My Blue Hawaii...Wedding

Butterflies! I have butterflies galore. This past weekend I spent Saturday with my coordinator doing a mock reception table and having it displayed, even if it was very raw, was amazing for me. So much has been talk up until now so to actually see it was so fun. It's an explosion of color and so happy. I can't wait for all of you to see it! The picture above is a little teaser care of my coordinators daughter (good eye, huh?!).

Then on Sunday, my beautiful sister surprised me with a bachelorette party! We had brunch at Lei Lounge with my closet friends just ate and laughed. These days it can be hard for all of us to get together so to have them altogether enjoying a Sunday brunch was really special for me. We played games and ate cupcakes and sipped mimosas and laughed at the another gaudy bachelorette party going on in the corner. They were actually quite entertaining with the bride to be wearing a veil of shot glasses. Backless, leopard print tops abounded and reminded me how not like that I am and how grate I am that Amber realized that. Still they were having fun...

And lastly, the biggest surprise of the day was that Amber had arranged for me to get a tattoo I had long been thinking about. But like the reception, I'll leave that as a surprise as well.

So here we are, 24 days until the big day and I have butterflies. Fun, excited butterflies like the kind you get when you're waiting in line for Splash Mountain at Disneyland. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I has been a goal of mine for years now to attend one of San Diego's biggest, wildest conventions. No, I'm not talking about ComicCon. Tiki Oasis of course! And this year I did it.

Mike and I are huge fans of all things hawaiian (can't you tell?) and tiki culture fits right into that. We love the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland and even have our own little tiki haven in our courtyard but this was the big time. We were entering their turf. Those crazy cats who make tiki a way of life and not just something you hang on your wall.

We had used the excuse that we were looking for nodders for the wedding but in truth we walked away with just one little nodder. Instead we soaked in the essence of tiki. One vendor put it best and said, "it's where you come to get tacky things." We bought our share of "tacky things" (tiki god toilet paper holder anyone?) but we also had fun just sitting in a corner with a shave ice and taking in the sights. We discovered we may not *quite* be as totally into the tiki culture as others who were there (I don't think I could drink that many mai tai's even if I wanted to) but we love it anyways and we'll be back next year for sure!

I realize the posts are fewer but there's a good reason for that. We are down to the nitty gritty and I want it all to be a surprise. I can't believe it's only 60 days away! Or even more amazing is that it's been almost 2 years that we got engaged! It seems like a blur. A hibiscus filled blur. :)

Hi guys. Bought your tickets and booked those hotels? No? Well no worries cause there are deal to be had! Check out this article to get some great tips on where to start.

So I have been having this weird feeling that I asked too much of our guests to wear white. Like it's going to be too hard to find anything so I did a little searching this weekend and I feel so much better. I don't know if this summer is different than others so I just never noticed but there is TONS of white stuff out there. Banana Republic even has it's home page emblazoned with "Summer Whites." So I thought I'd post a few of my favorites from Banana and J. Crew. I know I've posted some before but I'm thinking you're all starting to really look now.

Banana Republic





J. Crew




And for the men....

Banana Republic





J.Crew

So the fateful day is only 4 short months away and we're steadily working away. We've had a few more items checked off the list but it's definitely coming down to the details. Here is some of the stuff we've been doing since I last wrote

* Wedding dress in made and in my possession. I am waiting a bit to begin the tailoring process but it doesn't have any beadwork so it'll be an easy fix. Just a nip and a tuck.

* Invitations were not being our friend. Nothing was working (standard wedding invitations were too fancy and expensive for such a small group and regular invitations were too...regular) so we enlisted my good friend Denise who is looking to break into the invitation business. They are so cute and I can't wait for all of you to see them!

* Catering is almost finalizing. A few more tweaks and we're golden. I drool everytime I think of all the yummy food we're going to have.

* Live entertainment is being reviewed but I think we're leaning towards some live music which will give it an authentic old hawaiian feel. We also got a rockin' iPod dock for the background music. It's a Bowers & Wilkins Zepplin and I'm loving it!

* Lighting and all the decorations are in the early, early stages but I'm looking forward to that part.

* AND...wedding rings are being made! We are both getting some customization so we've begun the process and I have to say that really made it feel official to me. Some people get hit when they find the dress or location but seeing Mike try on rings made me realize...IT"S HAPPENING!

I am lucky enough to have hair that miracluosly can withstand daily rounds with the blow dryer AND flat iron and not look like a tumbleweed after a week but I am not immune to humidity and plain old dirty hair. Until now. My lovely, lovely sister who works at Sephora and always keeps me well stocked with all my beauty esstenials introduced me to Living Proof. Now my first thought was, "Sure it's fabulous they're all supposed to be fabulous." But then she tells me the creator is a world renowned MIT scientist and researcher. What?! Okay you got my interest. Different than most frizz fighting products Living Proof uses no silicone or oils. In fact, it actually repels dirt and oils. The more you use it the better it works. The day I realized I was hooked was last week. I hadn't washed my hair in 2 days and I had worn a hat all day. I took off the hat that night shook out my hair and it looked like I had washed it that morning. I was so stunned I went to Mike and said "Look at my hair!!" He thought I was pointing out something bad and said "What's wrong? It looks great." to which I replied "I know! I haven't washed it in 2 days and I wore a hat today!!" You just can't beat that.

It comes in in different formulations for 3 types of hair. They have a mist, creme and treatment for fine to medium, medium to thick and thick to coarse hair. I've been using the wave shaping creme for medium to thick hair and its been a miracle worker. This particular product also has a bit of hold to it so I can leave my hair damp and it will help define my waves. If you prefer a looser more natural look use the straight making creme. Neither will make your hair do something it doesn't already it just has different holding strengths.

