Minh and I met when I transferred to UC Santa Cruz.  I transferred in as a junior and knew that the easiest way to get to know people was to join some sort of club/sorority, so I did the latter.  Minh was already in a fraternity at that time and he knew that I was pledging. 

He actually remembers the first we met (where as I remember everything else *EXCEPT* this)...I was still new to the school and was on my way to the Science Library on the shuttle and realized that I had no idea where it was.  I saw a *boy* who I thought would be most likely to be kind and show me the way and it was HIM =)

How I remember meeting him was while I was pledging, there was a bone marrow registery drive going on.  I saw him there and I tried to play it cool and just talk with him, but he was WAAY distracted by the baseball game on TV *lol*

The whole time I was pledging, I was dating another guy, but when Minh and I finally got to talking, I realized how well we complemented each other.  I also realized how neglected my boyfriend was....At a joint ski trip between our sorority and faternity, we really got to know each other and the first time we kissed, I just **KNEW**.... Minh and I have been together ever since.

After I crossed into my sorority, there was a huge celeboratory dinner/afterparty.  At the afterparty, I was sooooo drunk that I could barely get around.  At the time, Minh and I had only knew each other for a few weeks, but I was still able to convince Minh (who at the time was just a friend) that I needed to get some fresh air, but there were soo many shoes at the entry-way we couldn't find them and I decided that I would just walk outside without them. 

It had been raining and while we were walking, our sock became soaked through...that was when I KNEW I loved him...because he was willing to walk around the block in his socks on the rain-soaked sidewalk....=)

Minh finally did it and proposed to me on Friday (December 21st). He was trying to pick a fight with me and make me think we were heading to a house party (which I am too old for). He finally caved and said we were going into the city for dinner. We drove and drove and drove (we were too early for the reservation). By this time I already knew something was up. We finally parked and started walking to the restuarant. He lead me to the entrance of the Four Seasons Hotel and I realized we were going to have dinner there. We were seated and instead of waiting to the end of dinner, he proposed to me at a few moments after we had settled in. He had his corny speech (Minh-style like corny) and I accepted and happily ate dinner together. The waitress was sweet enough to give us a chocolate souffle to congratulate us.

I feel like I'm still in either shock or just succumbing to it all. It was expected and when it finally happened, I was happy (thrilled actually) but I'm not sure as to how to express that publicly. With Minh, I'm so ecstatic, I can barely contain myself to not hug him or kiss him or tell him I love him. So, if you see me, I may seem a bit reserved but its because I'm soooooo overwhelmingly happy, I just don't know how to show it.



Minh and I want to express our gratitude to all the congradulatory wishes from everyone.

Here is my engagement ring/wedding band set...we are still on the search for his...I'm hoping that it will be somewhat similar to mine...

We finally got down to it and bought his ring too =) but the yellow gold is a bit lighter on the actual ring...=D

Date: sometime in June of 2009

# of Ceremonies: umm, currently only 2, hopefully not any more...we're going to have the traditional Chinese pick up/tea ceremony/reception for our families in September.  After much consideration, we decided to have the 2nd ceremony prior to the September ceremony and it will be in beautiful LAKE TAHOE! =)

Colors:
TAHOE Wedding: We're going with the Tahoe theme and sticking with light blues, greens and whites, pretty classic and a little boring, but oh well =)

FAMILY Wedding: because of our Chinese backgrounds, RED is a definite, with light gold/yellows....

Wedding Party: two on each side, maybe three, depending on if my sister can make it...

Favors: doing the unoriginal take-out boxes with fortune cookies and other goodies stuffed in them...will make them double as a center piece since most Chinese restuarants won't let you keep the centerpieces on the lazy susan.

I have finally found the elusive "DRESS".....

It's a Maggie Sottero (who knew I would be buying a Maggie?!?) and it is gorgeous!  It has crystals that flare and the corset back makes my waist teeny tiny =)  I LOVE IT! =)

soooo, as most of you know, I'm planning on having 2 weddings, one is for the family and the other is for the friends.  I have finally FOUND my dress for the 2nd ceremony...

SOOO pretty...it has nice beading and it's this soft pale blush color...and I got it half off (such a penny-pincher)....LOVE IT!!~

**UPDATE**

My DOC, and friend, pointed out to me WHY ARE NOT WEARING YOUR WHITE DRESS?!?!?!  I thought about it and was WHY NOT!  So I will be wearing my Maggie for the ceremony and take a few pics and will change into this pretty pretty thing for the reception...much less restrictive...

