Chris and I have been dating for about 4 1/2 years now. We currently live in Orange County with our sweet lil' Yorkie named Belle and with two bunnies that I rescued from the shelter and a grumpy old bunnie.

We met at Cal State University, Fullerton. I was working at Juice It Up! at the time and I was working nights to close the store (fun fun fuN!!!). Chris had a late night class that day and came by for a pick-me up drink. He ordered his Protein Blast and sort of chit chat with me for a bit. I didn't think anything of it at that time cause sad to say, I had pretty low self-confidence. :( Plus, I was pretty anti-social with people cause customer service is just not my thing to be honest. =P I was the 'what do you want' and 'here you go and be on your merry way' type of server. (I know I was pretty bad) I did think he was really hot!! I was like holy crap! Here's a white guy talking to me! An asian chick! I didn't think that existed! Haha!

Anywhoo, he came back the very next week he had his late night class and ordered the same drink and this time, chit chatted with me more. There were occasions where he would ask me to go have a quick bite to eat and I'd always make some excuse that I had to go home cause I had strict parents just so I wouldn't. (Again, I'm anti-social!) And he did this for awhile and eventually, I gave in and finally 'grabbd a bite to eat'. He asked me for my screen name for AIM and I gave it to him.  (What's funny is, he didn't have AIM and created an account and d/l the program just so he could talk to me =p) He also gave me his phone # just so I could have it in case I wanted to ever call him or if I needed something. We would chat online till 1 am and he would come by my work just to see if I wanted to grab dinner with him.

It was finals week and I called him up and made up some lie so I could swing by his place to 'borrow his computer to type up my essay because I forgot my card for the school's lab" in reality, I just wanted to see him. He told me I could stay at his apt and I was kind of hesitant at first, but I figured, oh what the hey! He's a hot guy, why not? =p And plus, he did say if I ever needed something, I could call him up! Long story short, I stayed the night, actually doing my essay and staying up all night studying. And to my surprise, he stayed up with me ! (well, he did fall asleep here and there) Also helping a little bit, too. I felt bad cause he had to work at 6 am and he was up all night with me instead.

Finals week was over and that meant it was 2 1/2 months of break. He was sad that I had to leave and told me to call him and that we should still hang out and all that fun stuff, which we did. We went out dates and have been together ever since. :)

About Chris: He's the most caring, sweetest and loving guy I could ever ask for. It's kind of funny when I think about it because I come from an Asian family and we don't usually show much affection. He's always telling me how much he loves me and wants hugs and kisses and it's still kind of strange to me till today. But I don't mind it all because I can't take it for granted. He has a very big heart and is very protective of me. When I get sick, he gives me the best care I can ask for. Anything I need/want, he immediately runs out and gets it for me just so I can get better. He is very patient with me when I have my stubborn days, which I give him a lot of credit for! I can go on and on about him but in the end, I'm a happy gal just waiting to be his wifey. :)

About me: Hmmm what can I say about myself? I'm 24 years old working at an export company. I'm stubborn..as mentioned in the previous paragraph. Not very proud of it I must say, but I am working on it with Chris' help! I like making people laugh and I have a pretty good sense of humor. ;) I'm pretty spunky and I can be a feisty one if need be. I tend to put other people before myself...not sure why but I do! I'm so thankful for Chris' parents. I always joke to Chris and say how much I want to steal them from him and make them my own!! They're the best future-in-laws that I could ever ask for. They've been super supportive and helpful with all the wedding stuff since my parents haven't been involved exactly. =( They're the ones helping making my dream wedding come true. :)

I did know there was an engagement coming. After all, he did ask what would I like for my ring. =P I was very specific on how I wanted my ring to look like. I wanted the 88 cut, which was reaaaaaaaaallllyyyy hard to get apparently. I wanted the exact ring on their website or in the bottom picture below. He called all over to find this cut and had no luck. Eventually, he found a store that carried it. But it was in Georgia! He had to get it shipped to CA to make sure for all the obvious reasons. (GIA certified, right diamond he ordered...blah blah blah...I'll spare the details)

He found a jeweler that could make this ring and it took a good three months. Finally, the day came where he proposed to me.

