On finding a fragrance for the big day

I read the article somewhere about wearing a different fragrance on your wedding day. That way, if you happen to smell the fragrance that you wore, it would definitely take you back to the memory.* I remember really liking the idea without realizing that it could be difficult to do.

I searched high and low for it, but I want it to be a classic piece for sure. My casual go-to perfume is Stella by Stella McCartney. I so love this perfume. It's not too flowery and not too strong (my nose is not going to cooperate with a strong smelling perfume). Stella perfume has a freshness hint and I like the sexy-overnight smell even more. I won't go as far as describing it  since I'm not writing a perfume review. But it's hard to find something else that I strongly like.

Naturally, I want something totally different for the wedding day. Not totally change the personality, but don't smell the same. I went to several places, Dior, Lancome, Burberry, Chanel etc, but could not find any. Thankfully I did not give up. The actual problem is that I was indecisive, I needed that affirmation that whatever it is, it is indeed a nice-smelling perfume. That affirmation would later come from my mother. We went shopping together and visited Chanel. I did not like No. 5. I'm still not sure why it's one of the best selling perfume. I don't like perfume that smells like perfume (i.e. Chanel No. 5 or J'adore Dior). I liked Chanel Allure. But the problem was (this will sound ridiculous) the bottle was not pretty looking (Does this mean I judge a book by it's cover??). Before we moved on, we sprayed Coco Chanel Mademoiselle. 

It's so classic without being over the top. 

It screams elegance without being boring. 

It's sweet without being cutsie. 

It has a character without being an attention whore. 

Ok, I should stop there.  But, hopefully the message is clear; all of the above represents my personalities I feel like a million dollar wearing it without actually having a million dollar. 

   

Now the main message is to tell my friends (esp. Rebecca G. if she ever reads this) and my family or even any brides to be to take the time and find that one perfume that will make you remember that fine wedding day of yours.* It's really worth the effort.

* This is assuming that you do want to remember that day. For myself, as long as there is no 20/20 type of drama, it's good. Those dramas can range from: 'The story of wedding day goes dark as the maid of honor kidnaps the bride as she can not longer hold her feeling of love for the groom' to 'Sad tragedy in weddingville: the parents of the bride reveals that she was adopted and that her real parents are also the groom's parents' )

Hopefully is going to rain soon here in Mad-is-on.

On what would be the best part of wedding planning..so far..

What might be the best part of the wedding planning? The answer might be different to every bride-to-be. For me, it was not when I found my dress, it was not picking out flowers. All of those made me nervous and feel relieved once I decided on something. Not so much a good feeling. So what is it then?

Last week, I sent out our wedding invitations. Sure, parts of me feel relieved. But mostly, that was the first time that I felt that the wedding is coming together. All of these preparations were not bounding. Now that everyone is invited, I feel that I have to make this happen, otherwise.. embarrassment? Anyway, on top that is the feeling that I'm getting every time I open my mailbox. How many replies will I get today? Who are they? What do they want to eat? etc etc.  It makes me anxious and excited, in a good way.

Our invitation itself is pretty unique. We did not print it in the US. We printed them in Indonesia. One thing that really struck me was the invitation cost. They were expensive for just a cost of paper. The next thing that made me feel kind of weird was also the fact that the ceremony and the reception invitations are on a separate piece. For me, it was not practical as I am inviting everybody to the reception whom I am inviting to the ceremony as well. I decided to ask my mom to look around invitation shops back home and she found it. She mentioned that I could pick a design and the shop could send me the email and I could approve it online. Then, when I was home in November for a cousin's wedding, we could go to the shop and proof everything.

We decided to go with blue and gold color. The cover was made out of velvet fabric. The printing was embossed. It was pretty. It would cost a million if I were to buy it in the US. But, it costed us less. Although, it would be cheaper if were to invite more people thus printing more. The inside was cool. I drew a map and I manually glued it down at the back of the invite. I also actually created my own RSVP card. Not too hard.

It basically looks like a book. The cover page in front. When you open it, our initials will be there. When you flip the page, a poem by e.e.cummings is  on the left side and the information about the wedding itself is on the right. If you flip again, directions are on the left and the map that I glued on is on the right. We put the RSVP at the back as well.

The only concern is that J is not inviting a lot of people. I should rephrase that, he is not inviting anybody who is not his family. Oh God! We need people!

On the details - DIY wedding souvenir

Here is the first post ever related to my wedding details :p

I have this DIY idea of having a bi-fold door as an escort cards holder. As our feel is vintage, I'd like to have the door color either off-white or light sky blue. The cracks on the door will serve as escort or name card showing their table. I saw this design somewhere and I love it. Fortunately, we have a bi-fold pantry door that is going to be gone when we're re-doing the house, so might as well use it for some good.

The inspiration

I have not yet finished the painting the door, but I have found a gold frame that will be hung on it. I found this gold frame at Marshalls with discount. There are cracks at the corners of the frame. But again, since we will have a vintage wedding, I think that goes pretty well.

