Tied the Knot!

with the Best Men
Bridal Party
Nephews
with Parents
at last!
Petal Toss
Cake Slicing
Finally, the wedding is over and everything went well. It was almost a year of preparation, a month of being with family from Scotland and the Philippines, a week of people from all over the States, and a lifetime of memories. The wedding was wonderful.

Days til the Big Day

A week and a half to go and I'm tying the knot. I can't believe that the big day is nearing. I remember that I had a year of wedding prep and now, time is flying so quickly.

Anyhow, I'm very excited. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with Alan. I can't wait to enjoy the summer with him.

Steve's Pictures

It's April and I can't believe that time is flying so, so fast. Remember the blog that I wrote about our photographer? Well, last Spring Break, Alan and I had our engagement pictures taken in Steve Tarver's residence. My dad was even there to assist a little bit. The photo shoot was fun, a little bit chilly, and hard. Now I know how models feel. Eventhough this was the case, Steve and Sandie made it a point for us to be relaxed and comfortable the entire time(despite the chill).

The pictures are now out and the Tarver Family also wrote a very sweet blog about the two of us. How great is that? I remember them mentioning last year that they want every photo shoot we had with them to be very personal. True to their word, this is how we felt. The pictures turned out to be amazing.

Thank you Steve, Sandie, and Nicole for the wonderful pictures and the blog. We can't wait to work with you guys again this summer. :)

Cute Announcement!

CAN'T WAIT!!!

Butterfly Kisses

My Dad will be with me during my wedding. I am so happy that he'll be by my side as he walks me down the aisle. My dad has been my partner in crime and constant companion through the years. What more can I ask for?

Things I Have Accomplished over the Holidays

I've been very quiet lately. I feel that I have accomplished a lot for the wedding and here I am now, just sitting and waiting (for money--lol) for Spring break to come.

1) I am done with the cake. A simple design with the basic yellow sponge with white chocolate filling. I'm still wondering if I want to add the raspberry on the other 2 tiers. I'll see if I could have the design printed out. I still have to order a groomscake for Alan. That's a surprise because he doesn't believe in it

2) I am done buying stuff for my maids of honor and flower girl.

3) Wedding gown and accesories are done too. Include all the drama and chaos that arised.

4) Pastor is done...all we need to do is meet him during Spring break to talk about the wedding.

5) We now have candy bags and candy scoops---no candies yet though. Still to get the jars and the candy selection.

6) Have invitations done which will be out by March. Yeepee.

7) Got the car paid off. What will I ever do without you, Al? You really are my ANGEL.

Here are my TO DO LIST:

1) Songs need to be sent to the DJ for the ceremony and reception

2) Need to organize things for the choreographer for our First Dance ( aww...blush...blush)

3) Talk to wedding organizer about a gazillion things

4) candles, pillow, toasting flutes, cake slicer

5) candies

6) organize menu

7) organize accomodations

8) transportation aka limo

9) pay them!

Map Struggle

The original map

It took me three hours just to tweak a semi-detailed map for my wedding invite. Why? Because I am totally clueless on what program to use. I feel that Microsoft Word still rules and " Cut" and "Paste" are the only two things I need to accomplish this task. Totally wrong. I used the text box and the insert bar. Hmmm...

Check out how my Map Card for the wedding would look like.

The tweaked map (not much of a difference eh?)

Another thing: As I was trying to attach the map I made, I discovered that I am not able to download the document because it's not in jpeg format. Ho-hum...

Samples

This should be in Aqua

For months now, I've been looking for the perfect place cards for the tables of my wedding reception. I've looked everywhere and even tried doing the place cards at home but I wasn't satisfied. After browsing through several wedding invitation websites, I came across the White Aisle. The online Martha Stewart inspired shop specializes on wedding invites, bridal accesories, calligraphy, and almost anything that deals with wedding design and accesories. One thing nice about this shop is that they have the vintage style in them. Their invites are coordinated by theme and color so you can match every invitation you have with the place cards, table cards, menu, and program of your choice. The designs they have are very simple yet artistic and their rates aren't that expensivetoo.

