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Last Thursday Mr. Peony and I returned home from another long day of work to find a package waiting for us. It was from our photographer, Danny Weiss, whom we had just booked! We opened it to find a wrapped gift:
Let’s talk about diamond shapes. The round brilliant is the most popular shape for good reason: it faces up large, and no other shape can perform as well in terms of brilliance, fire, and scintillation. Rounds are also easiest to predict in terms of performance when you only have its specs, so it is a safe bet if you’re thinking about purchasing your diamond online.
Other shapes are categorized as “fancy cuts”:
(Image from Excel Diamonds)
We decided to go with Danny Weiss! Thank you to everyone who gave their input - I really appreciate it! At the end, it came down to two things:
We have a photographer! 
As a sidenote, since we both liked Yun so much as well, we may end up using him for our Chinese wedding.
I have a small confession to make. 
Truthfully, I knew a proposal was on its way (I just didn’t know exactly when or how) because we had picked out my center stone together about a month before. After doing the research for Mr. Peony, I kinda became a diamond connoisseur…so I wanted to share some of what I learned.
When most people think of diamonds, they think of the 4 C’s: carat, color, clarity, and cut (some men I’ve spoken to say there’s a fifth C - “cost” - but that’s another story 
). What most people don’t consider is that “cut” is the most important thing to consider when choosing a diamond.
Many confuse “cut” with the shape of a diamond (round, princess, oval, etc) - they are not the same thing. “Cut” refers to the way a diamond is cut from the rough (or from a larger diamond), affecting the proportions, the angles, and the overall sparkle. A well-cut diamond will look larger, hide imperfections, look whiter, and as a whole, be more brilliant. Unfortunately, the majority of diamonds on the market are not well-cut.
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
The search for a photographer continued. Unfortunately, Henry Chan was booked on our day; however, he recommended some photographers that were similar to his style. One of them was Angelica Glass. I love, LOVE her work. Go check out her website and you’ll see what I mean. We kept our fingers crossed while we waited to hear back from her. Alas, she was busy on our day too. It’s a freakin Friday in April! Why are all the good photographers booked already?
Another photographer that Henry recommended was Danny Weiss. Danny was very friendly in his emails, his enthusiasm and friendly personality clearly shining through. His prices are reasonable, with packages ranging from $2,750 to $5,200. He is free on our wedding day so we made an appointment to go see him. Here are some samples of his work:
We returned to our venue a couple weeks ago and signed the contract! It’s official - we will be getting married at The Fountainhead in New Rochelle, NY (in Westchester county, 20 mins from Manhattan).
Some photos from their website:
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Mr. Peony and I decided very early that the one thing we wanted to splurge on was photography. We’ve both studied photography and knew that after the wedding, when our memories start to fade, we will only have the photos to remember our wedding day. (Plus we’d be able to tell our grandchildren, “Look, grandpa and grandma weren’t always so old and wrinkly - look at these photos and see how young and vibrant we once were.”)
So we began scouring the web.
Immediately, Something in Blue caught my eyes. A husband and wife photography team, they are a favorite of many brides in the New York metropolitan area for their vivid shots with gorgeous lighting. A big plus was that they’d shot at our venue in the past, so we can get an idea of how our photos would look. Take a look at some of their work:
Hi, my name is Miss Peony and I hate shopping. I hate the crowds, the dressing rooms, the queue, the crying babies….the list goes on and on. I once broke out in hives while Christmas-shopping at a crowded mall.
So it comes to no surprise that wedding dress shopping has not been the most pleasant part of the wedding planning process. Counting the appointment that I will attend later today, I will have been to eight different bridal salons. Averaging 6 gowns per store, that comes to about 48 heavy, constricting, wiggling to get my ass through, sweating like a pig while trying on and taking off every dress, moments.
Boy am I glad to say that it will be over soon.
But what is a decision without rankings? So here they are, for your viewing pleasure….
