Forget the Party -- I'm all about my Bachelorette DAY!!!

I got my bachelorette day invitation from my MOH this weekend when i woke up on Saturday morning. I was so excited to find out what we're going to be doing for my day. I think as long as i can remember, i remember telling my MOH and all the other girls is that i just want some time - QT -- quality time to spend with my girls since i haven't been able to in such a long time. The other request i made is that both the shower and the bachelorette day/party be scheduled prior to December 1st. With the holidays creeping up and our wedding a week after that - i think Ed and i would just be sooo crazy with things wrapping up around that time frame.

So what are the plans you might ask? Well, as far as i know -- it's a day of chitchatting, munching and relaxation so i am hoping for a day in the spa. I have been saying how much i want to use my gc from Glen Ivy from over 2 years ago and i just haven't been. I think spas intimidate me. (Another blog to save for later!) I know that it's an early day with brunch at my house prepared by all of the girls and then more stuff to do and more time to hang out...

From what my MOH tells me - it'll be a different bachelorette day than the ones i have been to in the past so it should be fun and new experiences are always exciting. Can't wait!! Remember to check back for pictures in later October....

Paper Source v. Cardsandpockets.com

When we first conceptualized our wedding invitations, we really wanted to go with pocket folders in order to accommodate all of the inserts that we would like to include. Cardsandpockets.com has been a popular resource for many brides so I started looking at the different pocket folders and colors that they offer. After seeing the mock up samples that we received, I was a bit disappointed with the size of the 2 pocket folders that we ordered and decided to consider other alternatives.

This then led us back to one of our favorite stores – Paper Source in Costa Mesa. I bought their pocket folder and some paper samples in order to prepare a mock up invite. This trip was one of the trips to the store that I actually received excellent customer service since we usually don’t receive any service at all – most of the times, its “snottiness” that we get. As we complete the mock up invite, I stumbled upon Mrs. Eggplant’s blog on her invite and she went with a pocket folder (different from the one that we ordered) from cardsandpockets.com as well. It seems like the pocket folder that Mrs. Eggplant used was a bit larger than the one that Paper Source offered so I immediately ordered another sample mock up kit from cardsandpockets.com in order to compare the two.

Which one should we use? What do you think? Pictures to come soon....

Look what I found...

What a nice thing to wake up this morning after the rain...
LOOK WHAT I FOUND....









It's my Bachelorette Bash/Girlie Gathering invite. I LOVE IT!!!!!My MOH has been working overtime to get these babies done ASAP since time is coming up. I am so excited for what they have planned for me. A day just for me, and only --- ME, ME, Me.. How fun!!!! (Don't I sound very self centered?!? I'm not - just very excited for this...)

All I know about the day is that its a special day for me and my girls... WOOHOO!!!

Our 1st Wedding Gift!!!

Since I posted about our wedding registry favorites, I thought that I would post about our 1^st wedding gift that we received. A really good friend of the family offered us a honeymoon suite for 7 days in specific locations like Hawaii, Mexico, Florida and etc. We chose to go to Maui since Ed hasn’t been to Hawaii and it would be a great place for us to go and relax after all of this wedding stress that has been going on lately. Last July our family friend gave us our 1^st wedding card that had the itinerary reserved for the week after our wedding. We are so excited and it definitely made things very real to us. The hotel is gorgeous and our room has a great ocean view (but then again which room in Hawaii does not have an ocean view.) We will be staying at the Kanaapali Beach Club in Maui.

What was the first wedding gift that you’ve received?

Reception Location Hunting - Part I

Finding the perfect location for your wedding is definitely not an easy task. There were many things for us to consider when it came down to choosing the right location for our reception.

Location of reception site to ceremony site

Capacity of the room

Quality of Service

Food Selection

Price

Room Set-Up

Privacy – It was important that we were the only event happening on site that evening to give our guests the privacy.

On Site Coordinator

These were just some of the few things that we immediately look for prior to starting our adventure. Prior to scheduling a visit with a reception site, we made sure to visit their website in order to get some information on the services that they offer as well as their price range. If a wedding package was not available online, we made sure to make contact with the site coordinator to get a copy of their wedding package. The package should give the bride and groom a brief overview on the things/services that they offer as well as a menu selection. We’ve looked from a number of country clubs, hotels and even the Queen Mary to host our wonderful reception. We made sure to go to those places where we’ve attended weddings before in the past and see what they would be able to offer us. One of those places that we went back to was the Queen Mary.

Queen Mary is a famous landmark for many SoCal locals and a famous choice as well for many SoCal brides. One of the first weddings that Ed and I attended was at the Queen Mary and we were so impressed by the elegance that the boat offered for the reception. The setting set a tone of elegance that we were looking for. During our first visit to the Queen Mary, we enjoyed meeting with one of their site coordinators since he was very helpful at the time and offered wonderful customer service. He even extended to put a courtesy hold on our date even if our wedding date was 16 months away. It was really important for us to set an intimate tone for our wedding so that our guests wouldn’t get lost in amidst of all the different events that could be going on at the same time as ours. This drove us to look at more intimate sites like country clubs where we would be the only wedding/event scheduled for that date and time.

More to come….

Here come the GIFTS!!!

Well not really!! But we have started our wedding registry.

Ed and I are such Target people that we couldn't pass up an opportunity to register for wedding gifts at Target and even though we've heard so many horror stories from brides, we did not let that stop us from registering at our beloved place. I think we must hit the local Targets in the area just to walk in and scout at their $1 bins and see what kind of goodies they have. I just do and its not even comparable to Kmart or Walmart since to us it stands in its own Target pedestal.

Our first ever registry was actually at Crate n Barrel. A year after our engagement, i heard that Crate & Barrel hosts an engagement event for all brides and grooms during February and March so i decided to check it out and register us in for some free food and wedding registry. Without this event, we probably wouldn't have registered at Crate & Barrel but the experience was definitely fun just to hang out and learn about the different items they had at the store. Plus, each couple that attends the event receives a pair of toasting heart shaped flutes for them to use during their wedding. Cool! More FREE stuff!!!!

It took us several months to register at our 2nd store and we finally decided to make a trip to our fave store - Yes, Target it is!!!! We wanted to save doing our registry until those days when we really needed a pick me up - especially after a long day at work. But we finally did it!! I love our Target registry and all of our other registries.

After our Target trip, we also made a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond and Macy's Home. I think that we hit all of our stores that we would like to register at. Registering for gifts though it sounds like a lot of fun could be so tedious too at times. Here are some of our favorite registry items..

HER Favorites...


HIS Favorites.....


What are some of yours?