About that boo-jet we were talking about earlier...
Before I go into detail about where it's all going, I think I should mention that Felipe and I made the decision to fund our own wedding. Now, I was never very aware of the whole idea of the bride's family paying for the wedding. Maybe it's a culture thing, but I always thought it was a combined effort between all families involved. Now that I'm more plugged in with wedding planning I've noticed that it is pretty common for the bride's parents to pay for a large chunk, if not all, of the wedding. I guess that's the tradition but it is something that neither I or Felipe would be comfortable with. The way we see it is this: if we made the decision to have the type of party that we are having then we should be responsible for funding it. Our parents have their own financial obligations, too. We would never want to burden them with another one.
I do understand the idea of parents wanting to throw the party for their daughter/son. I think being able to do that for your child is something to be proud of. But in that case, I wouldn't see it as my party. It would be the party that my parents were throwing for me. Along with that comes a potential clashing of opinions, obligations that I would be expected to fulfill, and guests that I wouldn't necessarily know or want at the party. With Felipe and I being the main decision makers, planning a wedding that is 100% us has been so much easier, stress-free, and fun!
Don't think I didn't get any heat from my parents, though. You'd think that being off the financial hook would make them happy, no? Well apparently, they- er, my mom- WANT to help. That's cool with me. I love my mom and I know that this event is just as important for her. She never had the whole church and big reception wedding. She gets to see one of her dreams come true for me. It just makes the day that much more special. So I told her I would love for her to help by continuing to show her support for our marriage, by helping me choose a dress, by coming shopping with me when I need to find a wedding-related item, by having lunch with me while we discuss all the girly wedding details. All the fun stuff! But that is still not enough for her! She keeps insisting that it is their obligation as parents to help contribute. Felipe and I have been really hesitant to accept much, but at the same time I don't want to hurt my parents feelings by not accepting anything. It sounds and feels so weird to me! Hurting someone's feelings by not accepting their money? hah! They should be happy, shouldn't they?
I've been trying to change my perspective on how I view this whole issue. I think that if my parents, brothers, or sister were throwing a big party that was special to them I would love to help out as much as I could. I guess I might be offended if they refused any help from me. I know my parents' situation and I know that they can't contribute much, so I don't want them to worry about helping us out. As of now we agreed to let them help us with little things that we will consider as gifts. I just don't want my parents to feel bad because they can't give us as much they wish they could. Felipe and I would not be anywhere near where we are now without the support that both our parents showed us while we were getting our education on! They have already done enough to raise two responsible people. This wedding is on us. :)
So, tell me...is it weird that we are paying for our own wedding? If parents are helping you out do you feel bad for taking their money?
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
How I Spent My Weekend
I've mentioned in the past that getting married at our church requires a number of steps. Every Catholic parish has different requirements for their marriage ceremonies, but I'm pretty sure that all require some form of marriage prep or "Pre-Cana" as I've heard it referred to as. Our tasks included collecting copies of our different sacrament certificates, completing an 8-hour marriage preparation course, a weekend "Engaged Encounter" retreat, and meetings with the priest at our church (who will be performing our ceremony). Felipe and I gathered our old sacrament certificates and took our day-long course back in September. We also registered for our Engaged Encounter weekend back then. This weekend (six months later) we finally went on our weekend retreat!
There are three retreat facilities that serve the Southern California area. They are located in Santa Barbara, Montebello, and Malibu. The retreat for the weekend that we chose was held in Malibu at the Serra Retreat Center. The place was gorgeous! I was def not complaining about having to be forced to spend a weekend at a hideaway spot nestled in the hills of Malibu overlooking the ocean.
The retreat activities were facilitated by two married couples. We were handed a book that contained several discussion activities on topics like openness in communication, unity in marriage, decision making in marriage, becoming a family, finances, etc. The majority of the weekend consisted of working through each of the topics in the book. The facilitators would first discuss each topic and give examples in their life as a married couple. Then, the engaged couples would separate for about half an hour to write our thoughts and feelings on each of the topic. After the writing period, we would reunite with our couple and discuss what we wrote. I know it doesn't sound too exciting by my description but it wasn't all that bad. I was always looking forward to see what Felipe wrote for each topic. For the most part, I knew what to expect from him but it is always refreshing to revisit and discuss certain life topics. It helped us to remember where we agree/disagree. The writing activities were broken up with other fun activities where we got to work together, a prayer service, and mass on Sunday.
The Catholic Engaged Encounter is (obviously) endorsed by the Catholic church, but I was relieved that it wasn't overly religious i.e., I didn't feel like I was gettin' my Jesus on all weekend! While they did mention and/or discuss topics encouraged by church (praying together, natural family planning) it didn't feel pushy at all. I'm sure it helped any inter-faith couples present at the retreat to be more comfortable as they were not trying to convert anyone. The only thing that might not "tickle your pickle" was that men and women were housed separately. It sounds weird, I know! A bunch of 20-something to 40-something year olds being separated and given a roommate of the same sex. But it was a Catholic facility, and we had to respect their rules at least during the retreat. We hardly spent any time in the room anyway. And, my roomie was pretty badass. When else can I use long discussions over colors, organza favor bags, and wedding coordinators as bedtime stories?!
Overall, it turned out to be a much better experience than I expected. I already spend most of my weekends with the boy. But there was something really special about this one. We got to focus on each other 100%. None of that usual day-to-day distraction. Just me and my man connecting, bonding, planning for our future and remembering why we fell in love with each other in the first place. I so wish we can just get married NOW! ::sigh::
holllerr! Straight from da 'Bu. MaliBu.
Are you planning to or have you done any type of marriage preparation/premarital counseling?
There are three retreat facilities that serve the Southern California area. They are located in Santa Barbara, Montebello, and Malibu. The retreat for the weekend that we chose was held in Malibu at the Serra Retreat Center. The place was gorgeous! I was def not complaining about having to be forced to spend a weekend at a hideaway spot nestled in the hills of Malibu overlooking the ocean.
The retreat activities were facilitated by two married couples. We were handed a book that contained several discussion activities on topics like openness in communication, unity in marriage, decision making in marriage, becoming a family, finances, etc. The majority of the weekend consisted of working through each of the topics in the book. The facilitators would first discuss each topic and give examples in their life as a married couple. Then, the engaged couples would separate for about half an hour to write our thoughts and feelings on each of the topic. After the writing period, we would reunite with our couple and discuss what we wrote. I know it doesn't sound too exciting by my description but it wasn't all that bad. I was always looking forward to see what Felipe wrote for each topic. For the most part, I knew what to expect from him but it is always refreshing to revisit and discuss certain life topics. It helped us to remember where we agree/disagree. The writing activities were broken up with other fun activities where we got to work together, a prayer service, and mass on Sunday.
The Catholic Engaged Encounter is (obviously) endorsed by the Catholic church, but I was relieved that it wasn't overly religious i.e., I didn't feel like I was gettin' my Jesus on all weekend! While they did mention and/or discuss topics encouraged by church (praying together, natural family planning) it didn't feel pushy at all. I'm sure it helped any inter-faith couples present at the retreat to be more comfortable as they were not trying to convert anyone. The only thing that might not "tickle your pickle" was that men and women were housed separately. It sounds weird, I know! A bunch of 20-something to 40-something year olds being separated and given a roommate of the same sex. But it was a Catholic facility, and we had to respect their rules at least during the retreat. We hardly spent any time in the room anyway. And, my roomie was pretty badass. When else can I use long discussions over colors, organza favor bags, and wedding coordinators as bedtime stories?!
