Weddingbee Blog

image from Jezebel

I just might start boycotting E! Why? Because their newest show repulses me to my core. In case you haven’t been glued to the TV over the last few weeks like I have, the new show that I am talking about is Bridalplasty, where brides compete for the ultimate plastic surgery makeover for their wedding day. Even their hook: “The only show where the winner gets cut” scares me. This is what will happen: each week the brides will compete in a wedding themed challenge and the winner will get one of her plastic surgery procedures done. The last woman standing will receive her total body makeover.

I understand that brides wish to look beautiful, but this is going too far!
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After pinpointing what type of style we wanted for our wedding invitations, we needed to think about what the invitations would actually say. I knew this might be a big deal from the very, very beginning. Frankly, the issue was how we’d incorporate both American and Filipino traditions into an invitation that is “us.”

Filipino Wedding Invitation with Entourage Listed, image from Weddingbee

Since the beginning of our engagement, Mr. Pashmina’s mom has had one main question: Who would be our sponsors? Sponsors are individuals involved in your lives that will stand up and attest that you two should get married, meaning that you have the support of your friends, family, and the community—basically saying, as elders, “we support this union.” Typically for a Filipino wedding, this information goes on the wedding invitation, in the program, and is incorporated into the ceremony by the sponsor’s participation in the wedding. The list of sponsors can be pretty long. From what I understand, there are typically at least two Principle Sponsors and three Secondary Sponsors.
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Our #1 Invite - Image from Ceci New York

One of my favorite parts of wedding planning has been looking at invitations online and in-person. I love, love, love invitations! You can go so many different ways and instantly give the opener an idea of what your wedding will be like. After coming across an article in Real Simple Magazine titled, “What is Your Invitation Style,” I decided to show Mr. Pashmina the pictures of the invites (without telling him what style was which) to see what he would like our style to be.
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Anthropologie, image via The Anthropologiest

After news of Anthropologie launching its own bridal line \last year, for some reason I keep on searching to see if anything has come out yet! I know I am married. I know that they said it was going to be Spring 2011. But for some reason I have searched “Anthropologie wedding dresses” twice this month. Am I anxious or something?
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After all of this, I haven’t even introduced you to our venue! Let me bring you up to speed.

Image from Arcadia Weekly

After deciding on Catalina Island instead of a hometown wedding, we eagerly searched for a location. This took me months and months! Where…without visiting the island in person? I searched feverishly on the web. Googling, Flickring, and aimlessly searching photographers’ sites that contained images of other weddings on Catalina Island. Yep, I pretty much stalked Catalina Island trying to find out what locations were out there and what I would like best.

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I’ve just returned from my third California wedding in three months! All of them have been so different and yet all so fun. Two of the weddings I am talking about you actually have heard some things about: my own and Mrs. Hot Wings’, but now add the wedding of my fabulous cousins to the list!

Image by 5 by Seven

Set on the harbor in San Diego, even though it was a smallish-wedding it was definitely not small on personality!  One of my favorite aspects of the wedding was their photobooth. It was strategically setup so at the most perfect time in the evening—you know that moment when your guests have lost a little of their inhibitions—it was instantly open for business.

Everything about it was very casual.
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There have been a handful of weddings that I have seen on the internet that have totally inspired me. They have proved to be immensely helpful, if even just for me to refer back to. I’ve sent them to my vendors when trying to describe what I wanted. I showed them to friends and family members when asking them their opinion on something similar. I loved collecting images that captured a style that I liked. Even if I didn’t know why I liked the wedding, it was totally worthwhile to keep it and often times it came in handy.

image

The wedding between Jill Stonerock & Josh Schwartz was one of my most influential. Rustic but not country. Relaxed but not casual. Beachy but not near the ocean. (?)
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I returned my original wedding dress because my groom saw it. It wasn’t just because he was superstitious. I really wanted him to be surprised when he saw me, too. I think it adds to the fun of a wedding—him not knowing exactly what to expect when you enter the room. So, I was happy with my decision. And I knew my superstitious man would be happy with my decision!! So it all worked out in the end. And no, I didn’t take a picture of myself in my the new gown! I didn’t even try it on again when I went down to the store to make the switch. I just didn’t want to risk anything!!!
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On Valentine’s Day my two nieces accompanied me to select my wedding dress. It was four months in the making—I had been to about half a dozen appointments. I was ecstatic to take my two helpers with me for this occasion.

