Charlene & Andrew's Disney Wedding

Linette & Seth's Wedding Guest Book

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:16:00 +0000

Happy Thursday! This week has flown by amazingly fast, but that happens when I'm winding down from a trip AND also being called into work at the spa.

My husband and I just got back from a fantastic trip to Massachusetts for my sister-in-law's wedding. As a gift to her, I made their wedding guest book. As the wedding was 2-3 weeks away, I chose a template from the Heritage Makers template gallery, rather than starting from a blank canvas.

One thing I love about Studio is that everything is customizable! While I was hoping to make minimal changes to the chosen design, there ended up being a few, of course, but easy ones. The only time consuming element were the possibilities! ;-) The book turned out to be beautiful...

Take a look at where it started:

*click on "full screen"*

...and this was their final design:

*front cover*

*first page*

*left page*
a picture was taken of each individual/couple/family who signed the guest book. That pic will be inserted to the frame next to their sign-in.

*right page*

*back page*

*back cover*

TIP: If you plan on making a wedding guest book for yourself, or someone you love, be sure to purchase special pens for signing! For our own wedding, we used Slick Writers (ordered online from Jo-Ann Fabrics) ~ they dry quickly, so it won't smudge. We ended up having to visit a Jo-Ann Fabrics in Massachusetts last week because the bride was unable to before the wedding. Unfortunately, the store did not have Slick Writers, so we had to gamble on other brands. Gelly Rolls are NOT good (we learned the hard way :( )! We bought a second set, which worked MUCH better...and as soon as I find the pen, I'll let you know what it is... in the meantime, you can absolutely count on Slick Writers.

Another Wedding!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:13:00 +0000

In 9 more days, there will be another wedding in the family! One of Andrew's sisters, Linette, will be having a backyard wedding at her fiancé's parents' house in Massachusetts. She went through one of the quickest engagements I have ever seen! Translate that to: roughly 3 months.

Linette has a very laidback attitude and figured it would be "easy" to plan since it was just a backyard wedding. Andrew reminded her of everything she needed to look into and keep up with. No matter how small a wedding, there's still work and papers to get in order. She's recently found out the details of the "wedding world" and is fascinated. NOW she understands why I was sucked in and am getting my certificate to be a wedding consultant!

As part of our gift to her and fiancé, Seth, I created their guest book using Heritage Makers. Even in using an existing customizable template in the gallery, it still took days to complete! LOL ~ not that that's a negative...but of course, I want Linette and Seth's approval...so, there were revisions, emails, texts, and a phone call till it was exactly what they wanted. This afternoon it went into publishing, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive in Massachusetts with plenty of time/days to spare before the wedding!

I will be sure to post pics of the guest book after the wedding next Saturday.

I LOVE Heritage Makers!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:35:00 +0000

Hello Dear Readers!!!

I know. I've fallen off the radar... the past 6 months have been great, happy in love, and busy! Many changes have occurred in my own life as I've tried to find my perfect job(s). Yes, it has now turned into a plural...and none of these jobs have anything to do with the other! It's my way of keeping things interesting. ;-)

My newest endeavor, which ultimately has to be my full time job is as an independent publishing consultant/designer for Heritage Makers. I'm my own boss, have flexible hours, and I get to meet new people, tell them about Heritage Makers, and play on the computer to design Photo Storybooks! You can check out my site at http://StorybookWithCharm.com. If you're interested in ordering or setting up a Premier account, let me know ~ I can get you the best deals!

I've also set up a new blog that you can follow for project ideas and the lastest Heritage Makers discounts: http://StorybookWithCharm.blogspot.com ~ Check it out and follow! :D There's no doubt I'll be adding new wedding ideas and projects that catch my eye!

Below is a copy of my latest blog, Wedding Ideas. If Heritage Makers is of interest to you ~ as a client or if you want to be a consultant, like me, please feel free to contact me at charlene@storybookwithcharm.com! I always love talking about HM!

Wedding Ideas
Okay, I'll admit it...after my November 2009 wedding, I miss wedding planning! And if I knew about Heritage Makers this time last year, I would've been going project-making crazy!!! ;D

Instead, I'll settle for spreading the news to current and future brides. Heritage Makers offers so many starting points for your wedding needs! Invitations are already on the product list, but here are some other thoughts as you or your loved one gets ready for the big day!

postcards can be used as Save the Date cards
playing cards can be used as place setting cards, response cards, or change of address cards
scrapbook pages can be divided up and used as response cards or place setting cards
scrapbook pages or canvases can be used for to showcase your beautiful engagement
photos & framed for display at your wedding!
storybooks can be used as guest books, and of course, wedding books!

...you get the idea... The possibilities are endless! Take a look at some of the customizable templates in the Studio.

Two Months a Mrs.

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:41:00 +0000

It's hard to believe that it's been one year and one week that I was engaged and already IN the wedding planning process! And it's been two months of wedded life. And yes, it's been great! Might I say that it, more or less, still feels like we're dating ~ only that Andrew's storage boxes (and my own) filled my (now "our") apartment for a month! So much so that we couldn't walk from Point A to Point B without stubbing our toes, ankles, shins into something - no matter the distance! ...and I couldn't get my luggage through when we returned from our holiday vacation on the east coast.

