Lesee's planning thread after the fact 04*18*2011

[lesee]

OOOOOOH it's my turn. A little after the fact but I didn't have any time to sit down and write this post until now.

As all the ladies before me, big thanks to the creators and all the ladies on Bestdestinationweddings.com. There is SUCH a wealth of information here! Big ups to the APRIL 2011 ladies as well, even though I only found that thread probably a month or so before I got married - you girls are the best. So basically just a huge THANK YOU to everyone. Super sonic cyber hugs to all!

SO....my now husband and I met 3.5 years ago in a bar and I wanted nothing to do with him at the time. However after a 2 hour conversation that night, I ended up giving him my number (something that I never did). We went on a date the following thursday and we both thought that the other was just going to be some sort of fling...well, we.were.wrong. Fast forward 3 years and 2 months....

December 20, 2010 my husband popped the question in Stanley Park in a clearing that where we could see the Lionsgate bridge and West Vancouver. The clearing also was on a hill and once the question was asked I was so surpised that I stepped backwards, stumbled and almost rolled into coal harbour! (I actually don't even remember that, my then fiance had to tell me all the details - the moment was so surreal). It was also so incredibly dark that I couldn't see a ring when he was on his knee and holding a box up! I thought he was doing what Seth Rogen's character said to Katherin Heigl's character in knocked up when he holds up a ring box and says that "this box is a promise...." After I said yes and we cried and hugged and all the mushy stuff he says "there's a ring too". So I was pretty stoked. This is what he proposed with which he had custom made by Minichiello Jewellers (who I can't say enough fabulous things about) - the inspiration is the Tiffany Legacy Ring - there are special little details in the ring that I adore - there is a tiny black diamond at the base of the ring:

 

Because of our job constraints we realized that if we wanted to get married this year, it would have to happen pretty quick. We figured April was a good month, talked to a Travel agent and did copious amounts of research.  By Jan 2nd we had chosen a resort - The Paradisus Palma Real in Punta Cana, Dominincan Republic and chosen a date with the Romance Department there of April 18th, 2011. We sent out 86 electronic save the dates - we mentioned on the STD that only those who RSVP'd would receive a formal invite. But we were banking on the short notice as we always wanted a super small intimate wedding and that's what we got. Our immediate families and my husband's best friend were our only guests and it was perfect.

These are the save the dates I created on photoshop. We only printed one to snail mail to Grandma:

 

 

 

The invitations that were sent to all the the guests that RSVP'd were a DIY project. We bought the paper at Paper Zone in Everette WA and I created all the content on Photoshop and ultimately tied together with twine:

 

 

On to THE DRESS. As we had been planning on getting married for a couple years altho not technically engaged, we knew that we would have a really quick engagement so I started looking for a dress last summer. I knew I wanted sexy, something light and breathable. It was actually the lady at the boutique who made me try on this dress.  It looked like absolutely nothing on the hanger but when I tried it on - I knew. There were no tears or anything like that - I just loved the dress - particularly the back and it was below my budget including the alterations! It is the Passion dress by Something Blue - The boutique is of the same name (Something Blue) in Vancouver. I loved dealing with them. They were so patient as I went to go try on the dress SEVERAL times before I made my decision. (I started a thread as to what to wear  in the regards of UNDERS under this dress....I went with the commando brand thong but I also really liked the Change brand for those ladies in Canada)

 

I found my hair flowers online by a company called Handle & Spout - I had them put in a bit more brighter yellow - I loved them:

 

My earrings I bought the day before we left at Le Chateau for $20

I'm 5'9'' so I felt heels were a little pointless for me, I was barefoot for the ceremony and because of the fact that I'm quite a clutz and didn't feel like twisting my ankle at my reception - i opted for these little comfy numbers that I bought at Nordstroms

My sisters bought my bracelet as a gift which they purchased from Stella and dot.

 

My bouquet was made up of 8 white Cala Lillies:

 

I  asked both my sisters to be my bridesmaid by sending them these flower arrangements - they were totally surpised!!

It was very important to me to have dresses that my sisters liked and would wear again. I gave them an idea of what I liked and they pick the dress so I bought them the "Beribboned" dress in pewter from Anthropologie's new bridal website BHLDN - my sisters bought their necklaces through Stella and Dot. They carried ginger flowers with a random yellow flower and had Handle and Spout hair flowers I also purchased for them.

