Bio

knottie bio

Deirdre & Mike

july 16, 2008 ~ wailea, maui

welcome to eyeheartmike's planning bio!

***BEST VIEWED IN FIREFOX - IE MAKES YOU SCROLL SIDE TO SIDE***

Thanks to all you fellow knotties for your advice, support and inspiration. The Hawaii Board is truly made up of some of the nicest and creative brides out there!!

General knottie disclaimer: I started collecting pics before I stumbled across this bio business. If I have used your pics but not given you credit please contact me at eyeheartmike[@]gmail[.]com and I'll remedy the situation. Thanks!

Quick Links

about us	planning	ceremony	reception	help center
who we are	location&coordination	arch & aisle runner	centerpieces	knottie bios
e-pics/photography	monograms	petal toss & reserved seats	place cards	hawaii knotties
our furbaby	save the dates	flowers	menus	all things maui
our wedding	maui map	music	cake	specialty bios
our rings	luggage tags	minister	photo guestbook	dw brides
the dress	newsletter		dances	hawaii vendors
shoes & accessories	i nvitations		at home reception	naughty knot bio
hair & makeup	parasols & fans			nvu
boudoir pics	OOT bags			bio help
bridesmaids	passport
the groom	must have pics
groomsmen

Who We Are
We are a product of the internet :) I was on MySpace and happened across his profile and it made me laugh, so I sent him a message. He replied and I invited him to meet me and my sister for a drink. The three of us drank and laughed for hours and I went home glowing. When I came to work I had an email waiting for me and plans for a second date. We've been together ever since and knew we had finally found what we had been looking for in all those other people.

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Engagement Pics/Photography

Our engagement pics are finally done! Here is a slideshow our photographer, TinyWater Phogotraphy, made for us. She is absolutely amazing and I plan to bring her with me to Maui! We started off the shoot in Bernal Heights, San Francisco. We then headed over to Golden Gate Park and hit up the Music Concourse and Japanese Tea Gardens. It was so much fun and I love the variety we ended up with.

About TinyWater Photography:
Our passions are emotions, soul and color. Our work screams fun and style. We strive to capture these elements in our Portrait Sessions. We get down, raw and dirty with you and get in the act. We adopt a more unique, candid and natural approach.

Blending a mixture of traditional portrait photography, fashion photography and photojournalism, we get you when you are you. The result is a timeless image that captures your heart and soul.
We specialize in fashion inspired senior, teen, bridal, family and engagement portraits. Our portraits are fun and different, it can be as relaxed and toned down or as wild and glam as you want. But we guarantee that what you get in the end are different, sexy and amazing shots that are out of this world.

We are available for portrait sessions around the greater Sacramento area and San Francisco Bay Area. We'll arrange a consultation, talk and decide on a location and theme for your shoot. As we travel around often for our shoots, we are also often available in other states and cities, so please do not hesitate to contact us and ask about our availability and future locations.

(click for slideshow)

Here are the coffeetable book pages my photographer made. She used our shoot to make a sample album!! :)

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Our Furbaby
This is Zoe our baby girl! She's a pit bull mix and the sweetest, goofiest dog ever. I wish we could bring her to Maui to be a part of the wedding I just love it when couples do that :)

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Our Wedding
So when we first got engaged I wanted to run away and elope. This will be my second marriage and his second engagement and we wanted everything to be different. I also didn't feel like dropping $20-30k on a wedding, I'd rather save the money to upgrade to a bigger house. When I casually dropped that bomb in front of my mom I got a "YOU BETTER NOT" so then I started thinking DW. This was the plan till my grandma said she wouldn't get on a plane so then I switched back to a Cali beach wedding. I got quotes for Santa Cruz (the resort where we got engaged), Monterey and Half Moon Bay. Everything was adding up to so much and I kept wandering back to beautiful Maui weddings and $5k wedding packages. After we tried out one location by having Mother's Day Brunch (which was awful) my family and his mom all sat around going we vote for Maui. I was shocked and thrilled because I thought everyone would be irritated at the cost of having to go over there. My grandma assured me it would be ok and to just do it and I promised to have a casual AHR when we got back where I would wear my dress and play the video so she could see everything. I can't wait to have a cheesy picture that says Just Maui'd!!

