At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk...

... in the warm California sun!

Last week, my husband and I treated two of our dearest friends to a trip to the boardwalk. They helped us out a lot with the wedding and we wanted to do something a little extra for them.

Here are some pictures of our fun summer day.

This attraction was free! Yay for the Costco package :)

Going on the not-so-scary ride.

trying to see how many jumping jacks and push ups they can do before the wave comes

looks like the wave got him :)

Fright Walk was really fun with these guys!!

On the top of the Ferris Wheel. This by far was the scariest ride ever!

We had lots of fun! We went on a Tuesday and they had some awesome deals, like $3 attractions and $1 hot dogs. We are excited to go again next summer :)

I'm Back!!

Yay! The honeymoon was so relaxing!! :)

I have plenty to catch up on. There are a lot of posts I want to do. Everything from the bridal shower to wedding stuff!! Better get started soon.

It has been so crazy the past month. Usually, I have things planned out, written down, and am very organized. I have no idea why I was the worst when it came to the wedding :( I feel really horrible about it. I didn't get to do everything I wanted because of it and much much worse is that I know it stressed out those around me a lot :( I will definitely know how to help my friends when it's their turn to get married and I hope they will learn from my many mistakes... There were many people who helped us out a lot and without them we wouldn't have had a wedding! I am so very extremely grateful for them!! Including Lina and her mom!!

At the end of it all, I am most happy about the fact that everyone came together and had a good time! My family has been going through something really intense the past 7 months and having a wedding was hard on us. To see my family all happy and having fun on the wedding day was one of the best things ever! Also, finally being married to the man I love! :)

Bridal Shower Nightmare

So long story short... The bridal shower is this Sunday and the planning is starting today! 2 of my bridesmaids were planning my bridal shower (weeks ago), another bridesmaid wanted to take over last week, they reluctantly let her and gave her all their info... and nothing has happened! Now the rest of us are scrambling to pull it together... Another challenge to tackle.. *sigh.

Color Palette Inspiration picture:

from here 

AHH!!

25 days left!!! Wow! :)

I'm really really excited, but of course, super duper busy! I have sooo  many projects going on right now. We finished making our napkins a couple weeks ago. I'll post about them later. Right now we are currently working on coffee filter flowers for ceremony decorations. Next, we will take on ribbon wands, flower garlands, program fans, and a few more, lol.

The invitations turned out great. We made them ourselves! Yay! I'll post more about them in detail later. Here's a quick pic:

It's 8.5 x 11 inches... we folded it into thirds and it became the envelope too! I think we spent around $100 to have them printed.

We sampled our caterer's red velvet cream cheese frosting cupcakes yesterday and they were extremely yummy!!

I'm so excited and just as stressed out! Hehe! So much is going on, it's pretty crazy! I can't believe the wedding is so close now! We have a lot left to do.

Updates

Just like pretty much everyone else, I have been crazy busy this month! So here's a quick post before I go to bed :)

So weight update: I've lost 8lbs total as of this morning... not to great but better than nothing, especially for my super underachieving attempt. I must make major improvements here, although I am glad I'm not obsessed with it!

Dress update: I got it!! yay :) I felt so much pressure to get one right away so I did. And I've been having second thoughts about it, but oh well... its just a dress & I like mine. It was pretty random how I found it. My fiance and I were at the mall (looking to register at a department store) when we walked past a kid's formal wear store. I saw some cute flower girl dresses so we went inside to take a look. Well, in the back corner they had a few bridal gowns! One caught my eye, tried it on, and liked it. 1 week later we went back to check it out again and ended up getting it! We had a delightful surprise when we saw it was 60% off. The thing that makes me pretty sad is I kinda compromised on my beliefs here... but I do plan on selling/donating the dress after the wedding. Here are a couple pictures:

(the corset back was undone here)

(here the back is half done)

(close up of the front, waist area)

I love how it has some sparkle and lace... also it has a small train which is perfect for the lawn.

There has been some drama going on with a MOH (both of my sisters were asked to be MOH). Long story short, I haven't told her yet if she is still gonna be part of the wedding... it's pretty ridiculous.

My dad has been working in the backyard almost everyday and I've been trying to help him as much as I can. We changed and moved around some stuff. We made a "greenhouse" and planted some stuff. I will have to post some pictures in a couple days.

