Much Mahalos

I made my own photo thank you cards and got them printed at Costco.  $14.99 for 50 cards and $5 for each additional set of 25...the best deal in town!  They were ready the next day and came complete with envelopes.  This is actually take 2.  The first design I created had a black border around the whole card, but it didn't print right.  Luckily Costco took them back, no problem.

I'm currently working on writing the thank you notes on the back, and it is taking l-o-n-g.  I had really wanted to start them on the airplane of our mini-moon when I was still in wedding-planning-super-ambitious-mode, but since I wanted photo cards, I decided to wait.  Now I got my photo cards but lost my ambition.  I just keep reminding myself that having to write a lot of thank you cards shows how lucky we are to receive so many gifts and have so many people celebrate with us.  I've got about 25 done...125 to go!

Hey There, Movie Star

Our videographers, ImagineWurks, are awesome! They responded quickly to my emails and were so easy to work with. Perhaps most important of all, I love their work! I wanted a ceremony highlights video but didn't need it to be a same day edit, and they agreed to do it for me. While we were on our mini-moon, I stalked their vimeo site every day. When I saw our highlights video posted, I was so excited. I think I've watched it over fifty times already. Mr. Pug says I'll get sick of it, but I don't think so. It makes me smile each time I watch it. It is like reliving the day all over again. I am so glad we decided to go with videography!

Keith and Jamie Ceremony Highlight from Imaginewurks on Vimeo.

Eye Candy

I looooove detail shots.  They are a great way to remember all the little decisions you made throughout the planning process.  All of those months of choosing the theme colors, going to cake tastings, looking through tons of magazines, staying up all night searching the web for inspiration, and cursing myself for deciding to do my own invitations...this is what it is all about!  These are the things that your guests may overlook, but that you and other knotties drool over.  I admit that I was a bit worried that the results would not live up to those pictures in the magazines that I dreamt of, but they exceeded my expectations.  Mr. Pug and I were both stoked at the way everything turned out!

Invitation & Rings

 

Rings on Our Wedding Day Newspaper

  

My Bouquet

  

My Bouquet & Shoes #1

  

MOH Bouquet & Shoes #2

  

Obligatory Dress-in-Window Shot

  

Groom's Gift - Custom Jordans with Wedding Date

  

I Went With the Purple Shoes!

 

My Bouquet

Detail Shot of my Dress's Neckline & Bouquet  

 

Gazebo Florals

  

Orchid Aisle

  

Table Number, Centerpiece, and Table Tent

  

Table Setting, Favor Box, and Program/Menu Card

  

Chair Covers & Uplighting

 

Card Box & Guest Sign-In

 

 Wedding Cake

 

1001 Folded Origami Cranes

 

 Best Wishes from Micky & Minnie

 

Congratulatory Letter from President & Mrs. Obama

"i do" Letters and Mini-Pug

Getting Beautiful

Remember my H&M trial?  After examining some of the pictures, I decided to request a few changes be made for the actual wedding day.  For my hair, I wanted a little poof at the top and the curls to be more defined (not so "smooshed").  For my make-up, I wanted my eyebrows to be a little darker and my eyes to be more dramatic.

Dorys texted me from the parking lot a little before 10:30 am to let me know she was on her way.  We had a table set-up for her as requested by her assistant a couple days prior.  I really liked working with Dorys and her office because they were very professional and documented everything for me.

Dorys started on my MOH's hair first.  MOH and I had decided on a side pony, and I absolutely love what Dorys did.

 

Next she did my hair.  She confirmed the changes I requested and then got started.  At first, I thought the poof on top was too much...

But once we put the veil on, I was happy with the way it looked.

 

I also loved the way my make-up turned out.  Dorys really listened to what I wanted and delivered.  The only disappointment with the whole experience is that I had requested airbrush make-up (and paid extra for it), but she was unable to do it.  When she went to set-up her machine, she realized that she was missing an important piece and was unable to find anyone who could deliver it in time.  She felt really bad about it and had to do our makeup with traditional foundation.  I was surprising laid-back about the whole thing, determined not to let anything ruin my day.  There was nothing I could do about it, so I just let it go.  In the end, I was happy with the results, and the make-up stayed put throughout the night without sweating off or feeling heavy.  Dorys also sent me a refund for the airbrush makeup fee and a giftcard to come in for a free make-up application since she felt bad.  I would have preferred she refund me for the whole make-up application, but I can use the giftcard for my upcoming TTD shoot, so it works out well.  Here's a few pictures of the make-up and a picture with Dorys.

