Productivity

I've been working on wedding stuff the past couple days, just because I actually have time to spend on such "frivolous" things.

Here is a preview of some of the computer work I've done:

 

Still a work in progress.

Must figure out better fonts (for the wedding program) and colors and create a design element at the top for the Guest Libs.

Next: I plan on tackling arts and crafts!  Glue gun, ribbon, styrofoam balls, tissue paper--here I come.

Pictures to come... (hopefully on Tuesday)

I love wedding registry shopping...

someone needs to buy this off our Macys registry while it's like $380 cheaper than the original price!!!

Wedding Envy

When I originally got engaged (well, even before that!) I had an idea of my dream wedding:

• Amazing catering - preferably Heirloom LA or a fun food truck
• Amazing dessert bar by Sweet and Saucy OR catering by Coolhaus
• Outdoor ceremony
• Under a big tree
• Very rustic seating (hay with cloth over it)
• Outdoor reception
• Twinkling lights
• Mason jars
• Long rectangular tables
• Preferably at a winery in Malibu
• Tons of peonies
• My bouquet - PEONIES!
• My dress - Vera or Monique
• Bridesmaids - mismatched, chic dresses in different tones of gray
• Groom + Groomsmen - in gray suits

Well, obviously things don't always turn out the way you hope for them to be, as guests of my wedding will learn in 5 months. But, I've learned that it doesn't mean you have to be sad!!

I don't think anyone's wedding is their DREAM wedding unless they have boatloads of money, and even then, I'm sure something isn't exactly right.  Flowers aren't in season, their fiance is an asshole, their bridal party is too big and their bridesmaids aren't getting along, they have a mother-in-law from hell, it RAINS!, it's too hot... you get the picture.

I got pretty jealous this past weekend when one of my Facebook friends posted a picture of them eating Coolhaus at their uncle's wedding.  SO, so, so JEALOUS!  BUT, I had to be realistic.  I had to remember that I am still having a beautiful wedding.  I get to marry the man of my dreams and eat yummy cake from Porto's.  Still super awesome :)

It's been a long time...

Wow, I haven't touched this blog in a while.

Lots has happened since then.  No worries, I'm still getting married haha.  Just that lots of planning, school stuff, etc., has happened!

Darryl and I pretty much have the whole wedding planned.  We've booked all important vendors: photog, videographer, got the cake picked out, dress, florist, DJ, VENUE!, etc.  All that's left are the guys' clothing (tuxes, suits?), the favors, and the paper goods (menu, programs, invites, etc).

Now I'm starting my "diet."  I'm going to try writing down what I'm eating so I keep track of my calories.  I'm going to attempt to eat around 1500 per day!  I'm pretty sure that my normal calorie intake is like 2200 (which isn't BAD...... just not good for weight loss).

Maybe I'll try and keep track of it here too?  Keep me accountable!  Today I consumed around 1290 calories.  If I don't eat before I sleep, it should stay that way...

I went to two really nice weddings (one for friends and one for family) since the last time I made a post.  I'll post some pictures of the friends' wedding since I was actually in that one and got some professional photos back!

Bridesmaids

Bridal party!

 With the bride

 Candid!

With the handsome fiance

 ...and guess who caught the bouquet?

Hopefully one of my bridesmaids catches MY bouquet!!!!!  That'd be fun :)

Wedding plans

Once again, I'm posting blog stuff late at night, right before a big test....

Wedding plans have been going very well lately, but I realize that I still have a TON of stuff to do.  It's really all the little things that add up (guestbook table plans, favors, going to tastings, figuring out how to do my programs, finding the perfect invitation, etc).

Here are some things I'm thinking about tackling as DIYs (some are definite, some are maybes):

Wedding tree - Definite YES! Finally making use of my artistic ability.

 Fabric streamer backdrop for the ceremony (on the right) - Maybe, but those are my wedding colors so it is verrrrry tempting!

 Signs pointing guests in the right direction - Definitely doing signs, just not sure whether I will be the maker.

DIY painted mason jars to make them look aqua tinted - YES!

 Cake toppers - YES! Another use for all those years of art classes.

Table numbers - YES!  So easy - Ikea frames, pretty paper, house numbers (probably from Home Depot)

Wedding Planning

I knew that planning a wedding would be overwhelming, but I thought that having a larger budget than I originally expected would help!  It doesn't, haha.

So far, food is going to take up almost half of my budget.  It's totally my fault for wanting AMAZING food at my wedding, but I also want my guests to enjoy their day with Darryl and me.  Looking at a couple being sappy can only be cute for so long, ya know?  :)  The food and alcohol has to satisfy them the rest of the time!