We now expect about 20 guests (I originally thought only 10 would come!) out of the 40 we have invited. Im usually not a pink girl but I was so inspired by the black and bright aqua/hot pink/lime green color combination and it has such a tropical feel that I went for it. It makes not having to matchy match everything so much easier and I have more freedom in what colors I decide to use on various items (especially when you just "happen" to find something but in only one of the colors!). This will be a 100% destination wedding for all of our guests and I've never been to Maui before! I thought a DW would be cheaper and easier, but I think it's just about the same with my OCD! But with only 20 people I'm able to do some very cool and fun DIY projects that I would never had the time nor the money to do if I had the larger local wedding. Since I work full time and go to grad school at night I don't have a lot of time on my hands and during this Xmas break I've decided to try and go DIY crazy and get a bio built!

Ceremony & Reception: Seawatch Restaurant - Molokini Lookout & Upper Pond, Wailea, Maui
Coordinator: Lori (Scott) Lawrence, Tropical Maui Weddings
Photographer: TinyWater Photography
Videographer: TBD
Ceremony Music: Jamie Lawrence, Tropical Maui Weddings
Reception Music: Jamie Lawrence, Tropical Maui Weddings
Florist: Maui Floral/Costco and Maui Blooms
Cake: Maui Wedding Cakes
Accommodations: Maui Banyan and Wailea Ekolu Village via VRBO
Limo: Baron's Limo
Minister: Pastor Vance

Our colors:

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Our Rings
Mike proposed on our six month anniversary which fell right after Valentines. He booked a room for us out in Santa Cruz at one of my favorite resorts so we could celebrate Valentines and our first six months together. After building a bonfire and making smores he dropped to one knee and popped the question. Turns out he even asked my dad's permission the night before :)

My ring was custom made from several designs I found online. I originally wanted one ring but when we went to the jeweler he showed us these unique eternity bands that are angled and butt up against the solitaire and give the illusion of creating one band even though they are actually separate. This is great for those times when you are traveling and just want to wear a band.

We are still searching for his ring but here are a few I like

We ordered his ring! It's cute to see him get super excited about something wedding related :) He picked a Benchmark Tungsten

I had to have my engagement remade in white gold and I decided to change the center band diamonds to round. It looks so much better! We just got his ring in too so I did a cheesy little photoshoot :)

For Valentines day this year Mike got me my "something blue" for the wedding. It's a blue topaz set in a split shank white gold setting with pave scrolling on the sides - I love it!!!

So for his birthday this year I got him a little something blue for the wedding too! Boys love bling too :)

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The Dress
So dress shopping for me was long and difficult and once again, I changed my mind on what I wanted! I started out wanting a more form fitting, trumpet/mermaid style dress but after trying on about 25 I decided that it wasn't the style I would feel comfortable in. I've always been in love with Maggie Sottero dresses and obsessed with corsets so I really hoped to find one that I would like in their slim A-line group. After trying on at least another 25 and considering having one made I was told their would be a trunk show in December featuring some of their 2008 dresses so I decided to wait, but vowed if after that excursion I still had found nothing I would head to a seamstress. This dress was the first one I tried on and I was really excited by the top. I know many brides rave about this feeling when you find "the one" but I think I'm too picky for that :P. I tried on another 10 that day and then wanted to try this one on again and decided with modification I liked it enough to order it.

And me in the dress!

Me and Sara (hawaiibride05/2008) with our dresses!

I'm going to have the skirt taken in so that it's more fitted like the Francis dress below and have the top made into a more defined sweetheart neckline.

My day after honeymoon shoot dress:
JCrew Avery Long in Ivory
(eBay for $65)

Other wedding dresses I considered

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Shoes & Accessories

The hunt for the shoes has begun! I'm trying to find a pair of aqua/turquoise lace up heels that are funky and cute (forget comfy!). So far I haven't found exactly what I wanted but these all come close.

I know these aren't blue but I'm obsessed with them!

UPDATE!!!!!!!
I found these shoes on eBay for $16.99!!! Aren't they just the perfect amount of obnoxious!! :)

I also scored these Jessica Simpson's at Macys for $35 for my bachlorette so they are another option..

And the Winner Is!!!

I got these shoes from Charlotte Russe for $25. I believe they are a knock off of a designer line shoe since I've seen this design at other stores such as Shiekh Shoes. I thought they were a bit plain in the front and wanted to jazz them up somehow, and immediately I thought bling! I tried going to Michaels and JoAnns to get rhinestone charms but they had none. Then I remembered that the pet stores sold the letters to make custom dog collars and because they are made to slide onto flat collars it might work out. So off to PetCo I went and paid $5 for each letter and used clear thread (kinda like thin fishing wire) to tack each letter on. Since they have the gap to slide onto a collar it was easy to run the clear thread on each side of the letter and tack them down.

