Tuxedos!

So we finally decided on a tux accent color for the guys. Let me introduce you to "Cognac"

It's actually not as  bright as the picture. Its more of a warm/brighter chocolate.  This will be worn by the groomsmen, coin bearer, and ring bearer. 

Meanwhile, I chose a tie and vest for my dad in chocolate.

For those of you wondering why HIS dad doesn't get his own color, its because his dad is the best man, and therefore will have the same color as the groomsmen!

and of course we have Mr. Smallville in Ivory:


We chose very traditional one button black tuxedos with ivory shirts, and black patent leather round toe shoes. For cuff links, we chose black on gold for the guys, and black on silver for Mr. Smallville!

A review about Mens Wearhouse in Springfield, VA... though they were helpful, the reception was quite cold and because I didn't answer the gentleman's questions right away (I had to think of answers) he looked at me like i was stupid. And then he left us to work with others who walked in, and the girl he left us with didnt know how to smile. It was very awkward and after a while I just wanted to leave. I enjoyed talking to the bride that sat next to me than the sales people! If MW wasn't such a convenient chain that has locations everywhere (most of the guys in the bridal party dont live near by) I would've left! 

Otherwise, we can check off TUXEDOS from our list!

A Busy Weekend Coming!

This Saturday, 12 noon: Tasting at Heritage Hunt

I will be sampling the dish options I will be providing my guests. My sister is coming with me.

I knew I have a few issues considering Mr. Smallville and his family are finicky eaters. They don't like seafood, most vegetables, and many other things. I didn't want to serve them things they wouldn't enjoy, so I had to come up with a meat option.

I have a few friends who are pescatarians (they love fish and other things from the sea) and will only eat that much, so i have to provide a fish option.

The Filipinos would probably want a crack at both.

Here are the options:
Pan Seared Chicken Filet on Garlic Mashed potatoeswith a light Madeira cream sauce, caramalized shallots
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake and Lemon Rosemary Grilled Chicken Breast served with Roasted Tomato Coulis
Flounder Stuffed with Crabmeat nested on Julienne seasoned vegetables with a lemon-chive butter sauce

Starters will be:
Ceasar Starter Salad (Romaine Lettuce is the only vegetable the groom will eat)
Hot Rolls and Butter

For sides I'm choosing the same two for all three dishes:
Garlic Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans (The only vegetable other than Lettuce that the Groom's parents will eat).

The tasting will help me solidify these choices so I can finally send my invitations to print!


This Sunday, 12 Noon: Choosing Tuxedos at Men's Wearhouse

Mr. Smallville will be in town this weekend, so we will be choosing our tuxedos and colors.

I know you saw my post about choosing colors for the Euro Tie and the vest for the tuxedos.

We'll be ironing those details this weekend, so wish us luck!

She Get It From Her Momma!

In honor of Mother's Day, I figured I'd post the mother of the groom and bride's dresses here.

First off, Mama Smallville's pick: Its Montage by Mon Cheri Bridals

Its like a shiney satin with a lace bodice and lace detail on the sleeve of the bolero. The inside (not pictured) is actually strapless. These were one of the dresses we got copied. So we went to manila and my mom came back with:

So what do you think? yea, i took it w/ my camera phone, so its blurry. I apologize for that. However, you can see that we also added some beading to the lace. I love the light gold. Its so pretty!

Now, lets take a look at the sketch Mr. Edward Teng drew for my mother:

Nice, isn't it? It was copied after a dress that an actress wore on a tele-drama in manila. the actress had close to the same body frame as my mom. I helped her pick out a nice shade of copper for her dress. She didnt want to look exactly like the bridesmaids, who are in the burnt sienna/rust orange color.

Here is the final result:

HOw do you like it? I ABOSOLUTELY Love it! its bronze w/ brown and gold crystal beading and floral applique! God, they're good!

Pretty Pretty

My church dress, and bridal shower was done by a seamstress/neighbor friend of my aunt's, Tita Josie, in manila. She does some great work just from her home! I also had her do the flowergirl's dresses as well as (Mr. Smallville's mom) Mama Smallville's dress.

