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This time it’s my garter. This is really not a big deal to me at all, but what can I say? I like to be crafty, even if it’s for something no one else will really see. Anyway, I didn’t want a ruffly one — just something very thin and fairly plain, with a small accent to make it pretty. So here it is!
… but for a good reason, I suppose. After reading Miss Bluebell’s post about feeling naked without the ring, I felt it was rather ironic that I am going to be without mine for quite some time, as it’s at the jeweler’s being matched to a custom-made wedding band (slight changes to both).
At first, I thought I’d substitute a small “promise” ring that Mr. Plumeria had given to me when we had been dating about a year, but as it wasn’t made for the all-important left ring finger, it’s too large and I don’t want to wear it for fear of losing it. So, I’ve been going through my daily duties ringless — it felt very strange at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. I didn’t even consider the possibility that people at work, etc. might notice and think something had happened. (I sincerely hope this is not the case!)
At any rate, though I am without a ring, I do have Mr. Plumeria’s wedding band in hand to share! He originally wanted a super plain band, rounded, no etching, no anything, and definitely no stones on it. I convinced him to at least try on some of the slightly more unique ones, and he ended up really liking this one — and it looks great on him, if I do say so myself. 
Our wedding ceremony will be in a church, and the reception site is a short drive away. We thought it would be nice to give our guests a little something to snack on in between — a sort of mini-favor, if you will — just something to tide everyone over until lunch. At the suggestion of my mom, we’ve settled on Petite Palmier cookies from Sugar Bowl Bakery
The ones from this bakery are large, thick, and flaky, and it’s a bonus that they’re somewhat heart-shaped. We’ll tuck them into individual glassine bags, add an asymmetrically-placed label, and they’ll be ready to go. Since they’ll be passed out directly after the ceremony, I’m also thinking about including a direction card and map to the reception site (more detailed than in the invite) with them, for our guests’ convenience.
These would make a great addition to a candy/dessert buffet, too, for those of you having one! And for anyone interested — Sugar Bowl Bakery is located in San Francisco, and they do make wedding cakes. Check out some designs here!
… but this time, for me! I have pretty much narrowed down my choices for my wedding day jewelry, but I could use some input as to which earrings I should wear.
To pay tribute to Mr. Plumeria’s and my collective nerdiness, I was almost going to wear this…
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Unique Wedding Favors
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So, I’ve decided to DIY some lariat necklaces for my bridesmaids as a major part of their gift. After seeing some beautiful Swarovski pieces at various places, and their hefty price tags, DIY was the way to go once I brushed up a little on my jewelry-crafting skills. (Gotta say: that haircomb gave me a lot of practice!)
Granted, even this way, supplies alone will run me over $40 a necklace, but the result will be a high-quality, all sterling silver and Swarovski necklace that I hope they will be proud to have. Now here’s where I need your help: I can’t decide what color to make these necklaces! On one hand, my wedding is a pale teal/aqua, so a bluish-gray and aqua color necklace would enable them to wear it that day, but it would not be a versatile piece after that. The two other color palettes that I’m also considering are both more neutral and could be worn afterwards, though they would not match for the wedding day. This would be all right, as I have already informed them that they have freedom in terms of jewelry, accessories, and hairstyles. But is jewelry given as a thank-you gift to bridesmaids inherently supposed to be for wedding-day use?
Here are the sterling silver and marcasite toggle clasps I purchased for the prospective pieces (to get your own, try Ebay, as I did, or www.starclasps.com). These will be used at the front of the necklace instead of the back, with a Swarvski baroque drop pendant hanging from it.
Pic from Ebay seller’s auction.And here are my colors, laid out in groups so you can see my vision:
For those of you actively planning your honeymoon, be sure to check out http://www.kayak.com/. This site is your all-in-one vacation trip planner, which I found especially helpful for finding the best bang for my buck when purchasing airline tickets.
When you conduct a search using the days and locations you’ll be flying to and from, Kayak searches hundreds of airline sites and other discount sites to bring up a comprehensive list of airline tickets, which you can customize to view by prices, airlines, departure times, flight lengths, or number of stops. Below the lowest price Kayak has found, it lists the places you can purchase the tickets from for that price (directly from the airline, cheaptickets.com, aa.com, among others), as well as other vendors’ prices for the same ticket. You can choose where you ultimately end up buying your tickets, and Kayak redirects you to whichever site you pick. Happy Kayak-ing!
