Ring Orb-nament

Ring orbs are a great alternative to the traditional ring pillow! Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so, Mrs. Bell Pepper and Mrs. Kiwi both loved this idea too.

For those who liked this idea but are having problems finding such a thing, look no farther! Here's a lil' twist on the idea...

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And these could be hung on your Christmas tree for years to come in remembrance of your special day. Red Envelope suggests that "write your dreams on the paper scrolls that accompany these ornaments, then tuck them inside the vivid enameled interiors and hang them on the tree. It’s the perfect vessel to hold your hopes for the year"

Thanks Malia for the suggestion!

Our dating years, in book form.

I have a habit of starting craft projects and then never finishing them. There was the pair of bell bottom pants I tried to hand sew in high school, or the sock monkey I never finished and I have a couple scrapbooks that are less than halfway done.

Most of my projects end up looking like this...not finished. source

Last year, when I was a bridesmaid and a friend's wedding, another bridesmaid and I started meeting once a week to scrapbook the bride's wedding events. In 6 months, we were able to scrap all the bridal events; the shower, the bachelorette party, and the wedding. We had gotten sooo much done that we decided to continue to meet once a week and start scrapping our own memories. She worked on a book for her husband and I started to scrap all the dating memories of Mr. Mek and I. ::click on images for larger images::

Mr. Mek and I (with friends) white water rafting in West Virgina.

Chillin' at the beach.

The condo Mr. Mek and I bought!

Our trip to Vegas.

Mr. Mek and I at a Little Brother hip hop show.

I've been working on the book for 5 months now, and I'm maybe halfway done. With a lil' over 3.5 months before we leave for Hawaii (YIKES), I'm hoping to have the book done by then so I can have it on display at our welcome BBQ. I've been working double time to get it done and am real excited to finally have finished something. I might actually finish a craft project! Mr. Mek knows I've been working on it and as much as I've tried to show it to him, he refuses to look at it and wishes to be surprised when it's all done.

Any projects you've been working on that might not be done before the deadline?

A guest at Tony n' Tina's Wedding

Once upon a time, before I had the honor of being a bee, the weddingbee honored me with 10 free tickets to see Tony n Tina's Wedding; an interactive off Broadway play.

Okay, okay, so I wasn't the original winner, but apparently the original winner of these tickets couldn't use them, so they were offered to me. There was no hesitation on my part to accept these "golden" tickets!

I was able to gather and coordinate with 6 of my bestest girls (do you know how hard it is to schedule a date between 7 girls?). We rented a 7 seater mini van and 6 of us drove the 2.5 hour drive to NYC together; the 7th girlie met us in the city.

We got to NYC a lil' early so we stopped in at the M&M store and walked a good mile to try Beard Papa's infamous cream puffs (and moochi ice cream! Yum!).

We knew we would be walking a lot so most of us wore sneakers and carried a pair of heels in our purses to change into later.

A and I chillin' at the M&M store.

Then it was onto the show! We had great, front and center seats. While the show lacked in plot, the characters where wonderful! They did a great job interacting with us and were just too damn hilarious!

The way the show is set up is you're guests at...well..Tony n' Tina's wedding. There was an entertaining ceremony, reception (Italian dinner! Yum!), complete with a wedding singer, dancing, champagne toast, and throwing of the bouquet.

One of the bridesmaids joining us for dinner.

I lil' pole dancing done by the father of the groom's girlfriend; the father of the groom is the one with his hands in the air.

My friend, K is preggers and so was one of the bridesmaids at Tony n' Tina's Wedding. Doesn't the bridesmaid kind of look like Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond?
Actually, 3 of my girls who trekked to NYC are pregnant! K is actually 8 months preggers and was walking around NYC like she owned the place!
Don't worry K wasn't really drinking, we just thought it would be funny to pose this shot.

These girlies were my old college roomies. We went to an art school outside of Philly for photography, so we HAD to pose with the wedding photographer. I asked him if he had a business card and this is what he pulled out of his pocket: Erotic Funerals?! I called the number later, out of curiosity and got the voicemail of someone named Joe. Maybe Joe is on Sal's revenge hit list? hehe. I blurred out the rest of Joe's number so he wouldn't get a million prank calls. Poor Joe.

