The DIY Projects Continue!

Cynthia Writes:

After picking up my dress and veil last Saturday, I went shoe shopping with my mom and Tim on Sunday. I already had a specific shoe in mind and the plan was to go in, find them, pay and leave! But of course, it didn't happen that way. When I tried them on, they weren't very comfortable and the color was about three shades darker than in the picture.

Tim pointed out some shoes that I thought looked a little "mom-ish", but I tried them on anyway. They were pretty comfortable and the color matched my dress a little better, but I still thought it was something I'd like more for my mom. Fortunately, I took a flower with me that I had made (for my hair piece) to try to match the shoe color to. Jokingly, Tim said to make two flowers and put them on my shoes... and that's how my wedding shoes were born!

It's funny how with so many things I think I know exactly what I like and don't like. But when I try on what I think I don't like, it's what ends up looking the best!

Before going dress shopping, I thought I wanted something more contemporary and non-traditional. I also thought I wanted a small birdcage veil. But after trying on my dress with a more traditional veil, I really felt like a "Bride".

Moral of the story: Keep an open mind!

Having my kimono, dress, veil and shoes makes it so real! It's so exciting to see everything coming together and I can't wait for the big day when I get to marry my best friend!

Deposits and Dresses!

Cynthia writes:

Hello everyone. Sorry, I know it's been a while since our last post, but a lot has been going on since then. We pretty much have all of the big things out of the way. We have put deposits down for our ceremony and reception sites, DJ and our awesome photographer (Jacqueline Amparo). We actually met with Jacqueline at our ceremony site and walked the grounds a little, brainstorming. We are very excited, it's a beautiful location and she's just great, I know our pictures will be amazing.

Now the only thing left that requires a deposit is the mariachi (I'm going to request that they learn to play 'Beat It'! heehee) We got an awesome deal on the mariachi. We had called local groups in the Palm Springs area, but they were crazy expensive. They wanted $500 per hour, per musician. Plus, they were only 3 musicians. I'm sorry, but that's not a mariachi, that's a trio! Luckily one of the guys in Tim's class plays in a mariachi and they gave us a really good price. $400 per hour for 13 musicians AND they're coming from El Centro (a 2 hour drive).

Speaking of awesome prices, I also got my kimono for our Japanese ceremony. We were budgeting about $200-300 for my kimono alone. I got very lucky and found one for $54.49! That's including shipping...from Japan! I am extremely happy with it. It's a vintage Japanese kimono and it's absolutely beautiful!

I put this picture up just so you get an idea of what we'll look like. Fyi, I will not be wearing the wig!


So now I have my kimono, my wedding dress, and thanks to Tim's parents, my jewelry for the big day! They spent way more than what I was planning on spending on my earrings and necklace. I'm so lucky to have awesome suegros like them!!



Two things on our to-do list that we are looking forward to are our engagement session and menu tasting! We are going to shoot the engagement session at a Japanese garden in San Diego and we will be dressed in our kimonos. We decided to do the photos in kimonos prior to the wedding because the actual wedding day will be crazy enough. We want to get those pictures out of the was so we don't have to worry about them the day of and fall behind schedule.


There are many more exciting things to come. We will be starting with the invitations soon. I promise to post more often and keep you all updated!

Cranes, Cranes, Cranes!

Cynthia Writes:

On labor day weekend my bridesmaids and I got together at my cousin Diana's (far right) for a delicious breakfast and crane-making session!

Cranes have become our "unofficial" theme for the wedding. Instead of trying to make hundreds of them by myself, I decided that not only would it be a great excuse to have such a delicious breakfast, but it would be a good way to get my bridesmaids involved!

About a week before we got together I went online and looked up how to make paper cranes. Because I had a little bit of trouble trying to figure it out on my own, I made sure to have plenty of 'practice' paper for the bridesmaids before they were allowed to graduate to the origami paper. We had to convince a few of them that they were ready to graduate, while others were making birds that looked more like swans! (sorry Eli!) We were able to make about 40 cranes in 2 hrs.

