Tale of a Bridesmaid

When hubs and I got married in Hawaii another great thing happened - our friends who were there for our wedding got engaged. A year and a half later we finally got to see them get married! Not only did we get to see them get married but I had the honor of being one of her bridesmaids.

Hubs and I had already been dating for about a year when I met the bride in one of my college classes and we hit it off instantly. I remember she used to come to my room to have me do her makeup before she went out on the weekends....man does that bring back crazy memories. We watched her date different guys that just weren't right for her and we watched her date her now husband. There is something absolutely amazing about seeing a couple you've watched blossom and grow together get married. It may be one of the most touching things I've ever experienced.

The wedding day was a crazy long and tiring day...even more tiring than my own wedding day. We started our day at the bride's home in San Jose at 3am...no jokes...three.in.the.morning. UGH...I must really love that girl. After we were all dolled up and dressed there was a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony hosted by the bride's family. Then we made the long drive to Stockton for the traditional Chinese tea ceremony hosted by the groom's family before the wedding.

CCW: getting beautified with the beautiful bride, traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony with the bride's
family, traditional Chinese tea ceremony with the groom's family

The wedding ceremony was held in our alma mater's church which is absolutely beautiful. Hubs and I contemplated getting married there as well, but the impracticality of asking my large family to fly out to California for a wedding trumped our emotional and nostalgic desire to get married there. The ceremony was nice and short and the couple wrote their own heartfelt vows...some tears were definitely shed. After the ceremony I hung back to take pictures with the bridal party while Hubs and the friends that were staying with us went to help set up the reception site.

the new Mr. & Mrs.

The reception was a traditional family-style Chinese wedding banquet. Hubs and I were seated at a table with our friends and a couple of our classmates from pharmacy school. We all had a great time catching up, but after my early wake up call I was pretty much done once the reception program was over.

CW: the newlyweds first dance, obligatory selfies, fellow pharmers at the wedding 

Watching our friends get married truly touching. I'm glad that I've been lucky enough to see them grow into the wonderful couple they are and witness them make their vows to one another. It really reminded me of how much I love hubs and the vows we made to one another. I am truly blessed to have found my better half.

A Change in Perspective

A little over a year ago I started this blog to recount the all of our wedding planning adventures. And in that year my perspective on all things wedding has truly changed. When I watched wedding shows a year ago I hung onto every single little detail...the bouquets, the chairs, the bridesmaids dresses, the centerpieces, etc. But now that we're less than a month away from the wedding my perspective has completely shifted. What I pay most attention to is the joy in the bride and groom's eyes, the loving way that the bride and groom look at each other, and the vows that they choose to say to each other.

I'm not sure if this shift in my perspective is because most of our planning is done and set in stone or if it's because now that the wedding is so close I am seeing what is really important about the wedding. In a few short weeks I am marrying the man of my dreams, the man who makes me smile and laugh everyday, and the man I want to spend the rest of my life with; and I am so excited to share our love with our friends and family. I don't care what people think of the flowers or the food any more. Instead, I want people to walk away from my wedding saying "Man, I want a love like theirs."

The Hand-off

This past month our wedding coordination with Seasons of Life Entertainment finally kicked in and we had a detailed 2 hour skype meeting with our coordinator to hand off all of our information to our planner. The meeting was pretty exhausting with trying to remember all of the important details as well as ask all of our questions, but in the end it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Since getting engaged (and even before) I have been a religious reader of several wedding blogs around the internet. At some point in time every single wedding blogger has touted the wonders of having a wedding coordinator, even if they are just a day-of coordinator. I toyed with the idea in my head for a while, and even considered choosing a coordinator to help us through the entire planning process. In the end, after considering  finances and my own control issues we decided to go with a day-of coordination that starts 2 months before the wedding. 

I know that typically in Hawaii families love to get their hands in the wedding planning pot and help with set-up and such, but I just wanted my guests to be able to come to the wedding and enjoy. And it really is a great feeling when you have a question and your coordinator says, "Don't worry, I can take care of that." 

Although the wedding is still a little over a month away and I haven't seen the final product of having a wedding coordinator on board I would definitely recommend getting some sort of coordination for those planning a wedding. It just gives you piece of mind that things will be taken care of...not to mention if you have a disagreement with a family member on how things should be for the wedding you can just say "Well, that's what the coordinator recommended," and no one will know the wiser. ;)

That Bride

I think I may have become that bride. You know, the bride that vendors probably see on their caller ID and dread picking up the phone.

