Wilmington Wedding

what is a good restraunt to get seafood by the river in wilmington NC? my hubby and i are going there tonight andi really want crab legs lol

Hi ladies!  Geez...it feels like forever since I've really "been" on PW.  I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well!

A few weeks ago myself, rlevangraafeiland (Rebbecca) and hmz819 (Heather) met up for some after work drinks and dinner.  Now, we did not spend $80 on alcohol, but we did have a great time!  Here are a few pics!

hmz819, jasminealaine, rlevangraafeiland

heather_sickles08 couldn't make it at the last minute, so we are going to plan another G2G soon! 

I am planning a wedding in Wilmington NC for April 16, 2011.  It seems so far away but it will be here before I know it.  Any other Wilmywood brides out there?

Yeah!

I finally had the pleasure to meet rlevangraafeiland this weekend at the Cape Fear Bridal Expo.  We didn't have a lot of time to chat, but we plan to get together again soon!

We tried to take a picture, by my camera forgot to do its job and focus.  Sorry!  

I lost track of this tread (I forgot to save it).... 

Here are the details that I remember: Saturday the 28th, 1pm at Iron Hill Brewery in Wilmington, DE

Who's still in? Are we still doing the bio quiz?

I wanted to post something on the NY/NJ Board in case anyone missed Smita's previous posts!

Who: East Coast PW Girls

What: Get Together

When: Saturday March 28th Lunchtime

Where: www.ironhillbrewery.com (is that still the location Smita?) Wilmington, DE

Why: That's obvious!!!!!! So all us fabulous NJ/NY/DE/PA ladies close to Wilmington can meet and hang out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drive times:

• Southern NJ: a little over an hour
• Philadelphia: about 45 minutes
• Newark: 2 hours
• Allentown, PA: 1.5 hours
• Scranton, PA: 2.5 hours
• Trenton, NJ: little over an hour
• Albany, NY: 4.5 hours

Just want to make sure I don't commit a wedding faux pas!

Catering~MountainState Catering in Bridgeport, WV

Florist~Cara Ewald of Blooms in Bridgeport, WV
www.bloomswv.com

Photographer~Tim Ray Photography in Fairmont, WV
www.timrayphoto.com

Ceremony Violinist~Anne Hamilton of the West Virginia Symphony

Ceremony Cellist~Susan Bestul (played principal cello for Luciano Pavarotti in 1998)

DJ Services~Ed Morrison's Night Life Entertainment in Bridgeport, WV

Invitations~Casey Combs McGuire, Graphic Designer in Wilmington, NC

Cake~Joy Anderson of Bridgeport, WV

Chairs/Tables/Linens~MPE Rentals in Morgantown, WV
www.mperentals.com

Bridal Gown~Coni & Franc in Morgantown, WV
www.coniandfranc.com

Bridesmaid Dresses~TJ Formal
www.tjformal.com

Flower Girl Dresses~www.cutieclothes.com

Groom/Groomsmen/Ring Bearer Tuxedos~S&K Menswear in Charleston, WV

Favors~Mrs. Miller's in Amish Fredericksburg, OH~www.mrsmillersnoodles.com

Rings~TK Dodrill Jewelers in Huntington, WV
www.dodrilljewelers.com

This is a really small scale example...I am using it as inspiration for my own invites that are being designed by one of my bridesmaids, Casey Combs McGuire, who is a very talented graphic designer in Wilmington, NC. I love how you can see the names through the transparent paper.

So here's the story of how we hooked up and eventually fell in love... at least from my(Alex) point of view.

For those of you who know me well, you know I like to tell long winded stories, and that I always start from a beginning that seems way to far in the past with barely any relevance to the main part of the story.  So to follow with tradition, this story will be no different.

