Monica & Tuan

First honeymoon photos

2008-07-04T09:34:00.012-04:00

So as I wait for the digital files from the wedding to come in, I went through the 2000 photos I took from our Bora Bora honeymoon and selected a few to blog about! But honestly, the photos just don't do this island justice!

So this is a view of the lagoon from the plane flying into Bora Bora. Look at all the lovely blue water!
We were greeted at the airport with leis made from tiare flowers (the national flower of Tahiti):

We stayed 2 nights at the Intercontinental Le Moana Resort in their lagoon overwater bungalow #30 (aka loveshack #1):

And then 5 nights at the 1 year-old Intercontinental Bora Bora and Thalasso Spa Resort, in their diamond overwater bungalow #211 (aka loveshack #2) with an unobstructed view of Mount Otemanu:

This is the boating dock where we caught the shuttle to the main island at Thalasso:

While in Bora Bora, we jet skiied and snorkeled:

And a few more neat photos I managed to snap while vacationing in paradise:

So I would definitely recommend everyone go to Bora Bora at least once in their lifetime. It was my best trip ever and we were very sad to come home :(

Wedding Slideshow

2008-06-27T08:29:00.004-04:00

Our wedding slideshow from Josh is up! Hooray :)

Our first Pro Pic

2008-06-23T12:36:00.005-04:00

So just got back from our honeymoon, and decided to check out Josh's blog for fun and found this:

Photo by Josh Brown (c)

Okay so it's not actually a photo of me and Tuan, but it's our first professional wedding photo and it's of my beloved hand knitted ring pillow! Love it :) Can't wait to see the rest!

We're married!

2008-06-09T12:31:00.001-04:00

The day was a blur, but it went smoothly and was more beautiful that I imagined. No rain though it was super hot. Now it's off to Bora Bora!

Photo courtesy of Sara :)

Happy Birthday Honey!

2008-05-30T00:49:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday Honey! I know you're not a fan of this photo, but it's one of the few I've taken of you myself and I rather like it. You're expression mirrors exactly what you were thinking ... "I wish she would put that gigantic camera away! We're in a restaurant trying to eat!". He he.

Anyways, happy last birthday as a bachelor. All your birthdays after this will be as my hubby :) Thanks for 2.5 wonderful years and looking forward to celebrating 100+ more of your birthdays with you!

Pretty in Pink - Rinbearer's Pillow

2008-05-29T08:37:00.000-04:00

I've come to the realization that there are a few details that most people will most definitely miss on the wedding day. One of those details is our ringbearer's pillow. It's quite the DIY feat for me as I am not a sewer ... in fact I'm quite bad at it. So knitting, sewing, and stuffing the ring pillow was challenging to say the least. But I absolutely love the end result (though it's far from perfect).

As you can see, I sewed on pink buttons at each corner and in the centre of the bow. It's this button on the bow that I think is most unique!

Yup, the button is engraved with our names and wedding date. Funny thing is that these engraved buttons are actually made as a child safety product. They're like ID bracelets that are sewn onto your child's clothes so if they are ever lost their name and a contact phone number are always on them. So I ordered a pack of pink buttons, with our names and replacing the phone number with our wedding date ... and voila, instant personalized ringbearer's pillow!

Oh and while our actual wedding bands can be seen in the photo (not sure if I've blogged about those before), they won't actually be carried on the pillow. The best man will actually have the rings for safekeeping.

Long Range Weather Forecast

2008-05-27T08:39:00.001-04:00

So far so good. Sunny with a few clouds. I could definitely live with that. Though long range forecasts are never reliable in Ottawa. So until the 5-day weather forecast comes out next week, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

With a little help from our friends

2008-05-19T00:48:00.002-04:00

What happens when a bride finally realizes she can't do everything herself and needs help? A wonderful thing that's what. With only a few weekends left to go, and 100+ programs to make, I finally broke down and asked my fabulous friends for help. And over the course of this long weekend, we managed to finish all the ceremony and reception programs!

Makes me wonder why I didn't ask for help earlier ... oh yes, it's because I feel bad putting people to work and I confess to being an absolute control freak!

And having completed all the programs ahead of schedule, I found the time to make another DIY project: origami flowered branches (idea and instructions came from this awesome eco-bride). I must say they turned out so cute! If I had discovered this earlier, it would have made for cheaper and more unique reception centerpieces!

One year ago today ...

2008-05-13T08:33:00.003-04:00

On what was mother's day last year, driving back home from Toronto, we stopped by the Tulip Festival at Dow's Lake. And amongst my favourite flowers, on a bench by the water, Tuan proposed.

And in less than a month, our engagment will be complete and we'll be married. And though at times the stress of planning a wedding may seem to overshadow the real meaning behind our wedding day, I cannot wait to become his wife and start on the next chapter of our lives!

Happy one year engagement anniversary honey.

Our Wedding Night(s) Hotel

2008-04-30T11:09:00.009-04:00

So in Chinese tradition, the bride is not allowed to return home to her parents house until 3 days after the wedding, at which time a celebratory dinner is held in the newlyweds honour. Not sure what the significance of this is, but that's what we'll be doing.

Unfortunately, as our new house won't be ready we don't really have a place to stay. But since I also needed a place to change dresses after the tea ceremony, we decided to book a hotel room for those 3 nights.