At the end of the night, the wedding singer belted out a few tunes. I somehow got dragged up front with him. I have no idea what I'm doing in this photo; kind of looks like I'm singing with him (For the sake of all people, I don't sing in public!)

A lil' dancing. J, the girl in the grey pants on the end, is 5 months preggers and doing high-kicks. My friends are unbelievable.

The whole group with a couple cast members.

We were invited to the after party, but we had to unfortunately turn down the offer; we had a 2.5-3 hour car drive back to good ol' Central PA.

Most of my friends have kids (or are currently pregnant) , which makes it difficult for them to attend my wedding in Hawaii. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to have a girls day with them.

Money business

Money. A sensitive issue. Although, it seems one of the first questions we're asked when we tell people we're planning a wedding in Hawaii is, "Who's paying for the wedding?". Well, we are. Although my dad generously offered to pay for our luau reception/dinner. Mr. Mek and I will be paying for everything else, the bulk of the trip.

A few months ago I applied at a few retail stores in hopes that having a part-time job (on top of my current full-time job) would bring in extra income. Well, during the summer-time, retail stores aren't exactly booming with new hirees. Now I'm relieved that I wasn't called for an interview. I've been doing sooo much free-lancing photography that I barely have time to myself (let alone Mr. Mek). I haven't had a free weekend since the end of August. Since September 1st, I've done 3 weddings, a "1-year anniversary shot (from a wedding I did last year), and an Officer's ball. Besides being able to build up my portfolio and gain more experience, I've been able to pocket a nice chunk of change!

I gotta admit, I was hoping the retail job would help when it came to holiday shopping (store discounts!), but I really think I got the better end of the deal!

Some of my most current work:

click here for bigger image

A few of my favorite things...

Back to the OOT boxes...Contents!!

I talked earlier about the exterior of my out of town boxes, now for the fun stuff...the goodies! Majority of my guests have never been to Hawaii before, so I thought this would be a good way to introduce them to some of my island favorites. Hawaiian Sun (yum!), obviously macadamian nuts (Mauna Loa is actually a Hershey product now), Li Hing Mui covered candies, island inspired chips, to name a few.

Hawaiian Sun, Moana Loa, Li Hing Mui, Maui Style Chips

For the few Hawaii local guests that I will be in attendance, I thought maybe I should fill their bags with Pennsylvania treats. Whoopie pies! Hershey candies, Swiss Tea Cooler, and Utz chips. The Yuengling beer is there for fun, although that would be great if I could bring that to share too. :)

Martha Stewart, Hershey's, Swiss, Utz, Yuengling

Some other fun goodies I was thinking about was water guns, beach balls, water-proof disposable cameras, etc.

Oriental Trading Company

I'm also throwing in Oahu maps, Tylenol, postcards, and since these will be given out at the welcome BBQ, there will be map and directions to the wedding ceremony.

I'm also doing kiddie buckets! I only have a couple children that will be in attendance, so this will only cost a few dollars per kid. I found sand pails at Michael's for $1 each, great for sand castle making! Don't forget to check the Michael's & Target dollar bins! I found cute Hello Kitty coloring books for $1 a piece at Target that I plan to use in my kiddie buckets. I also found 24 pack of Crayola Crayons for 20 cents a piece. Keep your eye out for sales!

Image source, Target, Crayola (also a PA product!)

I am bringing the PA goodies, the boxes, buckets and such to Hawaii with me. The rest of the goddies (Hawaii snacks) will be bought once we get there.

What local items will your OOT bags have?

Wedding Day Jewelry.

I'm a very simple girl. While I do wear jewelry, I'm lazy and prefer to wear the same jewelry every day. I never take it off. I shower with it on, wash dishes with it on, I sleep with it on. But wedding day jewelry is supposed to be different, special even. I really didn't even search for jewelry. My mother is a jewelry fanatic. Most of the jewelry I have, she bought for me...from the time I was 6 till my early 20's. Some I've never even worn. Years ago my mom bought my grandmother a beautiful freshwater pearl bracelet. Last year it was given back to my mom and my mother handed it down to me. It's beautiful and I quickly and easily decided to wear it on my wedding day.

