Friday, July 30, 2010
White Wedding
I found this white wedding on Style Me Pretty, an awesome wedding blog. The bride and groom's color scheme included only whites, ivories, and creams. Of course, we are using splashes of green and purple (green dresses for the bridesmaids, purple in the bouquets, etc.), but I just LOVE how elegant the tables look in all white! The pictures are stunning, too. Check it out!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Four Years Together
Last night, we celebrated our four-year anniversary with a dinner at The Grill on the Alley in Beverly Hills. Our actual dating anniversary was July 20, but the celebration itself had to wait a bit because of our crazy schedules. We decided to make a big deal out of this anniversary to celebrate the fact that next year at this time we will already have a new anniversary date!
We love dressing up to eat out, and The Grill on the Alley has the perfect ambiance for it. If you haven't been, we definitely recommend it! If you sign up for their mailing list, the Grill also sends you a $30 off coupon for the month of your anniversary and your birthday. They have awesome service and delicious, gourmet food. Terry always gets the lamb chops, and I love both the filet and the swordfish. My favorite part is always the side dishes - creamed spinach to die for and creamy garlic mashed potatoes. They even comped us a dessert for our anniversary!
After dinner we ventured a few blocks over (would have been a perfect walk if not for my crutches) to Nic's Martini Bar. Super trendy and not exactly romantic in atmosphere, the menu of martinis seemed endless. Terry tried a cucumber martini, and I had the "Pink Monkey," which essentially consisted of various fruity ingredients.
I think other nights of the week they have live jazz music, which would have set the tone a little better, but the experience was still fun.
I feel so lucky to have spent the last four years with such a wonderful man, and I look forward to all the years to come! Less than a year to the wedding!
We love dressing up to eat out, and The Grill on the Alley has the perfect ambiance for it. If you haven't been, we definitely recommend it! If you sign up for their mailing list, the Grill also sends you a $30 off coupon for the month of your anniversary and your birthday. They have awesome service and delicious, gourmet food. Terry always gets the lamb chops, and I love both the filet and the swordfish. My favorite part is always the side dishes - creamed spinach to die for and creamy garlic mashed potatoes. They even comped us a dessert for our anniversary!
After dinner we ventured a few blocks over (would have been a perfect walk if not for my crutches) to Nic's Martini Bar. Super trendy and not exactly romantic in atmosphere, the menu of martinis seemed endless. Terry tried a cucumber martini, and I had the "Pink Monkey," which essentially consisted of various fruity ingredients.
I think other nights of the week they have live jazz music, which would have set the tone a little better, but the experience was still fun.I feel so lucky to have spent the last four years with such a wonderful man, and I look forward to all the years to come! Less than a year to the wedding!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Mr. and Mrs. Duque 7.17.10
This Saturday, Heidi and Edward took their vows in a beautiful ceremony in Newbury Park and celebrated with a delightful reception at Moorpark Country Club. Heidi and Ed have been together over six years now, and their wedding showed how much they love each other, as well as their family and friends...and of course, UCLA! Enjoy the pictures from the event!
All smiles after their beautiful mass at St. Julie Billiart's church.
A HOT day in Moorpark!
All smiles after their beautiful mass at St. Julie Billiart's church.
Heidi and Edward's nephew and godson, Noah, the adorable ring bearer!
A HOT day in Moorpark!
Yep, Josie Bruin made an appearance!
Heidi and Edward focused on all the minor details and certainly set the standard for how to make a wedding come together. Edward created the designs himself, from the save the dates to the invitations to the decorations on the day of the wedding. Check out some of their incredible details!
Professional banners throughout the wedding.
The colors were watermelon, chocolate brown,
orange, and green - perfect for summer!
Table names based on locations around UCLA and Westwood. Each table had a story about why the location is important to Heidi and Ed.
Beautiful cake with a personalized
cake topper with their monogram!
Awesome idea for the cards!
Cute Bruin garter!
Heidi and Edward focused on all the minor details and certainly set the standard for how to make a wedding come together. Edward created the designs himself, from the save the dates to the invitations to the decorations on the day of the wedding. Check out some of their incredible details!
Professional banners throughout the wedding.
The colors were watermelon, chocolate brown,
orange, and green - perfect for summer!
Table names based on locations around UCLA and Westwood. Each table had a story about why the location is important to Heidi and Ed.
Beautiful cake with a personalized
cake topper with their monogram!
Awesome idea for the cards!
Cute Bruin garter!
