We alternate holidays between our families and since we will visit the hubs' fam this Thanksgiving, my fam decided to have an early Thanksgiving dinner this past weekend. My bro flew down from SF, my sister was home from college, and my grandma is still here (she came for the wedding and flies out in Dec), it was perfect timing. We were all thankful for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with both sides of our families :)Hubs was also happy to have the chance to enjoy green bean casserole & stuffing 2 times in a week :)
Hubs, my sis, and my bro were ready to dig in.
Love
Family
My grandma coming all the way from the Philippines for the wedding. She is one of my 2 living grandparents and the only one healthy enough to travel.
The amazing people who helped my wedding day happen.
Blog title is from lyrics by Josh Groban
Checked my Google Reader when I got home and was so surprised to see our photographer, Sarah K. Chen, blogged our wedding :) I am so happy and we love how everything turned out. Just this morning I was looking through family photos for my grandma's scrapbook and tonight I get to look through these. Yay!! Can't wait to view them all and share my day with all of you.This started my week off so well!
Blog title is from lyrics by Weezer
Last month we caught my favorite band, the bouncing souls, at the El Rey Theater in LA. It was my first time there (had been longing to go for a while, but living in SB hindered it) and I loved it. Imagine a great ball room with art deco style, red carpets, draping on the walls, amazing mood lighting, a sunken dance floor, a raised level for tables, upstairs balcony, 3 large chandeliers. It was so lush and glam, and got me thinking that it was perfect for a wedding!
View from the dance floor, facing the stage with the lights low, waiting for the souls to come on.
the bouncing souls :)
The website describes the El Rey nicely:
"The El Rey Theater is an original art deco theater in the heart of the Miracle Mile, one of Los Angeles' preserved art deco districts. The El Rey was built in 1936 and designed by Clifford Balch. After over 50 years as a first run movie house, the El Rey was converted into a live music venue in 1994. A registered Historic-Cultural Monument, the El Rey has sweeping staircases, an art deco lobby, VIP balcony lounge and a grand ballroom equipped with a full stage."
You can rent the place out for shows, photo shoots, events, bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings.There are lots of sections for guests to fit, and stage for your DJ or band.Generous dance floor to kick up your heels. And their lighting systems is amazing.Truly a great place for live music and any event!
Can I plan my vow renewal now? heeehee ;)
Blog title is from lyrics by the bouncing souls, ole!
Guest books have come a long way from the traditional lined book where guests would acknowledge their visit by signing their name and sometimes address. Alternative guest books have become the norm, gaining popularity in the wedding world and allowing the couple to have something reflective of their style, personality, and wedding theme. They are also great keepsakes :)Our search for the perfect guest book alternative was fun and full of creative ideas:Surfboards, bottle, flip flops, guitar.This hanging of laundry idea was one of my favorites. So creative and fun!A wish tree makes such a great statement and is so beautiful.The thought of guests placing their notes on the tree, then for others and us to read each note is such a fun concept. It's so interactive and you can display the tree and keep the notes forever :)I also really loved the idea of a scrapbook where guests could take instant photos, paste them on pages, and write their thoughts/well wishes.But my favorite idea was the wish bowl.A place for guests to write a note, advice, or wish for the couple and drop it in the bowl. It is like throwing a penny into a fountain.And the wishes can be kept in a scrapbook of the wedding :)So with all the inspiration and ideas, I gathered my supplies.
Purchased these note cards in curry, beet, plum, and grape from Paper Source.
Used a clear stamp to create a whimsical design. I opted for circles to match other stationery used in my wedding.
Stamped gold ink onto the paper. It took a few tries, but the design came out nicely.
This is how it looked on the shades of paper. The gold ink didn't show up on the beet paper, so I used black ink but forgot to take a photo. Whoopsies.
Here is a trial lay out for the wish bowl. Had to add gelly pens in purple and gold for color coordination purposes.
And here is our wish bowl set up and ready to go! Wish I had more photos of it to share but no one seems to have any other photos of it.How did you chose our guestbook? What alternatives did you like?
Blog title is from lyrics by the Kinks
*note: Since we are still waiting for our pro photos (I saw a sneak preview and jaw dropped), I think I'll write a few posts about the remainder of the DIYs and small details of the wedding.*The stacks of take-out boxes grew higher and higher.
