Chong's Wedding Planning Journal for Oct 10, 2010 Wedding ( A LOT OF PICTURES & TEMPLATES!!!)

[chong]

I know everyone says this... BUT I cannot believe it's already my turn. This forum really kept me sane during the whole wedding planning period. It's been a week since my wedding but it's never too late to share this wonderful experience with everyone.

 

I want to thank my AZUL SENSATORI forum ladies for all the support!!! So here it goes...

 

We got engaged in Cozumel, Mexico during our first scuba diving trip at this little restaurant called Especias.

 

      

 

I've tried couple of wedding dresses but decided to design my own wedding dress with a designer Miguel Rodriguez in Houston, TX. I've also decided to design bridesmaids dress too. This is a sketch of my dress and my bridesmaids dress. I really had a hard time visualizing my wedding dress. It took almost a year to put it all together (for various reasons). I was getting really nervous and could not wait to see the final version of my dress. It turned out BEAUTIFUL and more than what I had envisioned but not sure if I want to go through that stress again. 

 

 

And this is how it turned out... (sorry I don't have really good pictures of the dresses)

 

  

 

I bought my earrings and necklace from Swarovski... something simple and matches my wedding dress belt.

 

I found this picture of bouquet and asked the resort to make my bouquet just like this and matching one for my bridesmaids...

 

 

And for our wedding bands... my fiance (husband) wanted something unique so we got him a tungsten ring.

 

 

 

more to come...

[DiamondGirl]

Awesome pics!! More please!!

[lesley_mexico_bride]

the bouquet is gorgeous! congrats!

[ldunson]

The dress turned out beautiful!

[chong]

Before I knew about the VISTAPRINT... I used www.zazle.com to create our SAVE THE DATE card.

 

 

I don't have a picture of back of the postcard...but I have the wording in the attached document.

 

Save the Date.doc29696k .doc file

 

For the invitation... I got really creative after reading the DIY forum. I made a passport invitation using one of the templates I found here in DIY forum. I went to KINKOS to print and cut the invitations. My fiance (husband) and I stapled the passport invitations and send them off. I have to say.. it was really hard and frustrating but it turned out better than I had expected. We were able to add many pages to out passport invitation.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

I attached the passport invitation template I created. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Passport Invitations_Double Sided.pptx1066483k .pptx file

 

I've also created the Pre-Travel Brochures for our guests using VISTAPRINT.

 

 

 

more to come...

[chong]

I forgot the most important stuff...

 

my SHOES! I bought these two shoes from ZAPPOS.com. I could not decide which one to wear for the longest time. I ended up wearing #1 shoes for my wedding.

 

#1

#2

 

 

My inspiration board for Hair & Makeup:

 

 

 

I actually did my hair and makeup at the resort and turned out GREAT! This is a picture of trial run for my hair and makeup a day before my wedding. I actually had flowers in my hair on my wedding day but not in this picture.

 

 

I also had my eye lashes done in Houston before my trip to Mexico. I got it done from Amazing Lash Studio in Rice Village in Houston, TX. My lashes look so pretty and natural looking. I highly recommend it.

 

And my hubby's clothes and shoes... We got the white shirt from Van Huesen, white pants from Macys and shoes from Bass. We also got the matching shirt for the groomsmen (blueish gray shirt). We bought the shirts for the groomsmen and asked them to wear white pants with any brown sandal.

 

   

 

 

For the reception...

 

This is a picture of the cake we wanted for our wedding - minus the purple flowers and two tier cake instead of 3 tier cake.

 

 

And this is what we got on my wedding day...

 

 

We thought it was so funny. Nothing like the picture but it was really delicious cake so we didn't care.

 

For the sweet heart table & guest tables, my mom made all the decoration stuff. She is super talented!!!

 

Sweet Heart Table

 

For the Guest Tables:

 

 

more to come...

[chong]

Cont. Reception Stuff...

 

I bought maracas for everyone for the reception from www.amols.com It was so much fun dancing with it. I also put a tag on the maracas...

 

Instead of tapping on your glass, here is a system with Mexican Class.

Stand and shake with all your might to see the groom kiss his bride tonight.

 

 

This is the template for the maraca tags.

 

Shakers.ppt108032k .ppt file

 

Instead of having a traditional guest book signing we purchased a plate for everyone to sign. We found this design online and went to a local pottery painting place to get it made for us.

 

 

We also brought lanterns for our beach reception. We learned how to make LED lights with on/off switch from the DIY forum - http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/f103/diy-led-lights-paper-lanterns-37079/.

 

 

We bought the blue LED lights and battery from buy-leds-online.com. We bought the white lanterns (8" and 10")  from www.paperlanternstore.com. This is how it turned out on our wedding day (I don't have a good picture of the reception lights).

 

 

 

For the ceremony...

 

We got the blue fans from the Knot for everyone in case the weather was HOT. It was free to engrave our names and wedding date on the side.

 

 

I also bought bubbles from the Knot and hang a tag. The tag says...

 

Rice may be tradition, but bubbles are more fun.
Please shower us with happiness when we are joined as one.

 

 

 

This is the template for the bubble tags.

 

Bubble.ppt169472k .ppt file

 

 

We bought the sand ceremony frame from "Say Anything" Design. It was a hit. Everyone thought it was a nice touch to our ceremony. (this is not a picture of us...)

 

more to come...

[tgallo]

i love the sand picture frame! 

 

thanks for posting! 

[chong]

OOT Bags...

 

We bought the bags from Whole Foods for $0.79 a bag. even though it wasn't beachy but it was something our guests can use on daily basis.

 

We bought beach towels from www.towelsoutlet.com. We didn't put our name on it but just included the location and date for them to remember us.

 

 

We also included a hand sanitizer with its holder from bath and body works.

 

 

 

Since I am Asian.. I had to include something Asian - CHOPSTICKS!

 

 

We didn't put any other "hangover" kit or other little items for the guests since they were only staying 3-4 nights.

 

I think this is it! I hope I didn't forget anything.

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy planning

 

 

[wendyjd]

Everything looks great.  Glad you had an amazing wedding.  LOVE your dress.  How wonderful that you designed it yourself.  Congrats again to another October Mrs!!!