Our first choice was the Hilton Lac-Leamy. It's a newer swankier hotel than anything in Ottawa and close to both downtown Ottawa and our ceremony site (Rockliffe Park). Unfortunately, it's completely booked up on our wedding weekend. So our second choice was the old but always classic Fairmont Chateau Laurier.

But as luck would have it, one of our bridesmaid has a special connection with the Hilton and Casino Lac Leamy (she's totally awesome and so is her connection btw!). And we've now got a deluxe room booked at the Hilton and I'm super excited. An added bonus is we can go gambling on our wedding weekend ;)

The Gorgeous Lobby with Glass-Blown Chandeliers.

No yucky granny-style flower prints on the bedspread!

Thanks so much :)

38 Days left!

We've Been Hit Over 200 Times!

2008-04-28T19:20:00.004-04:00

With 40 days to go until the wedding I checked our website today and we have finally surpasses 200 hits on it! And we get so many great compliments on it too. We're glad everyone likes it as we really loved the design as well. And it was so much fun filling in our stories. Too bad no one actually votes in our polls.

Painting the Town Red

2008-04-23T09:20:00.002-04:00

The last two weeks have been quite exciting in terms of attire for our bridal party.

First off, after months and months of searching the malls (in Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal) and the internet, we found pink + red ties and socks for our groomsmen! And I'm so happy with them! I think they'll be so much fun and look fabulous in the photos. I have a feeling though our groomsmen might not feel the same way about them as I do. But free (for them!) is free and I really wanted to incorporate our colours into the bridal party's outfits.

Without further ado, here they are!

Aren't they so cute? And I just received the bridesmaid dresses we ordered from Netbride last Friday and they look fabulous as well. I'm really impressed. They came in 2 weeks earlier than expected and best of all they were at least $50-$80 cheaper (even including shipping and taxes) than if we had bought them at a bridal store! And while the dresses, ties, and socks are slightly different shades of red, they look good together:

And they look good with each other too! (Excuse the picture quality. I know better than to take photos with a bright window in the background but there was no place else to hang them!)

45 days left!

It's Official!

2008-04-11T20:00:00.004-04:00

So Tuan and I went to the City of Ottawa Client Service Centre in Orleans this morning to get our marriage license. It was relatively quick and painless, but quite expensive for a piece of legal size paper! Neverless we are now officially able to be married! A marriage license in Ottawa is valid for 3 months after its date of issue. And we need it when we meet with our officiant next month. They asked us some interesting questions such as whether or not we were related (apparently if we are related we could still get married but legally not be allowed to have children!) and if there was any reason why we would not want to be married (i.e. if it's an arranged marriage against our will). I can see why these questions are asked, but it was strange to hear them nonetheless.

So the countdown is now on! 57 days left!

Drink Wine and Be Merry!

2008-04-03T09:09:00.003-04:00

I must confess I've been avoiding blogging about the little details of the wedding because I don't want to spoil everything for the 2-3 guests that happen to read by blog regularly, lol! But Tuan and I completed our latest wedding project this past weekend and it was so much fun and we're so thrilled with them that I can't help put blog a little but about it. For our reception, in order to save money and because most of our guests are not big wine drinkers, we decided to try and make our own wine. It's actually a lot easier than it sounds. You just go to the store, select the wine you want, the store actually makes the wine, you come back in 2 months, you bottle it and then take it home to age for another couple of months. Another added bonus is you get to label it yourselves. Tuan and I designed our own personalized wine labels and we loved how they turned out! We only hope the wine tastes good, though we sampled some when we first selected our types of wines and they were very yummy (this coming from a non-wine drinker though). So here's a sneak peek of our white wine. It's in black and white with some details faded so I don't think it'll spoil too much!

Our first wedding gift

2008-04-02T22:51:00.002-04:00

What an exciting weekend! So much progress to blog about, but not enough time to actually do it. But I will take a moment to write about receiving our very first wedding gift this weekend because that was very exciting and totally unexpected. We just sent our invites last week and our wedding is still a little over 2 months away. But I got a call to pick up a gift on Saturday morning. And when I went to pick it up this is what we got:

A lovely written card ...

and a shiny new bread maker!

I had actually forgotten I had put this on the registry. I'm dying to open it and try it out ... but I'll wait until I actually have my own kitchen to do so in. But it looks like a lot of fun :)

Only thing is, it made me realize I have forgotten one thing in the whole planning process so far ... I didn't plan on having to write thank you cards until after the wedding! Yikes, better get on that right away!

Parlez-vous Francais?

2008-04-01T12:53:00.006-04:00

In a previous blog I wrote about our upcoming honeymoon. Well this weekend we finally made our last arrangements and I think it's safe to announce that this June we'll be traveling to French Polynesia for our honeymoon! Specifically, Bora Bora ... said to be be one of the most beautiful and romantic islands in the world. Ever since I saw photos of Bora Bora, I fell in love and have desperately wanted to go.

Bora Bora is an island with a lagoon, filled with varying shades of blue blue water. Another thing that comes to mind when you picture Bora Bora are luxurious overwater bungalows.

Tuan and I are going to be spending 8 relaxing, sun-filled days in Bora Bora. Our first 5 nights will be spent at The Intercontinental Bora Bora Le Moana, and our last 2 nights at The Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa. We will be staying in an OWBs similar to this one:

Almost like a one bedroom condo! Minus a kitchen.