Overall, it turned out to be a much better experience than I expected. I already spend most of my weekends with the boy. But there was something really special about this one. We got to focus on each other 100%. None of that usual day-to-day distraction. Just me and my man connecting, bonding, planning for our future and remembering why we fell in love with each other in the first place. I so wish we can just get married NOW! ::sigh::
holllerr! Straight from da 'Bu. MaliBu.Are you planning to or have you done any type of marriage preparation/premarital counseling?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
El Boo-jet
Well folks, we are eight months away from the wedding and we finally got ourselves a budget. Thanks to old Uncle Sam and all that money he takes away from us from each pay check plus a nice 1st time homeowners tax credit that just went into effect, I think we might be able to pull off a decent party. Having a budget is both empowering and scary. It's empowering because now we can actually make things happen. "What, the caterer needs a 10% deposit??? Well let me just pull out my checkbook." hehehe... Yet this budget stuff is pretty scary. Why? Well..umm...the first thing I did when I got home after finalizing our budget was open our guest list spreadsheet and cut more people from the list.
(Photo Source)
Weah! I hate that. I hate not being able to invite everyone near and dear to me who I really really really would love to celebrate our special day with. A part of me dies every time I move a name from the "A list" to the "B list." I have come to realize that budgets and guests lists are enemies. It is a harsh reality. They will never get along.
Felipe and I agreed already that the guest list will probably be the most difficult aspect of our wedding. We both come from large Mexican families and we are pretty close to our aunts and uncles. Even if we try to keep it an intimate event (i.e., parents, siblings, aunts, uncles) we are still working with a very large group. Just to give you an idea, for our engagement party we told each other that we were going to keep it as a close family celebration and only invite a handful of close friends. The total guest count for our "intimate" event was just over 60! Even then, I still received some negative feedback from family members who were hurt because they weren't invited. Sigh... I hate hurting people's feelings! It isn't that I don't love and appreciate my large family. I do! Plus, family gatherings are always fun because there are so many of us. But when it comes to working with a tight budget, it just isn't feasible to invite everyone. We want to throw a nice, fun, and organized party for our guests. In order to do so, we have to keep our guest list on the smaller side.
On top of that, we are pretty social people. We are lucky and blessed to have a great group of friends. I love that there is always something going on - whether it be a birthday party, a night out to go bar hopping, weekend dinners, housewarmings, USC home football games, whatever. We love our friends and want to include them all. In some cases they even know us better as a couple than some of our family members do. Many of them have witness our relationship grow from two timid 18-year-olds to an engaged couple. How can we not include them on the day when we become Mr. and Mrs.?
In a perfect world Felipe and I would be surrounded with all 200+ of our closest friends and family members on our wedding day. We would wine, dine, and entertain them all on a day that they would forever remember with fond memories and love. For now, we are guided by our limited budget and our creativity to maximize whatever what we can get out of it.
Is anyone else having trouble with the ever dreaded guest list? How do you deal with it?
(Photo Source)
Weah! I hate that. I hate not being able to invite everyone near and dear to me who I really really really would love to celebrate our special day with. A part of me dies every time I move a name from the "A list" to the "B list." I have come to realize that budgets and guests lists are enemies. It is a harsh reality. They will never get along.
Felipe and I agreed already that the guest list will probably be the most difficult aspect of our wedding. We both come from large Mexican families and we are pretty close to our aunts and uncles. Even if we try to keep it an intimate event (i.e., parents, siblings, aunts, uncles) we are still working with a very large group. Just to give you an idea, for our engagement party we told each other that we were going to keep it as a close family celebration and only invite a handful of close friends. The total guest count for our "intimate" event was just over 60! Even then, I still received some negative feedback from family members who were hurt because they weren't invited. Sigh... I hate hurting people's feelings! It isn't that I don't love and appreciate my large family. I do! Plus, family gatherings are always fun because there are so many of us. But when it comes to working with a tight budget, it just isn't feasible to invite everyone. We want to throw a nice, fun, and organized party for our guests. In order to do so, we have to keep our guest list on the smaller side.
On top of that, we are pretty social people. We are lucky and blessed to have a great group of friends. I love that there is always something going on - whether it be a birthday party, a night out to go bar hopping, weekend dinners, housewarmings, USC home football games, whatever. We love our friends and want to include them all. In some cases they even know us better as a couple than some of our family members do. Many of them have witness our relationship grow from two timid 18-year-olds to an engaged couple. How can we not include them on the day when we become Mr. and Mrs.?
In a perfect world Felipe and I would be surrounded with all 200+ of our closest friends and family members on our wedding day. We would wine, dine, and entertain them all on a day that they would forever remember with fond memories and love. For now, we are guided by our limited budget and our creativity to maximize whatever what we can get out of it.
Is anyone else having trouble with the ever dreaded guest list? How do you deal with it?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Wedding Industry Strikes Again
I did it. I tried on wedding dresses for the first time in my life this weekend. It was my second time inside of a bridal boutique (the first was a couple months ago when I went to find a bridesmaid dress for my cousin's wedding.) And, well, a bridal boutique is not the most comfortable place in the world. To me, it is the embodiment of the wedding industry. And a lot of times the wedding industry can be very cruel.
I wish I could say that I had the best time of my life. But honestly it was more of a reminder of how many things associated with weddings will try to suck out everything green from your wallet. I can say that the trying-on-the-dresses part was fun. All those white, flowing, dreamy dresses made me feel pretty. My mom and my sister were there to give me their honest opinions and support. It felt really good to have that woman bonding time. It wasn't really emotional, though. That's probably because I'm not a super emotional person. It was like, well.....trying on dresses. I was (and still am) really really excited, though. Can't wait until I actually have a wedding dress of my own to marry my man in!
I wish I had some pictures to show you but the boutique didn't allow us to take any. Boo! Plus, I haven't decided if I want pictures of me in white dresses populating the internets. A nosy reader who might happen to be marrying me could come across these pictures and I wouldn't be very happy. He can't see me in a fancy white dress before the wedding! Isn't that bad luck or something? Sorry homie, but this is part of the wedding planning that I'm not sharing with you. :P
I'm not going to share the name of the boutique where I went this weekend because I don't want to give it a negative image to anyone who might be reading this. The customer service and attention at the boutique was great. I have no complaints about that. The sales lady that helped me was super nice and didn't seem to be bothered that I had absolutely no idea of the type of dress that I wanted. I don't think I was as prepared as other brides because I went in not having a list of dresses that I wanted to see. I wanted to just try on different styles to see what fit best on me and what I was most comfortable in. When I was asked if I knew what I wanted to try on, I said "No, not really. I kinda want to try on everything." HAH! They must have thought I was crazy. But they tried their best to give me recommendations. And if they were frustrated with me, it didn't show at all! The thing that really surprised me happened at the end of my visit.
After about an hour of playing dress up, I had a couple of favorites. Best of all, the prices for both of them were less than I had imagined. They were def under my budget, and these were just the boutique prices. Being the relatively frugal person that I am, I thought "Hey! I should like go compare prices for the same dress(es) at different boutiques or see if I can find the same ones/same styles online for cheaper. Then I will really be under-budget!" So as I am saying bye to the nice sales lady, I ask her really casually if she can write down the names/styles of those dresses that I liked. She answered me in a way that kind of avoided my question and left me a bit confused. She said something like "Oh well they don't have names. They just have store numbers." She had previously told me who the designers were, so I asked her "well don't they have specific names for the designers?" And she said yes, but they don't keep track of that. Again, they just "went by the store numbers." By this point, I was still confused but I was starting to get the impression that she was not going to give me the designers' names for the dresses. I asked again (very politely) if they can refer to their store numbers to get the original designer names. Certainly they keep that information, no? The lady apologized and said that she could not give me that information. I asked her if that was part of the store policy and she said yes. By now I was thinking to myself "This is a perfect example of the wedding industry gone wrong." I was still nice to the lady. I mean, it's not her fault she isn't allowed to give out dress names so that I can go and find better prices elsewhere. But who knows? Maybe her boutique really did have the best prices for those dresses. It could have been the one! But I most definitely will not go back to that boutique because I do not support that type of competitiveness.
That boutique sent me one very clear message: that they do not have their customers best interest in mind. It proved to me once again that a large chunk of the wedding industry is all about profit and taking advantage of people trying to have their dream wedding by making them believe that they need to pay exorbitant prices in order to do so. Well, wedding industry, I'm here to tell you that I'm not going to play by your rules. If it takes me several extra hours to research the lowest price in my area for a piece of ribbon to tie around my pomanders, so be it! And guess what? If I need to go home and sit in front of my computer for 2 hours on a designer's website clicking one-by-one through every dress picture to find the one that I tried on and liked, then I'm gonna do it! And if we are going to spend lots of our hard-earned money on something in particular, it is something that we know will be worth it.
