Presents Galore

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family.  At some point I will have to take a picture of the heap of boxes that has infiltrated my childhood bedroom.  Almost our entire registry was taken care of and with the monetary gifts MES and I decided to put 50% towards our down payment fund and 50% towards furnishing since our total belongings furniture-wise can fit into 400 sq feet.

I can't wait to host a dinner party in our new home which we probably won't have for quite some time, on our new china!  :)  Yay!

'til next time

The Right Stuff

I fell in love with Daria Bishop Photography back when our friends Tracy and Alex got married and the Daria and Andy did their engagement pictures.  Mind blowingly enough, their wedding pictures were even more beautiful.  Even more surprising was to see them at our friends' Katie & Josh's wedding last year and I still got the tingle when I saw their style.

When MES and I decided to get married up north I kept comparing all other photographers to them and I couldn't find anyone who matched up.  Then a good friend reminded me that no matter what I remember from the day, what will last forever are the photographs and that I don't need to just be ok with them, but I have to GUSH about them.  And that's when I sucked it up, decided to go with the photographers that I wanted even though they were out of our budget and out of state  :)

And look at how beautiful our pictures are!  Here are just a teaser for the time being.

 

... Now presenting RMS

This might just be my favorite picture of our wedding, albeit I don't have many yet, but this will probably still reign in the top.

I can't believe that 12 months of planning has finally ended and that I'm no longer a Chan (not officially yet).  People kept advising to just enjoy the day and to take in every minute of it because it'll just fly by and boy did it!  It felt like a whirlwind from Thursday through Monday and now it's Wednesday already and I'm already on my next business trip and MES is back in NYC living his bachelor ways.

The Red Inn was a great venue for us and fit our couple style perfectly.  As an event coordinator I had some personal gripes, some pretty major ones, but according to guests they weren't even aware that things didn't flow right or that there were any hiccups and that's all that matters right?

Seating Chart D.O.N.E.

 Our RSVPs were due about a week and a half ago and thankfully we have received about 95% of them back.  The only missing ones are for the banquet so that meant that MES and I could get started on our seating chart for Ptown at least.  Whoop Whoop!  Another thing checked off of our list makes RC a happy girl.  Another thing that makes RC happy?  Have bmaids who are crafty.  SCORE!  Jen is working on menu layout for me and Jo is working on a thank you garland.  Ah-Mazing!  Just a couple of things I don't have to worry about as I'm chasing down $500 worth of gift cards that have been "lost" by FedEx (whole other story).

DIY Weekend back in the old Hood aka Home

So I spent the weekend back in good 'ole Franklin Lakes, yes it's the location of the Real Housewives of NJ, and NO it's not really like that.

MES and spent a lot of time on our Ptown invitations because they were so much more complicated that our banquet ones.  Being mildly budget conscious, we decided to have the printing done but to do all of the assembly ourselves.  Printing was supposed to be done by us, but after how long it took to print the Save the Dates, there was NO way that I was going to spend an entire week printing again.

I'm only going to share a few pictures with you now because I want the Ptown ones to be a little bit of a surprise.  Banquet invites aren't as exciting since there's only so much you can custom a traditional invite.  I'm still pretty psyched that the caricature looks like MES though.  And super excited about my polka dot liners  :)

Welcome Dinner at Local 186

And.... it's booked!  FINALLY!!  MES and I have been agonizing over which of our favorite places in Ptown would be the right place for our dinner, the right location, the right food, and most importantly the right atmosphere that will make it feel super New England.  One of our favorite places, Bubalas, recently took over a restaurant across the way and dubbed it Local 186.  THE burger place to go in Ptown seemed like THE place for us burger aficionados.  We hope our guests are ready to chow down on some burgers (beef, turkey, lamb, veggie etc), mussels, steamers, fries etc to kick off wedding weekend with us.