It also comes complete with a glass windowed coffee table so you can see and feed the fishes below right from your living room! How cool is that?

And as a new member of the Intercontinental Ambassador's program, we get a free upgrade to the horizon OWB at Le Moana (awesome view of the lagoon and Mountain), and the Sapphire OWB at Thalasso. I definitely recommend joining if you ever plan to travel to Bora Bora. It pays for itself and more after just a one night stay!

So hopefully in 3 months time I'll have my own photos and experiences to blog about :)

And thankfully no, this is not an April Fool's Day joke :p

Coming soon to a mailbox near you ...

2008-03-25T13:02:00.002-04:00

After months of working on our wedding invitations, they are finally ready to reach their final destination ... our guests! Suffice it to say, our labours of love were probably our biggest and most stressful wedding project ... but we love them so much and would do it all over again in a heartbeat (or at least I would ... don't know about you honey!). And so it is with great anticipation and great sorrow (I'll miss our babies) that we will be parting ways with our invites and mailing them out today. So be on the lookout for a brown butterflied envelope in your mailbox. May you love and care for them as we do ... he he.

Combining 2 Loves

2008-03-07T13:58:00.004-05:00

Other than Tuan, 2 of the biggest loves of my life are photography and fashion.

A few months ago I purchased my very first dSLR camera, the Canon 40D. And while the quality of photos shot with an SLR cannot be beat, some situations in life still call for a good point and shoot camera when you cannot possibly lug around a big thousand dollar one.

My current point and shoot cameras are old and lacking in the quality department. One of the items on my wedding gift registry "wish list" is the Canon Powershot SD950 IS Digital Elph. This baby is 12.1 megapixals, has image stabilization, and the new DIGIC III processor. Meaning it's pretty darn awesome. It'd be perfect for our honeymoon, and to slip away in my purse in order to make sure I capture all of life's essential moments. It also has an underwater camera case you can buy ... something we'll definitely be needing at our honeymoon destination.

So back to my love of fashion. Ever since I saw my friend's adorable Coach wristlet, I've been addicted to this brand of fashion handbags. I cannot stop buying them.

So what happens when you combine 2 of the things I love most in life? Something irresistable is what happens. Behold:

Now that's a good looking camera :)

Paradise Here We Come!

2008-03-05T08:41:00.005-05:00

We are so close to finalizing our honeymoon plans, and I'm so very very excited. In fact, I'm over the moon excited (please excuse the pun!).

To avoid jinxing anything, I won't disclose much further. But see if you can guess where we'll be going from these drool-worthy pics:

I already feel the travel sergeant in me coming out. I'm obsessing over planning and scheduling in all activites and excursions (that includes relaxing and lounging time!) already. Hmmm, come again isn't this supposed to be a relaxing honeymoon in paradise? he he.

Interview with the Flower Girl

2008-02-19T17:32:00.004-05:00

Tuan and I have been searching long and hard for a flower girl and a ring boy for the wedding. We both love kids and incorporating them into our wedding was something we really wanted (plus dressed up kids make for some adorable photos!).

But our search has been rather ... difficult. I mean we didn't just want to pull some random kids off the street and have them in our wedding (for one thing it would be weird having strange kids in your wedding party, and secondly it would freak both those kids and their parents out!).

Many of our friends don't have kids yet, our parent's friends' kids are all about our age, our niece won't even be 1 year old by our wedding, and other relatives with little kids (such as cousins) live on the other side of the world and are not likely to make it to the wedding.

But this past weekend I had a chance to meet my mother's friend's granddaughter. And the moment I laid eyes on her, it's like a neon sign started flashing in my mind with the words "Potential Flower Girl!!!". The thing is, cute little potential flower girl (PTG) is barely 3 years old. So I still had my doubts. So in the midst of play time with her (we banged out some tunes on the piano, I introduced her to the house pets, played cars and I spy with my little eye), I snuck in the following questions:

Do you like flowers? Answer: "yes" (Monica thinks to herself "awesome!")
Do you like throwing flowers? Answer: PTG gives Monica a strange look and says "NO!" (Monica thinks "not so awesome")
Do you like dressing up and wearing pretty dresses? Answer: "yes. my favourite dress is pink!" (Monica thinks "Yay! One of my colours is pink!")
Do you like walking in front of lots of people, say like 80 of them? Answer: "yes. my mommy taught me how to walk" (Monica thinks "I don't think she quite understood the question")
Do you like people taking photos of you? Answer: PTG shakes her head vehemently. (Monica thinks "Too bad, my photographer takes awesome kid photos!")

Turns out, PTG isn't so camera shy after all. And she also knows how to use my Canon digital camera. So I think that if a 3 year old can operate a digital camera, she can be a flower girl. Unfortunately it looks like my PTG might not be in town for the wedding. Her family is planning a summer getaway right around flower girl duty time. And so the hunt continues ...

A new name, A new signature

2008-02-18T19:38:00.002-05:00

My name has always been a pain in the sense that it's so long. Not to mention my current signature is just my name in cursive - very boring and very forgeable. One of the side advantages of getting married will be a new shorter and hopefully more creative signature. I find myself testing out different kinds of new signatures with my new name. I'm a doodler, so I find myself trying out signatures just about anywhere. The above possible signature was born on a Jack Astor's tablecloth using crayons :)

Gocco Glass Etching

2008-02-17T20:06:00.003-05:00

One of my many ideas for wedding favours was to have champagne glasses etched with our monogram/logo. I thought (and still think) that it's a classy gift and could be put to good use and something people would always remember came from our wedding (i.e. personalized).

