In our heart lies the technology: BlackBerry, Twitter, Facebook at the Wedding

My BlackBerry is my (and the mister's) life. Between email, texts, social networks, photos, and internet, I love feeling so connected everyday. So why let my wedding day be any different?

Portions of our wedding day, like much of our average days, was spent typing on our BlackBerries. We kept it to a minimum, only uploading during the down time, and we liked being connected to those who couldn't share the day with us.


In many guests' photos you can see my w/ BB in hand. Here I am with friends and family waiting around for the bridesmaids' photos to be done.


And here is a reaction to something I read on twitter. Must have been @Lakers related ;)


My mother thinks I'm hilarious.


We even did a posed photo with phones and sunglasses :)


Below are a few of my favorite twitpics and mobile uploads :)

About 7am. The morning is still, the sun has risen. This is my view from the bridal suite. I am waiting for my maids and TEAM Hair & Make up to arrive.


While getting my hair done, this is my view of all of the make up.


Mother and grandmother relax after hair and makeup, before the day really begins.


My mom is ready to go.


Bride's dress, bridesmaids' dresses, and my 2 cousins' dresses (they were not in the bridal party but part of the ceremony so they thought they'd dress in our colors, too).


View of my bouquet while riding the trolley.

Arriving at the Mission at 1130am.


Posing with the bridesmaids and flower girl on the Mission grounds pre-ceremony.


Walking and talking. Guys are in the background.


Our waiting room at the Mission was a 1st grade class room. We used the little chairs as bouquet holders.


After the ceremony we went back into the Mission and wait to take family photos. It was a little after 2pm and very hot in the church. My hair is a mess.


We took the long, scenic route from the Mission back to the hotel. Here is the view as we drove by Shoreline park.



Staring out at the view, blackberry in hand.


We took some bridal portraits in our hotel's front lawn. Here is bridesmaid Nicole's view of us, taken from the bridal suite.


There was about 1.5 hours downtime between ceremony and reception. Here are my cousins in the bridal suite reading the menu. We read the menu about 5 times over the course of the day.


First dance. Love that you can see our coordinators Anna and Jeniece, of Love and Splendor, in the background. They were serious guardian angels on that day :)


Groom and I during one of the speeches. It was a good one so I wanted to capture our reaction.


My dinner. Too yummy. Tired to keep the portions small so I would have room for dessert, looking back, wish I had eaten more. The salmon was my fave.


Flower girl and maid of honor playing with toys we had at the table.


Cupcake toppers sitting atop a white, vanilla cake topped with strawberry butter cream. We didn't cut into it until about 8pm. It was so delish and worth the wait! But huge so we only ate half.


Me and my little cousin pose at the photo booth, which was quite a hit among the little ones!


Loading up the last of the stuff our room before we check out on 10am Sunday morning. This dolly carries our bouquets, the cupcake stand, and our shoes. Completely random.

We received sweet feedback from old friends who enjoyed watching our journey through the photos, family overseas who felt like they were there, even our photographer commented on how we were so connected :) I loved being able to share my day, as I lived it, with loved ones who could not attend.

Will you be tweeting/facebooking/live blogging portions of your wedding day?



Blog title is from lyrics by 311

At the top of the...

Some fun news to start off my morning. Opened up my google reader and saw that a photo of my cupcake toppers made it on Weddingbee Gallery of the Day today :)


I had considered these toppers, chosen these toppers, and now my toppers are on weddingbee :) Little things like this make me happy.

Here they are looking super cute. Photo by my beautiful cousin, Denise E.

I'm currently waiting for pro photos but gathered up a nice collection of guests' photos, which I looooove looking at. Promise to have re-caps up once everything is in :)

Hope all of you are enjoying your days!!!!!!