It all started with a magical food commonly referred to as the Turducken.  For those of you who have never heard of it, its basically a chicken, stuffed into a duck, which is then stuffed into the turkey, hence the name Tur-Duck-En.  All three birds are first de-boned, so when you cut into the combination, you get a clean slice of all three meats.  I first heard about it from one of my roommates, Jonathan Lee, and I set myself to creating it one lonely thanksgiving day in 2006.  My first attempt at it didn't turn out too bad, but I did leave all the bones in each bird so it was difficult to eat.  Fast forward to 2007.  My parent's were in town for thanksgiving and I decided I would once again brave the task of making a turducken.  I was determined to do it right that year and debone each bird.  It took me hours but I finally had it all prepared and ready to bake.  I invited a few of my friends over and we all had a very nice dinner with my folks while watching "The Dog Whisper" on the Discovery Channel.  I thought the Turducken turned out decent, but not as awesome as I had hoped.  However, my parent's went totally nuts over how great it was.  I was really taken aback at there enthusiasm, but felt proud to have impressed my parents.  Before they left to go back to fresno, they told me that when I was to visit fresno for Christmas of 2007, I would prepare the Turducken again for their guests at a big dinner party at the house.  For those who know me well, you know I can't turn down the chance to cook for a big group of people.  Its one of those things that bring me joy.  So anyways, I made it again for the Christmas party and people who ate it generally liked it.  One person who happened to like it was the mother of a girl who getting married to a guy named Tim, who was getting married in May of 2008.  Let's back track a little.  I met Tim at my parent's house the previous year, when his parent's were visiting my parent's in fresno.  Tim was getting married to the older sister, but the younger sister was still single so like any good mother, the wheels in her head started to turn.  This nice lady suggested to my parents that I be invited to go to the wedding with them and be introduced to her daughter.  Of course I didn't know any of this and my parent's keep their secret plot from me until that fateful Mother's Day weekend. 

The wedding was scheduled the day before Mother's Day of 2008.  It was somewhere in LA and whenever my parent's come to visit me down here in southern cali, they usually stay at Uncle Ted's house.  Okay, let's back track again.  Uncle Ted is a friend of the family that I've known since I was in high school.  My parent's had gotten to know him as a PhD in Engineering who happened to be selling Pretzels.  My dad, who is always promoting Caltrans to anyone in the engineering field, immediately helped him get a job at Caltrans.  After another year or so, my parents would also be instrumental in helping Uncle Ted hook up and marry Rebecca, who is his unquestionable soul mate.  Okay, now back to the main story line.  My parent's are staying Uncle Ted's house that Friday before Mother's day weekend and Uncle Ted happens to have a secret plot with my parents as well.  He had been wanting to introduce me to a young lady at his church who he thought would be perfect for me for a couple years, and now was his opportunity.  For that mother's day weekend, I had decided to also go and stay at uncle ted's house so I could spend more quality time with my parents.  I was to eat dinner at their place on friday night and then go to his church, were my parents would eventually arrive and meet up with me.  So after a nice korean bbq style dinner at his place, I was taken to his church where I thought I would go listen to the choir practice.  However, when we got there I was ushered into another room where about 10 young adults and the main pastor were having there weekly bible study.  I was warmly welcomed with bright smiles and an ear full of questions, but all in the Chinese language.  Now, I'm what they lovingly refer to as a ABC (American Born Chinese), so my Chinese skills are somewhat limited.  I gave it my best shot though, and after about 30 minutes, they finally decided to let me speak English.  In all the time of questioning, I happened to observe one person was busy serving the others.  Not only was she serving, but she seemed to do it naturally and with kind of glow.  She was also very mindful of the others.  For instance, she would over hear that someone needed something and then go out of her way to get it.  So even though I was trying to focus on giving adaquate answers to the questions, I was distracted by this pretty girl who was joyfully serving the others.  By the end of the night, we really hadn't said much to each other but she did ask for my e-mail so she could contact me about future events that her group was going to have.  So I gave her my e-mail that then my parents finally arrived to pick me up and take me back to Uncle Ted's house. 

The next day we went to the wedding and I was still wondering what I was doing there.  I had really only met Tim for one day and I felt really out of place.  However, being the good son, I tagged along because it was still good quality time with my parents.  Right after the ceremony, there was an hour or so before the reception where I was quickly introduced to the sister.  At that point, I knew why I was invited to the wedding.  I awkwardly said hello, and felt like jumping ship immediately.  She was pretty, but being the shy guy that I am, I quickly looked like I wasn't paying attention and was praying the awkwardness would end soon.  Luckily, she was a bride's maid and had other, more important things to attend to.  So we all finally left for the reception and that was pretty much the end of my encounters with the turducken set up girl.  I bet you all were waiting for something more dramatic, but that's it.   

