Wedding Day Run-through: the final, most fun bits!

Again, sorry for the grammatical errors.

Pretty much all of these pictures are from rock star Jade at Uplift Photography.

8:10 pm: Reception time! A panicked DOC tells us that two couples have no seats. I immediately feel that I must have screwed up the seating. I later learn that our venue only put 8 instead of 10 seats at one table, and another couple just flat out refused to sit where they were assigned. It all worked out in the end, because of a few no-shows. But I was kicking myself around for a good amount of time over it. I, then, exchange my evil heels for my ballroom shoes. Ralph and I dance as husband and wife. We do what is comfy for us and had a great time with each other being silly.


Next is the parent's dance. I immediately hear the song and wonder why the DJ had to pick the longer live version of Fleetwood Mac's Landside. I hate recorded live music played at events. My dad does a great job for a man that hasn't danced in close to 25 years. We have a fun time being silly too. I notice that Esther loves our song choice.

(I love how cute Ralph and Esther look here. The look I am giving my dad is awesome!)

Toasts are wonderful by our siblings. Donna was awesome and gave an unexpectedly non-sarcastic speech. Dave's speech was exactly what I expected. I hoped that everyone got his humor. I certainly did and I loved it.



8:20 pm: Dinner is being served. The seated appetizer was horribly disappointing. I LOVE crab cakes, but this one tasted eh, and the sauce is much too spicy for a broad audience. I eat like 3 tiny bites.

(apparently Adam liked it and even ate the crayfish garnish)

The Hearts of Palm salad eventually comes out, but where are the Hearts of Palm? It is good, but where is the best part? I get some aspirin in me, now that I have food in my belly, and immediately feel better. The main entree takes forever to come out and Ralph and I are ansy to go to each table and visit with our guests. I finally take a bathroom break by demanding that my new sistah Donna come to help me go. I return to find my entree, which is in some serious need of salt. I can't find the salt, as it was hidden behind the flowers, I eat three bites and then go and visit the tables. Our DJ tells us that we are running late due to the very slow dinner service and need to start the music. We hold him off for a bit to go and visit the tables, but we still miss 2 tables. I still feel really bad about this.


Now, I have no idea about time....

• With no headache anymore, I finally drank some Champagne. I think I drank a single glass over the entire night.
• I had a blast on the dancefloor and was so glad that Ralph stayed with me.

• I kept complaining about the heat. It was hot the moment we walked in - what was up with that?
• I noticed people with no shoes and then kindly asked someone to make sure that the flip flops were placed out. They finally appeared and I directed the barefooters there. It was a hit!

(I think this is a Marjie foot)

• The DJ played all the songs we requested and included a few songs that were right up our alley, however, they weren't mixed that well and he cut out alot of the crecendos and best parts of songs. Ralph and I were really sad about this, but understood that he needed to fit all our "must play" songs into a limited amount of time since dinner took too long. It didn't ruin anything for us and we were happy that the dancefloor was always kicking.
  
• We visited with people outside, where it was much cooler. I danced a bit out there too.

• My mom was in the bathroom during the playing of Dancing Queen. I tried to find her, but I didn't look there.
• I kept checking in with my Dad who was very amused at all the fun people were having.
• Cake cutting time. We had no idea what to do! We winged it and then winged it again.

• Garter removal. I had no idea what was coming! I sat out there and for some reason had no idea what the DJ was going to do. Ralph's dance was soooo classic Ralph. I love that he chugged the beer - because he knew what was coming.

• Bouquet Toss. Totally planned. I knew exactly who I was throwing it to. She just moved, but then actually caught it.

• Garter Toss. I see that my brother Dave actually went for it.

• More dancing insues. Ralph stayed on the dancefloor all night.

(Ralph's Grandmother - who rocked it all night. She says that this is the way she is 90-something young)

• We end the night with one slow song (Clapton's Wonderful Tonight) and then go into Journey's Don't Stop Believing. Somehow we become encircled as we dance/sing the silly song. The funny thing is that Journey followed us on our honeymoon and had a concert right next to our resort. We totally tailgated and stayed for half the show. I have a feeling that Don't Stop Believing was saved for the last song too. I was too chilly to wait for it.

• I try to give away as many flowers as possible. I snag a bunch of leftover favors. I try and help with clean up as Ralph yells at me to stop. I give in and we head off to our sassy little Chevy Cobalt. People keep telling me that the limo is waiting for us... he he, that ride was for my parents and family.
• We go back to the hotel room only to find this (thanks to Heather, Emily, and Corey)....

