Exciting

(photo credit to whoever Uncle Butch borrowed this from, hehe, he always posts some interesting pix)
:)

Unity Candles

Mike and I decided to have a "Unity Candle" ceremony.

(it added an extra 5 mins to the ceremony, hehe)

also, we got to choose sponsors to light the skinny candles and be apart of the wedding!

I decorated the candles myself, with my orange ribbon, string of pearls, and regular glue.

( i ran out of hot glue gun sticks .... the white glue suxxxxx!!! )

but, they came out perfect, and cant wait to use them again, possibly during our anniversary? who knows. I dont even know where I stored em. ooops.

VictoriousCKRIT

thats my gamertag for xbox,
add me if u'd like.
it took me almost a week to get over the fact that my usual screen name 'six7maro' was already taken.
oh well, time to move on.
new year, new console, new gamertag.

mike got THEKNUTSACKS

gamertag still. thats his.

this is mine.

yay :)

VictoriousCKRIT loves THE KNUTSACKS 

just as much as

six7maro loves KillaGreenBug ;)

Hello!

Have a great night!

Yummies for tummies

I grabbed a handfull of these to-go from xmas eve in DC. Boy oh boy i wish i grabbed more! Hot diggity these are the bomb!
Arlene made them. Its a red velvet cookie thing with frosting in the middle...sorry, dont kno the actual name yet. Lol.

DIY: Thank You Card

A very huge thank you!! 

Making cards is one of my favorite hobbies...birthday cards, christmas cards, invitations, 

and now - thank you cards!

Here I am making my thank you cards.

(ugh, not my best looking day here)

These are actual pieces of my wedding dress.

Its rolled up and tied with a thin orange ribbon.

the thank you cards in the making:

Front of Card:

It says:

"Once upon a time,

long long ago,

Somewhere far far away,

it was considered good luck to have a piece of the brides wedding dress."

(okay it doesnt exactly say that, but I accidentally printed out a whole bunch before proof-reading it)

So, thats what it shoulda said. lol.

Flip up that orange paper and underneath you'll find a note saying:

" Genuine piece of Victoria's wedding dress :) "

Inside of card:

"Whether it be a shooting star, dream catcher, penny, shamrock, or a piece of dress - 

we wish you good luck, good health, good lovin' and happiness for today and everyday."

Then there'd be another area where we'd give our thanks :)

Is that statement true?

Yes, it is (I think!)!

I came to find this lucky charm because i was interested in how wedding traditions began. so i googled a buncha stuff...Like, why the bride and groom drinks bubbly with their arms interlocked, or, why bride and groom feed eachother their cake, or, why there's a bouquet toss, etc etc....

Anyhoo - 

Once upon a time, long long ago, somewhere far far way,

as the wedding reception party was coming to an end, the guests (mainly men) of the wedding would chase after the bride to get a piece of her dress for good luck.

The guests would practically tear and rip any piece of that dress just to have that lucky charm.

(this was most likely at a time where women had no say in anything)
You can already imagine how pissed a bride would be if anyone ripped her dress...like, the stories I read on this made it sound barbaric! Crazyness!

So, later on in the world, ONE bride stood up to this madness, and stopped this tradition and replaced it with a new tradition - The Garter Throw.

As opposed to multiply guests tearing her dress apart at the end of the reception, it became a show for everyone to enjoy.

A show where the groom would seductively remove the brides garter, and throw "that piece of clothing" for one lucky man to catch, who then would receive this good luck charm.

and thats the background story of our thank you card.

And this is the picture on the back of the thank you card:

 

haha, i love this picture. how can you NOT smile?

I cropped/edited this pic in photoshop. and developed it in 4"x6" pics. 

cut them in half and delicately taped this to the back of the card.  

Hope everyone saw it! & its removable too :)

We've heard so much feed back about our thank you card.  I'm glad you folks enjoyed it.

Few common questions/statements we hear about the card:

"Its so cute."

"I didn't know there was a picture in the back!"

"I can remove the pic too?"

"Oh, I thought it was like a postcard. I didnt know you can open it." (haha, Twen!!)

"Is this really a part of your dress?" (answer: yes it is!)

"Did you really cut your dress?" (answer: yessss :)  )

well, thats the story...thanks for checkin us out!

Cheers!

Table Chart

I created this myself.
This was used to let guests know whereabouts in the ballroom is their table.

 

Check out the double doors! :)

It actually took A LOT of  time to create in photoshop....I guess it was more time consuming because this can be "finished" with so many different looks. And switching from one design to the next took so much of my days.  Well, finally stopped myself from shifting tables .05" to one side and made it an official PDF. 

lol.