 

The Groom and his boys were decked out in linen pants and shirts from Studio Suits (the BOMB!!!) which I thankfully found out about through this site! The groom wore all white and the boys wore natural linen coloured pants and white shirts that fit them like a glove. I highly highly highly recommend Studio Suits - don't they look handsome?

 

 

The kids were so much fun to dress. I bought the tutu's from an online etsy seller - Little Dreamer's Inc - the little tanks were bought at some random kid's store in Orlando by my sister, she also made the gerber daisy pins on their shirts. My original idea was to paint a giant pink and yellow heart on each of the shirts but decided against it after realizing how difficult it was to actually find plain white tanks for girls in Feb!!! For our little dudes we found the white shirts at the gap, the pants at a random kids store at the Seattle Premium Outlets and their skinny ties were made by another etsy seller - BoogerandTash

 

I bought these clutches as gifts to my sisters from another Etsy seller Lolis Creations...I loved them so much!

 

 

Our oot bags - I designed the logo and the bags are actually made from vintage t-shirts (if anyone is familiar with cancon CBC shows - the shirts are from Coronation st!!)purchased from a reusable bag company called in Vancouver called Me and You. We tailored each back to each couple - bought books / or magazines (from Costco) and the usual stuff like advil, immodium, blistex, golf balls etc. from target. The kids got water guns and whatever type of books the liked. I designed the labels, again on photoshop...

 

 

 

Our RIngs which we had made at the same place my husband had my ering made - Minichiello's - they did SUCH a great job.

 

 

 

Our ceremony - we chose the "Chill Out Chic" package and it took place on Olympus Beach - we rented a sound system and did the ipod thing for both the ceremony & reception

 

 

we had the WC put these fans on the chairs that we added just a little bit of ribbon to

 

 

As we had a small wedding, we opted for a rectangle table on the resort's Olympic Terrace so it gave more a feel of a family dinner. For the centre pieces I made luminaries out of white paper bags I bought from DeSerres in Vancouver. I punched holes in them with a decorative hole punches from Michaels and bought batter operated tea lights from Target. We opted out of having a guestbook and used postcards with the idea that people would write their favourite memory of the trip or wedding and mail it to us. It didn't work out the way we thought it would as everyone forgot to tak them back to their rooms! I also printed out menu's detailing our buffet dinner. My sister who is GF was able to eat a lot at the reception so I was pretty happy about that. We rented the chinese lanterns to  Our table set up looked like this:

 

 

 

We also hired fire dancers which were pretty much the best thing ever - all the kids were fascinated by them!!!

 

 

Now we're on to our AHR which takes place on June 11th with all our friends - we're SO excited...here's a little preview of that with our invitation!

 

I hope I haven't forgotten anything!
Enjoy!

[Janet1480]

You did an amazing job! congrats on being a Mrs. I'd love to see more of your pics from your special day so please do share I am getting married at Paradisus Punta Cana in Oct...cant wait!!! Congrats again!

[lesee]

I forgot to post a picture of our cocktail hour on the beach (that we didn't get to attend as we were taking photos down the beach). This was taken by the best man

 

[mich1011]

wow everything looks amazing!!! are you a graphic designer? Your designs and colors were so perfect and ahh i just loved it your colors really popped and i loved every little detail!

[krsmith]

Great planning thread! It looks like it was a beautiful wedding! I love they men's' suits. Did you get their shirts from there also? Congrats!

[JayKay]

Everything looks great! I got engaged only a few days before you and can't imagine planning a wedding so quick!

[lesee]

You betcha. The shirts are from Studio Suits. I would order a suit from them for myself. Very Very good quality stuff
 

Originally Posted by krsmith 

Great planning thread! It looks like it was a beautiful wedding! I love they men's' suits. Did you get their shirts from there also? Congrats!

 

[lesee]

THANK YOU!!!

 

I am not a graphic designer actually but flattered that someone would think so!!! We were on some serious time constraints so I knew if I needed to get the invitations out soon enough, I had to do it myself. I'm not gonna lie, there were nights I was so frustrated I wanted to throw my laptop out the window.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mich1011 

wow everything looks amazing!!! are you a graphic designer? Your designs and colors were so perfect and ahh i just loved it your colors really popped and i loved every little detail!

 

[lesee]

Sure, I'll PM you a link to more photos later on today - and thank you!

 

Originally Posted by Janet1480 

You did an amazing job! congrats on being a Mrs. I'd love to see more of your pics from your special day so please do share I am getting married at Paradisus Punta Cana in Oct...cant wait!!! Congrats again!

 

[Maritza919]

Great job! Everything turned out great! Congratulations!