Wedding Favors

Wedding Favors -- DONE

With the help of my mom, Joe and I picked out our wedding favors in March. We started our wedding favors DIY in June, but never had a time to finish what we started. So yesterday, after numerous nagging, wedding favors DIY resumed. It took us a good 4 hours to put everything together! But I am glad that it is all done now.

Early Christmas Present...

Joe got me a brand new DeLonghi Stainless Steel Coffee Maker!!!! I gave mine away when my coworker split up with his girlfriend and she took most of the kitchen stuff with her,and I never quite get to replacing one for myself. Over breakfast two weeks ago, I causally mentioned to Joe that it would be perfect to have fresh starbucks christmas blend coffee on chrismas day... and the next thing I know... I got myself a new coffee maker.

Ok... still need to get Joe christmas present(s)
1. Ottawa Senator's Hockey Jersey
2. Nintendo WII -- lucky that Joe is a super mario fan not a Halo fan!
3. Socks and PJ's -- yeah... wha's up with men and socks? It seems that they do not go out to buy socks at all...

Chinese are not big on Christmas, and I am used to getting only one christmas present instead of numerous gifts from the same person. The way that Joe was being brought up... Christmas is probably the "IT" holiday of the year, and he is used to sending home a truckload of gifts for his families. This year we have agreed that we will not go overboard and that we need to save up for the wedding and the honeymoon (probably somewhere in Asia.. Maldives sounds good as Joe always wants to go scuba-diving!). Joe and I do decide that if we have a kid a day, we will NOT spoil the kid, and having mountain of toys in the living room will never happen to us!

The Meanings of 9 Words Women Use

Got this e-mail from a coworker today... of course I forwarded this to Joe...that he should memorize this by heart!!!! Or better yet... plaque it and hang in on the wall in the bedrooms!!!


1. Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2. Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3. Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4. Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5. Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6. That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome.

8. Whatever: Is a women's way of saying F@!K YOU!

9. Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3.

Countdown -- 6 months till the wedding!

COUNTDOWN -- 6 MONTHS TILL THE WEDDING... DO I NEED TO SAY MORE???

Bought a tiara from another bride on WB!

Bridesmaid Dresses

I can believe a month has passed by so quickly! OMG! Have not written on this blog for a month! wonder where did the time go?
Major accomplishments in the last two weeks:
1. MOH -- maid of honour dress is ordred! www.netbride.com... alexia style 2614!!! My sister tried on the dress a month ago in Vancouver... and she looked hot and sexy!!!!
2. Evening Gowns x 2 for myself have also been ordered! Again.. www.netbride.com! Styles??? Shhhhh... it is going to be a surprise for Joe on the wedding day!!!
I remember I started looking for evening gowns once I had my wedding gown ordered (in August... custom made by Josephine Ng @ Face Beauty Studio in Toronto)... and talking to my mom for over 500 hours and thousands of e-mails, we had finally nailed down to THE two ultimated gowns! Everyone says that the Mother of the Bride has a very special role in the wedding planning (well, she is the second important person next to the Groom!) and I totally agree!!! My parents are leaving for Japan and Hong Kong next Wednesday, for their annual vacation of 14 days! My mom will be getting Chinese Wedding Pastries in Hong Kong, and my parents will also be visiting each and every of our close relatives and do the wedding announcement for us!!! As usual.. I did give my shopping list to her... but for the very first time.. those items on the list are not personal items.... there is one item for Joe... the gift I have for Joe on our wedding day!!!!

Happy Thanksgivng

Have gotten a bit lazy with the blog... well with so many wedding planning going on, it is simply hard to write the blog everyday... well, since it is a wedding blog... I will try to find time everyday to write it! :-)

Wrote the food safety certification exam last week... I am a food safety manager and that I need to be re-certified once every three year, and this was my third exam!

We finally got ink toner for the printer and I got Joe (well, forced is a better phrase) to put in the ink toner... and there came my color-ed monogram! It turns out better than I expected, consider that I am an amateur! Joe and I can't really compromise on the final monogram (as I must have created over 30 of those pupppies!) and we will probably go with two final monograms. One is gold on sage cardstock, and the other one is green on yellow cardstock. Afterall... it is a spring wedding and sage and pastel yellow are the two theme colors!

That's a wrap on wedding planning. Today is Turkey Day... I got up at 8am and started preparing the turkey. We bought a 17lb turkey at Costco, and turkey was in the oven since 9am!!! A good friend of ours is coming over at 2pm for our thanksgiving dinner. It is going to be a fun day! This is actually the second turkey I cooked (the first one was last christmas) and I used to pack the frozen turkey in my suitcase and bring it with me when I got home for Christmas! Ha! I guess this tradition has come to an end! How do I cook the turkey? My mom's secret receipe! Up to this day, I still think that my mom is Martha Stewart... well the pre-jail version though.... she knows so much and she always has an answer to virtually eveything!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Wedding Decorator

Met with a wedding decorator on Saturday. In an effort to save money, Joe and I have decided to do a lot of DIY for the wedding. We (well... I) will be doing the decoarations for the cake table, sign in table and gift table and the wedding decorator will be doing the head table and backdrop decoration. After meeting with a dozen of wedding decorators in town, I have decided to go with A Piece of Cake as Kari is very helpful and she charges reasonably. Trust me on this... I have gotten quotes from other wedding decorators that a backdrop decoration alone, is about $1000 plus tax!
Ok back to DIY update... we did the wedding favors last week, and I did the bubble wands (all 100 of them!) monday night.
We went to a Bridal show this afternoon but did not get much of it.