I know for sure I want chandelier earrings but I'm undecided on the necklace. The model looks great with both on but I'm not sure if it will be too much on me since I'm so petite. Here our some fabulous earrings I found on emitations.com and eBay.

I ordered all three of these and I love them all! I will probably go with the ones in the middle though, they are the most flashy.

I can't help but jump on the personalized undies bandwagon! I plan to get some white boy shorts and decorate them myself in crystals that say "Mrs. Ramsey"

I ended up rdering these for the sake of time from customglamgirl.com

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Hair & Makeup
I really want my hair half up half down with some fuschia mokaraorchids in it off to the side and no veil. I keep hearing about how windy it is though, so just in case I have some updo backup plans. I'm also completely obsessed with Eva Longoria's hair and makeup and want something heavy and smoky on my eyes like hers.

The famous wedding hair - jacque85

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Boudoir Pics
As a wedding present for Mike I decided to take boudoir pics on his Viper. To accomplish this I had to get the help of the best man, take a day off work and come up with a cover story that I was going to a conference. Since I can't get the car out of the driveway the best man had to come over, drive it to the location and then my fabulous photographers, TinyWater Photography, did their magic. I am having her make a slideshow out of them and on our wedding day I will give Mike a card on his laptop with a note that said "Play Me" and make sure the photographer will be there to capture the moment! The look on his face will priceless as he processes me in lingerie on his car and then wondering how I got the car out and when!

click for slideshow

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Bridesmaids
So for my ladies I want them in aqua dresses. Since they will be holding hot pink parasols we have opted for no bouquets but fuschia mokara orchids in their hair and hopefully hot pink shoes!

UPDATE!!!

Since we had such a hard time finding the right dress and shade of aqua for my very differently shaped BMs, we went with the JCrew Beach embossed dress in black and will get a David's Bridal 1" ribbon/sash in Tropic. They will still have the hot pink parasol above with hot pink mokara orchids in their hair. Shoes will either be black or aqua/turquoise.

Their gifts (I also got them a few other small trinkets):

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The Groom
So Mike wants to be in a suit but with a hawaiian shirt and no tie. I think he would rather be in tan but since the wedding colors are black he needs to match right? I think we will make his shirt a traditional white hawaiian shirt or he will wear a barong to honor my Filipino heritage.

UPDATE!!!

Mike wanted to wear a suit and tie so we got him a wool black Calvin Klein suit from Macy's during a sale and with a friend's and family discount it came to about $400 - not bad! He had to get it altered but now it looks good. He will wear a white dress shirt, aqua tie and I got him aqua socks with black skulls on them ...... symbolic maybe? ;)

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Groomsmen
I would love it if the groomsman could wear this Tommy Bahamna shirt (Paradise Grid in Teal) but it's sold out! I'm now on the hunt to find something similar. It will be worn with black slacks or black linen pants.

UPDATE!!

I ended up finding a Tommy Bahama Latin Riviera shirt (similiar to the one above) at Macy's on clearance in the perfect color (riviera ridge) but only in XL. They searched all the CA stores and were able to find one down south for me and had it shipped over, it's perfect! We also gave the BM this patch that I got on eBay to wear with it (kudos if you know where it's from!)

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The Location & Coordination
We are getting married at Molokini Lookout at the Seawatch Restuarant in Wailea. Our reception will be at the Upper Pond. This ended up being our 3rd venue and 4th wedding date since I kept changing my mind! I really wanted to get married at the White Orchid Beach House but the extra $5k it would have cost me would pay for the honeymoon and part of the at home reception so I ditched that idea in the end.

The infamous Lori (Scott) Lawrence from Tropical Maui Weddings will be our coordinator. All the raves you hear are true, she is fabulous, kind, caring and responsive. I wasn't going to use a coordinator at first since I need to be so involved in everything and I hated the extra 20% they tack on but she doesn't do that. Her base package of $850 is a tad higher than some other WCs but she does the work, makes the bookings and provides endless advice with no extra fee. Whatever prices you find with your vendors online is what she charges you but makes the arrangements for you. And not to mention she is married to the most talented musician Jamie Lawrence

Molokini Lookout

Ceremony Diagram:

Upper Pond

Reception Diagram:

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Monograms
Here are some monograms that I made that match my invitations. The ones without our initials and the date will be for the outside of the invitation to act as the closure. The ones with our intiials will be used as tags on the fans, OOT bags and on items such as the passport, menus and anywhere else I can think to stick it :)

Here are some of the monograms I for HawaiiBride5/2008 and some samples of other palm tree themed ones. If you're interested in any of the monograms below contact me.