On a Sunday morning, he got up and said he wasn't feeling well and went to the restroom. I didn't think much of it, but this was where he was getting ready. After he got out, he said he got a call from his friend saying he wanted to talk to him about 'girl problems'. I got a little peeved because I knew his friend and I was quite shocked that he didn't ask me to come along! Chris wanted me to get up and give him his kiss at the front door, but I didn't want to cause I was still peeved about his friend. =P  He made a pretend call to his friend to see if it was ok if I went. Chris said it was 'okay' that I went and I refused because I wasn't really asked in the first place. Then Chris was like okay, I'll just not go and I felt bad cause I didn't want to do that so I said he should go and we went back and forth. Eventually, he ended up not going.

So since we both love to play our online gaming called World of Warcraft (yes that's right!), he called me into our gaming room to play. And since I'm blind as a bat, all I saw was red all over the carpet. I freaked out cause I thought something happened or someone was bleeding! He told me to put on my contacts and it turned out to be rose petals that lead to our balcony.

He told me to over look the balcony and there it said, "Marry me, Di!" And there he told me how much he loved me and all that good mushy stuff. haha and he showed me my ring and I fell in love with it!! And of course, I accepted it!

The wedding is on July 17, 2009 and will be held at The Beverly Mansion in Fallbrook. It has the most gorgeous view of the lake and a very grand ballroom. I love it!!!

http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/show/grand-tradition

The concept we will be using to decorate the gazebo will be exactly like the one found in Ceremony Magazine:

http://www.ceremonymagazine.com/files/featured/OC08/OC08momentsbymichelle.pdf

My color scheme is a dark purple color with a range of fuchias, lighter purples and a touch of silver.

So I forgot about the most important item in the wedding: invitations! Duh! How could anyone know about the wedding without an invitation?! *pokes myself* So unfortunately, I don't have a pic of it since my wedding planner is creating them for me. I will post pics once I have it.

Obviously, we're using a black envelope with the same exact ribbon and bling on the centerpiece. The invitation itself will have thet dark, deep purple paper with another layer of shimmery, ivory paper where all the info is going to be printed on. Sad to say, no pics. :(

This is one of the centerpiece we will be using: white manzanita trees

We'll be using a lot of the concepts found in the Ceremony Magazine:

http://www.ceremonymagazine.com/files/featured/OC08/OC08barnet.pdf

A lot of orchids, water in vases...kind of like a fresh, clean look. We wanted to change it up a bit using Manzanita trees and the vases with orchids drowned in water.

I will be getting the bouquets from Flower Mart in Temple City. Shirley is wonderful and so fun to work with! And she has amazing prices that are too good to pass up. Okay, well at least for a bride that has a budget. My bouquet was $125 including some bling and the bridesmaids were $65 each.

http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/show/temple-city-flower-mart

My bouquet will consist of a dark purple mini calla lilies, white cymbidium orchids with pinkish/burgandy center with iridescent glitter and lavender roses with an ivory satin tie and a crystal cuff and buckles.

EDIT: I changed my bouquet. I found another bouquet I fell in love with:

The bridesmaids bouquet consists of a white and cream colored mini calla lily, White dendrobium orchids and light lavender roses (boyfriend) with a light lavender satin tie.

EDIT: I changed the lavender roses to Purple Lisianthus 

My makeup is being done by the awesome Katie B. She is the sweetest and most down to earth person you'll meet. She's so fun and does GREAT makeup. After all, she was voted LA's Best Makeup Artist 2008! I did an engagement session with her and Sean. I told her I wanted to look natural since I don't wear make up really. It turned out AWESOME! She achieved the look I wanted and did a beautiful job! Even my MIL was amazed and loved what she did, too. You can check her myspace site or just email her for more info! :) She does photography as well! As mentioned, we did an engagement session with her and Sean and they're so much fun. They work as a team; when she does make-up, he acts as her assistant and vice-versa with the photography. He does really great work so give them a call! Just let her know that I recommended her!