So there it is. My first dress shopping experience. Fun, yet eye-opening. I can't wait to find my dress for cheaper (and yes - I found the dress names online. Go me!)
Is it just me, or does anyone else think it is very uncool for bridal boutiques to do this? Better yet, has this happened to anyone else?
I wish I could say that I had the best time of my life. But honestly it was more of a reminder of how many things associated with weddings will try to suck out everything green from your wallet. I can say that the trying-on-the-dresses part was fun. All those white, flowing, dreamy dresses made me feel pretty. My mom and my sister were there to give me their honest opinions and support. It felt really good to have that woman bonding time. It wasn't really emotional, though. That's probably because I'm not a super emotional person. It was like, well.....trying on dresses. I was (and still am) really really excited, though. Can't wait until I actually have a wedding dress of my own to marry my man in!
I wish I had some pictures to show you but the boutique didn't allow us to take any. Boo! Plus, I haven't decided if I want pictures of me in white dresses populating the internets. A nosy reader who might happen to be marrying me could come across these pictures and I wouldn't be very happy. He can't see me in a fancy white dress before the wedding! Isn't that bad luck or something? Sorry homie, but this is part of the wedding planning that I'm not sharing with you. :P
I'm not going to share the name of the boutique where I went this weekend because I don't want to give it a negative image to anyone who might be reading this. The customer service and attention at the boutique was great. I have no complaints about that. The sales lady that helped me was super nice and didn't seem to be bothered that I had absolutely no idea of the type of dress that I wanted. I don't think I was as prepared as other brides because I went in not having a list of dresses that I wanted to see. I wanted to just try on different styles to see what fit best on me and what I was most comfortable in. When I was asked if I knew what I wanted to try on, I said "No, not really. I kinda want to try on everything." HAH! They must have thought I was crazy. But they tried their best to give me recommendations. And if they were frustrated with me, it didn't show at all! The thing that really surprised me happened at the end of my visit.
After about an hour of playing dress up, I had a couple of favorites. Best of all, the prices for both of them were less than I had imagined. They were def under my budget, and these were just the boutique prices. Being the relatively frugal person that I am, I thought "Hey! I should like go compare prices for the same dress(es) at different boutiques or see if I can find the same ones/same styles online for cheaper. Then I will really be under-budget!" So as I am saying bye to the nice sales lady, I ask her really casually if she can write down the names/styles of those dresses that I liked. She answered me in a way that kind of avoided my question and left me a bit confused. She said something like "Oh well they don't have names. They just have store numbers." She had previously told me who the designers were, so I asked her "well don't they have specific names for the designers?" And she said yes, but they don't keep track of that. Again, they just "went by the store numbers." By this point, I was still confused but I was starting to get the impression that she was not going to give me the designers' names for the dresses. I asked again (very politely) if they can refer to their store numbers to get the original designer names. Certainly they keep that information, no? The lady apologized and said that she could not give me that information. I asked her if that was part of the store policy and she said yes. By now I was thinking to myself "This is a perfect example of the wedding industry gone wrong." I was still nice to the lady. I mean, it's not her fault she isn't allowed to give out dress names so that I can go and find better prices elsewhere. But who knows? Maybe her boutique really did have the best prices for those dresses. It could have been the one! But I most definitely will not go back to that boutique because I do not support that type of competitiveness.
That boutique sent me one very clear message: that they do not have their customers best interest in mind. It proved to me once again that a large chunk of the wedding industry is all about profit and taking advantage of people trying to have their dream wedding by making them believe that they need to pay exorbitant prices in order to do so. Well, wedding industry, I'm here to tell you that I'm not going to play by your rules. If it takes me several extra hours to research the lowest price in my area for a piece of ribbon to tie around my pomanders, so be it! And guess what? If I need to go home and sit in front of my computer for 2 hours on a designer's website clicking one-by-one through every dress picture to find the one that I tried on and liked, then I'm gonna do it! And if we are going to spend lots of our hard-earned money on something in particular, it is something that we know will be worth it.
So there it is. My first dress shopping experience. Fun, yet eye-opening. I can't wait to find my dress for cheaper (and yes - I found the dress names online. Go me!)
Is it just me, or does anyone else think it is very uncool for bridal boutiques to do this? Better yet, has this happened to anyone else?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Nervous Time!
This week has got me nervous. A couple of important events are happening within the next four days. The first one is a visit to the "tax man." It's making me a little uneasy because this visit is going to determine our ultimate wedding budget. That's right- we are using our tax refund to fund our wedding day. It makes me a little bit nervous because that money could easily be applied to paying off so many other things. And what if we don't get as much from the refund as we are expecting? What if we have no budget? ay ay ay... I'm really looking forward to throwing a memorable party for our families and closest friends, but it is such a commitment in terms of money. I've learned to be a lot more realistic in the whole planning process. I've learned that what it really boils down to is that you can pay as much as you want or as less as you want. Want a photographer to follow you around all day? Well it's just as easy to find someone who will follow you around for $10,000 as it is to find someone who will follow you around with a camera for $1,000 or less. I know the results will all be different, but it's up to you to decide what you're willing to pay for: a photographer with 10 years of experience and hundreds of weddings under his belt, or an up and coming photographer with less experience but just as much enthusiasm. I'm leaning towards the latter. I've found myself thinking this way more and more lately.
The other notable event for the week is my first dress searching/trying-on experience. I am more excited about this one, but again I'm nervous about the money issue. I'm already going in with the mindset that I'm not going to buy anything yet. My dress search will be purely to "test the waters." I want to get a feel for the style of dress that looks best on me. Then maybe in a couple weeks I'll go to another boutique and compare dresses & prices. After that I will probably have to do some major internet research and price comparisons. I'm prepared for my dress search to take a while. I am also determined to get the best price out there.
All this thinking and worrying is getting me all riled up. What worries you most about wedding planning?
The other notable event for the week is my first dress searching/trying-on experience. I am more excited about this one, but again I'm nervous about the money issue. I'm already going in with the mindset that I'm not going to buy anything yet. My dress search will be purely to "test the waters." I want to get a feel for the style of dress that looks best on me. Then maybe in a couple weeks I'll go to another boutique and compare dresses & prices. After that I will probably have to do some major internet research and price comparisons. I'm prepared for my dress search to take a while. I am also determined to get the best price out there.
All this thinking and worrying is getting me all riled up. What worries you most about wedding planning?
Monday, February 16, 2009
A Challenge I Do Not Like
Centerpieces. Another one of those overpriced wedding items that I just cannot justify spending so much money on. They are lovely, true that. And tables just don't seem complete without some decorative piece gracing the middle. In fact, right now I have my little potted green plant sitting in the middle of my glass coffee table. No reason for it to be there. No reason at all, other than my table looks naked without it. So now, the important question is what to use as centerpieces for our wedding. Luckily, I kinda knew soon after our engagement what I wanted. Let's rewind back to May 2008.
Felipe had just asked me to be his wife a couple weeks before a trip to Mexico. We were heading to the state of Guanajuato and our itinerary included a visit to the historic town of Dolores Hidalgo. Being the crazy vacation planning freak that I am, I had read several travel guides and books to get an idea of what to expect in every town we were visiting. I kept reading how Dolores Hidalgo was famous for its hand made pottery - "talavera". It became one of the things I was really looking forward to for that trip. I was super excited for all of the handmade goods and was making sure to keep space in my luggage for all the goodies I planned on bringing back. Sure enough, Dolores Hidalgo lived up to its reputation of a "pottery town." Blocks were lined with so many different pottery shops, and the pieces were all so beautiful.