Invitations! I have been working on those this past weekend. We are making our own and taking them to a printer. Fiance has almost completed the guest list with all the addresses too! We weren't quite sure what we wanted to do about invitations until we saw this one:

found here

found here

Isn't that such a great idea!?!!? That's hint to what we are doing... actually, pretty much the same thing, lol.

Well, eyelids are gettin heavy. Time to hit the hay :)

Dress Shopping Day 2

Last week I went to David's Bridal with 3 of my bridesmaids and my fiance :) I had a lot more fun than the first time I went dress shopping. There were also more dresses that felt more like me. Here are some pics...

I guess it's pretty obvious which was my favorite :)

We are going shopping again tomorrow. I originally was so sure about buying a pre-owned dress, but after shopping and talking with some of my friends, they are starting to sway me into thinking it's okay to buy a new dress. I am by no means a saint, I try to follow my beliefs and values best I can... but I know I fail sometimes. This is a perfect example. I have an idea of what it takes to make a wedding dress, where it comes from, who made it, how it got here, etc. plus this is a 1-time wear dress (couple hours for that matter). I find really hard to justify buying a new one. I've been shopping just to see how dresses fit, but it's starting to turn into more than that... I hope I don't cave in... The idea of making my own dress is getting smaller by the week... btw, only 87 days to go til the wedding!!!

Great news, exciting news: my future in-laws are wanting to give us $5,000 for the honeymoon :D I wasn't expecting anything because we didn't want to rely on others money... but we aren't going to reject their offer, lol.

Weight update: I've lost about 5 pounds so far, haha... it's really hard to tell, but the scale doesn't lie I hope! It's pretty good considering I have only worked out about 4x since setting my goal. Although, I have been trying to watch what I eat (not going crazy strict, but making small changes).

Location Decision: We are going to stick to the original plan and have the wedding & dessert reception where we booked, then we are gonna have a celebration party in my parent's backyard. The party is gonna be a potluck dinner and we are gonna have dancing!! yay :) best of both I think. Here are some pics of the wedding venue:
Ceremony Location: This is one of the prettiest places on campus. If the ceremony starts around 2, we might have shade problems, doesn't help the wedding is in summer, hehe.

Dessert Reception Location: This is the room with an attached kitchen and courtyard.

The guy in the pictures is a groomsmen and the girl is a bridesmaid :)

Dress Shopping Day 1

Shopping for my wedding gown was quite stressful... I know my wedding is really soon and I know that I started shopping late (according to the industry's standards), but I really didn't need to be reminded all day. Honestly, I never planned on purchasing my gown from a bridal store. I only planned on trying on dresses so I could know what to look for online. I really want to purchase a pre-owned gown. Spending a ton of money on a 1 time wear dress (a couple hours for that matter) doesn't make sense to me... but here are a couple pics from my first time shopping yesterday.

It was pretty fun trying on dresses, after I got over the regret of not losing weight yet... lol. It was just motivation for me to continue to try, try harder.

We found a bridesmaid option at Target! $25 too!! We are thinking about getting that dress and returning if we change our minds. Target is great cuz they have a 90 day return policy... and seeing how our wedding is gonna be around that time, it works out :)

Tomorrow we are going to David's Bridal! I hope I find a dress I'd actually consider buying... Goodnight :)

Changing the Location?!?!

When we first got engaged I wanted to have the wedding in my parents' backyard, but threw that idea out after considering the guest list. So, we set the date at the college we both attended. That place has a lot of meaning to our relationship.... seemed like a great place. There is a lawn lined with trees, it's really pretty... But tonight, my dad talked with my fiance and I about having the wedding in the backyard. He knows we originally wanted the wedding there... and he successfully convinced us that it could actually work out really well. I feel really hesitant to change the location, especially because the wedding is in less than 4 months away. If we do change the location, we won't be losing any money... so that's a good thing... I know the wedding at the college would be really nice, but so would the wedding in the backyard. The wedding in the backyard would also be meaningful and closer to most of the guests. So much to think about!!!

Here are a couple pictures of the backyard:

We could change whatever we wanted in the backyard... clean it up real nice... the more I think about it, the more I remember how much I wanted to have the wedding there.... *sigh... decisions, decisions!

Hospitals... Wedding....

