Monday, July 25, 2011

Great Advice

read a real wedding story over at Green Wedding Shoes and at the end of the post the blogger asked what advice the new bride would give to those who are planning right now and i must say, it is one of the best advices i've seen/heard so far as i'm planning my wedding, and here it is:

Have fun, and remember to savor every single moment of the entire process! A wedding is not just one day. It starts with the proposal and spans over every second of planning, every moment of indecision over a detail, every victory over a project, and every minute of incredible joy up until you both collapse together at the end of the wedding day, exhausted and blissfully married. Up until that final day, focus on the things you have control over and learn to accept the things you don’t. On the wedding day itself, just dismiss all those what-if’s and could-have’s. Something is bound to go astray if not just a little; don’t let it bother you because in the end the only thing that matters is marrying the person you love. So relax, go with the flow, and celebrate every second. It really will be the best day of your life."

From Green Wedding Shoes a handmade michigan wedding by BreeAnn and Nik

Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Proposal

almost 2 years ago in late september 2009, roy surprised me by showing up and picked me up at work when he should have been back at UBC studying for his upcoming exam. we then went for grocery shopping and went back to his house for dinner. i usually kept my rings on my finger as i prepare for dinner (at that time i had two rings on each of my middle fingers, the one on my left hand is a custom ring with a seal that said "forget me not" and roy had the same seal as necklace, and the ring my right hand is a promise ring roy gave me after we got back together a year ago from that day), but because i had ground pork for one of my dish, i took both rings off and put them on the side table in roy's living room.

after about an hour of prepping and cooking, it was finally dinner time and not until half way through dinner i remembered that my rings were off and my hand suddenly felt naked! too tired to get up from my seat and walk over to the side table to get my rings so i asked roy to get them for me. at first he refused to get them for me but after a few minutes of whining roy gave in, but when he came back with my rings, they weren't the rings that i put down, it was a ring that i had been dreaming of for a long time - a diamond ring - the Tiffant Legacy from Tiffany & Co..

because roy could only fit a coffee table in his living/dinning room so we sat on the floor as we eat and so he was not on one knee as he said to me he had found the person who he would like to spend the rest of his life with and asked me if i would like to be that person. and to be honest, i think i must have sat there blanked for a good ten seconds or so after i saw the ring in his hand because all i had in my mind at the time was three words - OMG! but of cause i said yes in the end, otherwise we wouldn't have been planning this whole wedding today!

though it wasn't the most exciting proposal story, and it's probably wouldn't get much hoo and ahhh and awww's, and it was not how i had imagine it would have been. but it was the perfect little intimate proposal that's just perfect for us.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

8 more to go

8 more months and we will be husband and wife. just realized today that i only had 8 more months and there are still soooooooooooooooo much to do for the wedding! well so far I've got: the venues, photographers, my dress, my shoes, roy's wedding band, all my flower centerpieces/favors for Vancouver, my head piece and one of the dessert tried out.

and things that still needed to be done are: save-the-date, invitations, guest books, my veil, roy's outfit, cake order, all of the decor, flowers for the ceremony and the hkg part of the wedding, the bridesmaids' dress and accessories, jewleries and my wedding band, music play list and most importantly - booking a celebrant.

so much to do and so little time ...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Engagement Photo Shoot Part 4 - Steveston Museum

I picked Steveston to be the location of our engagement photo shoot is because 1) it's kind of a place where is sentimental to us - six years ago, we "announced" our relationship by showing up hand-in-hand for the first time at a barbecue at Garry Point Park - which is just a few minutes walk from where we have the photo shoot; 2) it has the outdoor feel of Vancouver; 3) it has one of my favorite cafe - note here I am addicted to coffee and cannot function without it - Rocanini is modern and fun and unique which is kinda like us; and 4) Steveston has an old world charm with antique looking buildings and streets also another one of my love - Museum. I love going to museums, I could spend and had spend hours walking around in a museum. Walking around museums and looking at pictures and histories always make my wonder how would it be if we were living in the past. I dream as I walk, wonder as I read, fantasise as I am surrounded by antiques. I love going to museums, and so I picked this location. all images credited to Jamie Delain Photography

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Engagement Photo Shoot Part 3 - Dock Area 2

After a quick change of outfit in Starbucks, we were ready to take more photos. I must say this group of photos are my favorite out of the entire shoot - the sky, the dock, the shadow. How she had captured us so naturally and use natural light to create such amazing pictures, Jamie was truly amazing, don't you agree?

all images credited to Jamie Delaine Photography

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Engagement Photo Shoot Part 2 - Dock Area

we went out to the sun-setting afternoon after we finish shooting in the Rocanini (we must apologized here for we forgot to say thank you to Rocanini's staff who let us take pictures in their cafe) and Jamie continued snapping away with her Canon 5D. i was so glad that the afternoon turned out great because that morning was not promising at all. here are some of my favs of our outside shoot by the dock.




