Del Sol Photography: Blogged GE Wedding!

Matt from Del Sol Photography blogged our wedding on March 22, 2011.  I've been so busy with work this month, that I forgot to share that here! Please visit their site's galleries for more eye candy (especially their Trash The Dress sessions in the cenotes!

I just received one 16x20 canvas wrap print of our favorite photo. We're probably going to be ordering a few more from their site since the quality is just AMAZING! Nothing beats professional printing! Now the only thing to do is figure out where to hang it...

GE Wedding: My Wedding Stationery (Professional Photos)

Finally. Some cool professional photos came in from the wedding!  Here are my programs that I put together the night before we left for Cancun.

And a shot of one of my invitations that a guest brought.

And a couple shots of one of the "Placecards" I made for each guest.  These were based on my Crystal Clustered collection.  They were made double-sided, so that each guest across the table can see the name of that person in front of them.  LOL, yes, we only had 9 of us at the table, and they all knew each other, but I just felt like it would be a nice personal touch. 

Now that I have access to the professional photos (taken by Matt and Jonathan of Del Sol Photography), I can start posting reviews online!

GE Wedding: Cake Mishap

Only two things went wrong with the wedding.  And one of them was the cake they gave me was NOT the cake I ordered.   I HATE giving a bad review on anything online, but this really irks me now.

Here is a photo of the cake that I chose from their catalog of "Couture Cakes":

I then specified that they make the frosting white (along with the frosting details) with red roses.

Here is the a photo of what they gave me:

Any Sesame Street skit would say that these are two totally different cakes.  This was NOT what I expected.  The one they gave me looks more like their complimentary signature cake that they give with the free wedding package.  Can I say, lazy bakery?  Really?  Sigh.  On the night of the wedding, I wasn't so bothered by it, since I was busy trying to breathe in my dress and eat enough food to not pass out.  But now that time has passed, and I'm looking at personal photos, the cake mistake is bugging me more and more.  Like I always say, photos will stay with you forever, and the cake photos are haunting me.

Let this be a lesson to destination brides.  Make sure the venue of your choice makes a cake that looks exactly like the photos they show you. Confirm with them days before the wedding, and POINT to the photo and ask them that the cake look at least 80% like the photo.  Don't advertise it as a choice if you are not going to follow through with the design on the actual day (and charge $$$ for it).  I will concede and say that the cake itself, was super duper delicious. But please, the look of it is more important than how it taste. This will be the last time I complain about it. If our photographer is reading this, please don't send me photos of the cake. Oye.

GE Wedding: Programs

I literally threw these together the night before we left for our trip. I wasn't going to make these, since we only had 7 guests, but then I thought that the wedding coordinator at the hotel probably won't tell them where to go after the ceremony.  Anyway, I took some leftover rhinestone buckles for the front cover, and typed out the inside information as seen below. It's so much easier, when you only have so few to make. 

I didn't have time the night I made these to take photos, so I quickly took photos at our hotel and didn't realize that I didn't take enough. 

Thank goodness, my sister took the shot below at the gazebo location.  Please ignore those white chairs (that's another story).

GE Wedding: Over Before I Knew It

Ok. What happened to my intentions of posting my last few days before the wedding??? It's true, the week before the Big Day, you're just overwhelmed with last minute things to do.

Just checking in, and even now, a few days after our return from Mexico, I still have nothing ready to post, except this photo above of one of my Last Minute items.  But, I promise that once I get caught up with all my current clients and other work, I will make time to share the experience I had in Cancun. 

This was the view from our Suite at the Le Blanc Resort and Spa on our Last Day. 80 Degrees and clear skies

GE Wedding: In the Home Stretch!

Is it Christmas already???? For me, that means we're getting married! Wedding date is 1-1-11, and that's NEXT WEEK!!!

So what did I do since I last posted the details??

1. Paid the balance on our photographers
2. Paid the balance on the venue for the reception
3. Bought a veil

What do I still have to do?
1.  Pack
2.  Buy candles
3. Make programs, menus, etc. (yeah, I do this as a business, but left myself out till the last second!)

I have to say, I've slowly been getting more excited since last week.  It didn't register till we made the final payment, and now that all the details in Cancun are set, I'm just excited to go on vacation! Right now, I'm trying to tie some loose ends at work, to prepare for my absence, and then just plan for our vacation activities!