Have a nice day!

blackberry playbook pics

hello! hope everyone had a great christmas holiday!  we sure had a busy (and extremely fun weekend!)

christmas is so delicious :)

we spent xmas eve at dc, xmas morning breakfast at granma and lolos, and xmas night in ssf.

we gave movie tix to immediate family members...we sure got some sweet gifts ! one of which is a blackberry playbook which im blogging with right now! (thanks uly and arlene!)

other highlights:

xbox 360, kinect, michael jackson experience and dance central 3, wine train tix, movie tix, board games, gift cards, personalized tree ornaments, house slippers, work clothes, wooo... we have alot to be thankful for this year!

thank you thank you thank you!

hello

happy tuesday!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

...not during spare thr air weekend!! Cant believe california chose christmas weekend to NOT burn firelogs :/
Oh well...heres the next best thing!

our new toy...the blackberry playbook

Merry Christmas!

This reminds me...we have tons of laundry to do! Thank goodness for work holidays! :)

Merry Christmas to Doggies :)

From Beans

Xmas 2010

All in!

Mike's four of a....

Good laugh

Haha :)

Happy Birthday, Mom :)

=)

Lights out at The Stick!

MNF 12/19/11

49ers: 20
Steelers: 3

DIY: The Multi-Tasking Table Number Sign and Guestbook

I am so proud of myself for this one! i havent seen this anywhere on the web, and i have a feeling this idea will be used again...

alrighty -

so, these are the signs for the table numbers during the reception.

this also acts as our guestbook where friends and family can sign in and drop a friendly note.

these are 8"x10" black picture frames (dollar store) without the glass.

on a pre-cut flat white cardstock, i pasted orange construction paper that acted as a border for the table number sign.

on the table sign, (cant really read it out in the pic) it says:

"Greetings Table #2,

Sign your name, write a note, 

short poem, your favorite quote,

draw a picture, send your wishes,

words of wisdom, lipstick kisses,

tell a joke, or share advice,

something sweet for victoria and mike."

i came up with the complete poem myself, but i did lots of googling to find the right words.

once i got all the words i liked, i kinda just smashed it together and came up with this. 

okay, moving on..

behind that white cardstock , i used 60pt chipboard (really really thick cardstock) for support for the guest writing on the frame.

then i tied some elastic cord on the back leg stand to hold a pen. guests use the pen to sign the exposed white card on the frame.

during the reception the bride and groom visit each table and take a photo.

then after the wedding is over, all the thank you cards are sent, and we're all caught up with the times, these table number signs come out of the black frames, and then the photo of that table gets pasted over the table sign, then it goes in the scrapbook :)

it was fun to read everyones special notes for us :)

we enjoyed all the artwork, and totally appreciated all the lipstick kisses :)

funny jokes, heartwarming memories, advice about making babies, and well wishes :)

Display stand for the Reception Placecards

This DIY project was pretty fun too, really time consuming (only because I did it the "long" way, and kept running outta materials), but a great way to make our wedding truly "ours".

DIY: Envelope/Card Box

One of the funnest crafts I made for the wedding!

 I started off by finding 3 different (but somewhat similar) sized boxes. 

From biggest (bottom) to smallest (top tier). 

...This was not easy to find, took a few weeks of searching!

 

When stacked on top of eachother, I outlined where the top box met with the bottom box.

I cut a hole about 1" inside that outline.

 

I covered the boxes with my aisle runner...

Why the aisle runner? 

Because I had 30 yards of this pretty fabric! :P (i actually only needed 10ish yards).

I then glued on some orange ribbon to go with our orange color scheme.

I puffed up a bow on the top tier, and hot glued it down.

I found a pretty orange flower, and stuck it in there too. Not bad.

I used a string of pearls to border the "envelope" opening on the top tier. 

It made it pop a lil bit.

 

Reception Dinner Placecards

Super easy, but more time consuming than I thought

The Groom's & Groomsmen Accessories

The Serendipity Invitations

I looked far and wide for invitations that we liked. This was hard.
I didnt go to an actual "wedding invitation" store because im not gonna spend $3-$5 per invite, and that wouldnt include rsvp cards.
So i order a few free invitation catalogs.
I got my first catalog within a matter of days. This company really meant business.
It was from Anne's Bridal Bargains. Check em out at Annsbridalbargains.com.
I opened the first page and find the invitations we both LOVE! First page! For real!
They were reasonably priced, and in our color scheme - orange!
It was pretty difficult to find nice "orange" wedding invitations, not sure why because we were in the season (fall) !
Well, we found the perfect invite, recieved a sample pretty quickly, and immediately made an order online.

The name of the invite design is Serendipity. Color = Tangerine.

