Weddingbee Blog

This post was originally published on July 22nd, 2009

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After printing and cutting the cardstock for our programs, the lingering question was how we would bind it all together. Initially, we were going to punch an eyelet in the corner to allow the sheets to cascade out and act as a fan, but… I dunno… I just changed my mind. I’m sick of eyelets (kinda sorta). These days, I can’t take a step in the apartment without finding an eyelet stuck to the bottom of my foot, and that bugs me to no end! My hand is a bit cramped, too.

Since we’re short on time, I would’ve been content with ribbon holding it all together, but a YouTube tutorial on Japanese stab binding kept creeping into my head. I first discovered it when looking for invitation ideas. At the time, my obsession was booklet-style invitations. But since we never went down the booklet route, I dismissed the idea altogether. Now, with our programs totaling 7 pages, this idea was perfect.

The tutorial itself is a very basic technique. But if you’re looking for a more intricate design, it can be done!

See?

source

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For the most part, we’ve tucked away all things wedding. Albums are on the shelves, spare invites and programs are stored, the wedding dress is with another bride, and magazines have been passed on to newly engaged friends. But every once in awhile, we’ll hear our song on the radio, look at each other, and smile from ear-to-ear. Mr Piglet will hold out his hand, and we’ll dance our first dance again.

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A few months before our wedding, Mr Piglet was the best man at his now groomsman’s wedding. It was during that rehearsal dinner that we heard an acoustic version of I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. It was happy, light, had a slightly peppier tempo, and just the right amount of cheese. It fit us so perfectly. And that was that. Our first dance song was chosen.

With our CD in hand, we went to John Cassese The Dance Doctor in Santa Monica. John and Sarah (another instructor) popped in the CD, and began dancing to our song right then and there. Mr Piglet and I watched in awe at their fancy footwork and graceful spins. We were sold (or suckers) and booked 10 lessons with Sarah to teach us to dance like them.

And I’m so glad we did. Oh my gosh people, it was so much fun!

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Yello! Now that we’ve wrapped up the wedding day festivities, it’s time to hone in on the details that Piglet-sized our wedding. It’ll be a hodgepodge of sorts, highlighting the paper goods, DIY projects, decor/floral, and delicious eats we selected for our buffet spread. I’ll also do my best to answer the questions that were asked most frequently over the course of our recaps. And here we go!

Allow me to rewind and start from the veryyyy beginning where the madness began: our save the date boarding passes. Notice the goof we made on the date? Such rookies we were. We purchased the hibiscus vector image from iStockphoto, designed the boarding pass in Illustrator, and printed them on my Canon Pixma inkjet printer after chucking the ruined ones from our failed Gocco attempt.

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During Mr Piglet’s Love Actually reenactment, my bridesmaid did a quick scan of the room and noticed that (in her words)-

Among the women, there wasn’t a single dry eye, and among the married or dating men, there was a sense of panic – “how will we ever top that!?” ?Yes, even dear hubby hung his head in defeat.

Heehee. Way to set that bar sky high, Mr Piglet! His finale marked the end of our reception program. At that point, we were ready to break open the bubbly (kidding! already done hours before) and let loose on the dance floor!

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Click play!

This is the song Mr Piglet’s little brother, J, was supposed to sing as the finale to our reception before the dance floor opened. You can’t resist head bopping, right? I couldn’t. Every time I saw J during the week, I would head bop, snap, sway back and forth, all while singing his song. It’s called See You Soon, music and lyrics all by his awesome self. The girl singing is his friend. He’s a music enthusiast (both of them are, actually), and we were so honored to have him play at our wedding. What can I say, the kid is a rock star. He’s such a cutie.

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First dance jitters? A thing of the past! I wanted to follow it up with a cartwheel, back flip, fist pump, anything to express my absolute joy knowing that our first dance was the last planning detail to come to fruition. I was coasting from here.

The rest was all Mr Piglet. He had taken charge of the reception details from here on out. First up, his thank you speech. He took the mic and stood front and center. Unlike his blabbering wife, he’s an incredible public speaker. A speech from Mr Piglet always tells a story. It always comes from the heart. And it never feels rehearsed. This one was no exception. We never expected so many of our friends to trek it to Hawaii, but they did. Mr Piglet thanked them over and over. The day may have been in honor of us, but the celebration wouldn’t have felt like a true celebration without them.

Mr Piglet followed up his speech with the same speech translated in Korean. His Korean is impressive when conversing casually. But when speaking in a formal tone, it’s a bit of a struggle.
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A few months before our wedding, Mr Piglet was the best man at his now groomsman’s wedding. It was during that rehearsal dinner that we heard an acoustic version of I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. It was happy, light, had a slightly peppier tempo, and just the right amount of cheese. It fit us so perfectly. And that was that. Our first dance song was chosen.

With our CD in hand, we went to John Cassese The Dance Doctor in Santa Monica. John and Sarah (another instructor) popped in the CD, and began dancing to our song right then and there. Mr Piglet and I watched in awe at their fancy footwork and graceful spins. We were sold (or suckers) and booked 10 lessons with Sarah to teach us to dance like them.

And I’m so glad we did. Oh my gosh people, it was so much fun! Stressful at times, but overall, a blast and our best investment in Mr Piglet’s opinion. Sarah was an absolute doll. I was totally smitten with her from the moment she said hello in her adorable British accent. While far from perfect, and a little goofy, dancing our first dance was one of the fondest memories on our wedding day.

