I got love in my tummy

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Our caterer choice was another easy choice. While there are plenty of good caterers in Santa Barbara, we narrowed the choice to two and went with our gut ;)

We attended a wedding show in September at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in SB. The main reason I wanted to go to the show was to meet the people of Pure Joy Catering who had a booth at the event. I had visited their website frequently for a few weeks, and looked over their menu soooo many times that I wanted to experience what they were all about. As luck would have it we were approached by Colleen, the event planner who happens handle all Pure Joy catering at our reception venue (our location must be that popular). She gave us her card and we contacted her a bit later about their availability, contracts, menu options, etc.

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Pure Joy was founded by Executive Chef Lynette La Mere, is a community staple, and even The Knot Best of Weddings 2008 Pick for Best Central California Caterer. They offer full service catering and special event planning to Santa Barbara, Montecito, and surrounding areas. With an experienced team of event managers and staff, they are able to work with you to create proposals, discuss menu items and service style, help with rentals, design a lovely space, and bring your vision to life. And I love seeing their vans parked around the city :)

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Their menu is filled with variety to fit your style (meat, seafood, veggie), specialty stations (mashed potato bar, ceviche station, wok station), and a nice array of side and salad options. But my favorite part of their menu is the dessert options! More specifically the cheese cake bar and ice cream sundae bar, which would definitely delight our guests with an end of the night treat. These bars allow guests to get a scoop of cheese cake or ice cream and choose from a variety of toppings like warm caramel dulce de leche, fresh raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chip, oreos, sprinkles, toasted almonds, coconut shavings and M&M's. Mmm mouth is watering.

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I love PJC's website. It's very accessible, menu items are listed so you can anticipate what you like and don't like, they provide a helpful vendor page that lists SB vendors they have worked with before, there is a photo gallery of yummy inspirations, a location source page helps brides scoute places in SB, they offer green efforts, and there is ease in contacting them.

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Colleen has been a great help with planning so far. We will probably meet with in the next month or so to discuss the lay out and design of our venue. We have just had our first tasting (more on that soon) and will be attending Pure Joy's Exclusive Annual Bridal Tasting and Open House in March.

How did you find your caterer? Was it a simple process? What was your favorite part?

****
side note cos I love the Lakers: Obama endorses Kobe :)

Blog title is from song by Ohio Express

"Like a burst of sunshine.
An obsession.
Pure and delightful.
Simple and heavenly."
Lady Tigra

Got me feeling couture, part II

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Be still my heart. I was waiting to see the Chanel Spring 2009 Couture show all week! All I can say now is that everything is toooooo gorgeous!! I wanted to include some looks that stood out.

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And how gorgeous are the hairpieces designed by Katsuya Kamo out of office paper.

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The dresses are so romantic. Silhouettes are simple but the detailing is so complex.

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Love Chanel. Love all the white dresses. I am so ready for spring.

Blog title is from lyrics by Gwen Stefani

Dress you up in my love, part III

Source Empire waist, seath dress with lace detailing

After posting a few dress inspirations (here, here, and here) I tried to delve deeper in the bare bones aspects of a dress. Details considered were: body type, neckline, silhouette, color, and overall style.

Source Mermaid gown with sweetheart neckline

Body type: Consideration should be taken in regards to one's figure. Women can have a full figure, hourglass shape, pear shape, or be lean. And no matter what your figure, there is a style out there to compliment it.

Source Empire waist, v-neck gown

Neckline: There are plenty of beautiful necklines to choose from. You've got: off the shoulder, scoop, v-neck, strapless, sweet heart, halter. V-necks elongate the neck, off the shoulder is kinda flirty, a halter can be really sexy and I love sweet heart necklines.

Source Strapless ballgown with pockets

Gown silhouette: Popular skirt silhouettes are a-line, ball gown, empire, mermaid, and seath. A-line flares out from the waist down and is a popular choice since it's quite flattering. Ball gowns remind me of princesses. Their classic elegance is seen in a fitted bodice and full skirt. Empire is a high waistline that sits under the bust. The skirt usually comes down from that. Mermaid cut dresses are my favorites. They contour to your body, with a nice flare out at the bottom. Seath dresses are sexy. Again they are form fitting but without a defined waist.