Imagine walking down the streets that looked like this:
And when you walk inside, you see all these beauties:
And just because you're curious you walk down the hall into the back room and find this:
I was in love. I wanted all of it (I still do!) We thought it would be really cool to incorporate some of these goods into our wedding. We weren't really sure what, though, since we had literally only been engaged for like two weeks and had not even talked about decorations or any of those silly wedding details. So we put that thought in the back of our mind as something to consider later in the planning process.
Fast forward to 8 months later and Felipe and I are getting ready to take another trip to Mexico. As I've mentioned before, our latest vacation included a trip to the town of Tlaquepaque. We went there on a mission to find us some talavera at cheap prices. We decided that we want to use talavera vases for our centerpieces and stuff them with fresh flowers. Well, Tlaquepaque did not fail in providing the talavera vases. The only catch was that they did not come cheap. The goods were way more expensive than what we had remembered in the humble family-run shops in the little town of Dolores Hidalgo (where there were practically no foreign tourists.) There was a way cool variety of talavera, though. Check out this gorg piece:
At over $20 per vase, this was way out of our league. But isn't it lovely?
I kid you not that the vases in Dolores Hidalgo did not exceed $10 a piece, so we were not willing to drop double the price of what we knew they really sold at. We gave up searching in Tlaquepaque and decided to hit the road to Tonala, another artisan town near Guadalajara. We had heard that Tonala was a little more low-key & less touristy. Indeed it was. It was like a huge street market. We were able to find some talavera here, but the quality wasn't quite as nice. We found one shop that had a large selection of talavera items, but only a limited quantity of the type of vases we were looking for. We grabbed 4 large vases and a couple smaller ones. At about $7 each, I wasn't complaining. I figured we should just start our collection now. We need at least 20 total. The challenge now is figuring how to get more vases to LA before November. Our current options are: 1) call up shops directly and find out if we can place an order to get shipped to the U.S. (the trouble with this is getting a hold of a good, reputable shop since most of them don't have email or websites); or 2)recruit some family members in Mexico to take a road trip to Guanajuato, buy them for us, and send them. Sigh... Right now our talavera collection is so tiny. Need. More. Vases.
We'll have to make a decision quick since it might take a while to ship if we decide to go that route. For now, I'll show you how lovely these look as a centerpiece. I randomly found this picture on one of my wedding magazines and though "hey that's exactly the type of look we are going for!" Cool, huh?
(Photo source: my Ceremony magazine)
I know this is just one of those many challenges that happen while planning a big party. It is expected though, no? What kind of challenges have you come across?
Felipe had just asked me to be his wife a couple weeks before a trip to Mexico. We were heading to the state of Guanajuato and our itinerary included a visit to the historic town of Dolores Hidalgo. Being the crazy vacation planning freak that I am, I had read several travel guides and books to get an idea of what to expect in every town we were visiting. I kept reading how Dolores Hidalgo was famous for its hand made pottery - "talavera". It became one of the things I was really looking forward to for that trip. I was super excited for all of the handmade goods and was making sure to keep space in my luggage for all the goodies I planned on bringing back. Sure enough, Dolores Hidalgo lived up to its reputation of a "pottery town." Blocks were lined with so many different pottery shops, and the pieces were all so beautiful.
Imagine walking down the streets that looked like this:
And when you walk inside, you see all these beauties:
And just because you're curious you walk down the hall into the back room and find this:
I was in love. I wanted all of it (I still do!) We thought it would be really cool to incorporate some of these goods into our wedding. We weren't really sure what, though, since we had literally only been engaged for like two weeks and had not even talked about decorations or any of those silly wedding details. So we put that thought in the back of our mind as something to consider later in the planning process.
Fast forward to 8 months later and Felipe and I are getting ready to take another trip to Mexico. As I've mentioned before, our latest vacation included a trip to the town of Tlaquepaque. We went there on a mission to find us some talavera at cheap prices. We decided that we want to use talavera vases for our centerpieces and stuff them with fresh flowers. Well, Tlaquepaque did not fail in providing the talavera vases. The only catch was that they did not come cheap. The goods were way more expensive than what we had remembered in the humble family-run shops in the little town of Dolores Hidalgo (where there were practically no foreign tourists.) There was a way cool variety of talavera, though. Check out this gorg piece:
At over $20 per vase, this was way out of our league. But isn't it lovely?
I kid you not that the vases in Dolores Hidalgo did not exceed $10 a piece, so we were not willing to drop double the price of what we knew they really sold at. We gave up searching in Tlaquepaque and decided to hit the road to Tonala, another artisan town near Guadalajara. We had heard that Tonala was a little more low-key & less touristy. Indeed it was. It was like a huge street market. We were able to find some talavera here, but the quality wasn't quite as nice. We found one shop that had a large selection of talavera items, but only a limited quantity of the type of vases we were looking for. We grabbed 4 large vases and a couple smaller ones. At about $7 each, I wasn't complaining. I figured we should just start our collection now. We need at least 20 total. The challenge now is figuring how to get more vases to LA before November. Our current options are: 1) call up shops directly and find out if we can place an order to get shipped to the U.S. (the trouble with this is getting a hold of a good, reputable shop since most of them don't have email or websites); or 2)recruit some family members in Mexico to take a road trip to Guanajuato, buy them for us, and send them. Sigh... Right now our talavera collection is so tiny. Need. More. Vases.
We'll have to make a decision quick since it might take a while to ship if we decide to go that route. For now, I'll show you how lovely these look as a centerpiece. I randomly found this picture on one of my wedding magazines and though "hey that's exactly the type of look we are going for!" Cool, huh?
(Photo source: my Ceremony magazine)
I know this is just one of those many challenges that happen while planning a big party. It is expected though, no? What kind of challenges have you come across?
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Today I did an experiment
I'll admit that I never paid much attention to pomanders prior to being introduced to the world of wedding planning. I don't think I even knew exactly what they were. I would have probably defined them as balls of some sorts. When I started considering all of those pretty details that I'd like to include for our day, fresh flower pomanders were definitely in the picture.
As seen on my inspiration board, I found a picture of a pomander that inspired me. I thought it might be nice to have a few of them hanging around maybe as pew decorations in the church or maybe hanging from trees during the reception. Either way, I want them! To be honest, I have no idea how much they cost. But, I do think it is safe to assume that they are one of those unreasonably overpriced items (as per the usual trend in the wedding industry). Ahh...what is one to do when you want something but can't afford it? You MAKE IT.
I found some very basic instructions here. This is how my experiment turned out:
I rounded up my materials: some floral foam I had hanging around from a previous project, chicken wire/poultry netting ($6 for 20 square feet at Home Depot), wire clippers, and ribbon.
Part 2 of the materials: the flowers! I chose Gerber Daisies for this trial ($9 for 20 daisies from the LA Flower Mart).
Step 1 - Cover the flower foam with chicken wire. I think this was the most difficult part. Who knew chicken wire was so hard to work with? And it's sharp when you cut it...ouch! Here the naked floral foam with a freshly cut square of chicken wire.
It took a while to get the chicken wire around the foam. There was a lot of clipping of excessive wire and pokes to the fingers - but it is possible. To secure the wire around the foam, I tied ends of the wire to each other.
Step 2 - Tie your ribbon on. I got 10 yards of white ribbon for $5 from Moskatels in the flower district (btw, best craft store FOR REALS. It deserves its own post..). I call this the baldmander.
Step 3 - Dip in H2O. Your flowers need water to make it through the day, so feed them! I dipped the foam in the water until it was completely submerged then took it out.
Step 4 - Start adding your flowers. I cut the daisy stems so that they were about 1 to 2 inches long. I started at the top and then realized that you need to hang the pom from somewhere to add the bottom flowers. Just add and move the flowers around until it resembles a ball. This part is pretty tricky. I couldn't seem to get a perfect circle..hmmm. I think these pomanders take a bit more practice than I thought.
Step 5 - Admire your finished product. Here it is. My first pomander! Okay okay I know it's nothing great. I'm really not 100% happy with the results. It's a bit lopsided and bald in some areas.
It's not exactly a perfect circle. I think next time I'll try a different type of flower to compare.
