it's official!

75% of the invitations have been mailed. Or, well, I just tossed them in the mailbox outside my apartment complex, so they'll be on their way to various destinations all over the country by noon tomorrow. The other 25% are pending addresses and guest list alterations.

I can't wait till you see them! My cousin had to create four different designs until we found something that worked (with printing and everything) and I had to drive into Boston 4 separate times, but it was worth it. Hopefully everyone likes it, too. We completed the Chinese invitations and gave them to W's parents so those should be on their way. I'm gonna send one to my great aunt and one to my grandma since they're in Chinese and English...I think they'd appreciate it. I like having an original design because, well, I'm high maintenance like that.

I'm hoping that the invitations are more of a formality than a first alert that someone's invited to the wedding. I get a little stressed when I hear that people haven't booked their flights yet. Airfare is so expensive nowadays and it'll probably only get worse. *sigh*

I've been really bummed when I hear that people can't make it, but I was reminded that I'm very blessed cuz one of my friends is getting married in Taiwan and none of her friends can go. If I had an abundance of earned time and if W didn't have his internship I would have pushed for us to go (I would have pushed for a stop in Hawaii for D&L's wedding while we were at it, too). This summer is gonna be crazy...and it all starts this weekend with summer wedding #1!

ready set go

It sounds ridiculous, but I have several "aesthetic" goals for the wedding:
1) Figure out how long it takes to grow my nails to an appropriate length
2) Do everything to avoid tan lines on my upper body
3) Be curvy!
4) Find the optimal eyebrow curve (this may include getting my eyebrows threaded, I haven't decided yet)
5) Keep my skin well moisturized
6) Exfoliate so my skin isn't all dry and flaky when I moisturize it
7) Figure out how to not be bloated and gross on my wedding day

Basically, I want to glow. I think that generally comes with the package when I'm a bride. I'm trying to increase my water intake and eat more fruits and veggies...to the point where I'm considering having more vegetarian meals to make sure I'm getting lots of vitamins. (It doesn't hurt that summer is the best time for veggies, and it's so stinkin' hot here in Boston that meat-heavy meals make you feel gross...unless it's a bbq. =)

I was trying to think about why it's easy to come up with these little things and obsess over my appearance...and I think it's because it's easier to plan these things because they have very tangible results. The harder part? Actually preparing to be a wife. Praying for my husband-to-be. Understanding the depth of God's intention for marriage. Making sure my inside is just as beautiful as outside, if not more. A few weeks ago the weight of getting married finally hit me (emotionally and mentally...I was a wreck for a couple days. "Everything's changing! Am I really ready for this??!") and now it's settling in. I hope I remember that being beautiful is more than just aesthetics.

Prayer for this would be greatly appreciated!

another night another dream but always you

My dreams are getting more specific now:

Last night the wedding was at a really nice, historic estate. Lots of people were there (lots of people that aren't on the invite list, I might add), and a bunch of them were rehearsing to sing at the wedding. My wedding coordinator told me that we were really lucky to have such talented people perform for us. It's true!

Anyway, it's, like, 3 hours before the wedding and I'm running around doing stuff, but a friend comes by and asks for my advice. He apparently just broke up with someone because they weren't going the same direction and he was thinking about dating one of my friends. He asks if I have time to explain what love is...and after thinking about it I tell him that part of love is wanting the best for the other person, no matter what sacrifices you have to make for yourself.

More people come to our wedding than we had planned, so parking is crazy. We end up using not only the regular parking lot, but filling up a nearby parking garage, as well. Thankfully we have two sons of my dad's friend volunteer to help with parking. (A reminder to ask them asap!)

Then I rush off to get ready. I'm upset because I forgot to get my dress cleaned and pressed (note to self!) and I'm wearing a black bra that shows a little bit on the top of the dress. Faux pas! Then my makeup and hair artists show up at 2pm when I told them that the wedding was supposed to start at 1. Apparently we moved it back to 3? Anyway, I had already started my makeup and it was all messy and gross, but they help fix it. My bridesmaids are nowhere near ready, and I'm panicked.