Last month, 3 months before the wedding, I sent an email to our florist with new pictures of an arch decor for the ceremony and a completely different idea for our centerpieces. Once she sent me the updated quote I rescinded my desire for my the new centerpieces, but wanted to keep the new arch decor which required her to put together yet another quote for us.

Recently I have been trying to choose a vendor to do the chair covers at our reception. I have had this poor vendor go out to my venue and take pictures to see if their ivory chair covers match the ivory table linens at my venue (which they didn't). And now they are trying to set up different cost-saving tablescape ideas to make our white centerpieces stand out on a white table linen and photograph them for me. Did I mention that we still haven't signed a contract with this vendor, so for all they know all this hard work could be for nothing?

Sheesh...I wouldn't even answer the phone if I knew it was me. 

Pre-wedding week recap (part 2)

For those of you who weren't completely bored with my last post, here is the second installment of my pre-wedding week recap.

Mr. Honda and I met with our ceremony officiant/emcee/dj, Jason from Exquisite Entertainment, on Monday at the Wedding Cafe in Ward. Let me start off by saying they have the most delicious and refreshing pineapple iced tea there. Our meeting with Jason was amazing. He was so friendly and fun to talk to and really put my mind at ease regarding how the ceremony and reception program will go on our wedding day. I really feel confident about choosing him as one of our vendors and look forward to working with him in the last few months before our big day.

Sneak peek from
Brandyn's blog

We also did an engagement shoot with our photographer Brandyn Fidel, at the Honolulu Zoo on Monday afternoon. Unlike all of our other vendors we had previously met with Brandyn, so it was nice to get to see him again. For anyone traveling to Hawaii, I do not reccomend going to the zoo anytime soon. It is in a pretty poor state and I'm a little embarassed by the condition it's in and the lack of animals. Hopefully we got some good shots regardless. It also gave us a chance to talk to Brandyn, who is just recently married, and get some advice from someone who's just gone through what we are in the middle of.

On Tuesday we met up with our florist Wendy from Spinning Web who showed us a mock-up of what our centerpieces would look like. We also got a chance to hash out more of the details of what the ceremony florals and bouquets would look like. This was one of the vendor meetings we had that really put me at ease about the wedding day. It was good to feel like she was on the same page as us in terms as the look we wanted to create.

We also took some time on Tuesday to find a place to rent the suits for the groomsmen in Hawaii. I think getting this done was a huge relief for Mr. Honda and I. Now we have the attire for everyone in the bridal party...except the groom. Hopefully we can get Mr. Honda's attire straightened out in the near future.

Wednesday was our last full day in Hawaii and we took that time to get to meet our videographer, Janice, from Video 21 Productions. I knew a couple of people who just got married and highly recommended the Video 21 team. After meeting with Janice it was easy to see why. This was probably one of the most helpful vendor meetings of our entire trip. They had just shot a wedding at the same venue as our wedding and Janice was full of helpful tips and points to keep in mind as we go forward in planning our wedding.

Pharm school friends

We spent our last night in Hawaii with some old friends from college. It has only been about 6 months since we last saw them, but it seems like forever when you're so used to seeing them on an everyday basis. Having dinner with old friends was a great way to end our trip.

Hopefully I haven't bored you to death with my 2 part pre-wedding week recap. 

Pre-wedding week recap (part 1)

So we're finally back from our mini-vacation. I'm sure Mr. Honda would agree that this wasn't much of a vacation at all. As I mentioned our stay in Hawaii consisted of something wedding-related every day we were there. Not to mention inconveniently coencided with APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Convention). So for those of you that are interested here's the recap of our pre-wedding week. I'll split it into different parts so that this post isn't so long.

Dinner with the future bridesmaids

On Friday we started off our already jam packed week with our flight having to turn around mid-flight for an emergency landing because one of the passengers was having a medical emergency. Once we finally made it to Hawaii we had to rush home to get ready for a dinner with my Hawaii bridesmaids, Jamie and Tehani, at Shokudo. It was great to get to see my ladies. It gave them a chance to meet eachother for the first time and gave me the chance to hand off their dresses for the wedding. I'm relieved to say that everyone has reported that their dresses fit and won't require any alterations.