A few other things to remember:
-Thread the ribbon through the chicken wire more. I only looped the ribbon around once. Big mistake. The pomander kept tipping to one side.
-Make the floral foam smaller. These balls are heavy!! The foam I used was about one cubic foot. A smaller size would work just fine and there would be less area to cover.
-Wrap floral tape around the stems, or choose a flower with a thicker stem. The daisy stems alone were not cutting it when it came to holding their place or rearranging. Their stems were way too weak.
The pomander took a little over an hour to make, and at about $15 each I ain't gonna complain about the price (considering I still have plenty of chicken wire & ribbon for next time). All I gotta do now is practice making more of these suckers.
Has anyone else made fresh flower pomanders before? Got any tips?
As seen on my inspiration board, I found a picture of a pomander that inspired me. I thought it might be nice to have a few of them hanging around maybe as pew decorations in the church or maybe hanging from trees during the reception. Either way, I want them! To be honest, I have no idea how much they cost. But, I do think it is safe to assume that they are one of those unreasonably overpriced items (as per the usual trend in the wedding industry). Ahh...what is one to do when you want something but can't afford it? You MAKE IT.
I found some very basic instructions here. This is how my experiment turned out:
I rounded up my materials: some floral foam I had hanging around from a previous project, chicken wire/poultry netting ($6 for 20 square feet at Home Depot), wire clippers, and ribbon.
Part 2 of the materials: the flowers! I chose Gerber Daisies for this trial ($9 for 20 daisies from the LA Flower Mart).
Step 1 - Cover the flower foam with chicken wire. I think this was the most difficult part. Who knew chicken wire was so hard to work with? And it's sharp when you cut it...ouch! Here the naked floral foam with a freshly cut square of chicken wire.
It took a while to get the chicken wire around the foam. There was a lot of clipping of excessive wire and pokes to the fingers - but it is possible. To secure the wire around the foam, I tied ends of the wire to each other.
Step 2 - Tie your ribbon on. I got 10 yards of white ribbon for $5 from Moskatels in the flower district (btw, best craft store FOR REALS. It deserves its own post..). I call this the baldmander.
Step 3 - Dip in H2O. Your flowers need water to make it through the day, so feed them! I dipped the foam in the water until it was completely submerged then took it out.
Step 4 - Start adding your flowers. I cut the daisy stems so that they were about 1 to 2 inches long. I started at the top and then realized that you need to hang the pom from somewhere to add the bottom flowers. Just add and move the flowers around until it resembles a ball. This part is pretty tricky. I couldn't seem to get a perfect circle..hmmm. I think these pomanders take a bit more practice than I thought.
Step 5 - Admire your finished product. Here it is. My first pomander! Okay okay I know it's nothing great. I'm really not 100% happy with the results. It's a bit lopsided and bald in some areas.
It's not exactly a perfect circle. I think next time I'll try a different type of flower to compare.
A few other things to remember:
-Thread the ribbon through the chicken wire more. I only looped the ribbon around once. Big mistake. The pomander kept tipping to one side.
-Make the floral foam smaller. These balls are heavy!! The foam I used was about one cubic foot. A smaller size would work just fine and there would be less area to cover.
-Wrap floral tape around the stems, or choose a flower with a thicker stem. The daisy stems alone were not cutting it when it came to holding their place or rearranging. Their stems were way too weak.
The pomander took a little over an hour to make, and at about $15 each I ain't gonna complain about the price (considering I still have plenty of chicken wire & ribbon for next time). All I gotta do now is practice making more of these suckers.
Has anyone else made fresh flower pomanders before? Got any tips?
Monday, January 26, 2009
How's the Planning Going?
I know all you brides-to-be be hearing this question all the time. I know I do, and I know you do too. And guess what? It doesn't bother me one bit.
After I got engaged and started stalking the internets for anything wedding related, I came across so many blogs and online discussion boards where future brides were complaining about how they are constantly harassed by this question. I didn't get it. I still don't. And as I began to think about why I feel any different, I started to realize a few things. Maybe I don't mind it because wedding planning has been pretty pleasant so far. Maybe I'm not really into full wedding-planning mode yet. Maybe I'm not even wedding planning at all. Sure, we got the church and reception hall out of the way, but besides that I'm not really stressing over the rest of the details. That doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it or played with ideas. Because I have- I promise! But, you know, we still have several months go to and things will come together wont they? Oh but don't I dare tell that to another Summer/Fall bride-to-be because according to them: "girrrrl you need to be on top of things!!!" And the more I think about it the more I realize that maybe, and most probably, wedding planning is not my life...(Yet?) Yeah, it has been a fun process so far but there are so many other things that I am enjoying and trying to take full advantage of right now - like cleaning or decorating my new home, cooking and experimenting with new recipes, doing well in school, staying healthy, and being a good fiancée!
If you ask me, I think I've done a good deal of wedding planning. In fact, I am most definitely ready to get married NOW. Because now that I think about it, the majority of my planning has really been "marriage planning", which I think is the most integral part of the wedding planning process. In my case, most of my time has been spent pondering over whether I can really be a good wife and what it takes to be so; thinking about what life will be like after Felipe and I are "Mr. & Mrs.;" wondering if I will be a good permanent "roommate" to Felipe; trying to figure out how we can still maintain a strong and loving bond as a couple without losing our individual identities; and of course having discussions about all of this with the man! Shouldn't all of this happen first before you even touch the subjects of cake toppers or what color table runners to use??
Let me tell you that I am so glad that we've had 9 months (and counting!) to mentally prepare ourselves for such a life-changing event. These past months have gone by so quickly. As distant as the next 9 months seem to be, I am positive that they will fly by just as fast. So as ready as I am to be a Mrs. right now, I'm going to savor the next nine and final months of being a fiancée. As far as I'm concerned, that's plenty of time to figure out which flowers to use in our centerpieces and choose a cake flavor. :)
Surely I am not the only one who thinks this way, right? Yay? Nay?
After I got engaged and started stalking the internets for anything wedding related, I came across so many blogs and online discussion boards where future brides were complaining about how they are constantly harassed by this question. I didn't get it. I still don't. And as I began to think about why I feel any different, I started to realize a few things. Maybe I don't mind it because wedding planning has been pretty pleasant so far. Maybe I'm not really into full wedding-planning mode yet. Maybe I'm not even wedding planning at all. Sure, we got the church and reception hall out of the way, but besides that I'm not really stressing over the rest of the details. That doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it or played with ideas. Because I have- I promise! But, you know, we still have several months go to and things will come together wont they? Oh but don't I dare tell that to another Summer/Fall bride-to-be because according to them: "girrrrl you need to be on top of things!!!" And the more I think about it the more I realize that maybe, and most probably, wedding planning is not my life...(Yet?) Yeah, it has been a fun process so far but there are so many other things that I am enjoying and trying to take full advantage of right now - like cleaning or decorating my new home, cooking and experimenting with new recipes, doing well in school, staying healthy, and being a good fiancée!
If you ask me, I think I've done a good deal of wedding planning. In fact, I am most definitely ready to get married NOW. Because now that I think about it, the majority of my planning has really been "marriage planning", which I think is the most integral part of the wedding planning process. In my case, most of my time has been spent pondering over whether I can really be a good wife and what it takes to be so; thinking about what life will be like after Felipe and I are "Mr. & Mrs.;" wondering if I will be a good permanent "roommate" to Felipe; trying to figure out how we can still maintain a strong and loving bond as a couple without losing our individual identities; and of course having discussions about all of this with the man! Shouldn't all of this happen first before you even touch the subjects of cake toppers or what color table runners to use??
Let me tell you that I am so glad that we've had 9 months (and counting!) to mentally prepare ourselves for such a life-changing event. These past months have gone by so quickly. As distant as the next 9 months seem to be, I am positive that they will fly by just as fast. So as ready as I am to be a Mrs. right now, I'm going to savor the next nine and final months of being a fiancée. As far as I'm concerned, that's plenty of time to figure out which flowers to use in our centerpieces and choose a cake flavor. :)
Surely I am not the only one who thinks this way, right? Yay? Nay?