*drumroll*
I was going to wait until after I bought a dress to post this review but I can’t wait! I wanted to share with everyone my wonderful experience at Bijou Bridal in Paramus, NJ.
My friend Diane recommended Bijou Bridal because she’s friends with the owners. She even attended their opening party and was very impressed. At the time, I was very discouraged by the entire concept of wedding dress shopping because most of the bridal salons I had visited were rude, I felt rushed, and most importantly, didn’t carry anything I loved. Some facilities were downright dirty and tacky. One bridal consultant kept pressuring me try on dresses I didn’t care for at all and another watched over me like a hawk, never leaving my side, even in the dressing room where I like my privacy.
But I decided to make an appointment with Bijou Bridal anyway since Paramus isn’t too far from where I live. And as soon as I walked in, I knew it was different.
Last week, we attended the wedding of Mr. Peony’s younger brother, Mr. Poppy. I had a great time, however, I wouldn’t be lying if I said I was a bit apprehensive in the days leading up to the event. First, I wouldn’t know anyone at the wedding aside from their family, who would most likely be speaking Cantonese the majority of the night. I knew in advance that I would be sitting at the “dates of the bridal party” table, so I was nervous about sitting with strangers. I expected not to see Mr. Peony pretty much the entire weekend since he would be busy running around doing his best man duties.
Nonetheless, I had a great time meeting some new people and dancing the night away. Mr. and Mrs. Poppy are such a sweet couple. The best part of the night had to be when Mr. Peony surprised me by requesting “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, and took me by the hand to the dance floor. He even lifted me up at the “lift” point of the song (I was too chicken to go parallel to the floor though) and everyone started cheering. 
We’re definitely taking dance lessons before our wedding because I don’t know any formal dance steps and I’d love to learn (he already knows basic steps for most dances from a ballroom dancing class he took way back in college to meet girls 
).
When I first got engaged, I was pretty clueless about wedding-related jargon and acronyms. I thought empire (as in an empire waistline) was pronounced with a long i, like the Roman Empire. I had no idea what a bustle was - I guessed that it was a hair term, a variation on a beehive. Needless to say, I felt like a complete idiot the first time I went dress shopping.
At this n00b phase of wedding planning, I visited several boards where the brides would openly talk about STDs. One topic would read, “Help! Problem with STDs!” while another might say, “My fiance doesn’t want to deal with our STDs” - and I couldn’t help but think that these people must be really open with the internet community to discuss their sexually transmitted diseases so willingly.
Now I know better. In the wedding world, STDs are save-the-dates. 
Silly me. And I just ordered mine yesterday!
At first I wanted to print the month of April 2008 on Moo MiniCards with our wedding date circled. I would then buy some nice notecards, decorate it with stamps and whatnot, and attach the MiniCards on the inside with sticky glue dots. Then the person receiving the save-the-date could put the MiniCard in their wallet, pin it up on their board, etc. How cute would that be?
Hi everyone! I’m so, sooo happy to be the newest member of the Weddingbee team! I was first introduced to this site when my FSIL became a Weddingbee blogger last year. Yes, that’s right - Mrs. Poppy (she was married just two weeks ago and her wedding was beeewooootiful) is married to my fiance’s brother! Since then, I would read Weddingbee intermittently, and when I got engaged Weddingbee quickly became one of my favorite websites.
A little background on me and Mr. Peony: we attended the same university and the very first time we met was my freshman year (he was a senior) at a party. He hit on me, and I ran away. 
Of course, he claims that he doesn’t remember this at all, but I remember as clearly as it was yesterday. Fast forward a few years: we started hanging out together because our friends ran in similar circles. He soon became one of my best friends, and several months later, he made the first move. Three and a half years later, he asked for my hand in marriage.
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Mrs. Peony, New York Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer Engagement Date: June 28, 2007 Wedding Date: April 18, 2008 Venue: The Fountainhead Blogging Since: August 7, 2007 About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
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