I can't fall asleep!

Ok.. so i've already watched "A walk to remember" on tv for like the trillionth time, I played with my makeup, played with my new hair do, drank some water, searched through everyones page on myspace and i still cannot go to sleep!!!! ahh..


So, what better thing to do than post on my wedding blog.. yay :)


So like i was saying.. I got my hair cut today! i love it.. i went to the hairdresser that cuts my moms hair and my moms hair has been looking pretty good for the last couple of weeks, so i thought i'd give her a try! i have never found a hairdresser i like.. and i like her! She's young and knows the styles that are in.. she shampooed my hair good and even did a great blow dry and style.. i felt like a million bucks when i left there.. so much that i just kept flipping my hair around and staring in every mirror i passed while i was shopping in the mall.. lol.. And another great thing is that she can do updos and wedding do's.. that sort of thing.. so i think i found my stylist to do my hair for the wedding! yay.. one more thing that i can cross off my list...



I've already been looking online at some different hair styles.. At first I wanted to put my hair in a low chignon aka bun.. :P and have a side swept bang but i think i might keep my hair down because I have soooooo much hair... but we'll see what she can do.. She also wanted to see a picture of my dress that way she could match the hair to the dress. I like that she pays attention to detail! just like me :) So here are a couple of hairstyles I like!

This is initially the kind of hair do i wanted.. but i think the bun might overpower my dress.. lol.. because with my hair it would be more like a loaf of bread than a bun :P

and this is the hairstyle i think might work better.. its cute and will make use of all the hair i have.. it looks very hollywood too.. i likes!This is the back of jessica simpsons head.. i like how they placed more than one hair clip.. and how its really flowy and pretty..I also wanted to find a broche(sp?) to put in my hair.. this hair do is cute too.. but im scared my head would look humongeousI love how they did this chignon.. its really intricate and looks muy elegante!I was also thinking about putting flowers in my hair.. not this many though.. I think flowers make the look really soft and feminine..
Heres another chignon with the side swept bang.. this would probably be how it will look like on me since shes asian and all.. jk..lol JLO with a bee hive.. its cute.. but kind of high!I also love this look.. its cute.. but maybe not formal enough??? we'll see.. of all the looks which one do you think will look best on me????? im so excited to have the trial run.. i love getting pampered.. like today i could of fell asleep while i was getting my hair did.. and the whole time i was thinking, "i wish i never had to work and had a lot of money so i can do this all day!" lol... hmm.. if joseph gets rich that might be a reality someday.. except i would still work a couple of days ;)

Vendors schmendors..

Right now I feel like i'm getting somewhere with this wedding planning business. Joseph and I met with the priest.. I was so nervous for some reason when we got there.. but he was real nice and made us feel comfortable.. Looks like we have to have to wedding in a catholic church, but I can have the pastor there also.. So i let my mom know and I guess it's fine.. We're planning to have the wedding on Dec. 27, 2008.. and the priest is available for that day. I also am calling St. Joseph's catholic church to see if we can have the ceremony there.. its a beautiful church thats located closer to my house and the reception site..

I also chose the Renaissance Hotel at World Golf Village for my reception. The catering events director gave me and my mom an awesome tour.. The set up of the banquet room is perfect and she also provides wedding coordination for the day of for about $250 which is sooo much cheaper than other planners.... I'm sooo excited now because I can picture how the wedding is gonna be!! :D heheheh..

I also chose my photographer. I met with her a couple of weeks ago.. She was really friendly and seemed like she loved what she was doing.. I also liked that her prices were reasonable and that her style was more photojournalistic.. The package I chose was for seven hours of ceremony and reception for about $2200, plus I get an engagement session and all the high resolution files on cd with reprint permission.. Check out her website.. http://www.photographybynikki.com/

I chose simply wed video for the videography.. I like their style because its just simple with music and good camera shots..Plus they use HD cameras and their package only costs $1500 for six hours.. compared to like the $2000-3000 everyone else was asking for.. They also give all the raw footage on tapes that way we can watch or edit our own vids.. You can check out his website at www.simplywedvideo.com.

We'll looks like things are going well for now.. Like always.. i'll try to keep this blog updated as I go! :)

Cheryl

Centerpiece ideas!

Just thought i'd post up a couple of the ideas I have for my wedding reception centerpieces.. I want things to look modern and elegant, but still be cost-friendly.. I might alternate the tables with different centerpieces.. One with all candles and others with vases and submerged orchids.. I found a really good website called fiftyflowers.com and they sell orchids by the stem for about 2 bucks each! I also am trying to find vases for cheap..please lemme know if you guys know of any website or store that has them...

This is similar to what i want to do.. i want to place the orchid stems in either a cylinder or square tall vase, fill with water, then place a floating candle on top..