Source Strapless a-line dress with lace detailing

Color: White, ivory, champagne. They may say a bride wears a white dress, but there are so many shades to choose from. Color was one of my main considerations since I wanted it to go with my skin tone. A natural white dress has a classic look. I love how it looks on tan or darker skin. It pops. Ivory dresses look creamy and sweet, with yellow undertones. Champagne dresses have pink undertones and look nearly white.

Style: "Fashion passes, style remains" –Coco Chanel. I say go with your gut and your personal taste. Your style is truly your own.

I'll post my dress search and purchase next week :)

What details did you consider when dress shopping?

Blog title is from lyrics by Madonna

From me to you

In an effort to diy part of the save our date maps and add a surprise detail to the mailing, I decided to create fun envelope liners. I ordered envelopes in our wedding colors and envelope liner templates from Paper Source. The envelopes are colors: grape, violet, plum, and curry.

Here are all of the supplies I used. Various scrapbook papers from Michaels, A7 envelope liner template, A7 envelopes, scissors, and tombow adhesive. I love this adhesive because it's on a roller and makes application easy.

My favorite paper of the bunch. The butterflies look like the letter "W", which is my future last name :)

I traced the template on the back side of the paper, cut, and got these lovelies.

Once stuffed, I folded the liner over and used the adhesive to glue it to the envelope flap. They fit into each envelope nicely.

I didn't have a specific pattern per envelope, just stuffed each with what looked good.

Then addressed each enveloped, stuffed them with our maps, and stamped them. I mailed the last batch out on Saturday and am very excited for everyone to receive them :)

This was a very easy, low key project but necessary for the love of details. I think it would be so fun to open an envelope and see a super cute pattern sticking out. It's like the red soles of Louboutins or the red lining of a LV damier, something unexpected and cheery.

Blog title is from lyrics by the Beatles

Rock n Roll High School

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I attended a Catholic all-girl high school in Sierra Madre, CA. It was slightly unknown and relatively smaller than other Catholic all-girl schools in the area but it boasted one thing that no other high school had, the villa. The Italian style villa is located just a few steps from the high school buildings. The villa was a very important part of my high school life that, to this day, I call it my high school when I see it on tv, in movies, or featured in wedding blogs.

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After all, we had plenty of activities there. We did annual Haunted Houses there, had our Winter Formal there, ran around the grounds during Mary's Day and after school, attended countless masses there, enjoyed Mother Daughter brunches there, took yearbook club photos all around the grounds, had our senior year retreat there, watched as movie crews set up and took down all kinds of sets there, and just had fun there. I may call it the villa, but formally it is known as the Villa Del Sol d'Oro.

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Sound familiar? Well it can be seen in movies such as Princess Diaries, Legally Blonde, and A Walk in the Clouds, episodes of tv shows like 90210, Dirty Sexy Money, Cane, Bella Mafia (tv movie), ad campaigns for Michael Stars and forever 21, even Guns n Roses video for November Rain, and it has countless other credits.

Source November Rain.

It's also been a part of many beautiful weddings that I have seen through countless photographer and wedding blogs. Sarah K. Chen, Cameron Ingalls, Digital Video Artistry, and two gorgeous weddings by Love and Splendor.

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Having the Villa be such a part of my life, I think that if I currently lived in LA I would most likely have my wedding there. It's a beautiful place surrounded by nature. The grounds are expansive and the architecture is lovely. It's history is rich and unique. Spending time there is like you're somewhere else. And viewing all the lovely photos convinces me that I want to have some sort of celebration there in the future, maybe have our engagement session there.

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But I also think it's a bit funny since it's my high school.

A photo of a few of my friends and I during a break from our senior year day long retreat at the villa.
Oh high school days :)

Blog title is from lyrics by The Ramones

Got me feeling couture

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This week designers are showing their Couture Spring 2009 collections in Paris. Here are some gorgeous dresses from Dior. The first two are lovely white dresses, with something blue.