Thursday, January 08, 2009
New Year, New Adventures
Hello blog world.
Happy 2009! I hope everyone was able to ring in the new year with their loved ones. I know I'm looking forward to this year and all of the changes that it will be bringing! I continue to be amazed by how quickly years go by, and I guess I always will be. Time does not slow down and I really need to make an effort to truly understand the meaning of "no day like today." Maybe that will be my resolution although I've never been much of a resolution person. But as long as I keep that thought at the back of my mind I'm sure it will have some kind of positive effect.
This year, I was lucky enough to ring in a new year in one of my favorite places - Mexico! I spent an amazing 12 days full of family, adventures in new cities with my man, and really really GOOD FOOD. On to the fotos!
Christmas and the few days after it were spent in the lovely Jerez, Zacatecas. This was my second visit there and this time I got to see it decorated for the holidays.
I stayed with Felipe's family in his grandparents house where a total of about 20 people stayed while we were there! Christmas eve consisted of mass with the family, a massive gift exchange with everyone squished into one room, and lots of homemade fooood! Some of my favorite memories happen in houses packed with family taking up every free corner, and this Christmas was no exception.
Felipe's parents celebrated their 25th anniversary while in Jerez with a mass and reception. Here's the church waiting for them to walk down the aisle again. It's the same church they got married in 25 years ago!
I only wish I could get married in a church half as beautiful as this!
Posing with Felipe's cousin before mass.
Party time..with mariachi of course!
The party continued the next day at Felipe's grandparent's house with tacos and more mariachi.
That night when the party started winding down, Felipe's family surprised Felipe and I with a very touching "celebración para la bienvenida de los esposos" - a kind of traditional Mexican wedding shower. His aunts made us sit in the middle of all of the family while we tried to figure out what the heck was going on. Well it turned out that since this trip will probably be the last time that most of them will see us before the wedding, they wanted to do a special celebration for us. Everyone from the family presented us with a little gift that is supposed to help us get started to form our home, and then they said a reading that explained the symbolism behind each gift. They presented us with things like a bible, rosary, wine, tools, medicine, etc...many of which we couldn't take home, but they still did the celebration for us so that we could have a traditional pre-wedding celebration. It was certainly a very special and unexpected surprise and one of my favorite memories from this trip.
The week following Christmas, Felipe and I jumped on a bus for a 4 hour ride to the beautiful Guadalajara. While there we admired the city decorated for the holidays:
had the most DELISH birria:
at...
ate some traditional & super yummmmmie tortas ahogadas:
enjoyed one of my favorite dishes - enchiladas:
..which are so much better accompanied by a mariachi show under the stars:
I've said it before and I'll say it again - food is one of my main inspirations for travel. Where else can you get the most authentic and delicious food than straight from the source? Mexican food happens to be on the top of my fav food list (of course), and have I told you that food in Mexico is super duper inexpensive? Well it is! So, Mexico is a winner in my book of "places I need to keep traveling to."
Anywho, aside from eating we made time to do some sightseeing.
We rode on the Tequila Express which consisted of a a train ride to the town of Tequila, a tour of the Hacienda Herradura (where they make the tequila), lots of mariachi, and plenty of tequila drinking:
We took a couple of day trips to the nearby artisan towns of Tlaquepaque and Tonala.
...both of which we had ulterior motives for visiting, but I think I'll save that story for another time.
I dunno about everyone else, but I get super sad every time I get back from vacation. I guess that means I had a good time though, no? I am very glad that we were able to make this trip happen. For now, I'm anticipating the happy times that 2009 has to offer. This will be a big year and I'm determined to enjoy it to the fullest!
Happy 2009! I hope everyone was able to ring in the new year with their loved ones. I know I'm looking forward to this year and all of the changes that it will be bringing! I continue to be amazed by how quickly years go by, and I guess I always will be. Time does not slow down and I really need to make an effort to truly understand the meaning of "no day like today." Maybe that will be my resolution although I've never been much of a resolution person. But as long as I keep that thought at the back of my mind I'm sure it will have some kind of positive effect.
This year, I was lucky enough to ring in a new year in one of my favorite places - Mexico! I spent an amazing 12 days full of family, adventures in new cities with my man, and really really GOOD FOOD. On to the fotos!
Christmas and the few days after it were spent in the lovely Jerez, Zacatecas. This was my second visit there and this time I got to see it decorated for the holidays.
I stayed with Felipe's family in his grandparents house where a total of about 20 people stayed while we were there! Christmas eve consisted of mass with the family, a massive gift exchange with everyone squished into one room, and lots of homemade fooood! Some of my favorite memories happen in houses packed with family taking up every free corner, and this Christmas was no exception.
Felipe's parents celebrated their 25th anniversary while in Jerez with a mass and reception. Here's the church waiting for them to walk down the aisle again. It's the same church they got married in 25 years ago!
I only wish I could get married in a church half as beautiful as this!
Posing with Felipe's cousin before mass.
Party time..with mariachi of course!
The party continued the next day at Felipe's grandparent's house with tacos and more mariachi.
That night when the party started winding down, Felipe's family surprised Felipe and I with a very touching "celebración para la bienvenida de los esposos" - a kind of traditional Mexican wedding shower. His aunts made us sit in the middle of all of the family while we tried to figure out what the heck was going on. Well it turned out that since this trip will probably be the last time that most of them will see us before the wedding, they wanted to do a special celebration for us. Everyone from the family presented us with a little gift that is supposed to help us get started to form our home, and then they said a reading that explained the symbolism behind each gift. They presented us with things like a bible, rosary, wine, tools, medicine, etc...many of which we couldn't take home, but they still did the celebration for us so that we could have a traditional pre-wedding celebration. It was certainly a very special and unexpected surprise and one of my favorite memories from this trip.
The week following Christmas, Felipe and I jumped on a bus for a 4 hour ride to the beautiful Guadalajara. While there we admired the city decorated for the holidays:
had the most DELISH birria:
at...
ate some traditional & super yummmmmie tortas ahogadas:
enjoyed one of my favorite dishes - enchiladas:
..which are so much better accompanied by a mariachi show under the stars:
I've said it before and I'll say it again - food is one of my main inspirations for travel. Where else can you get the most authentic and delicious food than straight from the source? Mexican food happens to be on the top of my fav food list (of course), and have I told you that food in Mexico is super duper inexpensive? Well it is! So, Mexico is a winner in my book of "places I need to keep traveling to."
Anywho, aside from eating we made time to do some sightseeing.
We rode on the Tequila Express which consisted of a a train ride to the town of Tequila, a tour of the Hacienda Herradura (where they make the tequila), lots of mariachi, and plenty of tequila drinking:
We took a couple of day trips to the nearby artisan towns of Tlaquepaque and Tonala.
...both of which we had ulterior motives for visiting, but I think I'll save that story for another time.
I dunno about everyone else, but I get super sad every time I get back from vacation. I guess that means I had a good time though, no? I am very glad that we were able to make this trip happen. For now, I'm anticipating the happy times that 2009 has to offer. This will be a big year and I'm determined to enjoy it to the fullest!
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Got Some Gocco In My Life
Today I am super duper excited because I finally got the toy that I have been coveting for months. I've been checking craigslist, ebay, and etsy religiously for a reasonably priced one, but was having no luck. Then last week I saw an ad on a website for it. The price sounded right and it included a lot of accessories that I would need. So I emailed the person selling it right away. Turned out the seller lived in Irvine and I could go pick it up, which means no having to pay for shipping...sold!!
Here it is, my new GOCCO:
If you're like me from 4 months ago, you have no idea what this weird looking device is or what the heck the big deal is with it. I didn't understand what the hype was about the Gocco either, but I performed some research on this little guy's capabilities and was wowed by the projects that people made with it. It's basically a screen printing machine. You design whatever image you would like to print, use the machine to make a master copy of your image, and then you add ink and use the machine again to print multiple copies of your master image onto your desired surface. If you're like me and like to make everything yourself (i.e. stationary, wedding invitations!) then this is the answer to all of your do-it-yourself printing needs. Plus, I recently downloaded the Adobe creative suite and am slowly learning all about the design software. I can't wait to get my creative juices flowing and put the design skills to work with my Gocco! Hopefully I don't suck at it, but at least I still have some time to sharpen my skillz. I'll be sure to keep my blog up to date with any printing projects I take on in the future. Unfortch, I won't have time to play with the Gocco until January. The rest of December will be busy with finals and a trip to Mexico (WOOT!)
