Catching up..

too many things happened over the past month and I wish I have more time to write about it.
I will start with the most eventful activity first:

Wedding Party Social June 19


Yes, we finally all got to meet together for the first time. Some of them have seen each other once upon a time in the past, and some met for the first time. It was really nice to have everyone together, from near and far. Tinger was actually going to go vegas that day, but thank goodness her bf decided to come instead, which was fine b/c I finally got to meet him. The original plan was to go to Ruby's in downtown Monrovia, but it closes at 10pm. So, i randomly chose Paco, on 2nd and foothill, about 5 mins away from our house. It was OK...all I really cared about was the nachos - i really am NOT a mexican food fan. These are just awesome people, great individuals who do great things.


After dinner, we went back to our hut and tried on the bridesmaid dresses......they loook gorgeous on everyone...=)

Wedding Dress
I had my eye on this dress for a very long time now....and finally got to try it on. It was brilliant with an awesome price tag. Except, i got it the day the taxes were increased, so it wasnt so attractive anymore. thank you everyone for voting for the 1/2 cents tax.

But i love it, and I can't wait to get the final custom gown. I wanted to show Mr. Tang so bad, but the golden rule is to not show him until the wedding day. But honestly, which groom really cares anyways! All the bride is going to be the most beautiful on their wedding day....always always, it's really true. I mean, with a professional makeup artist, how can you not be!!!!

We went to a couple weddings over the last two weeks. They were just fabulous, simply magical. I hope our wedding would make our guests leave with a happy thought..that's all I want. After those weddings, I was plotting our wedding to be different and perhaps better....and I kinda got out of hand, a little crazy. So out of hand that Mr. Tang had to shake me up and said, who cares about the dance, the little things, all it matters is that I am there. It would be a total disaster if I didnt show up. He was right, and he would totally be deep DEEEP trouble if he didnt show up. GRRR.

So I have been thinking, the best part about weddings, is truly the planning part. I love love it. It's great to make something happen together, with your lifetime partner. Sure, we have our whole lives to "plan" our lives together, but we have been doing that since day 1, since 12 yrs ago. Looking back, we did a great job on bringing together to this day. I still remember n number of yrs ago....i was dreading this day for many reasons. In life, you make choices everyday. Some are good, some are ok, some are just straightout wrong and bad choices. In my life, I have made plenty of bad ones, and of course, the best one.

Photographer/Videographer - almost checked

Over the weekend, we met with Joe Wu - this graphic designer/photographer who has a very attractive and affordable package and very good photography skills. I contacted him and we all met at starbucks on Huntington Dr, Monorvia. This is a very nice starbucks btw...
We arrived 2 mins late, but this guy actually came 6 mins later. Which worked out b/c it would be awkward to not buy him a drink while we were in line for ours. So he walked in with a little black leather mini briefcase with some of his catalogs for clothes, dvds, albums. His photography skills actually comes from shooting for a clothing store so he has all these catalogs of clothes....and models. Not bad. Maybe this explains why his price is not too outrageously expensive like the others b/c this is definitely his side job, while his full time job is a graphic designer - which makes us feel much more confident to have him edit our pictures.

We took three of the dvds home to study the videography. They were really good. Maybe's it's because I really enjoy watching other people's weddings, it is a day of just complete fun and happiness and the best part is that they don't know you are watching them and you can laugh at them all you want! =P.

So after looking at his pictures, videography and considering the price...geez, i emailed him right away and made another appointment this Tuesday to finalize the details.

Using this photography team substantially reduced the wedding expenses - which means - increasing the budget!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Invitations are IN!!!

I saw a UPS slip at my door on Thursday and I knew I missed a shipment again. Not sure what it was but I knew it will come again Tuesday.

At 11am, the UPS guy came in while I was on the phone. I signed and looked at the package with a question mark. Then I saw where it was from - I was ecstatic! The invitations came in a couple days early!!! Just 10 mins ago I emailed the printing company asking when it was sent out. I was SO happy!!!!

I unwrapped it like a little girl openning her favorite christmas present. First package was the invitation - very nice. The second package was the rsvp card - very nice. Well, there was a color variation with the backing....but it was my fault. It's ok, it looks nice anyways!!!! Love them! Looking at my invitations brings a smile to my face - and hopefully yours too!