THE BRIDAL SHOWER DRESS

so my idea was to get something similar to a dress i fell in love with at anthropologie a couple of years ago:
So here is how the dress came out:

Its Ivory Georgette with a chocolate sash and orange/brown floral embroidery.

im going to wear it with my franco sarto orange leather strappy pumps. So fun and flirty! i love it!


THE CHURCH CEREMONY DRESS

The idea behind my dress: a knee length lace dress with a sash, and hopefully a crystal brooch. I wanted it to look a lot like Monique Lhuillier's dresses. Since its for a church wedding, and i'm baring my legs, i figured it would be appropriate that i wear a bolero, so I wanted to get one done. Here are the photos I gave Tita Josie for my dress.


And here's the outcome:



It's cream charmeuse and off white beaded lace. The lace was uber reasonably priced at PHP450/yard which is about $9-10! Sure beats the alencon lace that my mom and I found in the store nearby. I know its not "french/alencon" but i think its just as pretty! A close up of the top w/ the bolero, sash and brooch.


I was lucky enough that my friend, Holly, who currently lives in Seoul, came to visit me all the way from korea while I was there. She was generous enough to gift me with two gorgeous brooches, this being one of them. The other brooch is the one you see on my bridal shower dress above. Thanks Holly!

Flower Girls, Check!

Flower girl dresses, CHECK!

My mom came up with the design for the dress. she sent me a few options, and then helped me narrow down the idea.

Original Image/Idea:

We got Ms. Josie, a friend and neighbor of my aunt in manila who is a great skilled Modista (seamstress manager i guess?) to do the FG dresses as well as Mr. Smallville's mom's dress.

Final Outcome:

I went with Josie to the market place and we got shiney organza for the skirt, and red/orange star satin for the accent. I picked out the lace and the lining i believe was charmuese. I'm really happy with it!

What do you think?

Edward Teng, Part II

As i mentioned in a previous post, i was going to visit Edward Teng's shop in Santa Mesa, Metro Manila. In fact, it was my first stop the first morning that i was there, because I knew my gown would be a rush job (they usually request about 1-2 months for the dress, and i was only going to give them 3 weeks).

I don't have any images yet of Edward sketching my gown, but my friend will send them to me soon (I didn't have a camera, she did).

However, i was able to take a quick shot of the final sketch and a detail of the gown myself.

So here's the sketch of the gown. Its a semi-A line/princess cut, strapless, sweetheart neckline, with a 1 yard train. They're using ecru colored mikado silk, and it contains a built in bra/corsette. It has embroidery, glass beading, and floral embellishments. For easy adjustements, we chose a drawstring laced back, much like dresses of the early 1900s (and much earlier).

I went in another three times there to try on the dress. they rushed the production of the dress (without beading) for the first fitting. Second fitting ahd more adjustments, but it was to finetune it for my final fitting just this past tuesday.

On my third fitting, they were able to provide a sample of the embellishments for me to see. I took a close-up shot w/ my phone below:

So this will be done by April 30, and my mom will arrive with it May 2nd. I can't wait to pick her up from the airport!

Step into Something Blue

OK so i know I should be updating about my manila purchases, but I realized I missed a small detail that I'd taken care of a few weeks ago...

MY SHOES!

I decided on a low heel, about 2.25 inches.

Coloriffics had a very cute line of dyable shoes.... so i decided on a shoe (Style Tori) and to get it died blue.

I saw a gorgeous blue by watters and watters, and used that. Its more a greenish blue, like the color of turquoise, but its blue none the less.

Here it is:

yey!

Something blue, CHECK!

Edward Teng

So i'm leaving for the Philippines tomorrow at noon! I can't believe it's already here! If this is how fast time is flying, the day will come and go faster than I could expect!

So of course you know i'm going to Manila to get my dress custom made. I have arrangments to visit Edward Teng, a Couturier in Manila who specializes in Wedding gowns. Below are a few of my favorite works of his.

If you go to his website, you'll see he has a fair share of scary to lovely selections. I will of course keep it to the lovely. I won't point out which is my favorite for fear that Mr. Smallville is lurking, lol.