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I know I’m a super-detailed person, just by nature (and if you read some of my past entries you can probably tell I’m sometimes painfully so), but lately, I’ve really felt that I need to take a step back from the nitty-gritty of wedding planning, breathe in deep, and appreciate the fact that we are really getting married. As the big day approaches, I think more and more about what it truly signifies, and I think of the people in my life whose marriages I admire.
One of my most cherished wedding daydreams involves a man other than my fiance: my grandfather. My grandfather is a hundred and one, and I don’t think any of us, including him, really expected him to be able to see one of his grandchildren marry. I can’t wait to greet him in my wedding dress, hold his hand, and take a picture with him. I know he won’t be able to see or hear much, as these senses have begun to deteriorate in the past few years, but I know that inside his active brain, he will be as proud as he was on the day he first held me as a baby, when my parents brought me home.
My grandparents’ relationship is the epitome of a lasting marriage. My grandfather has been on kidney dialysis for the past eleven years. Three times a week, he visits a dialysis center to have his blood cleaned via machine, a process which takes three hours per visit. Throughout his illness, my grandmother has never failed to be attentive and caring towards him,. She monitors his diet, accompanies him to the dialysis center, and teaches the rest of us how to deal with the illness and take care of him ourselves.
1) High-gloss premium white boxes that come in 4″x4″x9″ or 4″x4″x15″ for some ready-to-decorate DIY centerpiece vases (lids sold separately, so no need to waste ‘em)!
¢¢â€š¬¦ but I guess you could say we are not your typical couple, either. We know our honeymoon of choice isn’t for everyone, but we’re confident that we’ll have a total blast! It will be twofold: the first part in Yosemite National Park, where both of us have been numerous times — but never together, and then, for a complete (and literal!) change of scenery, we’re heading off to Orlando to go to Disneyworld! We booked our room in the famous Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite a long while ago, knowing that it fills up quickly. My parents, who honeymooned in Yosemite many years ago, wanted to stay at the Ahwahnee but could not because it was completely full¢¢â€š¬¦ so we were vigilant about booking a year in advance. The hotel, most famous for its unique architecture, first opened in 1927 (you can read about its history here). With starting rates around $400/night, it’s a bit pricey, but not many hotels can boast about such a location, history, and visits from the famous.
Many bridal retail stores I’ve gone to lay on the sweet stuff: they do everything they possibly can to make me feel like I’m a princess who deserves to spend a lot of money on wedding paraphernalia because it’s my one big day. Being treated like royalty is all very nice, but I would much rather trade the glitz of shopping at the traditional bridal store in exchange for a more reasonable deal.
In searching for certain wedding accessories, such as aisle runners, ring pillows, toasting glasses, garters, and unity candles, I was blown away by the prices some places were demanding. Who in their right mind would ever pay $50 for a candle? And yet, I saw girls snapping up some of the unity candles for that price, though it was a plain white candle with crystals stuck in every few inches (could have so been DIY’d!). I determined that I would not do the same, and set off towards the places I knew I would be able to find the same items, for a price I would be happy to pay.
First stop: the far-from-glamorous Big Lots. Here, I picked up a couple of lead crystal taper holders for the grand price of $.88 each.
So, I know I never followed up with the post about two-dress brides ¢¢â€š¬” but in the time that’s passed between that post and this one, I became one! 
I totally didn’t see this coming, but I can honestly say that I am glad I made the decision to switch dresses. Despite what it might sound like, I didn’t really break the bank ¢¢â€š¬” total price for both gowns combined, even if I don’t sell the first one, is still less than many spend on a single dress. This is mainly because of the fantastic deal I got on the first dress at a local bridal shop, as well as the helpful vendor I purchased the new dress from: Debra La Spina Goldwater, of Dori Anne Veils.
I was researching discounters online when I came upon very favorable reviews for Dori Anne Veils. Upon looking at the website, I was astounded to discover that Debra’s store (by appointment only) is located close by to me, in the East Bay Area. I promptly made an appointment to discuss bridesmaids’ dresses and accessories, and maybe to steal a few looks at her discounted in-stock gowns, and swung by a few days later.
