Conference for the Engaged - sign up

We received a letter today from the Diocese confirming the date of our Conference for the Engaged program!! Even though it takes up an entire Saturday, we're pretty excited about it and can't wait to see what it's all about.

"May balat sa puet"

In Tagalog, there's a saying "may balat ka sa puet." English translation: you have a birthmark on your butt. This is usually said to someone if they're unlucky and not because they really have one. How does having a birthmark on your butt make you unlucky? Don't ask b/c I have no idea.

I've been told, "may balat ka sa puet," PLENTY of times. I seriously don't have one but it's become an ongoing joke b/c I don't have much luck with my travels. For instance, there was that one time in San Diego when right before taking off the pilot realized that another plane was seconds from landing on us. Then, another time, the other passengers and I had to deboard the plane because there weren't enough tanks to supply oxygen to the masks should the need arise (I'm not kidding). There was also this one time when the pilot was unable to land (twice!) at DCA so our plane was rerouted to IAD, and after landing at IAD and waiting forever to deboard, we got back up in the air and headed back to DCA. Oh geez, I could go on and on about all this.

Well, I recently took a trip to Nashville, Tennessee. When I arrived, Carolyn asked about my flight. I told her it was uneventful which worried me b/c it's such a rare occurence. We laughed and I didn't think about it anymore until.... I had arrived safely back in DC, and was on the airport shuttle about to be dropped off at the lot where my car was parked... when I realized that I had left something on the plane!!! The wedding binder was too big to bring with me to Nashville, so that "something" happened to be a manila folder which contained my planner, my only copies of important documents, and other wedding-related items!! I seriously felt sick to my stomach. The chances of getting back my stuff was slim. I didn't know if I should go back to the airport or give up. I felt bad about calling Cory while he was working at the hospital but I thought this constituted as an emergency. Almost 30 minutes had passed since we landed but he said I should go back to the airport b/c it still might be there. While I was waiting for the shuttle to make its way back to the baggage claim area, I called the information desk, spoke to a man named Wendell who volunteered to go to the gate and check on it for me.

To make a long story short, when I got to the American Airlines baggage claim my folder was already there!!! Lucky for me, the flight attendant found it, gave it to the gate agent, and he took it down to the lost and found!! Phew, I can't believe I got it back.

Bridal party

We drafted up our bridal party list within a week of our engagement but we haven't had a chance to ask all the participants. Here's the breakdown (role descriptions are at the end of this post):

8 principal sponsors (4 couples)
1 matron of honor
1 best man
5 bridesmaids
5 groomsmen
1 or 2 flower girls
1 ring bearer
1 coin bearer

and the secondary sponsors:
2 candle sponsors
2 veil sponsors
2 cord sponsors

As of today, we've only asked these people to participate:
the matron of honor
all the bridesmaids
2 of the principal sponsors and...

tonight, Cory finally asked Ethan to be the best man!! They had dinner and by the time I came back from the gym, they were already at the condo. I wanted to give Ethan a hug but I was all gross from working out. He said he feels honored that we asked him and we're so happy that he accepted... so it was a great night =) Now, Cory can proceed with asking the rest of his groomsmen!!

Role Descriptions
The traditional Filipino wedding ceremony, or kasalan, in the Christian community is unique in that it adds three more ceremonies into the basic wedding rites. These additional ceremonies are the veil, the cord, and the coin ceremonies, or arrhae. The entire wedding ceremony takes just a little bit longer, and a few more participants are required, but it makes for a more memorable wedding day.

Typically, the wedding participants are the Priest, the Bride, the Groom, Maid or Matron of Honor, Best Man, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Flower Girl, Ring and Coin Bearer, Bible Bearer (i don't think we're having one), Parents of the Bride, Parents of the Groom, Primary Sponsors, and Secondary Sponsors.

Primary and Secondary Sponsors
Respectfully called Ninong (male sponsor) and Ninang (female sponsor), this is a position of honor. One cannot choose his parents, but they can choose their godparents. Primary Sponsors are like second parents to whom the couple could depend upon encouragement and counsel in their married years. Behind the primary sponsors, march the secondary sponsors. These secondary sponsors play a part in the wedding ceremony, and each couple has specific functions: lighting the unity candle, putting on the veil and the cord for their respective ceremonies.

Ceremonies
Arrhae or Coin Ceremony: The arrhae/arras is/are carried by a coin bearer who marches with the ring bearer during the processional and recessional. The Priest/Minister then drops 13 pieces of coins (silver or gold) called arras into the Groom's waiting hands, who in turn drops it into the Bride's hands. The Bride then puts her hand above the Groom's then drops the arras into his hands again. The metal tinkling of the coins being passed from one pair of hands to the other signifies abundance and success in the couple's joint efforts.

