Our Wedding

June 14, 2008

Getting Ready

  

Ahhh, yes, the drama of the missing cd…

  

and the drama continues...

The Ceremony

My eldest brother, who walked me down the aisle, read "being to timelessness as it's to time" by ee cummings.  He read beautifully.

 

The wine ceremony ~ symbolic of both the sweet and bitter aspects of life, represent life's journey - both the bitter and the beautiful. 

We chose to do the Chinese Wedding Cup Ritual where  the red ribbon that binds both cups symbolize the invisible thread that connects soul mates from the time they're born. 

Over time, the thread shrinks until the two marry.

 

The wine ceremony music was "Angel Standing By" originally sung by Jewel - they performed beautifully and flawlessly...

phew!

Portraits

The Reception

 

My aunt and uncle had been married the longest in the room & the best man posed the question:  how have you stayed together for so long? to which my

aunt answered, “You must have trust as well as friendship, for the lust and passion will eventually burn out.  Of course, separate bedrooms help!”

half the cupcakes were vanilla cake filled with bavarian creme, the other half were chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse - all were topped with whipped cream & chocolate ganache

The lil' cousins and the big ones (however, not all are present)...

 

A thank you for coming and an announcement that we're giving away all the leftover booze…

  

the flower girl wore her little self out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Party over

 

 

 

All photos by Mike Nagle.  If you borrow any, please credit his work.

Reviews

Basically, I can't complain about anything.  All the things that went wrong were mostly and essentially our fault.  However, some deserve more praise than others...

1.  Photography - Mike Nagle is a friend of my husband's and we asked if he'd photograph our wedding, expecting to pay him for his work.  He said he'd do it for a wedding present.  There were a couple of posed pics that I wished I had, but again, that's OUR fault for not specifying.  I love his style of photography; he always seemed to catch both a beautiful composition coupled with a fleeting moment that only artists can capture.  Simply gorgeous.  I love photojournalism style photos, and I especially adore his style, because his pictures need no words.

2.  Hair - the lady that did my hair's name is Teresa and she not only charged me very little, but she did a magnificent job, really listening to what I wanted.  She did my hair a total of 3 times, and each time, the curls lasted HOURS, literally into the next day.

3.  Cake - done by Eccentric Chefs in Santee and the cakes were DELICIOUS.  No, really.  We had some left over in our refrigerator and we missed them desperately when they were gone. 

4.  Catering - the food was delicious and many raved over it (we chose a medley of Mexican culinary delights).  We also had a taste test before we decided, and hence, chose this establishment.  However, I barely remember it on the day.

5.  Christ Church Unity of El Cajon -  mostly they were great.  My only complaint was that we paid extra for servers/helpers and we never saw them. 

6.  Dress - I happily wore a Maggie Sottero called 'Melena' and loved it (I had actually designed a dress, but not trusting a seamstress due to horror stories, I decided against it).  Being 5'4, I ordered a petite in my size and did NOT ALTER it whatsoever.  Basically, I paid for the dress and that was it.  Wonderful.  The boutique in which I bought it was very accommodating (Prevue in La Mesa), but it sometimes got crowded with both brides and prom gals.

7.  Veil - I purchased it blindly online at WeddingVeil.com and was very happy with the speed in processing as well as the quality of the product.

 

 

Everything Else

Mostly everything else was DIY.  Would I do it again....?  We did save a LOT of $$$$

Flowers - I did myself, and yes, I'd do it again - at least my own bouquet (it was very time consuming doing them all, but I loved the creations)

Décor- I liked having control over it, but I didn't need to worry so much over it.  I planned it all out, and bms & family members helped to decorate.

Jewelry - mostly DIY, I enjoyed making my BM's jewelry and my earrings, but I probably wouldn't do it again (or I wouldn't procrastinate so much before the wedding!).  I loved my earrings, though – I couldn’t find what I wanted, so I ended up making them out of gold wire & Swarovski crystals.  They glistened perfectly with my veil and dress.  I also made my hair jewelry, which complemented the look.

Cake Plates - yes, I'd do it again.  I thought the colors were perfect, and I'm a perfectionist for aesthetics....

Beverages - We got them all at Beverages & More and Trader Joe's.  It saved us TONS and we gave lots away.  Would definitely do again.

 

 

Thanks for looking!