Bridal Jewelry

I think the main thing for my own wedding is that I want to spend a little more money and have some gorgeous jewelry for the day.  I'm thinking chandelier earrings and a bedecked bracelet.  Also for my something blue I would love to have a HUGE blue ring of some sort.  There is a Swavorski ring that I am in love with.

And then these other's are close runner up's

Other jewelry that I found while trapezing the interwebs are following............

And lastly maybe a really pretty headpiece instead of a flimsy veil would be better and more modern.  Also much more functional as I could wear it again and again.  Seriously how many times am I going to wear a Veil?

Bridesmaid Inspiration Dresses

Just a few Images I pulled of Dresses that I like for bridesmaid options, not neccessarily the colors.  It is a lot easier to do then I thought since I need to find a dress to wear myself as the MOH and for my own bridesmaids when the time comes.

Off to a Running Start

The OCD part of me loves lists and this is not a bad thing in planning, especially such a momentous event. Right after that wedding for his cousin we started to brainstorm with exactly what we did and did not want for our own wedding. It was very clear the first thing was not to be wasteful. Though we do not consider ourselves green we still hate unnecessary waste all around. If recycling means there is less garbage in the trashcan then we are up to the challenge, if using cloth shopping bags holds more groceries you can be sure we will leave the plastic grocery bags behind.

The first two lists are simple and they help to organize themselves out. Things I do want for my wedding, or as I have set them “My Wedding goals/lists”. The “lists” were added in because most of these goals will turn into subcategory lists of their own as I expand. The second list is simple “Things I do NOT want”. It is a reminder list as I plan of all the things that I don’t want and to steer clear of as planning. Currently we are doing this one our own, no wedding planner in mind. But if at some point we do have a wedding planner you can be sure the first thing they will receive is the “Things I do NOT want” list and probably some form of contract stating that if they include anything from that list we owe them nothing.



My Weddings Goals/Lists

- Support as much local as possible

- Not be wasteful in all ways that I can

- Have my own music tastes

- No vows, maybe a unity candle

- Make it as easy for everyone as possible

- Have a unique dress that is reusable

- No more then 150 guests present if possible

- Must be warm/nice outside to have some exterior party/tent space

- Lot’s of friends and family involved

- Cocktail hour with hors d'oeuvres

- Completely edible Cake minus the Toppers

- Traditional Korean Dress Photos with Family



Things I do NOT want

- Tons of cut flowers

- Wasteful party favors or decorations

- Over the top budget

- Pressure on Andy to do something he doesn’t want in ceremony

- No traditional wedding bible verses

- Bad cheesy DJ

- Traditional processional music

- Not pets involved

- Heavily embellished dress

Me and Weddings

To be honest I am not a super gushy person on weddings.  I think this throws some people off, thinking I should be giddy about it with all the decorating and the dresses and most of all the Wedding dress.  Nope just not me.  I actually have no clue at all with what I want for my wedding dress.  I feel like a wedding is a celebration of commitment so why go all out with the bells and whistles?  Of course I want it to look nice but I also don't want to be stuck with a bunch of ill tasted party favors for years to come.  I do not want some huge Fondant cake to occupy my freezer for the next year.  I enjoy going to them but only if they are someone I truly consider a friend.  I don't particularly enjoy things that are not family related or close friends.  Just because you are invited to a wedding does not mean you have to make every last ditch effort to attend.

There have been a select few weddings that I was disappointed to miss like my friend Gerald's in Florida.  It was soon after college and he knew that financially it just couldn't happen for me as much as I wanted it to.  I also understand that about my own wedding.  A large amount of my friends don't live close and even though I'll invite them they most likely won't make it.  It's just the reality and I can't get upset at that.

I think I enjoy the planning of weddings with the lists of things to do and accomplish and working on budget.  There is a lot of unnecessary fluff associated with weddings that I just do not understand.  When did "Save the Date" become a staple?  Why do you need to invite someone twice to your wedding?  I mean if they don't remember on their own did you really want them to be there in the first place?  I suppose that is just my cold hearted nature with friends that those who matter will show you and if they don't you can't get hurt, you move on.