White Aisle

This should be in aqua

Since I'm having orchids as a centerpiece, I decided to have the "summer " theme. Basically, the design is just orchids. My color motif is aqua/tiffany blue. My save the dates are aquamarine, my favors are aquamarine, my invites are semi aquamarine and my bridal party will be wearing a semi aqua-marine motif. I decided to get the summer theme in aqua color so that it gets to blend with everything.

Samples of White Aisle's work

A week ago, I ordered samples consisting of a place card, a table card, a menu card, and a wedding program. When I got the package they were all in different colors and none of them were in aqua. I knew about the possiblity of this happening because they mentioned that samples being ordered will just be taken from present orders they have which were in stock. Since their website mentioned about the vintage feel, I noticed that the edges of every card they had were "torn". The torn effect their products have though make it look like the make is of poor quality (this is my opinion).

Somehow, I expected more in terms of workmanship. I guess that's the con of ordering online. They all look nice at first but when you get a hold of it , you end up disappointed with what you see.

The entire thing was a so-so. I still love the orchid design that they have and I really doubt if I'd be able to see something close to it. The poor workmanship evens out with the amazing orchid design... so okay, they can be forgiven.

YES, I'm still ordering it inspite of... and despite the...

Wedding Escapade Series- PAPARAZZI

Who would've thought that photographers nowadays cost an arm and a leg? Well, the last of my wedding escapade was all about getting a photographer. My brother offered his services and said that he'd do it for free. At the back of my mind, I was thinking that this was such a great idea in terms of how much we would be able to save. Alan then told me that if something goes wrong though, I wouldn't want my brother and myself to feel crappy. Also, I wouldn't want my brother to feel pressured during the event.

To prove how naive I am with the latest trends in photography, I thought that it was still the traditional layout wherein you could choose the pictures you like and the photgraphers would just do the layouting for you. Well, I was wrong. It's totally different now. All the photographers we've been to are actually into the "magazine" layout style. What does this mean? Think about the magazines we usually read, it's flat right? That's how albums look like nowadays. Pictures aren't just matted in anymore, they're more artistically presented with the "magazine" format.

I was actually impressed with the pictures and surprised with the prices. I've thought of a way on how I could tell you how much photographers charge in the Kingwood area without actually telling you what the rates really are.(checkout the legend)

***-Tres tres EXPENSIVE
**- Expensive but reasonable compared to a three star
*- Reasonable, still expensive, but who cares...we're running out of time.

Photographer # 1

I have thought that this photographer was on the list of vendors Kingwood Country Club gave us. I was browsing through it and his name isn't listed as a contact. Since we always see this photgrapher's shop along the 1960, we just decided to stop by, take a look at their work, and check what packages they have for weddings. Chris Walter Photography was the name of their shop. Husband and wife operate the business and Mr. Walter looks exactly like Santa. Hohohoho! A funny thing here is that their shop was actually advertising that Santa will be available for pictures this coming December. I wonder who that would be.

Anyway, Chris showed us a variety of albums, styles, and add-ons. The couple were very professional and as I've said earlier, we were very much impressed with the albums they showed us. When we discussed prices and packages, I just took a big gulp because I couldn't believe it. It wasn't the rate I was expecting. I remember mentioning to Alan that we should scout for three more photographers before we made a decision. Alan knew that the was the going rate of photographers in the Kingwood area.

Rate: * *

Photographer # 2

Alan and I decided again to check out the packet Kingwood County Club gave us for contact numbers of their preferred photographers. First on the list was Charles Falk. I gave his office a call and made an appointment in the afternoon. His place was still in the Humble Area but boy was it hard to find. This guy mentioned he didn't need to advertise because he had an abundance of clients. Lucky him then.

Again, it's a husband and wife tandem. Wife is incharge of finding out the details of the wedding and the husband is the master photographer. My impression of Charles is that anyone who'd ever work with him will have a blast because he loves to talk. He kept conversing with Alan the entire time that at one point, I was a little distracted and semi-annoyed. Hello...I'm here for the pictures!