Just made these for Littlefoot24. The fading ones are my favorite!!

Monograms for galphoto

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Save the Dates
So as with everything else, I changed my mind on these a bunch of times! Since we got engaged almost a year ago and I'm OCD about organization, details and control I've had too much time to think, and change my mind, about what I want. I was going to go with a magnet where I wanted our info written in the sand but I had to wait for school to be out to tackle the project and I started getting so many questions about accommodations that I scrapped the idea at the last minute and went with the boarding pass. I was originally only going to send these to confirmed guests with the luggage tags but since I'm lagging I had to up the project.

Here is the original save the date magnet I created. I used myday1708's save the dates as inspiration. Check out her Zazzle site to make one of your own!

My final products! Each STD was personalized with the guests names. This helps if you are worried about people bringing random guests with them to your intimate wedding! I also attached little adhesive magnets on the back of the first pass so I could still have my original magnet idea incorporated.

My original word template came from Aylee but I was also received templates from PlumeriaPal and LoriDecter. I then converted the word templates to Publisher since you can manipulate the fonts like images much easier.

Many, many thanks to Lori for letting me borrow her trimmer/perforator and coming over to help with assembly!!!!!!

Tools I used:

Fiskars Paper Trimmer/Scorer
Round corner punch
Cutterbee Perforator
110lb white cardstock (Office Depot)
Pink envelopes (Office Depot)
MS Publisher template (converted from Word)

*TIP: Perforate the passes first along the left before separating them into the 3 passes. Then to do the rounded inside corners fold on the perforated line and use the round punch to cut through the double layer of cardstock!

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Maui Map
Here is the Maui map I made using the blank template from PlumeriaPal's bio. I used her map and LisaKeiko's as inspiration in creating mine, combining points of interest from both and using my wedding colors. This map is made in Powerpoint.

Here is an Oahu map I made for HawaiiBride5/2008

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Luggage Tags
I saw this idea in MauidToRam and LoriDecter's bios and loved it! After comparison shopping with Lori I decided to use the ID badge ones like her since they are tougher and could probably withstand the flight to Maui better. I plan to send these to confirmed guests along with a newsletter that will have information on the welcome bbq, day of time line, optional activities after the wedding and information on the shuttle to the ceremony location.

I haven't made mine yet but here are my inspirations:

mauidtoram loriedecter

UPDATE!

Thanks to Lisa's (redshoegirl) idea and Photoshop skills I managed to turn this vintage postcard into my luggage tags! They look so cute!! Lisa removed the old "Aloha Hawaii" text in Photoshop then put out info in there (in Honey font) and matched our colors. I came up with the wording on the back and will use Publisher to personalize them for each guest. They are a standard business card size 3.5x5.5.

And here they are! I ended up creating four altogether and used Photoshop to customize them to Maui tags and Publisher to customize them for each guest. The luggage tags are self laminating and I got them on eBay for $11 for 25ct!! They will be sent to confirmed guests along with a wedding newsletter about 6 weeks prior to the wedding.

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Newsletter
The newsletter will be sent with the luggage tags above to confirmed guests about a month before the wedding. I haven't created mine yet, still need to decide on a few details but here are some inspirations:

loridecter

Here is the one I made for HawaiiaBride5/2008 using 1fungrl's as inspiration and lisakeiko's waikiki city map. These will be stapled shut and sent in the mail as is and include a perforated rsvp postcard for the guests.

UPDATE!!

My newsletter that went out to confirmed guests along with further details about the optional activities and their luggage tags. They were a big hit!! :)

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Invitations
When we first got engaged I started out with a cherry blossom theme. When we finally decided to move the wedding to Maui I thought a more tropical flower, like an orchid would be more appropriate. Asian design has always been an obsession of mine, I love the clean simplicity of it all and these were some of my favorite invitations.

erinbeth07

Since I only needed 40 invitations I wanted to make them myself but had a tough time with finding the right orchid graphic. I tried to get ahold of the designer for erinbeth07's invitation with no luck so I attempted to design some of my own graphics using fonts and photoshop brushes. Here are a few I made:

Here is the 3.5 x 5.5 RSVP postcard that will be an insert in the pocketfold. I will also include map/directions to the Seawatch and ceremony shuttle information.