How many guests are going?  A total of 7, plus me and the groom.  NINE.  Oh, and lol, the photographer and his assistant. We started out inviting 50 people, but 9 are confirmed.  Which is what we were kinda expecting.  C'mon. A wedding on a HOLIDAY in a foreign country?  Who's gonna want to go to THAT??  It would be difficult, and it's more expensive. So ladies, if you are planning  a destination wedding, be mindful that if you choose a holiday weekend, that your guests have the full right to decline.  It was almost 50% more per night at the Gran Caribe, and they require a minimum 6 night stay during Christmas/New Year.  I know some girls find it important for almost all their invited guests to be able to attend, but for us, we wanted the 1-1-11 date, and we weren't dead set on having a large group there. We would've been happy if it was just the two of us.  But we are so grateful to those who chose to take their vacation with us! I can't wait to see you guys there!

So I visit the destination wedding forum, http://www.bestdestinationweddings.com/ quite frequently, and they ask girls who post on their boards to post a "planning thread." This is where destination brides post photos and descriptions of their wedding details for other destination brides to see online. Only persons who subscribe to the message board can post and view.  So I will be posting on there, as well as on my own blog if time allows me to do so this week. We're literally leaving in 5 days, and I HOPE I can share my prep week with all of you. 

Self, just breathe... I'm already getting excited just typing this post! Woo hoo!

GE Wedding: Bridal Bootcamp Is NOT for Me

It's less than 50 days before our wedding in January, so I guess this is about the time that most bride-to-be's start doing the training to get in shape or lose the last few pounds so we can fit into those dresses.  For me, I had gained about 10 pounds in the last 2 months (since I took home my dress). So on a petite frame like mine, 10 pounds = 1-2 dress sizes.  Yeah, my "skinny" jeans don't fit me right anymore.  It's like, hello, MUFFIN-top.  That was my realization last weekend when I tried to slip into my favorite jeans for a party.  YIKES. I can't afford to buy new larger jeans that fit. Not now, with all the wedding bills to pay!

Time to lose the excess weight.  Bridal bootcamp?? No thank you. I told myself this week that I was going to hit the gym and do at least 1 hour of cardio every day to start burning some of that fat.  It's Friday, and how many times did I pass the gym down the street from my house? Five times.  How many times did I go into the gym?  Zero.  By the time I wake up, I feel like I need to get ready for work, and by the end of the day, I'm too drained to change for the gym.  Each time I drove past the parking lot, I kept saying to myself,"there's no parking, I'll come back later." Haha.  You know that once you enter your front door, the gym is not an option anymore. 

Time's running out - so what to do to drop those 10 pounds between now and the end of the year?  The HCG Diet.   I actually did the HCG Diet this past January through March, and I had originally lost about 30 POUNDS, dropping 5 dress sizes.  Thirty pounds in 3 months is a LOT for me.  By May, I hit the tiniest I've ever been since I was 14 years old.  And that's withOUT looking anorexic or too skinny.  My energy level was normal to high.  I loved it. I had a great summer of feeling great about how I looked.  Let's fast forward to now, and unfortunately, I fell off the wagon, and started consuming sugar and carbs.   It's true - sugar and carbs add weight.  And fast.

Back to the diet.  Here's a link to where I bought my HCG sublingual drops.  I only plan on doing this diet for 2 weeks, using their 15 day plan.  It takes a LOT of discipline.  I mean seriously, it's not easy.  I have to cut down my calories to 500 per day, take the drops 3 times a day, and cut out all sugar and carbohydrates.  Exercise? Good thing is, the diet discourages doing too much exercise due to the low calorie intake - so no guilt trips driving past the gym.  But I am still able to walk my dog for 20-30 minutes. 

We'll see how I do on the diet this time around.  I don't have as much to lose as I originally did, but hopefully the weight falls off just as quick it did in January.  Some people think this way sounds crazy, but I know people who have tried it after seeing results on me and my fiance, and for those who stuck to the diet, it worked for them too! At least 20 pounds was lost (within 1 month) for each person we knew. 

Looking foward to fitting back into my skinny jeans.  And most important, my wedding dress.

