Inspiration

I've talked about dates, venues, plane tickets, dresses, but I have yet to discuss the look and feel of the wedding. Originally I was thinking maybe tropical colors, since we are getting married in Hawaii and all. Like lime green and teal. Or maybe something more "funky" like red and light blue.

But since we're getting married at a Japanese temple that is red, it made sense to make red our main color (Mr. Mek wasn't feelin' the red and blue). I had a hard time deciding what color to use to accent with red. I've thought of red and black (too formal for us), red and gray, red and fuchsia. Everyday I change my mind, but I think I'm leaning towards the red and fuchsia. My inspiration board:

Source: I unfortunately don't remember where I retrieved all the images, some were from wedding bee, the knot, paper-source, and style me pretty.

So let me explain my inspiration board. I want classy and a lil' vintage (ie. the peep toe shoes), with Japanese/Asian flair (think cherry blossoms, peonies, obi sashes, paper lanterns, etc.). I do want some originality/funk though too. Maybe paper flower bouquets instead of the usual flower bouquets. We'll play more on that idea later.

How difficult was it for you to decide your wedding "look"? Did you change your mind a million times like I did?

Ebay finds me a wedding dress!

I got my wedding dress!!! The Jenny Yoo, Kayla dress is all mine! And even better, it only cost me $320 from Ebay! The dress is originally $750.

I did have some Ebay "drama" though. About once a week or so, I check Ebay, just in case someone happens to post the Jenny Yoo dress. Last week, low and behold, there it was. MY Jenny Yoo dress. Ivory, in my size, listed for $300 + $20 shipping. It was meant to be. The seller claimed she had bought the dress off Ebay herself and it didn't fit her, so she was re-listing it. I contacted her to make sure it was an ivory dress and not cream. Cream has a very yellow tint and knowing my luck, I'd buy this supposed ivory dress and get a cream dress. She emails me back to confirm that it was definitely ivory. So I bid on it. Two days later the seller takes the auction off of Ebay. You could not even imagine my disappointment. The seller sends me an email, apologizing for taking the auction off Ebay, but that she had tried the dress on again and the zipper was a lil' dysfunctional. She didn't feel right selling the dress if it was "damaged". Funny thing is, I had talked to another bride before who also had a Jenny Yoo dress and she told me the same thing; that the zipper stuck a lot. I think it's a manufacturer thing, so I email her back to tell her that I would still love to buy it, as is for $300, if she's willing to part with it. And that was that. Four days later, the dress is sitting in front of my door. And it is PERFECT! Correct color, right size....the zipper does stick, but that can easily be replaced. Especially since I just saved myself $450! Gotta love Ebay!!

I'm CooCoo for Gocco!

Source: www.northwoodstudios.tripod.com

For those who already understand the phenomenon called "Gocco", can you believe I bought this sucker months, yes months, ago and only used it for the first time last night?! Well, with supplies being hard to get and costly, I was waiting for a good, first project. My Save the Dates (aka STD's).

With the wedding being in Hawaii and all, we thought it would be good to send out STD's to close family and friends that we hope will join us on our trip. I needed to send out something informational for our guests to make their travel arraignments a lil' more easier.

My inspiration: Knottie AmyinSydney's Passport STD

Don't worry I am making a note that passports aren't needed to travel to Hawaii if you are already states bound. LoL...you know someone would ask though!

The guts (all the informational pages) are just about ready to be printed. I have a friend who's doing an illustration for me to put in them, then I can print and put them together. Last night, I got a head start and gocco'd the cover. For my first gocco project I think it went pretty well. I used linen cardstock paper for the cover. Which made the print not as crisp as it would have been if the paper had not been linen. Check it out!

My first official gocco project and wedding DIY!

Graduation and Money Leis

Source: BYU Hawaii

My "baby" brother graduated from high school last week! He is 8 years my junior. Yes, Eight! I was sort-of a second mom to him, only more laid back and cooler! hehe.

When I graduated from high school, my mom made me a beautiful flower lei. Leis are often given at graduation (see image above) in Hawaii. It was nice that my mom shared that tradition with me even though we were living in good ol' Central PA. As my brother got ready to graduate himself, I wanted to share that tradition with him, but I didn't think he would really appreciate a flower lei. So, I made him a money lei.

I think I did pretty good for my first attemp. There's $50 smackeroo's in that thing! And of course, photos of the post-high school student, pre-college student...

How studly is he!!

Yes, we are 100% blood related. It's funny how genetics works out!

My Familia!

I am super proud of him and the man that he is becoming. I know that he will do great things in the future. Congrats brother Mek!