Searching around for vendors that would make personalized etched glassware was a challenge. And in the end proved to be too expensive. But I couldn't let it go just yet. I decided to try and etch my own glasses. I used champagne glasses from Ikea, my print gocco machine, and some etching cream and did a trial run today. After a few hours and lots of frustration, I made 2 very imperfect champagne flutes:
Some parts of the text did not etch completely, giving our monogram a very jagged and unprofessional look. It was hard to achieve perfect flush contact between the gocco mesh filter and the champagne glass as the glass was not a uniform surface. So next I tried glass votive holders. And while there was improvement, it still wasn't good enough.
Seeing as it took me hours to produce 2 champagne glasses and 2 votive candle holders, I don't think I'm up to the task of producing 250 of these "pain-in-the butts". So while I might do a few more just for myself, I am now brainstorming new wedding favour ideas.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T19:49:00.003-05:00

This year for Valentine's Day, just like for Christmas, Tuan and I are not exchanging gifts. However, that has not deterred me from buying him a card. However, having seen the Valentine's Day card exchange going on at Weddingbee.com, I decided to spruce the card up a little bit. Playing on the "bee" theme (as in "Will you bee mine"?) I totally stole Mrs. Lemon's felted bee idea and came up with this for the envelope:

And as for the card itself, I bought my usual Hallmark card (I am so guilty of flipping over a card and looking for the crown!) but replaced the photo of the strange couple at the front with one of our engagement pics.

I think he liked it. And as it turns out I still got a dozen red roses for Valentine's Day, and a super nice dinner at the Keg (used a gift card we received for an engagement gift from 2 very wonderful friends ... you know who you are ... thanks so much!).

Does anyone want our autograph?

2008-02-04T00:38:00.001-05:00

So imagine my surprise when I couldn't fall asleep tonight and decided to surf the web, I discovered that our photographer had put up a few of our engagement pictures on his website!

I mean we always knew it was a possibility, but I never really imagined photos of me & Tuan would show up on someone else's website but our own!

Josh actually put up some of my very favorite photos from that shoot.

I must say it feels exciting to be somewhat famous :p

The Best Lip Balm Ever!

2008-01-17T19:34:00.003-05:00

In this incredibly snowy and cold winter we've been having in Ottawa, I have been cursed with never ending dry, chapped, and cracked lips. And while I've tried almost every lip balm out there on the market (Burt's Bees, Body Shop, Blistex, Bonne Bell, Neutrogena, etc.) there is only one that has worked for me. So introducing my miracle lip balm ... Kiehl's Lip Balm #1. Any cracked lips Ive got will heal overnight simply by applying it before bedtime.

In the past, I would have to buy these babies in bulk whenever I was in Montreal or Toronto, as sadly Ottawa didn't have its own Kielhl's store. But now Holt Renfrew in Ottawa has it's very own Kielh's counter and my lips (and I) are rejoicing. And to keep my lips in perfect pucker condition for the wedding, you can be sure I'll be stocking up.

Well I recently ran out of my miracle balm and my honey, being the sweet and wonderful guy that he is, went to Holt's and bought me a little present ...

Thanks honey. You're the best :)

The Wedding Bling

2008-01-08T23:31:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

And what better way to start the New Year than to dedicate the first blog of 2008 to sparkly, oh-so-pretty bling. More specifically my wedding bling -- I mean band :)

The story of my wedding band is actually a bit of an ordeal (for my sweetie that is!). In the beginning, I had no idea what kind of wedding band I wanted. Should it match his? Should it be plain so as not to detract from my engagement ring? I think we went to almost every jeweler in the city. And from those visits I decided that a plain band was not for me. I wanted sparkle ... and I wanted lots of it! What I really really wanted was an eternity diamond wedding band. But I just couldn't find one in my price range. Especially since my band had to be platinum to match my engagement ring. And platinum adds about $1000 to the price of the ring. Additionally, the colour of my engagement diamond is quite white and so the diamonds in my wedding band needed to be of comparable colour which also meant more $. Sigh.

That is when I took my search to the internet. And through many message boards and Knot bios, I came across SignedPieces.com. They're an online jeweler located in New York. And they offer a huge variety of diamond wedding wands. The best part is their prices. They offer superior quality diamond bands for significantly less than what I was seeing at my local stores. So from the positive reviews on the web, I decided that this was where I would buy my band.

I decided to have Signed Pieces make me a custom wedding band. Why custom? Instead of a full eternity band I got a 3/4 eternity band, meaning that there's a small gap in the band with no diamonds. I decided to do this in case I ever needed to resize the ring in the future.

It took one month to make the ring and when I received it by mail I was so excited. I tried it on and while it was beautiful, much to my dismay I felt that the ring was incredible thin. When put next to Tuan's wedding band, it looked like nothing. I didn't know what to do. Tuan insisted that if I wasn't happy with it, I should just buy another band (Have I mentioned what a sweetie he is?). But I just couldn't justify that. I decided to take the chance and ask Signed Pieces if they would exchange the ring for a bigger one (and pay the difference of course!), despite the fact that it was custom made. So Tuan spoke to the owner and the agreed! I could not believe it! Best news ev-ah!