Here is the directions insert (thanks sachiko for sending me you map to the Seawatch!)

The Maui guests will receive a different AHR invite than the other guests:

And here is the final product!

I used a photoshop japanese foilage brush to create the graphic. Once I got it in the color and size I liked I just converted it to a jpeg. I then used Publisher to create the invite and brought the graphic in as a picture. I ended up creating two graphics, one with the bamboo in the background and one without and used both to tie all my different paper pieces together throughout the wedding details. I used my Cutterbee or Fiskars paper trimmer to cut everything down, double sided tape to put it together and then some tacky glue on the belly bands to adhere the monogram tag.

Invite Details:

Pocketfold - Cards and Pockets (Rectanglo 5x7) - $1 each
Main Invite - Linen paper cut to 3.5 x 5.5 from Michaels - $.59 per 12x12 sheet
Basho (cane) paper - one sheet was FREE, another was $16 from a fellow knottie
Bellyband - 2" wide
Directions/RSVP/AHR/Monogram - White 90lb cardstock from Office Depot - $11.49 for 250 sheets
Directions/AHR: 3.5 x 6.5 (matte was a 1/4 inch bigger)
Monogram 2.5 x 2.5
Matte - Aqua cardstock cut to 3.75 x 6.75 from Michaels - $.59 per 12x12 sheet
Envelopes - Turquoise A7 (found them on eBay) - $1.99 for 25
Wrap around labels - cut to 2 x 7.5 on Full Sheet Labels from Office Depot - $9.99 for 25

Cost per invite - somewhere around $1.75
Results - priceless :)

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Parasols &Fans
I'm going to get aqua and hot pink palm fans for the guest and attach a tag to each like loridecter's below. I also love how mrsjansen & futuremrsball lined their aisles with parasols (mine will also be aqua and hot pink). The bridesmaids will be in aqua dresses with black sashes and carry the hot pink parasols and I will have an aqua one.

mrsjansen futuremrsball

loridecter

The fans:

I used about 15" of ribbon to wrap each handle and glued the ribbon at the back. I punched holes in the basho and put the raffia through before glueing the monograms on. I then glued my favor tags in place and wove the raffia through the fan and tied it off on the handle.

my parasol:

Painted free-hand by my sister with white acrlyic paint from Michaels.

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OOT bags
I'll be ordering the lahuala bags from http://ailanakai.com and giving them out at our welcome bbq the night before the wedding since everyone is renting condos. I will probably hit up Costco for macadamia nuts, coffee, water, snacks and then hit up Walmart for travel size lip balm and sunscreen. It will also have the passport which will have a welcome introduction, day of itinerary and then information on the day after brunch and optional activities that I will plan for the following days before we go off on our own.

mauidtoram

UPDATE!

I decided to go with paper hibiscus bags after much debate because I wanted to give each guest a beach bag, but wanted some structure in which to present the bags to the guests. The contents of the OOT bags will be as follows (most items I found at JoAnns and Michaels in the $1 bins!). Each bag will be personalized with name tags that have the guests names in Hawaiian. To find your hawaiian name click here or here!

*hibiscus loofah , nail files and beach tote
*maui mikes lip balm
**advil/tylenol packets
*water or capri sun
*chocolate covered macadamia nuts
*orbit maui melon mint gum
*cymbidium orchid hair flower
*blank seashell cards
*postcards from paradise
*maui brochures/maps

Hawaiian Name tags (front and back):

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Passport
I used amyinsydney's passports for inspiration for making my passports! I was thinking of using them in the OOT bags as the welcome letter and including the day of timeline as well as info about the day after brunch and planned optional activities.

amyinsydney

UPDATE!!

I did start mine, here is a sneak peek of a few pages. There will be about six more......

UPDATE!!!

