Soooo true! My beloved Mr. D is definitely my Mr. Always Right. Aahh, but I still love him dearly!