So one month later, she's (yes I refer to her as a she!) finally here and I absolutely adore her. I didn't want to take her off. But apparently that's not very good luck, so now she sits pretty in her box until June.

Here she is, along with my equally as loved engagement ring (please excuse the blurriness, I have not mastered the art of bling photography):

She's got round diamonds instead of princess cut ones to match my engagement solitaire because I found that round diamonds are more sparkly and they stand out more if they are in the pronged setting as opposed to channel set.

So thank you so much Signed Pieces, and of course thank you too honey :)

Our last unmarried Christmas ...

2007-12-17T17:22:00.000-05:00

So the holidays are in full swing and I'm about halfway through my Christmas shopping list. It didn't help that Ottawa was "gifted" with 38cm of snow yesterday! But at least we are assured of our first white Christmas in several years :) Yay!

But Christmas isn't about snow or gifts under the tree. It never has been and this year is no exception. In fact, Tuan and I decided months ago to forgo Christmas gifts in order to save up for our house and wedding. After some more talk though, we decided we'd actually buy our "gifts" on boxing day when everything goes on sale. I say "gifts" because we're actually buying ourselves a flatscreen LCD television ... something that we'd actually need (well we need a TV, but not necessarily a flatscreen one!) when we move into our new house next summer but could get at a far better price on boxing day.

So how many of you out there actually wait until Boxing Day to buy big ticket items instead of paying more for them before Christmas in order to have them wrapped under the tree? And what do you think of this idea?

My DIY Projects - Part 2

2007-12-13T15:19:00.001-05:00

So my next DIY project was to make my own cards asking my friends to be part of the bridal party. From my save the date adventure, I new I wanted to incorporate stamps into the design. And I wanted the cards to be in my colours, pink & red.

First I ordered the cards and envelopes from Paper Source. I bought the A7 folded card in Luxe Blush and their matching A7 envelopes. If any of you are looking for light pink stationary just a word of caution, I was somewhat disappointed that Luxe Blush was more a peach pink than a baby pink. But it was close enough and I worked with it.

Next I went on the hunt for some nice dress stamps I could use for the bridal party dresses. Addictedtorubberstamps.com has a huge selection of stamps and scrapbooking materials. I couldn't decide on just one dress stamp so I bought two! One for the maid of honour and the other for each of the bridesmaids. I just couldn't resist the adorable fairy like dress! Plus the fairy dress was on sale and I used a coupon for 50% of the solid dress stamp.

Once that was done I bought my remaining supplies at Michaels: round corner punch, butterfly paper punch, cranberry ink pad by ColorBox, red/pink ribbon, red and pink patterned cardstock, and the red glitter alphabet letters.

I scoured the web for what to write inside the card and came across several poems for bridesmaids, maid of honours, and even flower girls at: NYcityWeddings message board and this website. I modified them slightly to suit each girl better.

So when the project was all said and done, here is what the final products looked like:

The girls were touched and loved the cards so all in all a successful and very fun project!

Light up my life ... or not!

2007-12-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

So I previously blogged about my reception decor ideas in this post. What I really loved and wanted was lit up lanterns hanging all over the ceiling of our venue, just as Huinita had at her gorgeous reception. The challenge was how to light all the lanterns up (from within and their cords) without having a whole bunch of electrical cords running across the ceilings and down the walls.

I thought my solution was bettery operated lantern lights. The Paper Lantern Store sells hanging battery termals with 12 LED lights that are supposed to last 12 hours running on 3 AAA batteries. So I bought two terminals and two 18" paper lanterns (one red, one pink to get an idea of colour) to test them out. I also bought battery operated Ikea Christmas lights (each set takes 4 AA batteries) off of eBay.

And here is what they looked hanging from the pot lights in my hallway:

Not too shabby, though the colour of the inner lantern lighting was a little more cool toned than warm toned (like the cord lighting) ... but I was trying to save battery power with LED lights. Now in theory the hanging battery terminal isn't supposed to dim noticeable until 5 hours after it's turned on. However in practice this isn't the case. After only 2 hours, the lanterns dimmed A LOT. So much so that there really wasn't any point in having a battery terminal attached.

The time it takes my Day of Coordinator (DOC) to hang up all my lanterns will be 1-2 hours alone. By the time the guests show up no one will know they are lit up. However, the cord lights stayed on the entire night.

So it seems as though I won't be lighting up my lanterns from the inside unless I come across another cordless method of doing so that will last more than just a couple of hours :(

The Right Printer for DIY Projects

2007-12-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

In the process of making our own wedding invitations, I discovered that not every printer is suitable for the job. My original printer was an HP inkjet all-in-one. It has a single paper tray located at the bottom of the printer. For printing on plain and photo paper, as well as scanning, it was (and is) fabulous. But when it came time to print on cardstock, this printer would eat up all my pretty paper! Try as I may, I could not get it to print on carstock (even text weight) without a paper jam occuring, streaks appearing on the paper, or slanted text and images occuring.

And so I set out to research a printer that could print on heavier paper. I perused and inquired on message boards, researched on cnet.com, and finally came to the conclusion that what I needed was a printer that could load paper from the back of the printer (that is have a back loading paper tray). And if I was going to go out and buy myself a whole new printer, than it would have to be one that prints excellent quality and colour. And one brand of printer really stood out in the reviews. The Canon Pixma series. Based on positive reviews and availability at my local electronics store I decided to purchase the Canon Pixma ip4500.