*sigh* That was the end of it. I woke up and was relieved that it wasn't my wedding day and we still had plenty of time to figure out these day-of details. Needless to say, I was very motivated to get stuff done this morning.

Whirlwind trip #2

Our last trip before the big day! I still have plenty of stuff to do when I go back a week before the wedding, but we took care of plenty of things this trip, too.


The California trip started with a trip to the County Clerk's office. We now have less than 90 days to get married! We applied for the license online, and it took all of 10 minutes to get the actual license.


We went to have lunch at our new banquet location, Great Harbor Seafood in Artesia, CA. The food was good (arguably better than the last place?) and the place was big enough but not too big. I think it'll be nice and cozy. It's a good thing that W speaks Mandarin because the woman in charge wouldn't speak to us in English. He was trying to get her to speak English but I told him to just speak to her in Mandarin. Luckily her brother came later and he spoke to us in English. I'm a little embarrassed by my handicap, but really, it just made me feel luckier to have W.


The next morning we tried cake- the banquet place provides cake from a Vietnamese bakery chain called Van's, but last time we tried Van's bakery it wasn't very impressive. We decided to just go with the Chinese bakery chain (Diamond Bakery) and got to taste three different cakes: yellow sponge cake with mango filling, yellow sponge cake with strawberry filling, and coffee cake with coffee cream filling. We decided to go with the safest option (strawberry filling). I'm not really particular about how the cake looks- you'll see when you see the cake at the banquet. It kinda matches my dress...I don't know if that's good or bad.


And then the bridal shower! Oh the bridal shower! I had no idea what to expect, but when I walked in there was a fantastic spread on the table, and a Scrubs theme! Complete with scrub pants, name badges, and music. I loved all the little details that went into it.


The girls had prepared make-your-own spring rolls, which was super yummy and nice cuz it was really interactive.

(my *other* teacher/lawyer/doctor combo- it's funny how I have one from youth group and one from WashU!)


And for dessert, the ever-so-famous Sprinkles cupcakes! They were SO good...W and I had one the next day and it was still really moist and yummy. Better than Magnolia!


No pictures of the gifts except for this one, which included four ribbons that I had to break. Apparently the number of ribbons you break is equivalent to how many kids you'll have. Sorry, W, I broke 5!




Thanks so much gals! I loved all the thought that went into the bridal shower, but I especially loved seeing everyone. I didn't realize how much I missed everyone until I saw them. It made me that much more excited for the wedding day!!!! I feel so loved!

Anticipation

I'm in California with W and his sister right now, and I'm getting so antsy! We got our marriage license yesterday (which was really quick thanks to the online form!) and checked out the new banquet site (which we like...we think the food might be better than the last place). We're going cake tasting in a couple minutes at a Chinese bakery since we didn't really like the Vietnamese bakery. Things are moving along.

I think I'm antsy cuz I have no idea what's going on tonight! My bridesmaids are all in town and they're throwing me a bridal shower. My request was to have something low-key and not your typical bridal shower (sitting around, playing games, opening presents). Not that there's anything wrong with typical bridal showers, but they're not very "me." I know whatever it is will be fun, but I hate now knowing what's going on! It's okay...I trust my bridesmaids. The most I've heard is that I have some very "creative" bridesmaids, and it "should be fun" so I'm expecting something crazy. And there will be more than 10 people there. And I may or may not be sleeping over somewhere. I feel like the Friends episode ("The one where they're going to party") when Chandler and Ross have to be prepared for anything and everything when they go party with their friend Gandolf cuz you never know what will happen when you're with him. Better go get a snake-bite kit.

lazy or smart?

Man...back in the day I was so ambitious about wedding stuff. If I had kept that momentum I would probably have a preposterous wedding (including a candy bar, a photo booth, and an In-n-out truck.) Memorable, but over-the-top.