The time that led up to the wedding was hectic with preparing welcome bags for our out of town guests...a project that took up more time than I imagined; creating a newsletter ~ another project that took longer than expected, but once I was on a roll, I couldn't stop!!!; and creating a music playlist. We selected ALL of our music ~ a daunting task, that I recommend couples who are going to do this, to start a month or two before their wedding (*at the latest*). Being musical people, we assumed we'd be able to pick out music for our pre-ceremony, ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dance without a problem! Easy peasy! Not so much. It was just the opposite. BECAUSE we were musical people, we both had TONS of music, and TONS of music preferences, which we ended up having to compromise on. We were up many late nights and didn't finalize it all till the day before our wedding.

Many projects filled my time in those last weeks, which I will break down into separate posts in the next few weeks. As organized and "on top of things" as I was, without knowing the final guest count, there were so many details I couldn't take care of until the last few weeks.

With that said, the day was absolutely beautiful! The Disney Fairy Tale Wedding team and Brian Bosch's team did an AMAZING job, all of our guests had a fantastic time, and everything turned out more beautiful than I could've imagined!

Traci's Brides + 2 Grooms

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Just wanted to share this picture. It's been sitting on my desktop for weeks now with the hopes of sharing...so, here we are. :-)

This was taken at the D23 Expo on Sept. 12th at the wedding booth...the day I missed meeting David Tutera... :( ...but got to meet my fellow Disney Brides I've been tweeting with the past few months! =D

(L to R) Keahon, Ashley, Lacey, Traci, moi, Andrew

The Invitations

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Invitations were one aspect of our wedding that we were going to make our DIY project... yyyyeah... That was until I discovered that most places where we could get DIY kits would cost about as much as some invitation designers! Granted, we would have to go with a standard set that the designers have and do away with customization... and so, I left it up to Andrew. He would be designing our invitations (with me looking over his shoulder to pitch in my two cents), so, I felt it was ultimately up to him.

He chose to go with a designer. I'm a big fan of the Green Wedding Shoes blog ~ especially considering it's where we found our photographer. So, I suggested we check out her recommendations. After going through one designer after another, one stood out from them all, and drew an immediate "awwww!" from me. And that was TearDrop Weddings. Her artwork is cute, smart, and SO original! Not to mention that even going with her standard sets, she STILL adds a bit of customization by making the characters look like the bride and groom ~ no extra charge!

When we received the invitations, I couldn't help but make a bit of a DIY out of it by dressing them up a bit! We went to Michael's and bought packs of transparent white paper sheets to wrap around the invites and tie with a ribbon. It did added SO much to the presentation!

For our stamps, we customized them at Zazzle.com with our proposal picture!

After dinner treat 3

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:07:00 +0000

That's all the photos for now. Time for bed! Rise and shine at 6:45am
again tomorrow!

After dinner treat 2

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:06:00 +0000

After dinner treat

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:05:00 +0000

This was the view we had from the same spot we napped earlier. I
couldn't believe we were on level with the clouds!!!

Pre-marital counseling weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:04:00 +0000

A statue of the Virgin Mary watched over us as we napped. Yeah, I felt
safe. :-)

Break time today!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:02:00 +0000

= naptime. This is the loveliness we slept under. More pics on their
way!

Heading to Santa Barbara for Pre-Marital Counseling Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Engagement Photos are HERE!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:08:00 +0000

For those who haven't seen it, here's our photographer, Jill Thomas's blog on our engagement photo session (a sneak peek!). She sent this to us three days after the photo shoot, which was actually one week ago! Andrew and I were at Disney's D23 Expo (their answer to Comic-Con), and we had stepped aside to take a break from all the sensation-overload exhibits. My phone buzzed with a text from Jill, reading "You've been blogged!!!" Like kids on Christmas, we wanted to tear our "present" open and see how the pics came out! We were more than satisfied with the results... can't wait to see our wedding photos!

http://jillsphotoblog.com/?p=1775
c harlene+andrew : a malibu engagement

Posted in engagements on September 12, 2009 -

charlene and andrew first contaced me about their disneyland wedding back in the spring. i was living in utah so we set up ichat to talk and get to know eachother a bit (you have to love this technology right?!) but this last weekend was their engagement session and the first time we were able to meet face to face. i just love engagements session. one they are just so fun for me and two, it gives me such a good chance to get to know my clients before the wedding.

charlene + andrew are incredibly musical. they wanted to incorporate some of this into their session. when i heard charlene sing and andrew play the piano- it was incredible! i met them up in malibu at an incredible modern home. this was such a fun session! thank you charlene + andrew and enjoy!

the home

after we had fun at the house, we went down to the beach for some amazing lighting at sundown! charlene+andrew are getting married in disneyland in november. i am so excited to shoot their wedding there and they are just so fun, i know it wil be a good time. so charlene brought some mickey mouse lollipops as props.