I am excited to have her do my makeup on the big day! I can't wait!

My hair will be done like so (by Katie B of course!):

Jewelry:

I'm not sure if I want to get this bracelet. It's gorgeous but for $385....yikes!

Or maybe these?

FI finally picked his ring!! It's a ring from Scott Kay. It's an 8mm ring with a vintage finish and satin center from the Gothic collection. Luckily, his parents will be buying his ring as a gift to him!

As far as my ring, I don't know what to do as to get a wedding band or not. I don't want to take away from my ring by adding another band. We were thinking about stackable rings, so FI can buy me a ring for each anniversary or something. I guess we still have some time to figure it out. =P

I was originally going to go with a photographer I found a loooong time ago, but I'm not sure what happened, but he never got back to me. :( I was bummed out because I really liked his style and especially liked the layouts in the wedding albums. One of my bridesmaid recommended I check out a photographer that her co-worker knew. I gave it a shot and his style was pretty much the one I liked!

http://www.hoffmannphotographer.com/ is his site and he also has myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hoffmannphotographer

We actually booked him a long time ago - sometime in the summer, really. When we met with him, he was real laid back and showed us all his work and they're all so beautiful. I had to book him and make sure he was mine for the day! lol! Once I want something, I make it a mission to get what I want. ><

As for my videographer, he was recommended to me by my makeup artist, Katie B. We met with Daniel Boswell and he's so cool and it's kind of funny cause he and my fiance had the same style/personality. My fiance is pretty picky and particular in what he wants or at least the things he wants...so it was good that someone understood his style. I don't have to worry in that deptartment! I also picked him because his packages are customizable (is that a word? haha) and that allows us to pick and choose what we want rather than a whole package with a bunch of crap I don't want or wish I could substitute. =P He also does a little 5 min clip of the wedding during the reception, which is kind of cool.

http://dvartistry.com/ is his site.

Last but not least, the DJ. My wedding planner actually referred Invisible Touch to us. We set up a meeting and met with Victor. WOW this guy is so much fun!!! He has a lot of energy and is really outgoing. He asked us a lot of questions regarding how the wedding will be. We told him our main goal is to have fun really. I had an idea of doing the Thriller dance from the video! But...it would require a lot of practice and that means actually getting everyone together and finding the time TO practice, which is pretty difficult as people are busy. BUT Victor said that he has a guy that will do it, but he gets EVERYONE to do it. So he'll show us the dance step by step and we all follow along! How fun is that?? haha!

http://www.invisibletouchdj.com/wedding.htm is their site.

Check them all out! :)

I got my dress a year ago at Mary Me bridal.I got a St. Pucci Sposa dress in Ivory. I got a good deal on this dress with a little help with my MIL (thank god for her!!).

http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/show/mary-me-bridal

Here's a pic of me in the dress:

Last but not least, my Qi Pao - because the FI wants it!!

We got the bridesmaid dresses at Macy's believe it or not. It had the deep purple that I wanted and also had an iridescent effect:

Kinda blurry in the second photo...oops!

I was going to get my girls a beautiful neckalace, but it was a tad bit pricey so I browed around Etsy and found this:

For the groomsmen: A personalized wine box (FI wanted something different from a mug =P)

We are having the most adorable flower girl and it's going to be Chris' cousin's daughter. She's an adorable 2 year old and we're so honored to have her in the wedding! She will be accompanied with my ring bearer dog, Belle! I have her wear a ring bearer pillow or maybe a best pet bow?

We are planning to do a candy buffet as well. We'll have chinese take out boxes for our guests. All I know is I want chocolate and white chocolate covered gummy in there!! It's a must!!!