Flower Girl Dress

Woke up in cold sweat this morning... (well I did not go to bed till 2am this morning and then needed to drive Joe to work at 7:30pm... so did not get much sleep anyway)
With the wedding less than 8 months away, I am starting to panick about a lot of stuff. Though FH and I have gotten the major tasks done (church booked, reception hall booked, flower supply booked, wedding invites printed, cake ordered, wine made, wedding gown made... etc) I have started to freak out on stationary this week. Monogram is done, and now need to work on menu, table number and programs. On top of that, I have not heard anything on the progress of the flower girl dress. There is a story behind the FG's dress... The theme color of the wedding is VENDALA (pale yellow with a hint of green), and FH's family went shopping for the FG dress (I had sent them some pictures of the dress that I like, and I would have assumed that the dress color would be very similar to the theme color... and I almost fainted when I saw picture of the dress they bought! The dress is CHAMPAGNE, and with BIG PUFFS on the shoulders!!!! Needless to say, FH had to tell his sister to return the dress.
I am a picky person and pefectionism is in my blood. and I like things to be done certain way (mostly my way), and fatal surprises do not work well with me.
Back to the FG's dress... after FH and I ruled out the CHAMPAGNE PUFFY FG dress, we suggested FH's sister to try e-Bay due to her budget constraints. We found a FG dress at a very reasonable price on e-Bay and had forwarded the picture and info to FH's sister. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she had bought the dress cuz' I am not sure how long the item is posted on e-Bay. If the dress is sold out, then we will need to go to PLAN B... problem is... I do not have a PLAN B! Well.. worse case scenario.. we will go with only the ring bearer and no flower girl for the wedding! Wait a second... is it ok to have a backup flower girl???? I do have someone in mind already!!!!

Getting in shape for the wedding

Bridal bootcamp... Bridal bootcamp. I was drving along Woodroofe Ave and found ad ad on "bridal bootcamp". I went on weddingbells.ca -- online forum and found out that a lot of fellow bride-to-be out there have jointed bridal bootcamp or have graduated from bridal bootcamp. Getting in shape for the Big-Day is in the top 10 of any bride's to do list, unless the bride is always skinny as a stick. Unfortunately, I am not a skinny bride-to-be, and I have started dieting since March 07, and so far, I have lost double-digit lbs, and well, still with double-digit lbs to lose. I have joined a support group recently and have lost close to 10lbs in 4 weeks!




FH went for a BMI anaylsis clinic at work today, and obviously the result came back "not so good" and as a result, he has joined Goodlife Fitness! Thank God! I have been nagging him for over 5 months now, and only to realize that it takes a simple BMI analysis to get him going! I am happy for FH for his decision, and I am sure he will benefit greatly from Goodlife Fitneess... both physically and mentally!

Tulle and Organza

Sometimes I wish I am more like my mom... she is a super-woman! She sews, knits, crochets, arranges flowers and much more... to me, she is Martha Stewart (well of course, the Martha Stewart before going to jail!) After getting quotes from different wedding decorators in Ottawa... I was so discouraged that for what I want to get done in the reception hall, the bill will run me upto at least $1500! FH almost had a heart attack when I told him the estimate. My mom suggested DIY... my first reaction was "... but mom, I am no Martha Stewart! How would I know what to do and what to buy?" This past weekend... while FH went to a all-day long paintball game in Gatineau, and I had the whole house to myself, I attempted to figure out all the measurements for all the tables in the reception hall single-handedly. Well, conversions is never my specialty (and my dad can second that... when I was a kid, I had trouble doing metric conversions... my dad used to stay up late with me and helped me to practice and practice until I could do the conversions in my sleep... thanks to my dad... I graduated at UBC with an Accounting major!!!!) Ok, back to my story about taking the measurement... well it took me a good afternoon, but at least I got them all figured out, and then my next task was to find fabric swatches to go with the theme and color of the wedding. By the time, I had everything drawn out in my planning book, it was sunday at 11pm!!!
So, FH and I went to Fabricland this afternoon. I bought a $20 one-year membership there (and this membership provides me up to 50% discount on fabric, notions, patterns etc...) and guess what? I bought all the fabric (organza and tulle) needed for the wedding decor! And after that 50% off, I only paid $245!!!!!
No wonder people say wedding business is a good business... for the outrageous quote I got from a well-known decorator in town... and I am sure a lot of bride-to-be do take the quote and think it is all worth-while... I wonder if I should start my own business as a wedding decorator....
FH is a sweet-heart... he is 100% supportive of what I am planning to do. Color coordination is not his area of speciality and he pretty much leaves it up to me to decide on all the color. Knowing that he loves green... I will surprise him with the accent organza color for the 16 feet backdrop decoration!
Note: Baba and Mama... if you are reading this blog one day... I want to tell you that if it was not the two of you telling me to believe in myself and do not under-estimate what I can do, and Baba, most importantly, with all the time you spent in teaching me metric conversions when I was a kid ... I would not be able to be my own wedding decorator! Xie Xie! Ganxie Ni!!! :-)

First post in my blog

I have my own blog now!!! FINALLY!!!!

Being a mad-bride-to-be... for sure I need to vent and share the stuff I have found throughout this planning process. I guess starting a blog will help me to keep my sanity intact, and who knows... perhaps the blog will get so much "useful" info that eventually someone is interested to publish my blog into a book! (Am I drunk????? I only have 1/2 glass of wine tonight!)