Yeah, I know, cheesy title. But I do covet your opinions on this matter:
My wedding reception is being held in a hotel ballroom, as I mentioned in my last post. I had never planned to have chair covers for the reception, as I had thought the chairs, while not the prettiest, were decent at least. Somehow, I had thought they were your typical round-back banquet chairs with beige cushioning, and so was satisfied enough to just leave them be — since I have so many guests, it will cost me a small fortune to cover all of them. I figured with the neutral coloring, no one would notice chair covers anyway.
Upon visiting the site this past weekend, I discovered that the chairs are indeed round-back banquet style chairs… but they are RED. My wedding colors are pastel teal/aqua, cream, and gold. Suddenly, the little detail I previously felt was unimportant seems mighty attractive…
To give you an idea, here are some before/after pics of similar banquet spaces with and without chair covers below the cut. Mine is your typical hotel ballroom like these, but with red chairs. I am planning to keep the tables very pastel.
This past weekend, Mr. Plumeria and I paid a visit to the hotel that we are using for our reception to meet with the on-site catering coordinator. Since the initial booking last May, we have not really had a chance to talk with her about wedding details. Granted, the facility did provide a very informative packet with menu options, etc. but there were host of other things I wanted to know about: decorations? Extra fees incurred for certain things? A/V setup? Lighting? And the list goes on.
One might think that I should have done all of this probing before we booked a location, but I think at the time we reserved the place, we were just glad to find a decent place that could comfortably fit our 420-person wedding in a banquet-style arrangement, had enough parking, and wouldn’t leave us completely destitute. (Don’t get me started on the amount of people. I have a large, large family, all of whom must be invited. My parents are helping to pay for their meals, so no objection from us, but, admittedly, the number of people made it that much more difficult to find a reception venue.)
I took a list of questions with me to ask and receive answers to, and I was glad that I did, because if I hadn’t had that slip of paper with me during the meeting, I know I would have forgotten half of my questions. Even so, I’m sure there’s some things I missed. Here’s some of the questions I asked, among others ;-):
I’m planning to do my own makeup, and I want it to look fairly natural, but I’ve always wanted to try wearing false eyelashes, especially after seeing some of my friends with them on. Out of all of my facial features, I want to play up my eyes the most, and as eyelash extensions are definitely out of my price range, I decided to give false ones a shot.First step was purchasing some. I headed to Long’s Drugs on a week when Ardell lashes were on sale and then spent some time brooding in front of the display case, trying to choose a pair. I picked up one that didn’t look too thick and unnatural, put it in my bathroom with my makeup, and forgot about it. When I finally did get a chance to try them, they looked odd — too straight across and even. Perhaps it was also because I had never applied eyelashes before, but whatever the reason for the awkwardness of the results, I decided straight off that I couldn’t use them for the wedding. (No pics. Too horrible. Plus I forgot to take any.)
I decided early on that I didn’t want to wear a traditional tiara. Though I know a lot of people who have looked lovely wearing one on their respective wedding days, I just didn’t have the right vibe when I tried them on myself. I even went as far as making one that was different from what one would find in the average bridal store, but decided even this went against the complete look that I’m aiming for.
I decided I wanted to have a backpiece, so I’d still have some sparkle, yet it wouldn’t be over-the-top. Enter outrageous bridal premiums on hair goods, and I had myself a problem. The backpieces I could find that were cheap enough weren’t quite what I’d wanted, and the ones that I fell in love with were upwards of $90. I’d only budgeted $50 or so max for my hair accessories, so I had to come up with an alternative.
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Mrs. Plumeria, San Francisco Age and Occupation in 06: 22, Graphic Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, High School Teacher Engagement Date: December 30, 2005 Wedding Date: May 12, 2007 Venue: Hotel Ballroom About Me: I love all things artsy and unique, and it has become a passion of mine to incorporate these attributes into my wedding (and become DIY royalty in the process). Other than dreaming up projects for the wedding, my latest hobbies include working on my computer, playing with my cute pet bunny, or shopping at Target/Barnes and Noble with my fiance.
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