The following day, I woke up ready to go to Uncle Ted's church again.  In the back of my mind, I was excited to see that wonderful girl again and hopefully be able to talk to her some more.  I got my chance at lunch time, when a few of the young adults ate lunch together at the church pot luck.  However, being the shy guy that I am, I didn't end up talking to her much.  By the end of lunch, it seemed like I had talked to everyone else but her.  Later on I noticed that the dishes were stacking up in the kitchen sink and went to go clean them.  After that, I said good bye to all the nice church folks and went back to Uncle Ted's place with my parents.  Later that night, I mentioned to my parents that I had noticed one of the girls at Uncle Ted's church and was slightly interested.  I followed that up by saying, "please don't tell Uncle Ted and Rebecca".  About fifteen minutes later, when we were preparing to leave and part ways, my dad says to me with a bright and proud smile, "I told Uncle Ted".  Sigh.....

So I get a e-mail from this nice girl, whose name if you haven't guessed, is Christen, and it mentioned something about a trip to the Getty Muesum (they still haven't gone on that trip by the way).  So I took the opportunity to reply back and mention how I did a lot of talking that night with all her friends, but I didn't get to really hear anything about her.  So she replied back with some interesting facts about her and with some questions about me.  So I replied back and asked her some more questions, and so on and so forth for about four or five e-mails.  Now here's where I got lame and decided to ask her out by e-mail.  I mentioned that if she wasn't interested then she should make up some good excuse so I wouldn't feel so bad.  So of course she replied back with what I thought was a lame, but true, excuse.  Half way through the e-mail I was kind of disappointed but as I read further I found out she was j/k and accepted my request.  I know, I know, ....lame/gag, but what counts is that I got the date. I felt on top of the world.  

So our first date was interesting because I took her to a film festival, whose theme was bringing awareness to human trafficing and slavery.  Kind of deep for a first date, but my friend Johnny, who was one of the organizer's of the event, ensured that it wasn't all serious all the time.  He was right and we had a great time watching all the short films.  We then had a late night dinner at a Ramen restaurent with a spicy noodle challenge.  I had seen the advertisement on youtube, so I decided it would be fun for a date since we were in the area anyways.  Sadily I failed at the challenge because I didn't want to look like a slob, but I did learn some valuable information which made me more attracted to her.  The words were quite simple but they made time stand still for me for just a moment... "I love to eat rare steak and eating meat off the bone, like ribs"...and my heart almost burst with joy.  

Of course, in the next few dates we share more intimate and important details about our lives, in which I really started to fell like she was definately "the one".  At this point we hadn't even held hands but I had my secret plot to make this transistion smooth and as non awkward as possible.  I decided to take her ice skating hoping she was around the same level as me and need to hold my hand.  Everything went as planned and I got to hold her hand for the first time.  The next day, I decided to have a DTR (define the relationship) with her and told her I felt we should move from being a dating couple to being officially BF and GF.  That fateful day, at an IHOP, on sunday morning of 6/29/2008, we offically became a couple. 

About 2 months into the relationship, I had come to realize that I truly loved this beautiful woman.  She exceeded everything I had come to expect in a relationship, and it was as if God had made her just for me.  Even though I new it was fast, I already started planning the proposal. 

I always imagined my proposal to be something big, with a lot of people, and very dramatic.  But after much thought and debate with my friends, I came to realize that a intimate proposal would suit us much better.  So I decided to take her to the most beautiful scenic spot I had come across in my years down in southern california.  This spot was the Korean Friendship Bell in Wilmington/San Pedro.   The area is basically like a cliff or hill over looking the pacific ocean.  Since it was her birthday as well, I told her we were having a picnic with just the two of us for lunch at San Pedro, and then we'd have a BBQ with her friends at her place for dinner.  I brought along my guitar for the picnic, saying that I wanted to practice it for a song I wanted to learn.  After we ate, and the sun happened to break through the cloudy sky, I pulled out the guitar and played "I want to grow old with you" by adam sandler, from "The Wedding Singer" movie.  After many mistakes, I finally finished the song and then pulled out the ring.  I asked if she wanted to grow old with me, which slightly confused her, so I eventually changed the question to "will you marry me?" to which she finally said yes! 