It was monumental to me!

When we entered RK Bridal I explained the store’s concept: I’ll put our name on the list, then you can pull dresses off the rack that you like. When they call our name, a clerk will help us try them on. “It’s more of a self-service bridal salon,” I said. Their eyes widened as they eyed the thousands of white dresses hanging on racks! It was like going through Barbie’s closet with the 10 and 13 year old girls. It was just too much fun for us all.

My Mini BFFs *Personal Photo

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Image from Adrienne’s

There were few really great experiences after the Jenny Yoo appointment, one was mainly at Adrienne’s in the Lower East Side, where I went with a big group of my single friends. But all the dresses were double, even triple my budget. There were no contenders. ThenI went to The Bridal Garden, a used wedding dress store that gives the proceeds to education, with one of my lovely co-workers who was also looking for gowns. But I just couldn’t rationalize spending over $1200 for a used gown. It had great fabric and was by La Esposa but for that price (my max budget) I wanted something new!

So, let’s fast forward a few appointments! I just can’t wait any longer to tell you about the dress I finally purchased and the one I ultimately wore…!
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At Jenny Yoo I was shocked at how opposite my appointment could be with the same exact elements: mainly a solo bride shopping for her dress. Walking into the crisp, clean Jenny Yoo studio in the Fashion District of New York City, the clerk immediately greeted me with a smile and made me feel at home. The clerk was super sweet and began to ask me about my wedding and if there were any dresses I was specifically interested in seeing. I thought to myself that those were the words I was waiting for, and I quickly rustled up a list of contenders that I wrote down while at home.

I mentioned them to the clerk, and ended up with  about dozen requested dresses. Unfortunately, not everything from the new 2010 collection was in stock yet—like Mackenzie, my first choice (darn!!). So she left me to browse on my own while she checked which they did have. Moving around the store I relished the calm, and supported environment. It was nothing like the small boutique I visited earlier: no snarky comments, no pretentious comments that certain dresses weren’t me (phew!!).

Image from Jenny Yoo - Mira

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I had two requirements for my wedding gown: for it to make me feel beautiful and for it to cost $1500 or less. But I quickly realized that I didn’t want a typical gown. I liked the “bridal alternatives,” the “destination gowns,” and anything made from chiffon. They were ethereal and appealed to my Bohemian sensibility. So after seeing beautiful pictures for Saja gowns, I quickly made my appointment.

Image from 100 Layer Cake

But then this is when the happiness stops.

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Image from MichelleBrusegaard on Etsy

When everyone kept asking me what type of dress I had in mind for my wedding, I kept on thinking about my favorite Barbie doll when I was a child. I didn’t tell anyone at the time but, that is my little truth! It was the 1985 Peaches & Cream edition—yes, I’ve done my research for this post—you know, the one with the ruffly peach ball gown and the strapless opal bodice (well, it was only strapless because my straps wore off after too much play). She was the epitome of beauty. She was Hollywood glamour before I even realized it!
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I finished our ring pillow three days before the wedding! It was in limbo for a few weeks because I didn’t know what I wanted to decorate the top of it with (this is the most important part, right?).

Finished pillow - view from above with my engagement ring. Personal photo

Originally I decided to make a ring pillow myself because I thought I could save money. FYI: this isn’t the case. There is a reason they sell the decorated ones for $50-$60 on Etsy.

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(I wrote this post on July 27th—the night before I was going to leave for the wedding. I thought I was going to post it to the hive the day I left. But with so much to do, I guess I forgot to do that part! Anyways I thought you might like to read about how frazzled I was!!! So, here it is…)

I am a mess, bees! My apartment is a disaster. I already left one of my bridesmaid’s gowns at work (it was delivered there by the tailor but I forgot to bring it home. Thankfully my co-worker was thinking and called me). But by the time you read this I am going to be up in the sky somewhere between New Jersey and California. It is 10 PM the night before we leave. At this moment my fiance is doing laundry, I am printing out the menu cards, and I am freaking out about leaving my cat for twelve whole days. I didn’t think there were so many things still to-do last minute, but then this month totally snuck by me. July has been crazy!

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