[Poll] What's in a name? Part 2 - Choosing a Website Number

It's Monday and I nearly forgot to post a new blog. Sorry faithful reader(s). This is another boring one but it has been in the queue for awhile. Back in March I posted the first in a series of name related blog posts. This is the second.

How many possible website name possibilities can there be? Many people go with the <insert groom name>and<insert bride name>.com naming convention while others might reverse that and go with <insert bride name>and<insert groom name>.com. Of course, Eileen - God bless her humble and selfless soul - wanted her name first.

That is perfectly fine by me. But what name should we go with? If we went with her nickname, Ei (pronounced like eye), then putting her name after mine just sounds more natural - as in JengAndEi.com.

"No! The bride's name must go first! ROAR!" said an unnamed source whose name rhymes with Ilene and Aileen.

And so EiAndJeng.com was born. To avoid confusion we I registered both.

But not everyone knows her by Ei nor me as Jeng. And so, to avoid confusion, I registered EileenAndJeng.com and EileenAndJeremy.com. Notice how it doesn't sound as weird with her name in front? That's why I didn't register them the other way around. Way to save money, Jeng! (Although in retrospect, why didn't I register JeremyAndEi.com?)

Having saved money by not registering JeremyAndEileen.com and JengAndEileen.com, I decided to also register Buenviaje-Reyes.com. Then, since we were on this vanity-website-domains kick, I decided to register EileenBuenviaje.com, JeremyReyes.com and EileenReyes.com (I thought that last one was pretty funny). These ones don't point to our wedding website yet.

But the best URL so far is the one Eileen begged me to register. When I was doing this she just finished up her Fabio Twilight books. Now her preferred domain for our wedding blog is JengIsMyEdward.com. Isn't she sweet? So next time someone asks you where to find our website, you know what to say.



. . . read more.

Loco About Locations

We are about 14 months from our planned wedding date and hoped to have a location locked down by now. But as the procrastinators and indecisive people that we are, we have yet to settle on a place. My earlier blog alluded to the fact that we've needed to re-prioritize and make some significant trade offs when it comes to our reception location. Now as we near our final decision, I've begun to reflect on our loco location journey:

Phase 1: Dream Big
We're getting married! Let's do it at an eco-friendly, romantic resort in the heart of wine country or an artsy gallery in downtown San Francisco. That's totally us.

Phase 2: Reality Sets In
Who are we kidding? Our eyes are bigger than our wallets. Let's move it to the South Bay. It's where we both grew up, after all. And San Jose is not so bad. It is the tech capital and we sure are tech nerds.

Phase 3: Denial
But we LOVE San Francisco! Its where we spent most of our time together as a couple. How can we not take our wedding photos on the Embarcadero with a backdrop of the Bay Bridge and the Ferry Building? Plus, that's where all our out-of-town guests will want to hang out. We must make San Francisco happen.

Phase 4: Compromise
Okay, okay. So in order to have what we want in SF, we need to A) Exceed our budget by 50% (Ha. not a chance. That is money well spent on an awesome place.); B) End up at an okay place but not quite fitting for our style; or C) Suck it up and move the party down the Peninsula.

Phase 5: Decision ... almost
With our picky tastes, tight budget and ever-lengthy guest list (200+!), we're very close to settling on C. (Not quite there yet.) Maybe like with our colors, we'll stop this madness and leave it up to you to decide. Hmm... now that's a novel idea.
. . . read more.

Blues Hues Revisited

Prior to her Blues Hues blog post, Eileen showed me some of the ideas she was considering and asked my opinion. Of course, with my natural inclination and complete desire to be fully involved with all decisions and aspects of the wedding planning process, I obliged. At first she didn't show me where she drew her inspiration from but once I saw them I guessed. And based on my guesses, Eileen and I see the world a little differently.

Just as all young boys do when day-dreaming of that special day, I started to imagine myself in the colors Eileen threw together. I won't say I didn't get teary-eyed at the thought of this because at the rate we're going, the wedding is going to be everything I hope for and envision every night that I lay my head on my pillow.

(rollover images for future wedding pictures)

Option 1: I never imagined myself a villain but I think this color scheme lends itself to treachery.

Option 2: I don't want to offend our Seattle readers but being the Niner fan that I am, I guess I will. When it comes to football, not only is our team better, your color scheme and uniform are perhaps the ugliest in the NFL. I refuse to imagine myself in such attire but I suppose for a wedding they could work.

Option 3: I've only recently started to appreciate the taste of this vegetable.

Option 4: A throwback to The City.

Option 5: I think this one may be getting my vote.

All worthy choices... Which one do you like best?


. . . read more.

[Poll] Blues Hues

Growing up, my bedroom walls were pale purple, my sheets were purple, I think I even had some bright purple short-alls. I loved me some purple. More recently, I've become addicted to teal and own too many teal pieces of clothing to count. Jeng, on the other hand, forever prefers black and gray. Boooooring!

Needless to say, picking colors for this wedding of ours is no easy task. I know what I do not want: pink, red, orange or anything in-between. Bright and perky colors are so not me. But dark and dreary isn't very fitting for a wedding celebration. So now what?

Wedding colors dictate a mood, set a tone, and showcase my style. (I say "my" instead of "ours" because for this topic, Jeng is useless in decision-making.) I always wanted an urban feel to our wedding so I knew I wanted cool colors with a funky edge. Plus, I wanted the guys in charcoal suits/tuxes so our colors needed to go with that. And of course, I have to be original.

So I decided to look to nature for inspiration, specifically things that I like -- the city, wine, and maybe even flowers. So here are some color palettes I'm considering and the photos that I pulled them from:

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4:

Option 5:

. . . read more.