Mmmm… I started my super awesome five-day weekend today. YAY for Labor Day.

Rob and I are taking Diesel and we’re driving to Southern CA for the weekend. We’re going to visit our families and friends and also do some wedding “stuff.” We have 8 appointments with various vendors (3 photographers, 3 coordinators, and 2 florists). It’s going to be a busy (but fun) weekend!

Hope everyone has a good one. 🙂

I had another Summer Friday today (yay for days off!) and I went… wedding dress shopping.

SQUEE.

(This will probably be a long entry. You have been warned).

I visited 2 salons — My first stop was Marina Morrison where I got absolutely impeccable service. I tried on 7 dresses and out of my 3 favorites in the end, 2 were chosen by my consultant, Rebecca. She was amazing! She listened to what I wanted, made suggestions, and was incredibly patient and respectful of my budget. She was so great that I would be pleased if I ended up choosing my gown from here. LOVE. My second stop was The Unique Bride where I had a subpar consultant. She rushed me (I tried on 9 dresses in 30 minutes!) and didn’t really have any helpful answers to my questions. She did make some great recommendations, though, so I’ll give her that. And I found 2 dresses (and 1 bridesmaid dress!) that are definitely contendors so it wasn’t a completely horrible experience.

Anyway, I learned a few things:
1. I *really* need to get my arms into shape. Most of the dresses I love are strapless and my huge, flabby arms just won’t cut it.
2. Speaking of my arms, I have scars on the back of them (above my elbows) from a bad rash I had a few years back. I rarely wear tank tops because of the weather here so I’ve never really bothered to pick up Mederma to minimize the scars. Now I can’t wait to go to the drugstore.
3. I need to work on walking in high heels. Granted, all the sample dresses I tried on were loooooong cause I’m vertically challenged. But there’s no 2 ways about it. I’m pretty klutzy in heels. Can you imagine if I fell on my face walking down the aisle?!? Nightmare.
4. I’m going to go over my dress budget. At least I have time until I absolutely have to get a dress ordered (roughly Jan/Feb) so I can save some extra money for the purchase.
5. You absolutely cannot be self-conscious. The bridal consultant is in the dressing room with you and you are in nothing but a bustier and underwear. I was prepared and wore modest undergarments but I was still uncomfortable at times. (I have body issues).
6. Try on a variety of dresses, cause you just never know. The ones you love might look horrible (this happened to me) and ones you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself end up being the most flattering.

Anyone want to see some pics? Not on me, though, as I forgot to take pictures. :/ (Rob, this is the part where you stop reading).

Continue reading →

Lately I’ve been thinking about what color scheme to use to frame our wedding. I think I’ve finally decided (with Rob’s approval, of course :P) but damn, if I’m not the most indecisive person. EVER.

I *love* pink. I can’t help it. I know it’s girly and feminine but it’s one of my favorite colors and I really wanted to include it somehow. The hard part was coming up with other colors to complement it and make it less “Barbie” looking. So I first thought of partnering pink with red and cream.

I like it a lot but feel like it screams “Valentine’s Day.” I really want a soft, intimate, yet whimsical feel to the wedding and this combination definitely doesn’t feel soft.

Then I thought of using shades of pink along with a deep chocolate brown. Mmmm.

*sigh* I love it. This satisfies my pink obsession and also feels romantic without being overly so.

But of course, I can’t make it easy for myself… I have to consider more options and make myself crazy. 😀 I was checking out the gallery at Brides.com and these aqua and orange images jumped out at me.

It’s so unexpected and different yet fresh and fun! I just don’t think it’s quite “us.” It’s so gorgeous, though.

Lastly, I thought about pairing yellow and white. It’s such a simple palette but the color yellow is just so happy! It makes me smile. Plus, my mom and dad’s wedding was yellow-themed and it would be a nice way for my mom to be there in spirit (*sniff*).

Yellow might be a bit too bright and sunshine-y, I think. I’m not exactly what you would call a “cheerful” person, lol.

As you’ve probably guessed, we’re going to go with shades of pink and chocolate brown. YAY! What do you guys think? Rob wasn’t too crazy about the pink at first but he came around when I suggested that the groomsmen should wear pink boutonnieres. He seemed to like that. 😀

Rob and I finally put our deposit down for our reception venue on Thursday. GULP. So much money.

BUT. This means… we have a wedding date! This is HUGE!

😀

Well, technically we have a reception date. The church for the ceremony is still TBD until we have a face to face meeting with the pastor of the parish. We’re going to be down in Southern CA for Labor Day weekend in a few weeks so I’m hoping that’ll fall into place then.

Anyway, our reception will be held on a Saturday evening in August 2008 at the Grand Newport Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA. SQUEE. I just adore it.

I only have a good photograph of the front entrance. All the pictures I took of the ballroom are blurry. :/

Now we have about a million other things to get started on! EEK.