Heidi and Ed's wedding was beautiful, fun, and perfect for their personalities. This couple was meant for one another, and I wish them a spectacular honeymoon in Alaska!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Starting the Details
Now that the all-important one year mark zoomed by us, we know we need to start actually planning the wedding. We have a general vision of what we want, but how do we make that all come together? Slowly, by the looks of it. One thing at a time. We chose to start with hotels.
The Livermore wine valley, home to our venue, hosts a multitude of weddings each July, we want to ensure that our guests have no trouble getting a great hotel at a great rate. Our venue recommended the Courtyard Marriott a few miles from the event center, and we love anything Marriott, so we booked a huge block for our wedding weekend. The hotel also provides great services, such as a complimentary shuttle service to the wedding from the hotel, no cancellation fees to a certain date, and a discounted rate.
We also booked our own room for the wedding night. My parents talked us into a really nice hotel, convincing us that if we ever had a good reason to spend money on a hotel room, our wedding night is it. We didn't exactly resist.
Finally, since I'm still home all day with my casted foot, I created our wedding website. We tried several, and several custom websites exist, including The Knot, WeddingChannel.com, mywedding.com, but ultimately we just created one through Google Sites. I had a lot more creative freedom to design a site that flows with the theme of our wedding.
We feel like the planning is now officially underway! Get excited for some pictures from Heidi and Ed's wedding this weekend!
The Livermore wine valley, home to our venue, hosts a multitude of weddings each July, we want to ensure that our guests have no trouble getting a great hotel at a great rate. Our venue recommended the Courtyard Marriott a few miles from the event center, and we love anything Marriott, so we booked a huge block for our wedding weekend. The hotel also provides great services, such as a complimentary shuttle service to the wedding from the hotel, no cancellation fees to a certain date, and a discounted rate.
We also booked our own room for the wedding night. My parents talked us into a really nice hotel, convincing us that if we ever had a good reason to spend money on a hotel room, our wedding night is it. We didn't exactly resist.
Finally, since I'm still home all day with my casted foot, I created our wedding website. We tried several, and several custom websites exist, including The Knot, WeddingChannel.com, mywedding.com, but ultimately we just created one through Google Sites. I had a lot more creative freedom to design a site that flows with the theme of our wedding.
We feel like the planning is now officially underway! Get excited for some pictures from Heidi and Ed's wedding this weekend!
Friday, July 9, 2010
One Year!
Today marks one year to our wedding! We get one more year of betrothal before the wedding, and then married life begins! Today we visited Solvang and Los Olivos to enjoy some wine tasting and quality time with Terry's mom, Sharron. The perfect weather and great company made for an awesome day.
So far, Terry and I have loved the engagement. Some people question the length of our engagement, since by the time next July 9th rolls around it will have been 23 months since Terry proposed, but we have no qualms about taking our time with the wedding. We only get to be fiance and fiancee once, so we like the idea of extending that time. Plus, two of our favorite couples are getting married this summer! Heidi and Edward will wed next Saturday, July 17, and Winnie and Brian will marry on August 7. Terry and I feel very lucky to be a part of these weddings, to hear all the planning details, and to receive their wedding and marriage advice in the coming year!
We feel so excited to share the next year together. Our roommate (my bridesmaid Jenn) is moving out to live with her boyfriend, and we are thrilled for them even though we'll miss their company. A half-hearted apartment search and a whole-hearted agreement later, Terry and I decided not to move when Jenn leaves. We love our location in Mar Vista, near Santa Monica, we have reasonable commutes to work, we feel safe, and we love the amount of space in the two bedroom apartment. Amazingly, we already grew out of a one bedroom, and we look forward to having both a bedroom and an office/spare room. We hope to stay in this apartment through our first year of marriage, and it provides plenty of space for us to grow a little more. More than anyone, I think Terry's dad is thrilled we aren't moving, because he was always the one burdened with the bulk of moving us over the last few years! Also, not moving was one of our goals from the beginning of the year, so we can check off another one!
As far as wedding planning, the one year mark means we can really get serious about our plans. With all my down time, I have been working on the wedding guest list, organizing my Excel sheets and collecting addresses. I love using my etiquette book (Emily Post's Etiquette, a gift from Terry) to determine how we should go about planning a formal wedding, and the book has been helpful in determining our budget for each aspect of the wedding, such as save the dates and invitations. We plan to send out save the dates within the next three months (many of our guests will be coming in from out of town), so Terry needs to finish up the designs. My mom and I found favors that we love and that work great with the wine theme of the wedding. We have seen so many incredible ideas for favors, including a candy bar with a cute box or bag, or a photo booth, which I hear is a blast. Looking for favors is easy online with websites like My Wedding Favors, Little Things Favors, and WeddingFavors.org. The tough thing is finding something unique and useful, as opposed to something everyone will simply throw away. I have also heard of couples making a donation in lieu of giving individual favors, which I love, but we haven't made a decision yet.