Before (eew...)

After (ahhh...)

A Better Look at the Eyes

MOH, Me, and Dorys

I was really happy with the results and felt beautiful the whole night!

Oh, Happy Day!

I went to bed early the night before determined to wake up refreshed and stress-free.  I had restful sleep free from any wedding nightmares (throughout the planning process, I had dreams of the wedding day arriving and things not being ready -- we forgot to send out invitations, the officiant didn't show up, etc.).  I woke up as the sun started streaming through our hotel window, looked over at Mr. Pug, and gave him a kiss as I wished him Happy Wedding Day!

We took our time getting ready and headed downstairs for a big breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, fruits, toast, guava juice, and coffee.  After weeks of dieting, it felt good to splurge!  After breakfast, we headed back up to our room, and I sent Mr. Pug to the adjoining room so we could get ready separately.  Our videographer, DOC, and H&M arrived at 10:30 to begin the first day of the rest of our lives.  I couldn't believe the day was finally here!

Wedding Stress

The wedding has come and gone faster than I could have imagined.  The months of planning, the sleepless nights, the depleted savings -- all for one day.  I admit that in the last week or two before the wedding I was seriously wishing we had just eloped.  I broke out in hives all over my body -- something that had never happened before -- and the doctor concluded that it was probably stress-induced.  I wished I had a planner to just take care of everything so that I could just show up and enjoy the day.  Well, it was too late for that, so I worked hard the week before the wedding to do some serious planning and to communicate my vision and all the information to my Aunty who was acting as our DOC and the many, many helpers who had so graciously offered to help us.  My goal was to leave everything in their hands on the wedding day so that I could relax and enjoy the day.

The day and night before the wedding we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off.  We had to pick up items from our vendors (tuxes, chair covers, etc.), deliver centerpieces and favors to the catering office, and check into our hotel rooms.  At the same time I was still doing last-minute tasks like print table tents and guestlists for the reception table (they were purposely last-minute since I didn't want to have to redo them if things changed).  On top of that, we hadn't packed our overnight bags for the hotel or our suitcases for the mini-moon we'd be leaving on the day after.  I was also trying to find time to meet up with some out-of-town guests that had just flown in for the wedding since I knew I probably wouldn't get to see them much at the wedding.  In the rush of things I lost my cell phone and we got locked out of our hotel room.  Things were just not going well.  Then my brother said something that helped.  He said that there is always something that doesn't go right at weddings -- I'm just getting mine out of the way early.  Tune in next time to see if he was right ;)

Over the next few weeks, I'll continue my series of posts to catch you up on the rest of my planning, a recap of the wedding, vendor reviews, and of course, pictures!

Making it Legal

We went down to apply for our marriage license today.  I don't know why, but I had pictured the licensing office as being a lot more glamorous than it is.  I guess wedding are filled with such elegance and grandeur that I was a little surprised when we got to the marriage license office and it looked like this...

Very unassuming and to the point.  We sat down in the cramped office as the woman across the desk took the form we filled out and typed it into the computer (I couldn't help but think that this office could use some serious LEAN improvements to increase efficiency...those darn business school classes!).  After a quick glance at our ID's, collecting our $60 (cash only!), and making us raise our right hands and swear under oath that all the information we provided was true, that was it!  We walked out with marriage license in hand...we're one step closer to making it legal!

Bustle Blues

I started writing this post, but it turned into a long rambling complaining about my experience with the David's Bridal alterations department.  I'm trying to keep it short and sweet (or not so sweet), so I'll get to the point:

- Alterations manager (AM) had my dress to do a hem and bustle for over a month, then tried to push back my appointment twice because it was not ready.

- AM left me a message to call her back the next day at 12:00 noon.  I was in the area and decided to stop in the store -- she was not even working that day.

- When AM was showing me how to bustle the dress, it took her over half an hour and multiple tries to figure out how to do it.

- The bustle was not done as we had discussed and left a lot of the dress dragging on the floor.  It did not look like a small train...it looked like pieces were falling out.

- When I asked her to make it shorter so it was not dragging on the ground, she made the back of the dress so high you could see my heels, but left the sides and the front long and sweeping the ground.