Blog title is from lyrics by The Carpenters

Fell in love with the girl at the rock show: My 2009 Concert Season

One of our all time favorite past times is going to concerts. We try to make it a habit to see our favorite bands when they go on tour each year, always catching a few shows at the Santa Barbara Bowl each summer. While summer being the most schedule heavy season, we've been able to space out the shows well, giving us a sort of "break" from all the wedding planning we were doing.

This concert season has been very generous to our ears. Through a few reunion tours, we have sort of nostalgically re-visited some of our favorite high school memories (ND, B182). And the mister got to see his favorite band, the Killers, up close :)

Although we've attended only 5 concerts, it definitely feels like more and gave us the perfect escape, if only for a few hours.


311. Santa Barbara Bowl. Since college, we've see 311 at the SBBowl every year w/out fail, it's like a birthday or holiday to us and our friends. We push our way around the pit, have a beer, watch the sunset, and always have theeee best time. 311 is our essential summer band :)

Nick Hexum, so close you can touch him!


No Doubt. Santa Barbara Bowl. When I heard No Doubt was reuniting, my heart was a flutter. We had originally purchased tickets to one of their Irvine shows, but once we heard they were playing SB, promptly sold those tickets to a friend (thanks Theresa) and scooped up SBBowl tickets. And boy was it worth it. ND played all their hits, interacted so nicely with the crowd, and genuinely loved being up there, performing together. My favorite part was when they performed "Simple Kind of Life" during the part when Gwen sung, "I always thought I'd be a mom," because right after the crowd let out one of the loudest cheers of the night and she smiled so much. Lots of love at that moment.

We were in the pit once again, surrounded by their so many true fans who are mostly girls so it was easy to get a good spot and see the band. This was also around the time of SB Fiesta, so a party atmosphere was in the air and confetti was everywhere. Oh I need to see ND again, soon.

Gwen interacted so well with the crowd, even looking like she'd jump right in.


The Killers. Santa Barbara Bowl. They put on the best light show of all the concerts I've been to this year. Love the perfection and professionalism of their performances. They are true to their sound and style, producing a very nice spectacle. The mister enjoyed them the most!


Weezer and Blink 182. Irvine Meadows. This middle of the week concert in Irvine was a long & tiring drive to and from SB, but definitely worth it. Our seats were ok and the amphitheater was full. Weezer rocked every classic song (I need to see them again!) with such stage presence and fun. Then we saw the band we'd been dying to see, Blink 182. They took the stage and were vulgar and crazy and harsh, but oh so polished, and melodic, and good! So happy to see them back together again.


Blink 182. Santa Barbara Bowl. This was Blink's last show of their US/Canadian tour, and the SB Bowl's last show of the season. The skies threatened rain and the pit was slighty rowdy (lots of tall guys made it hard for a short girl to see), but it was worth it. Truly a rock show, with so much love and melody and fun. Ugh, can not wait to hear their upcoming record and see them again. Love.


Of all the venues I've been to, this year and in the past, I cannot say how much I love the SB Bowl. If you have the opportunity to see a show at the SB Bowl, I highly suggest it! The outdoor venue is nestled in a canyon, surrounded by trees, and oh so intimate. We always get pit tickets, allowing for great views of the artist, but any seat is a good one :) The size is nice, seating a little over 4,500 people, which gives a cozy feeling, even when big bands perform.

We have two more shows coming up, the Bouncing Souls and Dashboard Confessional. Both in the LA scene. Two more great bands to close the year off nicely :) This year's concerts have been like our mini-mini-moons :)

Have you been to any fun concerts this year? Who has been your favorite to see live?

note: all photos taken by me with my Canon point and shoot or BlackBerry

Blog title is from lyrics by Blink 182

To find my place: Calligraphy Place Cards

Since our 3 ribbon boards had plenty of texture, pattern, and color so I wanted the place cards to be fairly simple. The idea was a clean, white paper and purple ink. My original plan was to purchase printable place cards and print using my home printer. Then bridesmaid P brought up that her bf's mother is a calligrapher whose done plenty of weddings. Knowing I'd been so busy with other DIYs and that these would be the perfect touch to the ribbon boards, bridesmaid P offered to gift them to me. So happy at her thoughtfulness and being in the midst of so much DIY and planning, and with the wedding being so close, I said yes without seeing any of her work and trusting the place card project in her hands.

