Weddingbee Blog

Helloooo!

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This is it. I’ve been engaged for what has seemed like such a long time; I can’t believe that in a short amount of time, Mr. Plumeria will be my husband. This past week has been a whirlwind of activity, and I’ve felt like I barely have time to breathe. But, in this rare moment of quiet (the calm before the storm? Hehe), I can only think of how blessed I am, for everything that this whole process has brought.

What I’m feeling right now:

- thankful, for Mr. Plumeria — for his kind heart, his humility and willingness to put others first, the example he sets for me in dealing with a myriad of different situations, his gentle chastisement when I’m cranky and unreasonable, his unwavering support of my career and goals, his million other qualities that make me want to be a better person and to strive to be a strong, supportive wife
- overwhelmed, by the love I feel from friends and family who have come to celebrate this joyful time with us,
- grateful, for the opportunity I’ve had to share all of this with you, the awesome weddingbee community
- amazed, that the whole planning process has pulled together and is really coming to pass,
- excited, that soon I will be a wife, and I will have a husband!!
- hopeful, that our day will be a beautiful memory to cherish for years to come, and that we will continue to support and bring out the best in each other as we take this huge step together…

Here we go!

I visited Debra of Dori Anne Veils again one day a while ago, not to buy another dress, but to pick out a veil from a selection she’d just gotten in. (I don’t mean to gush, but I really can’t recommend her enough — not many vendors will offer a great price on a gown, plus throw in a free veil of choice with purchase of certain dresses.) I went over to her store with a very specific idea of what I wanted.

On a budget from the beginning, I had already purchased a custom, waltz-length veil from VeilShop for less than $50, but was feeling unsure about the harshness of the line at the top, which I could see in some of our pre-wedding portraits. Since I’m not planning to wear a tiara or comb, which would hide that line, I thought it would be best to have something that blended into my hair a bit more subtly for the actual day.

So, when Debra offered a veil, I jumped at the chance to have a different, perhaps shorter, one to replace the first entirely, or to switch to after the ceremony. I wanted it to be like the first one, but perhaps shorter: single tier, very sheer, minimal gathering at the top for minimal poof, no decoration save some sort of light edge treatment if anything, attached to a metal comb.

Veilshop veil:

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Things are falling into place fast, thanks to a crew of great friends and family who pitched in (some on super last-minute notice!) to help put favors, etc. together this past weekend. I’ll shut up now and show the pics…I’m really happy with how these turned out!

The cover (names blurred for all pics, again) - vellum printed at the press with custom inks. Size is 4.25″x11″ folded down to 4.25″x5.5″. The vellum pages in the program were actually run at the same time as the invitations, to save money — with offset lithography, it’s always better to do any items that use the same color ink at the same time. Read more…

So, even as I race to complete everything on my to-do list, there have been tons of things I realize that I’ve missed. Among those forgotten tasks is choosing what to wear to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. And then, the realization that I don’t have anything that I really want to wear to those events slowly dawned. Did I really need to buy a dress for these? I decided that, necessary or not, I just wanted to.

And so I dragged myself out to the mall after work yesterday and poked around Macy’s for a little bit. I’m about as petite as you can get, and at this point I really needed something that would fit perfectly without any alterations. No such luck at the big department store. Where to next? I stepped into my favorite store (I must admit I shop the clearance rack more than the regularly-priced section ), Ann Taylor, and was not disappointed.

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Nowadays, favors seem to be more or less an unnecessary item, and I think those who choose to pass them out do so because of a personal preference to have them, rather than in response to a rule of etiquette. Most people are realizing that the inherent worth of the typical favor usually isn’t much, due to the high volume that needs to be purchased, and guests are generally quite happy with or without them.

Nevertheless, Mr. Plumeria and I wanted to give everyone something to thank them for being a part of our day — a little piece of the wedding to keep as a memory, if you will. We settled on magnets with our pictures on them, which worked out nicely since we had planned to take our wedding portraits early anyway. We know that many of our guests would like to have an actual wedding portrait of ours, so having them as a favor was ideal. Read more…

… and also for Costco, where Mr. Plumeria and I ended up buying them. We got a few hundred, so each guest will get one of these buttery, flaky treats (though by the time I’m through with them we might be a just a few short… they’re yummy; what can I say?). We’re planning to pass these out directly after the ceremony, as our guests are exiting the church. The reception venue is a very short drive away, but just the same, we thought it would be nice to give each person a little edible token of thanks to tide them over ’til the actual meal. Heart shape = bonus.

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So, working down the list — I’ve “figured out the guestbook stuff” and here are my solutions.

For the ceremony: the standard, run-of-the-mill guestbook. I purchased the Celine Countryman silk-covered guestbook from Jenni Bick Bookbinding in platinum blue. Clean, simple, functional, well-made, and not overly expensive = an easy choice for Miss Plumeria. I may dress it up a little bit to look like some of the other monogrammed choices on the site, but we’ll see… I know I’m running out of time.

My pick, top:

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It’s hit me rather suddenly that I am less than two weeks away from the wedding day. I’ve been spending pretty much every waking moment, aside from work, with Mr. Plumeria, and it really tickles me when I realize that soon, he’ll be my husband! When I look at him, I’m just overwhelmed inside by the fact that I get to marry such a sweet, humble, and supportive guy. We have our bad days — don’t get me wrong — but I know that when it all boils down, I’m incredibly blessed to be with someone like him. I’m soooo excited!Besides that, it’s come to my attention that I still have a TON of stuff to do… so get ready for a load of posts of the results of my procrastination as we get closer and closer to the big day! I’ve been somewhat of a sporadic blogger in the past couple of months, but now it’s really coming down to the wire… and I want to share the craziness with you all! Here’s some of what’s on my to-do list for the next week and a half:

- Placecards
- Cookie Favor packaging (for after ceremony)
- Favors (for during reception)
- Programs
- Finalize makeup choices
- Pick a veil
- Draw maps of reception tables
- Figure out all that guestbook stuff
- Goodie bags for the few children attending the wedding
- DIY Sculpey Cake topper… big ideas for this one
- Write my vows… yeah, this will take more thought than the rest of the above!
- Other stuff I am forgetting right now

… I promise you all, I work better under pressure, with strict deadlines… I really do! Definitely more to come. And pictures next time, for sure.

