Saturday, January 28, 2012

Oh the Guestlist...

Both Honey and I come from large families so deciding on a wedding guestlist was a little complicated. We decided that we were going to have a wedding with 200 guests. The venue we chose accomodates 250 people so we figured we would be able to play with the number. We also decided that we would have an Adult Only reception. Mexican culture weddings are usually filled with kids and to be honest, it's a mess. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with kids, I love them but there is definitely a time and a place for them and weddings is not one of them. We knew this was going to be a challenge because we have a lot of family members with little ones and who may have a problem with our Adult Only wedding.

We started creating our list and we were surprised at how easy it was. We included our closest family members and friends and when we were done our list was at 203. We both felt very proud of ourselves. A few days later, we went to visit my future mother-in-law. We told her that we had begun creating our guestlist and she immediately gave us a list of about 20 people. At that point we were up to 225 people. After speaking to my mom I added an additional 4 people. Before you know it our list was at 240 people. Mind you this does not include children or extra guest for our single guests. How will we ever pull this off? I am worried that people will get offended because of the No Kids rule. I am nervous that people won't honor it and show it with more guests. I hate to say it but older, traditional Mexican people are used to attending parties in packs and this is when it begins to get tricky. My fiance and I have different ideas of how to deal with people. It was easy for me to tell my parents that they were not allowed to invite people to MY wedding. Unfortunately he can't do it. He isn't able to tell his parents to stop inviting people. Not that I care but the truth of the matter is that we cannot accomodate everyone. This has definitely been the most stressful part of planning the wedding. Deciding what people you want to include and what people you have to leave out. :(

Color Scheme- From Fall to Summer

The original date for our wedding was September 15th. When we booked our venue we changed the date because of unavailability. So this meant that we needed to change our color scheme as well... :( I always dreamed of having beautiful bright fall colors; Red, Orange, Gold and tints of Brown but were these colors appropriate for a summer July wedding?


The day I went in for my bridal fittings I also did a bridesmaid fitting. I let the girls scout the shop for bridesmaid dresses. There were a few options that we loved. The girls tried them on and we made a decision. A beautiful Yellow Chiffon one shoulder dress.

It was a beautiful style with a flaterring waist line and I thought that it would be great style for all of the girls but I was torn. I always said I wanted to have red as my main color and I had to find a way to mix in the red with the summer decor. I also realized that this dress would not look good in a red so I had to find another style. After much research and a lot of feedback from my girls I found a dress that I thought would fit the style I was going for. And so we decided to go with this instead...

I am confident that this style will look great on all of the girls. I think it will fit in perfectly with the color scheme I have decided to go with. Although we have decided to get rid of the orange and brown I will still incorporate the gold and some tints of orange in the flower decor. I am sure it will all be really nice. :)

Friday, January 27, 2012

Shopping for the Perfect Dress!








Dress #1
Dress #2
Dress #3


Dress #4


Dress #5


Dress #6


Dress #7


Dress #8


Dress #9


Dress #10


Dress #11



After trying on so many dresses in one appointment I decided that I needed to look no further. I found the Dress that I loved. It was something that I didn't think I would like but it was the first dress that made me feel like a bride. I felt like I had tried on every type of style and it was ann easy decision for me. After this appointment, I decided to cancel everything else. Maybe I watch too much "Say Yes to the Dress" but Randy says, that once a bride has found the dress she loves, she should stop looking and I found it and I stopped looking!



Yes, my dress is among these 11. ;)

Bridesmaids Buzz

Choosing the wedding party can sometimes be difficult. You want to include your closest family and friends. Sometimes the groom wants to have a say in who is a bridesmaid or the bride wants to have a say in who the groomsmen will be. Thankfully for us, we had already agreed that each of us would choose our own.

My maid of honor is my best friend Mayra. We met in 1998 while attending college togehter. We lived in the same dorm building just down the hall from each other. Although we weren't really friends at the beginning she was someone that always acknowledged me when I walked by her room or if we saw each other around campus. We also had mutual friends although we hardly ever hung out with each other. In the Spring of 1999 we decided to start a sorority. Mayra became one of my pledge sisters. During our 232 day process her and I became really close. It's easy to fall in love with her because of her great personality, sense of humor and caring heart. She definitely helped me get through the process. She was supportive and really did become my sister. We have maintained a strong friendship over the years. Although we don't see each other as much anymore, anytime we do it's like nothing has ever changed and time hasn't gone by.