There is no other way to say it: we had a freaking blast!!!! Thank you to everyone. xoxoxo

(my amazing necklace was Ralph's gift to me - it was the most perfect gift ever)



(Our last day in Hawai'i, walking the coastline)

"My husband"

I just love saying that. I went to a shindig (yes, I used that word) tonight and got to introduce Ralph as what he really is. It was cool.

But, I still don't have weddings completely out of my head since I am currently trying to unearth all our leftover wedding stuff.

Anyway, as I was talking to one of my moms today, it occurred to me that I perhaps I should recount what my wedding day was like...

All pictures are from my amazing girl Jade of Uplift Photography.

7:15 am: woke up 30 minutes early. Immediately begin making boutonnieres in bed. I remember how much I hate to wire orchids. Am somewhat stressed at how non pretty they are.



8:15 am: Meet Ralph in lobby for quick breakfast. We are pretty relaxed.

8:45 am: Start making corsages, which go by really quickly. Very relaxing.



9:20 am: Jade comes by to keep me company and take some shots. I start making Donna's and my bouquet.





10:30 am: My mom picks me up for my 11am hair appointment.

11:00 am: I am waiting and waiting with people ignoring me at the salon.

11:20 am: Finally meet my stylist, who immediately pegs me as a bride. I lie and say my updo is for my mom's b-day gala.

12:50 pm: Stylist finally finishes my updo after rushing through the end. I have to repeatedly tell her to do something about my frizzies. I wish that she knew I was a bride, so she would know that my hair is really important. Why did I bother saving a buck? Then I remember that it is a $100 hairdo. I am not cheap, it is just an overpriced hairdresser!

1:00 pm: I get to my makeup appointment just in time. Filberto is totally ready for me and has everything laid out for me.

1:10 pm: I notice how crappy it is outside and it starts raining. I think it will pass.

1:30 pm: I get THE call. The venue calls my cell to determine if we should move the ceremony indoors. I have 15 minutes to give them an answer. I immediately call Ralph, who is miffed at having to give our decision so soon. Many phonecalls occur about this (Filberto is super cool and understands). Ralph then calls in a panic as he gets kicked out of his hotel room. Massive headache sets in.

2:55 pm: I get back to the hotel, a little over 3o minutes late. I am completely unshaven and have NO time to take a mini shower. I dry shave my underarms. I am totally mortified that I have forgotten to take care of this simple task, but know that Ralph will not be surprised or upset.

3:15 pm: Photographer and videographer arrive in my room. I tie the ribbons on the bouquets. I have a hard time with mine and tie it over and over. I am trying to stay calm. I think I get a few more calls about moving everything inside.



3:40 pm: Jade comes over and helps me put my dress on. I didn't even think I would need help with this - duh!



4:10 pm Ralph and I take pictures in the hotel and wet garden. I feel better with him by my side, but still with massive headache. I need to drink water desperately.

I'll wait to detail the rest of the day tomorrow or so....

Updates!

1. We did get caught with the cat, feigned ignorance and paid the $100. We were even asked to see our receipt while boarding our connecting flight. Oh well! The monster is very content right now.
2. We booked our ceremony musician. She is awesome. Ralph is the best for encouraging me to keep looking and not settle for muscians I really didn't want and obviously didn't need the work. I think she will be worth the wait.
3. My mom rocks for being my DIY helper extraordinaire. She surprised me with some stuff and helped me out a ton today with more craftiness. M-LEE, she loves the runners and your handiwork!
4. Our venue... ah our venue. Yes, they managed to throw some more curve balls my way. They have 3 events booked on our wedding date with one event (of over 1000 people!) practically colliding into ours in not just one but two occasions. It took over two hours, but Ralph and I worked well together and compromised with them. In the end, we will actually be benefiting from this, but I will never again trust anything they say that isn't in a contract (not that they could read one anyway). It is all about $ and our measly 85 person wedding that booked first, means nothing to them in comparison to the 1000 person corporate retreat or whatever.
5. That crazy woman was a b$&ch again to my mom over the phone - she better not be to me. I am ready for that throwdown.
6. Yes, I know that in the end all will be great, but they are certainly making us work for it!

T-minus 16 hours...

until we leave for the airport. Yes, I should be finishing up writing my own recommendation letter right now (gosh I really hate that BTW), but I am going to relieve some stress online. Here are a list of my random thoughts...