I decided to forgo a necklace (I'm keepin' it simple) but I am an earring whore and wanted some earrings to go along with the bracelet. I just didn't want to spend the money on more freshwater pearls, especially knowing I 'prolly won't wear them again. So random, I was shopping at Forever 21, totally NOT jewelry shopping and come across these... I bought them. And with needle nose pliers and wire cutters I transformed them to this:
While they don't totally match in color and shape, I think they are close enough. I don't think anyone else will notice unless I'm holding my wrist up to my ears the whole day. Which I don't plan on doing. :o) Here's what they look like together...
And the best part?! They cost me less than $4!! See for yourself!
Did you make or "fix" your jewelry?

Filipino Traditions

I've talked about a lot of different Japanese elements that will be in our wedding; sadly, I know more about the Japanese culture than my own. I'm assuming mother Mek had a rough childhood in the Philippines because she prefers not to talk about the Philippines unless asked, and even then it is pretty vague. The little I do know is from my time living in Hawaii. Mr. Mek (if at all possible) knows less than I do about Filipino culture. Although MIL Mek loves her country and is very open about it, Mr. Mek grew up in central PA farmland and just never showed much of an interest in his culture.

I would love to have our Filipino side represented, but I'm not exactly sure how to do that. First let me explain (the little I know) Filipino wedding traditions:

Traditional Filipino attire

Most of the Philippine's wedding traditions are similar to Spanish and Mexican traditions because of the influence of early 18th century Spanish missionaries where the presence and support of family and friends are important and are symbolized in different ways throughout the ceremony.

Sponsors

Most have special "sponsors" who act as witnesses to the marriage. The principal sponsors could be godparents, counselors, a favorite uncle and aunt, even a parent. Secondary sponsors handle special parts of the ceremony, such as the candle, cord and veil ceremonies.

Unity Coins
The groom gives the bride 13 coins, blessed by the priest, as a sign of his dedication to his wife’s well-being and the welfare of their future children. The priest dribbles the coins into the groom's open palms, trickling like a waterfall into the bride's hands and onto a plate. The trickling of the coins is a sign of fidelity bestowed irrevocably. The thirteen coins or arrhae (from the Spanish word Arras, "earnest money") traditionally symbolizes the groom’s ability of to support his bride and confirms his position as the breadwinner of their future family and represents the sharing of spiritual, emotional, and material wealth and prosperity for each month of the year with an extra to spare assuring luck for the newlyweds and their future family the whole year through and beyond.

Unity Coins

Candles
The candles, lit by the candle sponsors, is a call for enlightenment, a reminder of God's presence in the ceremony. The candle ceremony symbolizes the lighting of the way for the couple.

Veil
The veil sponsors drape and pin the veil (a long white tulle) on the groom’s shoulder and over the bride’s head. This symbolizes the union of two people ‘clothed’ as one, and the union in marriage as husband and wife and expresses the promise of purity, sanctity, faith, loyalty, health and protection as well as the unity of the two families into one.

Veil ceremony

Cord
The cord sponsors stand up with the cord (a silken rope, a string of flowers or links of coins) and entwines the cord loosely around the bride and groom in the form of a figure eight, placing each loop loosely around the neck/shoulder area of the couple. This symbolizes the infinite bond of marriage, a union that lasts a lifetime bound by mutual love.

Cord

Money Dance
The concept of "Money Dance" is that the male guests pay for the privilege of dancing with the bride, and by extension, female guests pay for the privilege of dancing with the groom. The money is to be used for the bride and groom's honeymoon or to give them a little extra money for starting their life together. Plus, it gives each guest a chance to spend a few private moments with the bride or groom.

monies, monies

Money Dance

sources for content: here and here

My issues:

• Most of these traditions are Catholic practiced. I am not religious (at all), let alone Catholic. Can I still pull these traditions off? Notice that in the images of the veil and cord ceremony the bride and groom are kneeling (most likely a Catholic ceremony), I am having an outdoor wedding and would prefer not to kneel in grass. Can I do these traditions standing? Can I do one ceremony without the other (aka, can I pick and choose which traditions I want to do)?
  
• We are having a VERY small, intimate wedding. As of now we know of about 6-8 family members who are attending. We are not having bridesmaids and groomsmen, let alone sponsors. In fact, as of now, besides my parents there will only be 1 other couple that is still married and they are my age (everyone else is either not married or divorced).
  
• Having a small wedding, we are not having a traditional reception (taking everyone to a casual luau dinner instead), so no money dance for us.

Filipina Brides, any suggestions? Did I miss anything?