Caterer for our Wedding

We had dim sum with Johnny today at 888 to go over most of the details for the catering for the wedding day. My mom, Joyce, Scott and I were of course hounding down Johnny and the manager of 888 to commit to do the catering for us. We have seen furiwa's food and tried Grace Catering which was t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e. We were searching everywhere and asking all monterey park restaurants to do catering for us. We heard that AAA was a popular place so my mom called them and found out that they are closed - which lead us to Johnny, the former manager of AAA - who is now starting his catering business.

So far so good. Now we need to get Doubletree to accept 888 to do the catering for us and we can get the ball rolling. The good thing is, we know that the food from 888 can't be all that bad. It has to be better than what is offered by other chinese catering companys nowadays.

just crossing my fingers now to get this deal sealed!

Bridesmaid Dresses Are In

The dresses finally arrived. Wow, very happy with the color! I'll have to see them on my models!!! I can already see that there will be some alterations made...but they should be good. My dresses were designed and made in China, I went last month to pick and chose everything. The cost of 5 bridesmaid dresses + 1 evening dress = RMB 1830 = USD244.

Meet the Parents

My Dad was in town, and with the wedding 7 months away, it's time to meet the Tangs!

Place: 888 Restaurant -Valley Blvd, San Gabriel
Time: 7:30PM
Date: Monday, April 13.
Particpants: Me, Scott, Judy's Mom, Judy's Stepdad, Judy's Dad, Joyce, Scott's Dad, Scott's Mom, Scott's Sister, Scott's Older Brother, Scott's Sister-in-Law and Scott's cousin.


The meeting turned out very successful. The deal was signed and there weren't too much negotiations involved. Everyone was very satisfied with the terms =).

My Dad is just very approachable and approaching so there was always something to talk about. We got into the nitty-gritty of things like wordings on the invitations, traditions we had to follow and that's just pretty much it.



At the end of the dinner, I just knew I had to take a picture of this:




Cheers!

Engagement Shoot with SB

That's right we already completed our first engagement photoshoot. Will there be another one. Very likely.

This was done by Soupy - a photographer who added us to her expansion of her portfolio. We took shots at the Kodak Theatre and the Metro Link and at a corner on the Mullholland drive. It was interesting to feel like a model for a couple hours. Will be posting up photos when I get them!


My makeup was done by Nars at Nordstroms. Very good, but I always feel and look different when I have makeup on - especially put on by professionals.

On our way to our photoshoot:

After the photoshoot - we found Portos around the corner! Hungry and starving, we got in line with the rest of fans of Portos.

Wedding Colors - Burnt Orange and Expresso Brown

Inspired by a designer that is too expensive for me to buy anything from...

My wedding colors are orange and brown. Since two years ago, I started to really like orange. I mean really. I am attracted to anything orange. Orange just looks so fresh and healthy! I love it.

Brown just goes well with just about anything. And brown is just the perfect earthy color for an autumn wedding.

Wedding Favor - Ordered - Shipped - Received

Scott went to Vegas in February for work and came back with a present for me. The ____ and ____ from the hotel in Vegas which he knew I would love. I did and I just had to share my love for this to the special guests at our wedding. What's even more perfect, the colors matche completely with the wedding and it is absolutely lovely!

I searched for the seller of this gorgeous product and placed the order. There were some hurdles in doing that and met some terrible and mean guy, but it all turned out for the better - better product and better price!! It came in a matter of 4 days - April 10. They are so cute!!!!

Venue - CONFIRMED!

We knew it from the start - we want Chinese food at the wedding for multiple reasons.
1. We like Chinese food.
2. Variety
3. More tradition
4. Tailored to 98.9 of our guests' culinary taste
5. It should taste better

To start off, we eliminated a lot of the hotels that doesnt serve Chinese food and focused on the seafood restaurants. That narrowed down to Prince Seafood in Cerritos. Very nice place and I had my mind set on it. We were going to take two floors and I wanted to designate the top floor as the casino floor, throw the banquet from the second floor, and have the kids and unwanted people upstairs. j/k! We went there for dim sum and dinner and all agreed that the food was good.