all imgaes credited to Jamie Delaine Photography

Monday, July 11, 2011

Engagement Photo Shoot Part 1 - Rocanini Coffee Roasters

we had this part of the photo shoot at a very unique coffee shop in the steveston area name "Rocanini Coffee Roasters". how did we end up at this location? well, one afternoon last month as i drove down to steveston to check out places where we can have our engagement, i drove past this coffee shop and as many of my friends know, i am completely addicted to coffee and how can one simply passes by such an cute coffee shop and not get a latte? so i went in, got a latte and two delicious cakes for afternoon tea (well i took the cakes with me to roy's office in richmond and shared with him, and so no, i did NOT eat two cakes on my own) and since i saw this place, i knew i had to have my engagement photos here and so on the day of the photo shoot, i asked Jamie to meet us there and there we were, taking some most gorgeous pictures i ever did see.


all images credit to Jamie Delaine Photography

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Inspiration Board 101

today as i was trying to make my own inspiration board for not really the first time, i came across this awesome blog post by a blogger herself teaching people how to create an inspiration board using a program name Picasa 3. unlike most other blogger who would ask you to buy a Adobe Photoshop software which would coast you at least a couple hundred dollars to begin with, Picasa 3 by google is free, yes! IT'S FREE! i am more that excited to have found this and so here it is how to make your own inspiration board by Petit Elefant, so those of you who would like to start a blog like me and who is planning a party, a wedding, renovating a home, or just simply designing and would like to have an inspiration board of your own, go CHECK IT OUT!

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

The Perfect Dress

having the perfect wedding dress is every girls dream and though i have never been dreaming for my wedding since 5 years old, since i got engaged it was hard not to start dreaming of the perfect dress. and i am telling you, finding the perfect dress was HARD! so much harder than i thought it would be and who knows i could be so indecisive?!? silhouette wise, i knew that i would take a ball gown if not, at least an A-line dress because what girl doesnt like poof. of cause the pouffier the better. but more pouf means more materials and in the end it means more $$$$$$$$. so after endless hours of searching for the perfect dress I managed to narrow down to less than a dozen gowns and here they are, some long, some short, some white, some colored. which one do you think i like the most and which one do you see me walking down the aisle in? how much do you think i spend on my wedding dress in the end? take a guess and we will see who'd got it right and let me know why do you think i would be in the dress you pick!
(p.s. the ones who already know and have seen me in my dress (yes folks, i've got my dress already!), please do give out the answer, coz you wouldnt want to ruin the surprise would you?)

Sweet Pea by Ivy and Aster $$ Beverly Wood By Dolly Couture $

LZ3063 by Lazaro $$$$$$ Fiesole by Melissa Sweet $$$

Candy by Monique Lhuillier $$$$$ Nazaret by Aire Barcelona $$$

8501 Justin Alexander $$ Where the boys are by Matthew Christopher $$$$

Amelie by Amsale $$$$ Galina Exclusive at David Bridal $

Carina by Amsale $$$$

Monday, July 04, 2011

Our Wedding Color - Tiffany Blue, Yellow & Orange

found this awesome inspiration board over at Enjoy Events Co a couple of days ago & its exactly the color of our wedding! Tiffany Blue, Yellow & Orange!(well, there was no orange in this board, but whatever!)

remember the day I ask roy what color he wanted for our wedding he was half asleep and vaguely answer "blue" which was also the color that first comes into my mind, so agreed or not, remember he made a decision or not, our main color IS going to be Tiffany blue.


image via Enjoy Events Co

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Movie Time!

A few days ago on Canada day, we both had a day off from work and spent some quality time together. After brunch with mom, we head off for a movie that we wanted to see (well more like I wanted to see) - Bridesmaids. It was a great movie, it was funny and cute. But out of all the comedy of the bridal party and the misery of Annie in the movie, I learned something - when we fail, feeling sorry for ourself and making others feel sorry for us will not make things better; when we fail in our lives, what we really need to do is to stand back up and fight back. And that's the lesson I've learned from Megan, the sister-in-law-to-be of Lilian the Bride, who seems like a total losser but is actually so much more successful than everyone else in the bridal party of the movie. All in all, Bridesmainds was a good movie and I will watch it again in a heart beat.

Saturday, July 02, 2011

The Past Six Years

For the past six years, as busy as the two of us were, we tried our best to spend time with one another. Road trips (Victoria, Seattle, Portland), I met his family and he met mine, we're each other's only guest at our University grad (well my families were there for mine too), fancy dinners, special events (Festival of Lights, Beauty and the Beast at the Stanley Theater, Romeo and Juliet at the Brad on the Beach, Christmas Carols at the Queen Elizabeth Theater etc.), and we spend hours, I mean HOURS on the mountain of snow. Most of the 6 years were full of fun and happiness and we thought it would be nice to share our happy memories.