My younger sister Evelyn is one of my bridesmaids. Her and I are 1 year and 9 months apart. We grew up very close. I have 3 older sisters and although all of us are close, my little sister and I grew up being best friends. When I moved to San Jose from Los Angeles in 1998 it was hard for both her and I. I really missed her and I know she missed me. Two years later she moved to San Jose as well. We became roommates again. Soon she joined my sorority and we became even closer. My sister now has 2 beautiful children who I love as if they were my very own and we continue to maintain a very close relationship.

My friend Sara wasn't exactly always my favorite person. There is a saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Well this couldn't be more true. I met Sara in high school. I was a Sophomore when she started out as a Freshman. We were both part of the high school drill team. She seemed very conceited and I didn't really like her. It was until later in the school year that I got to know a little more about her. I realized that I had misjudged her and that she infact was a great person. We became good friends... more like sisters. We've shared many holidays together. She visited me in San Jose after my move very frequently. I have always been able to count on her. Time and distance hasn't had an affect on our friendship. I love her as if she was my sister. My parents adore her.

Angela was my very first college friend. It was the summer of 1998 and we were getting settled in at the dorms during the Summer Bridge Program. I was sitting in the lobby waiting for our advisors to come and meet us. She arrived with her mom and checked in. During our first ice-breaker her and I were in the same group and she looked over at me asked me if I wanted to be her friend. :) We spent the summer getting to know each other, in the fall we became roommates and then in the Spring of 1999 we started a sorority together. Although our friendship was sometimes rocky due to differences of opinions I will never forget that she befriended me when I knew no one. She opended the doors to her home for me when I needed it the most and has been a great support.

Rosalva and I met in college. She was part of Mayra's social group in 1998. I had met her a few times through mutual friends but we never really hung out. In 2000 we became roommates. A group of us shared a house together. This is when I got to really know her. Our friendship definitely blossomed many years later. I always considered her my friend but she wasn't one of my closest friends. Now she is! She's an awesome person. We definitely have fun together. She's been supportive and definitely someone that I can count on no matter what. I am glad our frienship has grown and I am glad to have to be an active part of my life. There are few friends like Rosalva and I am glad she's mine.

Ruth and I have known each other for a very long time. She is my best friend's little sister. My first memory of her was when Mayra's family came to visit her in San Jose. Mayra and I were both working at Nordstrom and her family came into the store to visit her. I visited Mayra's hometown a few times and this when I got to know Ruth. She also spent her Spring Break in San Jose during her senior year and we got a chance to hang out. In 2001 Ruth enrolled at San Jose State and moved to San Jose. Here we got to spend more time together. In 2002 Ruth joined our sorority and became my little sister. She's a sweet fun girl. She's become a very important friend in my life and I am glad to have her share such a precious time in my life with me.

Ana is my brother's girlfriend and although they have dated for over 3 years I didn't know much about her when I asked her to be part of my wedding. I had some reservations at the beginning but it was important for me to get to know my only sister-in-law. I thought that if I invited her to be a part of my big day it would bring us closer together. It's definitely been a work in progress but we're getting there. I am excited to learn more about her and for her to learn more about me and hopefully create a sisterly bond.

I have to say that I am happy with my choice for wedding party. I am happy to have such a great group of friends who love and support me. I am thankful for so many blessings!
Thank you Ladies! You rock!!!

Let the Hunt Down Begin!

So I now knew what it is I needed to do to get my name on the calendar. I needed to meet with the Parish Priest. But he's so busy. After my visit to the Parish I called every day and emailed every day until I got in touch with the father. He called my on a Friday and I made the first appointment with him the following week. Once I heard from the father I called the venue and set up an appointment on the same day. We visited the venue first because it was closest to us, we put our name down on the calendar, gave the deposit, and signed the contract. Then we were off the church. I know it was a little pre-mature to pay for the venue before we had finalized the church but I was very confident that we would get the date. When we arrived to the parish office the priest was at the church giving a mass. We waited for about 30 minutes. It was so nerve-wrecking. I was nervous and anxious and I wanted everything to work out. When the Father arrived he led us into his office. He asked us a few questions about each other. He wanted to know where we were from. What we did for a living. How long we had been together. How old we were. He then decided that he would put us down on the calendar. I was so excited! It was official... we had the venue and now we had booked the church. We set the date for Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. We met with the Parish secretary and she gave us a list of wedding day guidelines and pre-requisite. We paid our "donation" and walked out excited!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Finding the Perfect Venue

So everyone wants to have the perfect wedding venue. Something beautiful and elegant. But sometimes beautiful and elegant comes at a very hefty price. We scoured the city to find a location that had all the things we wanted and accomodated our 200 guests.

