Bio

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It's amazing to us that we finally tied the knot. Nine years together, four years of engagement later, we're hitched.
We invited our family and closest friends to our hidden paradise (sorry, no reviews of my beloved Vieques).

They got sun, fun, natural wonders of all sorts...and more rain than they (and we) bargained for.
Although our wedding did not turn out exactly as we had envisioned, our celebration was truly unforgettable.

Click here to see my planning bio, PRDaf. It's all fugged up with the switch to the newer format, my apologies.

Thanks for peeking! And thanks for nominating me for best bio!

Getting Ready

Steven and I rented a casa up in the hills and stayed there. Most of our guests stayed at a great inn on the Caribbean side.
It was a switch for my family, who is used to the soulless mega-resort thing, but I think they liked it.
I spent one night apart from Steven – the night before the wedding. That worked out because I still had a ton of things left to do.

After all my talk about doing hair/makeup myself, and after all those trials, I ended up going with the pros.
We worked with the ladies at the Martineau Bay Resort spa. They flew in a stylist just for us. (Well that's what they told us anyway).
I know I look like Queen ÜberSnotty but I was really just exhausted from lack of sleep and nerves.

At last, I get to slip into all of my gorgeous things for real. First there's my beautiful, beautiful dress...sheer serendipity that I found it again.
Then, my sister had a pair of white gold, diamond earrings made for me and customized them with a blue topaz briolette drop. They are absolutely gorgeous and a big surprise.
I also wore an evil eye bracelet, which my sister got me from Greece, as an anklet. Wasn't enough to ward off the rain and wind spirits though...

All pictures by Bob Gevinski, Vieques Photos

All of the men in my family wore barong tagalogs, traditional Filipino formal wear. Steven and his cousin David (best man) were lucky to get custom-made barongs straight from the homeland. The fabric is woven out of pineapple silk and is actually quite uncomfortable – my husband was a trooper and wore his the whole night.

Pre-Ceremony Pics

We stayed at the inn to take pictures. By now the sky was growing ominously darker...I think I was too excited about getting all dolled up to notice…

Our Ceremony

Just as we left the inn the torrential downpour began. All courtesy of Hurricane Wilma AND Tropical Storm Alpha, neither of which came anywhere close to Puerto Rico, but kicked up enough wind to send a crazy amount of rain our way. I was an absolute wreck. I settled down when the rain finally stopped, but started right back up again walking down the aisle, seeing all my family and friends who had traveled thousands of miles for…rain…clouds…wind…We coulda done it in Michigan for that kind of atmosphere.

But everyone was so good-spirited and just went along with it all. Although we didn't have quite the ceremony I was hoping for, I am so glad that
we were able to have our wedding, our way – the sand at our feet, the ocean as our altar, our loved ones as our witnesses.

Smiling after a veritable meltdown...

The veil…forget about it, way too windy!

Walking down the aisle...

Ah, what a wreck.

Becoming Husband and Wife

It's done!

Here I was shaking my fist at the rain gods – you can't keep us down!

A few very hasty pics as it became steadily darker - no frolicing around the beach for us.

The Reception

And the fun continues. In the midst of my breakdown before the ceremony, I got a call from my {{incredible}} caterer.
She tells me that our original plan for the reception - dining under the stars by the pool - was not going to happen because of the impending storm.
She was going to move everything inside. Oh yes...and the power is out. Again.

That left my caterer with no stove to keep food warm, no water to drink or wash dishes, no toilets to flush, no music, and clearly, no lights.
Well, we treated our guests to a very romantic, intimate, candelight reception that turned out beautifully, thanks to my caterer.
My guests all told me that they wouldn't even have known!

The cake was delicious, but the flower decorations were a bit…much.
I call it Barfing Lilies – yum, with passionfruit filling!

Now that's not very nice...

Kiss and make up

My dad denies it, but he was a little tipsy when he gave his speech.

Bouquet toss

Whoops! On my first toss, the bouquet hit a luminaria and set it on fire. Cuz x 2 to the rescue.

My sister caught it on the second toss – she's goofing off but I think she looks so cute.

Dad is definitely tipsy. I am tired.