I sent out a list of guests names and table numbers about 2 weeks before the wedding. A few days later got a photo through BBM of the finished cards. They looked cute, but I wouldn't be able see them until the rehearsal dinner (which was when bridesmaid P would be arriving).

These were the results:

For keepsake factor, I wanted ours to say "bride" and "groom" below our names.



Above are a few examples of the different lettering, flourishes, and hearts that were added.

Place cards look great on the ribbon board :) Extra vases and some circle punches lined the table.

A few of my friends enjoyed the place cards so much, they took some fun photos with them.


I am utterly in love with the way they turned out. The clean lines, the fun flourishes, the hearts! Oh, loooove them!

The calligrapher is Rae Dickinson and she works out of the San Fernando Valley. She does not have a website but has a link found here: http://www.weddingconnections.com/Los-Angeles/Calligraphers/

I am still amazed by the cards.

How did your place cards turn out? Were you gifted anything to add to the wedding?


Blog title is from song by Augustana

Gimme my sweet hairdresser: Post Wedding Chop

It was time to cut my hair. It was time in July, August, and September, but I kept the length for the wedding. So it grew and grew and lay boringly on my head for months. Well not anymore! A few weeks after the wedding I visited my favorite stylist at Walter Claudio Salon in downtown SB and got a chop. Not really sure how many inches I lost, but it does feel quite liberating and so light. A fresh start to married life :) Here are the before and after via BB photo.

Before. Too long, easy to maintain and effortless but flat.


Post cut :) Yay! Lost about 5 inches.


My head feels light. I must now hairdry/circle brush it or use the hair straightener to help the ends "flip in" but I'm oh so happy :)

Will you be doing a post wedding chop? Or do you like your hair long and flowy?


Blog title is from lyrics by ZZ Top

Trapped in a box: DIY Card Box

A fun DIY project was the card box. There has been a lot of inspiration on various wedding sites and blogs, that ideas were flying through my head.

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A simple box with hole and flowers is always fun and pretty standard.

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I love the look of stacked boxes by forthemodernbride.com. Their card boxes look like gifts stacked on each other and also like a traditional stacked cake :) I love how much fun color, textures, and details go into it, making it a present on it's own.

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Something a bit un-traditional like a suit case is also so fun.

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And you have to love a birdcage card box :)

As the inspiration came and went, I made a list of things I liked: sturdy exterior, security, color, textures, and something that tied into our theme. I knew DIYing it would not only allow for continuous correlation between all my wedding stationery, but be budget friendly as well.

We made a trip to Tuesday Morning and found this circle snowman hat box. The price of $5 was good for me!

First step was to cut a hole in the box, heeheee.


I used purple and yellow paper to cover the top and sides. Since the hole was a bit of an eye sore, paper circles were used around the border to soften the look. Purple rhinestones were used to write "cards".


To cover the side of the box lid, I overlapped circles around the lid. The different colors and textures were fun against one another. For balance, I added a row of overlapping circles at the bottom.


Close up of the circles.


Close up of the top.


The finished product :) Notice the daisy on the right? It's a bit curious. I had thought I spaced the rhinestones well so that the word "cards" was centered, but it wasn't, so adding the flower gave it balance.


Here is the card box in action. It sat on the same table as the wishbowl.


And after the wedding the mister cuts open the box.

The box worked out quite well, kept everything secure and was even mistaken for a present :) We are currently using it to store our wedding cards.

How did you choose your card box? What alternatives (bird cage, suite case, treasure chest) did you like?


Blog title is from lyrics by No Doubt