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