Friends and Family Dinner

Awesome little joint called Chez Shack. Good times, good times

MyPublisher Layout

I got the deluxe album and made my pages on PowerPoint. It was a toughie to make.
Here are just a few of my, oh, ninety-six pages...

Check out MyPublisherBio and CourtneyJean for tips and advice on how to tackle this unsavory task.

Thank-You Postcard

I bought the oversized postcards from VistaPrint. I designed them in Photoshop Elements this time (would have come in really handy for the MP album!) and uploaded the designs onto their website. I am extremely happy with the quality and service – the order arrived quickly and they look great!

The Trip

Hiking El Yunque Trail at El Yunque National Rain Forest

Stuffing OOT Bags

How insane is our casa?

The wildlife in Vieques

Kayaking in the rain and drinkin afterward

I think my DW knotties remember my story about the mudslide track up to the casa...the pics don't do it justice...driving up there is freaky at night!

Gnarly waves, insanely beautiful beaches

Hanging out in San Juan

Web Vendors

Dress
I tried on the Geisha by Monique Lhuillier when I first started dress shopping, and absolutely fell in love with it. I was so not in love with the price, however, especially since it's such a simple dress. A few months later, I happened to look on a wedding board and found a sample for over half off. The moral of the story is so obvious for the diligent dealster knottie: there's always a better bottom line!

Dress Sash
I had to have that deep turquoise/teal color for my sash. I suggest Romantic Flowers for great Swiss double-faced satin ribbon in a variety of widths. Unfortunately, that site didn’t carry the color I wanted, so I went with Ribbon Trade. They also were excellent to work with - they sent a whole bunch of swatches in colors that I requested, free of charge. I had to buy a whole spool of 2 3/4-inch ribbon, but the price is comparable to Romantic Flowers.

Shoes
Volts by Stuart Weitzman. The 2 1/2"heel is great for walking on sand and grass – although I did have my heart set on a pair of killer Jimmy Choo's with a 4" heel (sob).

Earrings
My sister went nuts with these! And I love her for it. She knows a great jeweler in Manhattan, Greg Jezarian, who customized a pair of earrings for me with blue topaz briolettes. I wear them around the house while I'm Swiffering. Check out his testimonial page – I haven't met the man in person but he sounds great to me!

Hair Flowers
I got these from Late Bloomer Boutique. I opted for silk flowers because I just couldn’t be sure what fresh flowers would be available on our rustic little island. I got two small orchid hair clips, in white-cream, for $16 each. I had no problem at all with them slipping out or moving around. They're not the most realistic-looking flowers IMO, but then again neither were the atomic cone boob pads that were sewn into my dress!
I found a coupon code on the website for 5% off: Frnd.

Galvanized Metal Tray for Starfish Wishes, Burlap for Ceremony "Aisle"
Browse through Jamali Garden for some great and fairly inexpensive ceremony or reception ideas. It's in Manhattan on the West side – next time I visit my sister, I am definitely going to check it out, not because I'm a big gardener but just because...I am planning-obsessed...

Palm Fans and Gift Bags
Bliss Weddings has a ton of WR stuff as most knotties know, with pretty good prices. I thought these items were pretty decent quality (hey, made in the Philippines!) for the price.

Japanese Cane Paper
This paper is a big hit with DW knotties! It's the woven paper that I used for my menus, programs, and placecard holders. You can see a great invite from RedBliss.com that uses this paper also. The paper is pretty expensive but I used every last little bit. I got mine from Paper.com, which sells sheets 25.5"x37.5", $100 for 5 sheets minimum. I've heard that you can also find the paper at Kate's Paperie.

Shells
I used round capiz shells for my placecards, green sea urchins for my favor bags, small sand dollars for the menus, and starfish for the Take a Wish tray. I bought all of them at ShellHorizons.com. Their ordering process is a little different, since they don’t usually place consumer orders, but it’s easy - all you do is fax in a form and they’ll send all info by e-mail. Shipping costs were not bad either.

Table Runners
Couldn't rent them, and wanted a specific color. What to do? I bought yards of fabric at FashionFabricClub.com and just did 'em myself. What a beyotch.