Speaking of busy months, can I just say that November was insane? It was insane, but in a good way because I finally moved on out of Chino! I now officially reside in a loft in downtown LA and I loves it! Felipe and I knew that when we got married, we wanted to buy a home instead of rent. We figured that we should take advantage that we had the opportunity to live at home with our families so we used it to save up for a few years. Well when we got engaged we had our savings to either 1)spend it on a wedding, or 2)buy a home. The smarter choice (for us) is obvious and while it shatters the idea of having the "wedding of your dreams" it just made sense for us to look for a home instead. After a couple months of searching, lots of frustration, and uncertainty it all worked out and I am happy in my new casita. I'm living alone for now (Felipe doesn't move in until the wedding...that's an entirely different story and one that I may or may not agree with but whatevs) and it's def a change and something that I'm slowly adjusting to. I think it is good for me, though. A girl should know how to live on her own, no? For now, I'm enjoying my 30 minute commute to work (previously 1.5 hours), living closer to my friends, and having my own kitchen! Yay for changes. :)
Here it is, my new GOCCO:
If you're like me from 4 months ago, you have no idea what this weird looking device is or what the heck the big deal is with it. I didn't understand what the hype was about the Gocco either, but I performed some research on this little guy's capabilities and was wowed by the projects that people made with it. It's basically a screen printing machine. You design whatever image you would like to print, use the machine to make a master copy of your image, and then you add ink and use the machine again to print multiple copies of your master image onto your desired surface. If you're like me and like to make everything yourself (i.e. stationary, wedding invitations!) then this is the answer to all of your do-it-yourself printing needs. Plus, I recently downloaded the Adobe creative suite and am slowly learning all about the design software. I can't wait to get my creative juices flowing and put the design skills to work with my Gocco! Hopefully I don't suck at it, but at least I still have some time to sharpen my skillz. I'll be sure to keep my blog up to date with any printing projects I take on in the future. Unfortch, I won't have time to play with the Gocco until January. The rest of December will be busy with finals and a trip to Mexico (WOOT!)
Speaking of busy months, can I just say that November was insane? It was insane, but in a good way because I finally moved on out of Chino! I now officially reside in a loft in downtown LA and I loves it! Felipe and I knew that when we got married, we wanted to buy a home instead of rent. We figured that we should take advantage that we had the opportunity to live at home with our families so we used it to save up for a few years. Well when we got engaged we had our savings to either 1)spend it on a wedding, or 2)buy a home. The smarter choice (for us) is obvious and while it shatters the idea of having the "wedding of your dreams" it just made sense for us to look for a home instead. After a couple months of searching, lots of frustration, and uncertainty it all worked out and I am happy in my new casita. I'm living alone for now (Felipe doesn't move in until the wedding...that's an entirely different story and one that I may or may not agree with but whatevs) and it's def a change and something that I'm slowly adjusting to. I think it is good for me, though. A girl should know how to live on her own, no? For now, I'm enjoying my 30 minute commute to work (previously 1.5 hours), living closer to my friends, and having my own kitchen! Yay for changes. :)
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Most Important Part
When I moved to LA six years ago for college, I really fell in love with the city. Although I visited all the time, it was a much different experience to live in downtown and experience city life. I discovered an entirely new world away from Chino, CA and found a lot of my favorite places that I always talk about - and I continue to find new ones! One of those favorite places was only a couple blocks away from the house where I lived during my senior year. It is one of the most beautiful catholic churches that I have seen (in the U.S.) and I knew that if the time ever came for me to get married, and in LA, I wanted it to happen at this church not only because it was so pretty but also because of of its location and all that it represented.
These pics are pretty crappy and I've been meaning to take some new ones, but here it is in all its beauty on a sunny October day in downtown Los Angeles - Saint Vincent De Paul Catholic Church:
Felipe and I visited the church for the first time together back in August for their marriage informational meeting. That's when we learned about all of the requirements to get married at St Vincent. They told us that before we can even meet with the priest we had to gather all of our sacrament documents, take a one-day marriage preparation course, and register for a weekend marriage preparation retreat that is usually booked months in advance (which it was - we signed up for one in March). Well gathering our religious sacrament documents was not much of a problem since both our parents had them mainly stashed away in files. The hardest part for that was getting a copy of Felipe's original baptism certificate mailed from Mexico. Then, we signed up and went to our one-day marriage preparation course in September at a parish in Long Beach. This was actually a lot of fun and a good experience for us. It was pretty much what you would expect from a pre-marriage counseling event, but good in the sense that you really get to focus on the true meaning of marriage (i.e., not just the wedding) and getting married in the catholic church. Even though there were a lot of other couples at the same session, it was really a day that was just for us to communicate about this new stage in our lives. Because of that, I'm looking forward to our retreat in March.
After we had everything we needed to meet with the priest, we called him to make an appointment and got a voicemail message that he was out of town for all of September. This forced us to wait until October to call again, and after about a week of phone tag we were finally able to set an appointment - whew! A couple weeks ago, we met with Father Restrepo, told him the date that we would like, gave him all our documents, and finalized the deal! YAY! It was so exciting to meet the person who would be marrying us in the perfect church and on the perfect date and time. After that, I knew that the most important part was taken care of. We are getting married the way I have always imaged it - no matter the weather or flowers or decorations or any other of those minor details in comparison to the actual marriage. It's really happening and I can't wait!
These pics are pretty crappy and I've been meaning to take some new ones, but here it is in all its beauty on a sunny October day in downtown Los Angeles - Saint Vincent De Paul Catholic Church:
Felipe and I visited the church for the first time together back in August for their marriage informational meeting. That's when we learned about all of the requirements to get married at St Vincent. They told us that before we can even meet with the priest we had to gather all of our sacrament documents, take a one-day marriage preparation course, and register for a weekend marriage preparation retreat that is usually booked months in advance (which it was - we signed up for one in March). Well gathering our religious sacrament documents was not much of a problem since both our parents had them mainly stashed away in files. The hardest part for that was getting a copy of Felipe's original baptism certificate mailed from Mexico. Then, we signed up and went to our one-day marriage preparation course in September at a parish in Long Beach. This was actually a lot of fun and a good experience for us. It was pretty much what you would expect from a pre-marriage counseling event, but good in the sense that you really get to focus on the true meaning of marriage (i.e., not just the wedding) and getting married in the catholic church. Even though there were a lot of other couples at the same session, it was really a day that was just for us to communicate about this new stage in our lives. Because of that, I'm looking forward to our retreat in March.
After we had everything we needed to meet with the priest, we called him to make an appointment and got a voicemail message that he was out of town for all of September. This forced us to wait until October to call again, and after about a week of phone tag we were finally able to set an appointment - whew! A couple weeks ago, we met with Father Restrepo, told him the date that we would like, gave him all our documents, and finalized the deal! YAY! It was so exciting to meet the person who would be marrying us in the perfect church and on the perfect date and time. After that, I knew that the most important part was taken care of. We are getting married the way I have always imaged it - no matter the weather or flowers or decorations or any other of those minor details in comparison to the actual marriage. It's really happening and I can't wait!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Happy day
This post is a little bit late. I meant to write it a week ago, but I haven't gotten around to it until now. Anyway, the happy day that I speak of was last Tuesday. The reason it was happy was because Felipe and I actually booked our wedding reception venue! That means we finally have a date!! We ended up going with the LA River Center & Gardens which means that the wedding is going to be a little later than we had hoped. It won't happen until November 2009, but there is so much going on right now for both of us that at least it feels like we have a little extra time to plan and keep saving. These past couple months have been going by so quickly that I know this next year will fly by. That kind of makes me nervous too because now that we set a date, it's like having a deadline and there are sooo many things to do before that deadline gets here! Oh well. We can do it. One step at a time. For the meantime, I'm still trying to get used to my new schedule with work/school. I'm working only 30 hours a week now, but I still feel like I'm on a full time schedule with 10 hours of class a week. Plus, there are the hours of driving time. I'm taking 2 classes at Cal State Long Beach for this semester. USC is making me take a couple of prerequisite courses since my undergrad major wasn't Chemical Engineering. The good thing is that they are letting me take those classes at another univ. So in an effort to save some money, I deferred USC classes until next semester (or maybe year) until I finish these prereqs. The downside is the driving to Long Beach twice a week, though. grr..
