I married the love of my life and my very best friend on 5/29/11.  Our day was nothing short of magical & sheer perfection.  Everything went off without a hitch & turned out better than I had imagined it in my mind.  Days surrounding our wedding day had been raining, gloomy & cold, but not our day.  I prayed for over 2 years for sunshine for our outdoor wedding.  GOD granted us our one day of clear blue skies & sunshine!  Our wedding was one giant love fest, that was felt by all.  Our outdoor catholic ceremony was heartfelt, short & sweet.  Our reception was initmate, cozy & romantic.  You could definitley feel the love in the air that night! Our day was perfect!!!!!!

Our sneak peak video that I absolutely adore by N Compass Cinema vimeo.com/24495859

Pro-Teaser from our photogs at Encarnacion Photography, please give credit to myself & our photogs if you use our photos. Thank You!

Mr. and Mrs. M

My Bouquet with my Grandmothers picture on it

Diamond earrings given to me by new Hubbie on our wedding day

I gave my him monogramed cufflinks with his late Grandmothers pics inside

My Wedding Day Scent

My daughters (Flower Girls Purses)

My DIY Boxed Invitations

My Beautiful Ladies

Our Handsome Fellas

One Last Shot as a Single Man...

The Whole Crew

Our Ceremony

I was so calm & serene before heading down the aisle. I was ready to marry my love!

My Groom waiting for me. I loved this moment & couldn't wait to hold his hands!

Presenting our Mothers with a Rose of Gratitude

Our family Sand Ceremony with our daughters

Blessing of the Cord...binding our lives together

Finally we get our first kiss as Husband & Wife...we did it!

Our amazing little family

Our Parents & Siblings

One big new family

Our Grand Entrance was the bomb. My husband made a mix of hip/hop beats with Jay-Z, P Diddy, 50 Cent & we were announced in to "Tell Me When to Go" by E-40.  We went in with our swagger full force, and everyone was shouting & clapping. One of my friends told me after that "If a Bride/Groom enter the room like we did, you know you were going to be in for a great party"!!

 We then went straight into our First Dance "By Your Side" by Sade.

His Best Man Speech was so loving & heartfelt. They have been best friends since Middle School.

My younger sister was my MOH. Her speech made me cry..nuff said

Our youngest daughter kept stealing the mic & singing Justin Bieber "Baby"

I did a surprise mother/daughter dance "I turn to you" by Christina Aguilera. 

Mother/Son dance...my husband was balling. He's a momma's boy!

Money Dance...

Bouquet Toss for my "Single Ladies" Beyonce

Garter Removal..."Let's Get it On" by Marvin Gay

Cake Cutting "The Sweetest Thing" by Robin Thicke. Our cake was soooo delicious.

 Sweetheart Table Decor

Guest Table Decor

Place Settings

Our dance floor was packed all night long!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Guest Book Tree...This is now hanging on our wall in our home <3

Our Pretty Birdcage and Wedding Programs

Flip Flop Basket....every single one was gone by the end of the night!

I started this bio to help showcase all of my ideas for my wedding.  By the time I get married I will have been engaged for 2.5 years (long time), but it has allowed me to take my time and been able to score some amazing deals.  As you read through my bio I will try to post where I have purchased everything as well as the link and pricing info. Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions, I am happy to help a fellow bride. I really hope this helps other budget friendly brides out there. Good luck & Congratulations!!!!

I met my love 6 years ago on a fateful night out with some friends. He snuck into my life when I was least expecting it.  I had pretty much given up on love at that point in my life, but he showed me that true love was just around the corner.  Now here we are happily engaged, parents of two amazing daughters, new home owners & about embark in this new chapter we call marriage.  I truely am blessed!!!!!! 