Looking at his work, it's quite obvious that he's been in the business for so long. This was another very professional encounter that made me an immediate fan of all the photographers who take pride in their work.

The downside of this meeting was when the wife gave us their quote, it was way above our budget. For someone who didn't have a budget at that time, I just had to put my foot down and claim that it's not within our budget. This was an obvious one, it wasn't them.

Rate: * * *

Photgrapher # 3

It was actually Mama Florist who recommended this photographer. His name is Steve Tarver. Alan and I actually met up with him in his house after Thanksgiving. We were greeted warmly by his entire family. He told us that taking photographs is a family business and his wife and daughter were part of it. Each one of them had a role to play.

Mama Tarver was incharge of the interviewing, gathering details, and showing off their work. Daughter Tarver was incharge of the business side of things and Papa Tarver was the head honcho.

Most of the information we needed was discussed to us by Daughter Tarver. Their packages were reasonable enough and there were so many freebies included. Since I was aware of the rates, any package they showed me didn't come as a shock anymore.

One thing nice about this family is that they made you feel at home right away. We were even able to insert some humor now and again. The family was also able to recommend some vendors for a band and a minister.

Towards the end of the meeting, Nicole (Daughter Tarver) surprised me with a goody bag. In that bag were coasters, a bottle of water, and some brochures about their business. This was way too good. I had a feeling that they would end up being our official photographers. (Hah! I knew I could be bought)

Thank you, Nicole ;)

Rate: *

I was right! By Sunday, November 25, 2007, we were able to finalize our decision and we decided to hire Steve Tarver as our official photographer. Alan and I can't wait to work with them for our engagement shoot and the wedding.

Wedding Escapade Series-MINISTER

Okay...what's Hugh Hefner doing on my blog? At one time, Alan and I thought that the minister we were dealing with was a Hugh Hefner look alike. Seriously!

Day 2
November 21, 2007

We had a meeting with the minister at around 10:30 and it was quite a long trip because he was from La Porte. La Porte was actually closer to Galveston than Kingwood.

In all honesty, I found the minister online and obviously since I don't know anyone in the Houston area I gave the website a shot and asked the fiance to contact them. I won't be putting their website as a link for I have actually mocked him a little bit by showing a Hugh Hefner photo. I am to blame here.

I knew that something was already fishy when I saw the town. I was like thinking, who would actually be conducting services over here. Then, as we neared the place, it looked so "un"holy because it turns out that the minister we were checking out was actually a real estate agent. Hmmm...it doesn't sound right at all. To make things worse, the office building was closed and fliers of all the houses the minister was selling were posted outside his office.

Suddenly, you see a man driving a shiny black top-down sports car waving to Alan. (Hmmm, my eyebrows arched again--this time higher!) Alan immediately tells me that the guy who was over speeding was him. No f$%&$"g way!!!!

Man in sports car tells us that the minister will be late but he is also another minister in the company. Something was very wrong here. The bright side of this was that the man in the sports car was very friendly. Told us about how he became a minister and how he got his certificate online. Okay, you decide...should we get him or not?

Minutes after, a man in dirty clothes, a cowboy hat, and a cowboy accent enters the room. Introduces himself as the minister and sits on his leather chair. We wanted to run there and then, but still being polite, we continued having a conversation with him. I couldn't help but notice that the minister actually had a tattoo on his right arm and a diamond earring on his left ear. Alan on the other hand noticed the clicking sound of his false teeth that bothered him to bits. Since he was already turned-off with the entire thing, all he heard was, "click, click,click".

(Add the diamond earring, cowboy hat, and lightnin' tattoo)

That's it! Who really needed signs? No way on earth would we be getting him or sports car guy to officiate our wedding. It felt like the solemnity and importance of our upcoming wedding would just be put to waste if they were handling it. It wasn't their personality that turned us off. It was more of how they presented themselves to their clients. Do you actually think that I'd be proud telling all of you that the Hugh Hefner look alike or the sports car guy officiated my wedding?

