I've been doing pretty well getting wedding things accomplished lately. I wrote before about the "wedding funk" I was in. There wasn't really anything that jump-started my desire to finish planning this shindig, but there was definitely a sense of urgency resulting from the "HOLY CRAP FOUR MONTHS" realization I came to. There is so much to do with four months to go until the day, so it was important that I get my butt in gear.

This weekend was supposed to be the florist weekend, but the florist meeting I had got postponed until next weekend. Plus, my sister (who is my maid of honor) was in town. She is the one who designed the save-the-dates, so it was only fitting that we go to the invitation place to pick out our invitations instead!

My ideas about the invitations have been through many iterations. I initially was dead set on pocket invitations. I still love them. I just love how they have the inserts arranged all pretty within the invitation. I looked into them though, and for what I was wanting, they were really just too expensive. I probably still could have had them if I had compromised on some things, like the paper, and instead of having them made to make them myself, but I didn't.

We ended up designing a really pretty invitation that allowed me to use all the pretty iridescent papers that I loved. Instead of a pocket, it's just a long rectangular invite, but instead of having a 5x7 size that I've seen a lot, we made one that was long and skinny, more like 4x11. The best part about this design is we can use the graphic my sister made! I really love that graphic and I am really pleased we worked the whole thing in.

So yeah, we have the order put in! The proofs should be done in a week or so, so once we approve them, they will be printed. I am really excited! The design details will have to wait until the invitations actually hit the mail. Next week...the florist appointment. Hopefully I will have figured out an idea of what I want by then.

The wedding band has been purchased!

First of all, this isn't actually the only wedding band I've purchased. We actually purchased a different one prior to this. When we first started talking about wedding bands, I thought that all I wanted was a plain, white gold band. So that's what we got me. It was pretty, and most of all, it was cheap. However, once I started thinking about it, I realized that I kind of wanted something with a little bling to it. I like the idea of just wearing the wedding band if we travel, so I don't have to worry about my pretty engagement ring, but I didn't want to wear just a plain white gold band. I talked to J about it, and he said that it was probably okay to get something different if I wanted it, as we hadn't spent that much on the first band anyway.

If any of you have seen my engagement ring, you know that it's a cathedral setting with pave-set stones on both sides. When we walked into the store on Sunday, I was first looking for a pave-set band that would closely match the sides of my engagement ring. Since my ring did not come as a set, there is no matching band with the exact same pave-set stones. I tried on a bunch of rings with pave-set, channel set, and even prong set small diamonds all around the band. None of them matched the sides of my ring well enough. I knew that if I just bought one of those, I would end up hating that it didn't match my ring exactly.

I ended up looking for rings that would complement, but not match, my engagement ring. This one ring that caught my eye right off the bat was one that looked like a simple white gold band with some diamonds embedded every couple millimeters. I thought it looked nice, and thought it might go well with my ring.

And it did! I really liked the way it paired with my ring. Funnily enough, this ring was about half the price of the other rings I'd first tried on, so there was definitely some upselling tried on us. It didn't work though, because I think this band is absolutely perfect with my engagement ring. And here it is!

I am really excited about it. The only thing about it is it only comes in a standard size six, and my ring finger is a 5 1/4. We had to special order the ring, and apparently the jewelers are closed during the month of July. The special orders apparently take three months. This is cutting it rather close to our wedding day, but hopefully it will work out! I have my fingers crossed.

Hurray! The save the dates have gone out! Good thing too, because I was reaching the end of the window where it's not weird to receive a save the date. I am very happy to get those out the door.

My sister did the design of the save the date, and she is amazing. They look great. She even designed the custom graphic I have been totally in love with, which has been my one great idea of this whole wedding planning process. It ties together J's Irish heritage and my Chinese heritage.

(image redacted)

The only problem is, I didn't order enough. I also don't really think I should spend the money to order more, so what's been sent out is all I'm sending. Hopefully people will understand that not getting a save the date does not necessarily mean they are not invited to the wedding. We'll see! One more thing done!

The engagement photo shoot was a lot of fun! We met our fabulous photographer, April Greer, at Dragonfish in downtown Portland first. Since I am really uncomfortable having my photo taken, I was really going to need a drink before setting out. Luckily, Dragonfish has some delicious drinks which totally helped.

I'd originally planned on just wandering around either downtown or the Pearl, since I didn't know how far we'd probably go with the wandering. Surprisingly (to me), we really took most of our photos in about a three block radius of Dragonfish. The weather was oddly cooperative as well; even though it had been raining for a bit and really windy before we started taking photos, when we started really wandering around outside, the sun came out and stayed around for the rest of our session.

Not surprisingly, I don't really know how to pose and stuff for the camera. I still felt uncomfortable, despite my delicious drink. April was really great in that she totally gave us direction when J and I just kind of sat there and looked at each other. It was really helpful, especially when we felt really awkward taking photos in public. People really like to stare! Also, since they were engagment photos, it was kind of like just making out all around the city. Not terrible, but kind of awkward with people watching.

The funniest part of the afternoon was when we were taking some photos in the park blocks. April had J and me stand in the grass on this small hill, and as we were trying our best to look like a pair of lovebirds, this homeless-looking guy (girl?) wandered by and yelled at us, "get a room!" J and I just cracked up.

Also kind of funny about the day was that there was this couple taking wedding photos in the same area we were! I couldn't tell if it was the actual day of their wedding or it was a day-after shoot or anything. We took our photos on a Thursday, so it's likely that it was just a day-after shoot. After watching that couple's photographer (and stylist, who was following them around and positioning the couple and making sure the girl's dress fanned out properly...weird!), I am really glad we have April doing our photos. The other couple's photos seemed really weird and oddly posed. I'm sure they will turn out ok in print, but watching them being taken was a whole different matter. In any event, we made April promise not to make us take photos like some of the ones we saw. She said that was no problem, heehee.

