Wedding Recap: Cranes end their journey north

Our cranes head  more than 2000 miles north to Toronto, CA

Don't use masking tape if you're going to ship through the post office...we found out the hard way. (personal photo)

After nearly three months of folding and watching our flock of little white paper cranes grow to 1000 birdies strong, and another several months figuring out what to do with them, we packed them on their way for their final flight north to their new home in Toronto, Canada.

For awhile before our wedding, I had this crazy vision of folding 1,000 paper cranes. Cranes are symbols of great fortune across Asia and according to Japanese tradition, the couple who folds 1,000 paper cranes is granted a long and happy life together. Since my husband is half Chinese, and cranes are auspicious birds in Chinese folklore as well, I thought this would be a great project for our wedding. But with neither one of us knowing how to fold a crane, the thought of folding 1,000 of them was daunting. For a few weeks, I kept talking myself out of the idea, thinking folding 1,000 paper cranes on top of everything else we had to do was just crazy talk!

Then I heard about the Crane Chandelier Project by the Wedding Co. in Toronto, Canada. In celebration of turning 10 years old, the wedding planning support organization is collecting paper cranes from newlyweds around the world, which they plan to display in a massive chandelier at their 10-year bash in 2011. For each crane they receive, the Wedding Co. is committed to donating 50 cents to cancer research. Since we decided to make a donation in lieu of traditional wedding favors, we thought this would be a great cause to donate our efforts to.

Personal Photo

So we started with our first paper crane. With my laptop propped on the coffee table, we followed a youtube clip on how to make a paper crane. Slowly but surely, we began our huge task. As we began to get the hang of it, we made it a goal to fold 100 cranes a week. Each week, we put 100 cranes in plastic bags to keep track of our numbers.  It took many movie nights on the couch/crane folding to get to that goal. Finally, more than two months later and watching our upteenth rented movie, we folded our 1,000th paper crane! We almost couldn't believe that we had finished 1,000 little birds that we recounted our bags to make sure that we really did have 10 bags, each containing 100 paper cranes. Sure enough, they were all there!

Ironically, folding 1,000 paper cranes wasn't the hardest part. It was figuring out what we were going to do with them that really stumped us. We knew we wanted to display them at our wedding, to show our guests the fruits of our labor. But with limited set-up time at our reception venue, we had to think of a quick and easy way of hanging 1,000 paper cranes. After scouring the Web for ideas, I decided that we would make 10 chandeliers, each containing 100 cranes.

Making our DIY Paper Crane Chandeliers
Using jewelry beads, a needle, and some sturdy, translucent jewelry string (all purchased at Michaels), I followed this DIY crane-hanging tutorial to help me make my first chandelier. I started out by stringing 25 paper cranes on one strand, taking my needle (with string attached) through the top of each crane to the bottom until there were 25 cranes strung up on one strand. I made sure that I left a little slack on top, and attached a bead to the very top of the crane so they don't slide off. I attached another bead to the bottom crane as well so all 25 cranes stayed in one place. I made four strands each containing 25 cranes and tied them all together about five inches from the very top crane. Voila! I made my first chandelier!

Photo by the Wedding Co.

What I didn't account for was how time-consuming making one chandelier would be! We unwisely put off making our chandeliers until the week before the wedding (yikes!) With a bunch of other wedding-related stuff demanding our attention, there was no way we could add making 10 chandeliers to our list. So I enlisted the help of my MOH who thankfully helped us make half of the chandeliers. Seriously, give yourself at least a couple weeks if you want to  make chandeliers out of 1000 paper cranes!

When we finished, we handed our birds to our reception venue staff. All they needed to do by set up time was hang each chandelier to the overhead beams in the dining hall.

Photo by Don Le of  Bliss Imagery

Photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

 Photo by Regina Bunye

When I saw them all hanging at the reception for the first time, I was amazed at how gorgeous they all turned out! The cranes became the focal point of the room, adding something truly unique to the look and ambiance of our wedding. Each of our guests received a card at their table telling them about the cultural meaning of the cranes and our donation to the Wedding Co. We constantly heard compliments about the cranes from our guests -- how much they adored them and how many of them appreciated the donation we made for them. Even weeks after our wedding, we still hear the compliments!

Photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

Cards explaining the cultural significance of cranes and the donation to the Wedding Co. were placed at each seat. (Photo by Regina Bunye)

But alas, we had to say goodbye to our little friends. We packed them up in boxes and shipped them to Toronto. As a side note, if you plan to ship the cranes, you'll have to find a box large enough to hold them...and the bigger the box, the bigger the shipping cost is. Add in international and postage fees, shipping 1000 cranes can be pretty expensive (it cost us more than $100 to ship from LA). Also, make sure you know about packaging protocol...don't use masking tape (like in the above photo). You need clear packaging tape...yup, that was us pulling off the our original masking tape and repackaging five huge boxes at the post office!

Our boxes arrived beat up and weathered, but our cranes made it just fine to Canada!
Photo by the Wedding Co.

But really, it was all worth it in the end. One thousand paper cranes will bring in a nice donation going toward cancer research! Luckily, the cranes all arrived safely in their new home in Toronto. Catherine from the Wedding Co. blogged about our donation! They're moving closer to their goal of 10,000 cranes by January 2011 and need just over 1300  more to reach their goal!

A huge thanks goes to the Wedding Co. for putting on this awesome, worldwide effort! Over the months of planning we've come to see our cranes as symbolic of the time, effort, energy and patience we put into planning our wedding. It was a long, sometimes tedious, a little stressful, but overall fulfilling and fun journey. I'm happy to see our cranes' journey end someplace where they'll continue to hold a special meaning and purpose long after our wedding!

Wedding Recap: The Rococo Room

 Photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

Sure, I've shared my disgruntled opinion about a couple of vendors who turned out to be duds (Hello, MIA hairstylist and unorganized, shady hotel staff) but there were, thankfully, amazing people who seriously went beyond expectations.

One of these star vendors is the staff  at the Rococo Room.

We had our daytime reception at their intimate banquet room in downtown Pasadena, and it was perfect for us. Why?

1) They were extremely organized and super generous from beginning to end.
When we first met with Keith, the venue coordinator, he was very thorough of what he could offer us and how much everything would cost. He was very patient and willing to work within our budget. He even threw in some amazing freebies, like extra appetizers for our guests, or a very minimal room setup fee. Normally, parties have two hours to set up before the event, but Keith gave us extra time on Friday night to get the room prepared. Their staff knew exactly what was going on -- from set up, to the schedule of events, to clean up. The wait staff was professional in demeanor and attire, and the service was simply excellent.

2) Our guests loved their food. One of the things we did not want to compromise on when first planning our wedding was the food. I've had my share of dry, rubbery chicken at wedding receptions, and we did not want to go that route. Even it meant sacrificing a giant guest list, or the grand hotel ballroom, or even thousands of dollars of flowers--we did not want to go cheap on the food. Unfortunately, even if more than half of our budget was dedicated to catering and the venue, the menus in our price range were...disappointing.  Luckily, the Rococo Room offered Zagat rated food that was D-lish.

 Photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

Guests were well-fed with plenty of appetizers, salad, a main course and the OMG cake. No, that not what it's called (chocolate mouse cake, really) but the looks and tastes of this cake had you saying that over and over. It's what our photographer deemed the best wedding cake EVER!

 The OMG cake. Photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

3) Location. Nestled in the trendy and historic downtown Pasadena district, The Rococo Room is a rare combination of prime location and affordability. The room was the right size for our intimate gathering of 100 people. The outside doesn't look like much, but the room has a rustic charm to it. With Chivari chairs, elegant linens and silverware, there isn't much you need to add to decorate this place. All we had were our orchid centerpieces, the lovely ceremony arrangements a family friend made for us, a few orchid flowers strewn about and some candles.

 Photo by Regina Bunye

Photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

4) We could afford it. With two appetizers, salad, plated meal, cake, open bar, champagne and apple cider toast, set-up and cleanup, labor, audio and tech equipment, taxes and gratuity all for 101 people, we paid about $5300 out-the-door. Not. Bad.