Should I post my progression online? I won't share my starting weight, but I think I'll keep a tally of the weight loss on my GE Designs Facebook Page.  Just to prove how quick this can happen.  Or not.  Wish me luck!

GE Wedding: Invitations... Check!

HUGE sigh of relief.  I have dropped off our wedding invitations at the post office today! FINALLY... There are only a few peeps who know exactly what a rough time we've been having this year, but long story short,  my priorities have drastically changed and unfortunately, I have not been on top of my wedding preparations as I would have liked.  BUT, I had finished my invitations this weekend, and mailed them to the family and friends who have been there for us.  The guest list of who would even receive invitations was pretty short, since the FI and I decided to only invite friends and family who have been involved in our lives in the last couple years.  But that's another story.

So here are a few photos of my invitations, which I will be selling in my shop.  The price is little higher than my other items, because OMG, these were a LOT more work than I anticipated (plus the dupioni silk wasn't cheap). It did get easier after the 5th one, but I was exhausted when I was done. I told the fiance "never again, never never never" will I make these types of invitations.  This is my normal rant after I try something new. Then I'm like, nah, I can do this again. So check it out:

Each red panel is Dupioni silk wrapped cardstock. VERY pretty in person.  It took me forever to cut the dupioni silk into the right sized panels, THEN, I had to iron each piece onto the cardstock before even adhering it... argh. I had a vision, and this was NOT exactly my vision (required more time and even more money), but I'm pretty happy with the result.

Since we have a destination wedding, "Travel Information" contains our travel agent info, resort info, etc.  It's in lieu of "Accomodations."  I really only added a "Details" Card so that there was a nice layered look to the inserts.  The Response card's 4Bar red envelope is inserted behind all the inserts, out of view.  Augh. Look at the date of the Response card: November 15. And I mailed them today! What a faux pas.  Girls, if you are mailing your invitations, make sure your "respond by" date is at least 3 weeks in advance.  Shame on me.  But life threw me lemons, and I made apple juice. I know - its just wrong (and yes, the saying is "lemonade" not apple juice).

A Monogram square closes the whole pocketfold.  I decided to add 6 small rhinestones to the square just to add some interest. I felt that it was a little plain without them. More work, yes, but nice touch.

There you go.  GE Designs' wedding invitations.  Done. Fin. Now, it's off to work on my clients' stationery.  It never ends. But I love it. :)

GE Wedding: A Musical Dilemma

I'm torn over the music for our Cancun wedding ceremony and reception.  As of today, there are less than 10 guests booked (woo hoo!), which means that our reception dinner is going to be pretty tiny.  Is it necessary for me to spend $800-1200 on a Cancun-based DJ to entertain less than a dozen people at dinner? 

I've gotten mixed reviews from my guests.  Some expect dancing, some don't expect such a small group to have a dance floor.  It's just our parents, siblings, a few friends... hmmmm.  I worry more about guests being bored, but really, how can one be bored with a dinner on a gorgeous terrace overlooking the Pacific Ocean? 

The alternative to a DJ would be to have our iPod playing in the background.  Not bad.  Just means that we'll have to come up with a good list of songs to play for 3 hours or more. Is that ghetto?  I've never been to a wedding where there wasn't a band or DJ, but then again, I've never been to a destination wedding.. Unless we win the Lottery between now and January, I think we'll be leaning towards the iPod thing.  Just need to compile a list of cool songs, and categorize them so that my wedding coordinator just needs to click play. 

Now for the songs... any ideas?  hmmmm. Updates later...

GE Wedding: The Dress

Of course, it's been a WHILE since I've posted about my wedding plans! But recently, I took home the dress -- it's altered and everything! Fits like a GLOVE (seriously, I can't bend easily but my waist looks TINY in it!).  Here is the dress from Maggie Sottero, the Madison.

I will have to say that my original choice was The Paige, with all it's lovely sequins and rouching. This was the dress I was seeking out when I visited the Trunk Show.  It looked great on, but the Madison looked so perfect on me, and so simple and elegant, I actually changed my mind.

Sooo pretty, eh?  Might have been a little too much for our small gathering.  I don't even think we'll have more than 15 people in Cancun.  But the Madison is the perfect destination wedding dress, and I hope it photographs well.