The Day of Play

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:46:00 +0000

Wednesday was perfect! The highlight of my week. Oh wait. ALMOST perfect. ;-)

7:30am ~ my alarm went off. I got up shortly after and took a shower before the sun had reached that peak to blind me through the bathroom windows. I checked on my package on UPS to see if had arrived ~ it came in 9 minutes after my alarm had gone off! Looking at traffic on google maps, it seemed the longer I waited, the better the traffic would be...and the great thing is that I would be taking the 405, headed north, which I never take, and NO ONE ever takes!!! Thus equaling NO TRAFFIC! Woohoo!!! Would not be the same headed back home, though...so, of course, I stuck to surface streets on the way back... and ended up following a weird, older man, in an open convertible who refused to keep a constant speed, or actually GO when the light turned green...

But rewinding back to my trip to UPS in Van Nuys...I couldn't have asked for a more pleasant experience! Absolutely no line, a sweet man greeted me and helped me out; and also gave me the tip on how to address my label next time I hold my package for pick-up. Fantastic! Oh, and in case anyone was wondering *which* package was handed to me...it *was* the one that I had ordered next-day delivery. The other one had gone out for delivery around 8am (again, not arriving till the evening, of course). The dress was great, and everyone who saw it, loved it!

Once I got back to Studio City, Andrew met me at the car wash at our Ralph's shopping center. We dropped off my MINI Cooper, as he was going to be a part of our photo shoot later that day! I grabbed a Jamba Juice, and Andrew drove me back to my apartment, so I could get ready for my hair and makeup artists from B.L.U.S.H.

Brenda, the hair stylist, arrived first, and what a doll she is! We had a fabulous chat about our love for New Kids on the Block. Unbelievably, she was also at the last Vegas show in July! An hour and a half later, Leona, the makeup artist, joined our little party. Not only was she also sweet (and an NK fan, as well), but a fabu makeup artist to boot! And I loooved what Brenda did with my hair. We started with a style that I didn't quite have in mind, but I thought was great! Then Leona suggested a variation to go along with my Disney princess idea. Yes, yes, yes! That was totally it!!! and I'm not going to give it away...let's keep it surprise for Andrew; not to mention, for our guests. If you happen to be on the same message boards as I am, be on the look out for posted pics! Anyway, after playing with my hair and makeup for the wedding... we had to play with my hair and makeup for our "Nod to Mod" engagement photo shoot! The pic to the right was the result.

By 3:45pm, we were on our way to Malibu for the shoot. We arrived to our friends home shortly after 5pm, unpacked my car, and set up in one of the guest rooms to change. Our photographer, Jill, came in about 10 minutes later. We showed her around, then talked about what shots we would be doing, and she gave her input on the clothes we could wear for each shot.

So, as I was getting ready, I peeked over at the mirror to check on my makeup, only to find that my curls had fallen!!! It was so hot in the house, and the sun was beating in on the guest room...it's no wonder. :( Fortunately, I was able to steal our friend's curling iron...but I had to curl my hair every time I changed! So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my hair looks decent in our photos.

We did a whole lot in the almost 3 hours that we had with Jill, starting with some shots of me singing and Andrew playing the piano (mod style), shuffling around in our friends' ultra-modern home to snap pics by the marble encased fireplace, lounging around the sofa... then we went outside to take a few around the pool, and finally, it was off to the beach to catch the sunset! And boy, was it windy!!! Talk about my hair being IMPOSSIBLE! Keeping my fingers crossed... :-[] The most I got to see was this polaroid snapshot (and okay, one shot on her camera). To wrap up, we took shots on the putting green at the house and around the fire pit.

I can't wait to see the proofs, which I think should be coming in in the next week ~ it will be sneak peek...then, in the following week (I think), all 200 photos will be sent to us. From there, we get to pick 50 pics that we want to add to our photo album/guest book, which will have Jill's artistic touch.

Now that that's over, and I had a day to rest, ...and our customized stamps just came in over an hour ago, we'll back on the invitations this weekend!!! Can't wait to send them out!

Play Time!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:28:00 +0000

Oh my goodness!!! TOMORROW!!! = Big Day!!! Okay, not THE "big day," but it's a "big day"!

Tomorrow morning, to start off, I will be driving to the UPS Customer Center in Van Nuys to pick up my dress for...tomorrow's engagement photo shoot!!! I can only hope and pray that that all goes smoothly! Because what follows that is a trial with my hair and makeup artists from B.L.U.S.H. at noon! I gotta be back here with plenty of time to spare before they get here.

Tight schedule, I know! But that's how I do it... ;-) No, really...the story is this: I ordered a FABU dress from ModCloth for our shoot. Really, the dress is perfect! Come Thursday of last week, I tracked my shipment, and it turns out that it's arriving *the day of the shoot*! Now, if UPS delivered my packages in the morning, there would be no problem... but UPS constantly delivers my packages in the evenings...anywhere between 5pm to 8pm. That's no good. Andrew and I will be heading out to our location spot at 3:30pm. What's a girl to do?