1. I tried on my dress last night after I took a shower. I still need to buy some Hollywood tape so my bustier doesn't show - I forgot to pick that up at the bridal salon. I can SO not lose anymore boobs. I also can't gain any pouch (just say no to the cabbage). Makes me wish I didn't go for such a form fitting dress.
2. I can sit in my dress. Yes, I was stupid and didn't try that. It is probably one of the first things my mom taught me about shopping for clothes.
3. I am chancing it at the airport tomorrow and am not paying the $100 to reserve my cat a spot underneath the seat in front of me. American Airlines has NEVER checked for my receipt (but United has). If they do, I will feign ignorance. I am hoping that the big white bag that Ralph is carrying on will be my diversion.
4. Still don't have a contract for ceremony music. I have a tentative meeting date, but that is it. Apparently musicians are doing just fine in this economy and don't need gigs.
5. Our venue cracks me up with their lack of detail orientation. It makes me feel like I am crazy picky. For instance, don't tell me what my appetizers are - in our contract it is written that WE get to choose 10 out of the 30 appetizers - not you. WTF? If I was crazy picky about this stuff, I would have a ceremony musician by now.
6. If that crazy woman from the venue that raised her voice at me is anywhere near me on my next set of visits, I swear she will regret it.
7. I forgot to mention that I can't wait to be married (FINALLY) and go on our honeymoon.

Off to Miami (er Fort Lauderdale)!

I got me some talented friends

I can't believe that I am blogging right now, since we leave in 24 hours and I still have lots of work to do. But I had to share so more awesome-ness that my friends have helped me with. Dear Emily (which Ralph and I pronounce M-LEE), kindly sewed us some table runners for our extra banquet tables. Oddly enough, it was her that gave me the 10 yrds of lime green fabric about 2.5 years ago. The blue fabric was salvaged from curtains that I picked up at Ikea in the clearance section when we first got engaged. Here is what she did with them....

And here is what they look like in contrast with our table overlays.

M-LEEEE you rock! Thanks a ton! The rest of the Thunder Snow Ho's think so too...

I gave in to the DIY world of weddings

I told myself that I would try to keep things simple, but man, I got sucked in. I told myself that I did not have to print on a piece of paper what was going on during our ceremony (aka The Ceremony Programs), that it was a waste of paper. I mean, certainly people have been to a wedding before and generally know what is going on. But then, I thought, hmmmm... there are an awful lot of women here, people are going to wonder who is who, and for that matter, who is that girl reading that poetry, and what is she reading? And I thought, that some of those moms might want a keepsake from the wedding. And then I thought, well it is just one more thing, it won't take long to make. Hmph!

I also told myself that a decorated aisle runner was totally unnecessary. I mean, what do you do with it when you are done? Then I met our DOC a few weeks ago and I broke the news to her.... (a) we are using basic banquet chairs without chair covers (shutter), (b) we are not having an arch, (c) we are not decorating anything for the ceremony, and finally (d) that includes the aisle runner.

See, look how pretty our ceremony site is without decorations and stuff.

It was only D that made her slightly downtrodden. So, since I had already made an emergency flight back to Miami to take care of wedding business, I decided to decorate that damn aisle runner the morning of my flight home back to CA.

And so, here are my instructions for other brides that don't feel like shelling out $80+ on one...

(1) Make your design. I used powerpoint to make this...

(2) Measure the width of your aisle runner to determine the size of your finished monogram. At first, I thought it should be 1/2 the width of the aisle runner - WRONG. That was way too small. I would say about 2/3 the width is good.

(3) Resize your design in your program. For Powerpoint, go to File --> Page Setup and enter your correct dimensions. It should automatically resize everything to scale. I then saved the file as a PNG file (I really don't know why, but I did)

(4) Get it to a printer friendly program. For me, that was Excel. I went to Insert --> Picture and inserted that PNG file into there. Then I printed in grayscale. It will print in mulitple pages (I couldn't get Powerpoint to do this).

(5) Cut the pages, align, and tape them together

This is the smaller version that I ended up scrapping

(6) Place the taped pages under the runner and secure well with tape that you have predetermined to be removedable without damaging the runner.

(7) Using a toothpick, outline the runner with your paint. I used craft paint from Michael's. This is kinda nessesary to have a nice finished edge.

(8) Fill in with a brush, if you have a steady hand. Otherwise fill in with the toothpick. I luckily have a steady hand.