Anyway, the photo session was great! We really felt less awkward as the time went on, and I think it will probably reflect in our photos. April told us it would probably be about two weeks for the proofs to be done, so I was really surprised and excited when she sent me a few sneak peeks on Friday! I posted a few below.

So there's our shoot! I am really excited to see the rest of the photos. April is the best photographer ever!

Hello! Guess what, another wedding thing is going to be taken care of tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm taking a half day off of work, going to get my hair styled by my stylist, grabbing J and meeting our photographer downtown for our engagment photo session! I am super excited, as I love love love our photographer, and I am excited to see what kinds of places we will discover for photos. I am doubly happy because up until yesterday, the forecast for Thursday was showers. As of yesterday, though, the chance of rain is only 20%! And while it would have been nice to have Monday and Tuesday's gorgeous sunshine to take photos in, I have been informed that cloudy skies are actually best for photos as they diffuse the light. So, I guess I will take it.

I spent some time and money with my bridesmaid, K, on Sunday. We took our bank accounts to the cute boutiques on NW 23rd to find some engagment photo outfits. I definitely did my part to stimulate the economy, but I am not sure the stuff I found will work for the shoot. We will have to see how the weather shapes up tomorrow. In any event, I am sure I will find some cute things to wear. Too bad I haven't been following my diet, but oh well. Today's burrito was delicious, even if it wasn't waist-friendly.

I haven't done much planning with my venue lately because I just don't like communicating with them. Also, we heard from a family friend of J's that he thought our venue was up for renewal of their liquor license and it might be denied! Of course, that made me freak out, as most things do these days. However, with more digging around, it seems that the concert venue/bar below our wedding venue is the one that is up for its OLCC license renewal. I guess the neighborhood is unhappy with the drunk patrons from the bar that spill into the residential streets after shows, and are drunk and disorderly or start fights. Hopefully this will not affect our wedding venue! J has already called the coordinators and left a message, so we will see what they say.

Up next (hopefully soon!): flowers, cakes, and fittings! Oh my!

I know, I know! I'm a horrible blogger. It's been what, 1 1/2 months since I posted anything? And I came back with a post that said I'd be back soon? I know. All lies.

In my defense, wedding planning is hard! Nobody told me that I'd have such a whirlwind at first, collecting magazines, setting the date, booking the venue and photographer, selecting the dress, getting the bridesmaids...it was a lot in a short period! All I can say is I was spectacularly burned out after I got all that done. In fact, after the bridal show in January, I just wasn't interested in ANYTHING bridal related. It didn't help that my future mother-in-law was really into it, and I felt bad whenever she'd ask me what I had next to do and I'd brush the question off.

Anyway, the wedding planning has slowly been picking up momentum in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, since I work in public accounting, it has also coincided with the last few weeks of busy season (april 15 is coming soon!). Thus, I haven't been able to do all the planning I want to because my weekends are full of work. Still, I've managed to get some things done.

I picked up the dress this past Saturday! It's just as beautiful as I remember it, which is super exciting. I've been having worries that I didn't remember my dress and would hate it! But luckily, I still love it. Now it just needs to be altered. Also, all my accessories came in with it, so I can finally schedule my hair trials with my tiara and veil!

We also finally got the Save the Dates sent out to be printed! I won't post what they look like yet because, obviously, people haven't gotten them or seen them yet. But I will try to post a pic when we finally get them out. They'll be going out behind schedule, but oh well. I love them; they are great! My awesomely talented sister designed them for me, and they incorporate both my Asian heritage and J's family's Irish background. I love it.

In the next few weeks, I hope to schedule some florist consultations, a hair trial, and maybe a makeup trial! Ooh, and our engagement photos are scheduled for two weeks from now. It's all very exciting! Hopefully I won't burn out again. Not much time left for that!

How have you all been doing while I was bumming around?

centerpiece inspiration

I've been taking a mental break from wedding decor lately. Not only is it not my forte, but I don't have strong opinions on anything so I can't really make decisions about the decor easily. I've written about flowers/centerpieces before, I know. But, what if we didn't do floral centerpieces?

I previously posted a Weddingbee photo from Mrs. Avocado's centerpieces. They're super cute, but the more I look at them, the more I don't think they tie to the feeling of our wedding. They're more vintage than I think our wedding is going to be.

I've collected a few photos of decor we might be able to pull off. Anyone have any thoughts?

I really really like that one in the bottom row in the middle. The floating flowers in the water filled candle look really neat! I think the floating candle within the vase also adds something nice. However, I tried to do a submerged flower type thing with a tulip. The tulip didn't stay down because it was too buoyant. I'm not sure what florists do to keep the flowers down, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to recreate that on my own. The other candle ideas in the photos are pretty as well.

Flowers mixed with candles in holders of varying heights and widths. This one is cute as well. I don't know how expensive it would be though for all those candles and glass to put the candles in.

Candles tied together wtih a ribbon. This is pretty and modern. Also would be pretty inexpensive, as there are only three tall pillar candles and some small votives. J and I have already purchased three dozen votive candle holders, as we found them on sale for super cheap. We could use purple or gold ribbon to tie our colors into the decor.

My current favorite. These paper flowers are super easy to make, and branches can be found anywhere random, like parks. The only thing I'm still pondering is in what kind of vessel the branches could be displayed? I'm not sure what sort of vase or bottle would be asian-ey or irish-ey.