We both love wine and thought that a wedding at a winery would be beautiful but there were a lot of other factors that made us decide against it. And so we continued to search... We made appointments at a few places and we visited a beautiful golf course. We loved everything about it, the rustic feel, the open space unfortunately it was not available on our desired date. We left it on our list of top choices but continued to look around.

My fiance's mom told us about a "hall" that she knew about. The idea of having my wedding at a "hall' did not excite me. I come from L.A. and "halls" in L.A. are not exactly great. She had mentioned it before and we sort of brushed it off. She mentioned it again but this time provided us with information on it. Prior to calling the "hall" I saw a wedding video online by a photographer that I was looking into. The wedding was beautiful, very colorful, very Mexican inspired. The place looked absolutely gorgeous and I noticed that it had taken place at a community center. When I called the "hall" I realized that it was the exact same location as the wedding in the video. Suddenly I was very excited.

I called and emailed the place for information. The next day after work we decided to take a drive and check it out in person. I was completely blown away by how nice this "community center" was. It looked fairly new and the banquet room was very spacious. We got some information from the coordinator. Turns out this place was very popular and was completely booked in August and September. There was only one Saturday opening in May, one in June, one in July and 2 in October. Out of these there were only two dates that interested me... July 21st and October 6th. I didn't realize that people were booking so early in advance. I felt like we were already running behind. I looked over at him and he gave me this "I told you to look earlier" look.

The very next morning we decided to head over to the church and look at available dates. We arrived at the church bright and early and met with the Parish secretary. We went over the dates available for weddings. She had one opening on October 6th for the 12:00 p.m. ceremony. AHHH!!! this is too early. There was an opening for a 2:30 p.m. ceremony on October 13th but we decided that we didn't want to risk having ugly weather. I asked about July 21st and it was open but we couldn't put our name down until we met with the parish priest. I was nervous... we decided that the center was the perfect place for us. It was big, nice and very affordable. We couldn't let this opportunity pass up and so I made it my personal mission to meet with the parish priest and book the venue as soon as possible. :D

And so the planning begins!

Immediately after getting engaged, the questions begin- When are you getting married? What type of wedding do you want? It can be overwhelming.


My fiance and I talked about having a small wedding with only our closest friends and family. That wasn't going to work! We are Mexican! We both come from large immediate families and large extended families. We both have a large circle of friends so small and intimate was definitely out of the question. We thought long and hard about what we wanted and what was really important. For me- I always dreamed about wearing a beautiful gown and walking down the aisle of a beautiful church. Of course I wanted a kick ass party, but we're Mexican and no matter what we do, it will be a kick-ass party. :) Men are a little bit different, he really didn't have a vision. All that mattered to him was that we would be able to accomodate all our guests.... (which becomes a whole other issue).


We live in the country on a 7 acre ranch. We both decided that it would be beautiful to have our wedding at our home. We thought that it would be a great investment into our house and that we would be motivated to fix up the yard... this was a lovely idea but we definitely understimated the work that needed to be done. We got engaged in June of 2011 and decided that we would get married in September of 2012. This would give us 15 months to work on our house and get it ready for the wedding. The project took an amazing start. My fiance is very dedicated and when he says he's going to do something he does it. The demolition started in the backyard. There was an old tool shed that was knocked down. An old horse stable that was reconstructed into a storage space and the fence that divided the house to the backyard was taken down. Everything was happening so fast... it was exciting. We budgeted about $15,000 for backyard renovation not including the wedding budget. Yikes!!! That's a lot of $ but we were excited to have a new yard.

It was about October when I began to realize that maybe this backyard wedding was not a good idea. We definitely underestimated all the work that needed to be done. I mean we wanted to turn an empty grassless lot into a beautiful wedding venue. I began to think of all of things we needed to do and I became completely overwhelmed. I budgeted what we would spend of creating a venue and it was not cheap. This completely defeated the purpose of getting married at home. I mean don't get me wrong... we are not cheap people but we also didn't want to break the bank only because we wanted to get married. I had a talk with the finace and he completely agreed with me. He had the same concerns and I didn't realize how easy we would both agree that the wedding ranch was not the best idea. And so the hunt for a new venue began!


