Me Love You Long Time

At the beginning of this wedding planning ordeal Eileen tasked me with one thing: the honeymoon. So how I get sucked in to other decisions (what's a centerpiece?) and meetings (I need to meet the priest?) is still a mystery to me. I know -- I should probably be more proactive in the process but wasn't proposing the idea of marriage enough? (just kidding) Thankfully, Eileen hasn't gone bridezilla on me... yet.

I have actually gotten farther in the honeymoon planning process and chosen a location. Of course, the decision wasn't easy and we did consider various places:

• Europe: One of my former coworkers went to France on their honeymoon and took cooking classes while they stayed at an apartment there. While this is very cool, Eileen and I have been to France (albeit separately) and were thinking of a more tropical location.


• Australia/New Zealand: We've both always wanted to go here and since we are very likely to be taking a lot of time off it would be the perfect opportunity to travel to the land down under. But in some ways it didn't seem exotic enough.

This has led us to the actual location. And in all honesty, the decision was somewhat made for us. Having traveled a lot for work I've accumulated a decent amount of hotel points and airline mileage. So we looked at the locations where these could all be redeemed and finally came up with...

Southeast Asia

We still haven't decided on a specific itinerary but as of now, Thailand - specifically Krabi (2 hours from Phuket) and Bangkok - is the most likely destination. We want to see if we can fit another country or two in but with limited time it may not be possible. So if anyone has any suggestions feel free to chime in.
. . . read more.

Fotos, Florists and Fun Stuff

Moving quickly down our to-do list, we recently crossed off an important one -- the photographer. While this choice was easy compared to others, it wasn't without its trade-offs. Our choices were these:
Option 1) Cheaper. 3 photographers. Includes standard stuff (digital files), prints and all day coverage.
Option 2) More expensive. 1 photographer. 8 hour coverage. Only digital files, no added deliverables.
Given our budget-conscious selves, you may expect us to quickly pick option 1 but surprise, we did not.

It came to the decision between structure and spontaneity, and between quality and quantity. I'm a very organized, particular person. Although I like the spontaneity of 'winging' things, when it comes to our wedding day I'm a fan of having a plan, even when our photos are concerned.

We also already know we're going to have hundreds and hundreds of pictures from our friends and family. Do we really want to have a few hundred more from our photographer(s)? Not really. We prefer to have 10 awesome pictures over 100 average ones. Once we met with our photographer, not only could we imagine hanging out with him, we also became huge fans of the personal emotion conveyed in his photos. Jeng also appreciated his use of technology, which always wins points with him.

In the end, we opted for option 2 since photos are a worthy investment. So (drumroll please) introducing our photographer: Augie Chang. (Thanks for the reco Kris!) We're excited to be working with him.

Now that photos have been checked off, we're I'm onto flowers and other fun stuff. (Jeng's eyes glaze over the minute the words "table setting" come out of my mouth.) I'm excited by my ideas but for surprise sake, will keep the details under wraps. (Which is very difficult to do!) If you all have some ideas for us, write a comment. This is a user-generated wedding after all. . . . read more.

We're In The Money

Back in April I shamelessly begged for you to visit our ad sponsors and also gave an update on the ad revenue you all helped to generate. At that time we had earned $49.05 and were patiently waiting to reach the payout threshold of $100. Guess what we got in the mail recently?

Now, thanks to you, the wedding can go on. As these new-found riches open up a number of wedding possibilities we'll need to figure out the best way to spend it. Here again, Eileen and I will probably have differing opinions.

Eileen's probable choices:

• Shoes
  
  
  
  
  
  


• Makeup
  
  
  
  
  
  


• A hair stylist
  
  
  
  
  
  

While those are all good choices, when it comes to the wedding I've always only had one request: open bar.

In the end, I know Eileen also wants an open bar so I'm hoping that the money you help generate goes directly back to you in the form of free drinks. But if we do need something more and Eileen and I can't decide on what, maybe we can both go to this store and shop together.

And feel free to keep clicking those ads! Your efforts really are producing actual results. Thanks, everyone!
. . . read more.

[Poll] Bridal Partywear

(I'll leave Jeng to explain last week's blogging absence. Don't think he didn't hear about it from me!)

A couple of weeks ago I was watching the movie, 27 dresses and was inspired by the creative bridesmaids attire. I realized that my wedding would be the perfect opportunity to embarrass my friends! Fashion from the 80s is making a comeback and it would pay homage to the decade of Jengs and my birth. I mean, how cool would my girlfriends look in dresses like these?!

Haha. Okay, I do love my girl friends and as tempting as it is, I will not subject them to humiliation. (At least as far as attire is concerned.) Instead, I face several options:
A) Go the fancy brand name route, forcing my bridesmaids to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress they will likely only wear once. (Because honestly, you might think the dress is something they will wear again but chances are... they will not.)
B) Pick a color and have them find a dress of their style. While this has become a popular choice for weddings, I'm a fan of the symmetry that comes with matching.
C) Have dresses made but risk the dresses looking handmade.
D) Hunt for dresses at a store for a decent price.

While option C is still on the table, D is the route I've ventured down (for now). Unlike my bridal gown search, this adventure involves multiple parties. (I have 2 maid of honors and 4 bridesmaids.) I had friends searching in LA, Colorado and all over the Bay Area. Our email chain is 40+ emails long, including many iPhone pictures in fitting rooms. (Gotta love picture messaging!)

We've narrowed it down to 3 dresses -- one from Macys (sexy, dressy and a bit funky), one from Nordstrom (classic and flattering) and one from TJ Maxx (cheaper, more simple but still cute, especially with some accessories). (I would post pics but since some elements must be a surprise, I will refrain.) Since we're all geographically separate, I went ahead and purchased most of the dresses myself. They are currently sitting in my bedroom, awaiting a 'bridesmaid dress vote' at the end of August when we're all together. (Luckily, its also just a few days short of Macy's and TJ Maxx's return policy expiration.) Since we love democracies, maybe we'll take your vote into consideration too:

. . . read more.