I felt so relieved leaving the place. Luckily, our official photographer (which I'll be blogging about next ) recommended someone who officiates weddings.

Now, we have a reason to make fun of our adventure. Totally hilarious.

May God understand why I wrote about this and may we be led to the right person who will handle our wedding ceremony perfectly.

***Note: This is not to ridicule the minister nor his company.

Wedding Escapade Series- FLOWERS

This is how I want my table to look like.

Alan and I have decided to use the holidays for planning, checking wedding vendors, and basically getting things accomplished.

The drive to Houston took 10ish hours. It wasn't that bad because we got to Kingwood at around 7:00. We were so tired so it was an early night for both of us.

The following day was work day for the fiance. Since I was stuck in the apartment I decided to make Chicken Pot Pie from scratch. In a semi-kinda-sorta way, I felt it was a success despite the dryness of the sauce (I left it in the oven while we went out for a breather--breather means like 4 hours).

Going back to the wedding, I tried Virginia's Bakery for a possible meeting to inquire about wedding cakes. Each call I made was answered by her very informative answering machine. Answering machine informed me that Virginia is booked til the third of December.
Finally, I got a hold of her. She seems warm enough and told me that we can have an appointment around January of next year. Okay...isn't she in demand? So here I go explaining my dilemma that I'm not from Houston. She did understand my concerns but I guess she told me, just in a nicer way, that I could have a meeting with her this January...still (didn't get my hint at all).

Taken in one of the flower shops

Day 1

November 20, 2007

I still had to figure out what this day was about. We were going downtown to check on flowers. Turns out that we made numerous side trips to; 1) my cupcake shops (which I'll be blogging about next); 2) my favorite, Wholefoods, and; 3) Borders for CD's, coffee, and a bridal magazine.

As we hit Main St., we saw a lot of shops that were selling their flowers wholesale. It was like the trading post of flowers. Prices were very reasonable and I was able to see the flowers I wanted. I learned that the orchids I wanted are called Phalaenopsis. They're white, pretty, simple,and elegant. The long stem holds around 3-4 orchids. Again, I was envisioning how it would look like on the table (check picture on top).

1st Shop,

They had the flowers but none of them understood what I wanted and they couldn't communicate with me because they didn't speak English. The orchid was sold for $25.00 but it was set in a pot. What I was trying to point out to them was that I needed these orchids to be in a vase, a glass vase to be exact. No one gave me an answer and just handed me a business card.

Phalaenopsis Orchid

2nd Shop--Nora's

Better people because we were able to communicate. All their orchids were in a refrigerated room and the Phalaenopsis came in several colors. Nora, the lady incharge, was saying that they don't know when these flowers are available so it would be better if we get back to them around April and check again. Price of orchid--$28.00 per stem. The shop was better than the first too.

3rd Shop

The rudest of them all just told us to "GO HOME"... literally! If we weren't buying his flowers today, then we don't have any business being there. So there...$%^k him and his store. We were actually plotting something very evil with Alan. How about throwing eggs and flour at his shop during the night and TP his entire store? Too juvenile eh?My frustration and blood pressure just went up BIG TIME. All I can say is that he lost a client who was willing to spend on flowers. So eventhough his shop had the bestlooking and biggest Phalaenopsis, he had an attitude of a miserable ogre. Btw, the price of the orchid was $26.00.

***
The following day, we found our Mama Florist, Connie. It just so happened that we were driving by and decided to check her shop out. Ironically, she turned out to be "our" florist. She welcomed us immediately and answered most of our questions. Her shop is a run-down trailer named the Flower Market. She told us that she started her business during the late 70's and knows Kingwood Country Club very well. I told her what I wanted and she gave me a quote that was actually more than okay. The package included everyone in my wedding party. Aside from that, she said that she would personally deliver the flowers, help with the bouquets, and pin the corsages and button holes. This would mean less work to do during the wedding.

Phew!