So what's so fabulous about the Canon Pixma ip4500? Well first off, it prints beautifully on 105 lb (285 GSM) paper. No paper jams, no funny streaks, and perfectly straight. It is also capable of borderless photo printing. Picture and text quality as well as colour representation is amazing, which I think is mostly attributed to its 5 individual colour cartridge system: cyan, magenta, yellow, and 2 black cartridges (1 for photo, 1 for text). Having a separate cartridge for text makes for crisper, cleaner text printing. Separate ink cartridges also saves you money.

Also for price, it cost $149.99 Canadian at Staples. It's somewhat costly for a stand-alone printer without a scanner ... but I think it was worth it. If I had had more money, I would have bought the Canon Pixma Pro 9000 ($500) but that's an investment for another day. So bottom line is if you're looking for a printer that will print on heavy cardstock, look for one that has a back loading paper tray.

Just one last note, the Canon Pixma ip4500 did print on Stardream metallic cover cardstock but certain colours look quite dull due to the sheen on the paper. Black was fine, but red and pink were washed out.

My DIY Projects - Part I

2007-12-10T15:41:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make. While I love doing crafty things and do it yourself projects, I'm not one of those people who's imaginative enough to always come up with my own ideas. I usually look for inspiration from other sources such as the internet and magazines. So in fact, almost all of my DIY projects actually come from other people ... I just put a little twist on it and/or modify it to make it my own. But in the world of wedding blogs, Knot bios, and wedding websites where people share ideas for the purpose of inspiring others, I think that as long as you give credit where credit is due than all is good :)

So here is the very first DIY wedding project we tackled:

1. Save the Date Postcards

Totally "borrowed" this idea from the amazing Mrs. Pootiekins over at The Knot. Tuan and I had tons of fun taking photos of ourselves on our web camera (I think we had to take each shot over about 5 times because we couldn't stop laughing!). Then we just cropped and edited the photos in Photoshop to make them look like they were taken in a photobooth, added a red background with white text, and had them printed by VistaPrint.com (100 free large postcards was the deal at the time!). Each STD was mailed out in an Ivory A7 envelope purchased from Staples. Mailing labels with a butterfly (one of our themes!) were used for mailing addresses while the return address was printed on the back using my inkjet printer. To add a little pizzaz to the envelopes, I adorned them with vintage Cavallini Parisien stamps (purchased from eBay) in cranberry coloured ink.

There's Just Something About Choos ... I mean Shoes!

2007-12-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

Throughout high school and university, while my girlfriends would oh and ah over shoes and stock their closets full of sandals, wedges, pumps, stilettos, and boots, I would wonder what all the fuss was about. I mean how many pairs did a person really need? One pair for everyday wear, a pair of runners, a set of winter boots, a nice pair for special occasions, and sandals for the summer. I didn't really see what all the fuss was about.

But once I entered the working world, slowly but surely the shoe bug bit me. It started as a trickle. First it was the sparkly sandals (I'm a glitter girl at heart), and then the pointy toe pumps. Uggs and fur boots soon followed. As I blog this today, I estimate about 50 pairs of shoes in my closet! So what's a converted shoe girl to do for her wedding glass slippers?

Well in my research for the perfect wedding shoes, I came across designers such as Prada, Manolo, Louboutin, and Stuart Weizman. Names I only ever heard of while reading The Devil Wears Prada and watching Sex and the City. And here are a few I really loved:

From left to right: Monolo Blahnik Brooch D'Orsay Pumps (silver version made famous by Carrie from Sex & the City), Prada Beige Sequined Satin Bow Pumps, Christian Louboutin Mussilina peep toe pumps.

And while I loved the Pradas the best, they no longer sold them anywhere and so I had to continue my search.

Which is when I discovered Choos ... or rather Jimmy Choo's bridal collection. And it was love at first sight. There were so many to choose from and while I absolutely adored all his open toe pumps, the heel heights were much to high. So I ordered these sandals by calling their London store (the best customer service!) and in a few short days they arrived:
Simple yet its got some bling to it :) And while Jimmy named them Rye, I call these Choos my babies!

Resurrecting the Dead!

2007-12-10T11:42:00.000-05:00

So I didn't think I'd be blogging again. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but because I didn't want to spoil all my wedding ideas for guests who might be reading this. What fun is it when your guests show up at your wedding and already know what all your decor ideas look like? But I realize I can blog about many things, and revealing bits and pieces will not spoil the full effect seen in person. And truthfully, I did miss having an outlet vent (or rather express ... ahem) my feelings.

So I'm back, and in my first blog after the break I thought I'd share some of our engagement photos. The one vendor we felt the best about signing was our photographer, Josh Brown. And after receiving our engagement photos the day after we went to Montreal to take them, were were absolutely sure we made the right decision.

These photos were taken at the end of October, in and around Old Montreal and Old Port. I think he made us look pretty good don't you think?

Reception Decor Inspiration Part 2

2007-08-23T14:12:00.000-04:00

So last time I blogged about the reception, I spoke about the centerpieces. Turns out Wal-mart cannot order the vases for me, so I have to look for another afforable cylinder vase.

But my idea for the overall decor is lanterns. Specifically lit-up lanterns. I got the idea from another bride http://www.xanga.com/huinita/366539922/item.html. She had the most beautiful reception!