I'm trying to get ALL of my planning for the big stuff out of the way before Fall 2011 starts.  That quarter is going to be hell, but since I'm going to be doing part-time school externships, I should have less stress during Winter and Spring 2012.

Darryl and I decided we're only going to look at a couple more venues, and if those don't work out, we're going to stick with the Ambassador Mansions and Gardens.  I'm totally happy with that, but it doesn't hurt to check out some other options :)

I'm also glad that wedding planning has not ruined my academics this summer. Late nights spent surfing the web will just hurt the bags under my eyes--not my grades.

Future Venue Searches...

On the list of future venue hunting trips... I'm hoping we don't have to go to all of them!

Pasadena:

• Ambassador Mansions and Gardens (again) - just in case we can't find anything else...

Santa Fe Springs:

• Clarke Estate - $3900 venue rental
• Heritage Park - $2900 venue rental

Los Angeles:

• Los Angeles River Center and Gardens

 Orange County:

• Muckenthaler Mansion - Fullerton, CA
• Red Horse Barn (I love barn weddings!!!) - Huntington Beach, CA ($2700 venue rental, shuttle fee $1000 - BYO everything else)
• Strawberry Farms Golf Course + Barn (BARN!!) - Irvine, CA

Hyatt - Valencia, CA (Darryl's hometown. Hehe)
Temescal Gateway Park - Pacific Palisades, CA

Castle Green - Venue search #2

So.... this place looked VERY promising online.

Boy were Darryl and I disappointed when we went there!  I understand that it's a historic place, and the outdoor area is very nice, but the indoor area was just depressing.  It was extremely dark, jewel-toned, and ancient, and I felt like the little kid from the Shining and crazy Jack Nicholson were going to come down the stairs screaming any second. I realize now that I need a more modern (or at least neutral toned) interior for my reception.

Also, the outdoor area is nicely manicured and has a beautiful fountain, but it's way too close to the street.  Cars are honking and making loud noises literally feet away from where you'll be having your ceremony.  The facility director's comments about my concerns regarding the traffic were, "It gets quieter between 3:30 and 5 when your ceremony should take place because it's right before the dinner rush!" Despite her "reassuring" comments, I still couldn't help but dislike the lack of tranquility.

Another negative?  (They just keep on coming!) There is literally a 10 square foot size space for the bride and her bridesmaids to get ready. It was dark, awkwardly shaped, and creepy looking. I guess I wouldn't mind getting ready at my house and driving over to the venue, but I had hoped for a large, brightly lit, carpeted room for my ladies and myself to drink some mimosas, chat, laugh, and listen to music in while gettin' our hair and makeup DID!

The unsurprising verdict? PLEASE show me the next place!

Venue-hunting is not as easy as I thought it would be :(

Ambassador Mansions and Gardens - Venue Search #1

LOVED IT!

Well, there are multiple mansions and gardens on this campus (the Ambassador Campus), and I loved the Terrace Villa, Fowler Garden, and Great Lawn.

Merritt Mansion interior

Italian Garden

The Merritt Mansion and Italian Garden were definitely not my favorites!  The Italian Garden itself isn't too bad, but it's flanked on both sides by two dated and ugly buildings that do not go with the garden (the Fine Arts Hall and something else related to the campus). The Merritt Mansion is also too dark, brown, and ancient. Don't get me wrong, I love dark wood floors and details, but this was just depressing and does NOT go with my potential color schemes.

 Fowler Garden

 Terrace Villa interior - upstairs.

 Another view of the Fowler Garden.

Now, on the other hand, the Terrace Villa was light, airy, and gorgeous. It had a more Italian feel to it versus an old Colonial feel at the Merritt Mansion.

Once I stepped into the Fowler Garden, I could imagine Darryl and myself getting married in front of what they call the "gazebo" (the building with three archways) with our guests seated on the grass and walkways. Also, parking is super convenient and cheap for us to provide for our guests. It's a short walk from the Fowler Garden, and only costs $250 for 299 stalls.

The only negatives?  Well...

• The indoor seating capacity does NOT work with my number of guests.  We're going to have around 170-200, and the Villa only holds about 100.  We could potentially seat guests outdoors as well, but we don't want our guests to be so far apart.  
• On the other hand, we could skip the Terrace Villa completely and do an outdoor reception on the Great Lawn (sorry, no pictures), but I'm not sure if we want that since bathrooms are far away and we kind of wanted to have an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception :( 
• Also, the sound restriction that's in place by the city states that our DJ can play music up to 65 decibels. From what I've learned in audiology class, that's like loud conversation! I want the music pumping for the dancing that's going to be going on!