After discovering that I wouldn't be able to pick up my package from the center until after UPS's first delivery attempt (in which case, doesn't matter because the delivery guy always leaves the package at my door or on my patio), I re-ordered my dress (and had 3 lovely chats with ModCloth's online representative), shipped it Next Day Air and had it sent to the UPS Customer Center. Sadly, because of Labor Day, it's delayed my order... in fact, it's why my original order is also coming in tomorrow...and of course, I will be returning it.

Here's the kicker... I just checked in on my original order...it's in Vernon, CA. 15 miles from here. Really??? Kills me...it's so close, and STILL, the delivery time is for tomorrow. It would be a heavenly miracle if the dress happened to show up in the next hour!

*sigh*

Moving on! It's been non-stop. This past weekend, Andrew and I shopped for tons of accessories for our engagement shoot, then went back to his place to gussy up our invitations, and we browsed through the endless options of wedding stamps. This morning, I faxed off our Banquet Event Order (finally!) to Traci, and printed out my contract with B.L.U.S.H. This afternoon, after walking over to the Pack-n-Mail to weigh our stuffed invitation envelope, I came back home and ordered two sets of customized stamps. Then it was off for the most relaxing mani/pedi I've ever had in my life at Oasis Nail Spa on Magnolia in Burbank!

And now I have tomorrow to look forward to! I'm so excited to meet and work with the ladies of B.L.U.S.H. and with our photographer, Jill Thomas! Andrew and I have some fun ideas for the shoot, and I cannot wait to post the pictures!!!

P.S. It is now 12:12am...I just took another look at my two ModCloth packages... the one coming through via Standard Shipping was scanned in in Van Nuys at 8:18pm. My "next day air" one is in Louisville, KY ~ scanned in at 12:31am (9:31pm my time). Hmm...I wonder if they'll hand me my original order when I go there tomorrow morning...

My First Wedding Nightmare

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:56:00 +0000

It's finally happened. This morning I woke up in a panic over the dream I had just had. My first wedding nightmare. In fact, the nightmare affected me so much, that it evolved into TWO nightmares as soon as I went back to sleep! Scenarios that had never occurred to me popped right into dreamland. Thanks for that, subconscious.

Nightmare #1: It was the day of the wedding. Before the events started, we were going into what was supposed to be the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion. The room didn't quite look like how I remembered it, but I shrugged thinking that maybe I had exaggerated the look of it in my mind. There were three tables set up in the room, each of different size. There was a round table for 8, a small square table for 4, and a large rectangular table for 12-14. Apparently, how I had it set up was for Andrew and me to sit at the table for 8 with our parents (which would then make it a table of 6, of course). The table for 4 was for our wedding party. And the larger table was for the guests. Wow, talk about a small wedding!

It seemed to be just me and the wedding party as we came into the "Sleeping Beauty Pavilion," and midst my confusion, my matron of honor, Sharon jumped at her place setting and RE-placed it to the larger table. I was in shock!!! I know she's a very social person, but I thought she would be the first one to realize the work I put into this! I balked at her "You can't do that! Do you know how stupid this looks if you move over here???" She took a look back at the table for four and agreed.

I continued to look around, still knowing SOMETHING was off in the room...moving my line of sight down to the floor, it was definitely NOT the same carpet! No longer was it the beautiful deep blue rug with golden stars; it was now an almost quilted-pattern of a grey-blue. Not pretty.

Just then, Traci (our wedding planner) got my attention. She was standing at an archway of a semi-hallway/room, which then led into the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion that I remembered...and it was GORGEOUS!!! Our floral designer, Brian, had taken a bit of a spin on my ideas and created centerpieces (which were actually décor, not centerpieces) that I never even imagined. I was floored (in a good way)! The room was just magical... and it was the designated room for dancing.

Suddenly, it dawned on me...we were *not* ready. And I mean, we had not picked out music selection for the ceremony, we hadn't notified our readers... I thought to call our readers right then and there, but then realized we also didn't have any printouts for the readings! And what responsorial psalm were we doing???? What kind of ceremony was this going to be?!?

Nightmare #2: Wedding day continued...we were somehow able to take in a parade at Disneyland (which felt more like Disney World) and everyone was there ~ family, friends, and even old friends/acquaintances from high school who were also getting married. That part was actually kind of awkward since these were people I didn't really talk to in school. I was also quite anxious; I knew I had *other* things that I needed to be doing to get prepared for the wedding...

While this "hangout" lingered beyond the parade, I remained antsy. After some time, I finally headed to my dressing room. Again, some high school acquaintances were in there...this time to help me get ready. My head snapped up as I remembered one more thing...I FORGOT to book a hair and makeup artist!!! All I could think of was to call the Mandara Spa at The Grand Californian Hotel to see if they could possibly take me. I got word somehow that Traci would take care of that for me.