The trick is how to hang these lanterns up in our restaurant (if they will even let me!) and how to light them. I think the answer to the first question is to hang them from the pot lights. If we could somehow tie/attach the lantern cords to the potlights there would be no damage to the ceilings. As for how to light them, I've discovered long lasting battery operated lanterns and mini christmas lights. They should stay lit up for 12 hours+. Its not actaully that expensive, but it'll be hard work to put them up and take them down .... but they'll be so worth it don't you think?

To Videographer or not to Videographer ...

2007-08-23T09:36:00.001-04:00

At the beginning of all this wedding planning, Tuan & I both felt that photos were of the utmost importance and we really wanted to find a great photographer. We both didn't feel we really needed a videographer. I mean how often are we going to watch our wedding video. I never watch my childhood home movies anymore.

But my mom said that she felt it was important to have a wedding video to show our kids one day. That's the one thing she really regrets about her wedding. So Tuan & I figured we could get a friend to use a digital camcorder and record for us. Or, use a cheaper videographer.

But then I came across this wedding video:

http://www.lookeschvideo.com/?p=4

Its shot by a company called Still-Motion.ca from Toronto. They are incredibly expensive but so incredible good. Don't you just get goosebumps and want to cry when you watch this? Its so beautiful.

Now of course I don't want to spend a whole lot of money for a videographer, but I'd still really like something above home video quality. So now the hunt begins for a cheap but talented videographer.

For you girls out there that are already married, did you get a videographer for your wedding? If you did, was it worth it? If you didn't, do you regret it?

Hooray for Pink & Red!

2007-08-14T14:10:00.000-04:00

One of the first things people ask me after "When's the wedding date?" is "What are your colours?".

And I would excitedly tell them Pink & Red. And the response is usually rather non-ethusiastic. One person even told me she thought they would clash.

So just when my spirits were down about my colour choices, and I was thinking about changing the colours to Pink & Brown (very popular these days for many brides) Martha Stewart came to the rescue! She calls it Pink & Poppy and here's a few photos from her Spring Weddings Magazine:

Isn't it just so devine? I mean what could be more romantic than Pink and Red? They are teh colours of Valentine's Day after all.

And today I came across yet another person who shares the same opinion:

So Hooray for Pink & Red :)

My Reception Decor Inspiration

2007-08-14T10:46:00.000-04:00

So onto more cheerful things to blog about. Such as decorations! Specifically our reception decor.

I have long decided that our centerpieces would look like this:

The challenge is to find a vase that's tall enough and within our price range. Well we found something that could work at Wal-Mart in Orleans. But the trick is ordering 25 of them. Well I've been unsuccessfully trying to contact Mary, the head of that department, and so far no luck. The Orleans Wal-mart has horrible customer service. Most of the time they do not pick up the phone. When they do, they never transfer you to the right department. And as it turns out, the fabrics department just moved and they do not have a phone. But Mary only works during the week in the morning. Coincidentally the same time I am also at work. So I went in again this past weekend and left a message for her at the fabrics desk to call me, and surprise surprise ... no call. I'm not throwing in the towel yet, but I may just have to find a more customer-friendly alternative.

More of reception decor inspiration to follow.

The Woes of Wedding Planning

2007-08-14T10:06:00.000-04:00

Before I even got engaged ... well before I even had someone to possibly be engaged to ... I thought that wedding planning would be so much fun! I mean what's not to enjoy about choosing your colors, and trying on wedding dresses, and designing your very own invitations.

But now that I'm actually planning my wedding, it turns out that it's not all fun and games. Don't get me wrong, I love perusing the web and magazines for idea and I love trying on wedding gowns (I honestly have never felt more beautiful!). But there are other aspects of the planning process that never really occurred to me. Such as other people's opinions. Specifically those of our families.

I won't go into all the details as this is a public blog and anyone can read it, but let's just say that our families haven't agreed on most of the things we wanted. For example, I wanted a smaller wedding with familiar faces of close friends and families. What we're actually having is a 250 person affair with many faces I have never seen before in my life and probably will never see again. I wanted the day to consist of civil ceremony, followed by portrait session and concluding with a Chinese reception. What I'm getting is 2 extra tea ceremonies tacked onto the day making it a nonstop 8am to midnight affair. But what is life without comprimise right?

A monkey threw a wrench in my plans :(

2007-08-08T19:07:00.000-04:00

So you know when you've figured out the perfect plan? A plan where everything fits just perfectly and you get everthing you want?

Well when a monkey wrench is thrown into your plans, it doesn't make you feel very good at all. In fact, if you're a little on the emotional side like me, you feel like crying in frustration a bit.

The Chateau Laurier has always allowed wedding photographs to be taken in their hotel. If you're not having your reception there you have to pay a fee (something like $125). So when I asked about making such arrangements on my wedding day, I got the following shocking response:

Congratulations on your engagement, and thank you for your interest in including Fairmont Château Laurier as part of your celebrations!

We unfortunately no longer allow outside wedding parties to take their wedding photography in the Hotel. We are very busy at any given time with in-house wedding parties, and as such we have decided to reserve this privilege for those guests who are holding their reception with us as well. We were finding it difficult to conduct the flow of traffic between in-house and outside guests, as they all need to use the same areas of the hotel at the same time.

Perhaps you could try the Museum of Civilization, or the Art Gallery?

