It's been a bit over one year since the big day. As cliché as it might sound, I can't believe time has passed by so quickly. The days, weeks, and months since the wedding have been filled with many experiences. There were awesome experiences and not so good ones. There have also been a lot of learning and growing involved. This blog has been more than just a diary of my wedding planning process, it has also served as a resource for other bride-to-be friends. I am truly truly happy whenever someone tells me they have found my blog helpful :)
So, one might wonder, "Why are you back?" I'm back because even though the wedding is done and over with, I want to continue sharing the things I've learned. This time around, I'll be blogging about post-wedding experiences. The funny thing about weddings -- and this applies to a lot of other things too -- is you go into it with a vague idea of what to do, you learn a lot of things right away, your big day happens smoothly (for the most part - I hope!), and you learn what not to do. However, most of the time, you don't really get another chance to do it over again and improve upon the things you wish could have been executed better.
To my reader(s), I hope you'll find the contents of my "In Retrospect" series of blogs as helpful as the entries before it :)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
New Look?
Yes, I know the big day has come and gone. I just felt like updating the look of this blog to reflect some of the wedding colors. Blogspot's design and layout was a lot more limited back in the day I started this blog. Hence the weird circle theme. Anyway, have a great day!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Twenty Two Days To Go
I know I haven't updated in forever... Took the day off today and did various wedding tasks, like getting our marriage license! The sun is shining and the weather is warm. Spring is (finally) here! I don't know what it is about today but I'm feeling excited to get married in 22 days!
I just want to share that :D
I just want to share that :D
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Let Them Eat Cake: Four Months To Go
As mentioned in my previous post, it finally dawned on D that our wedding is coming up soon. Since the new year started, D and I have been having regular meetings to discuss items that remain outstanding, including the sweet question of cake.
Before the proposal, we had thought that when the time comes, our cake vendor was a done deal. One of our friend/groomsman's aunt owns La Patisserie. Consequently, finding a cake vendor was never a priority. We were told that we can discuss cake matters closer to the wedding date. About three weeks ago, we met with our friend's mom to talk cake. As the meeting progressed, however, it became apparent they may not be able to supply one of our needs, which are:
We thought about buying sliced cakes from La Patisserie and renting a fake cake. I found a couple of places that rented fake cakes. Thea Willgress of Sweet Thea creates and rents gorgeous fake cakes. (She creates real ones as well.) You can either rent a fake cake for $200 + $80 for delivery and pickup or buy a fake cake for $400 + $40 for delivery. I also contacted another company called Simply Fake Cakes. However, their only response to my various questions was:
The next leg of our cake journey took us to Ganache Patisserie. I have heard countless great things about Ganache, but have only been there once before. The last time we got cakes from there, we did not see what all the fuss was about, particularly D. However, given our situation, we figured we might as well set up a meeting. We had nothing to lose and cake tastings to gain :) Last Sunday, D and I went to Yaletown along with a couple of our friends. We met with owner and pastry chef Peter Fong. He is by far the nicest and jolliest vendor that we have met with. During our appointment, he gave us four flavors to try:
I'm not sure if D has changed his opinion of Ganache. All I can say is that I am generally not a big fan of Black Forest cake; I am not fond of cherries. However, Ganache's Fôret Noir (moist chocolate cake, Kirsch syrup, vanilla chantilly cream, griottine cherries, chocolate chantilly cream), for me, is divine. I can eat it forever!
To those attending the wedding in four months time, we hope you'll enjoy the cake. It was more challenging to settle than we thought. The trouble should be worth it :)
Before the proposal, we had thought that when the time comes, our cake vendor was a done deal. One of our friend/groomsman's aunt owns La Patisserie. Consequently, finding a cake vendor was never a priority. We were told that we can discuss cake matters closer to the wedding date. About three weeks ago, we met with our friend's mom to talk cake. As the meeting progressed, however, it became apparent they may not be able to supply one of our needs, which are:
- one beautifully decorated fake cake
- cake slices for approximately 120 guests as dessert and wedding favors
- various cookies
We thought about buying sliced cakes from La Patisserie and renting a fake cake. I found a couple of places that rented fake cakes. Thea Willgress of Sweet Thea creates and rents gorgeous fake cakes. (She creates real ones as well.) You can either rent a fake cake for $200 + $80 for delivery and pickup or buy a fake cake for $400 + $40 for delivery. I also contacted another company called Simply Fake Cakes. However, their only response to my various questions was:
Sorry but I do not make fake cakes in coloured fondant. Fondant fades quite quickly and unevenly so, since I make the cakes in advance of the wedding, I can only use white fondant.So much for customer support. Needless to say, that company was vetoed.