In the meantime, they were calling Andrew over...I *don't* know why! I was all ready in my wedding dress, so I was agitated that they would call him over, when I didn't want him to see me till the ceremony...or at least till our photo time before the ceremony. I grumpily said "fine!" and put on a cardigan over my dress to at least cover PART of it up. *sigh*

Andrew and I were brought to what was basically an atrium...a Disney atrium...use your imagination as to what they could with an atrium... We took in a private screening of a new Disney movie (hadn't been released yet!), and the moon and stars shown from the glass ceiling.

Okay great! But I still needed to get my hair and makeup done. I found Traci afterwards in this huge hotel suite...she was panicking over something, and I'm not really sure what it was...I let her vent and then asked her if she heard anything about my hair and makeup. I'm not sure if I ever really got an answer...

Aaand that's about the time I woke up.

An Online Ordering FOOL!!! (and other updates)

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:32:00 +0000

It's hard to believe that in 2 months, 1 week, and 5 days our magickal wedding day will be here! I am SO excited for it. :-)

In the meantime, I'm getting the "smaller" details checked off the list! "Smaller details," but details that have been running through my head since we were engaged. As I sit here and run through that checklist, I realize that I can't go into too much detail about it, or share pictures by chance any of our guests or my MOHs read this blog! I promise I will show-and-tell AFTER the wedding! :-) But I CAN announce that favors, bridal shower hostesses gifts, and centerpiece items were purchased! I've received everything but one part of the shower hostesses gifts and the centerpiece items. AND we officially approved our invitations today!!! So, they'll be going into print and delivered SOON!!!

Several weeks ago, we picked up Andrew's wedding band!!! Here's a pic of our wedding rings set!
Andrew and I finally went through Disney's Banquet Event Order. Did I call it Budget Event Order at some point (or more)? I meant "banquet." We signed off on everything and started to contemplate other possibilities for our wedding. I'm excited to say that we will now be having a Catholic mass incorporated into our wedding! I know the non-Catholics (and maybe a few Catholics) will groan at this, as Catholic weddings are known to be super long (meaning, 1 hour). However! our officiant, Father Brian is able to shorten the mass by 15 minutes, thus making it a 45 minute ceremony. Without the mass, it would've been a 30 minute ceremony. So, 15 minutes extra...who's really counting? So what if I want to relish in the wedding ceremony? ;-) It's important to me, it's meaningful to me, and I know it will also make my parents very happy!

Another option we're looking into (cost dependent) is using a colored dance floor. Not too long ago, our wedding planner, Traci updated one of her statuses (Twitter? Facebook?) raving about a white dance floor one of her couples used. If we do decide on a dance floor, I believe it will be the chocolate dance floor... Look at the deliciousness of it!!! (yes, I know I can't eat it...)Finally, Andrew is trying to find the answer for us of "To use a DJ...or not to use a DJ? That IS the question." We realize the benefits of using a DJ...and our only "con" is that we could save that money by using our iTunes playlist and have a friend man it and MC when need be.

We're checking things off, one by one...I now wonder: is this the quiet before the storm? Or has my diligency of staying on top of things going to make things smooth sailing?

The Steps Between & Getting Closer

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:04:00 +0000

I feel that anytime someone asks me how wedding planning is going, I'm always stumped and seeking for an answer. I really don't know if this where I'm supposed to be...there's no progress being made if I'm not doing anything... but what is there TO do? Guess I could check the checklist in Mindy Weiss's book, since there's not much I can do from The Knot checklist. Most things have been done...or we have nothing to do BUT wait. For example...

Andrew and I decided on an invitation design. As soon as we did that, I contacted the designer only to receive an "Out of Office" reply. FANtastic! Okay, so I patiently wait one week (I heard back from her today, and it will be soon be underway!).

Wedding planning started to pick up again this past weekend. For one, I bought Andrew's wedding band!!! It will arrive next week. He picked a tungsten ring, plain, straight-up design. Tungsten is known not to knick, scratch, or dull. Lucky guy!!! This isn't THE ring he got, but it's very similar.

Second, our parents met for the first time! My parents drove to his parents' house in Baltimore for a grand lunch. On the menu was - what I heard - a delicious roasted lamb, and the parents got along very well!

My MOHs have started their dress hunt ~ woohoo!!! On Wednesday, I'll be joining Andrew's sister, Linette to see her in her two final dress choices, and I will make my decision. Sharon, being on the east coast, will hopefully be able to sneak some pics of the dresses she tries on. (saving the pics till decisions are made ;-))

On a beyond-marriage note, Andrew and I went townhouse/condo shopping yesterday! We were originally going to just drive by these places, see what the exterior looks like, and get a feel of the neighborhood. Now, I don't think I mentioned several months ago that we did visit one condo down the street from him ~ of the units available, one was out of our price range, the other was IN our price range, but the condo layout wasn't really for us.