Veil Ceremony: In the Catholic ceremony, the Priest continues with the nuptial mass until the "Sanctus". When the bell for the Sanctus rings, it is also a signal for the veil sponsors to come up to the altar. Together, they pin a veil from the groom's shoulders, extending it to cover the bride's head and shoulders. This symbolizes the union of two people 'clothed' as one.

Cord Ceremony: The Cord Ceremony follows immediately after. The Cord Sponsors come up to where the Bride and Groom are kneeling, and put a figure of eight cord over the veils that are on the heads and shoulders of the Bride and Groom. This cord symbolizes unity and the infinite bond of marriage.

Pictured: veil and cord on the bride and groom

Candle Ceremony: The Candle Ceremony is first and last. As soon as all the primary and secondary sponsors have been seated, the Candle Sponsors proceed to the altar where they light the two side candles beside the middle and larger (unity) candle. Later on in the ceremony, the bride and groom will use the two side candles to light the larger candle. This represents the two lives and two spirits who will be joined together. The flame from the candles symbolizes God's presence within the union.

Ring & coin bearer pillows

A big thanks to my brother and sis-in-law, who got me the sewing machine that I wanted for Xmas!! I've been dying to take it out of the box and start sewing but I had a couple of other things I needed to work on. For motivation, I told myself that I couldn't break out the sewing machine until I finished all my other tasks. So, I finally got to take it out of the box 2 1/2 weeks ago and I was excited to start my first project: the ring and coin bearer pillows.
I thought it'd be fun to make the pillows AND it'll turn out exactly the way we want it to look... if I sew them correctly.

I stopped by Joann Fabrics to pick up two pillow forms, off-white satin fabric and thread. The pillows were too big so I took out all the filling and set it aside.I cut the fabric of one of the pillows down to the size that we wanted. Then, I turned the fabric inside out, left a one-inch margin on all sides and only sewed three of the four sides. I turned the fabric right side out, stuffed it back with the filling that I took out earlier and sewed the fourth side shut. I now had a smaller pillow form.

The next step was to cover the pillow form with the satin fabric. I cut the satin fabric (with one-inch margins), turned it inside out, and sewed three of the four sides. I turned the fabric right side out and inserted the pillow form. I think the hardest part was hand sewing the fourth side shut.Thank goodness, it didn't look so bad after I finished sewing the fourth side.I repeated all the steps with the second pillow and finally got two (semi) finished products!The next step was to decorate them. I used the ribbon that we bought from Paper Source (the same ribbon we're using for the invitations), and also used pearl-headed pins as embellishments.Finally... the finished ring and coin bearer pillows!

Shoes

Apparently, the next step after buying your wedding dress is buying your wedding shoes. That way you can break them in and you'll have them in time for your first dress fitting. I had an idea of what I wanted to buy: 3-inch heel (or higher), open-toe, and with an ankle strap for added support. For some reason, I have trouble walking in closed-toe shoes (I usually have to wear a size 5 or else the shoe is too big and my heel comes out). It could also have something to do with my flat feet, which I never noticed I had until Cory pointed it out. Having flat feet sucks by the way.

When Nae and I were in Hannelore's we looked through their shoe collection but didn't find anything good. I also looked at Lady Hamilton's selection when I stopped in for a quick visit and couldn't find anything. I planned on going to the store My Glass Slipper in Old Town Alexandria but the store is closed b/c they're in the middle of relocating and won't re-open until the Fall. I didn't feel like going to any other stores to look, mainly b/c it's hard to find the sizes 5 and 5 1/2. It's a good thing that My Glass Slipper has a website!

I perused through their site and found a couple of pairs that I liked. I copied and pasted their pics and descriptions in a document and sent it over to Nae for her opinion. She emailed me back and included her ratings next to each shoe. I knew I could count on her to give me honest feedback! =) Her top two choices were mine and Cory's top two, as well! She's so good!! We narrowed it down to these two pairs and eventually, I narrowed it down to the one on the right. I can dye them a different color and reuse them after the wedding ~ isn't that great?!
I put the order in on 04/10/08 and it only took four business days for the shoes to arrive!! I received them today and immediately tried them on. My Glass Slipper even included cut pantyhose in the box so you can try them on without getting the footbed dirty in case you want to return them. I ordered them in a size 5 1/2 and they fit fine.