Final product! These were definitely the hardest DIY project due to printing and assembly. After I created all the digital files and printed a mockup I realized that I laid them out how I wanted them to look, but that's not how you could print them due to the book style layering that needs to happen. So after cutting up my mockup, switching pages around I finally had them in the right order. Then I wanted to print them on a heavier paper than standard 20# but nothing as firm as cardstock. I went with a 24# letterhead paper (I would recommend 35# if I were to do it again since I think they are still a little thin and you can see the print on the other side of the page) and used 90# cardstock for the outside cover. For some reason my printer kept moving the paper and picking up multiple pages so it took me HOURS to get it printed right. Make sure you PROOFREAD! In fact I suggest having someone else look it over for you, you tend to not notice your own errors when you have been staring at something this long (I learned the hard way, after printing!)

Details:
*Page size is 8.25W x 6H approx folded in half with each page double sided
*Pages were glued in the center with a small amount of clear, tacky quick dry glue
*Corners were rounded with a round corner punch (same one used on boarding passes)

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Arch & Aisle Runner
I can officially say that I am obsessed with this arch. I first saw it in MauidJenn's bio and fell in love with the bamboo and flowing fabric. I was shocked at how much it was to rent but oh well, I WANT IT!! I also love the idea of hanging capiz shells from it and can imagine their soft tinkling in the breeze so I'm going to add those too.

mauidjenn

I also just decided that I want a monogrammed aisel runner! After pricing out how much fresh flower petals would be to so that I could have a solid path I decided to go with the runner, and why not monogram it to match everything else?! I will do a light sprinklong of fresh petals along the side like the picture on the left.

Here is a mock up of what I have so far.

UPDATE!!

After getting the final RSVP count I decided not to do an aisle runner since I'm only going to have two rows of chairs. Instead I decided to make a program for each guest (see below)

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Petal Toss & Reserved Seating
I'm still unsure if I'm going to go with the cones or with little bags. I think it will depends on how far along I am in DIY projects! I just love the pictures of all the petals falling down around you as you walk down the aisle though so one of the options is a must have :)

UPDATE!!!

My petal cones. I simply did a 7x7 square, then punched holes with a 1/8 hole puncher to weave the raffia through. I actually eye-balled the first one then made it my template. I then glued my monogram favor tag on the front.

I'm going to mark the reserved seats with these cute signs below. Either they will say Reserved for a specific person of the bride/groom or they will be generic and say Reserved for family of te bride/groom to keep unique situations easy :)

Here is my mock up

UPDATE!!!

Decided to scrap this DIY project too due to the small amount of chairs. I didn't want to clutter up the space with too much stuff so I kept the decoations minimal. Instead I made a program. Size is 7.5H x 11W folded in half printed on both sides of 110# cardstock.

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Flowers
So for sure I know I want green cymbidium orchids in my bouquet. I think this is the only thing that hasn't changed throughout my planning process! Since I'm doing the aqua and hot pink color scheme I think the green orchids complimented with either hot pink roses, calla lillies or cymbidium orchids would be pretty, then have it wrapped with an aqua ribbon.

Change of plans! After finding this bouquet with white cymbidium orchids and fuschia makara orchids I changed my mind. This is going to be my new bouquet!

After doing the rhinestone letters on my shoes I was trying to figure out how to incorporate the Zoe rhinestons into something. I decided to use them on a ribbon that I would tie around my bouquet.

We will be hitting up Costco for the guest leis which will be the one below. Every guest will get one during the lei exchange in the ceremony.

For us we have decided to get Mike a kukui nut with mock orange lei and for me a single white or green orchid lei.

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Music

Jamie Lawrence will be our musician for the ceremony and reception. We get to choose 4 songs so this is how it will go.

Special Seating - There is Love
Bride's Processional - Over the Rainbow (Izzy version)
Lei Exchange - Hawaiian Wedding Song
Recessional - Kaiwai Lehua

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Minister
I've decided on Reverend Vance as our minister and he will perform a traditional hawaiian non-religious ceremony. I'm going to incorporate a lei exchange with our parents as well as with each other but still need to work on the details of it all.

Hawaiian Non-Religious Wedding Ceremony

Maui, Hawaii
Hawaiian Chant- Oli Aloha
(Greeting)

Onaona ka hala me ka lehua,
He hale lehua no ia na ka noe,
`O ka'u no ia e `ano'i nei,
E li'a nei ho'i o ka hiki mai,
A hiki mai no `olua,
A hiki pu no me ke aloha.....
Aloha e! Aloha e! Aloha e!

The oli is a chant that offers a word of greeting. It says in part, "This is the sight for which I have longed. Now that you have come, love has come with you".

Aloha and Welcome!