So life has been a bit crazy, but I prefer it this way. It keeps me focused. It just takes some adjusting just like anything else.
So life has been a bit crazy, but I prefer it this way. It keeps me focused. It just takes some adjusting just like anything else.
Monday, September 01, 2008
The search for a venue
One of the first tasks that Felipe and I were faced with was choosing a date for the wedding. While the engagement officially marked the beginning of the planning process, we really had no clue about the 'when or where'. Since we are both still working full time, going to school part time, and saving money we really don't feel the need to rush anything. Yeah, it's exciting and I really can't wait to become Mrs. Murillo but we need to make the wiser decision for us; which means to continue doing what we're doing and do the planning little by little so that it won't be too stressful for anyone. Initially ,we've decided to aim for late summer/early fall 2009. But, we still want to have a set date to look forward to. We didn't want to choose a date and search for venues with only one date in mind because then if the place that we liked didn't have the date available, we'd be disappointed. Instead, we decided to tour venues and churches, choose our favorites, and choose a date based on their availability. The whole venue/church search and touring process has been quite time consuming, though! It's taken up a lot of our weekend time and hours of internet research & email. It has been enjoying, though, and it's cool to learn about all these cool places in or near Los Angeles that I never knew existed. Anyway, here's a quick run through of sites that we have visited.
The LA River Center & Gardens
This was one of the places that caught our attention from the beginning. It fits the look and feel for the wedding that we are aiming for. And, since it's not privately owned the rental fees are pretty cheap and (best of all) they allow you to bring your own catering, do your own equipment rental, and everything else that pretty much will save us from inflated prices at private venues!
I love the garden, open-air feel, arches, and fountains at this place. It's really perfect. The only downfall about this place is that every Saturday is booked straight into November 2009. :( We didn't expect to wait THAT long, especially since the cold weather will start creeping up about that time of year.
Next...Rancho Las Lomas
Absolutely, hands-down, my favorite, favorite, favorite one. It was perfect. The look, the feel, the natural beauty of this preserved Mexican land grant property.
They even had their own private zoo (white tigers and all)!
I should have known it was too good to be true. At a minimum $150 per person plus a hefty rental fee, this spot was a weeeee out of our budget. Come on people, we are young enginerds in debt trying to start our life on the right foot. Why is the wedding industry so cruel?
Felipe and I took a trip to downtown LA one weekend to visit some hotels in the area. We visited the Bonaventure hotel to check out the banquet hall. We've been to the hotel before and it is really nice and has the typical downtown-LA/trendy/classy feel to it. I didn't take pictures while in the hotel, but it's probably what you would imagine - a big, fancy reception hall. We found that the prices here were relatively reasonable..not the lowest, but possibly workable.
Another spot just down the street was the Millenium Biltmore. I had never been to this hotel before and I was amazed at how beautiful it was when I stepped inside. I can't believe I never knew this place existed in downtown.
Picture of one of the halls. Not the best quality. It reminded me of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, esp with the frescoes on the ceiling.
The super fancy and pretty banquet room...
Needless to say, this place was out of our budget. Moving on.....
Being the nerds that we are, we drowned our sorrows by making a stop to the Los Angeles Public Library which was right across the street from the Biltmore. It's one of my favorite places in LA.
You can actually rent part of the courtyard area adjacent to the cafe at the library for private events. But I don't think very many people would enjoy homeless people crashing the wedding.
Another place that we visited was a bit of a ways from LA. It was the Mission Inn in Riverside.
The place was gorgeous and Felipe and I both loved it. The prices were pretty reasonable for the type of venue that it was. The main downfall is that it is a little over 40 miles east of LA, which would be a long drive if we plan to have our church ceremony in LA.
The latest venue that I check out was a little privately owned property in Culver City. It used to be a smog/car shop and the owners fixed it up to be a hip and modern event venue.
I liked this place a lot. It's pretty unique, and they allow you to do your own catering and rentals. The main downfall is that the rental fee is just as much as any of the other nice places with a set rental fee. It just doesn't seem worth it for a place that is not quite as spacious.
And so that is where we are now. After all of that, we still don't have anything set in stone yet. I really can't wait to just pick a place and move on with the planning! For now, we are just trying to weight the pros & cons of our favorite venues while searching for others on the side. It is just so time consuming! (But still fun!) One day we will have a wedding day set. Hopefully soon...
The LA River Center & Gardens
This was one of the places that caught our attention from the beginning. It fits the look and feel for the wedding that we are aiming for. And, since it's not privately owned the rental fees are pretty cheap and (best of all) they allow you to bring your own catering, do your own equipment rental, and everything else that pretty much will save us from inflated prices at private venues!
I love the garden, open-air feel, arches, and fountains at this place. It's really perfect. The only downfall about this place is that every Saturday is booked straight into November 2009. :( We didn't expect to wait THAT long, especially since the cold weather will start creeping up about that time of year.
Next...Rancho Las Lomas
Absolutely, hands-down, my favorite, favorite, favorite one. It was perfect. The look, the feel, the natural beauty of this preserved Mexican land grant property.
They even had their own private zoo (white tigers and all)!
I should have known it was too good to be true. At a minimum $150 per person plus a hefty rental fee, this spot was a weeeee out of our budget. Come on people, we are young enginerds in debt trying to start our life on the right foot. Why is the wedding industry so cruel?
Felipe and I took a trip to downtown LA one weekend to visit some hotels in the area. We visited the Bonaventure hotel to check out the banquet hall. We've been to the hotel before and it is really nice and has the typical downtown-LA/trendy/classy feel to it. I didn't take pictures while in the hotel, but it's probably what you would imagine - a big, fancy reception hall. We found that the prices here were relatively reasonable..not the lowest, but possibly workable.
Another spot just down the street was the Millenium Biltmore. I had never been to this hotel before and I was amazed at how beautiful it was when I stepped inside. I can't believe I never knew this place existed in downtown.
Picture of one of the halls. Not the best quality. It reminded me of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, esp with the frescoes on the ceiling.
The super fancy and pretty banquet room...
Needless to say, this place was out of our budget. Moving on.....
Being the nerds that we are, we drowned our sorrows by making a stop to the Los Angeles Public Library which was right across the street from the Biltmore. It's one of my favorite places in LA.
You can actually rent part of the courtyard area adjacent to the cafe at the library for private events. But I don't think very many people would enjoy homeless people crashing the wedding.
Another place that we visited was a bit of a ways from LA. It was the Mission Inn in Riverside.
The place was gorgeous and Felipe and I both loved it. The prices were pretty reasonable for the type of venue that it was. The main downfall is that it is a little over 40 miles east of LA, which would be a long drive if we plan to have our church ceremony in LA.
The latest venue that I check out was a little privately owned property in Culver City. It used to be a smog/car shop and the owners fixed it up to be a hip and modern event venue.
I liked this place a lot. It's pretty unique, and they allow you to do your own catering and rentals. The main downfall is that the rental fee is just as much as any of the other nice places with a set rental fee. It just doesn't seem worth it for a place that is not quite as spacious.
And so that is where we are now. After all of that, we still don't have anything set in stone yet. I really can't wait to just pick a place and move on with the planning! For now, we are just trying to weight the pros & cons of our favorite venues while searching for others on the side. It is just so time consuming! (But still fun!) One day we will have a wedding day set. Hopefully soon...
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