Congratulations!

To view more pictures, click here.

We arrived at Wuollet’s in Uptown with high expectations & was not disappointed, at least, I wasn’t!

1. We had a quaint little table reserved for us in the corner of the cafe.
2. Raspberry Souffle on Sponge Cake and Lady Baltimore
3. Chris & Anita – note the excitement on their faces!
4. Raspberry Souffle on Devil’s Cake – my pick, for sure!

We found out it would cost a mighty $650 for a 3-tier cake to serve about 130 guests! Whhhhaaaat!?! I know, I know. But, it’s the totally delicious go-to-Nirvana kind of cake! We are definitely considering doing our own souffle cake. If you have any recipes for souffle cake, let me know! We’d be delighted to try it out!

Just a little note: Anita & Chris’s wedding will continue as planned, despite the tragedy on I-35W. It is a terrible tragedy and we hope that those involved will find peace within themselves.

We are finalizing details about the decoration. It’ll be beautiful! Can’t wait to see all of you there. If you think you can’t find me at the wedding… just look for Adam’s mommy with a lot of tattoos!

Less than 2 months away and still so much to do! The invites have been sent and you should all be receiving them soon enough. Please note that you will have to RSVP by calling or emailing. This decision was made to maintain capacity requirements for the yacht.

I think Anita has made the final decision on her dress! She put it on the other day & it looks fabulous on her! Simple and chic. We have to get shoes now. I know you are all dying to see pictures of her dress… but, too bad, so sad! You’ll have to wait until September 1st.

In other news, Anita has asked me if Adam could be her ring-bearer! I am going to try my best to make this happen for her. At this time, it’s a “yes” but things can change.

Here is a picture of the yacht, by special request. Awesome, yes?! Tomorrow, we’re heading out there to take some pictures of the interior for decorating purposes. We’ve visited the location of the ceremony and I have already devised the decorations for that! It will be beautiful!

We’ve assembled our team for decoration and hosting on the special day. Thank you to everyone who has willingly volunteered their time and assistance; know that Anita appreciates you.

Oh, I do have a shameless plug! Please read the back of your RSVP cards. And seriously, you won’t know another person who will go above and beyond for you! ^__*

First things first, we found an “almost” dress. Anita is unsure of it, so she’s still looking. It’s not what one would consider as a typical wedding dress. (Anita is not your typical girl either, but regardless.) She’s got her eyes set on a particular one & so we shall see if she can first achieve her goal!

We’ve already started on the wedding invites. They have absorbed a good amount of time & we’ll probably send them out soon. Needs a few finishing touches.

Secondly, Anita has started to look for make-up & is narrowing down her choices. We just picked up a pack of fake lashes from Sephora. I do have to share a funny story about Anita’s lashes though. Back when the eyelash curler was introduced & everyone was dying to get one, I convinced my mom to buy it. Anita was trying it out & in my haste to obtain the perfect lashes, I ripped the curler from her even as she had it on her lashes & pulled a few of them along! We never forget that story & she never lets me live it down!

Anyway, gotta go. Just wanted to check in.

Here’s a sample of some dresses Anita tried on at David’s Bridal. There were so many options to choose from… after a while, it just sort of became a jumble! Anita really favors the simple grecian look a la #3. #5 really emphasized her shape & she looked absolutely stunning in it that I made her put it on twice… with a veil, just to see. She sort of hyperventilated, heheheheh. Of course, later I ratted her out to Chris who started laughing! She’s not really satisfied with the choices at David’s Bridal, so, we’re still looking. Since I can’t find a picture of that pricey Vera Wang dress, click on this link to view the style she’s going for. Gorgeous, right? I can’t remember how much she said this one cost, but it’s up there. Mom is coming into town in the end of May so maybe she could make it. She’s terrific, she can make anything from nothing. Draw her a picture and she makes it! Wish I could do that!