Groom and Bride, We are gathered here to celebrate your marriage. This day you have chosen to affirm your love for each other with spoken words and with the sharing of symbols.
Marriage is a commitment to life… to the best that two people can find and bring out of each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other human relationship can equal, a physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.
Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life’s most important relationships. A wife and husband are each other’s best friend, confidant, lover, teacher and listener. There may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the other brings healing and steadfastness to the sturdy foundation that allows the marriage covenant to be established upon.
Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher, and commitment is stronger.
Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes that life is unable to avoid. Yet it encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences and new ways of expressing your love for each other through the seasons of life.
When two people pledge to love and care for each other in marriage they seem to create a spirit unique to themselves, which binds them closer than any spoken or written word. Marriage is a promise made in the hearts of two people who love each other, and this will take a lifetime to fulfill.

Sharing of Leis and Song

For those of us who call Hawaii our home, the flower lei is a symbol of love. It is also a symbol of things that are fragile and temporal. A flower lei will last a day or two and then it is gone. Our lives are like the lei within the span of eternity. Therefore, live with tender consideration for each other, continue to love one another and your marriage will last. May the leis you now offer each other be recognized for the love that you have for one another.
The Hawaiians have a traditional saying, "Honi Ka Waha", kiss him/her on the mouth.
Honi Ka Waha!

Declaration of Intention

Groom, Do you wish for Bride, to be known as your wife? If so, please say, "I do".
Bride, Do you wish for Groom, to be known as your husband? If so, please say, "I do".
Groom and Bride, Do you promise to let your love for each other grow, as it will, and as it must, so that in the years to come you will renew your acceptance, your understanding and your trust of one another? If so, please say, "We promise".

Marriage Vows

(Groom and Bride repeat after minister)
I, Groom, take you Bride, to be my wife. I promise to love you, honor you, and cherish you. I will be your companion. I will share my strengths and my achievements. I promise to respect you and be your friend. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live.
I, Bride, take you Groom, to be my husband. I promise to love you, honor you, and cherish you. I will be your companion. I will share my strengths and my achievements. I promise to respect you and be your friend. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live.

Ring Ceremony

The wedding rings are a symbol of longevity in the marriage covenant. The circle of the ring symbolizes the never-ending circle of love and commitment that you are making. Always see the best in each other, and each day that you are together, when you look at the beauty of these rings, remember the love that you have for each other, is forever.
(Groom and Bride repeat after minister)
Groom, repeat after me your ring ceremony.
Bride, I give this ring to you as a sign of my love. I give myself to you to be your husband. From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. I feel so honored to have you as my wife. I vow to love you and sustain you in the covenant of our marriage, for as long as we both shall live.
Bride, repeat after me your ring ceremony.
Groom, I give this ring to you as a sign of my love. I give myself to you to be your wife. From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. I feel so honored to have you as my husband. I vow to love you and sustain you in the covenant of our marriage, for as long as we both shall live.

Pronouncement

We have all been witnesses to this special day, therefore, I, and those of us here with you, recognize that you have become husband and wife, and we, and all of your family and friends shall honor you as the same from this day forward.

Benediction

Groom and Bride, remember this day here in beautiful Place, Maui, Hawaii, with joy and thanksgiving, may you love to live, and live to love.
Now therefore, by the authority given unto me, by the laws of the state of Hawaii, I now pronounce you, husband and wife, Groom, you may kiss your bride!

It is my honor to present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Groom and Bride!

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Centerpieces
So I'm hoping to have one large dining table and then down the center to have the 3 different height hurricanes clustered with pink and white dendrobium orchids and possibly green cymbidium orchids in water and floating candles as pictured below. I'm also going to scatter the black river rock around the hurricanes on the table and then put blue votives amidst the rocks. I really like the look of a table runner underneath it all too, perhaps a hot pink or aqua one? Haven't quite found the right one online yet so still undecided on that option. I'd also really like to have some white or colored paper lanters strung above the table to provide more lighting since the reception will be at night on the Upper Pond patio.

Here is a diagram I made so you can see how the table will be laid out.

I also decided to sew tablerunners and napkins since it was cheaper than renting and I could sell them after and make a profit. I got the fabric on clearance at JoAnn's for $23 and it was enough to make eight 90L x15W table runners and napkins for 20!

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Placecards
To add even more light and romance to the table I have decided to use votive placecards which will double as favors. Thanks to kathriya for her instructions on how to make them!

kathriya day-z

UPDATE!!!