Beach Towels
I reserved this as option for our OOT bags until the last minute, after assessing the budgetary damage. I am so glad that I got them from Towels4Less. Definitely a great idea for beachy weddings.

Vieques Vendors

They're doing brisk wedding business down there. It's a great place to vacation, that's all I'll say. (Sad attempt to keep the secret a secret)

Reception and Day-After Brunch: Tropical Baby
Baby is just incredible. She's been written up in the NY Times Travel section and Gourmet mag and I'm sure a ton of other places. She has a cute little café on the north side of the island and whips up organic Latin cuisine with a global touch. She and her team did a most excellent job of averting sure disaster on our wedding night. The food was great, would have been outstanding if it was hot (but that's not her fault, it's the electric company's), and the way that they set up the great room for our party was unbelievable! They came back the next day to clean up – not a trace of gunk to be seen. Since we were out of power, she let us use her restaurant for the day-after brunch as well. Just a top-notch person.
Overall: A+

Flowers: Vieques Flowers
I guess there are certain things I'm obsessive about, and things that I could have obsessed about but just for some reason didn't care. The flowers were that way for me. I had a color scheme and certain ideas, none of which really happened, but I'm finding that I still don't really care. I also think I'm much happier that I'm not crying about the corsages not matching our bouquets or floral arrangements, etc.

Tom is a very cool person and absolutely realistic about what he could and could not do on such a remote island. I really didn't give him too much direction – I just didn't want pink, and I wanted gloriosa lilies – and he came up with a great bouquet, even if I'm not a rose type of gal! He also had a ton of things to add to our OOT and favor bags.
Overall: A

Cake: Lola Magnolia
She's the best on the island. I never met her until the day after our wedding when we paid up, but she was great to work with and very laid-back. I didn't eat a bit of cake at our reception but got to taste some afterward – it was just delicious, moist and fruity without being too sweet. Again, I wasn't going to get bent out of shape with decorations for the cake...but the flowers were a bit much, so I'd have to say that was my bad for not giving even minimal direction.
Overall: A

Photography: Bob Gevinski
There are only a handful of photographers who shoot weddings in Vieques. I saw Bob's work on his website and really liked his style – in addition to wedding photography, he does a lot of freelance sports stuff, like for Sports Illustrated. His prices are reasonable and he covers his own transportation. I flooded him daily with ideas for shots (thanks to all you hottie knotties!) and he was very receptive.

Since the weather was so shi*ty and we didn't have any extra light sources at the reception, Bob had a really tough task. I think that he did a fine job with what he had. He was definitely unobtrusive and got a lot of candid shots, which was great since I didn't want a lot of boring formal pics.

I'm no different than any other knottie after seeing tons of great shots in tons of great bios, so I definitely had some post-wedding remorse about not getting more "beach time" with my husband, more "prep time," shots of my freakin makeup bag or me getting into my dress, blah blah blah. I'm over it now.
Overall: A-

Detroit Vendors

Just random thoughts about my limited experiences with local vendors. I guess my shower info will be most helpful.

Bling: Elements Custom Jewelry Studio, Royal Oak
Brendan is a great guy to work with for creative designs within your budget. He was up-front about what he could do for us based on our price. He came up with a new setting for my e-ring that I just adore. I'm still to this day not too sure how I feel about my band (it's a bit too contemporary IMO) but I'll save the upgrade for when I'm a white-haired ole beyotch!

One caveat: Allow yourself PLENTY OF TIME when working with them. We spent months and months waiting on the final design for the reset e-ring, and by that time we were rushed for the bands (and hence a little of my ambivalence about how it turned out).
Overall: A-

Invitations: Ink and Paper Invitation Studio, Oxford
I am such a paper whore – almost went into graphic design before opting for my current bland profession – that the invites were a big, big deal to me. I had 2 requirements early on: letterpress and Envelopment style. After the entire process is said and done, I don't really think that I would have done either. It wasn't easy on our budget, and truly, unless you have a whole gang of guests who are paper whores like me, no one's gonna care that you used Strathmore fine wove whatever with a medium press. They are nice invites overall, but honestly...think carefully before you commit your thousands...