The finished product

(9) DO NOT SPILL IT ON THE RUNNER! If so, we found that blotting with concetrated all purpose cleaner (Mrs. Meyers) and then LIGHTLY painting over it with Whiteout worked ok.

We fixed it pretty well

(10) Remove the paper from underneath the runner. The question really should be when should you do this. We waited until the paint was dry to the soft touch, however, the paper stuck to the aisle runner and was a pain to remove. If you remove it while it was wet, I am afraid that the paint will stain anything else that is left underneath it while it dries.

(11) If you are like me... thank you mom profusely. Between the two of us it took us a good 4.5 hours to outline, paint, and then figure out how to fix our boo boos.

Total cost was $16....~$11 for the runner, $2.25 for paint (which I already owned but was in CA), $2.00 for a thin brush, and, of course, the bonding time with mom was priceless. I also got all these supplies at Michael's when they had 40% off coupons (the trick is that you print out multiple ones and make your family come with you).

So what will do with this thing? Well I decided that we will have a little decor in there. How about a few rose petals down the sides of the aisle. Sorta like this.....

Yes, I am a total sucker!

I am a sucker for contests

I entered another "contest" for free Day of Coordination (DOC) services. This one isn't a popularity contest thankfully. I really really hope we win, because the latest mess from our venue is very upsetting. It is far too complicated to blog completely about it, but to summarize....

(1) Our original coordinator left. In getting a new coordinator we found that....
(2) Our 25% off catering discount was never put through. In getting a new contract to reflect the promised discount, we found that...
(3) They weren't sure what our wedding date is (I'M NOT KIDDING)
(4) The Plan B in case of bad weather was not reserved for us.
(5) The ceremony site was listed as the incorrect location.
(6) The reception site was listed as the incorrect location.

Now you might be thinking... did we even bother to read our original signed contract? Of course we did and the original one was perfect and had all the right details in it. I have NO idea, where all the confusion came in when drafting the new contract.

Sooooo.... I have little faith in our new coordinator (apparently she can't read a contract), so a DOC would be great to insure everything goes as planned the day of (and if it doesn't, she'll fix it and never let me know). Check here on January 25th to see if we win her services.

Oh and I am flying directly to Miami upon leaving Europe. We got a mess on our hands that requires more than emails and unanswered phonecalls! In the meantime, Ralph is trying to get me revved up to get me to go all bridezilla on them. He thinks that is the only way to get them to do anything right. I think he might be right.

Just when I was starting to stress...

a google search saved the day.

One of the reasons I really liked our venue is that it was pretty and natural on its own and needed little to no decoration. For some stupid reason, I was starting to think that our lack of ceremony decorations and use of standard run-of-the-mill banquet chairs sans chair-covers (a thing that both Ralph and I dislike out of the discomfort of them slipping from under our bums), would look boring.

Well a simple google search, which I did for reasons I will discuss later, yielded a wonderful video from Fandango Video Solutions, that alleviated these fears. It is of a cute young(!!!) couple getting married in the same location (but different setup) that Ralph and I are in sealing the deal in. They had no chair covers, no ceremony decor, nada... and I like it that way. Whew, I need to stick to my gut. I don't have time to be rethinking this stuff. Anyway, I have other things to worry about.

So please enjoy the show.

Sharing some of my attempted craftiness

Poor Ralph, he thinks I am crazy. I have about 10 different DIY projects going on at the same time. Why? Well, I want to have as much done as possible before I leave in December (which would be December 9th!!!).

Some stuff just has to wait to be revealed until the big day. But in the meantime, I will share my latest somewhat finished project. The other day, we were shopping at Target and I was perusing the $1+ section in the front of the store, and found these:



I decided that for $2.50, I could make some nice signs to direct people to our ceremony. I just needed some materials that I had laying around my house. I sanded them down and painted them with some latex paint that I found in our utility closet.




Then it rained on them and they looked pink. I tried another coat - still pink. So, Ralph stepped in and got some flat spray enamel in white. He said he would take care of it - but in the end it was largely all me...




Next I needed to paint on the letters - not an easy feat. So I printed up a design in word. Using a ballpoint pen, I traced over the letters using alot of pressure. This left an imprint that I then followed with the craft paint I used for the escort frames.




The result wasn't perfect, but good enough. I am glad I didn't bother with stencils. I like the imperfect look.

