Photo by our friend, Young Chang

Many of you may remember my obsession with paper goods and wedding invitations, so you can imagine my delight when Sister Daffodil asked me to design her an invitation!  A few weeks prior, we had together picked out a canary yellow and light pink theme for her wedding.  I wanted the invitation to reflect her and BIL Daff's personalities and how their wedding would likely be - lighthearted, joyful, but most of all, FUN!  I'm excited to finally share with you how they turned out and how we did it!

My first step had been to design everything using my favorite program of all time, MS Powerpoint (partly because I use it everyday for work, but also because I can't afford Photoshop!).  I pretty much did it the same way I did for my own invitations, except with different dimensions, fonts, and graphics.  I then printed everything on the appropriate types of paper prior to cutting and assembling.



I used Banana Split cardstock from bluedotpapershop for the backing, cutting the paper into a 10.25" by 5.5" sheets.  I scored them about 4.5" from the top edge, so that when it was folded over, a 3/4" edge was left hanging out from underneath that had the date of the wedding on it.  



The other major printed pieces included the monogram label with their names, the interior of the actual invitation, the event details card, and the RSVP card.  For these, I used Luxe Cream 160g weight paper from Paper Source, with the metallic quartz cardstock from bluedotpapershop.  For each of these, I used a variation of the graphic, twisting and turning and flipping it to give variety while still creating a sense of unity across all the pieces.



In case you are curious, the dimensions for everything are as follows:

Invitation Interior: 3 and 7/8 inches x 4 and 7/8"
Interior metallic backing: 4.25" x 5.25"
Details and RSVP card interior: 4 and 5/8 inches x 2.75"
Yellow backing for details and RSVP cards: 3" x 4 and 7/8"
Name plate interior: 1.75" x 2.25"
Name plate metallic backing: 2.0" x 2.5"



Finally, the little added oomph were the layers of ribbon!  The bottom layer was actually a 1.25" thick piece of pastel pink vellum.  On top of this, I wrapped a 7/8" inch thick peach colored sheer organza ribbon that I had ordered from BB Crafts.  I secured this with some strips of photo safe double sided tape (the permanent kind, not the removable) along the ribbon, which looks invisible underneath due to the grosgrain ribbon that would cover it.  I also secured the ends of it with tape, which is hidden underneath the monogram placard.  Finally, on top of this, I layered a 3/8" thick yellow grosgrain ribbon with white polka dots, also purchased from BB Crafts.  This also was secured with double sided tape along the underside and regular tape on the ends, which again is hidden under the name placard.

Here is the Daffodil family busy assembling!  With everyone's help, we finished everything in record time, a total of about 2.5 full days. Daddy Daffodil's official role that helped speed everything up INCREDIBLY was "tape dispenser" - We estimated that he must have dispensed over 8,550 pieces of double-sided tape!
 


I hope you agree that the finished product was fun and sassy indeed!

  

It's unjust.  You spend hours, days, even months searching and agonizing over finding the perfect dress.  Then you finally find it, order it, wait forever for it to come, and go through the expensive alterations process.  It's finally completely perfect...and you get to wear it for a total of less than 24 hours!

I've been putting off this decision for a while, but the time has come to decide what to do with my beloved wedding gown.  To be honest, I had always thought I would sell my dress.  It's the practical thing to do, considering how much it is worth and how much joy it could bring another person.  Plus, I really never will have an opportunity to wear it again.  Plus, we could use a new couch.  Plus, it doesn't deserve to be in a box forever.  I could go on and on.  So selling my dress was always the plan.  Except, it's been eight? no, NINE months, and I still can't quite bring myself to put it out on the market.

You see, I'm a pretty sentimental person, being a scrapbooker and all.  I love little keepsakes and saving things or pieces of things that elicit a beautiful memory.  It is so easy to forget and take for granted all your blessings, and there is something about having a tangible keepsake that helps to keep those moments alive.  My wedding gown...see, that is something so special and personal.

But keeping it doesn't make any sense!  For one thing, it's in a huge box that is taking up a lot of space.  I've only opened it twice, for fear of messing up the whole "preservation" process. And I doubt my future daughter would want to wear it, given how styles change so much.

I know that there is always the option of donating it to charity, which is the best option for many brides.  But for me, I really want its next owner to truly love it as much as I do.  I am only speaking for myself here, but for me, the charity route feels a little impersonal when it comes to something with sentimental value (i.e. I have no problem giving money to charity, but it's different with a keepsake type item...kind of like if you had to give up something that was passed on to you from your grandparents or something).  It's just a little bit easier to take something somewhat for granted when you get it for free, especially if there is no personal connection.  If I were to give my dress away, I would want it to be a very personal gift and for it to go to someone who I know really will love it as much as I do.  I wanted to give it to my sisters, but they gently and graciously declined.  Who wants to wear her big sister's wedding dress that she just wore, anyway?  