I thought it might also be cool to use either colored stones or water and place a submersible light to brighten up the centerpice.. they have these things called light cubes and they come in different colors.. they run on battery and all you do is stick in in the vase. cool huh?!

I thought this was cute.. a little candle cake
More submersed orchids..
I really like this one.. it was done using ikea drinking glasses, candles, and flowerpetals.. really simple, but it sets the mood..
I love the color of these flowers and how it was used in the dark black containers.. this is really modern and simple.. love it..
Another orchid in vase.. i like how they tied ribbon to add some color.. I also like how the heights are varied..
ohhhh.. this another thing i want to do.. but don't know if it might cost too much.. i want to make a crystal tree for the place card area.. its sooo pretty!!!
more glasses with candles.. a cheap but still cute alternative to candle holders..
Pretty in pink

I budgeted about $1000.00 total for reception decor, ceremony decor, and bridal and bridesmaids flowers.. hopefully i can stick to the budget and still make the wedding pretty! most of the money is going towards the dinner because receptions at hotels are not cheap! ok..well gtg get ready.. me and joseph are going to holy spirit today to meet with the priest.. have a good weekend! :)

My first wedding blog!

Hello hello.. So i was browsing online and saw that many brides-to-be have been tracking their wedding plans through blogs. I thought i't would be fun to document every step of the wedding and share it with my friends and the internet world!

For those of you who don't know my fiance and I got engaged on New year's eve 2008. At the stroke of midnight around all our friends and family my high-school sweetheart, best friend, and boyfriend of 9 years gave me a proposal that I will never forget. When he bent down on one knee I just burst into tears! While i was covering my mouth and wiping my eyes.. all that i could think about is what we've been through and how much we have loved and supported eachother for the past 9 years. I knew that this proposal was not only the happiest time of my life, but it was meant to be!

Everytime there was a wedding going on aunties and uncles would ALWAYS ask us, (in auntie/uncle voice) "So, wen are you two going to get mahhried?" We would always say, "oh.. not yet.. One day though" and try to run away..lol.. But now i can finally say.. "Why yes auntie! We are getting married this year!" ehehehe...

As far as wedding planning goes.. We have set the date for December 27, 2008. We are still in the process of looking for a church to have the ceremony.. Having two different religions and two mothers who have strong opinions has made this process a little difficult for me.. but i know it will work out in the end!

We've also been checking out various hotels and reception locations... here are a couple that we have visited and are on my top list:

The River Club- premiere dining club

This place is soooo beautiful.. its located on the 37th floor of the Modis building in downtown Jacksonville. The views from the main lobby are awesome.. and the price is managable. The only problem is we're have pretty large wedding list and its been hard to reduce the number.. another negative is that they don't have a space large enough to accomodate the dinner and dance floor in one room. We would have to seperate the dinner and dancing area in two different spaces. I think this may cause more headaches for me, but the skyline view still has me keeping this place on my "maybe" list.





Next on my list....

Marriott at JTB

This hotel is pretty nice. It has space big enough to accomodate all our guests, the dancefloor, and auntie line dances! The prices are pretty good and its in a central location.. so.. i'm still keeping this one in mind..

Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village

Another hotel, located at the world golf village.. its in a nice area and located right off 1-95.. it has enough space for all our guest and their prices are also reasonable. Joseph and I visited this hotel when we went to a bridal show.. its really nice.. you see all the men in their golf pants and kleets walking around the hotel! One great thing about this hotel is that they also have special event lighting services that would let me use lighting to make the space more elegant and change the mood..

Example!

To me lighting can make any place feel and look great! I want to do this same type of lighting effect at my reception, but i'm not sure what the price range is on this sort of thing.. i'm willing to spend the money though... let just say.. Overtime!!!

Last on my list is Marriott at Sawgrass..

I just emailed them today so i'm still waiting to see what their price range is. It located in ponte vedra so i'm not expecting it to be cheap! But i'm hoping they'll have similar packages to the Marriott at JTB... Plus the resort looks awesome! ***edit*** just found out prices are 92-104bucks a head.. nevermind!!! :P

Last but not least... I found my dress!!!! That is one big thing that i'm able to check off my wedding-to-do list... I almost bought another dress for $1400, but luckily I was able to find a reasonably priced wedding dress at a small boutique at Jax Beach called "the simple bride." I love this dress! its so beautiful and fits me like a glove... its an ivory mermaid wedding gown with a sweet heart neckline and swavorski crystal beading at the bodice and on the cathedral train.. Plus it costs almost $600 less than the dress i was going to get!!!

Well, hope you enjoyed my wedding adventure so far.. more updates to come!

Your bride to be,

Cheryl