yipee skippy!!!

amy liao, one of my bridesmaids, is one of the most creative persons i have ever met. when she's not creatively trying to survive dental school, she vents her creativity by making things. and look what she made me!!!!!!!


i love penguins (though the love is lessining with time) and so amy combined this love with the wedding toppers i was thinking of getting! mr. penguin even has the slit eyes and bowtie! i am so blessed. =)

unfortunately, these cute babies burned in the oven because amy lost the baking directions for this clay. this is what happened:


she was so heartbroken, and i am so mean and was laughing hysterically when i saw these. mr. penguin has boils on his face! HAHAHA. mr. zok said that it looks like mrs. penguin beat up mr. penguin. hahahaha.

amy said she is going to try again. isn't she amazing?? i think she should sell these. =)

in other news, i have been having terrible terrible headaches lately. i think it is from wedding planning. =/

outdoor wedding

my plan is to have an outdoor wedding. whether or not monterey's normally overcast skies will cooperate with me is one thing to consider, as is cost if i want an ocean view. but august is usually pretty sunny in monterey, so hopefully God will let it be sunny on our wedding day. =)

some options we have are

intercontinental the clement monterey
pro: really close to home and the famous monterey aquarium, brand new venue, might be able to get a deal!
con: pacific grove tends to be more overcast than other areas of the bay, can't find pictures of the ballroom!

tehama golf club
pro: pretty pretty pretty everything
con: pretty far from home

pebble beach
pro: ocean view, close to home, pretty much my dream wedding
con: price i hear is reasonable, but still hesitant

berwick park
pro: ocean view, close to home
con: max 100 people, if you're not facing the ocean you face houses, separate reception venue needed

bernardus lodge
pro: pretty indoor and outdoor areas
con: kind of far

club del monte
pro: good rates, pretty venue
con: need clearance of all guests b/c it's a naval academy

carmel valley ranch
pro: pretty venue indoor and out
con: far from home

pasadera country club
pro: pretty outdoor area
con: not in love with banquet hall and a little far
quail lodge
pro: beautiful indoor and outdoor
con: $$$ and far

i won!

so a perk about reading so many wedding blogs is that you get to enter into tons of contests. i have probably entered myself into about 15 free giveaway contests, and i won one! i got a $75
gift card to www.beau-coup.com.

now what in the world do i buy???? $75 could technically pay for like 1/3 of my favors if not more! PLEASE HELP!

stationery inspiration!

recently, my old friend veronica shin became veronica kim. she just posted pictures of her wedding on facebook and i was FLOORED at how pretty the entire shebang was. it was in true veronica shin/kim fashion. i told mr. zok that the wedding was outdoors in 105 degree heat and then 95 degree heat at nighttime, and mr. zok's response: sorry, but i would not get married! he is kidding... i hope. =) but here is my favorite favorite FAVORITE part of her wedding:

she had this cute theme of books throughout her wedding since her family is obsessed with books, so her wedding planner last-minute thought of this brilliant idea to make her guestbook in old card-catalogue fashion! so those pink and white papers are little card catalogue slips. SWOON! [picture courtesy of thetreasuredpetal.wordpress.com] maybe i am obsessed with this because i am an english teacher.

then today i ran across this in the bride and bloom magazine at borders.

they are RECIPE CARDS! and they are so cute! if i were a baker or a cook, i would totally do these. but i am neither. i am actually domestically challenged.

c'mon brain! be creative! what will we do for our cute paper goods? esp if i gocco them? =/

escort cards

isnt this just lovely?


courtesy of tenthousandonly.blogspot.com

ring bear and flower girl

so i just found out recently that a ring bear is not called a ring bear, but instead a ring bearER. i was so incredibly sad to find out so. i just thought it was called a ring bear because bears are cute and so are these little boys. oh well.

john and i have already set our ring bear and flower girl. i will not disclose names. if my pooh bear could walk, he would do the job though. it would mean the world to me. but alas, he is not "real" and thus cannot walk down the aisle.

regardless, i am very fond of our ring bear and flower girl, and here are some little things i would like for them to use!

tuxedo to match mr. zok

this dish for the rings instead of a pillow. maybe. but i think i will buy it either way. i love it.

look at these little booties! (she will be over a year by then, so i don't know if this will work)

save the dates

hello everyone!

well, i have been thinking about what to do with our save the dates (or STD as I'll call it from now on). I have seen some amazingly cute magnets, stickers for calendars, and others that match the theme of the wedding. Being in jennie fashion though, i need to make it more interesting and thus more complicated. so this is what i'm thinking....

LUGGAGE TAGS!

I was thinking of doing luggage tags as a favor since people are coming from far away to celebrate with us, but i can't find any that i feel are nice enough to go with the ambience of the wedding i'm hoping to create. so i think it will be perfect for a STD, especially since then they can use it when they come!

here is my preliminary design so far:


the top image is of google maps of where the wedding will be, and in the blurb it says save the date and yada yada. the bottom image would be the back, which would have our guests' personal information so they don't have to fill out those dinky address strips AND it'll be colorful so their bags are easier to find. obviously not all of our guests will be michigan alumn, so i am thinking of making them relative to each person's university. but we'll see-- that might be too taxing. and i think i might do a softer yellow, even though that yellow epitomizes michigan, and put a navy blue border around the edge.

any input?