I said YES to dress!

I never thought wedding dress shopping was going to be this easy!

I've always wanted to check out Marylinn's bridal in Pasadena, but felt the dresses would be completely out of my price range. However, a week ago, I got an email from theknot.com about their "Black Friday, White Gown" sale from November 27-29. I was leaning towards renting my dress to save some money, but I thought, what the heck.. let me call and make an appointment. By the time I called, they were all booked for Friday and Saturday, but I managed to squeeze in a last minute appointment for Sunday.



When I got there, I had no expectations of finding a dress. There were some beautiful dresses in the front, but way out of my price range. We hit the jackpot in the back room where all the Black Friday deals were. With the help of my mom, my 3 cousins and my maid of honor, we picked out several great dresses for me to try on. My sales rep, Desiree, was really friendly and helpful in helping me get into all the dresses. I tried on 4 dresses and with no expectations at all, I said YES to MY dress! I was really lucky because all the dresses were so beautiful, but the second one I tried on stood out the most! The dress fit me (very important), it complimented my wedding theme and colors, it was in amazing conditions, and originally listed for $1,750, it was a steal for $399!! I never thought wedding dress shopping was going to be this easy! It definitely helped to have the support of my family and friends and a sales rep that was friendly and helpful. The only thing missing from my experience was having all my bridesmaids there.


No pictures of the dress here, since my fiance hasn't seen the dress (and won't until the wedding).. but here's a picture of Desiree, the wonderful sales rep at Marylinn's Bridal, and me:

My missing tea tins have arrived! Except, I had to re-place the order so technically, the missing tins are still missing..

Either way, I'm excited they're here! And I love the tins! I did expect them to be a little bigger since I'm using them as vases for the wedding, but I love the design! If not as vases, I'll fill them with wax and make them into candles.

Tea Tin Candles:

Flea Market treasures

I went to the Rose Bowl flea market this past Sunday with one of my bridesmaid. Originally planned for 7am, we ended up going around 11am (in my defense.. 7am is REALLY EARLY for a Sunday!) Since K & I had to be at a baby shower in the O.C. by 1pm, our time at the flea market was really limited. My mission was to find a vintage suitcase to use as the card/money box for the wedding. Although we got sidetracked a few times (there's just WAY too much cool stuff at the flea market) and ended up browsing a vintage jewelry booth for 20 minutes. Not good considering we had only one hour to complete my mission. Good because I got a really neat gold/orange ring with an elephant carving made from a vintage earring for $10.

We hit jackpot when we walked into the anitque section and I got this vintage dark blue canvas suitcase for $8 (thanks to my bridesmaids awesome negotiating skills).

I'm going to fix it up and apply a gold finish on the metal latches/hinges. I bought a "Rub'nBuff" antique gold wax metallic finish that seems to do the job.

Before After

For $8.. I'd say I accomplished my mission.

darn you UPS!

I was looking forward to receiving my package from Pearl River of these beautiful antique-looking tea tins that I wanted to use as my wedding centerpiece.. but my package is MISSING! The UPS tracking said delivered @ FRONT DOOR. K was home ALL day and they DID NOT COME! I'm so sad.. :(

This is my inspiration:

It's November already?!

Time is FLYING! we're down to 6 months and 26 days until the wedding..

update:

- booked photographer: Aaron Gil @ Fotonuova

- met with invitation designer: Caroline @ Carciofi Design

- met with one DJ/MC: Jaimee @ Edge Entertainment

- in contact with makeup/hair artist: Grace @ Beauty By Grace

- researching videographers.. interested in Daniel @ dvArtistry (love the Cinema Reale idea)

- 2nd meeting with our wedding planner Amanda @ Fresh Events Company. We met with our venue coordinator Linda @ Fantasea Yachts and toured the Fantasea One again!

note: the invitation designer and DJ/MC had such a beautiful home studio/office.. makes me wish I worked from home! :)

**special thanks to my dedicated bridesmaids who have been helping me research wedding themes, bridesmaid dresses, invitation designs, and everything else! With your help, we have finally decided on an intimate and fun theme that reflect both our personalities.

fitness update: got sick and cancelled boot camp.. luckily, I was able to get a full refund after providing a doctor's note! haven't made any huge leaps in progress the last two months, but I did attend bikram yoga once a week for about a month and it was an amazing experience! I would love to do it regularly, but I'm going to utilize my gym membership and make better progress before I spend more money. I still have hatha yoga on Saturdays at P.C.C. and yoga with my cousins at Tzu-Chi on Sundays. This month, I'm going to focus on food intake and regular exercise. No more CARBS! :(