Because I'm having 2 weddings, it's getting a little confusing for me, but here's the plan for the Tahoe wedding:

VENUE:

We're having our wedding at the beautiful Edgewood Golf course in South Lake Tahoe.  Funny thing is that FI and I have NEVER been there before...we'll be heading up there this weekend and hopefully get a lot of the details out of the way =)

DRESS:
YAY I'm going to wear my beautiful wedding dress twice =)  Get the most bang for my buck

CAKE:
We'll be going to Tahoe to visit the site and get inspiration for the cake then too..we'll pick the flavors and everything then!  We're most likely going to get cupcakes and use those as centerpieces for the reception YUM!

FLOWERS:
I'm really really really wanting Hydrangeas...here is my inspiration for the bouquet and bouts (via bridedesign.com):

My BMs will be carring pomanders I'm DIYing (will post pics when completed)...yay! =)

We had a successful outing this past weekend and we visited the Edgewood in person.  We actually have never been to the site before, but I read so many great reviews, that I just booked the location.  When we actually headed up there this last weekend, I'm pleased to say that I'm soooo thankful we did.  It is a gorgeous site with great views (sorry for the pics, my camera died and so we took all the pictures with FI's phone):

While we were up in Tahoe, we also had our cake tasting and I'm sooo thrilled with the vendor (FlourGirls Wedding Cakes).  We decided to also do cupcakes for our centerpieces (our inspiration for our cupcakes):

The jimmies would be in our colors (blues and greens) =)  Our cupcake flavors are as follows (YUM!):
#1 - Coconut cake with carmelized pineapple filling with a coconut buttercream frosting
#2 - Chocolate cake with rasperberry filling with a mocha buttercream frosting
#3 - Vanilla Bean cake with strawberry filling and a cream cheese/buttercream frosting

We are getting a small cutting cake (really simple) and that will be:
Vanilla Bean Cake with Chocolate Mousse and Hazelnut buttercream filling and an Amaretto Buttercream Frosting. 

The baker, Sarah, has also offered to make our cake topper as well (a mini banana slug which was our college mascot) LOL...SOOO Excited (don't know if you can tell, but I'm really into cake!)

UPDATE - just ordered the cake platters that these tasty morsels will be on as the centerpiece in the table

Kohl's is having a buy one get one free sale =)  I'm getting 4 of these and I'm getting 4 of these from BB&B:

These pedestals will be on a white tableclothed table, so I'm adding a placemat to break it up a bit (thanks to my MOH)

Because we'll be at a more "destination" location, I really wanted to limit the amount of flowers I was going to get.  So, for my BMs, I decided to make them pomanders, inspired by Once Wed (to see, please click on the link).  So, here's the inspirational picture (courtesy of OnceWed):

Here's my attempt (the silver pendant will be a gift to my BMs):

I was suppose to have a friend be at the wedding and do my hair and makeup, but she can't make it any longer, so I have opted to not stress about it and go to a salon to get my hair done (Sessions Salon)....Here are my inspirations

For the Ceremony:

I'm going traditional for this one with a low chignon and side swept bangs....clean and simple...here are some inspiration pics:

BACK

FRONT (without the tiara, but with the hair vine as a band?  not sure yet):

For the Reception:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Grey's and I LOVED her hair!!!  I'm thinking about doing this for the 2nd dress 

This has been the bane of the last few weeks of wedding planning...I wanted to have a friend do the make up for me, but unseen circumstances won't allow her to attend (I'm not mad, just stressed to find a replacement)...I finally was convinced by my DOC to let her do my make up...here is a trial from her...the cheeks are a bit dark for me, but I love what she did with my eyes...I also think the lighting in the pics are not great either...but FI said I looked like a doll =)

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENT OR SUGGESTIONS!

VENUE: We'll be having the traditional Chinese wedding at the Chinese restuarant (Peony's in Oakland, CA).

My mom has bought us a cake topper already in Taiwan and I think it will be fabulous for our Chinese wedding

Because I've selected autumnal colors (reds, oranges, yellows) I decided to play around with the various hues that these colors come in...I'm become partial to the deep reds (maroon or wine) and burnt oranges.....I've also decided that I wanted a warmer cream/gold hued wedding dress, so the yellows will be more of an accent and more likely a light gold....this is what inspires me...

I had another trial done with the Hair and MUA  for my September wedding and all I can say is that I'm most pleased with how everything turned out! =) BUT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave any input =)

INSPIRATION:

Make Up

Hair

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Hair - we realized that I had too much hair to make the bun I wanted work.  I also figured out that I am a really traditional bride =D  Also, we decided that my hair was a little too plain, so I'll be adding in the hair accessory shown above from the Etsy designer HeartNSole, who coincidentally has a store in Campbell, CA =)

Make Up

I know I'll be wearing a pearl necklace that FMIL has given to me, so now all that remains is the rest...lol...I found this BEAUTIFUL bracelet that matches my ring and has pearls (how perfect is that???) however, it's by Tiffany's and therefore WAY OUT of my budget...but here it is...now just to find a perfect replicate of it...