Then, headaches started to kick in when I had to find a ceremony place. I knew it would be better for everyone if I have the place either right next to each other or at the same place. Then my sister suggested all these hotels who can do chinese catering and we started that side of things which led us to the Doubletree, just two blocks from my house.

My sister and I rushed to the 4:30pm appointment and got there to meet Veronica at 4:45pm. Right when I stepped in, I was like, this is it!!!!

Of course, after a week of negotiations and flushing out the terms of the agreement, we negotiated everything down to 25% lower than what we started off with.

Date is CONFIRMED.

The original original plan was to get married 3-4, possibly 5 years later. After the proposal, the plan changed to 2 years later. After January, we are getting married on November 21, of this year! yikesy daisy!

Well, it was still a long time away, from January. Now, it's seven months away. Lots of progress, yet still has a lot to accomplish.

The Proposal: Pier Chic, Dubai, UAE

It was December 6, 2008. We were planning our last day in Dubai before our departure tomorrow night. Scott and I joined my Dad in Dubai for the Index 2008 show for my training and of course for a long overdue vacation.


We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for 4 nights and moved to the Jumeirah Madinat to spend the last night in Dubai. We were part-time tourists and part-time exhibitors in Dubai for the past four days. We decided to spend the last day as a full time tourist before we leave this foreign land



Jumeirah Madinat


This is the birthplace of our engagement, so I guess it will be appropriate to stick it in here. This hotel, known as the "ancient arabian citadel", is part of the Jumeriah Group which built hotels along the Arabian Sea and is the group that created the first 7-star hotel - Burj Al Arab. Fancy that.

We drove our silver Toyota yaris into this 5-star hotel, greeted by this giant and gentle south african (on left) and was escorted inside to this mysterious palace.

We were taken to this room and were asked to sit down on the couch. We were given warm towels to clean our hands and welcomed with friendly smiles. Scott and I had to gather ourselves together and looked at each other trying to contain our emotions. We were awe-strucked by the beauty of this hotel. Shortly after, a guy with a handheld credit card machine came by to check us in. He took us into our (first) room which had an ocean view but with only one bed. The problem was that one bed. We thought that it was better to get double beds because we wanted my Dad to join us that night. He did and he loved it as much as we did.

So it turned out that we got a better room because it was 2 stories higher and the view of the ocean was much much better. It was our last night in Dubai and Scott suggested to have dinner at the restaurant on the pier. I wasn't all too excited by his suggestion since our dining experience in Dubai was mediocre. This country does not serve pork and it is a religious day almost every other day. We were informed by the bartender at the Holiday Day that Dec 6 was dry day - which means all restaurants were prohibited to serve alcohol. Knowing that, Scott bought a bottle of cab from the bartender and we opened and finished it before dinner.

For dinner, I had the seabass and Scott ordered his usual steak. We took a table outside and enjoyed the night view of the Burj Al Arab beside us. With the combination of the wine, maybe a little jet-lagged and the cold wind, I was falling asleep at the table. I have never been so sleepy at dinner in my life!! My face almost fell into my food!!!!!!!! Scott was sitting across the table, just laughing at me and probably wondering what to do. I forced myself to stay awake to finish my food so we can go back and sleep. So we skipped the dessert and got the check. The restaurant offered the buggy service (a mini golf cart) to take us back to the hotel. While I accepted that offer, Scott insisted that he wanted to walk back. At that time, I was to0 tired to disagree with him so I just went along. Halfway to the pier, Scott handed me a card. I walked toward the light to read it and felt bad that I didn't get him one. Ops. Next thing I know, he was on his knees. That was my alarm for the night. My reaction to this - "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO".

The following dialogue continues:

Scott: Will you marry me?

Judy: Did you ask my mom?!?!?

Scott: Will you marry me? My answer was, of course - yes.

(Pier Chic - Jumeirah Madinat)

The First Entry

greetings!

This blog is primarily created to do a couple things. One, to keep our dear family and friends in the loop of the updates of the wedding. Two, an alternative for me to keep a wedding journal. Three, an avenue for those who wants to read about wedding plans. Four, to get your inputs, suggestions and comments about anything and everything. Five, to keep me on my toes for the big day. Six, after when the wedding day is done, this will be a place where we will share the niks and naks, ins and outs, the exciting and the mundane events of our (happily) married life. (chuckle+hehe).