Wedding Recap: Unveiling my surprise

 Our dancers perform a Tahitian Dance

For those who didn't know, I planned to surprise my half-Samoan husband with the Taualuga, a traditional Samoan dance at our reception. The last I told you about the Taualuga, I was stressing about the dance moves. I seriously only had 2 hours to really learn and practice the whole thing...not the ideal situation for a rhythmically challenged gal like me.

Performing a Tongan dance

For those who don't know, the Taualuga is a traditional Samoan dance which traditionally was reserved for the daughter of the chief, or someone of high importance. Nowadays, it's performed at Samoan gatherings, a grand finale where everyone gets up, dances around the dancer and throws money at her. Since we didn't have the usual money dance planned (nope, no time or patience to slow dance with folks for money), I thought this would be a fun alternative.

After our toasts, and the cutting of the cake, the Polynesian dancers came out and performed a few dances--one Tahitian dance, a Tongan dance and a Samoan dance. During their last number, I snuck out to the hallway (told the hubby I needed the ladies room) where I waited to make my entrance for my number.

While waiting, I was kinda nervous because the crowd was a little reserved. During a lot of Polynesian gatherings, the crowd usually makes noises and gets really into the performances. But our curious crowd was just politely watching, and not so much as a "Woo" from them. Turns out, most of my hubby's Samoan extended family couldn't make it to the wedding, and our guests were mostly non-Samoans except for my Father-in-law, my hubby's sisters and brother and of course, my husband. While our Polynesian dancers did an awesome job, our guests just didn't know they were supposed to be loud. Great, I thought. No one's gonna know what they're supposed to do during my dance!

While trying to recall all the moves I learned just the day before in my head, our wedding coordinator asked me if I had the CD with the song I'm dancing to.

I looked at her blankly. Uhhh, sure, let me pull it out from my dress....No, of course I don't have the CD! She told me that our DJ didn't have the song!

At this point, I started to panic. What do you mean he doesn't have it? I uploaded it to his public server. I even sent him the file by email. Turns out all the music files I sent him by email were dead files and he didn't see the song on his server.

What am I going to do???

Our coordinator headed back to the DJ to have him check his server again and I watched nervously as they talk. After a minute, and just when the dancers wrap up their final routine, our coordinator flashed me a thumbs up.

We're good to go.

Our MC, a good friend from college with a fun and boisterous attitude, introduced my number as a very special performance where everyone needs to get involved. And by involved, he meant get your bills ready!

The music started and I heard my cue. I bounded out and I did a little Samoan bow toward our families.

That's when I heard the cheers and the clapping, and I just smiled and let go.

 Me performing the Taualuga.

I don't think I got the routine exactly right, but I recall my instructor telling me, when you lose track of where you are, just smile and wing it. That's really all you have to do. Well, I'm sure there are people who do it much better, but I did my best.

People came up and out of their seats and joined me. First, my SIL, then my FIL who seemed to be really enjoying it. Then a whole crowd of people surround me. The money was flying in all directions. I saw the smiles and laughter, and man, I was really enjoying myself!

 

 Working hard for the money!

I kinda forgot what I was doing at one point, and that's when the DH came to join me. There's a part in the Taualuga where someone (usually a male) jumps onto the floor in front of the female dancer. I recall my instructor telling me if that happens, to step my foot lightly on that person and continue to dance gracefully. I don't know the exact meaning of that portion of the dance (apparently to signify the high status of the person dancing), but the hubby does exactly that and I do exactly as I was taught. People loved it!

 

The hubby joins me in the Taualuga.

When the music wrapped up and I took my final bow, people cheered and clapped. My MOH, my FSIL, our coordinator and even one of my flower girls took part in gathering all the cash which turned out to be more than I've ever earned in an entire day's work...much more in three minutes!

Money, money, money!

In the end, I'm so happy to have shared that performance with our guests. People still tell me that the dance was their favorite part of the reception! Most of all, I think my hubby and his family really appreciated and enjoyed it. It was a gift, my husband told me later, that he will never forget. 

And neither will I.

*All photos courtesy of Don Le from Bliss Imagery.

Wedding Recap: Our First Dance

Photo by our coordinator, Regina Bunye

We never practiced our first dance. We still were as stiff as two awkward junior high kids. But I dunno, I still look back and think what magical moment it was for us.