I am really used to doing things on my own, but felt for some reason that I should relegate the invite process to a professional. Tonya is great to work with, very patient and organized. However, one of the reasons that I went with a professional is that I wanted someone to be involved in the design, and I felt that she was a bit reserved in this department. I had specific ideas about motifs and alignment and all of that stuff, and I could have found what she came up with if I had browsed through an icon library, too. We had a few muck-ups regarding delivery of my STD's, which I can't blame on them, but it also put a bit of a strain on things.

Speaking of STD's, definitely should have DIY'd. Ladies, don't even waste your time or $$ getting this done professionally. Even if you're as a big of a P-whore as I am. Fight the urge! Your wallet will love you.
Overall: B

Shower Venue: Da Edoardo North, Grand Blanc
I know it's a bit remote for most Detroiters, but there's always the downtown Detroit and Grosse Pointe locations. I loved the Grand Blanc location because of the layout and the outdoor patio area, where we had appetizers and champagne before our humongous, gut-busting, delicious lunch. It's a great "different" place to hold a party.
Overall: A

Shower Cake: The French Confection, Fenton
I had just a bite but I've been told it was delicious. I brought in pictures of cake ideas, and what they came up with looked nothing like them; it could have been a bridezilla moment if I had cared. But WTH is up with the ribbon bands? They came up with that one, and yes I think it looks nice but it's definitely not what I asked for.
Design: B+ Taste: A

Shower Flowers: Gerych's Flowers, Fenton
Another monumental struggle – could it be the "mid-Michigan" mentality? I had seen a flower arrangement on Colin Cowie's website that looked pretty cool – made out of carnations if you can believe it – and thought it could be a simple, cost-effective decoration. My mom (and the florist, although I never spoke to her) complained and grumbled and whined and generally made my life hell for selecting such an ordinary flower. Of course they were a smash hit. I'm not sure where the pink came from, but I absolutely loved how they turned out. Our guests were all trying to take them home – no way, the vases were Lenox!
Overall: A-

E-Pics: Chris Small Photography
My coworker's husband sweetly offered to take our e-pics, something that I hadn't really considered doing at all. He did a great job for someone who does this on the side, especially since he doesn't typically shoot e-pics, and he doesn't do weddings. I got to see his price sheet and he is quite a steal. They're moving to Tennessee next summer so act fast!
Overall: A

Planning
A few items from my planning bio that weren't included above

The Reception
I am in guestbook table overdrive! I am doing a Polaroid photo Kolo album,
having them sign a Vieques coffee table book, and doing
make a wish/take a wish. Well, they’ll write their well wishes in the album and then
take a starfish wish. Inspiration was from In Style, that racer guy’s wedding.

These are my favor bags (palm bags from Bliss).
I bought sea urchins from shellhorizons.com – they’re a tad green but they’ll work.
To honor our heritage (I’m Filipino and Fi is German), I made calligraphy tags that translate into “Thank You.”
I’m putting mini-bottles of Bacardi Rum, hot sauce, or Puerto Rican coffee, depending on the guest.

Stationery

OOT Bags
I bought canvas bags from EBay and made an iron-on logo. Not quite the look I was going for, so I also got cute Old Navy mesh bags from knottie lawandorder.
I decided to stuff the mesh bags with the canvas ones as well as several helpful items. I put a notepad and pen, Purell, sunscreen, bug spray, lip balm, Band-Aids, cozies and water bottles in each one.
I also stuffed our Towels4Less towels in each bag – love them!
I printed up a welcome newsletter. I made the tags using my palm motif and handwrote the guests' names.

Knottie Tribute
These bios are so inspirational; I don't see how you haven't seen them before but if not, enjoy!
BTW, every single DW knottie rocks the board! I marshmallow puffy heart you.

Marin03 – A veteran DW knottie, lurve her enthusiasm and her eye for great bargains!
Mrs Presley – Her planning bio and advice are signs of true genius!
Aylee – Incredible graphic design superstar.
Beatka – Absolutely gorgeous graphic design. Those invites! That CD! To die for!!
Sulla – The best advice ever. I reread the part about the so-called "must-takes" after my wedding and felt a lot better.
CaliCayman – If I lived in wine country, this is exactly how I would have done it! Breathtaking.
MrsBeachyBride – The Original

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