Afterwards I went to make a payment on my dress. Because my 2 sisters (both on far left) were there when I picked it out, I took the the other 3 bridesmaids, who are also my cousins, with me so they could see it. It was so exciting to be able to put it on again and see their faces when I walked out from behind the curtain!

It was a good day, we'll be getting together again soon to make more cranes. Guess what girls... we're making a thousand!!

My Fabric Bouquet!!

Cynthia Writes:

Here it is ladies and gentleman...my fabric bouquet! I'm really horrible about keeping secrets about my wedding, (this was supposed to be one of them!) so I sent this picture to my sisters. And after my sister Dio posted it on her blog, it gave me an excuse to do the same!!

I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I made it and took it apart 4 or 5 different times. At one point it had leaves, then feathers, then both leaves and feathers! It was looking a little busy so I decided simple was better.

So, what did it cost? Not much at all!

It is all scrap fabric that I already had . The beads, I also already had. The tulle was left over from my sisters' weddings. What I paid for was:

• Bouquet holder- $2.99
• Green Ribbon- $3.99
• Ivory Ribbon - $3.99
• Pins - $1.99
• GRAND TOTAL: UNDER $15!

Our DIY Wedding!

Cynthia Writes:

We have a lot of Do It Yourself projects for our wedding and I'm having so much fun making everything! My bouquet, the centerpieces, and flower girl dresses are a few of the things we're making.

I'm making the flowers for my bouquet and the boutonnieres out of fabric. (This is the picture that inspired me to make my own bouquet.) I've already finished all of the boutonnieres for Tim, the groomsmen and the dads. I've made my bouquet and taken it apart 3 different times! I like the way its turning out this time, now it just needs the finishing touches. I thought I was going to have to make 6 bouquets (mine + 5 bridesmaids) but I decided that my bridesmaids wouldn't be carrying a bouquet after all. What will they be carrying instead?! You'll just have to wait and see!
I wasn't sure if I wanted to wear a veil or not, but I knew if I did, I wanted to make it. But after trying on different dresses and different veils, my plans changed. I tried on a specific veil with the dress that I chose and after seeing everyone's reaction (especially Tim's mom!) I ended up buying the style of veil that I specifically said I didn't want! I really am happy with what I got though. The dress and veil are a lot more traditional than what I imagined myself in, but they are absolutely beautiful!! I'm ok with not making the veil, I'll settle for making my hair piece for the reception.

The centerpieces are something that Tim and I are doing together. He's doing all of the sawing, gluing and painting, and I'm doing the arranging. We took a mini vacation up north last week, we drove along the coast, stopping at beautiful beaches to collect rocks for our centerpieces. I think you will all be very impressed when you see them!

One Man’s Trash… Will Help Pay for My Wedding!!

Cynthia Writes:

So things are moving right along! We've put deposits on our reception site and DJ, so we have a place to party and music to dance to! & thanks to my friend Codi, we have someone to make our wedding cake and is giving us an awesome deal!
At the end of the month we will also be putting the deposit down for the photographer, and within the next few, the mariachi as well.

Now, how are we going to pay for all of it?! This is where you can do you part to help out a broke ass bride! No, we're not asking anyone to be "padrinos" (sponsors) and give us hundreds of dollars. Instead we're asking for your plastic, glass and aluminum! This is our way of making a little extra cash to pay for the wedding and saving the planet at the same time! We also figured, since times are tough people wouln't mind giving us their "trash" as much as they would if we asked for cold hard cash!

So far people have been very helpful and think it's a great idea. On the 4th of July my tia Victoria gave us our very own started kit! At work, my boss is letting me take all of the empty water bottles from the gym. Tim's mom has also given us big bags full of water bottles and beer/wine bottles. No she's not an alcoholic, she works at a restaurant!

Eli & Julio doing their part to help us out!!