So that was on 11/23/2008 and to this day, she has gotten more beautiful with each passing day, and I wonder what I ever did to get to be so blessed.  Come to think of it though, I know what I did..........

I made a turducken :D

The End [but really just the beginning ;)]   

Will You Be My Bridesmaid:  I asked my bridesmaids to "be my bridesmaid" with a personalized monogrammed martini glass.  I bought four martini glasses and acrylic glass paint from AC Moore.  Included with them was a personalized tag that asked them to "be my bridesmaid" or "matron of honor".

Card Box:  I bought the box from AC Moore and cornflower blue ribbon from Joann's.  First I painted the box silver, then cut out the hole for the cards in the top.  I took a piece of ribbon that was exactly the size of the circumference of the box and hot glued it to the box.  The bow is actually made out of 4 different pieces of ribbon, one length for the loops, two for the ends and one for the middle portion.  I hot glued them together and then attached to the box.  Not shown in the photos is a candlestick that I painted the same color as the ribbon and then attached to the bottom of the box so it was elevated like a cake pedestal.  I hot glued the candlestick to the bottom of the box.  I will follow-up with pro pics. 

Save the Date Postcards:  I used VistaPrint to print our postcards, and I will say they did a fabulous job!  I designed them via Photoshop using our engagement pictures.  They included the place, date, and our website.  Many people misread our save the date's and thought our wedding was on the 13th instead of the 30th because it was spelled out.  But most of them realized we weren't getting married on a Wednesday!  This is where we first introduced our monogram.

Invitations:  These were a lot of work, but in the end very rewarding.  No one could believe that we had made them.  They also were amazingly inexpensive to make, the postage cost almost as much as the materials!  The paper products were bought from envelopemall.com and Michaels.  I got the velum for the wrap on clearance at Michaels in 12x12 sheets and the ribbon was $1 per roll, and I used about 3 or 4 rolls.  Thanks to my trusty Xyron was able to run the name tags through it so that and the ribbon would stick to the vellum bellyband.  All the scroll graphics were done by stamping in blue with a clear stamp by Inkinado and then embossed with a white pearl embossing powder.  The fonts used were Copper Alt Caps and Sylfaen.  The parts included: Main Invite, Reception Card, Vellum Belly Band, Directions/Accommodations Card, and a Response Card/Envelope. 

Bracelet:  My inspiration came from both Haute Bride and Dana Saylor on Etsy.  Mine was slightly different, with the beads and pearls that I used.  I ended up spending about $20 to make it.

Hair Flower Clips:  I made two versions of these, the first one I didn't like as much as the second, but I ended up attaching them to some frames on the guest book table.  To make them I disassembled a silk flower, glued back a couple of the layers together, and then hot glued the pearls to the middle.  I then glued a feather to the back and a little alligator clip.  I attached them to the bridesmaids gift packages and not only were they useful, they also added a lot of flair to the package!

Mock-Up Bridal Bouquet:  Since I did all of our florals I wanted to make sure it was something I could do by doing a test run.  I bought a dozen roses and 4 stems of hydrangea from Fresh Market.  I made the bouquet the night before my bridal shoot and somehow it survived a two hour ride to Wilmington and being left in the car for quite some time(albeit in a cooler with ice part of the time). **Excuse my dreadful look, It was right after work!**

Use of these photos must be credited to Jason Armond Photography Videography.  You can check out his website here: jasonarmond.com and his blog here: jasonarmond.bigfolioblog.com.

The wedding was on May 30th, 2009 at The Ruins of St. Phillips Church at Brunsiwck Town State Historic Site in Winnabow, NC.  The reception was held at The Balcony on Dock Street in Downtown Wilmington, NC. 

   Shoes by Nine West

  DIY bracelet that took 4 hours!

  Bride robe from Victoria's Secret courtesy of one of my bridesmaids

Grooms/Groomsmen Tuxes from MW Tux in Calvin Klein Shadow Stripe Two-Button Notch Lapel

   My dress was Saison Blanche Botique Style 3010, bought at Bridal Mart in Burlington, NC

Orton Plantation in Winnabow, NC

The Ruins of St. Philips Church at Brunswick Town State Historic Site

Walking to the Ceremony

Walking down the aisle