Centerpieces. Ugh. I am SO not looking forward to centerpieces. First of all, no flowers. Yes, I have seen the millions of pictures on The Knot and other sites that display gorgeous floral centerpieces, but Terry and I have agreed that we simply will not spend that kind of money on flowers. As beautiful as they look, we have decided that we want to focus our funds on other areas. So don't expect many (if any!) flowers at our wedding! Expect simple, elegant tablescapes with simple, elegant centerpieces. We want our guests to focus on each other, the food, the dancing, and, well, since it's our wedding, us! No need for all those flowers to distract everyone. I would love for the centerpieces to all be different, which should be a fun challenge for our 25+ tables. I haven't created any mockups yet, but I know we will use ivory candles, wine corks, and clear glass vases. The actual compilation is TBD.
We are so excited to be getting married in one year! Thankfully, the extended engagement has given us plenty of time to plan without stress, and we love every step of organizing our wedding. Meanwhile, we look forward to enjoying Heidi and Ed's wedding in a few days! Congratulations to a wonderful couple!
So far, Terry and I have loved the engagement. Some people question the length of our engagement, since by the time next July 9th rolls around it will have been 23 months since Terry proposed, but we have no qualms about taking our time with the wedding. We only get to be fiance and fiancee once, so we like the idea of extending that time. Plus, two of our favorite couples are getting married this summer! Heidi and Edward will wed next Saturday, July 17, and Winnie and Brian will marry on August 7. Terry and I feel very lucky to be a part of these weddings, to hear all the planning details, and to receive their wedding and marriage advice in the coming year!
We feel so excited to share the next year together. Our roommate (my bridesmaid Jenn) is moving out to live with her boyfriend, and we are thrilled for them even though we'll miss their company. A half-hearted apartment search and a whole-hearted agreement later, Terry and I decided not to move when Jenn leaves. We love our location in Mar Vista, near Santa Monica, we have reasonable commutes to work, we feel safe, and we love the amount of space in the two bedroom apartment. Amazingly, we already grew out of a one bedroom, and we look forward to having both a bedroom and an office/spare room. We hope to stay in this apartment through our first year of marriage, and it provides plenty of space for us to grow a little more. More than anyone, I think Terry's dad is thrilled we aren't moving, because he was always the one burdened with the bulk of moving us over the last few years! Also, not moving was one of our goals from the beginning of the year, so we can check off another one!
As far as wedding planning, the one year mark means we can really get serious about our plans. With all my down time, I have been working on the wedding guest list, organizing my Excel sheets and collecting addresses. I love using my etiquette book (Emily Post's Etiquette, a gift from Terry) to determine how we should go about planning a formal wedding, and the book has been helpful in determining our budget for each aspect of the wedding, such as save the dates and invitations. We plan to send out save the dates within the next three months (many of our guests will be coming in from out of town), so Terry needs to finish up the designs. My mom and I found favors that we love and that work great with the wine theme of the wedding. We have seen so many incredible ideas for favors, including a candy bar with a cute box or bag, or a photo booth, which I hear is a blast. Looking for favors is easy online with websites like My Wedding Favors, Little Things Favors, and WeddingFavors.org. The tough thing is finding something unique and useful, as opposed to something everyone will simply throw away. I have also heard of couples making a donation in lieu of giving individual favors, which I love, but we haven't made a decision yet.
Centerpieces. Ugh. I am SO not looking forward to centerpieces. First of all, no flowers. Yes, I have seen the millions of pictures on The Knot and other sites that display gorgeous floral centerpieces, but Terry and I have agreed that we simply will not spend that kind of money on flowers. As beautiful as they look, we have decided that we want to focus our funds on other areas. So don't expect many (if any!) flowers at our wedding! Expect simple, elegant tablescapes with simple, elegant centerpieces. We want our guests to focus on each other, the food, the dancing, and, well, since it's our wedding, us! No need for all those flowers to distract everyone. I would love for the centerpieces to all be different, which should be a fun challenge for our 25+ tables. I haven't created any mockups yet, but I know we will use ivory candles, wine corks, and clear glass vases. The actual compilation is TBD.
We are so excited to be getting married in one year! Thankfully, the extended engagement has given us plenty of time to plan without stress, and we love every step of organizing our wedding. Meanwhile, we look forward to enjoying Heidi and Ed's wedding in a few days! Congratulations to a wonderful couple!
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