I love this serendipity design, picture a network of hearts, and somewhere somehow the two orange hearts meet and fall in love :)

The font was one of their options. Its called Copperplate. Its not the same copperplate as what we have on Windows.

And the RSVP cards:

Fun fact: the rsvp cards that we got back will be used in our wedding scrapbook :)

*If i could, i wouldve done the rsvp's a lil differently than the norm. I didnt think this format would be so difficult, but when dealing with families of 5+ including their significant others - it was pretty confusing. Easy fix tho, just a quick phone call or text.

If i could re-do my rsvp's: (future brides, take note if u'd like)
I'd send out X amount of rsvp cards to the family, one rsvp per person.
The card would read:
Please respond by Date.
A line where the guest can write his/her name.
Under that will be a checkbox for attending ir not attending.
Under that would be a checkbox with the dinner plate options. If its a couple i'm sending it out to, then i'd send out 2 cards (still 1 return envelope). If its a family of 5 (i.e. 2 parents, 2 teens, 1 adult), i'd send out 5 rsvp cards with the invitation (still 1 return envelope). But like if i know that adult has a significant other, i'll add a 6th rsvp card.

*side note- if ur single, always been single, not in a "serious" relationship, do the bride a favor and just don't bring a date. Most likely, the bride expects that you'll be coming alone. And hey friends, Bringing your cousin as your "plus 1" is like bringing ur cousin to prom. Also, on toppa that - the bride already sat you next to all ur buddies AND near another table with her single girlfriends! Am i outta line with this one?? Lmk...
Oh! And! You ::ahem:: then show up to the wedding with NO cousin!

::whew!:: my bad, had to vent that out eventually..

Ok back to the story-
If i were to do the rsvps differently, i really wouldve.
If i were to do it the way i described above, i'd have the name and correct plate of the guest (and their date) who rsvp'd :) lmk whatcha think!
Oh! Also! I reeeally wish i wouldve put an email addy, or phone number! Cant believe the amount of non-whatsoever-responders we had. Sheesh!

*another side note: its kinda silly to decide on a dish that you'll be enjoying 2 months from now, hehe.

During my invitation shopping i already prepared designing my own, and having them printed on nice cardstock.

This was the design i made:

Its pretty basic. I freakin love houndstooth.
This pattern/look wouldve been on everything throughout the whole wedding. It didnt tho. No big deal.

All in all - i was very satisfied with my invites, and especially Anns Bridal Bargains. The invites and rsvp's were cheap enough that I paid for expedited printing and shipping :) no biggie!

Curious on the sweet deal?
100 Invites+envelopes, 100 rsvps+envelopes, & fast shipping=$149
200 green "love" stamps for invites=$88
(didnt even use all 100!)
65 at the most.

The quality of the invites weren't bad, but they weren't the best. I mean, its JUST an invite. Some folks dont even read it, or it just gets tossed. No big deal. Lol.

Anyhoo....have a great day!

The Unused "Save The Date" Postcard

Normally folks send out a save the date notice, right?
I didn't have time to send mine out.
For the folks that don't really know the time line - here it is:
Aug 12: Proposal.
Aug 20-something(9-10 weeks before the wedding): The "Nov 12" date is agreed upon and set!
I calculated the timing...
Say we were at 9 weeks -
My goal was to send out the invitations 8 weeks in advance.
1 week to design, print, and send the save the date cards wasn't gonna happen.
It couldve happened, but there was no point because only after a few days the guests would receive their invitation. LOL.
Anyhoo - I made things much easier, convenient, cheaper, and got to talk/email some of my family by just a simple phone call, text, facebook email, chat, etc and played catch up, and i also let them know to please "save the date" :)
hehe, and at that time I also asked for their mailing addy! 3 birds, 1 stone! :)

Well, here's my unused save the date card...I like the damask, but I LOVE houndstooth. I think I woulda gone for a houndstooth look :)



haha! I totally forgot I made a funny sample to show my wonderful, efficient, trustworthy, and beautiful wedding planner, Maria. haha...she got a kick outta this!

I designed it myself, and I would've got them printed on postcard paper, used 29 cent stamps, and mailed them right off :)

The font is Pussycat... I think its actually called Pussycat Snickers. something cute like that. Its a fun not-too-girly font. The dots on the i, j, and dashes are stars :) its one of my faves. i use this font for my scrapbook spine titles.

We love yoo hoos !

Yummy chocolate drink :)
If only they came in 40oz bottles !

Switching Sides

You know how couples sometimes switch sides of the bed? And it works out and its a fun new change.
Well, we did that a few months back, and its great.
Oh, and just recently - we switched sides of the couch AND tv's! Its pretty cool. Mike plays xbox on my tv, and i play ps3 (zombies) on his tv. His side is cool, bad on the back tho.