In other news, the majority of the Save The Date cards went out. Yippiee! I still have to address a couple others and they will go out this week. Remember, don’t throw them away! They are pretty to look at! Anita & I have discussed options for favors; I think we’re narrowing the ideas down now. She keeps changing her mind, but if I put a foot down, we’ll make a decision soon.

I’m also heading back to the yacht to snap more pictures to plan out the decorations. We don’t have much to work with since the yacht is already close to perfect; just a few personal touches! I’ll bring along my tape measure, notepad & pen, and camera. The loading dock is a couple blocks away from my office so on a good day, I’ll swing by!

My little sister is growing up. Wowsers!

Here’s an image of the script we’re using for the Save The Date cards. They are looking so beautiful. Don’t any of you guys throw it away!! I warn ye! The original script doesn’t have a cross at the “T” in Anita’s name, but she was afraid people would read it wrong, so we crossed it.

She made an appointment at David’s Bridal this weekend. We’re going to pull all the possible wedding dresses that closely resemble the Vera Wang dress. I’ll be tagging along to snap photos & tell her whether it makes her look fat or not! Hehehe. This reminds me of one time my other sister tried on a summer dress & came out of the dressing room for my opinion. Automatically, I said “No! That makes you look fat!” And there was a mom nearby who heard me make that comment, so she gave me a concerned look & I recorrected myself by saying, “I mean, not fat. It’s not flattering on your figure.” Why can’t people just take the truth & run with it, I ask. Oh well. Anita will appreciate my honesty. She always does.

Last night, Anita & I went over her guest list again. She was a little nervous that some people might just assume they can come to the wedding without an invitation. That’s what makes it difficult in the Hmong culture. Everyone and their uncles and grandparents and their great grandchildren come together for a party… even when they barely know the person! I suggested that she put a kind note of restriction on her wedding invite:

Mr & Mrs _______________________
plus 1 guest ________________________

What do you think of that? :p

1. Save the Date cards
2. The mess we made
3. Rubber stamping
4. More mess

I have given Anita a deadline for her “Save the Date” cards. They need to be completed by April 20th and sent out by the 25th. As you can see above, we all got to work as quickly as possible to make 150 of these – by hand! As we strolled through Michael’s, ideas and inspiration came abundantly… and thus, these vintage-inspired cards were born! We still have a lot of work to do. I am working on the calligraphy and have found the perfect script! Anita loved it, so we’re going forward with them. We also need to make the custom envelopes since the cardstock itself is an odd shape. Well, time for more papercuts and finger cramps (finger cramps, on my part!)

My relentless urging worked because Anita has been sorting through magazines and has found her wedding dress. It’s very beautiful; whimsical and simple… just like her. We’re checking out Flutter Boutique to try the dress on next weekend. Since the dress is on the price-y end, we might just go to a seamstress… unless Chris’s parents are willing to shell out $3,000! Anita has lost so much weight for this occasion that it’ll be worth seeing her in the dress! Trust me!

In other news, me and another bridesmaid (aka my best friend, Liz) has finished making the bridal shower invites for another bride (one of our best friends). They turned out beautifully, but I must credit the work to Liz since she thought of the idea. I also did the calligraphy and burned my hand out! Ack. They were sore for about 2 days! 25 invites. (OMG, imagine 150 of them!) Anyway, this bridal shower is coming up in April and I still have a lot to prepare for.

Time to pull together my creative juices and work on some more wedding favor ideas for Anita!

Anita pointed out that her bouquet will be 4 calla lily stems bounded together with leaves. I think it will be very pretty! She joked that she might not want to throw the bouquet a la tradition, but rather, she will hand it to me on the side. I couldn’t imagine throwing such a beautiful flower either!

I finally have the guestlist, but not enough info to do what I have to do. I gave Anita a due date for her Save The Date idea. She wants to make a short video clip & send those to guests who use email and then, we’ll work on the print idea. Save the Date info should be ready to go out by mid-April. The ball is rolling!

Please check back often for future updates, sneak peaks at the invitations, and pictures of the wedding details.