So you can bet when I pack my bags for Oahu in a few months I'll be bringing my Living Proof!

Since my dress has a busy neckline I hadn't planned on wearing too much jewelry. All I wanted was a nice pair of baroque drop pearl earrings. Sounds simple. Not quite. But after a little searching and a stumbled upon promo code I went with these from Bloomingdales. They are simple AND have a lovely rough cut aquamarine so it works perfectly with my ring.

So I have booked the flight, hotel and car! Eeek! Its official. Either I'm going or someone is going in my place. I actually had to jump cause I had been watching packages for months now and Costco had a deal that was $1k less than it had been going for. I snatched it up and booked 2 extra days too since it was such a good deal.

I do have to say though that I only booked the hotel and car through Costco. The flights all had layovers (yes sometimes multiple) so I checked out how much it would cost to book the flight seperate through Hawaiian Air and it was EXACTLY the same price. So I got the non-stop flight through Hawaiian and the hotel and car through Costco and I was a happy clam.

And for those interested, we are staying at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa. It's literally a walk to Lanikuhonua (our venue) so I couldn't ask for a better set up. Oooooo I'm so excited!

Jealous yet? :o)

The Bernardo shoes have been received and I find myself with a new dilemma. I love them both! So my very loving financé has said I can keep them both and whichever looks better with the dress will be the winner. So far, based on looks alone, Mars is the clear front runner.

Mars


Miami

Hi ladies attending the wedding,

J.Crew has a fresh batch of summer dresses and many come in white. Super cute and totally reusable for many occasions











.

So after trying to find the Bernardo Sandals in San Diego with no luck (only two stores carry them) I decided to pursue the online route. For anyone who doesn't already know, GAP Inc. owns an online only shoes store called Piperlime and its FABULOUS! You get a huge selection of shoes and purses from top designers AND your familiar brands and they offer free shipping and free returns. It's great. They take all the scariness out of online shoe shopping. And right now if you spend $125 or more you can save 10-15% by entering "SAVE" at checkout.

So guess what I did? I ordered my sandals through Piperlime. I narrowed it down to Mars and Miami (sorry Jen I think the thing in the middle of the Nappa would hurt my foot) so now we wait and see.

Fingers crossed.

So bad news is the shoes I'd bought for the wedding didn't work out and I'm sick but the good news is I've had a lot of time to search for the perfect sandal.

Now I don't know if I'm just late to the party or these shoes are only for those in the "know" but I have totally fallen for Bernardo Sandals. These iconic sandals were a favorite of Jackie O (apparently she had 16 shades of the Miami alone) and most of Hollywood. I'm in lust with the following designs and from all the testimonials I've read these sandals LAST, hence the price tag so I'm willing to pay. But after the last issue with buying sandals online I want to try and find a local store that carries them.

Oh and I think I'm going silver if you can't tell. :)

Mars


Miami Woven


Nappa


Must

So my shoes came on Friday and I was sadly disappointed. While cute, they just aren't as "special" as I had hoped for my wedding day. The shells had a strange glitter and the quality just wasn't there. The more I look the more I'm beginning to realize that $150 for my wedding shoes might be something I'm going to have to come to terms with. All the shoes I really like are in this range and while they aren't over the top with bling and glitz the price tag is attached to the quality and I can pay for quality.

The search continues.

Okay so based on your feedback the yellow Mystique's were the favorites but I wasn't too jazzed about spending $150 for them (yea that's how much they cost) so I tried finding something similar. It's tough cause they're either super simple and casual, which normally I love, or way blinged out and over the top. I was so happy when I found these that I bought them immediately. They're arriving at the house today so hopefully they are as cute in person as they were on the website.

It would appear the US Postal Services have rained a little hawaiian sunshine our way. Just time for our wedding invitations, hopefully. They are set to be released this summer.

In our search for the perfect menu we realized we had more drink demands than food. What can I say, we like our drinks!

Did we want soda? Beer? Water? Fresh juices? ...Yes, yes, yes, yes! And strangely we went back and forth like it was the main course until we saw these! So cute and just perfect for our theme. They allow us to have a variety of flavors (pineapple, mango, root beer, vanilla creme and lilikoi), stick to our philosophy of fresh and local (they're made in Oahu!) and the bottle is just too cute. Perfect!

Hope you guys love them as much as we do.

Alright so the question of the moment seems to be "What exactly am I supposed to where to the wedding?" White! A little white dress like these would be perfect. Something summery and fun. Light and beachy. Be comfortable!

Guys don't worry I'm not requesting dresses of you. And truth be told, ladies, if you wanna wear pants I'm all for that too. White tops and bottoms are fine too. Or since I know white pants are not really anyone's favorite thing, a more practical option would be a khaki pant or linen pant.

So I had up my post about shoe choices for all of 5 minutes before the fun with the old blog started so I'm trying again just in case most of you haven't seen it.

Now that I have the dress, one's mind will inevitably start wondering to other wedding outfit accoutrements. I have chosen shoes as my next hurdle. Since the actual ceremony will be on the beach I was thinking of doing the barefoot thing but I will still need shoes for walking from the parking lot, going to the bathroom etc etc. So for these are the stand outs.

Thoughts?

DV by Dolce Vita


Mystique 3155


Mystique 3028

Hello one and all and welcome to the new blog!

I've quickly learned that in the process of wedding planning there are bound to be a few bumps in the road and you just have to go with the flow or you will tear your hair out before you even get down the aisle. This weekend I quietly sent my old blog out to sea. Its a long boring story but basically boils down to the name which someone was laying claim to and I just didn't want to deal. Thinking I could just import my old posts I created this new one and found the old stuff was corrupt. Sooooo...I'm taking a deep breath and thanking the stars I wasn't all that far along.

Enjoy the new blog. It'll be better than the last one I promise!