So, as we were driving around, we passed by two buildings on one street that were having open houses. The first building we entered was completely renovated and was beautiful! Wooden floors on the first floor, carpeted on the second. Our two favorite units had a balcony off of the master bedroom ~ one balcony being bigger than the other. Our #1 unit choice had a huge patio outside of the dining room area. Going in and out of units and talking to the realtor, we spent almost an hour there! The price is in our budget, and yes, I could picture us living there. :-) (sorry, couldn't find pics)

Our next stop wasn't quite as long. It was another beautifully renovated building...and the views of the Santa Monica Mountains from the loft-designed condos were BREATHTAKING! Sadly, we couldn't get attached with what they were asking for. Their least expensive unit, which the realtor urged us to look at *just in case* the price went down, was still gorgeous, but for me, not the same after seeing the views from the loft units. Besides that, roaming around their model unit on the bottom floor, we heard the obnoxious foot STOMPS of others viewing the units above us. So, thanks, but no thanks!

The hunt will continue after Andrew talks to a lender!

A Time to Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:16:00 +0000

I'm afraid to look at the last time I blogged! These past few weeks have been a complete blur, and in order not to drive myself too crazy, I put all - or MOST - wedding planning, thinking, brainstorming aside.

Andrew was again touring Europe for 2.5 weeks, and of course, I had another NKOTB adventure to consider. :-) Just when Andrew returned to The States, we had about one week together, and he was off again! This time to my homestate of Virginia. How COULD we even get started on any of the details we needed to get through?

So, thus, the neglection of the blog.

Some of what's happened thus far...a few ceremony supplies have been ordered and received. After chatting with a fellow Disneyland Bride, she passed on a fabulous idea that Andrew and I fell in love with...a floating unity candle! The vase is engraved with our names and wedding date ~ a keepsake worth keeping and treasuring.

Another item purchased were bubble tubes!!! Andrew and I had discussed this one in particular, and while I normally would've waited to order them, The Knot had them on sale for 60% off...or was it 40%? In either case, it was a HUGE discount available for a limited time. Who knew when this special would be up again. Those arrived over a week ago ~ they're cute, make tons of bubbles, and from what I hear - are not cheap, sticky bubbles like some bubble bottles out there.

Next up: ordering centerpiece items! We'll also be tackling just *what* we'll be doing for invitations, ordering Andrew's ring, approving our Disney Fairytale Wedding Banquet Event Order (translated: the details of our wedding - names of those involved in our wedding, events happening within the wedding, the food, etc.), and figuring out our ceremony readings.

I can't even think beyond that... but I DO want to get myself over to the bridal shop to try my dress on again with other items.

Let's get back to it!!!

Our Planning Session

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:59:00 +0000

It's been a week+ coming, so here it is... my Planning Session with Disney Fairytale Weddings!

I have a feeling that ours wasn't as exciting as other Disney couples because most everything was "planned out" before our planning session. Our meeting with Brian back in April covered all design, which I'm assuming is a topic that can consume half of the meeting. The rest was simply double checking on our wants/needs for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception.

Here are some notable decisions made or in the works:

My bridal dressing room will be near the reception room (woohoo!) and for an extra $50, we will get to keep the room until 11pm that night. I'm gonna love the ease of just leaving our personal belongings when we're done pretty-ing up, and the easy access that we'll have *during* the reception. I won't have to go far for my bridal emergency kit!

I also have to interject that I am sooo happy we're having an evening wedding. We have the dressing room starting at 10 or 11am...I can't imagine getting up earlier! Eek!!!

Andrew and I will be seeing each other before the ceremony for photographs (called a "First Look"). It was something we had contemplated for a while, as we originally wanted to stay traditional and waiting to see each other AT the ceremony. But seeing that it will be Daylight Savings Time and completely dark by the time we take formal pictures, our photographer, Jill Thomas highly recommended we consider taking advantage of the sunlight with the First Look photos. Oh, twist our arms! It was quite convincing and also made sense. We didn't want all of our photos to be in the dark, and I KNOW it will help shake off any jitters we'll have before the ceremony... and having that private moment with him before we present ourselves in front of all our guests will be SO special.

*I can't bring myself to talk in detail about the ceremony and reception, as I do want my guests to have something to look forward to.*

The one thing I will say, since I have mentioned it already, we WILL be doing Cinderella blue uplights on the columns between the windows. :-)

And on to the FOOD TASTING!!! By far, the most fun part of the day...besides designing our cake, which I'll get to after talking about the FOOD!!! Again, I think I'll be keeping just a smidge to myself. ;-)

When we arrived to the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion, we were greeted by the Disney wait staff. The head waiter described how the staff would run, and also pointed out our table setting. I had read about this before, so, was not surprised by the request to pick one of their napkin folds. I was torn between two looks (a flat and a poofed/rolled), so what should Andrew do, but combine the best of both worlds and ask if we could roll up the flat fold. And that will be accented with layered blue and silver ribbons.