We decided to do our first dance number right after our introduction as Mr. and Mrs. T. We danced to Etta James' "At Last," a number I gather from wedding blogs and forums is considered quite overplayed, but we chose it because we both liked the song, and it was, thankfully, short and sweet. To add a little personal feel, my sister took to the mic and did a wonderful rendition of the number as we swayed the best we could to the track.

Sure, it wasn't a meticulously choreographed number. No funny dance moves. Nothing that would garner thousands of Youtube views. But I remember every moment. I remember how it felt being there with my new husband and everyone's eyes on us. I remember seeing our old high school and college friends' start to tear up. I remember what it felt to look into the eyes of my new husband. And to me, that's all that really mattered.

Wedding Lessong #6: Let Go

Me actually dancing at the reception! Photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

People used to always tell us that the wedding day would go so fast we would never remember it. But what I loved about the wedding day is that I did remember everything. I had time to actually enjoy everything, soak everything in.
Not that I didn't have anything to worry about (oh, yes, there were more bombs thrown at us through the day, but none half as bad as the MIA hair and makeup stylist!), but once the ceremony started there was always at least one person I could hand over the reigns to, giving me time to just...enjoy!

Earlier in my blog, I pondered whether or not hiring a wedding coordinator or a Day of Coordinator was necessary. From my own experience, I would have to say, no you don't need to hire a day of coordinator... but you do need someone who will be the point person and who will coordinate the day. Someone you can had over the reigns and say, "here, it's all yours!" It may be a family member or a friend. But keep in mind, someone who's involved in the festivities and also wants to enjoy in the day, might not be as attentive (read, might not do as good of a job) as someone whose main purpose and job is to make sure things are running smoothly...not how Aunt so-and-so is doing cuz you haven't seen her in so long!

We had a wonderful DOC and she came to us like a blessing. We knew we couldn't afford to hire a DOC, but she offered her services to us for free. My MOH just happened to have a friend who was looking to break into the wedding coordinating industry and wanted to take on our wedding to build her portfolio and references. And she was wonderful to work with, very organized and on top of things! She grabbed all of our reception items and set up the room (saving us money on the room setup fee). When we arrived at the venue 15 minutes late from taking photos after the ceremony, she brought our schedule back on time. When the Samoan dancers arrived, she welcomed them and showed them where to get ready.

The whole time, my fiance and I could chat with our guests, we can laugh, we can enjoy our yummy food (oh yeah, the food deserves a post of its own!) and we could dance...and dance we did!

mmmhmmm, that's my new hubby gettin down!!! photo by Don Le of Bliss Imagery

Wedding Lesson #5: You're not Martha Stewart

As you know, I'm all for DIY, or even better -- DIT (Do-it-Together). But as we got closer to the wedding date, I started to get real with all of my crafty, DIY ambitions. As I've said before, I'm a crafting wannabe, a complete novice. I've had some successes that actually turned out pretty nicely, and then some fails. Ummm, the flower girl baskets I was determined to make? Ultimate fail!!!  If you're not the crafty type, don't take on projects you know you don't have the skills or time to accomplish. Be real with what you can do amd you'll save yourself a headache.

One area I knew we had to be real with ourselves were our centerpieces. I met with different florists, but I was pretty unsatisfied with what our budget could buy us: a few flowers in a vase and a ribbon. yippee. Forget about orchids. They were too expensive. Needless to say, we skipped the florist. But with our wedding in the morning, we knew we had to come up with centerpieces that didn't require a whole lot of time, work, and of course, money.

Then we saw our inspiration while walking through the Asian Mall in Westminster, CA: a display full of tall, potted purple orchids. They were gorgeous, made a great impression, and yet so simple! We loved the idea of a potted centerpiece instead of cut flowers. These were centerpieces we knew our guests would want to take home with them, and they would last long after the wedding. Put them in nice pot, top the soil with moss, and they're good to go!

Potted orchids can be kind of pricey depending on where you buy them. We decided to order our orchids, moss and pots wholesale from the LA Flower Mart. We wanted double stem orchids as they looked more lush than single stems. We went through a vendor who offered us $13 for each orchid and we ordered our pots from another vendor for $4.50 each.  We purchased all 12 of our centerpieces for less than $20 each.