It was Superbowl Sunday February 2009...we had just come back from my FI cousins house after watching the game, and I was putting the girls down for bed.  I got my PJ's on and was crawling into bed when he started to tell me how much he loves me and our family & he wants to spend the rest of his life with me!  I thought are you kidding me right now...but when I saw the tears in his eyes and him gettting down on his knee...I thought, this was it!!!  We had always talked about it, but I was never sure when this moment was gonna happen...He didn't have a ring for me, because he wanted me to be able to pick it out.  He said "I want you to always look down at your ring and absolutley love it".  So went the following Saturday to pick out my E-ring.  We were also celebrating my 30th birthday.  He took me out along with all of our friends to celebrate my birthday and our new engagement!!!  I have to say that was the best 30th birthday present a girl could ask for.  I'm marrying my best friend and have 2 beautiful girls...my life is complete.  Now let the planning begin!!!! 

2/09: I picked out a cushion cut diamond with a pave diamond band.  Simple yet elegant...I love my ring!!!

12/14/10:  Just placed order for FI ring.  He wanted a sleek modern design & Tungsten offered just that!

4/11/11:  FI and I went to pick out my matching wedding band, but he suprised me with my dream ring.  I had wanted this halo style setting from the beginning, but it just wasn't in his budget at that time.  So our jeweler took out my original diamond and set it into this GORGEOUS halo.  I will not be wearing a wedding band, just the ONE show stopper!

                                                                                   &nb sp;                                                                                   &nb sp;                                                                                                         & nbsp;              

Our wedding colors will consist of Purples, Grays, White & small touches of Black.

I had a really hard time narrowing down a design I really liked for our STD's.  FI does not really like taking pictures, so using them on our STD's was out of the question.  I needed something that would still stand out & match well with our invitations.  Finally I found a design I fell in love with, so I contacted PW own SignaturesbySara and she recreated them so perfectly using all of our wedding colors.  I love them!

I will be printing my save the dates on glossy photo paper, mounting them on black shimmer cardstock & adding some crystal bling to give them some sparkle.  More photos to follow once I get them all done!

12/10/10:  My STD's are finally finished and ready to be mailed out.  I added little rhinestones in between the date to give them a little sparkle & added a strip of magnet on the back in case people wanted to put it on the their refrigerator.  I also purchased silver metallic envelopes & printed directly on them with my home printer.  Voila!

So I totally feel that the invitation completely sets the tone for the wedding.  Your guests definetly get a feel for what your wedding will be like based on what they recieve in the mail.  Now, I know most people might not even pay attention to the detail (but I am all about DETAILS)!!!!!

8/2/10:  I went over the weekend to SF Gift Center-a wholesale jewelry mart and was on the hunt for some bling cocktail rings for my invitation brooches & I found a great vendor who is ordering them for me for .80 cents a piece.  They are so sparkley and will look great with my boxed invitations.  My inspiration is from Jaryce21.

8/19/10:  I picked up my soon to be brooches, they are beyond pretty.  Some of them are cocktail rings & the circle ones are actually hair clips.  Mock up coming soon I promise!

 My inspiration for my invitation suite comes from my DOC Jaryce21, her invitations were amazing!

1/28/11:  My invitation suite design is complete, here's our mockup.  I love how they turned out. Now onto the assembly!

Our monogram that will adorn the outside of our boxes

Main Invitation...I will be adding a 2" black satin ribbon & rhinestone brooch

2/17/11:  I started the assembly of my invitations, this is way more time consuming than I thought :-)

We are getting married May 29, 2011 at Hotel Valencia in San Jose, CA.  We feel so fortunate to be getting married at such a beautiful location.  Its young, modern & chic & totally fits our style. We booked our venue 2.5 years before our wedding day to make sure we had the date we wanted available. Hotel Valencia also offered us such a wonderful package that we just couldn't pass it up. We are getting married on a Sunday of Memorial Weekend, so it will be nice to have all the pre-wedding/rehearsal festivities & hang out with all our friends and family before & after the wedding.

Where our Ceremony will take place!!

I will be making these crystal garlands and hanging them from the inside of the fireplace as our backdrop.  I purchased the acrylic door curtain from shopwildthings.com for $23.99 and will be glueing preserved orchids from save-on-crafts.com.  They will end up looking like these...