Close up of the diamonds:

My great friend, Aprileen, created a company that sells Motives make up and invited me to one of their parties.  My MUA (Tina Punla) did a fantastic job I think, but there is definitely some room for tweaking (ie my brows definitely need shaping, the foundation is a lighter than my original color, but I wonder if it's the same as my neck, maybe have more dramatic false lashes, etc...).

BEFORE (sorry, I was sick when I went)....

AFTER:

Please feel free to comment! =D

When I was at the bridal salon and I realized how much money I would have to put down in order to get a decent looking veil, I was appalled.  My MOH's mother offered to make the veil and then I took it home and beaded it myself.  Please keep in mind that this was my 1st ever attempt to bead anything, so it may look a little amateurish, but the overall cost only came out to be under $5! =D

My inspirational picture (sorry it's soooo fuzzy):

My actual veil:

FI and I have been debating this one for awhile...we knew we wanted a warm, beach-y type setting, but because we're planning to go in late Sept., a lot of the locations we were thinking about would be in hurrican season.....FI figured out that if he booked through his company, he could get like a 60% discount, so he started looking....FI was diligently trying to work on booking out honeymoon and he got sooo involved with his clicking, that he confirmed out booking and now, we'll be heading to St. Lucia's Sandal Halcyon Beach resort in September for 7 days =)

I found them! =)  It took me awhile, but I FOUND THEM!  My beautiful shoes....which I think are similar to the CL bow shoe......and in a beautiful burnt orange...here are a few pictures (please excuse my background!) =D

Vendors

Venue - booked Edgewood
Cake - Flourgirls Wedding Cakes
Music - FI will bring iPod and docking stereo
Photographer - Coworker
Hotel Accomodations - Horizon Casino
Dress - Kay's Bridal: MS
Flowers - bridesign.com
Rehearsal Dinner - booked Blue Water Bistro

BM Pomanders
Favor/Escort Mints
Cupcake Stands
Table #s (Names of the UCSC colleges?)
Sign - In Guest Book
Getting Ready Clothes
BM Gifts
Table Program/Alki Menu/Thank yous
Veil

The day of didn't go as planned (of course), but there were some good things about it and some really bad things about it....when we arrived in Tahoe, I started coming down with a cold (sore throat and lots of coughing)....but FI & I didn't get to sleep until after 2 am the night before....a lot of our friends were getting in late that night and we had to prep some of them on the events that were to happen...but even though we didn't sleep a lot, I was up by like 6 am......we lounged around until 7 and FI started getting ready in our room since it was sooo early.  My girls didn't need to meet with me until after 8 am, so I just got as ready as I could without them there.  My MUA/friend did my make up first and then was able to touch up my BMs =)  Afterwards, we had to get the salon to get our hair done....I had the most flamboyent Texan I've ever met and he did the most FABULOUS job on my hair (loved it!).....and he only took about an hour!?!  We finished up there and we drove back to my hotel room to grab the flowers and last minute items and headed to the venue (which was like 5 minutes from our hotel). 

When we got there, I decided to get into my dress (because I wasn't sure how long it would take to get into it since it's a corset back)....then my BMs changed, my MUA touched me up some more and then the waiting began...we were sooo ahead of schedule....and I had such butterflies in my stomach....FINALLY, they said we were beginning....when I walked around the corner, FI said it looked like I was RUNNING down the aisle (lol, that's what I get for not having someone else walk with me!)...I realized I was walking really fast when I reached the start of the runner....

The ceremony was perfect and the weather was gorgeous....I couldn't have asked for a better day =)  Our reception was too much fun (too much alcohol, not enough food lol) and by the end of the reception, DH (!!) was throwing up and had to be dragged back to the hotel room by his new wife =P  When we were walking through the lobby, security was called and they were watching us as we walked across the lobby into the elevator.  LUCKILY, we made it back into our room and he proceeded to throw up for an hour and passed out until 5:30 the NEXT MORNING!  *sigh* we had a LOOOOOOONG talk the next morning and now we are man and wife =)  Here are some of the pics =)

GETTING READY:

MY SHOES (plus bling - thx Mrs. AnnaB83)!!

CEREMONY:

FIRST KISS:

PORTRIATS:

DH HELPING ME GET SAND OUT OF MY SHOES:

FAVORS/ESCORT CARDS:

CUPCAKES!

BANANA SLUG CAKE!

PARTY!!!!

THE BOYS JUMPING INTO THE LAKE

DH AT THE END (booo):