Mr. Honda and I got to see our wedding venue with our own eyes for the first time on Saturday. At first I was a bit concerned about booking our venue without actually having seen it...one of the biggest downsides to planning a wedding from afar. Thank goodness the venue is as beautiful in person as it is in my Mom's pictures. While we were at the venue we were able to see all the possible ceremony locations as well as the ballroom our reception will take place in. We also were able to take part in a complementary tasting of a small selection of food choices for the reception. Visiting the venue was probably one of the most productive things we did the entire week...and that's saying a lot because all of our vendor meetings were incredibly helpful. We have now settled on a ceremony site and have almost finished our buffet menu. Unfortunately, we also realized that our we need to increase the wedding budget (yet again) to accomodate the ceremony site we chose and the chair covers that we'll need for the reception as well.

Wedding shower favors

My family planned a wedding shower for me at my favorite brunch buffet, Hale Ikena, on Sunday. Too bad it directly coincided with all the presidents of several different countries traveling from Waikiki to Koolina for APEC which required many major freeway closures. Either way the shower was perfect even with a few late comers...including ourselves. It was great to be able to get to see so much of my family and eat some great food. After opening all of our wonderful gifts Mr. Honda and I were treated to the traditional dressing of the bride and groom in wrapping paper. I'm so glad he was such a great sport about it.

Future Mr. & Mrs. Honda

Well, that concludes part 1 of our pre-wedding week recap. Hopefully it wasn't completely boring to you. But if so, feel free to skip the rest of the recap. I promise I won't be offended if you do :)

Pre-wedding week

This week Mr. Honda and I are in Hawaii. Unfortunately it's more for business than pleasure. Everyday of our little Hawaiian get away has been reserved for something wedding related.
When we're not in a meeting of some sort we will be spending our free time laboring away at our handmade invitations. Le sigh. Handmade invites seemed like the perfect way to cut costs and make our invites more personal...but for some reason I didn't think it would be as much work as it is turning out to be. Damn me for wanting such complicated and layered invites. Hopefully I will be pleased with the results and not sorely disapointed.

118 Days &Counting

So I have been pretty MIA in the past few months...and that kind of is the theme for how all things wedding have been recently. However a couple of days ago I got a big wake up call in my email when theknot.com reminded me that there are 4 more months until the wedding...INLY 4 MORE MONTHS! Where the heck did all the time go?

Looking at our calendar of events for the next 4 months is nothing short of completely overwhelming. It is full of a whirlwind trip to Hawaii to meet our vendors and make sure everyone is on the same page, deadlines, engagement shoots, and invitation assembly just to name a few. So hopefully the next few months will provide for a more interesting blog.

Second date

Yes, it's true...second dates are extremely important. Sometimes after the first date you have those rose colored glasses on that make your date look as handsome as David Beckham and as funny as Vince Vaughn. But then you go on that second date and you begin to realize he looks more like Vince Vaughn and is about as funny as David Beckham. Or maybe after the first date you have your doubts about whether he really is THE one. But then that second date really seals the deal. The same thing goes for your wedding dress.

As you may have read in a previous post, here, I thought that I had found THE dress after my first date with her. However, after seeing her for a second date, I found that she was not as flattering as I had originally thought. Instead of saying yes to the dress i opted for a first date with another dress. However, this dress was completely different style and silhouette than any of the dresses I had been pulling out of my many wedding magazines. I said yes to the dress after the first date and the moment I stepped out of the salon I was worried I had made a mistake. I worried so much that I even called the bridal salon later that day to see if I could put a hold on my order. I couldn't believe that I was now one of those brides who can't commit to a dress. Luckily my consultant was so patient and sweet and helped talk me down from the ledge. She even suggested that I come in for another appointment to re-visit the dress.

Turns out re-visiting the dress was just what I needed. Turns out that in the short time it had been since I had originally tried the dress on I had managed to completely forget what it looked like. Re-visiting the dress allowed me to remember exactly why I loved the dress. The salon even let me snap a few pictures of me in the dress so that if I ever had any doubts I could just take a peak at the pictures and remember just how perfect my dress is.