I sticked a chalkboard paper on top and wrote "Please take a seat". I did not like the paper to much. It is too smooth, I'd prefer a rougher surface. You can achieve this by using chalkboard paint on rough surface such as woods, instead. But I'll take it. Probably for further project, I'll do that.

The above picture also shows my wedding favor. This DIY wedding favor idea comes from J's mother. She is really good at glass art. She has given me a few ideas previously, which I liked as well. However, when she showed me this, my heart melted. This wedding favor is a heart-shaped glass, made out of 2 pieces (left and right) and the 2 pieces can be in different color. We used the combination of gold, blue, and white. I like the gold and blue because they can be a little more transparent and it looks cool. After she created the hearts, I came to help wiring and beading. We wrapped a beaded wire around it and did not forget to glue the wire, so it sticks to the glass piece.

I love our DIY wedding favor. It's very personal and it's unique. J's mom was also kind to not let me worry about the cost. She took care of buying the glasses, wire, and the beads. I guess I'm really lucky! :)

The box is printed by the same place who printed my invitations. The pattern also matches the invitation pattern. I luurrrrrrve it.

Hopefully this post can help anybody who's in search of DIY wedding favor idea, especially dealing with glass artwork.

Love and Joy,

On finishing our Catholic wedding prep

We are getting married in a Catholic Church. I have always wanted it, although the thought of getting married outside is tempting :)

In order to be able to do so, we have to complete a set of seminars, titled "Real Love, Real Life" and "God's Plan for a Joyful Marriage." And I'm glad to announce it that we've completed it! At the end of each seminar, we received a certificate and we can cut it in half, keep one half for us and give the other half to the parish.

Real Love, Real Life - St. James, Madison, WI
We started at 8:30am. We arrived pretty early and was provided with breakfast snacks. We didn't eat anything, but we grabbed coffee and orange juice. J was dying without his mountain dew. Overall it was a nice experience. The format for each topic was sharing experiences by the leaders, breaking into personal time while answering the questionnaire, and finally getting together with your partner and discussing the answers. I think it means well, though J is hard on expressing his feelings, which is fine. We got done about an hour earlier that what it was supposed to be.

God's Plan for a Joyful Marriage - Bishop O'Connor, Madison, WI
We started at the same time. But this time, we got muffin and bagels :) Oh! and banana! We got apple juice, coffee, andddd....they have the dew! You can imagine how happy J was :)
The same format, but I like the first one better, or maybe I would prefer to take this first, then followed by Real Love, Real Life. I think that way because Real Love, Real Life was more personal, so it would be good if you knew the drill! Bishop O'Connor was a nice place, though! It also has a chapel. The chapel made me think twice why I didn't think of it as a place to get married. I love our church, but I'm afraid that it would feel empty as we're not inviting a lot of people. Three things that I remember:
1. I kept eating the banana. Every time we had a break, I'd grab the banana :p
2. For the last session, we were up by the chapel and talked about their cool umbrella holder that's shaped like an umbrella and we missed the bell! When we're walking back, there was no one! Everybody had gathered back in the room. It was a bit embarrassing as we didn't know how long they'd been there. But, we're not the last!
3. We watched The Hunger Games afterwards :)

Our Certificates :)

On the 99 days left!

Well well! I missed the 100 days countdown yesterday. But, today marks the 99th day before our wedding day! In anyway, we like the number 9 better :)

I am going to make the most out of these 99 days. Stress-free and pretty much get everything else ready! Happy Wedding Prep!

On having (a) flower girl(s)

One of the most excited part about my wedding (at least for me) is that we are going to have 4 flower girls as well as 2 pageboys. Three out of four of the flower girls are my cousins' kids and one of them is my MoH's niece. The pageboys are J's cousin's boys.

With the flower girls, I have found the perfect dress for them. It just looks so pretty. Although, the effort to get them is not. I found the cheapest place is at festivalapparel.com. I asked my cousins and my MoH for their measurement and bought them the dress. The dress for my MoH's niece is perfect. The dresses for my cousin's nieces were fit just right so that she was afraid it would be too small for them in June. So, we were planning to exchange them with one size bigger. Except, it took me a while to reach the freaking owner of the store to ask for the return form. I called them e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y. but never got to talk to the owner and the due of the exchange is approaching. Eventually my cousin called him up and was able to talk to him (what is wrong with my luck?). So she then sent the dresses with promises that the new dresses will be sent to her in February when it's available. I would not buy from them anymore. Also, I think I found the shoes for them. It's from Payless and the color is just right. It's not expensive either. So, I could buy them or ask for my relatives to buy them. For the wedding day, they will be carrying a pomander ball. They should look really cute >.<

As for the boys. I am no sure. Of course I would like them to wear a mini boy suit. But, 1.) It would be expensive to buy (~$50 or $60) which I don't probably mind, except, 2.) they may not wear it again. A dress for a girl will more likely to be worn again, not a tux or suite for boys. But, I may be just buying them a tux shirt, a bow tie, with or without a vest (not sure what color either). What do you think?