It took awhile to get the template just right. I used the prepackaged 12pack of wedding candles from Michaels so this template fits those candles. It's really about trial and error with this one!

I printed on self adhesive vellum sheets (sold in 5pack sheets at Michaels) and then secured it at the back with double sided tape. I then wrapped 2" of ribbon around the bottom of each candle and secured it with double sided tape as well.

And here is what they look like. I also made some to go all the way around the cake table that say "Today I'll Marry My Best Friend July 16, 2008 Deirdre & Mike"

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Menus
So Seascape has the option of printing the menu or you can do it yourself and at this point, why not go for it and have it match my theme? I love the idea of the specialty drink menu too that several girsl created so I'll have to jump on that bandwagon too. I'm thinking my menu will either be a single card with food on the front and specialty drinks on the back or it will be a bi-fold like a typical menu - choices choices!

loridecter

amyinsydney

Here is a mock up of what I have for the dinner menu so far. These will be mounted on black cardstock then on basho (cane) paper and will be inside of a white folded napkin with a fuschia makara orchid placed on top at each table setting.

UPDATE!!!

My dinner and drink menus

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Cake
My obsession with cherry blossoms and orchids extends to my cake too! I really like the orange cake below, I'm thinking of duplicating it in white with purple orchids and aqua ribbon. As for flavors I'm undecided at this point.

II was inspired by caligurl1180's cute tropical cake below to look for a monkey cake topper since Mike always calls me monkey (awww).

I actually found a seller on eBay who hand makes them and customized this one for me! It's going to be so cute!!

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Photo Guestbook
I also have to jump on the photoguestbook bandwagon. My brother and sister n law had this at their wedding and I thought it was the cutest thing! We took lots of goofy pictures and had a great time with it. I will probably make up some pages similar to LoriDecter's below which ask only for minimal information from the guests so that you don't feel like you have to write a journal.

loridecter

UPDATE!!!

I bought an 8x8 photo album at Michaels and some scrapbook paper and stickers and had my sister go to town decorating the pages. She also stuck the photo corners on each page so that all the guests have to do is sign and stick the photos in. She did such a good job on the pages, and at this point did a better job than I would have since I'm feeling crunched! Each page is different and I made instructions for the guests and will include props on the table. My SIL is also going to man the table and helpl take pictures of the guests so we don't waste film :)

I wanted to incorporate Zoe somehow so I made this example to show my guests an example of "hawaiian style"

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Dances
We decided not to go with a DJ for the reception since it's only 20 people. Instead I hired Jamie Lawrence to play for an hour at the reception so that we can have a few dances. Mike picked our first dance song, the rest are still up in the air.

First Dance - Everything I Do, I Do It For You
Combo Father/Daughter and Mother/Son Dance - Wind Beneath my Wings
Cake Cutting - I'm hoping my brother will play the Adam Sandler Wedding Song (the one he sings to Drew on the plane)

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At Home Reception
We will be having an at home reception on August 16, 2008 one month after the wedding and the 2 year anniversary of the day we met. It will be a casual style cocktail event at a local restaurant called the Sonoma Chicken Coop. We plan to have heavy hors'douerves, serve a tropical signature drink, do some dancing and have a cupcake display. I'd like to be able to show our wedding video and a slideshow from the photographer and also let the guests participate in the photo guestbook from Maui.

"The Coop" area where we will have the AHR

Here are the invitation mockups

Thanks to MauiWedding08 I was inspired to make chocolate seashell favors. Here are the ones she made for her AHR

Instead of having another cake I decided to do cupcakes with a small round on top for us to cut just so that the guests who didn't make it to Maui can still parktake in the traditions. Here are some of my favorite cupcake ideas. Now that I'm going to be making choclate seashells I think I'll also make smaller ones to use as toppers on the cupcake. My monkey topper will also make an appearance at the AHR :)

I decided I wanted to try my hand at baking my own cupcakes for the AHR, so for Valentines my friend Molly, Lori and myself took at stab at baking and decorating some. To be fair I should say I baked and they decorated. In the end they looked fabulous but they didn't taste so great :( After seeing how much work it will be, Safeway cupcakes are calling my name. I'm going to try and get them to sell me creamcheese frosting on the side so I can bring it home, color it aqua then frost them myself. I want to use shaved coconut and rock crystals as decorations as well as fresh flowers on the stands.