Any donations will gladly be accepted! Just give us a call and we'll stop by to pick them up... unless you want to make a special delivery to El Centro!! =)

Change of Plans!

Tim writes:

So it’s official. I just put a deposit down for the reception site. However, there is a slight change. We will be having the reception at Sun City Del Webb in Palm Desert, but the ceremony site will not be at the Miramonte Resort like I had previously stated. The ceremony site will be at the Classic Club in Palm Desert. Where’s that? You might ask… well it’s right off the I-10 freeway near the Cook street exit. It is a GREAT venue with nice views of the golf course and mountains. The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was held there from 2006-08.

Anyways, I’ll be putting down another $500 deposit next month for it. Cynthia and I are pretty excited since we now have the main venues chosen. Next it’ll be tastings for the menu and the cake. Oh yeah, also the wedding has been changed from June 10, 2011 to June 11, 2011. It’s a Saturday and since there is no difference in cost we decided to move it from a Friday night to a Saturday evening. That’s all for now...

Eureka!

Tim writes:

For those of you that are into ancient Greek history, I now know how Archimedes felt when he discovered that he could measure the volume of certain objects when he observed the water level rise in his bath tub when he got in it. When he observed the water level rise in his bath tub he immediately ran into the streets naked and shouted “Eureka!”

Keeping up in the spirit of discovery; “Eureka! I have finally found a venue that fits in my budget for this wedding.” Ladies and gentlemen… Cynthia and I will have the ceremony at the Miramonte Resort in Indian Wells and will have the reception at Sun City Del Webb. And yes, you will all have to drive to 2 different locations… deal with it! LOL! I couldn’t be happier with the find. In addition, Cynthia is good with the decision as well, considering that her sister had her reception there as well.

I will be putting the down on the venues sometime next month. Looks like we are one step closer to having this wedding next June! Now the finer details will be worked out… Should be good times.

The Miramonte Resort

(couldn't find a good pic of Sun City, here's the entrance!)

When my "Baby" was a baby!

Cynthia writes:

We decided to put together a slideshow for the wedding & I am super excited about it! Yesterday we went over to his parents house for my "birthday sushi" (which was absolutely delicious, btw!) and his mom brought out all kinds of baby pictures and I started scanning away! This morning I went through my mom's pictures and started scanning pictures of myself when I was little.



They are all so cute, I wish I could post them all now! But then it wouldn't be much of a surprise at the wedding now would it!? We are going to have so much fun choosing pictures and adding music to the slideshow. This is one of those things that we'll be able to do together (& hopefully not fight over) that doesn't require money or cause stress! The headaches have already begun and Tim will be blogging soon about the "joys" of finding the perfect venue, so stay tuned!

The search for the lost venue...

Tim writes:

Its funny, I recollect several weddings that I've been to in the past and after searching and calling venue after venue, one inescapable truth keeps slapping me in the face. Planning a wedding efing sucks! I swear, it's like you have to take out a loan just to get married or promise your first born as collateral in order to pay for this event.

Happiest day of your life? Yeah all the wedding pics are of happy couples cuz the planning part is all over! The efing photographer never takes a pic of the groom's face while he's getting writers cramp from signing all those checks to different vendors.

So we’ve been engaged for 2 weeks now and Cynthia seems to have the wedding already planned out. “All you have to do is pay for it and show up…” she says. If only it were that easy. So far we’ve been to the PGA West, JW Desert Springs Marriott, the Miramonte Resort, and other places for a reception site. Everything equals out to BIG BUCKS. On average, it’s like $70 to $90 per plate per person! When was the last time you spent $90 bucks like that on yo’ self fo’ food?!

She seems to really like the Miramonte, which I will admit looks really nice. The fact that I can get a free room for the rest of my life on our anniversary date is very appealing, but the ol’ wallet is definitely taking a beating on this one. My mom has offered up her employee discount at the PGA West and Marriott but it’s still kinda steep. We’ll just keep looking and see what we can find out here in the valley. However, just to let everyone know… having the wedding in the Imperial Valley is still an option! It’ll be a last resort, but it’s an option that is still on the table.