The Friday night before the wedding, we were in a time crunch and with me fighting through a migraine, the last thing I wanted to think about were centerpieces. Luckily our centerpieces were so easy my husband-to-be put them together.

And I must say, they turned out nicely.

 

 

All photos by our coordinator, Regina Bunye

Wedding Recap: My Surprise

(Source)

The Taualuga, a traditional Samoan money dance

For a few months before the wedding, I had been planning a surprise for my future husband and his family. As I blogged before, my husband is half Chinese and half Samoan. In honor of his Samoan roots, we booked a Samoan dance group to perform at our reception.The dance group was actually the daughters of my MOH's friend. We were really excited because professional Samoan dance groups run up to $1000 per performance. My MOH's friend agreed to have his daughters perform for a minimal fee as a favor to my MOH. On top of their performance, his daughters offered to teach me the Taualuga, a traditional money dance which Samoan brides usually perform at the end of the program. The dancer comes out and a group of people throw money at her and dance really raucously around her. Here's a Youtube example of the fun!

Now this was a really big deal for me because...well, everyone knows I don't dance. I'm not a dancer and I hate having the spotlight on me. At first I was hesitant, because of 1) my limited dance skills, and 2) the Taualuga is a very big traditional Samoan dance. Oh, and me not being Samoan, I would hate to really screw it up. The last thing I would want is for my rhythmically-challenged Filipino feet to mess up the Taualuga.  But my MOH's friend insisted. It would be a surprise, a gift to my FH and his family. I thought, sure, why not? I thought they would really appreciate it and it would be a huge honor for me to perform it. Besides, usual money dances at other weddings tend to be long and boring. Why not put a little Samoan spin on it?

But a week before the wedding and before I had a chance to learn the dance, the dancers were hit with a family crisis. Their mom was diagnosed with cancer and needed emergency surgery in San Francisco the weekend of the wedding. My MOH's friend was so sorry they couldn't be there at the wedding (no money had been exchanged yet). Sure, I was disappointed...OK, I was bummed... not to be able to perform the Taualuga, but I told him to take care of his family first. His wife's health was much more important than a dance.

I had all but given up on the Taualuga at that point. How would we find another Samoan dance group in our budget a week before the wedding??? Then something amazing happened...

My MOH told me an old college friend (who also happened to be Samoan) contacted her out of the blue on Facebook just to say hi. My MOH messaged her and asked her if she by any chance knew anyone who could teach me the Taualuga. And wouldn't you know...she did! Her mom teaches Samoan dance and offered to give me a brief lesson. She also had cousins who could perform a few dances for us well within our budget!

What luck!!! So the Thursday morning before the wedding, I had a Taualuga 101 lesson. It was so much fun, but a little stressful. How was I going to find time to practice in 2 days among a zillion other things I had to do? After the Flower Mart venture on Friday morning, I snuck off to my sister's apartment where she let me practice for a couple of hours. By then, I was really stressing out thinking about how I didn't have a whole lot of time to practice. I just hoped I wouldn't look ridiculous, or worse, No One would get up and dance with me. Just a bunch of blank, bored eyes staring back at me!

I was getting a major headache running around trying to figure out my dance and do a bunch of last minute details before the wedding. This was not good because I still had our bouquets and flowers to worry about.

Coming up: A migraine forces me to give up on our flowers and our DJ loses the song for the Taualuga!!!

Table "Places" Revisited

Remember a ways back when I found the inspiration for our table numbers? Yup, these very cute table "places" postcards from My Modern Vintage Wedding!

So the inspiration becomes reality when a friend of ours designed our table "places" postcards, each named after a city or place in the countries of our families' cultural heritage -- China, Philippines and Samoa. Here's a few of them. Enjoy!

Our Music Playlist

Our DJ is a friend who has offered his services for free...the thing is, he's not an actual, professional DJ. He just happens to have all the necessary equipment. So out of necessity, we've been very involved in picking and supplying the music (We have an MC to help him along). We came up with a list of music (a long process scouring our ipods and the Internet) and divided it up of Cocktail Hour, Meal songs, and Dance songs. We even designated songs for cake cutting and the bouquet toss.