I have to constantly remind myself that we don't have to go into debt to entertain our guests. Truth be told, most of our guests are adults who are capable of finding things to do. I wanted to plan lots of get-togethers, bonfires, bowling nights, Angels games...anything to maximize Southern California resources and my time with my friends. But I've realized that my friends have other friends, too (gasp!) and might not want to spend all that time with me since I'll be so frazzled anyway.

We have less than three months till the wedding, and that means less time to order extra things or give people notice about wedding events. We're frantically working on getting invitations out (did I mention that I'm now gonna make 30 invitations for W's relatives in Taiwan? By hand?) and getting ready for our trip to California this coming week. Man, May flew by! I was thinking "oh, it's fine, we have plenty of time!" but NO. It's our last trip out before I fly out the week before the wedding, so if things can get done, they're going to get done. And if they don't, we might just skip them all together.

Lazy? or smart? I'm thinking lazy now, but maybe not having so many details to worry about will help make that day a little less stressful. Thank goodness for my wedding coordinator...she doesn't want me to think/stress about ANYTHING that day, so I am trying my best to get every detail down so she can take charge. Relinquishing control...that's so not me!
***
In the meantime, it finally hit me the other day that my life is gonna change a lot after we get married. That sounds stupid, but it was all I could think about the other day. I was climbing into bed and then it hit me that soon I'm going to be sharing a bed with someone. And not just anyone, but my husband. And I'm gonna be cooking for him, cleaning OUR house, living with him...none of these are bad things, but it was just a huge reality check. It finally hit me that I'm getting married. It'll be W&T forever! Suddenly I won't just have my time- it'll be OUR time. I have to be selfless ALL the time, even on days where I don't like him or he's made me upset. I didn't get cold feet, but everything just started to set in more. I'm sure premarital counseling will contribute to this as well. Maybe it was just eerie because it seems like it's happening really soon.

I think another part of it was just overall sadness because so many things will be changing this summer. I've been physically preparing for things (like with bridal showers and farewell parties) but it hadn't hit me emotionally and mentally. It feels like graduation, when you know you won't see people anymore cuz everyone's going to do their own thing...except now it's marriage and school and other things that separate us.
***
I had a thought the other day...when we get married, does that bind me to the East Coast? Do I lose my privileges as a West Coaster?

a helpful dream

I know most wedding dreams are usually nightmares, but I had a really helpful dream last night. Bear with me:

For some reason we're getting married at a retreat center and having the dinner catered by a Chinese restaurant in the dining hall (this is my second wedding dream that happened in a retreat center in the woods...what does that mean?) Anyway, I'm all dressed to go but I realize:
1) My ex somehow made his way to our wedding. I see him in the hall when I'm on my way to the restroom to get ready and I'm upset. We don't interact, but I'm just mad that he had the gall to show up.
2) I forgot my earrings- luckily my wedding coordinator has an extra pair, but I only put on one of the earrings.

I walk down the aisle, and then all of a sudden I have an out-of-body experience! Instead of experiencing the wedding from the altar, I'm watching my wedding from the back corner. Memorable moments include: my dad leading worship, my dad having a scroll of our genealogy that's shaped like a bowling pin, our "thank you" to the parents being very sterile (like, we just bow, we don't hug them or anything), W's parents suddenly being Korean, and people crying during the wedding.

Anyway, after the wedding I talked to my coordinator and she says we can do it over, which makes sense to me because we never had a rehearsal. She gives me a list of things to remember, like:
1) Making sure I'm hydrated
2) Having folding chairs up front for the flower girls
3) Bringing my earrings
4) Brushing my teeth and mouth beforehand so my breath isn't gross

We try to coordinate when we can have the "actual wedding" and it has to be later that day or even the next day cuz we have to coordinate it around the banquet. But just as we're ending it starts raining and rain starts pouring into the sanctuary we were using. W and I make our way to the dining hall for the banquet and he tells me that my ex talked to him, they're on good terms, and he just happened to be in town for something else...he wasn't there to crash.

So random! I just had to write that down before I forgot all the details. Time to go to work.