Photo upload test

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Mobile Blog Post...test!

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Goodbye Wordpress!! Hello Blogger!

Ok, Wordpress (as a blog) is pretty cool, gotta admit.
But, my app dissappeared, and I tried to install it and got nothing.
After 3 days of attempting to install it ~ I give up.
Switched over to the Blogger, and I'm pretty stoked there's an app for it!
(but rated 3 out of 5 stars? We'll see...)

Anyhoo...have a happy friday!

The TMAVS Website

Doing the updates with new photos and slideshows...OMG, this is so emotional! I've teared up twice during the publishing! LOL

The DIY Bride

Hello friends and family!
I'm still working on getting back my wordpress app..such a bummer its not available anymore.
But - I'm proud to announce that I'll be posting up ALL my DIY wedding projects!
From placecards to favors to thank you cards to the "wedding scrapbook"....woo!
Stay tuned!

My 'Wordpress' App Dissapeared!

Wth! I had the app on my iPod...and now its gone!
I downloaded the new app, it seemed to get installed...
still!
no app!
Uh oh...i hope i dont have to switch blog websites :(

The DIY Flower Girl Basket

For Miss Gaby :)

My mom helped out with this one too.

She provided the basket, and covered it with white satin fabric.

Iradescent sequins were glued on to match the ring bearer's pillow.

She had some trouble with the ribbon on this one too, hehe.

(and so did I!)

After hours of playing with ribbon, we finally got it! :)

The basket was filled with white, orange, and white and orange faux flower petals :)

The DIY Ring Bearers Pillow

My mom made the pillow, she also decorated it.

But she had some trouble with the bow... and so did I.

But with some trial and error, we finally got it!

happy bday!

haha

oops

i meant happy turkey day!

:)

have a wonderful day!

please celebrate (and grub) responsibly!

The Wedding Dress Story

The wedding dress story...

It was 5-6 weeks before the wedding, and i havent got a dress yet,
No sweat on me tho.
My mom asked me if i wanted to go to davids bridal after work one day.
I agreed of course, (i dont really like to shop, but i loooove shopping wt mom! Hehe) oh i also was so unprepared to try dresses on too (funky bra n stuff) haha.
Anyhoo, went to davids bridal with my mom and mike. Mike went to gamestop while us gals did our girl thang :)
Right as we step into davids bridal i got all emotional and happy i was doing this with my mommy by my side :) she'll tell me straight up if a dress looks horrible on me haha.
So we start lookin thru the racks and find sum pretty dresses but the prices ranged from $700 to $1600! Wow! I (personally) wouldnt spend that much on a dress...much props to the brides that did.
So we keep looking, for a few more minutes...and checked out their clearance rack.
EUREKA!
Found a dress, reasonable price, and asked to try it on.
Unfortunately, brides must make an appt with davids bridal to try on dresses...just my luck!
But fortunately, a sales lady was free to let me try on the dress! ...that was based on my moms luck. :)
So i get to the fitting room, slap on a strapless bra, petticoat, heels, and the dress - and it was love at first sight!
I of course did the routine that all women should do when they try clothes - danced, picked something up of the floor, karate kicks, raised the roof, etc.
PERFECT FIT! SOLD!
Wanna know how much it was? The price of one "good" nosebleed ticket to a Giants playoff game :)
Plus, There was an additional 25% off discount on the already discounted items! Yea buddy! So, its actually the price of super nosebleed seats (for playoffs).
We walked outta Davids Bridal after 20 minutes with a dress that i (and mom) was happy about!
I hella thought dress shopping would be difficult! But no! It was the easiest thing on the to-do list :)

I love the design! Its simple and fun! I describe it as a "distorted fingerprint", it also looks like an outline of a flower kinda. Theres not too many sequins on it, but still shimmers when it hits that right angle. Totally love it!

...No, mike did not see the dress before the ceremony :)

The Wedding Dress Story - Part 2

Fun fact: Victoria tried on her dress 11 times before the wedding date.

Viva las vegas

Cash spin slot..
Mikes fave!

Bouquets

For the Bride and Bridesmaids

The bride's bouquet on top. All orange.

The bridesmaids bouquets are mixed oranges and whites.

Flowers

Photos taken by the photographer in the ceremony room

Flowers flowers flowers!

A big thanks to michelle, arlene, and mom, and aunt that helped!

We knocked these bad boys out so fast! :)

We purchased tons of flowers at the SF flower mart,

we got orange roses, white roses, cream roses, light orange roses,

I especially love the birds of paradise flowers!

We joked around that we should start our own flower shop!

But...hmmm...maybe we should!

We each found our special talent when it came to the bouquets, boutteniers, arrangements, etc.