When I was trying on these dresses (and about 5 others), I had my mom and my favorite cousin, Yvette, with me.  I was counting on Mom to have an opinion (cuz she's not one to hold back her opinion), but when we were at the bridal shop, not one peep.  Nada. Zilch.  Really, mom? After all these years of hearing about your opinion on everything else in my life?  Sigh.  Later on she said she thought I looked beautiful in everything I tried on and just didn't know which to pick. Awwww, shucks.  Why didn't you say so when we were choosing dresses??? Thanks to Yvette, who found the Madison for me on a whim, I have the perfect dress for my Cancun Beach wedding!!!

Oh, and thanks to the girls at Aria Bridal in Escondido, CA, for helping me choose the perfect dress all in a couple hours!  They had a Maggie Sottero Trunk Show, and hold those trunk shows every once in a while, which is how I found them (scored a 10% discount!). Had my dress altered there as well ($300!).   Thanks, girls!  Here's a photo of me in the dress (minus my head) back in March. I was a little heavier then, and I didn't take a photo recently when I did my final fitting, but I posted this anyway.  LOL. Forgive me, I can't help but get all defensive with photos of myself. But I think we all get overly critical of ourselves, right? So recently, it looks the kinda like the photo below, just imagine it about 5-8 inches shorter (I'm so short! which is why I bought 4.5 inch heels). 

March 12, 2010: Day 1 (the only day) of Dress Shopping! No photos allowed until you buy!

GE Wedding: Shoes!

I got my wedding shoes!!!! I have been pretty bad about posting info on the GE Wedding plans, so I'm going to try to be good for the next 6 months. But I was so excited at how beautiful my new shoes are that I had to blog about them asap. These are the Mimi by Benjamin Adams available at Bellissima Bridal. I love, love, love them! The platform front makes them comfortable and gives my barely 5'0" frame an extra 4 inches!

You can see 360 degree views on the Benjamin Adams web site, and you can see all their other beautiful shoes. Their line is a little more traditional than I had wanted, but I just couldn't resist the bling and duchess satin of my new Mimi's!

I had searched far and wide... I even purchased the ever popular Badgely Mischka's below. Alas, the gold was too off from the ivory of my dress. But the Randee is so comfy... and I almost kept them, but really, I don't have too many events where I would be able to wear them, so back they went to Zappos. They are also available at http://www.endless.com/ and http://www.shoes.com/.

Now that my bridal outfit is practically complete, I'll need to get moving on mailing those Save The Dates! Just printing off the envelopes, and of course, I'll be taking photos of them so that I can share with you all!

GE Wedding: Engagement Photos

It took me the last 6 weeks to figure out which of my favorite local Southern California photographers would take our engagement photos, and we finally decided! Drum roll.....

Nicole Caldwell of Nicole Caldwell Photography!

It was TOUGH. I have my top 5. All five of these super duper talented photographers of Orange County and San Diego have the most beautiful photographs of weddings and portraits. So to give them some blog love, I want to show you my current favorite from each of my top five Southern Cali photogs... And FYI, these are NOT in any particular order! Going alphabetical so no one can accuse me of ranking them!

1. Boucher Photography (San Diego): So close, so close. But really -- check out why they were voted San Diego's Best! I was just wowed the second I found their web site. This photo is my fave cuz the dog is soo adorable.

2. Nicole Caldwell Photography (Orange County): Our choice! Our lovely friends Yvi & Allen were shot by her (seen below!).

3. Jessica Claire Photography (Orange County): Seriously, this girl can shoot! Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the beauty of her work. But a friend of mine who's getting married this year will be. At least someone I know will be working with Jessica (who's a real dear).

4. The Image is Found (Nate & Jaclyn of San Diego): You have to check out their blog! The sessions are just full of fun, and their writing style is so cute. I just love to take in both their photos and their words.

5. Melissa McClure Photography (San Diego): I've been a fan for a couple years. And will always love her work. Her blog is so cute, and you can tell, that people just love her. She captures moments so beautifully.

I've been obsessed with all their blogs to figure out who to go with, so I look forward to working with Nicole in the next couple months. I know they'll be beautiful!