I will be putting these large vases in varying heights with different white flowers in front of the fireplace.  We will also be re-using them at our Escort Table.

I will be DIY these pomander balls to line our aisles.  I'm going to jazz them up by added crystal flowing from the bottom and around the handles.

1/4/11:  Inspiration to Reality...I made my pomanders to line my ceremony aisle & I love how they turned out!

 We will be doing a Welcome sign like this for our guest as they arrive to our ceremony.

     <--From LadyESQ

I was able to find the same exact frame at IKEA for $29.99.  I will probably be changing the color to white and need to purchase a floor length easle.  Sarah @ SignaturesbySarah recreated LadyESQ's signage for me.  I love it!

Our reception will take place in the hotel ballroom. Heres a picture of our ballroom set up for another wedding.  We will be taking advantage of the silver chivari chairs that our venue provides with our package. Perfect!!!

The look we are going for is very fresh & modern.  We would like to achieve a very modern swanky Miami vibe. We using all white flowers, white satin table linens, touches of bling, silver chivari chairs, and purple/blue uplighting with white pinspot lighting on the tables!

OUR TABLESCAPE

My original plan of having 3 floral designs has been canceled after going over our budget.  It just really puts us over what we wanted to spend in this area.  So my little wheels in my brain started spinning on what to do next.  Our new look will be using 2 candlesticks from Zgallerie on each table with a lower flower arrangement. The candlesticks are on order & should arrive the second week of January '11. I can't wait to walk into my ballroom and see it twinkling with crystal glow all around!

Look #1...low white arrangement of hydrangeas & roses with two bling candlesticks

                                                                                   &nb sp;                                                                                   &nb sp;                                

With 3 small bling vases with small florals inside around the main CP and 4 bling candles.

 I was fortunate to have been part of the order that a lot of the PW ladies did on these bling votives! Thanks again girls, most of all Pwani20!!!

I will be wrapping the vases with this bling banding, purchased this bad boy at Koyal Wholesale!

Look #2...will have 3 Medium vases in varying heights with 3 different florals in each and wrapped again in bling banding. 

This is what I would like to achieve, I love this look

Each guest table will all have white satin overlays.  I purchased them from Linentablecloth when they had their winter sale for about $4.00 each.  Also can't forget our silver chivari chairs provided by our venue.

Our tablescape will complete with silver charger plates I bought and the 99 cent only store, white satin napkins, bling napkin rings, and rounded menu cards.

4/5/11: I did a mockup tonight of one of the guest tables to get an idea.  It looks so much more sparkly in person, its incredible <3

SWEETHEART TABLE     

We have opted to do a sweetheart table.  I love the intimacy of doing this.  We will either be having satin or pintuck floor length linen for our table!

4/7/11:  My floor length white satin linens arrived for our sweetheart table.  This what I would like for it to resemble.  I love the swaggerd look.  Our DOC will be pinning this up for us.

We will be using 3 vases with white hydrangeas & roses.  Two bling lampshade in the center with two taller bling candlesticks on ther outer part of the table.  4 bling votives & lots of cream colored rose petals.

1/22/11: I bought these gorgous purple napkins @ Zgallerie for FI and I at our table & we will have our own special mirrored charger plates

3/28/11:  I DIY our new Mr. and Mrs. sign to welcome us to our sweetheart table.

 ESCORT CARD TABLE

These are my inspiration for my Escort Card Table...not sure which one I will end up doing.

 I purchased these acrylic trays from Par228 to house all our escort cards in.

My venue has this silver streak that runs down the wall behind our sweetheart table from the wall divider.  I got this picture/inspiration from another couple who married at my venue.  I will be purchasing this candle screen with votives to put behind our table.  I think it will gives our table a nice romantic glow!        

10/13/10:  I picked up my candle screen that I purchased online at Walmart.com cost $44.00 w/free shipping. Next I will be spray painting it white to match the decor!