-When I asked her to make it so that it was even all around, she was unable to do it claiming that the style of my dress was too difficult.

- After over an hour, we finally got it to a point where it looked decent.  She told me to come back in two days to pick it up.  As I was getting undressed, she came to me with another bill!  I had to pay for more points that needed to be added to fix what she did wrong in the first place!

- Two days later, I came to pick up the dress and she was not even working that day.  Her assistant tried to show me how to bustle the dress but could not figure it out.  I stood there holding the back of my dress up for half an hour while the alterations lady, my maid of honor, and the sales girl all sat on the floor behind me trying to figure out this puzzle.  Apparently no one in the store had ever dealt with an under-bustle before.


- My maid of honor (who has never seen a bustle in her life) finally figured it out and did some workarounds to make it work.  The points were placed without taking the 1/2" loop into consideration, so the dress was still dragging on the ground.  We decided to just have my maid of honor tie the bustle above the loop so that we wouldn't have to leave the dress to be altered one more time.

Okay, so I still managed to ramble and complain a lot.  In short, I was really disappointed with my alterations experience at David's Bridal.  I thought it was expensive (about $200 for a hem and bustle), but I thought I would go with them for convenience and because they specialize in wedding dresses.  Perhaps the fact that it is a new store means that the alterations department doesn't necessarily have a lot of experience with wedding dresses yet.  I wish I had taken the time to shop around a little more.

Cranes

According to Japanese lore, folding 1,000 Origami Cranes is truly a labor of love. Tradition holds that the bride who finishes this task, called 'sembazuru', before her wedding day will be richly rewarded with a good and happy marriage. Paying homage to the magestic crane, which mates for life and is said to live one thousand years, the bride ensures her own good fortune.

In Hawaii, many brides will fold 1,001 Origami Cranes (1 for good luck) and mount the cranes to create a piece of art that can be displayed in their homes.  

Mr. Pug and I originally wanted to have the crane design be his family mon (crest), but we were unable to find it.  We talked about a few other ideas and ultimately decided on a circle (representing eternity), bamboo (representing strength), and the kotobuki character (representing good fortune, celebration, and longevity).  We turned over our idea to the extremely talented Cathy Lancaster of Classic Cranes, and she worked her magic.  We handed over 1001 origami cranes in ziploc bags, and 1-1/2 months later, this is what we got...

I couldn't be happier with the results...it is absolutely amazing!  Cathy was great and I highly recommend her.  Her price is also reasonable, as you pay for the framing separately.  Crane mounting cost $425.  The framing options we chose from Pictures Plus came out to an additional $395.

Hair and Makeup Trial - Third Time's a Charm!

After my first hair and makeup trial where I felt like I didn't really look like myself and my DIY trial at home, I was nervous about my second professional trial.  I had spent more time looking for inspiration online and came to the conclusion that I am really darn picky about my hair!  I didn't think I was, but almost every picture I looked at had something that I didn't quite like for myself and the style I was going for.  It was either too big, too structured, too plain, or just wasn't "me."  I finally stumbled across these pictures of Carrie Underwood that looked promising:

It was loose and romantic, elegant and chic, not too messy and not too structured.  This style could be it!  I printed a copy of it and took it in to my trial.  The stylist thought it would work for me and quickly got to work.  Here is the result (ignore my un-made up face please):

I'm thinking I'd like a little more defined curls, but other than that, I was quite happy with the results.  Next we moved on to makeup.  We kept it pretty natural by going with airbrushed foundation, a neutral colored eye, and a light lip color.  We kicked it up a bit by adding fake lashes.  This was my first time using the small lash clusters rather than the strip that goes across the whole eye.  It looks a lot easier to apply, and I love the look.  Here is my finished product:

 

Admiring myself a bit...

Oooh-la-lashes!

 

With the Veil

It's been about five hours since my trial was done and my makeup is pretty much the same minus the lipstick (Mr. Pug and I went to a yummy dinner).  Granted, I have been sitting in air conditioning and haven't been very active, but it seems to be holding up well.  A few tendrils of hair have come loose in the back.  This style is pretty forgiving, but I'll make sure to mention it for the real thing so that the hair stays in place a little better.

I went ahead and booked this stylist for my wedding day.  She took a few pictures that she will upload on her site for me as well.  What do you think?  Is there anything I should change??