The meal will start off with a variety of bread ~ apparently, all "new" breads they'll be bringing in come fall. That will be followed by a some of the yummiest butternut squash soup I have ever tasted! :-P Our entreé is a Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Cilantro Pesto Cream Sauce, with Cippolini Onions, Cremini Mushrooms, and Swiss Chard. The ONIONS were THE BEST!!! We have some options for our starch. What came with it was Red Bliss Potatoes. Two other options we're considering are Yukon Gold Garlic Mashed Potatoes (which are FABULOUS ~ the chef trekked to their Disney restaurant that serves it, just so we can taste it!) and a cheese-stuffed ravioli. The garlic mashed potatoes were fantastic, but I'm also thinking that having the ravioli on the plate could be a nice treat for those who may not want chicken. Not to mention, I love pasta ~ especially stuffed pasta! ...then with the pesto sauce...yum yum!

Then it was dessert! We're going with their Tahitian Vanilla Bean Créme Brûlée with Seasonal Berries...which, of course, did not disappoint!And finally...THE CAKE!!! Our planning worksheets had space for 3 cake combinations (for the 3 tiers), but we had the pleasure of tasting four. And what do you know, the cake we like the best is the one we did not ask for!

The first cake we tried was the Red Velvet...which I had heard GREAT reviews on... we actually weren't impressed at all. The next one was a Kahlua soaked Marble cake with Tiramisu filling ~ it was...all right (seeing a pattern?). I tried to save the best (of our choices) for last ~ the Grand Marnier soaked Chocolate cake with Cappuccino filling. Again, I thought it was all right. It didn't blow me away like I thought it would. Anytime I've had chocolate cake soaked in Grand Mariner, it's always been amazing. So, I was surprised. Andrew and his siblings (his best man and my maid of honor) thought it was the best of our three "chosen" cakes, though. Our fourth cake (the surprise cake) was "The Traci" ~ LOL, that's right! Our wedding planner created this combination: Chambord soaked Lemon cake with a Cream Cheese filling and Fresh Red Rasberries. THAT was delectable!!!

As of now, we've chosen The Traci and the Grand Mariner soaked Chocolate Cake with Cappuccino filling. A third is in the works, as Traci has given us other suggestions. I definitely want to work in chocolate chips somewhere (perhaps with the cappuccino filling) and their Praline Buttercream, which tastes like Nutella! mmmm :-P

The Disney team surprised us with boxes of all four cakes to take home! But with Andrew and I both on an exercise regimen, we passed the cakes on to my maid of honor and Andrew's best man. :-)

Photos provided by Disney Fairytale Weddings

Once Disney had properly stuffed us, we went back to the wedding office to pick out our cake design! While we liked elements of different cakes, no one cake popped out at us. So, Andrew started sketching up an idea. We will have a Cinderella blue cake with 3-D dark brown branches and leaves crawling up the first two tiers. The leaves will be outlined and veins accented in silver. The top tier will have the "Mickey Wave" (as pictured in the middle picture above) overlaying wispy clouds like the Castle in the Clouds cake, and those clouds will get thicker as it gets closer to the top of the cake. The very top of the cake (as if you were looking down on it) will be all clouds ~ all white, but textured to look like clouds. A silver ribbon will also line the base of the bottom tier.

I'm SO excited about the design!!!

That about wraps up our planning session!

Planning Ahead: Invitations

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Tomorrow is our Planning Session at Disney, and I'm so excited!!! :-) What IS a "Planning Session"? Pretty much just as it sounds ~ hehe... We'll be meeting with our wedding planner (yes, this is what I'm calling her now), Traci and (if I'm not mistaken) the Disney event team. We'll be going through the finer details of our wedding ~ the flow, the design, décor, what Disney will be providing, what we'll be providing, etc. Following that will be the FOOD TASTING!!! Yessss ~ one of the most fun parts of the wedding planning!

On to what I've been up to...

The past few days, I've been drowning myself in the Sea of Invitation Brainstorming. With the possibility that Andrew may be heading out for another European tour earlier than expected, more decisions and action need to be taken before he leaves.

I decided to check out Impressions, located in Celebration, FL (one of my most favorite towns in the world), and the only company licensed to use official Disney images. Now, Andrew and I had said that we would create our own invitations, but I couldn't help but be drawn to Impressions's invitation designs! Totally blew the previous websites I mentioned out of the water!!!

In comparing prices between getting DIY material from Impressions vs. "the previous websites mentioned," vs. pre-designed Impressions invitations, it equalled out to about the same ~ at worst, maybe a $100 difference...so, why not get the pre-designed? The only reason I can see is if we don't find a design we fall in love with. We're also both talented, creative people and could probably design an invitation completely unique to us.

Besides the fantastic customer service (i.e. email convo) I've had with Impressions, they also can customize their clients' invitations from the ground up! Would we have had more money in our account, it would've been great to utilize this service. All the pictures I've posted in this blog are customized invitations they have done for previous couples.