                                                               ;                   

DANCEFLOOR:

12/17/10:  FI and I agreed that having an all white dance floor will really step the decor up a notch. I am so loving this idea.  Our venue just placed the order for our wedding!!!

DIY UPLIGHTS

I just received my uplights from fellow PW bride ecmp080710...she was nice enough to include the bulbs and the amber gel sheets she used for her wedding.  I will be using purple/blue gel sheets for mine. Here's a sneek peak at how the lights transform a room.

After being engaged for a whole year and scouring thousands of wedding gown pictures I FINALLY went dressing shopping with my Mom and Sis.  She was the second dress I tried on (which my Mom picked out by herself) I fell madly, deeply, in love. I found her at Bay Area Bridal in Cupertino.  I present my Kitty Chen Couture gown, her name is Cloris, but I call her "GORGEOUS".  I will also be wearing a cathedral veil, embellished with swarvoski crystal all along the edging. It sparkles like crazy from the back. I cant wait to show pictures of it. It really just completes the look!

12/10:  I felt my dress was lacking some drama at the bottom so I bought a crinoline to see if it helped the situation and I love how it makes my dress look even more. 

Also I went shopping with my mom for her dress.  We went to a few bridal boutiques searching for a gown for her but found everything unappealing.  So we went to eat lunch and as we were waiting an hour to be seating, we decided to head downstairs to Macys to browse.  Low and behold we found the most perfect dress for her.  Better yet it was on clearance and we got it for $80, Score!!!  Here's me, my Mom & my crinoline :-)

I will be wearing my gown with these beauties by Haute Bride Couture

I thought this hanger would be so pretty to hang my dress on, I'm going to try and DIY this project.

2/15/11:  I ordered my garter today, she is so lovely.  I bought it from SWEETBPAPERS on Etsy.

I12/13/10:  I think I will be wearing flats the entire time instead, because that is when I am most comfortable.  My feet just can't handle any type of heel.  I do want to find some steamy sexy heels for shoe shot pictures.  So these are the perfect white sparkly flats from DSW for $40.00 that I will be wearing!

I bought my cute white satin bridal clutch from Target.com under the clearance section for $5.94 and added a sparkly brooch I got at the mall for another $5.00.  What a steal of a deal!

Some inspiration pictures for my hair, I definetly want something flowy and romantic.  I will be wearing a cathedral veil for the ceremony then changing to a hair flower for the reception.

11/10:  I forgot to post a picture of my hairflower that my Mom and FMIL generoulsy bought for me.  It has clear rhinestones all along the trimmimg and is just ever so beautiful.

I would love for my bouquet to carry out the look of my all white florals of hydrangeas (possibly peonies) & phalanopsis orchids with white feather trimming along the bottom of the bouquet.  I will also be adding a bouquet picture charm with my Grandmothers picture on it so that I can carry her with me at my wedding! This really is my dream bouquet.

            <--With this feather trimming

This is the picture charm I bought to hold my grandmothers picture in, it's from Things Remembered for $19.99.

3/28/11:  I took my grandmothers picture to Kinko's over the weekend & they were able to shrink her photograph and position it perfectly into my charm.  It came out great, and I am so happy to have my grandmother close to me, helping my mom walk me down the aisle!

FI wants to wear a gray suit, I think this is a nice change from the traditional black tuxedo.  Also he will have a white orchid bout to match my bouquet.  I can't wait to see how handsome he is going to look ;-)

My future Hubbie will wear this suit!

  Groomsmen will wear a similar suit with a purple tie to match the girls dresses.

I want to give my new Hubbie a gift on our Wedding day, so one day I came across these photo cufflinks.  My FI's Grandmother passed away recently, so I thought I would put photos of her and them together in the cufflinks, that way we can both carry our Grandmother's with us on our special day!

My girls will be strutting their stuff in this amazing mermaid style dress by Mori Lee style #208...They will wear it in a deep purple color. They are gonna look stunning! 

