K.Leah09's biography
Hello fellow PW'ers!!! Here is our proposal story (hope you enjoy!):
In 2008, M & I were in the process of buying a new house. We typically visited it on the weekends to check up on the building process. The same real estate agent (Debbie) was there every weekend so we've gotten to know her pretty well.
Now, I'll be the first to tell you that I'm a major snoop. I tend to do it even when I'm not meaning to! Combine that with M & his inability to hide a surprise and you get easy-to-find dirt! I would go to his house and find a piece of paper with a list of jewelers on it! Kinda obvious, hu? So I knew it was coming, I just didn't know when or how. Well he told me that we had to go to the house to meet with a painter and get an estimate. That wasn't unusual or anything so we drove there and he took the scenic route. It was a sunny, fall day in Seattle (my favorite!) so I was in a great mood. We get there and talk to Debbie and she tells us that the painter hasn't arrived yet. We get the key to the house from her and walk inside. I'm still not suspecting anything because this is all very typical.
When we walk up into the kitchen area, I see balloons and streamers everywhere. The first thing I think is, "Who's been partying in our house?" Then he takes my hand and I see a bottle of champagne on ice, fruit, numerous bouquets of flowers, Godiva chocolate covered strawberries (YUM) and lots of pictures of us throughout our relationship. That's when I put 2 and 2 together. He started saying that he loves me so much and gets down on one knee, pulls out the ring and asks me to marry him. I was completely shocked!! I didn't cry until I read what was inscribed : My Puzzle Piece (his nickname for me). Anyway, after I stopped hyperventalating and calmed down a bit, I had to pop all the balloons because inside each one was a reason why he loves me. It was absolutely perfect for us. That night he took me out to dinner at the fanciest place in Seattle where there are no prices on the ladies menu & in between courses they give you tomato sorbet to "cleanse your palette" haha. Most amazing day of my life!
Here's the goods! :D
I recently had to nix red. Now my colors are corals, pinks & a hint of peach.
I'm obsessed with vintage/antique photography as well as high-fashion shots...luckily, my photographer can do both :)
MarinBride & WIL Have such amazing photos!!!
Haha I love candid shots!
So my BM dresses are a bit frustrating (aren't they always?). I'm designating a specific color to each of my 6 girls & they can choose whatever style they want. I've seen this style a few times in magazines & fell in love with it. This was actually pretty difficult because I was looking for specific colors & most dress companies had funky shades or only one shade of a color I liked. Ultimately, I chose the Jordan brand because they had the most color selection. Hopefully it won't look like crap!
UPDATE: Yay! The dresses are in & they look FABULOUS! Much better in person :D The colors are softer (not vibrant), which is what I wanted. My biggest fear was that they'd look too bright! Now it's up to my girls to get their alterations done.
Okay I met with my cake lady this past weekend (March 1st) & it was awesome! I'm going with a 3-tiered cake. Bottom layer flavor: pink champagne (I don't know how to describe this flavor but it is DE-LISH!), Middle layer: red velvet & Top layer: chocolate khalua. I'm also gonna have her do a groom's cake for FI which will end up looking like the Blackberry Curve (FI is a software developer for them). This will be such a fun surprise for him! I love these cake styles:
The only thing I want with my cake is some color!
My photographer, Dre, from Lifebox Studio in Seattle is friggin' awesome & I love how they turned out!
I just got these shoes in from Cutesygirl.com but they kinda screwed me over in the fact that they only sent me 4 out of the 6 pairs due to damage & not having them in the size that I ordered. If I don't get at least one more pair from them, I'll have to return all pairs! Stay tuned...
Finding a dress was more difficult than I thought it would be. By the time I chose my Casablanca 1923 dress, I was more in a "okay let's just find a dress & order it" mindset. Time was running out & whatever dress I found would have to be put on rush. I really like my dress but alas, it is not my dream come true. Surprisingly, I'm okay with that because I'm seriously excited to marry my FI!!! THAT is my dream come true :D
My shoes:Although I took red out of my color palette I couldn't say no to these saucey pumps! I can wear whatever clashing color I want :P For the bottoms: I took a blue marker & colored a heart. Then I hot glued blue crystals. Ta da!!
My garter: I made it myself & the Canadian flag is in honor of my FI & his family. I am marrying a Canadian!! :D
MU/Hair Trial!!!
Ugh...the first lady I had a trial with was a total weirdo so I ended up switching to a wonderful MU lady & another Hair Stylist! They are so sweet & really made sure I was happy with the results & best of all: They're
normal! No weirdos here! :) I will be using a little bit brighter (summery) lipstick & a tad more blush.
