shoot me

i'm still going gaga over my photographer hunting... for the past whole week, it's the first thing i think about in the morning and the last thing before i get knocked out to sleep. sometimes, while at work, i think about it that i get so braindead with what i'm supposed to do because it bothers me. shiznits, i think i've even had dreams about it... although i don't really remember now because you know how you tend to forget your dreams?

i admit. i'm too anal and picky about how my wedding photos will turn out that i haven't even really thought much about my reception. like, seriously, spare with the cheesy and awkward poses and the grossest/most awkward kisses of the bride and groom captured on camera. one of the photographers who called me up today couldn't believe that i found their contact information on wppi site.

"are you a photographer as well?"

i'm like, "huh? hehe... no."

"then, how do you know about wppi?"

i go, "well, i asked myself, where would i find a website where all the 'award-winning' professional photographers' are conveniently listed in a directory?"

"wow. amazing... you! just! crack me up! you're crrrrazy about your wedding pictures! you're no typical bride!"

and i said, "duh..." no, actually, i didn't really say that. out loud.

this whole thing is consuming me. yes, i said, "consuming me."

although i think, i might have finally found the light at the end of the tunnel... again, i don't wanna jinx it, but i'm very excited tonight that i've hugged and smooched mike over and over again at least 20 times in a row and danced lambada right in front of the tv while he was playing ps2. my gah, tell me about it. i'm so irresistable.

spring forward

"i can't believe how fast time flies" is an understatement. i mean, seriously, can you believe daylight savings time starts again in a couple of hours? when mike and i went out the house this afternoon, the weather was almost perfect if it weren't for the wind... and inside the car, it was quite warm that we actually had to turn the AC on. it's spring time once again! as you can tell, i'm excited. i'm so done with winter.

my gosh, last spring, i was still in college... working full time at wynn... single (i mean, legally single) and unmarried... and my daddy was still here... sometimes, i could just cry by just thinking about everything - all the changes - i've been through this past year... God's been amazing through it all: bad and good.

i'm actually here at mike's uncle's house. it was their house warming, and it's pretty cool coz it was our first time meeting each other, and they're very friendly and pretty fun =) to be honest, i still have to meet most of mike's relatives, and i've only started to meet a few of them in this past year, so you may notice that i'm really appreciating all the opportunities in a special way... especially now that we are married.

so anyhoo... i finally called melody (the bridal consultant at demetrios) yesterday and cancelled the order for my tiara and change my veil to without-blusher (the front part of the veil that covers your face). valerie and i were talking about that last wednesday night, and we decided that i don't wanna go "traditional" in that area also. from my understanding, the veil-blusher symbolizes "purity" and "mystery" of the bride; her face is "covered" because she cannot be touched or even just seen openly by any man... but i wanna walk down that aisle without anything on my face... symbolizing that i don't need to cover myself up to protect my "purity" from men because i know how to take care of myself just the way i am. heck, yeah! "all the women who are independent, throw your hands up at me!" muhahaha!

i've talked (when i say "talked," it means "alot of talking and persuading") to mike about the wedding photographer =) i don't wanna jinx it, but i'm pretty excited - dude, actually, very excited - about the conclusion of our discussion. i'll post about it once it's actually finalized... ahhh, so excited!!!

have a great saturday night, everyone!

say cheese

looking for a wedding photographer is, by far, one of my biggest dillemmas aside from the ceremony site. sigh. valerie and i were browsing through different portfolios of wedding photographers last night, and i gotta say that photographers from the p.i. are definitely something else - even compared to those who are based in the states.

i'm willing to invest as much as 20% of my whole wedding budget just for timeless, genuine wedding photos... but a third (?!) is just pushing it.

if i could just have him, that's it. i'd be set for, like, life. you won't hear anything about this from me anymore, ever... and he's still available for 11/23!

i have to have a talk with mike. heh.

oh, and update on my hairdo... i'm totally dropping the tiara. it's not quite doing it for me, so i'm gonna have to stick with my (and valerie's) gut feeling and go with something like this...

valerie canary valerie

i haven't posted anything since this past weekend. weekend was full of hussle and bussle. mike's uncle and cousin and her family came to visit Las Vegas, so of course, we ended up showing them around. i love his cousin! we are so much alike in terms of our values and outlook in life... it's almost like a confirmation that i'm in the right track because she's less than twice my age, so she's basically in her "been there, done that" stage of life... and considering that we agree on things like that, it says alot. i guess, great minds really do think alike, eh? hehe!

but yeah, so of course, we invited them to the wedding and warned them that it's going to be on thanksgiving weekend, so they might already have other plans or follow a traditional family reunion thing. i was so relieved that she said she doesn't see any problems or conflicts with having the wedding on thanksgiving weekend, and she wouldn't mind coming up here all the way from simi valley, ca! i got so excited! you see, that was one of my biggest concerns about having the wedding on 11/23 coz it's the day right after thankgiving. there might be alot of people, especially those who are from out of state who have reserved that weekend for a family get-together type of thing and/or might not be willing to travel away from home on thanksgiving weekend. but gigi assured me that as long as i get the invitations sent out in a decent amount of time, people who truly want to be part of it would make adjustments. well, i guess, it's kind of like what mike said: it will really filter the guest list down to the people who sincerely and enthusiastically want to share this special day with me and mike. =)

my bridesmaids and i finally checked out david's bridal last saturday... even though all of us, including myself, had to squeeze it in between our really tight sched for that day... which is why i would really really really like to thank each one of you - valerie, sheryll, nicole, and sharon - for taking the time to come out that afternoon =) you guys truly make me feel that you consider my wedding day as a very special event that you want to share with me from the very beginning until the end... which is one of the main reasons why we're having a second wedding to begin with: to share our joy with family and friends! mike and mama mila also came with us, although mama mila ended up trying on more dresses than my bridesmaids did... hehehe! it was pretty quick but fun. we must've only spent about an hour there because we knew what exactly we wanted. (see previous post.) i can't wait til i see all of you dressed up and all made up on the actual day! no doubt you, girls, are going to look b-e-a-u-tiful!

i got the feeling that all of you like your particular dress, but really, what do you, ladies, think? are we pretty set on those? we don't have to order until may-june, so if you're still interested, we can still keep checking out other stores (even just for fun.. hehe!) just to keep our options open, right? well, just let me know!