Verdict? On to the next one!

It happened!

So, some big news....

I'm ENGAGED!

I'm so excited to start the real planning process.  Enough with this "future" wedding business.  It's HERE!

Darryl and myself celebrating at Libertine in Hollywood with some of our friends.

I can't wait to start my life with this man. He's my favorite person in the world :)

I'm also in love with that sequin top -- I have to wear it a lot to get my money's worth, haha!

Tank: Ladakh "Burlesque" sequin tank
Skirt: H&M (you can't see it, but it's hot pink)
Bra: Victoria's Secret
 

So pretty.

M.I.A. again.

The next few weeks are going to be extremely hectic for me, so I am apologizing in advance for the lack of posts.  But I tend to post when I'm stressed..... so we'll see what happens.

I just went shopping (to de-stress of course) and took photos of items in the fitting room.  I might have a fitting room review post up soon, but we shall see... I need to learn how to take better pictures in dressing rooms!

I really, really wanted to have a series of "gift guide" posts, but I just don't have the time I would like to have to devote to browsing the online shops I love.  Perhaps I'll have a few guides VERY close to Christmas haha. 

To hold my few loyal readers over for now, I have some wedding + decoration inspiration photos that I've been hoarding over the past month or so.  These are just a few out of MANY!  I also have different sets on different computers, sigh.

Bridesmaid perfection.

Who knew that extremely different colors for bridesmaids would actually work out?  I guess the fact that they are all fairly complementary pastels makes it look gorgeous together, but it must have taken the bride and bridesmaids quite a while to find the perfect mix of dresses!

photos via: http://thecinderellaproject.blogspot.com/

I think I'd love a mixture of pastel pink and yellows :)  Pastel pink and pastel aqua might be a little too cotton candy-esque for me.  The yellows cannot be too close to my *hopefully* off-white/ivory dress, though!

LOVE this.

Read the story behind this sweet video documenting a couple's elopement/marriage day, and then watch the video (or just watch the video only, heh).  Maybe I'm just hormonal, but I couldn't help tearing up out of joy for them.  Also, the song they used was perfect--I think I'd like to walk down the aisle to it.  I'm not very into the traditional bridal "march down the aisle" song!


we said vows. from Jeremy on Vimeo.

I'd love to do something private and casual like they did, but I know my family wouldn't be super happy with an elopement.  Maybe I can just do a destination wedding so I'm guaranteed a small guest list with only the ones I love.

I realize that I've had a lot of wedding posts lately, but it's difficult to avoid when all of the blogs I read (even if they are DESIGN blogs) have some wedding topics going on!

By the way, follow my blog with bloglovin!

Light up the sky.

Just some of the many reasons why I want to have an outdoor reception.  Thank goodness I live in LA!  But, knowing my luck, it would rain on the day of my wedding (even if it's summertime).

(photos via my classmate's blog: http://sadiesadie.tumblr.com/)

Bridesmaids.

I am not engaged and none of my good friends are either (well, not yet hehe), but I am obsessed with anything related to weddings!

Although I won't be wearing a bridesmaid's dress any time soon, I absolutely LOVE this sarahseven dress.

I'm very into pastels--especially pastel pink and aqua--so this would be the perfect dress for my future bridesmaids (or myself if I have a choice haha).

The price? Not so perfect at $475, but a girl can dream of a day when beautiful dresses like that are only $75!

Hello, gorgeous.

99% sure these are peonies.  I LOVE PEONIES!

Just shorten the stems, replace the pink [felt wrapper?] with Tiffany blue (or another color other than magenta), and we are good to go!

Hodge podge.

Even though this has a hodge podge of colors and looks a bit cluttered, I can't get over how it looks!  It's just so bright and fun as dusk approaches.  I may steal the colorful hanging cranes idea for my future wedding!

Via: http://ruffledblog.com/2010/10/indie-beach-wedding-in-ubatuba-sao-paulo-brazil/

Centerpieces

This one is a little bit too simple because it's monotone, but that can easily be changed by using different pots, or a different bowl, or different flowers.  Sadly, I do not like butterflies.  They're too tween birthday party-esque.  Blech.

This one is more my taste, but the colors are also a bit too bland.  Also too much stem is showing for the flowers.  Good inspiration, though.

"Light grenades"

A variety of pink-ish roses as the centerpiece.

4 candles surrounding it.

White table cloth.

Black chairs.  

Outdoor reception?

Yum!

I love the simplicity of the centerpiece and tables.  I can't really tell if the chairs are black or just dark wood, but I wouldn't mind either. 

Gorgeous!