Our playlist on Excel.

The hardest part, actually, was agreeing on what songs to play. The future hubs and I have very differing musical tastes. He loves hip hop and R&B and I would much rather be jamming at a Coldplay or Muse concert. So we came up with these guidelines for picking the soundtrack to our wedding day:

1) The lyrics should be pretty clean, meaning no cuss words! We purposely looked for Radio Edit of all the songs.
2) The lyrics shouldn't be about breakups or anything ominuous. I was at a wedding once where the bride and groom danced to "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" as their first dance song and I almost died!
3) Diversify the list. We came up with a list of healthy doses of hip hop, pop and alternative, as well as some the older crowd will appreciate.
4) Cocktail hour music could be upbeat or mellow, Meal songs are mellow tunes to play softly in the background, and Dance songs are any popular tunes to get people excited to get onto the dancefloor.
5) We decided that our wedding wasn't really the time to expose our guests to majorly obscure tracks that we love, so we thought a good mix of pop music was essential.
6) No Macarena or Chicken Dance. Nope!!!

Did you come up with a Music Playlist for your DJ? What were some of your Do Play or Do Not Play songs?

Tracking down the elusive RSVPs

So our RSVP deadline came...and went. And at the end, we counted nearly 60% of our guests had taken the time to tell us whether or not they're coming. Not bad of a response, considering we went the nontraditional route with online RSVP's, but it could be better. I was rather surprised because even some of the "older" folks logged on to our web site to give us an answer. People commented on how so much fun and easier it was to respond online. The other 50 or so people who didn't RSVP? I think they probably wouldn't have responded regardless if it was snail mail or online.

So, we're hitting the phones this week! Wish us luck!

Nice! Our engagement portrait print

Thanks to a win in a recent giveaway, the FH and I received a free 18X24 poster print from Uprinting. We decided to use the print for an enlarged portrait to display at our reception. The process was relatively easy. Just upload your design and voila! You have your own print ready to go! Thanks to our graphic designer friend, she put together a simple but very nice layout for our photo.

Word to the wise, whenever you do a print job, always opt for a copy of the proof, whether it's electronic or hard. And then really check it. Go through it with a fine tooth comb! The last thing you want to see is a glaring mistake after you get the final copy in your hands! Luckily, Uprinting offers many chances for you to view a proof before you send the job to the press. Their pre-press team even sends you an evaluation of the initial proof to check for resolution and other image quality concerns! Great, because there were a bunch of things I missed after I sent in my first file!

After just three days, here's what waited for me on my doorstep:

We're going to frame it and place it on an easel for display at our reception. I'm really pleased with how the print turned out! Not bad for a free print!

"Faux-to" Booth

So you don't have the budget to rent a $1000+ photobooth. And, yes, I've been secretly wanting one, but darn it...why do they have to be so expensive? Well, if you have a Mac computer, a do-it-yourself photo booth can be yours! I saw this video on Youtube, and I thought...this is definitely doable!

Think of it as more of a photo station rather than a booth, but your guests will still have a blast! Hook a photo-printer to the Mac and your guests can print their own keepsake of your wedding day! Read more about this "faux-to" booth here!

Affordable Centerpiece Alternatives

Nowadays, it seems like "affordable" and "centerpieces" just don't fit in the same sentence anymore. That's what it felt like early in our planning, when it seemed like the only worthy centerpieces were $100 or more. Try $300 each for the manzanita arrangement one florist quoted me at. When I asked for something cheaper, the florist showed me what $25 a centerpiece would get me...four daisies in a tiny glass vase wrapped with a ribbon. Really? I can make that for just under $10! But after doing some research and scouring the Net, I saw that with a few items, and relatively less dent to your wallet, you can make "Wow" centerpieces for your wedding!

It's amazing what candles can do. 
I was really inspired by this Wedding Bee post. With glass votives from IKEA and Molokai plumerias from Hawaii, one bride created this gorgeous look for just $25 a piece!

Via Wedding Bee

Go au naturale
Sometimes less is more! A minimilist, simple look can create that modern chic vibe.

Rocks

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I heart cymbidium orchids!

Sea Shells
Some sand, sea shells, a candle and a glass vase creates this beach themed centerpiece.