Now it's just about deciding what *we* want for our invitations. I've already said that I want a tri-fold with pockets! but I'm amenable to a sleeve insert if we had to... ;-/)

Wedding Workout

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:07:00 +0000

After months of promises to myself, I have FINALLY gotten "back" into my workout routine. It's actually been a while since I have had an actual "regular" workout ~ it was always an off and on deal through my 20s. So, really, we can trace it back to my high school days of cheerleading ~ and for those who are unfamiliar, yes, cheerleaders DO get a workout during their practices! Our coaches had us running laps around the hockey field during the summers, sit-ups, push-ups, weight training, ALL of that! That muscle tone - fortunately - stuck with me through my college years and up until I was about 24. While getting tone back in my arms won't be that hard...uhhh...(see pic to right) ... yeah. :-) The little tummy will be my biggest challenge. And trust me, I know there are those out there ROLLING their eyes at me RIGHT NOW, but can't you see? It obviously wasn't that big of a deal to me since the small little pouch has been there since I was 24. I'm only working on it now because who doesn't want to look their best on their wedding day? Plus, I would LOVE to carry this healthy lifestyle on for the rest of my life...or okay ~ for MOST of my life.

Months ago, I purchased a workout DVD from Amazon that has quickly become one of my favorites! It is the Women's Health Wedding Workout. And don't be fooled by the title; this workout is absolutely usable even for those not getting married!

What I love most is that the workouts are completely customizable. Go through the menu and choose what you want work out for the day ~ lower abs and cardio? GO! Just abs and core? GO! Of course, you'll always want to incorporate the warm-up and cool-down before and after your main workout.

There are also pre-built workouts depending on the dress you're wearing! Strapless dress workout or short dress/hip-hugging dress. Each day has a different workout...and quite honestly, for right now, I'm skipping over the cardio. I get enough cardio from the warm-up and main workout! ;-) LOL But that's just "for now," while I get myself back into the groove. I feel the time IS coming closer to when I'll want to kick it up a notch!

Also, there's a "bonus"...which I won't mention here, just in case Andrew hops over and reads my blog! I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard it's good!

So, if you're looking for that workout DVD that has the bride-to-be in mind, you definitely have to check Women's Health Wedding Workout! It's a steal at $10.99 (or $6.64 + shipping used).

We Found an Officiant!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:03:00 +0000

Sorry for the lag in updates. With all the key players in place (ooh wait ~ still gotta send out one more check before it's official), wedding planning is slowing down.

This past Tuesday, Andrew and I met with our decided officiant, Father Brian from Good Shepherd Catholic Church. As we thought, we were impressed with him, felt at ease, and we will be using him to officiate our wedding! Now to just fill out that checkbook...

It was only fitting that we end that day by going to Disney's California Adventure! After two rides (Soarin' Over California and Toy Story's Midway Mania), we experienced the BEERS from Around the World of the Food and Wine Festival, then had a nice dinner at Napa Rose. It was our second visit to Napa Rose, and it's inarguably my favorite restaurant at the Disney Resorts. As we waited for a table, I took in the atmosphere of Napa Rose's lounge and sophisticated bar. It would be a nice area to mingle with family and friends on our wedding weekend.

Along with meeting with Father Brian AND going to DCA, we also booked our Planning Session with Traci! We will be planning away and tasting Disney's most delectable food ever on Wednesday, June 17th. We are SO looking forward to it!

What to do till then? Register for wedding gifts...and brainstorm *together* on invitation ideas.

Finally ~ some even better news...I finished reading Mindy Weiss's Wedding Book last week! I stand by my blog that it is the best wedding planning book EVER!!!

Disney WHAT?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Are you KIDDING me?!?

I logged into blogger to write a random wedding planning thought of the day, but happened to see on Mindy Weiss's blog - a post that grabbed my attention.

m&ms has a new line of Disney-inspired m&ms!!!! How serendipitous! I've been talking for months of the possibility of ordering customized m&ms to use for our favors. One possibility was to have m&ms in our wedding colors; another was to put our faces on the m&ms (hehe); and NOW, there are Disney m&ms?!? SHUT UP!!!

I'm still alive!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlene) — Tue, 26 May 2009 02:01:00 +0000

Here I am!!! ;-)

With Andrew being away for the past several weeks, with the exception of sending out contracts and deposits, I have not been anywhere near anything wedding related! ...Until tonight. In this past hour, I started perusing DIY wedding invitation sites. This will be the next task we tackle upon Andrew's return.

Two useful sites I've found so far:

http://www.formal-invitations.com/ ~ Only thing is that I'm leaning towards using a tri-fold invitation with a pocket. Unless I missed it, I don't think they carry it. Still, some very cute designs!

http://www.myexpression.com/ ~ they have tri-fold invitations!!! And tons of great designs! (and yet, I'm not posting a tri-fold pic by them ;-P)

The one thing I'm kinda torn about are the ribbons. When I went to Downtown L.A. a few weeks ago, I bought a ton of ribbons! One (or two?) rolls specifically for our invitations. I'm thinking that it's possible to not use the ribbons that come with the cardstock ~ i.e., it's not attached. But I wonder if there will be a part of me that will end up using their ribbon because it will look better. I'll then have to find another use for the ribbons I purchased.

Who knows if we'll go with either company, but it's a start...especially in brainstorming design ideas.