The count almost reached 200.
They were everywhere! But what to put in them? Candy, ofcourse! And lots of it!!
We love the look of color-coordinated candy buffets (a la Amy Atlas) and sweet treats in matching packaging. But the wedding was 2 weeks out and the only personalized purple & yellow candy we had ordered were M&Ms. A bit panicked, we headed to Target to load up. I knew candy wouldn't be hard to find, we just had to choose the correct candy wrappers/packaging: anything in yellow, gold, or purple.Enter these yummy bites:
They are just a portion of the many bags we bought.
For those interested, here is the amount of candy we purchased.
Kisses: 10 bags dark chocolate (purple wrapping) and 5 bags almond (gold wrapping)
Jelly Belly: buttered popcorn, island punch, lemon drop (to match our martinis)Cadbury: 3 bags (purple wrapping)
Hershey's Nuggets: 5 bags of various almond, toffee, dark (gold wrapping)Hershey's Bliss: 7 bags (purple wrapping)
M&Ms: 4 bags personalized, 4 bags Lakers (purple, yellow, white)
Lemonheads: 6 boxes (yellow)
Almond Roca: 1 container (gold wrapping)
Ferrero Rocher: 5 containers (gold wrapping, delicious)
Tobleron: 3 bags (yellowish wrapping)
It ended up being way too much! I would say about 2/3 of what I purchased would have been fine for our 120 guests. Less mini chocolates but definitely more M&Ms because they were a hit!For containers, I had amassed a nice collection of apothecary jars from Michael's (all thanks to their 40% off coupons). The jars were perfect to display the candy.
Here are just a few of the jars (photo taken w/ BB camera).Next step was signage!
Signage for the candy bar :) I used PaperSource Plum Scallop Circle Labels to print out the candy contents of each jar, and cut circles from lavender paper to provide the labels with sturdy backing.
Font is freebooter script from dafont.
Wide yellow ribbon went around each jar and the labels were attached to them. 
We also tied some ribbon around the jars for a cute look.
We packed the candy, jars, and take out boxes nice and tight, and handed them off to Anna of Love & Splendor the day before.
About 1.5 hours before the reception ended, the candy bar all set and ready to go! Anna set it up perfectly. It looked super stylish and too sweet!! Here are a few photos taken by friends :)
So much chocolaty goodness :)
Purple and gold foil look so nice and shiny.
And the take out boxes rounded off the look nicely :)
My favorite part was the personalized M&Ms! We ordered ones that said "Jella and Matt" and "9.26.09", and custom ones with Lakers logos :) It was definitely a crowd favorite.
Will you be having a candy bar? What candies did you choose?
Blog title is from lyrics by Gwen Stefani
After an hour of rehearsal, we headed to downtown Santa Barbara for our rehearsal dinner at El Paseo Restaurant. This popular establishment offers courtyard seating under the stars, a wide selection of Mexican food items, and warm ambiance. It was able to host our big group comfortably and with good service.
Place setting all with a salted margarita glass, ready for the drinks :)
Our menu, prepared by the El Paseo staff.
My mom, mister's mom, and our flower girl, Kylie.
Bro, Sis/MOH, and grandma.
Uncle and aunt, and my parents.
Uncle and aunt and their 4 daughters, 2 were my bridesmaids, the other 2 read at the ceremony and helped with the wishbowl.
Table shot, groomsmen and their dates, and us.
We had the most amazing guacamole, freshly made at our table side. Soo yummy, I was full before my dinner arrived!
My parents also enjoyed the guac!
Here I am handing out some bmaid gifts. Note, I forgot to take photos of the gifts once they were all wrapped up :(
My sister/MOH received a special gift, a Tiffany necklace :) The meal was great and the service was what we like, attentive but not pestering. Our glasses remained full, our appetizers arrived on time, and our dinner (which took a while but we were a big group so I'll let that slide) was delish! We sat under the stars and enjoyed the last bits of the day together :)
Where did you have your rehearsal dinner? What type of food did you choose? Was it a local hang out, a popular joint, or a fancy establishment?
Blog title is from lyrics by They Might be Giants