So, I still think I should sell it.  But I keep putting it off. 

Are you planning to or did you sell your dress?  Was it easy to let go? And if you didn't, what did you do with it?

It's funny how, after having gone through the entire wedding planning process, you find a new appreciation for every minute detail about every wedding you attend!  I had the honor of serving as the bridal attendant for my new cousin-in-law, Jean, this weekend...You may recall her and Austin's mountaintop engagement I posted about a while back .  I kid you not, it was one of the most perfect and beautiful weddings EVER.  Everything about the day was amazing, from the miraculous sunshine (it was forecasted as a 70% chance of heavy showers!) to the flowers, from her gorgeous gown to the venue, and of course, the happy (not to mention hot!) couple! 

Anyhow, I just had to share all the details with the hive, both as an inspiration and also because I know you all will just eat up all this eye candy!  First of all, let me introduce you to the GORGEOUS bride! 



Absolutely beautiful, no?  I was pretty much head over heels in love with her dress!  It is a Jim Hjelm, and it was just so romantic and perfect. 

Then you add in some lovely ladies donning flowy Romanesque-style Barijay dresses with simply exquisite hair and makeup done by Nicole DeAnne (who also did Jean's hair and makeup).  I couldn't get over how romantic and classy everything was.  I just love this photo...Don't they all look like they are out of a bridal magazine?! 



By the way, both of these photos were taken at the Langham hotel in Pasadena, CA and were posed by her photographers and WeddingbeePRO bloggers Amelia and Justin Lyon!  I took these pics from behind them on my very basic SLR camera, which I know just don't do the real photos justice, so be sure to check out WeddingbeePRO often and keep your eye out for the real thing!

Now it's time for the much anticipated first look .  It was so cool to be on the "onlooker" side and get to witness this moment.  Just look at their faces!



The beautiful bridal party looking on, as Austin and Jean see each other for the first time...



Mr. D and BIL Daffodil helping out as the "gophers" for the day, aka carrying everything around and catering to the bride and groom's every need...



Shortly after their first look...After saving a short and sweet moment, they look up and go, "Uhhh, what do we do now?!"



Well, they had some more amazing photos taken, which you'll have to wait for Amelia to post on WeddingbeePRO...We saw a sneak peak of the shots during the reception...you won't be disappointed!

Anyway, before we knew it, it was time to head over to the wedding venue!  Austin and Jean chose the perfect location for their wedding...Branca Patio at Occidental College.   



The floral arrangements were done by Yuri of Fleuretica.  The most gorgeous thing was the orchid and crystal backdrop in front of which Jean and Austin exchanged their vows.



A few shots of Branca Patio during the ceremony...Just look at that soft and warm sunlight!  It truly was a miracle, as it had rained all day on Thursday and Friday, and the weather forecast indicated Saturday was going to be even more wet.  The most amazing thing was that immediately after the guests headed inside for the reception, the skies started pouring as if we were in the middle of monsoon! 



By the way, isn't the back of her dress amazing?

     

Austin and Jean, as husband and wife for the first time!



Their adorable flower girls: the officiant's daughter on the left and Jean's niece on the right.



Now it was time for the fun to begin!  Let me backtrack a bit to the save the dates so you get a sense of the theme and overall feel of the wedding!  The theme was "lucky in love," and they had printed these on business-card sized cards and stuck on "scratch-off" circular stickers on top of the numbers!  Everything was done in black and white with a splash of either magenta or turquoise here and there. 



Back to the wedding!  Following the ceremony, the guests headed into a side room for the cocktail hour.  Check out these adorable signs Jean and Austin had on the bar.



In the reception hall...Can you believe this is in Oxy's student union?



The beautiful centerpieces, again by Fleuretica.



The adorable place settings and menu!



Their favors were adorable...Diddy Riese cookies, a Los Angeles classic!  Mr. D and I had the pleasure of putting together all the favors.  I had actually originally bought the 4.5" x 6.75" glassine bags off of eBay to use for our own wedding, but we just didn't have the time in the end, so we were so happy that they could be put to use!  Jean made the belly band and labels, which had very cute varying messages!



Their delicious wedding cake from King's Hawaiian, which is Austin and Jean's favorite!

  

Jean and Austin also used DJ Tim Coy, who they discovered at our wedding!  He really got the party going!



And the hit of the evening - More than just a photo booth, it was a full-on photo studio!  Think prom and homecoming style!  Their friend, Joshua Yeh, who is also a photographer, set up the whole thing and everyone just loved it!  In fact, it took a while before people actually hit the dance floor because they were getting such a kick out of the photo booth!





A photobooth pic of me and Mr. D



And with the happy newlywed couple!

 
 
Congratulations, Austin and Jean!!!   It's so awesome that we are all family now!  Thanks for letting us be a part of your wedding day!