The next leg of our cake journey took us to Ganache Patisserie. I have heard countless great things about Ganache, but have only been there once before. The last time we got cakes from there, we did not see what all the fuss was about, particularly D. However, given our situation, we figured we might as well set up a meeting. We had nothing to lose and cake tastings to gain :) Last Sunday, D and I went to Yaletown along with a couple of our friends. We met with owner and pastry chef Peter Fong. He is by far the nicest and jolliest vendor that we have met with. During our appointment, he gave us four flavors to try:
- Blanc Fraisier
vanilla cake, vanilla sablé Breton, white chocolate black pepper mousseline, strawberries, passionfruit meringue - Chocolat-Canneberge
white chocolate cranberry parfait, milk chocolate mousse, praline crunch - Chocolat-Banane
dark chocolate mousse, caramelized bananas, praline crunch, hazelnut dacquoise - Mango Chocolat
mango mousse, dark chocolate passionfruit mousse, chocolate cake, mango gelée
I'm not sure if D has changed his opinion of Ganache. All I can say is that I am generally not a big fan of Black Forest cake; I am not fond of cherries. However, Ganache's Fôret Noir (moist chocolate cake, Kirsch syrup, vanilla chantilly cream, griottine cherries, chocolate chantilly cream), for me, is divine. I can eat it forever!
To those attending the wedding in four months time, we hope you'll enjoy the cake. It was more challenging to settle than we thought. The trouble should be worth it :)
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Big Year Has Arrived
Welcome to 2010 everyone! For a lot of people, this year conjures Olympic thoughts. The city of Vancouver is buzzing with excitement for the winter games - just 27 days to go! However, for people like me, 2010 is significant in a different way as it marks the arrival of our wedding year. It's funny how something minor like the last two digits of a year changing from 09 to 10 can be a real wake up call. Even D has finally been hit with the realization that the wedding is fast approaching. Can you imagine my trepidation?
Update on the Goods from the Motherland
Although the month of December brought some progress to our wedding planning, it was overall a slow month. The following development resulted from my mom's arrival from the Philippines with "the goods from the motherland." The goods are: the invitations, the wedding rings, and my dress! I've already discussed the invitations in my previous post, so I'll talk about the rings and my dress.
The rings are done... sort of. I'm not sure if D's ring was not measured properly or his fingers got fatter. Either way, his wedding ring is a bit tight. My mom brought his ring back with her to the Philippines to get re-sized. D is currently getting in shape for the wedding. I hope he doesn't loose too much weight that the ring becomes too big :|
On the other hand (pun intended), my dress has the opposite problem; it is too loose in certain areas. According to the seamstress, the dress was made according to the measurements taken during my visit to the Philippines. However, I have a suspicion something else must've gone amiss because even though I would love to claim that I lost that much weight since my trip, I know I did not. Similar to the rings, my dress has once again traveled across the Pacific, accompanied by multiple pins marking the areas that need adjusting, for further work. I too am working to get in shape for the wedding and hope the dress won't be too lose when it returns back to my arms in May.
Update on the Goods from the Motherland
Although the month of December brought some progress to our wedding planning, it was overall a slow month. The following development resulted from my mom's arrival from the Philippines with "the goods from the motherland." The goods are: the invitations, the wedding rings, and my dress! I've already discussed the invitations in my previous post, so I'll talk about the rings and my dress.
The rings are done... sort of. I'm not sure if D's ring was not measured properly or his fingers got fatter. Either way, his wedding ring is a bit tight. My mom brought his ring back with her to the Philippines to get re-sized. D is currently getting in shape for the wedding. I hope he doesn't loose too much weight that the ring becomes too big :|
On the other hand (pun intended), my dress has the opposite problem; it is too loose in certain areas. According to the seamstress, the dress was made according to the measurements taken during my visit to the Philippines. However, I have a suspicion something else must've gone amiss because even though I would love to claim that I lost that much weight since my trip, I know I did not. Similar to the rings, my dress has once again traveled across the Pacific, accompanied by multiple pins marking the areas that need adjusting, for further work. I too am working to get in shape for the wedding and hope the dress won't be too lose when it returns back to my arms in May.
Etc Etc Etc...
During dinner with friends tonight, someone said, "It's the details that kill you." I find this to be very true. While the various wedding pillars have been established, we have only just begun to tackle the seemingly infinite minutiae of the big day. Here's a list of what D and I have been working on lately. Think of it as a preview of upcoming blog entries:
- hair + make up
- cake
- music
- transportation
- schedule
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Six Months to Go...
With a little bit less than six months to go, most of the bookings are done. We are starting to move on to figuring out the minute details of the big day. It's no secret that wedding planning can be stressful. So to keep this blog true to life, I'll be talking about what I retrospectively call "The Six Months Meltdown."