I made two signs for a total cost of $8. Sure it was cheaper than buying them on etsy, but it was a little more time consuming than I would have liked. The only thing I am missing is the correct ribbon.

Oh and I have no idea what I will do with these after the wedding. Maybe flip them over and paint something else on them???

I've turned into a wedding planning monster

No, not a bridezilla, but I have become quite engulfed into this process. My friend, Lauren, who recently got married somehow managed to avoid this. It also could be due to her having a very hands on, fiance/now husband. I remember how Lauren and I laughed over the enivitable question "so what are your colors?", as in wedding colors. Oh how silly that seemed. But now I have changed my tune.

We (I) already picked our colors out. I have even gone as far as to pick our wedding theme. See, I told you I turned into a monster. Before I reveal our theme, I'll state the reason for having one. Really it is to keep a consistent style throughout the whole ceremony and reception. I actually think it has also been very helpful in restraining me from purchasing random stuff that is unneeded and does not fit our "theme" well enough.

Some themes from other brides-to-be visualized by things called "inspiration boards" (all submitted to Weddingbee.com):

Azalia's "Gothic Princess Wedding"

Kalnc's "Picnic Lunch"

As for Ralph and I, well, we are keeping it simple. Given our venue, we (I) decided that we are having a "Modern Tropical" wedding. What does that mean? Really, just that we aren't having a throwback tiki party (Emily would love that, huh), or a beach wedding, or a cheeztastic palm tree adorned everything wedding. Something simple and something that works with the venue, rather than against it. I am not sure how my dress fits this theme, but I don't care. I love it and it fits me at the very least. Oh, and maybe if I find some extra time, I'll make one of these inspirational boards like these talented ladies.

Making the most of what I got.

I am a lucky girl! Being one of the last of my friends to get married has it perks. One of which is hand-me-downs. My wonderful friend Lauren gave me all the vases and leftovers of her wedding, many of which were also leftovers from her new sister-in-law's wedding.


I feel compelled to use these for our wedding decor and centerpieces. Vases aren't cheap, so we will save some extra money this way. Given what we have and the original cost of each of these vases (all from Michael's). I decided to go with this sort of centerpiece.

(from TC Event Design)

It is simple, and I already had 5 cylinder vases to fill. I even bought a few callas lilies from our local florist to show Ralph (sorry I didn't take a picture). He loved that it was so simple but had a lot of style. We still needed another 7 vases though. Well, on our last trip to Miami we hit the jackpot because they were all on sale for 50% off ($2.50/each). So, now 7 of them are in Miami, while the other 5 still reside here in Cali. As for the other various shaped vases, well, they will be used in all the places that need decoration... sign in table, various other tables, the bathrooms. I was thinking of putting a flower that really packs a lot of punch and that will fit in with the tropical vegetation, and won't kill the budget. Something like gladiolus...

(Photo credit)

What do you think? Does this work? And how do you like that for recycling? These vases will have gone through 3 weddings cross country and back, from Philly, CA, to FL. :-)

I <3 etsy.com!

It is really easy to go overboard on purchasing the details for the wedding, especially when it comes to MY details. That is why I have come to love etsy.com, an ebay, if you will, of the craft world. About my details... I am pretty sure that I will wear a veil with my dress. Ralph isn't entirely happy about this probably because he thinks it will look something like this:
I personally like the veil that I tried on with my dress. I just hate the $150 price tag. But actually this post isn't supposed to be about the veil. It is supposed to be about what I will wear after the veil comes off. I want to have a some adornment in my hair to go along with the bodice of my dress. Luckily, I stumbled upon the store of the wonderful etsy seller smittenxoxo, and fell in love with her piece Orange and Berries: a silk ranunculus flower with feather accents

I love how much it really looks like a ranunculus flower - I actually have a few in a vase right now for comparison. However, as much as I love this, I know I will never wear it. I am not so bold in my everyday life. This is the beauty of etsy - I emailed Ms. Smitten and asked if she could make one in white/ivory/cream and leave the center as is (for my something blue/turquoise). A few days later, she sent me an email with this to confirm it was good:

It is exactly what I hoped for. So I got a custom made silk hairpiece for less than $30! How can you beat that? Beyond price, I love that I am going to wear something made by someone I could connect to, that wasn't made by a machine, or in a sweatshop. This was my first shopping experience with etsy, and I do not think it is my last, since I still have a veil and maybe a purse to buy. Oh and Ms. Smitten also sells garters and pillows, and veils oh my. Love this place!