How do you turn this... Into this!!!

Getting Engaged!

Getting engaged was so exciting. It was my 31st birthday and we were on our way to Southern California. My fiance was going to participate in the Police and Fire Games in Ontario, CA that following week so we decided to head down early. During our drives to L.A. we always drive through highway 5 but because it was my birthday we decided to take the scenic drive through the 101 and visit some of the wineries in Paso Robles.

After our first stop we came across a gorgeous castle looking place... we had to stop there. The place was amazing. It literally looked like something from a fairy tale. The Castle (which was also the tasting room) was amazing! There we met a very friendly woman. She was serving our wine for us but was also very interesting to talk to. She told was the story about her boyfriend and her moving to California from Europe to follow the wine. She was working at the winery and he was working as a server. They wanted to know all there is about making wine. The fiance was very entertained with her stories because he too is interested in possibly one day making wine. As she poured the final tasting she suggested we walk around and take picture. So we did exactly that. He took pictures of me, I took pictures of him. As we went to pay for our tasting I asked her if she would take a picture of the two of us together, she gladly accepted and suggested we take our picture in front of the main entrance. As we began to pose for the picture she mentioned that many weddings were celebrated at the winery and that the groom always stood to the right and the bride to the left. At that moment I immediately switched sides and said, "Well let's pretend that he's the groom and I am the bride." According to the finace he said this was his chance and the timing couldn't be more perfect. He got down on one knee and said, "How about we stop pretending?" As I look over at him I see that he is holding a beautiful ring in his hand. He carried a wonderful smile on his face. I was happy and excited that I forgot my words, I couldn't get the words out. Eventually he asked, "Is it a Yes? My knee is beginning to hurt." LOL... Oh my honey is quite the jokster. Of course I said YES and we hugged and kissed. The lady at the winery was so excited for us. She captured every moment on camera. She told us that we were going to be so very happy together because we both seemed like 2 great people. :)

We continued on to another winery but by then I was so excited that I just wanted to get to L.A. to tell all of my family that I was engaged. He didn't wait... he immediately texted all of his family and friends. Apparently they all knew about it. The entire drive from Paso Robles to L.A. was amazing! I couldn't stop looking down on my finger and smile. It was such an amazing feeling.

My family in L.A. was desperately waiting for me. They came together at my parent's house because they wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday and they had a cake. When we arrived they greeted me with "Las Mananitas" a Mexican song we use on birthdays. After the song was over and everyone gave hugs, I gave him the look... and so he began to speak. He told my family how much he loved and appreciated everyone and that he was happy that they could all be there because he wanted to tell them that he also loved me very much and that he had just asked me to marry him and I had said yes! At that point at showed everyone my hand and added a "BAM!" They all jumped out of their seats and hugged us both!

It was definitely the best birthday ever!


Before the Ring

Every girl wants to get married. We dream of the day we day, "I do." For some girls this day comes early in their lives and for others it comes a little but later in life. I know what you're all thinking... how old are you? Well I am 31 years old. I know, not that old right? But you have to remember that when you come from a culture like mine being a 30 unmarried and childless woman almost never happens and if you do turn 30 and are unmarried, you're then considered too old.

I remember my 26th birthday. I had been single for many years, my younger sister was going to have a baby and here I was still single. My mother and I had a conversation about marriage and kids and she tells me, "I guess you're never getting married or having kids." Imagine my shock... I am 26 years old Mother! Not 46! Not that women can't have kids at 46, I mean, nowadays, women in their fifties are giving birth. So you can imagine the pressure I was under.

I met my fiance in March of 2008. After dating for a year we decided to move in together. I year into us living together the questions about marriage came. Not that I was trying to pressure him but when you're about to turn 30 you start thinking about a lot of things. How long before it's too late to have kids? Will I ever get married? Is this relationship for the long haul? Some men say that getting married usually comes from the pressure they get from their girlfriends to propose but they have to understand that we are under a lot of pressure too... biologically. :)

I never doubted that my relationship was strong but I guess sometimes a girl just has to know.