Here is my Bestie, my MOH, my Sister modeling the dress in a deep blue color

This is my bouquet inspiration for the BM's

Or I am really loving this unique idea of attaching the flowers to their clutch purses.

These are the gray satin clutch purses I got for my BM's.  I bought them along with mine from Target.com clearance section for $5.64 also. I will be adding little needed goodies inside for the big day!

PW bride Paralegal05 was nice enough to purchase/ship these black tote bags with the BM rhinestones already on it (sweet) all for only a $1/each. I will be putting all their gifts and giving them to the girls at the rehearsal dinner.

8/2/10:  I purchased these great Pashmina wraps from PW bride Midorisour she sold them to me for a fabulous price of $1 each...I will wrap them with a pretty ribbon and put them in each of my BM bags.

My younger daughter Xienna will be wearing a white dress with lots of tulle, with a purple/eggplant sash, and a matching flower headband.  This is my inspiration for her!

11/10:  I found the most perfect tiny angel wings at Michael's after Halloween so they were super cheap, I paid $3.50 for these adorable lightweight wings.

2/19/11:

I almost bought the same dress at David's Bridal for $99

I bought her dress at Target for $20

Her white patent leathers shoes from Children's Place $15

Silk Purple headband from Forever 21 $4.30

Purple Sash on sale at Davids Bridal for $20

Total price costing me $58 for the whole ensamble :-)

Both my girls will carry a flower purse like these. Love it!

                        This is from PW bride Par228 wedding

9/13/10: I have been searching high and low for a stylish dress for my older daughter Mariah who will be 11 years old by the wedding.  I wanted something not too young looking, but not too grown either.   I had a hard time finding something cute & stylish, but I finally found one that I adore.  Made by Alexia Designs Junior Bridesmaids collection #38 in Grape.  My baby is gonna look so beautiful!

 1/9/11:  Order placed!

 3/25/11  I bought both my girls this bridal barbie doll for their bridal party gifts!

A couple pictures of the food selection from Hotel Valenica we might be offering our guests.  I cant wait to try it all...YUMMMMY

Beef Filtet Mignon with Cognac sauce, Mashed potatoes, and mixed Vegetables

Buttered Lobster tail with Safron rice and mixed Vegetables

2/12/11:  We had our cake tasting today at A Piece of Cake Bakery in San Jose.  I must say the cake was beyond delicious.  Were having a 4 tier square cake with flavors in red velvet w/cream cheese, mango w/cream cheese & chocolate w/chocolate fudge. Our guests will definelty have a variety to choose from.

This is the design we chose, simple, elegant & with some bling banding of course                

Our cake will sit on this beautiful stand of purple silk with rhinestones all around. I am so excited to to be the proud owner of this amazing cake stand. Purchased from PW bride Par228

 2/18/11:  This will be our cake topper, I orderd from Crafty Eddy for $14 w/shipping.  Here is pic of my cake topper finished and blinged out.

2/12/11:  I also purchased this knife set at Zgallerie over the weekend, now I need the matching flutes.

4/7/11:  My order for our floor length satin linens just arrived.  This is what I hope to do to our cake table.  I love the pick-ups.  My DOC will be pinning it for us.

I was originally going to DIY a card box, but the reality is I just don't have the time with my two girls. So when Par228 was selling her birdcage I decided to just purchase hers.  It is exactly what I wanted & in the same color scheme.  I will of course be changing the gold color to either silver or white.

        Before           After  

I would really love to incorporate this into our ceremony.  I think its such a wonderful idea, this will symbolize the lifelong commitment we are taking not only to each other but to vow to always be there for our girls. We each will have our own color sand to blend together, just how we will be blending our new family & its a nice way to include the girls into the ceremony. I bought this 3D picture frame from Amazon.com its made by Umbra (Ether) in brushed nickel.  I paid $25.00 w/free shipping.  I will be placing a picture of all of us from our Family/Engagement shoot in the middle.  Here is an example of me testing some sand in the picture frame.