Manila, Here I come!

Tuxedos - What color?

I'm in the process of narrowing down the tuxedos for the groomsmen. In truth, mike should be the one to choose this, but here are their color options:

Truffle:

Chocolate:

Cognac:



Gold:

I'm not sure, I think the truffle may be too dark, but i've been told the gold looks too cheesy. So maybe Cognac? Or chocolate? i dont know.. what do you think?

Here's Mr. Smallville's color. Unfortunately, he gets no choice but to match my ivory dress, lol.

The Bridesmaid's Gown

Several different scenarios played for bridesmaids gowns.

I originally wanted to save everyone some money and have them made in Manila, however now I don't think it's happening.

Why?

Well I have super-fashionista bridesmaids, whose concern is cut and fit of the dress. We visited a few stores to get a feel for some dresses. They even had me try on some stuff at our local David's one night.

My criteria for the gown:

Burnt Orange

Floor Length

Otherwise, I was confident that they'd find an amazing dress.

They have searched far and wide and made their decision on a dress.

It's by Jim Hjelm

It will be ordered in Sienna satin, which is a burnt orange, that matches the pantone ink i will use on my invitation perfectly.

here's the color, Sienna:

it's gonna be gorgeous!

Great job guys!

A Visit to Manila

Going to Manila in April from the 8th to the 22nd.

I haven't been there since 2006, for my grandmother's funeral.

Happy to go back for a more joyful occasion.

Things I plan to do there:

Favors:

Ceramic Filigree Lace Candle holders, like i mentioned in a previous post. I plan on giving away about 90, but we're ordering 120-130 of them incase some break during our flight back.

Attire:

Labor and Fabric are cheap in the Philippines, so I am going there to get a bunch of gowns made for the wedding party and a few choice outfits for myself. Below are the things we're getting done

• Gown for Mother of The Bride
• Gown For Mother of the Groom
• Dresses For Flower Girls
• My Dress for the Catholic Ceremony (which will double for my rehearsal dinner dress)
• My Bridal Shower Dress

And last, but most important,

• MY WEDDING GOWN!

Decorations:

Colored Table Runners, because I dont feel like paying $12-20 per orange table clothes to rent them, when we can get them made for half of that price, and I'd OWN them, lol.

Invites?:

Well, I probably wont get them printed there, but i was contemplating getting my Folio Pockets done there with our Monogram embossed on the inner pocket. Maybe. I don't know.

And most important, I get to see my family. I have a slew of extended family in Manila, of all which I treasure dearly, and can't wait to see again!

Oh, Monique

Monique Lhuillier

I love her stuff. I've admired it for about 4 years now.

i think maybe since i saw "Swan lake" in a "Who's Wedding is it Anyway" episode.

Swan lake isnt' my stee though. I wouldnt do a tulle skirt, esp a ballroom/princess cut. At least i think i'd never. However i love the lace bodice, with the ribbon sash and brooch in the middle. LOVE it.

She takes some classic, traditional, luxurious fabrics and mixes them with some modern, sophisticated cuts.

One problem?

My budget.

I can't afford her.

But man, do I love her.

This post is just a dream post.

If i were to buy a dress in the U.S...

I was always pretty much set that i'd get my dress done in Manila, because of cost, the opportunity to control the design, and well, i'm a funny-figured girl. Custom would be the only way to go.

This was the dress that I ended up "liking" at David's that I tried on, or a detail of it:

Its pretty. Its got bling. and Lace, and it looked nice on me. However, I wasn't in love with the dress.

I didn't come prepared that night, because I was really just trying things on for fun. However I did go back to their site and look at their other gowns. especially the new arrivals.

I found something... interesting. Pretty. Lovely.

For fear that Mr Smallville might be lurking, I've posted only a detail of the dress that I fell in love with at David's Bridal.

Unfortunately they don't stock this in my size. Naturally.

And naturally, it costs twice as much as the one above. Naturally.

So now... what do I do? Do I still consider Manila? Or this dress?

Hmm...