Anyways, we’re working out something to where we will be getting a little more creative with paying for the wedding without slashing the guest list down to 12 people. Perhaps writing to Oprah isn’t such a bad idea anymore… Normally, I’d probably pay for things out right and put the rest on a card. However, I don’t really want to start our marriage out in the red if you know what I mean.

Cynthia and I haven’t killed each other over this wedding yet… which is a good sign. But the pressure of throwing and paying for a $20,000 wedding in possibly 11 months or so, on my own is a bit nerve racking. If anyone out there has any special talents such as wedding cake decorating, mariachi, or owns a resort… holla at yo’ boy.

And so it begins…

Cynthia writes:

So we’ve only been engaged for one whole week and the wedding is 16 months away, and already the frustrations begin!!! I asked Tim to print some pictures for me at work & some of those included pictures of wedding dresses. When he came home we began talking about those dresses. I think they were absolutely beautiful, but apparently he wasn’t so impressed. Then he tells me to go to youtube and look up November Rain to look at the dress the girl is wearing. I had never seen the video, so I did as he asked. When I saw the dress I laughed out loud and asked if he was serious. I looked over at him, but he wasn’t laughing! I was like, “wtf, you’re kidding, right?!” He wasn’t kidding! But wait, it gets worse…

Then we started talking about his tux. He wants to wear a zoot suit. This isn’t prom! Holy baby Jesus! What kind of crazy ass wedding would it be if I wore that ugly dress & he wore the zoot suit?!

This was more of what I had in mind!

How we met...

Cynthia writes...

One thing people always want to know is, how we met. At first I would just say, "school", but now that I'm going to marry the guy, it's ok to share the whole story!

I was going through the massage therapy program at Kaplan in Palm Spring. About a month into the program I started seeing an Asian guy in a tie & black glasses walking in the halls. I didn't think anything of it because at the time I had a boyfriend & I wasn't attracted to Azn's! (sorry, baby!) Turns out, he was our new Assistant Director of Education. Then slowly, my relationship with my boyfriend came to an end and I kept seeing the guy with the glasses and I made the mistake of telling my classmates that I thought he was cute. Well, my exact words to Lorena and Jason were, "I'm not into Asians, but there's something about that guy that's teaching our CPR class!" They wasted no time in telling the teacher what I had said, who wasted no time telling Tim!

The next month was a little awkward because I knew that HE knew and the most we ever said to each other was "Hi" when we would pass in the halls. So my last day at Kaplan came and as usual, Tim came into our classroom to eat what we all brought for our potluck. When it was time to go, I hugged all of my friends and teachers good bye. On my way out I was stopped by Tim, who said, "since you are no longer a student, I would like to take you out to dinner on Saturday to celebrate your graduation." By the look on my face he thought I was going to say no, but I said, "I can't, it's my dad's birthday Saturday. How about Friday?!" He agreed and took my number. That Friday he took me to a Japanese restaurant in Palm Desert and we've pretty much been together ever since!

Just to make it clear, I was no longer a student when he asked me out & he no longer works there!

Tim writes:

So after 16 months together, I decided to "piz-op" the question. Luckily for me, Cynthia said..."YES!" I asked her on her 23rd birthday. For those of you that missed it, you can check out the video on Youtube as well as get a nice account from Cynthia's sister Dio; on her blog. http://dioselina.blogspot.com/2010/06/speaking-of-cupcakes.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwNLhU6UXpI

Anyhoo, since being engaged, we have decide to chronicle this part of our lives together through this blog. We will maintain it until the wedding (and maybe a little after as well...). So join us on our misadventures as we go through all the trials and tribulations of planning a wedding (for 398 Mexicans and 2 Japanese parents = 400 people...) that will be a fusion of 2 distinct cultures (Japanese and Mexican). My wallet hurts already...