In addition to the shoes, I also ordered some Foot Petals accessories:

• the Killer Kushionz: to add cushion and stop the foot from sliding forward past the front of the shoe (they came in gray; not pink as pictured)
• the Sole Stopperz: to prevent the sole from slipping on slippery surfaces
• the Strappy Strips: in case the straps become uncomfortable and start to dig into my feet

As you can tell, I was really worried about being in heels for the entire day (almost 12 hours), so I hope they work!!!

Linens... and things

Yesterday, i left work a little early b/c we had a 5pm appointment with Loren (who works for a party rental company) in DC. The weather was gorgeous which meant that everyone wanted to be outside to enjoy it... people out in dc = sucky traffic. We got lucky though and found a parking spot right in front of the building! We entered their "office" and were greeted with lots of colors!! Our main goal was to find linens, chiavari chairs (or seat covers to cover the hotel banquet chairs) and china.

First, we showed her our color scheme and she suggested some fabrics for the overlays (if we chose to have them). Then, we picked out charger plates, chinaware, flatware and stemware. She created a display table and laid out all the different looks from the items we chose. There were so many options that it became a little overwhelming! Don't get me wrong, it was still fun getting to play =) Here are some of the looks that we came up with:

No charger, white napkin only; scallop platinum ring charger and colored napkin; glass charger w/silver beads, white dinner plate and colored napkin

We're not sure which look we're going to go with... it also depends on the hotel and which items they already provide. Here are more pics of the future hubby talking to Loren:

Escort card holders & cello bags

I had to stop by the post office today to pick up two packages (Cory's building no longer accepts mail deliveries if it exceeds a certain size). I was so excited! I knew that it was the blue cloth-covered radio wire we ordered from Radio Daze and the cello bags from Paper Mart. You're probably thinking what are you guys doing with radio wire and cello bags?! Well, we're using the wire for escort card holders and the cello bags are for the candy buffet!!! Let me explain the card holders... usually, escort cards are displayed as tent cards but some people like to use holders, which can also serve as the guest favors. I liked the idea of using holders and even found one that I really liked:

But, the hard part about using holders as the favors is not every guest might enjoy what you give them. For our favors, I fell in love with the idea of having a candy buffet (more details about this in another post). As much as I loved these silver balls, we didn't want to spend $500+ dollars on them since we're also having the candy buffet. So we tried to find nice, but inexpensive, holders. Who better to turn to than good 'ole martha? I loooooove martha stewart! I think the woman is a creative genius. There was an article in one of her weddings magazine issues on how to make card holders from radio wire (left pic). click here to read the online version of the article.

I ordered a 250 ft. roll from Radio Daze (right pic). My first thought was, "holy cr*p! am i really going to make 175+ holders from this thing?!" The instructions looked simple and 175+ didn't seem like that many... when i placed the order. I stared at it for a while but realized that I was wasting time and the roll wasn't going to magically turn into holders. I cut a 10-inch piece and started to play. So how come mine didn't look anything like the picture?! I cut another piece (this time 15 in.) and after a couple of more tries, I managed to make a decent-looking one that didn't fall over:

TA-DA! I managed to make 9 more... now 165 more to go...

Hair and makeup

After researching several companies, I finally decided to use a hair/makeup vendor that I saw at a bridal show (once again, the same show that Cory and I attended in January). I really love how they make brides look natural and clean. They also use good makeup products like Bare Minerals, Ben Nye, Benefit, MAC, Nars, and Stila; and good hair products like Aveda, Bumble and Bumble, Halo and Sebastian. They do onsite applications so they'll be coming to the hotel the morning of to "work" on us ~ lol!

Last night, I met up with Sarah at Cosi to discuss hairstyle and makeup options. I thought about doing an up-do but ultimately decided on the half up/half down style. I don't want to look too "done up" so I showed her lots of pictures of makeup looks that I liked and a picture of a simple hairstyle that I found. The flower will be replaced with another accessory though.

She told me to start shopping, and to buy several that we can experiment with during the hair/makeup trial (date tbd). The only problem is I have no clue what kind of accessories to buy. I found a mini tiara lined with Swarovski crystals and pearls when I stopped by the store Lady Hamilton but I doubt you can buy it and then return it if you decide not to use it. But, I'm not set on wearing a mini tiara. All I know is I don't want a huge thing sitting on top of my head. I thought about going smaller and using bridal hairpins, combs or clips instead. I don't know. Nadine had a great idea and suggested that I buy really cheap ones for the trial just to get an idea of what it will look like, but to wait until after the trial to buy the actual headpiece ~ which is probably what I'll end up doing.