This is how I would like the table to be setup for this

I wracked my brain for so long on this area of the wedding.  I knew I didn't want a traditional sign-in guest book. So when I came across this Guest Book Tree Dots on Etsy, my prayers were answered.  Its was just what I had been looking for.  I love that it is unique & definitely something our guests have never seen before, I also will be framing it and hanging it up in our new home!  Our dots will be in different shades of purple.

Bridal Shower

I managed to find the perfect lil white dress for my bridal shower.  I will pair with my BCBG lavender heels!

3/4/11: I am so blessed to be having two bridal showers.  My FMIL is giving me a more formal affair & my Mom is giving me a sexy lingerie shower! 

Bachelorette Night

3/28/11: My girls are taking me to sin city Viva Las Vegas!  I am beyond excited to spend some time & let loose with my best girls.  I bought this gorgeous dress online at Fredericks of Hollywood.  This dress is the perfect blend of grown & sexy!!!

I bought this adorable "WIFEY" rhinestone iron-on applique to put on my tank top.  I am going to wear it at our day after brunch with our friends and family.  I purchased it on ebay for around $5.00.

My First DIY-Will You Be My Bridesmaid Cards:

I wanted to ask my BM to be a part of my wedding in a special way, so with the help of PW ladies and all their creative projects, I decided to give it a whirl.  Here is my attempt at the "Will you be my Bridesmaid" card.

DIY POMANDER BALLS

DIY BRIDAL BLING ROBE

TEARS OF JOY PACKETS

TABLE NUMBERS

More to come......

7/10/10:  We finally picked a song for our first dance as Husband & Wife.  Its called "BY YOUR SIDE" BY SADE.  Its such a beautiful song!!!

10/15/10:  We just booked our DJ...not only is he FI friend & is giving us a great deal, but he totally rocks the house.  He has played at other weddings we have been to & people literally stay on the dance floor all night.  He plays all the jams we love from old school, hip hop, to salsa & merengue. 

Also as a super added bonus we will be having a conga/percussionist player as well to play along side our DJ.  He will drumming out to all the salsa & merengue music...this gives the room the LIVE band feel without hiring the whole band.  I am super duper pumped about this...it really will give the music that extra special ooomph!

4/1/11:  We just booked and paid for our entire honeymoon today.  We are staying at the lovely, chic ME Resort in Cabo, Mexico.  This resort came highly recommended from my FI's friend, we were looking for something that wasn't too over the top romantic, but more fun & exciting.  This resort offers the best of both worlds, romance, relaxation, and fun!!!  We staying at THE LEVEL, which is a adults only side of the resort.  Its has all day/night pool parties (Nikki Beach) with bottle service, bali beds & famous DJ's.  I can't wait to be sipping on a Margarita on our white sandy beach with my new hubby ;-)

Ceremony & Reception: Hotel Valencia 

Priest: Father Richard Stevens from White Robed Monks

Photographer: Encarnacion Photography

Videographer: N Compass Cinema

Lighting: NextArts

DOC: Our very own PW Jaryce21 @ Jaryce Nobela Events

Cake: A Piece of Cake Bakery

Graphic Design Artist: Sarah Goff @ Signatures by Sarah

Florist: Tomoko @ Tomobi Floral Art

White Dance Floor: Classic Party Rentals

Bling Item Decor: Z Gallerie

Engagement Ring: Steve Padis Jewelry @ SF Gift Center

FI Wedding Band:  Macy's

Dress Shop: Bay Area Bridal-Consultant Jean was the best!!!

My Gown: Kitty Chen Couture (Cloris)

My Veil:  Moonlight Veils

Bridal Jewels: Haute Bride Couture

Hair Stylist: Jeanine @ Chiquis Hair Salon, Millbrae CA 

Makeup Artist: Jasmine Martin @ Jaz Makeup

DJ: Mauricio...FI friend