That's one task down, a lot more to go.

Naughty Lit'l Black Book-the edited version

It's November and I now feel the need for me to be seriously planning for the "Big Day". Months ago, I felt that I had everything covered just to realize that I've skipped a lot of the small details of the wedding. I've totally forgotten about the linen, I still haven't found my perfect invitation (although I have my Save the Date cards ready), I'm not sure if I want my ceremony to be outdoors or indoors, my wedding party isn't complete, I don't have an officiant, and I need to figure out if I should have a band ( if the budget permits) or not. Even my blog feels like a run-on sentence. It just is not wanting to end with so many things in my mind (still about the wedding).

So what have I been doing the entire time? Nothing. I told myself that I'd devote the weekends for my planning and I end up browsing through wedding websites, blogs, and other stuff that are totally not connected to what I am supposed to do. I've decided to take a couple of days off before the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays so I could go to Houston to atleast sort a few essential things out. Hopefully Alan and I could settle some stuff. The reason I think I'm in panic mode is because it's November. The month where it says on the Checklist that I should be done with the major Wedding Planning. Oh well...there goes my being organized. Flush it down the toilet.

I stumbled upon this website called the Little Black Book of Wedding Vendors and it shows a compilation of several wedding vendors across the US. It may be helpful for us in every aspect. I saw a nice link on wedding invites but the price is unbelievable. Again, it's way above my budget. Another nice link is Style Me Pretty. It also talks about wedding stuff . The site deals more on color palettes, designs, and decor.

Honestly, I love to browse through wedding blogs instead of just the plain wedding websites. It lets me hear how people feel about certain wedding things that they are endorsing. It's more personal. That's how blogging should be, right?

FYI: It's a Saturday. It's my "Think about the Wedding" day.

Run, Al...Run!

So, do you actually think Alan will feel this way when "zee beeg day" comes? HE BETTER NOT!!! Despite my bitchiness, quirks, moodiness, inconsistencies, and lax personality lies a sweet lit'l angel who's made out of 100% love. Bwahahaha! (enter evil laugh)

Alan, my love, you're in for a big surprise. I can't wait!!! Here's wishing and hoping for the best...because...because...WE'VE LEARNED! (bwahahahaha!---enter again, evil laugh)

Here's to not making sense and for postponing my blog about PRADA. I'll try tomorrow.

My Dream Wedding

I'm still wondering what the cartoon is about but it's cute.

Setting: Apartment, on the phone talking to Alan. Alan is somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

Alan: I don't get it!

Me: Well, instead of them joining hands, they activate.

Alan: Huh??!!!

Me: Or...I think it's about incest.

Alan: Huh??!!!

Me: Yup, they're like brother and sister who got married.

Alan: You think?

Me: (digresses---off to another topic---conversation ends about this)

Candy Buffet

If there's one thing I want in my wedding, it would be a Candy Buffet. What inspired me to want a Candy Buffet is this show that I watched in VH1 named "My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding". There's this couple who had the buffet and their candies looked so elegant. They had glass jars of all sorts of sizes and shapes filled with candies and the candies were matching their color motif which was some dark reddish color. Along with the candies were metal candy scoops per jar. Flowers accented the buffet table and people of all ages were just flocking to it.



Although it's not a need, I feel that the candies are pretty nice to have as a party favor and as something your visitors could munch on while socializing. The kids will consider this a feast and will have a blast seeing loads of candies on a table.


Since I got so excited with the thought, I discovered this website, Candy Warehouse, that actually caters to these kinds of ideas. They even have their candies sorted in color themes. Of course, my surfing made me drool with all the candies I saw. My daydreaming started and I envisioned the buffet with white and blue candies.


I made a very obvious hint to Alan and he said that it's a good idea. Budget wise, I don't think it's that expensive. The need for it though is the one that's questionable. Think about it, who doesn't love sweets? Who doesn't want to have sugar overload la-dee-dah style?


So for those who love candies...check the pictures, links, and enjoy. Who knows...I might just get lucky.