My mom just had a hysterectomy. We were at the hospital for 2 days. I am so glad everything went well and we are home. That hospital had pretty bad service. Her surgery was supposed to start at 12, but that didn't happen. We waited for 2 hours before anyone talked to us about why she hadn't gone in yet. Actually we had to call a nurse to tell us what was going on. This whole time we could hear nurses talking about what they were going to have for lunch, what they had for lunch, gossiping, etc. It was the same deal after her surgery. The nurse hardly came in to check on her, they were never on time for specific things, and we had to wait at least 10 min anytime we called for a nurse. Meanwhile, there were at least 8 people in the hallway chatting. It didn't help that this hospital had nursing students there too. The majority of the time we could hear the nurses explaining things to the students and spending more time with them than attending to their patients. To top it off, when the nurses did help us they were not friendly. It really seemed like these people were there just to do their "job" and they weren't enjoying it. I know being a nurse is "hard" and draining, but really? You signed up for it, at least be courteous to your patient. Oh! I overheard a lady ask one of the student nurses where the gift shop and cancer center was. The student nurse responded, "I don't know where the cancer center is, but the gift shop is on the 1st floor near an elevator." Ahh! Okay, okay, they are just a student... but they should know their way around the hospital! And if they don't, they should ask. The student should have found out for the lady, instead she let her wander around to find out from someone else. Maybe I'm just grumpy from being in the hospital the past 2 days and from being stressed out about my mom's situation... sorry, I just expected more. At least her doctor was really nice, friendly, and helpful! :) I am very grateful that she is okay, her surgery went well, and she is at home recovering.

So, I looked on our wedding website account and.............. there's only 101 days left until the wedding!!!! We have soooo much to do! It would be nice to have something to look back at on the planning of the wedding. Please, bear with me... I am going to try to blog everyday about what's going on with wedding plans and preparing for the wedding.

I have a couple goals:
1. Try to be as "eco-friendly" as possible.
2. Don't give in to the wedding industry, with all their "must-haves", etc.
3. Stay under $10,000 (including all pre-wedding events, wedding, & honeymoon)
4. Keep the bigger picture in mind - "community celebration"
5. Lose 25 pounds :)

The hardest goal will be to lose the weight. I have been trying, but I haven't been consistent. Eco-friendly mindset is probably going to be the easiest. We will see how it all goes... lol.

I never blogged about our Engagement Party! Well, it was on March 28 at my parents house. The party was kind of a spontaneous event. I'll do a recap through pictures.

This was the invite we handed out to our friends.

They were about 4 in. x 4 in. We used scrap paper that was printed on one side and left over construction paper for the backing.

My dear friend My-My made these signs for the party. We used the cardboard that comes with a calendar.
This sign was on the front door. 

These signs were on the side gate. The side gate from the front yard leads to the backyard and deck.

(I need to upload pics of the sidewalk from the gate to the deck. It's actually a pretty cute garden walkway.)


These are flowers that were picked from the yard. They grow abundantly and the yellow ones are considered "weeds". We thought they were beautiful and we have so many, we didn't feel bad cutting some for the table.

I don't know if this is really meant to be a table cloth, but we used it as one. I bought it from the Thrift Center in town, I got it for $0.99.

I sewed some buntings from leftover fabric. The colors went well with the deck and canopy.

The pink buntings are from Christmas. We were able to reuse them :) We hung two bedsheets to act as a divider. Behind the sheets are a bunch of stuff that's normally on the deck that we didn't want showing during the party. I got the sheets for $0.99 each from the Thrift Center.

I made these fabric flower garlands out of the same fabric I used for the red, green, blue, etc buntings. I got the idea from Cakies, she has a great tutorial on how to make them.

We used all "real" dishes for the party. Thanks to Mom for letting us use her cups, plates, etc. We ate a bunch of pizza and pasta from Pizza Hut. The chicken alfredo pasta was pretty darn good I must say. Also, crazy bread from Little Caesars.

Please don't mind the scary heads, hehe. I didn't want to post pictures of people without their consent... lol.

After we ate, we played a bunch of games. For example, wedding taboo, vow mad libs, etc. My friends Che, Mar, and Jelly made up the games. Then we went inside to play Crack the Case and eat some yummy ice cream!

The food cost us around $60. The fabric (which I bought a month before, not really for the engagement party) cost around $3. So it's safe to say that the Engagement Party cost less than $65. Not bad...

Thanks Lina for most of these pictures!!!

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE! :)