I thank you in advance for your understanding, and wish you a wonderful wedding day!

Sigh, that's really too bad as our photographer takes such beautiful photos in the Chateau Laurier. Its a hotel that is beautiful in that antique and historical sort of way, you know what I mean? I was even planning on spending my wedding night at their hotel :(

So after I get over my despair, what are my other options for possible indoor portrait locations? The National Art Gallery? The Museum of Civilization? Will I run into the same problems at these locations?

Our Reception Venue

2007-08-08T19:06:00.000-04:00

So the first thing we actually booked was our reception venue. Since there are only 2 Chinese restaurants in Ottawa that can accomodate 250 people, we knew we had to book quickly. We decided on Chu Shing Restaurant in Chinatown. Funny thing is whenever we tell people that were having our reception there no one ever knows it ... that is until we tell them that its across the street from the Yangtze Restaurant!

The thing is I can't figure out why almost every asian wedding is Ottawa is held at the Yangtze. In fact I have never been to a wedding reception at the Chu Shing before. But in our opinion, the space is bigger, the decor is nicer, and the food is cheaper. I snapped a few pics of the place when we had dinner there this past weekend. So you can see for yourself:

Rockliffe Park Pavillion

2007-08-08T17:36:00.000-04:00

I'm sorta getting into this blogging grove, despite the fact that no one else is reading this yet but me! But the idea is that I can keep people updated on wedding progress this way.

So we're in the process of booking Rockliffe Park Pavillion for our ceremony site. It came down to Rockliffe or Billings Estate ... but as Rockliffe is more central and closer to downtown Ottawa, it won. We stoppped by this past weekend to take a look and someone had just finished up a wedding! So I got some pictures of how it would look like all set up:

It really is such a beautiful spot. The view of the Ottawa River from the Pavillion is quite nice. I can only hope that the weather on our wedding day is as nice as it was when I took these photos! But at least its a sheltered spot in the event that it does rain.

Our Photographer!

2007-08-08T10:22:00.000-04:00

We spent the last week interviewing about 6 photographers and actually made a decision!

His name is Josh Brown, http://www.josh-brown.com/info.htm, and he's a student at Concordia University. He's had experience with weddings before, and we just love his style of photography. When we met him we were surprised by how young he is, but from his portfolio we know the skill (with both the camera and photoshop) is there. A major bonus is that he's about half the price of all the other photographers we looked at!

Here are a few of his photos that I just adored:

The first one is actually taken at our ceremony site, Rockliffe Pavillion. So its reassuring to know we have someone who's shot there before and is familiar with the unfavourable lighting conditions. He also takes beautiful portrait shots inside the Chateau Laurier which is why we're booking a hotel room to take full advantage.

He also offered to give us a free engagement session and since he's from Montreal we figured we'd have them done there.

I really think we lucked out and am so relieved to have such a major decision made :)

Preliminary Wedding Day Schedule

2007-08-07T15:23:00.000-04:00

So trying to pack in 2 tea ceremonies, a civil ceremony, time for photographs and a reception is going to be tough ... but I am of the mindset that if I want something badly enough, I will make it happen! So here's what I came up with. I pity the photographer and videographer that has to stay with us through this hectic day! Come to think of it, I pity me & Tuan. But as the saying goes, "No pain, no gain"!

Preliminary Wedding Day Itinerary

6:00 – 7:00 Bride gets hair done at hairdressers

7:00 – 8:45 Bride gets ready at home (Orleans), gets make-up done at home

8:45 – 9:30 Tea Ceremony at Bride’s House

10:00 – 11:00 Tea Ceremony at Groom’s House (199 Kent Street – downtown Ottawa)

11:00 – 12:30 Lunch at Groom’s House.

11:30 - 12:30 Bride sneaks away to room @ Chateau Laurier to get ready.

13:00 – 14:00 Civil Ceremony @ Rockliffe Park

14:00 – 15:00 Group Photos (wedding party and family) @ Rockliffe Park, GG's Residence

15:30 – 17:00 Couple Shots @ Chateau Laurier.

17:00 – 18:00 Relax in hotel room.

18:00 – midnight Reception at Chu Shing Restaurant on Somerset St., Ottawa

18:00 – 19:00 Guests arrive, have photo taken, are seated

19:00 – 21:00 Dinner is served, Speeches are given

21:00 – 22:00 Games, bouquet toss, slideshow, First Dance

22:00 – midnight Dancing until restaurant closes

I think we've tried to accomodate all 3 cultures represented (Chinese, Vietnamese, and Canadian). Once the parents meet I feel that some butting of heads may occur, but I'm going to try to stick to my guns. Any thoughts?

Photos from Our Engagment Day & Tulips

2007-05-25T20:48:00.001-04:00

I'm Engaged!

2007-05-25T20:05:00.000-04:00

A sunny day, my favorite flowers, paddle boating on the lake, and a gorgeous princess cut diamond ring. Could it have been any perfect a setting for a wedding proposal?

That's how my future husband asked me to marry him, at the Canadian Tulip Festival by Dow's Lake. He's a sneaky fellow my FH. Apparently he'd been planning for months. He even asked for my parents permission. Isn't that sweet? It may be old fashioned but my parents, who still hold on to many Chinese traditions, saw it as a sign of respect.

So now I have a fiancé. After 2 weeks it still takes some getting used to. But I like the sound of it :)

So let the planning begin!