Elizabeth Medina Photography

Wow. It's been a while since I last posted anything. I feel pretty bad. But life's thrown so many things at me, that blogging has been pushed further back as the days of December roll in. BUT, one of the things that have kept me busy is looking for a location for my wedding. For a couple years, I've been toying with the destination idea, and this week, I've been obsessed with Cancun. It's a gorgeous place and so I've been checking out different wedding photos, and found so many talented local photographers. One that stood out to me, was Elizabeth Medina. I was first introduced to her work a couple years ago, browsing for something totally different, and her work is just amazing. She is actually on top of my Wish List for vendors if we decide to have our ceremony in Mexico. She's originally from Michigan and has lived in Mexico in the recent years, which offers amazing backdrops for the gorgeous locations for the weddings. Here is a taste of her current work, available on her blog.

She has so many amazing shots of the brides and grooms on the Mexican beaches. this is one of my favorite TTD shots. I'm leaning towards doing the TTD photoshoot.

I love the poignant moments Elizabeth captures candidly during the receptions and throughout the day...

GE Wedding: We're Engaged!

It's a little late, but I am announcing my official engagement to Mr. GE Designs. We've been together for 8 years, and we've lived together for 6. So the engagement and marriage, isn't much of a change, but I'm excited about it being official. And I apologize to any friends that we didn't tell until today, but any one who's close to us knows that we've been a "married" couple for years anyway. BUT the ring makes certain family members feel more at ease. =)

So, I've decided to start documenting some of my preprations and thoughts for our wedding. I'll be searching for local vendors, photographers, flowers, etc. Sort of a daunting task. Thank goodness I've established some relationships with event planners through GE Designs. Also, I have my dear girlfriends to hand over their vendor finds for their weddings. I'll also be creating some new items for myself and my shop, with my own wedding in mind.

To start, I should share the engagement story:

JP (Mr. GE Designs) and I went on a little getaway vacation in Scottsdale, AZ early this month for 5 days at the Intercontinental Montelucia. JP went to ASU out there, so luckily he knew the area and was able to take me to some awesome restaurants around Scottsdale. The town was gorgeous -- the only thing it's missing, is a beach. I will have to say, that with Fashion Square Mall, I can easily move out there. And the weather! Gorgeous in October! Once there, i was so glad we went, as opposed to the hurricane occupied areas of Mexico and the Caribbean. One quick side note for the hotel we stayed at -- gorgeous place, friendly staff, and total luxury, but the in room dining was sooo overpriced.

The second day there, JP wanted to take me hiking to Camelback Mountain. If anyone out there is unfamiliar with Phoenix, Camelback Mountain is a local red rock "mountain" that the locals hike and climb daily. From far away, it looked like it wasn't much. Plus, if you see all the people climbing up and down the entrance, you'd be like, "I can do that." Unfortunately, when we started going up the mountain, at 4:30pm, I wasn't prepared for all the rocks and fancy footwork needed to get to just the first quarter of it. Yikes. We made a few stops to help me catch my breath, but JP kept telling me, "keep going, the view will make it all worth it." I tried a few more minutes up some steep part, but I had to stop and turn around because the area closed at sunset, and the sun was setting quick.

I seem to digress with this Camelback story, but I found out later that JP planned to propose at the top of the mountain as the sun set with the "spectacular view." He told me later that he had the ring in his pocket on that hike attempt. That would have been totally romantic (yet I would've been totally out of breath). Poor guy carried the ring with him throughout the rest of the trip, waiting for another "perfect" moment to pop the question. I'm glad he didn't do the restaurant proposal at any of the fabulous places he took me to. I'm a pretty private person, and I hate drawing attention to myself in public.

So fast forward to our last night there on October 12, 2009. Around 9pm, we decided to hang out at the jacuzzi, since the resort seemed so empty. We had the jacuzzi and the pool all to ourselves. After we dried off, we put our robes on, took some drinks to a pool-side cabana facing Camelback, laid on the modular sofas, and just relaxed as we enjoyed the view of the mountain and the resort. We were cuddling and JP started talking about how wonderful the trip was and that he loved me, and after a few more sweet words, that I can barely remember, he got down on his knees and whipped out the ring. Things are fuzzy after that, but I can say I did cry, we hugged, kissed, and oh yeah... I said YES.