I think also the more hype and bigger a deal you make it the more upset you will be when the tiniest thing goes wrong.  I'm not going to get bent out of shape if the ring bearer forgets his pillow but still has the rings.  Or if my flower girl trips and cries during the procession.  I can't ever remember as a child or teen dreaming up my perfect wedding.  I knew I wanted to get married and that was all.  I don't think I've ever been super excited about anyone's actual wedding,  I've been very happy for the couple to make the commitment and start a family but the entire ceremony/reception just doesn't excite me.  I'm much more excited about baby showers and when a couple has a child.  There was a wedding once for some friends that I had introduced to each other in High School and they even put a dedication in the Program for me and I went and it was beautiful but my blood wasn't pumping about the event.

This is probably my biggest challenge as MOH for my best friend.  I don't think I am conveying my feelings towards her wedding the way that most people would.  It has nothing to do with the groom, location, her or anything just me and weddings.  Me and Weddings we're like acquaintances in passing but not good friends at all.  We're friendly to each other but not giddy with hugs and kisses.  I think that is a big reason why not being married infuriates me because I am the girl they just assume I'm making some big plan and I'm the one holding everything up in my personal life.

Wedding Myths

The following traditions that we have all been living with were actually all made up and popularized by the consumer industry but we still love them don't we?
The following were all derived from the book “Wedding planning and management” by Maggie Daniels & Carrie Loveless

Diamond Engagement ring started in 1477 but popularized in 1965 with the De Beer’s group advertisements, “diamond is forever” and the engagement ring is 2 months of the man’s salary.

The male wedding band was added in due to unpopularity of making a male engagement ring, also invented. There came about in the 1920’s when department stores started to threaten the smaller jeweler. 1940’s is when it really took off for male wedding bands to be worn as a sign of commitment from afar for the soldiers.

White wedding gown was also made up typically it followed Chinese tradition to be red or brightly colored. Change was due to Queen Victoria’s marriage in 1840. She was the first largely public figure to wear an all white gown, called flamboyant but then all other ladies followed suit soon after. The color had nothing to do with virtue, it was all about excess being able to wear a dress that was so over the top you would never wear it again.

Just for Starters

In this blog it is much more personal and probably not as much fun for you since it will be a lot of text and not so many pictures. It is serving as sort of my online wedding planner and diary of the process also my Maid of Honor experiences for my Best friend.  If you feel so inclined please comment, it may help me out or someone else who might have stumbled upon this.
To give a summary I’m not even “engaged” yet as I write this. My boyfriend and I of over 6 years just looked at engagement bands/settings last Friday February 26th, 2010. Here is a little background about us. We knew each other from freshman year of High School 1995, always in the same group of friends. He was in Marching Band and I was in Orchestra, both loved video games and computers and had very oddball friends. I usually just harassed me a lot, I was sort of this weird Napoleon type bully in school because I am a small Asian girl but I let my presence be known all the time. We weren’t close enough to ever keep in touch but after college having a similar group of friends we started to hang out playing scary video games while everyone was trying to figure out, “What the hell do I do after college?”. One thing led to another and we were dating. About a year later we got a promise ring. We knew we would be married someday. Trials and tribulations we are still here together and on the cusp of engagement.

For years we have had open conversations about our future wedding. I had nothing set in stone except the engagement ring I thought I wanted. My only hopes were to be married at my home church and somehow involve using my parent’s country club Wedgewood in some way to make them happy.
We went to a wedding last year for his Cousin and just hated it. We looked around and everything felt like a big waste of money to us. Wedding colors (fuchsia, turquoise and gold) that made favors unpractical for outside use, extravagant catering that was sub-par, renting out a reception space that was ill fitted for the number of guests and where only a handful of tables could see what was going on with the wedding party. We knew that the amount of money you spend does not determine the experience of the wedding.