I’m Yours from Annie on Vimeo.

We have so much fun watching this.

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I’m taking a quick breather from recaps to congratulate my beautiful friend on her nuptials last weekend! She’s probably sipping on some mai tais in Honolulu as we speak. Jealous!

Isn’t she beautiful? During the planning stage, the girl was the chillest bride ever… she takes low maintenance to another level. She had a couple of projects in mind, but to be honest, I don’t think she would’ve care if they got done or not. See? …So laid back and composed. I insisted that I help. While working on them, I’d check in along the way to ensure what was in progress was what she envisioned, but her response was always the same, “I trust you! Sure! Yes!” Heehee. Free reign. Love it!

Check out the final products! Envelopes.

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As cocktail hour came to a close, the guests entered the reception room through the lanai-balcony doors while Mr Piglet and I hung with the bridal party at the opposite lobby entrance awaiting our introductions. We know the emcee usually does this, but since our emcee was part of the bridal party, we turned to our very good friend Dan to take on the intros.

You can always count on Dan for some unpredictable behavior. That day, it was him being MIA. We didn’t have to wonder/worry for too long, because friends spotted Dan walking from the beach, surfboard in tow, finger to his lip in the *shh* gesture. I have no idea how he did it (sprinted I imagine), but he made it with time to spare, looking quite dapper no less. He was greeted with some punches and kicks courtesy of the groomsmen. Feel the love?

With mic in hand, Dan kicked it off.

“Ladies and gentlemen… please give a warm welcome and round of applause as we introduce the wedding party…”

Each pair had a little number planned for their intro, and they totally rocked it!

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It was time to celebrate the Piglet nuptials! Guests had four or so hours between the ceremony and reception to relax, sightsee, nap, etc. One of our friends even went surfing. By early evening, everyone began tricking in for cocktail hour. With the drinks flowing, and pupus (hors d’oeuvres) a plenty, oh yes, it was time to start the party.

Kalua pork buns anyone? Oysters maybe?

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I can’t chew on a Starburst without thinking about Mr Piglet. Him down on one knee, both arms stretched out, his nervous ‘Ta-Da’s as he popped the question that one lazy Sunday in June. His ingenuity deserved recognition, yah? This made favors an easy decision for us.

I took our main invitation pattern and created two templates for the wrapper; one with our names, and the other with Mahalo to thank our guests. With 120 guests at 2 packs a person, that meant a whole lotta cutting, scoring, and packaging… for Jean (my roomie) and Mr Piglet.

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Victory!!! It was official. ‘Til death do us part. Lucky him. Heehee. Our ceremony had lasted 30 or so minutes leaving just over an hour for wedding portraits at Lanikuhonua. After moving from one embrace to another, we gradually made our way to the portraits area.

Gathering the masses was surprisingly easy. Taking cues from the ridiculously talented Mrs. Eggplant (xoxo thank you!), we added a page in our program requesting that people stick around for formal portraits after the ceremony. And they did. Everyone waited patiently, chit-chatting away, until my “surround sound” sister announced their turn. It worked like a charm. Amazing, I tell you! Take note of this!

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After what seemed like an eternity, we stood there ready to wed and begin our lives together as husband and wife. With our hands locked together, my nerves slowly began to calm. Who would’ve thought that my bestie’s failed attempt to set us up in college would lead to happily ever after eight years later? Me! I love my Mr Piggy.
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Dum-dum-da-dummmmm. It was finally time. We were cued to start the procession. My stomach was in knots as I stood arm in arm with my Pops (I’m a total Daddy’s, girl by the way). He stood there holding my train so as not to get a speckle of dirt on it before we made our grand entrance.

I could faintly hear Air on G String in the background played by Flute a la Harpe. Then, two-by-two, I saw our moms, Mr Piglet’s brothers, and our bridal party disappear through the opening in the trees.

Now’s as good a time as ever to share the first minutes of our video by Kai Media. Early on, I was one of those brides who decided against hiring a videographer, and wanted a friend to capture some key moments to later share with family that couldn’t attend. In short, we changed our minds. Namely because we hadn’t found anyone that was gung-ho to do it. It was a cursory decision, but one we’re glad we made.

Post wedding, Kai Media asked us to provide them some songs to integrate into the video. Knowing that Mr Piglet loves Korean music (as do I, though I don’t understand it), I tried to pick a Korean love song. I figured I had watched enough Korean dramas to know the good mushy stuff. But I so suck. I picked a tragic love song, and it turns out, Kai Media used it for our ceremony portion. Luckily, they willingly replaced it with another happy love song hand picked by Changsik (the dad of the group… ‘member)?

So here it goes… our grand entrance to the tune of Cool – Promise (one of the few happy Korean love songs).
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It was almost time. The boys had already arrived at Lanikuhonua, guests were trickling in, and all of the setup was near complete. After receiving the go ahead from Gina, our day-of coordinator, we scuttled through the hotel lobby to make our way to the wedding arena. The nerves were overwhelming, and I was bouncing off the walls, full of nervous energy. I was worried I’d faint, have a sweat attack, or trip over the train. You name it, I thought it. I wanted to relax, it just wasn’t happening.

We held in our hands the decor for our ceremony. We went light on floral. No aisle markers, no adornments on our wedding arch, no arrangements on the reception table, and no loose petals covering the aisle. Just our bouquets and the guys’ boutonnieres. We made all the bouquets teeny tiny by the way, but we loved them, petite and all.
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