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Potted plants
For the bride who lacks time for arranging (morning brides out there?) or the budget for a florist, potted plants can be the answer. And really, some plants don't need a whole lot of dressing up. We're ordering a bulk of potted orchids from the LA Flower Mart, and with a bamboo vase and some extra moss and flowers to cover the base, we're done! Easy Peasy!

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Fruit
Why not dress up those few daisies with fruit. They add a vibrant, colorful and surprising touch to your centerpieces!

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 Get Bookish

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I've always loved the idea of books being the centerpiece, especially old, weathered vintage books. You can purchase these from any used bookstore or even scope them out at thrift stores where you can buy them for a steal! And if you're a true bookworm like me, you've just added a few classic treasures to your library!

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Lanterns create the mood
I love lanterns, and they work best for evening outdoor weddings or venues where the lights are set down low. What a romantic ambiance!

Moroccan lanterns
You can actually order these for a few dollars each, and with a few clustered together, they look very classy and wordly.

Via Style Me Pretty

Paper Luminaries

Maybe not for dining table centerpieces, but great accessories for say a walkway or guestbook table. And they're pretty cheap and easy to make!

Photo Frame Lanterns
Give your lanterns a personalized feel. Very easy to DIY, too!

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Any other affordable centerpiece ideas? Please, share!

The missing years

My sister is helping us put together our slideshow, aka. show 'em your baby pics montage for the reception. While scanning our photos to send to my sister, I realized how my photos seem to end after age 9. My FH has cute, happy and fun photos of himself throughout every stage of his life. There always seems to be a plethora of "awww" photos of him. Me? Those photos stop after the point I started to get skinnier, more gangly and heading straight into my awkward pre-teen and teenage years. Yep, those are the Missing Years in my life. I kind of ducked or hid behind someone whenever someone flashed a camera, hence the lack of photographic evidence of ages 9-17, when the glasses and braces eventually came off.

I kind of laugh at those years now, especially at my awful 90s bangs, the NKOTB Tees, or even my purple-haired teenaged punk phase. But I seriously don't have any photos of those years, or at least ones without a hand in my face.

Maybe I'll ask friends and family if they have any photos of me lying around somewhere. Or maybe I'll just let them stay where I had orginally intended them to be -- lost in oblivion.

Our cultural wedding traditions

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When the future hubs and I first met, we were undergrads involved in an Asian and Pacific Islander student organization called APASA. We were very active in the club (actually he was the president and I was the VP) and we got our first training in teamwork and organization by coordinating cultural and diversity awareness events together (wasn't always a smooth process, but it was something we feel really proud to have worked on together). We discovered a lot about our cultural backgrounds and heritage through our involvement with APASA, and honestly, we wouldn't be a couple today if it weren't for our experiences with the club.

So we naturally wanted to incorporate our cultural backgrounds into our wedding as an ode to our days in APASA, and respect for our families' heritage and culture. We see it as a symbol of us embracing of each other's cultures and our commitment to pass on our multicultural heritage to our children.

But attempting to incorporate three different cultures-- Filipino, Chinese and Samoan -- into one day is difficult. The cultures share a lot of similarities, but they are distinct and unique. How do we respectfully honor each side without looking like a hodge podge mixture without cohesion or unity?

So we've decided to break up the different traditions over three segments of the wedding celebration -- our rehearsal dinner, the ceremony and the reception. During the rehearsal dinner we are serving Chinese dishes and possibly incorporating a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, a tradition where both the bride and groom honor their elders with an offering of tea.

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During our Catholic ceremony, we're incorporating Filipino wedding traditions. The ceremony is full of symbolic meaning and rituals, including a veil covering both the bride and groom to signify being "clothed as one," a cord loosely wrapped around the bride and groom to signify unity and the arras, or offering of 13 coins to represent financial security.

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And last, but not least, our reception will include a fun and energetic performance of Samoan dance and song by a Samoan dance troupe (We're really honored to have a friend and his family perform for us!). This segment will include a traditional dance that I'm really excited about...it's going to be a surprise ;)

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I love hearing about ways other brides and grooms are incorporating their cultural heritage into their wedding! What traditions are you honoring?