Photograph courtesy of:  tumblr.com

{Wedding Fever: Dessy}

So a while back I made the decision that I wanted all my bmaids comfortable in their dresses, and hope against hope that they'll find some use to wear their dress again.  Which is why I went with a neutral color, grey, a fairly 4-season material, and let them pick their own style.  Which is where Dessy comes in.  Since all of my bmaids are from all over (Connecticut, Atlanta, Tampa, Long Island, NYC, and London), I wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to look for and order dresses... and we all know of my addiction to online shopping.... really just shopping in general!

So in came Dessy.  And here are some of the dresses that have been picked so far!

{Wedding Fever: Formal China}

As we're putting together our registry, I convinced MES that these Kate Spade Larabee plates would look gorgeous on our future dining room table interspersed with the more subtle, plain chrome stripe.  I really hope that we get some of these because I'm addicted to polka dots!

{Wedding Fever: My B'maids}

I found this great idea on Rinse. Repeat. a few months ago and absolutely fell in love with the idea of asking my girls to be part of our big day with a personal and fun touch.  I chose to use a 4x6" card with stickers for my message so that it could be switched out with a photo for a more every day use, but I think that the inserts are really fun, the personal pictures from our friendship history, and laying out MES's day and mine. 

{Wedding Fever: Rehearsal Dinner Dress}

We all know what a huge fan I am of DVF, so when I found this Della Dress I knew it'd be an awesome way to embrace my style for our rehearsal dinner in October.  Looks great with a cardigan too in case it's chilly! (PS - white is exclusively at Saks in store only)

{Wedding Fever: And They're Off!}

Our save the dates have been sent!  We're so excited to have this first step out of the way and were thrilled with how much people have liked them!  Stephannie Barba from Couture Maps did an amazing job with the illustrations and MES was such a good sport when I suggested hand coloring the hearts and the leaves on all of them. 

Dear readers, what save the dates have you seen that have really stood out to you?

{Wedding Fever: Banquet Save the Dates}

Who ever said planning was easy?  Well did they plan two?!

MES and I always knew we didn't want a big wedding, but with my family, and the family that my parents consider family, that notion was fairly far fetched.  And that is when the idea of having two wedding receptions was hatched; 1 smaller one with family and close friends and a second one with the more extended family, Chinese banquet style.

As we're planning the Provincetown ceremony are simultaneously planning a Chinese banquet in Flushing.  Timing is everything so as we're getting ready to send out the Ptown save the dates, I drafted these up for the Chinese banquet.

{Wedding Fever: Say Yes to the Dress}

If you're a young woman who's as obsessed with bridal as I am, you know the show and you know that Kleinfeld's is THE place to go when you're looking for a wedding dress.

I've gone to Vera and I've gone to Amsale.  I've looked at dresses in magazines, online and blogs.  I knew what I was looking for, and I bought something pretty different than what I thought.  Given my petite curvy frame, I figured A-line or a not-so-full ballgown was the way I was going, but instead.....MERMAID, well really it's a fit-to-flare and isn't tight down the thighs.  A beautiful gown by Alita Graham specifically for Kleinfeld's is now mine, or will be in August.  I can't wait to share pictures with you all  :) but this time I'm holding the pictures close and not sharing until the big day <3

{Wedding Fever: Save the Dates}

I am SUPER excited that these are coming along so well  :)  Stephannie Barber from Couture Maps is AMAING!!!

{Wedding Fever: Registries}

MES and I decided that we would tackle starting our registry today.  I had no idea how hard this would be!  Two hours after entering Macy's, we had registered for some formal dining ware, two pans, 1 pot, a roasting pan, and champagne flutes.  Not exactly the quick-fire way I wanted to begin this process.  Online is way easier!

{Wedding Fever: Vera Wang & Amsale}

I am fortunate enough to live in Manhattan where there are so many bridal boutiques that my brain spins!  A few weeks ago I went with two bridesmaids to Vera Wang, the ultimate in bridal.

 

And then today I went to Amsale and tried on a few fit to flares, which surprisingly elongated and slimmed my curvy petite body.