So the moral of the story is, always have a second date!

I think I wanna marry you!

Now that temperatures are on the rise it marks the start of wedding season. This weekend we had the pleasure of attending a wedding on Mr. Honda's side of the family. And in a couple of weeks we'll be headed down south for a wedding on my side of the family.

I have always loved a good wedding, but as a bride-to-be in the thick of the wedding planning attending weddings has taken on a whole new meaning. I remember as a non-bride-to-be the most important part of the wedding was whether the food was good or not. But now I am hypervigilant to every single detail of the wedding...the flowers...the table numbers...the centerpieces...the dresses...the suits...the table cloths...the chair covers...everything. 

As overwhelming as attending weddings has become as a bride-to be, it also makes me sooo excited to be  marrying my best friend and share our day with all the people we love most. I can't believe it's less than 8 months away!

Say yes to the dress?

This past weekend I set up an appointment during the Watters trunk show at the beautiful Bridal Galleria. I did some wedding dress shopping with my family during a trip to Las Vegas last month; and while I tried on some very pretty dresses I didn't find THE dress. All my bridesmaids live pretty far away from me I had been dragging my feet about going to try on dresses since I didn't want to go alone. Luckily a good friend of mine came to spend a day in the bay with me and help me go dress shopping.

Left: Diana courtesy of Vera Wang
Right: Ella courtesy of Amsale 

Since getting engaged I have been torn between 2 very different styles of dresses. The first style is the very romantic look with a big flouncy skirt, think Vera Wang. And the second style is much more of a clean and chic look, think of Amsale. I love the soft and ethereal look of big textured skirts, but I am weary that it may be too formal of a look. And although I love the clean and classic lines of a modern dress I was worried that it may just be a little too plain for my taste. Not to mention the hefty price tags that come along with those designer gowns ($5,000+)

Luckily it seems that during my appointment at the Bridal Galleria all my answers have been answered. I found a beautiful dress with a little bit of each thing I love the most about Vera and Amsale. And with a price tag that I can easily swallow. Did I mention pockets??? TRUE LOVE!

Unfortunately, I'm unable to make the full commitment yet. My parents are going to be visiting later in July and I want them to see the dress on me before I make my final decision. Hopefully they love it just as much as I do.

As of late...

We are now approximately 9 months away from the big day and we are slowly, but surely checking things off of our seemingly never ending wedding checklist. So much has happened since the last time I blogged...

Courtesy of Lorelie Friedheim

Last weekend we spent a day with one of Mr. Honda's co-workers wives, Lorelie, who graciously offered to do our engagement pictures. First we spent some time at the beautiful Japanese Tea Garden and the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Then we stopped over at Palace of Fine Arts. And we ended our day at the beautiful UC Berkley campus. We had so much fun and are so lucky to have our engagement pictures done by such a wonderful and talented photographer. Here's a little sneak peak she provided us. 

And earlier this week Mr. Honda booked our flights for the wedding. The fact that I'm marrying the love of my life and best friend in less than a year is really starting to sink in. I am so excited!

The great paper debate

In an attempt to save some money we have asked my mom to help us design our wedding invitations. Now if you know my mother...you know she does not lack in the creativity department, but she has also never undertaken a project quite like this.

We've gone back and forth for the past month or so. And my mom has sent us multiple samples to help us decide what design we want to go with for our invites. Luckily Mr. Honda has been extremely patient and helpful (read: very agreeable to what I want) when I ask him whether he prefers this pattern versus that pattern; the darker green paper versus the lighter green paper versus the light sparkly green paper; the pink belly band with the green emblem versus the pink belly band with the pink emblem; etc.

It seems like we've finally been able to settle on a design, now we just need to prepare ourselves for the daunting task ahead of assembling over 100 of these intricate, layered, invites. I think I speak for the both of us when I say that we're just *thrilled* At least it will give us a lot of quality time together :) 

Bridal party looove

All my lovely ladies have received their cards. So as promised here's a little peak into what was in those pretty little pink envelopes I posted last time (here).