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Loving the soft blue color used in the detail of this dress.

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Again a gorgeous blue, the bottom pattern reminds me of French Country.

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And this dress is tooooo gorgeous. The soft pink, the waves, the brown flower pattern, the shape. Amazing!

Oh Dior. I love the silhouettes, soft blues, full skirts. Every dress is so feminine and romantic.

Blog title is from lyrics by Gwen Stefani

Your love's put me at the top of the world

And on the top of the cake :)

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During a wedding conversation with my mother last week her tone turned a bit serious as she said, "You should have a non-traditional cake topper, something fun and cute." My first thoughts were, "Has she been reading bridal and photography blogs without me knowing or has she just read my mind?" I told her of course the cake topper would be cute and fun. A traditional bride and groom cake topper would be too traditional and may not warrant keepsake status, but something more unique I could see displayed in our house since we like toys/all things cute.

Requirements of the cake topper are for something that is lighthearted, fun, and symbolic of our personalities. This does not mean that we say no to the bride and groom on top of the cake, just add a little twist to that idea. If we go the bride and groom topper route I would like it to reflect our ethnicity (Filipino and Caucasian).

Here are a few toppers that made the final list. I will reveal our final choice after my love orders them and they arrive.

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My love is a game freak. Hello Kitty to me is what video games are to him. So it seems only natural to have Mii characters as cake toppers. They're cute, customizable, and can be displayed next to our Wii after the wedding.

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These toppers by Goose Grease look so classic. I really like the simplicity.

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Bunny. Honey. So cute and fluffy.

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I love these birdies. They're just so cheery. Perfect for a spring wedding.

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Flirty. I really like the one where the bride is grabbing her groom's behind. Too cute.

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More cute birdies. Created by Cotton Bird.

I am a sometimes collector of cutesy vinyl toys. Hello Kitty, Kidrobot, Pucca, TokiDoki. I also love wasting money on said toys. There is an assortment of figures in various places of our apartment, all purchased from UO in a blind box or from downtown LA. Since the money has already been spent, any of these would be a no cost cake topper :)


Hello Kitty and Badtz Maru. Hearts and diamonds.

Marge and Homer by Kid Robot. They are a great couple. Marge is holding blue hair dye and Homer is holding a donut.

TokiDoki Moofia. Nice for the soy milk lovers.

TokiDoki Cactus Pups. They're real mini and would look cute on cupcakes.

Happy Breakfast by Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane. Love these. They would also look cute on cupcakes.

How did you choose your cake toppers? What style, color, type did you choose?

Blog title is from lyrics by the Carpenters

You give me butterflies

Every year around the month of January the monarch butterflies come to Coronado Butterfly Preserve by the Ellwood Mesa. They come to roost up in the trees during the winter months. While we hike on the Ellwood Mesa during the spring and summer months, this was the first year we made sure to head over there in January to see the butterflies and we are so glad we did.

We took a trail through the forest area. When saw a couple of butterflies just floating by we knew we were close. Once we got there, the butterflies were everywhere! Clumped together high in the trees, flying over and around you, resting on a branch alone. There were plenty of people around to see them, but they floated on and floated by.

The butterflies were so pretty and being there was so magical. It was like we were in another world. The feeling was peaceful.


Butterfly resting in the sun, enjoying the warm weather we had :)



A butterfly theme wedding would be a very fun idea. Weddings are a celebration of a new life for the two of you, and butterflies symbolize a metamorphosis into a new life. You can also be nervous and have 'butterflies in your stomach' right before you walk down the aisle. Butterflies are beautiful, their colors and designs vast, and so delicate. Here are a few photos for inspiration.

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A nice table scape with warm reds, orange, and yellow.

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I like the butterflies hanging down by the centerpiece.

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Gucci Resort dress. So flowy, so lovely, such a pretty color.

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Pretty butterflies in an assortment of colors and can be used in an array of wedding decor details.


At the end of our hike we headed towards the ocean to appreciate the view. I can never tire of the view.

It just started raining this afternoon, but I can't wait to return to the bluffs when spring arrives.

Blog title is from lyrics by Alicia Keys