!!important reminder: bride's maids dresses!!

girls, please don't forget to drop by at david's bridal to finalize and order your dresses. deadline is this weekend since it may take up to 20 weeks to make the dresses and have them shipped back.

please refer to a previous post to see the variation of dress styles to choose from. also, the sales consultant will normally ask you for the name of the bride, so that they can pull up the file to make sure you are ordering the right style, color, etc., but just in case you don't get asked, bring it to their attention.

if you have any questions, please let me know either though this blog or by phone.

Thank you all so very much! <333

oh, and girls, we have passed the five-month mark. frrreakin' crap!

"leap of faith"

rene gaviola's newly-updated portfolio

kuya rene's fine suprise for us

flying to hawaii

... the husband, that is.

we dropped off mike at the airport two hours ago. i believe his plane took off about half an hour ago and will be landing in honolulu, hawaii, at 8 in the morning for a half-hour stop-over, and he's off to the island of kauai.

ok, so i know he will be gone for only six days, which is why i am hesitant to admit this (i got a rep' to protect, you know), but this being away from each other thing is kind of a big deal for me. (yeah, yeah... "awww...") this is going to be the first time since we got married that we will be away from each other for that long. not to be mushy, but after seven months of being married (ok, so seven months is not very long, psh!), i still really do love waking up with him every morning (uh, yes, even after a big unresolved fight from the night before) and falling asleep in his arms every night... so yes, i will miss my husband so very much. there!

no, he's not going to hawaii for a vacation and to have fun without me... well, uhm, at least, i think not. hmm... but he's going to hawaii to visit his ill uncle eddie (papa nathan's brother), and i really hope this will be a great experience for both of them since they haven't seen each other in ages. mike really wanted to take me with him since uncle eddie and i have yet to meet, and it would be both our first time to go to hawaii, but aside from bad timing at work (my boss is leaving in three weeks, so lots of pending stuff that need to get done before she transfers the department to the new boss), a plane ticket to hawaii is currently soaring up in the sky since it's the summer season.

oh, well. it's kinda nice, i guess. mike and i both realized that this will be good for us, being away from each other for a few days. it's a nice break for us to just miss each other and appreciate each other's presence. in these past weeks - actually, make that months, not only have we been frequently getting on each other's nerves, we have also been working through some pretty major issues in our relationship... i know, right?! only seven months of marriage, and the reality of marriage has already started to mess with us. some friends have said, "shouldn't you still be in the 'honeymoon stage'?" well, apparently, not.

i'm not shocked, though. first of all, it's not like we haven't been through worse before we got married. we have so many witnesses to our "worse," too! second, the moment we agreed to get married, i never expected our marriage to be a pure bliss. i was never oblivious to our differences. well, mike and i are too different, even exact opposites in many aspects of our characters and our lives; i think it would be quite hard to be oblivious to begin with. nonetheless, it was not our differences that became the basis of our desicion to vow to spend the rest of our lives with each other. rather, it was our "time-proven" constant devotion and commitment to work through those countless differences on top of the hardships that our imperfect lives regularly throw our way. i guess, one of the best things that i am proud of about our relationship is we actually do talk. err, fine, sometimes, i do most of the talking, but that's only because i have to keep repeating what i say coz he's not very good at listening! but i digress... like i said, we do talk. even when we are fighting... we may shrug it off our shoulders the first couple of times something comes up because we're about to catch the sunrise and have to be at work in a couple of hours, but we normally never stop discussing until we get to the bottom of it all, even if it takes days or months (or even years). oh, those sleepless-nights, ceaseless fights. but hey, don't those phd experts say healthy relationships have regular conflicts and fights? you know why? i know why. the kiss-and-make-up part.

... if you know what i mean. *wink*

hey! don't assume you know what i mean.

Pre-Wedding Bridal Party Photo Session - Part 3

photographer: rene gaviola
location: the forum shops at caesars palace & the venetian grand canal shoppes
date: 06062007

{click on the image to view full album; all images in the album can be enlarged by clicking "full size"}

blossoms & branches

from confetticakes.com

cute and simple, yes? except make the blossoms orange.

[expect a nitpicking, scrutinizing comment from valerie. totally. haha! :]

just for val's reference =)

val, this is what i was kinda referring to: it has the "native" feel but still contemporary enough... although it doesn't really matter now ;)

[product shown is of pacific industries.]

a feather thing

the cheapest decent-looking feather bridal hair clip i could find online: $30.00

from rushcreations.com

wot'cha think?

if you, girls, can find something better at a better value, please let me know. thank you!

flowerssssss

i just discovered this online flower market, flowerbud.com, and they have these awesome packages for specially for weddings. they also look very reliable and dependable. it's just hard to order from a random online bulk flower stores and risk getting crappy flowers and/or not getting them on time because of late shipments.

this "grand box" of tulips cost $169.00 and contains 120 stems. that is approximately $1.41 per stem. not bad, huh?

they also offer mini calla lilies and grand calla lilies, although they are a bit pricey. a single stem of grand calla lily can go as much as $4. yikes.

however, i also discovered that white irises - with gold - can be incorporated in my flower theme since it's so simple and minimalist but can give that touch of delicateness and intricacy. now, i'm thinking for my bouquet: orange tulips with white irises. i know i wanted a full white bouquet before, but i read once in an article that full white bouquet does not do very good in photos. plus, i love orange. we'll see though.

and of course, cymbidium orchids... oh my gah, they just look so divine and elegant. but of course, the price tag is also elegant: $17 per stem. if i can't fill all the tables with orchids, i want them, at least, in me and mike's table. although, i haven't fully decided on the seating arrangements yet: whether i want the two of us isolated in a "sweetheart table" or in a "presidential table" with our parents and other very special people, for example.

Pre-Wedding Photo Session - Part 2

photographer: rene gaviola
location: red rock canyon, las vegas, nv
date: 06022007

{click on the image to view full album; all images in the album can be enlarged by clicking "full size"}

Pre-Wedding Photo Session - Part 1

photographer: rene gaviola
location: the venetian; ballys-paris-planethollywood-bellagio frontage
date: 05292007

{click on the image to view full album; all images in the album can be enlarged by clicking "full size"}

SESSIONS 2 & 3 YET TO BE POSTED...