Okay I wasn't gonna miss out on this one! Gotta make my PW girls proud! :D
We'll be spending our wedding night at the Westin in Bellevue, WA. FI & I took a tour of it & WOW the views are amazing (downtown Seattle, Mt. Rainier, etc) & the room is so amazing! I really can't wait but am a little bummed that we'll only be in it for a few hours. We leave for our honeymoon the next morning (our flight's at 7:30AM!!).
Bermuda, Bahama, Come On Pretty Mama!
Yay!!!! We seriously forget most of the time that we're even going on a honeymoon. The wedding keeps us too preoccupied! But when I do, I think of the swim up bar! Hell yeah! We're going to Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau, Bahamas! All inclusive, adults only, white sand, turquoise water, perfection!
Yes, the day has finally come & gone. It was amazing & I am so blessed to now be Mrs. V. Some advice to give: expect delays & make sure that everyone is clear about where & when they need to be somewhere! My dad was 45 min. late picking us girls up in the morning. He was unclear about the time & therefore I was a little frustrated (understatement :). Besides that, there really wasn't anything negative that happened. We ended up being a half hour late after hair & makeup. Always give yourself enough time! If you think you have enough, add on another hour! Nothing is worse than rushing around on your wedding day. It takes away from the experience!
The weather was perfect, everyone enjoyed themselves & my husband got to eat (I stuffed myself on appetizers, so I ended up not being hungry for dinner!). I am so happy to be married & I hope all other brides get to relax & enjoy their day as much as I did.
Here are some non-pro pics:
And here are some pro pics!!
Well, it was great being in the Bahamas for our honeymoon but we were very disappointed with the service at Sandals. They just didn't seem to care that we were on our honeymoon or that anyone else was there for a special occasion. DH & I are very laid back people so it takes quite a bit to get us pissed off. I'll give a recap but I do not recommend Sandals Royal Bahamian to anyone. The food was amazing, the water was blue and warm but poor service can ruin any experience!
They have plenty of restaurants to choose from but if you don't get there early enough, you'll be waiting in line for a while. Their breakfasts only run until 10 am, which is a bummer if you LOVE breakfast as much as I do & LOVE to sleep in late. Bad combo :) They DO NOT offer room service (unless you are in their Butler Suites) so if you sleep in too late, you're screwed for breakfast (can you tell I love breakfast?:). All restuarants closed at 11pm except one "pub" that only served greasy food. It's good for one, maybe two nights but then you just get sick of it.
They have an itinerary that shows what is scheduled for the day. This is what made me feel like we were on a cruise. There were set times for all meals, activities & entertainment. They did have amazing pools (one was more for partying, another for quieter) but not enough floaties to go around. Also, if you did not get there before 10am, you did not get a lounge chair or towel. We found this out the hard way & had to wait until they did the laundry. You CAN reserve a couple lounge chairs to avoid this but you have to be there by 11am or else you lose your spot.
I did love their private island, Sandals Cay. There were intimate "huts" for you & your hubby to relax. Your neighbor is far from you & there are plenty of hammocks. Only bad thing is that there are no servers to take your drink order (something they advertise). They also have a restaurant there that you can make reservations for at night. We did this & were waiting for the boat to pick us (and a few other couples) up on the pier. The boat never came. After waiting for 45min, I finally got fed up & went to find someone who knew what was going on (this is almost impossible). An employee finally told me that the island was closed. Turns out they closed it for the night & just didn't tell us! All the other couples came over after seeing me talking to the employee & after I announced it to them, they became pretty pissed. Why hadn't anyone come over to tell us that our reservations were cancelled?? It's pretty obvious that we're waiting for the boat. Everyone was all dressed up by the boat dock! Argh!!
As for scuba diving, we had an amazing time. I did have to fight for it though! DH went up to make reservations for this & the man behind the counter said that all of the instructors were on vacation. This is something that I really wanted to do & by this time, I was beyond pissed at Sandals. So I went up to the man & said (very nicely btw) "This is the reason we came to Sandals. You guys advertise it & we leave in 2 days. You gotta give me something. This is our honeymoon". He finally gave in & signed us up. Lesson learned: If you want something at this Sandals, you have to be persistant!
All in all, I wish we'd gone somewhere else. We spoke to many other vacationers there who were experiencing the same thing as us & said that Sandals in Jamaica is MUCH better; more friendly. BUT DH & I made the best of it & we had a fabulous time, just the two of us. There were plenty of romantic moments when we walked the beach at night, listened to someone playing the saxaphone & watched a lightning storm a few hundred miles away. We danced when an outside vocalist was singing love songs & spent quality time together. Even during a less than perfect honeymoon, my wonderful husband still made it memorable!
Here's some that I really love (I got over 600 back from my photog!). I waitied patiently for a few months & I'm so thankful to have such an amazing photographer. So here they are! p.s. My photographers were Andry & Win from Lifebox Studio in Seattle.
More to come...