Ever since I was little, I’ve thought that the church Mr. Plumeria and I are getting married in was beautiful. While we attend another non-denominational church in the Bay Area, several people we’ve known have gotten married at this one, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Some of our dear family friends and neighbors, whose son is our ring bearer, got married here once upon a time, and they are thrilled that we’ve chosen the same place. The lighting inside is bright and perfect for photos, and the atmosphere inside is pretty much what I’ve always dreamed of. When we got engaged and started searching for venues, we took a trip to visit this church, among several others all around the Bay. I remember bringing Mr. Plumeria inside and thinking, “Pleaselikeitpleaselikeitpleaselikeitpleaselikeit…” Luckily, he did, and so here’s where we’re getting married in just a little bit! For safety reasons, I won’t post its exact whereabouts before the wedding, but if you’re interested in finding out you can email me!

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I know I posted earlier about giving my bridesmaids some nice jewelry, but in the end, the idea somehow didn’t appeal to me as much as it had when I first began wedding planning. I have collected some random smaller items so far to give each of them, but what I needed most was something nice to put them in and which would serve as the “nice” part of their gift.

I did countless searches online for a suitable solution — something cute, but useful, and something they could use after the wedding. No bridesmaid-dress-colored items for my girls; while I love the soft teal/aqua of their dresses, I know none of them would use a purse or bag in that exact hue again.

I finally came upon 1154 Lill Studio, and I was immediately and completely enamored with the handbag designs available on the site! (Before writing this post, I checked back to see if anyone else in the hive had ever mentioned 1154 Lill Studio — and discovered that Mrs. Bee had in fact posted about them in 2006). The best part about 1154 Lill is that every bag is completely customizable — even online, users can change bag and trim colors with a huge amount of fabric choices to make bags to fit any personality; the website allows for easy and fairly accurate previews of what bags will look in the different fabrics. I could seriously play purse designer on this site for ages; it was more fun than anything else choosing an appropriate pattern for each girl!

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Normally my posts are pretty general, but this one is specifically for you NorCal brides out there who are just starting out on, or are in the middle of, the gown search. I went to what felt like a million stores before finding the right dress, and hopefully a note about each will help you find a good retailer for your own gown! (Keep in mind that this list is geared most towards brides looking to spend anywhere from $450-$1000 or so. I didn’t visit a lot of the high end stores that carry more expensive designer gowns, though there are many in San Francisco.) This will be a rather dry, picture-less post, but I hope those of you around my area will find it helpful!

1. Bridal Gown Superstore, Fremont, CA.

The first bridal store I visited — I was too excited to take note of what designers were carried. Customer service was good, but minimal: brides can browse the aisles themselves and pick dresses to try on. Consultants are available to help get into and out of the dresses but keep their comments and suggestions to a minimum. Store has a semi-cheesy semi-cute promenade area to parade around if you feel so inclined.

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So originally, I wasn’t planning to post our pre-wedding bridal portraits up for all to see. But then, after thinking about it a little bit, the most important person has already seen me in my dress, so why should I care if others do as well? Consider this post a sneak peek to the actual wedding day… at least wardrobe-wise.

Our portraits were taken by our wedding photographers, Garrett and Matt of GB Photographers. This was our second time having a photo shoot with them, the first being for our engagement photos, and it was really like meeting with friends this time around — we had a blast! The time spent with them was fun and relaxed, and the photos really show it. They suggested going to Fort Point, a historic landmark dating back to the Civil War, located at the very base of the Golden Gate Bridge. This partially hidden building is gorgeous, with amazing brick arches, spiraling staircases, and historical pieces to view throughout its rooms.

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I haven’t yet had a hair trial for the upcoming wedding, and I didn’t have one before our bridal portraits last week. In fact, I didn’t book my hair appointment for the portraits until the week of! But despite my tendency towards procrastination, my updo turned out fine — and served as a pseudo hair trial, if you will.

I called The Spa at Stacy Monroe’s, in Castro Valley (East Bay Area), a couple of days beforehand and was fortunate enough to snag an appointment right when the salon opened. My hairdresser’s name was Kat, and she was great — I brought a couple of pictures of styles I liked, handed over my haircomb, and let her work her magic. Half an hour and $65 later, I had this:

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And here goes… six weird things about Miss Plumeria (but isn’t it all relative? ).

1. I sound somewhat like a little girl when I talk (voice not content, thankyouverymuch). Unless I have a cold… then I have a husky sexy woman voice. Not.

2. I was so shamefully awkward during my junior high years (braces, telescope glasses, large Disney character T-shirts and leggings with knee socks come to mind) that my MOH calls me her “ugly duckling” til this day. I suppose that’s a compliment in disguise.

3. I say certain words differently, which is the cause of much good-natured teasing by my friends. For instance, I sometimes say “BAIG” instead of “BAHG” when I pronounce, say, “shopping bag” and “draw-wing” instead of “draw-ing.” … I guess I sound better on paper.

4. My pet peeves include soap scum around the top of my dishwashing liquid soap dispenser top, drinks left too close to tabletop edges, and toe marks left from wear in my sandals.

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