It all began with the invitations. Since my mom will be coming back from the Philippines in December, she wanted to pick up the printed invitations by the end of November. Around mid-November, I emailed my contact, let's call him KC, with Printed Matter so we can get the ball rolling with the invitation design. As you may recall, D and I had worked on an invitation mock up back in July. I sent a copy of the image to KC along with pertinent information for the big day. We wanted to include a map in our invitations so I sent him a Google map link as well. After all, they're located in the Philippines and are unfamiliar with Richmond. Here are the mock ups I received from KC on November 12:
It all began with the invitations. Since my mom will be coming back from the Philippines in December, she wanted to pick up the printed invitations by the end of November. Around mid-November, I emailed my contact, let's call him KC, with Printed Matter so we can get the ball rolling with the invitation design. As you may recall, D and I had worked on an invitation mock up back in July. I sent a copy of the image to KC along with pertinent information for the big day. We wanted to include a map in our invitations so I sent him a Google map link as well. After all, they're located in the Philippines and are unfamiliar with Richmond. Here are the mock ups I received from KC on November 12:
our mock up
mock ups from Printed Matter
mock ups from Printed Matter
I had thought he would take our design and make his own. Maybe I shouldn't have made that assumption. But at the very least I thought he would make his own map, like I've seen in other samples, instead of doing a screen shot copy and paste! The fonts don't even match! As you can imagine, I was not happy about this. I thought about writing a scathing email, but decided against it. I'm too "nice" to do something like that. Furthermore, I worried he'll botch the job. D and I decided to move on in a positive manner and offer to design our invitations ourselves. Luckily, this option was possible.
Speaking of D, he wasn't impressed with Printed Matter's design either but wasn't as upset or stressed out as I was. Whenever he sees me stressed out, he tells me not to stress out. When this doesn't work, which it doesn't 80% of the time, then he gets stressed out. It is a vicious and ugly cycle. I'm reminded of my co-worker's joking words, "Don't get married! Don't do it!" Anyway, just like with any other issue we may have, we talk through it and work through it. So, worry not; the wedding is still on. At least now, I feel as if I'm more informed having had a small taste of "for better or for worse."
Anyway, back to the invitations and on to the denouement of our lil' story. D and I diligently worked on our invitations. We created two 6"x6" images - one for the main card, another for the map, one 2"x3.5" RSVP card, and one 2"x1.75" seal. We submitted our design to KC, who printed them out. My mom picked them up around the last week of November. She also ordered some additional copies, minus the map card, for some of our relatives in the Philippines to have. A couple of weeks ago, our invitations arrived in Canada as my mom's carry on luggage.
The verdict? They look good! Admittedly my perfectionist side whispers, "Maybe we could've added this or that." Then I think about how a couple of geeks, who do not have a background in graphic design but do have a love for Photoshop and each other, produced a set of invitations. That fact makes everything a-okay :) So, you may be thinking when you get to see these invitations? The answer is: when we finalize the guest list and distribute the invitations. When will that be? Not anytime soon, maybe February.
Finally, I want to take a second to recognize D for his hard work with our invitations. He had a couple of late nights tediously converting the side flower image to a vector image. That way, the image won't pixelate regardless of its size. In addition to that, he helped me convert the image to TIF format, zipped them, and uploaded them to our website for KC to download. He had to do that process multiple times because on more than one occasion, I asked him to shift something by 5 pixels. Yes, I am a control freak. Thank you D <3
Speaking of D, he wasn't impressed with Printed Matter's design either but wasn't as upset or stressed out as I was. Whenever he sees me stressed out, he tells me not to stress out. When this doesn't work, which it doesn't 80% of the time, then he gets stressed out. It is a vicious and ugly cycle. I'm reminded of my co-worker's joking words, "Don't get married! Don't do it!" Anyway, just like with any other issue we may have, we talk through it and work through it. So, worry not; the wedding is still on. At least now, I feel as if I'm more informed having had a small taste of "for better or for worse."
Anyway, back to the invitations and on to the denouement of our lil' story. D and I diligently worked on our invitations. We created two 6"x6" images - one for the main card, another for the map, one 2"x3.5" RSVP card, and one 2"x1.75" seal. We submitted our design to KC, who printed them out. My mom picked them up around the last week of November. She also ordered some additional copies, minus the map card, for some of our relatives in the Philippines to have. A couple of weeks ago, our invitations arrived in Canada as my mom's carry on luggage.
The verdict? They look good! Admittedly my perfectionist side whispers, "Maybe we could've added this or that." Then I think about how a couple of geeks, who do not have a background in graphic design but do have a love for Photoshop and each other, produced a set of invitations. That fact makes everything a-okay :) So, you may be thinking when you get to see these invitations? The answer is: when we finalize the guest list and distribute the invitations. When will that be? Not anytime soon, maybe February.
Finally, I want to take a second to recognize D for his hard work with our invitations. He had a couple of late nights tediously converting the side flower image to a vector image. That way, the image won't pixelate regardless of its size. In addition to that, he helped me convert the image to TIF format, zipped them, and uploaded them to our website for KC to download. He had to do that process multiple times because on more than one occasion, I asked him to shift something by 5 pixels. Yes, I am a control freak. Thank you D <3
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