On the front of the card said, "They say I need someone to hold my dress up when I have to pee". Inside the card I asked the girls to be my maid of honor/bridesmaid. On the left side of the card I created a pocket to hold several different inserts. The first insert was titled "I promise," in which I promised them I would keep my inner bridezilla in check and ensured they would not be forced to wear a horrid bridesmaid dress. The next insert, "Expectations," listed out the events that I expected them to attend. My maid of honor is from socal and my bridesmaids are from Hawaii so I wanted to make it clear that the only events they were required to attend were the rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself. On the "Attire" insert I addressed the topic of bridesmaid dresses, hair, makeup, etc. Lastly was a "Meet the bridal party" insert in which I provided them with contact information for each other. The girls in my bridal party have all been important in my life, but they don't know each other so I thought it would be nice for them to be able to get in touch and get to know each other.

A little love for my bridal party

If you know my mother, you know that she is CRAZY creative. In fact she has graciously offered to help design, print, and cut all our pieces for our wedding invitations in order to help us cut some costs in our already over the top wedding budget. I, on the other hand am not nearly as creatively gifted as my mother. So this past weekend with a little computer know-how from Mr. Honda I squeezed out what little creative juices I have to create a little something to send out to the girls in my bridal party.

The girls I chose to be in my bridal party mean the world to me and I just wanted them to have a little reminder of why I asked them to be in my bridal party. Also, the girls don't know each other yet, so I wanted to give them a little introduction to each other. Thanks to my cousin, Lehua, whose beautiful cards to her bridal party inspired me (here and here). I hope to send them out tomorrow. I'll be sure to post more pictures of what my cards look like after the girls get them...don't wanna spoil the surprise!

-Future Mrs. Honda

Happy -1 year anniversary!

Yesterday marked exactly 1 year until the Mr. Honda and I will officially tie the knot. Just the thought of it alone sets my heart a flutter.

-Future Mrs. Honda

A wedding filled weekend

So this weekend was all about weddings...weddings...weddings.

On Saturday Mr. Honda and I made our way to the beautiful home of a custom wedding invitation designer. We spent over an hour pouring over sample invitations and luxurious papers with absolutely delicious textures. She had so many beautiful invites. Not to mention that she was extremely helpful. Before we met with her I felt completely wishy-washy about what I envisioned for our wedding invites. But now the vision is crystal clear! Not to mention she's willing to give us a discount if we self-assemble our invitation suites. I am double and triple crossing my fingers that we'll be able to afford to work with her. But even if not I am so grateful for all the time she spent working with us and helping us refine our vision of our invitations. I would definitely recommend her services to any brides-to-be in the bay area.

This morning we headed over to Crate and Barrel in the city for a special wedding registry event. The entire store was closed for the event and we and several other engaged couples were provided with a scanner and wandered around the store scanning to our hearts desire. To make things even better they provided us with complementary mimosas, cappuccinos, and freshly made eggs, sausage, and waffles. And as we finished up and turned in our scanners they gave us a gift bag too.

We then headed over to Union Square to relax a bit before our next registry appointment at Macy's. While we were there we saw this most adorable Yoda heart there. Much to Mr. Honda's pleasure he has made me into quite the geek.

We then made our way over to Macy's where we began our registry in search of some fine china and other such luxurious items. But much to our surprise the everyday dish and glassware was much more reasonably priced than at Crate and Barrel. So it seems that we may have to rethink some of our registry choices in order to help our guests get more bang for their buck. But we have quite a while to refine our registry, so it'll be nice to take the time to pick out the things that really suit us.

All in all it was a very productive weekend for wedding planning. And Mr. Honda was surprisingly patient throughout it all. I really am a lucky girl.

-Future Mrs. Honda

Swimmingly...sorta

I'm excited to report that the wedding plans are coming along swimmingly. We booked our venue, photographer, and videographer.

Unfortunately we're still in search of a DJ/emcee and florist. The cost of DJs/emcees that we've looked at aren't too bad, but flowers...YIKES! I definitely did not expect flowers to cost so darn much. I am crossing my fingers that some family/friend connections can help us out in this department. 

-Future Mrs. Honda

Save the date!

Mark your calendars folks! March 3, 2012 is the day that Mr. Honda and I will officially begin our lives together.

-Future Mrs. Honda

Could it be true?

We may have actually chosen our venue! Now we just need to cross our fingers that all the stars align and the venues, photographer, and videographer we are hoping to get are all available on the same day.

Cross your fingers for me folks! We need all the luck we can get.