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Another trunk show at Here Comes the Bride! Alvina Valenta by Victoria McMillin featuring the new fall 2008 bridal collection. I have to say that I have been in LOVE with this bridesmaid dress since I was planning my own wedding! I think I might have to buy this one for me for some special occasion!
Anyways, the trunk show is from June 27-July 6 at Here Comes the Bride (where I bought my Tara Keely dress) at 7610 Hazard center Dr, # 701, San Diego, CA 92108. It is recommended that you call for an appointment: 619-688-9201. Happy Shopping!
Found this on www.bridalpinkpages.com. Had to laugh!
Just some thoughts on what I wish I woulda, coulda, shoulda done differently on my wedding day…
1. Given myself more time to get ready before and after hair appt.
2. EAT, EAT, EAT…I was so excited that I couldnt eat…I did not have breakfast, had no time to eat lunch and by the time I got dinner, it was 6:00pm! Everyone tried to get me to eat but I was just having toooooo much fun. Somehow I didnt have any problems drinking!!! 
3. BIGGEST REGRET EVER….I did not budget for a videographer. I thought that I would just remember it all and that my pictures would be around for the rest of my life. Now I know that you are just on cloud nine all day and it is just such a busy day trying to make sure you make time for all of your guests. I felt like I barely spent any time with my husband because we were both trying to catch up with all of our wonderful friends who made our day so special by attending our wedding. I would have LOVED to be able to watch all of the things going on that I did not get to see and just to be able to watch our ceremony again. I did have my brother using a small personal camera but unfortunately when you watch it on tv/computer, it is very distorted because of the zoom feature. boo hoo
4. Get a Day of Coordinator FOR SURE. I planned my wedding myself (with a lot of help from mom), but I wish that there would have been a coordinator so that my mom could have relaxed more on the day of. I did have great vendors and they did a great job of following my timeline, but only my mom knew the little details that mattered most to me so she had to run around making sure everything was in order.
BUT…It was still the BEST day of my life. Our wedding was even better than I ever dreamt it would be!!! LOVE IS SWEET!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this dress! I originally thought that I would be changing out of my wedding dress and going bar hopping after my wedding reception…YA RIGHT! Once I had my wedding dress in my hands and it was finally a perfect fit…I would have worn that dress for days if I could have! So, I decided I HAD to have this dress for my rehearsal dinner! So imagine my disappointment when I clicked the checkout button and got a message that said “expected ship date is 05/31/08″…a month after my wedding! I was SOOOOO bummed. I tried getting this dress everyday in hopes that that message would somehow go away, but no such luck. So now I thought I would post this for any other lucky brides out there who are still on the e-pic/rehearsal dinner dress hunt. Only one problem…the expected ship date is now 07/21/08!!! Perfect for you Fall 2008 Brides! www.nordstrom.com
P.S. I just reminded my hubby that I STILL love this dress and if he wanted to REALLY surprise me, he would buy me this dress for an early…REALLY early christmas present…hint, hint, hint
I had my trial and day of hair done by India at Utopia Style Lounge in Encinitas. I was happy with the trial and VERY happy with the results day of. I originally wanted feathers in my hair, but day I of I went with fresh flowers instead. I had bought the flowers last minute the day before from my florist. My hair held up nicely all day/night even in the heat…we got extremely lucky and had unseasonably warm weather for our wedding weekend. It was 85 degrees on the beach and not a cloud in the sky in April!!! It was perfect! Anyways, back to my hair…trial was $85 and day of was $150.
One of my best friends since high school just had her first baby!!! Kingston Oliver was born on 06/18/08 and was 7 lbs and 21″ long. He is absolutely perfect! I had to brag a little =)
Kingston and me
We made chocolate carmel candied apples for our wedding favors! These were a DIY project which the night before the wedding, I was a little sorry I did, BUT I loved the way they looked day of and we got a ton of compliments on them. My mom and I love scrapbooking so we just bought some paper from Pineapple Scrapbooking in Vista and bought the scalloped punch machine at Michaels with one of their 40%-50% off coupons they have each week. I never went to Michaels more than when planning my wedding! I also got the ribbon, home-made stamps, bags and sticks for the apples and the birdcage you can see on the table at Michaels! I ordered the “Love is Sweet” custom stamp from Staples.com. Pictures below. Enjoy!
I LOVED my OOT boxes! I used www.swellsweets.com to order just the packaging kits which they custom make for you!!! They will also fill them if you like, but I wanted to personalize mine and fill them myself. Each set was $4.95 and included a gable box with matching tissue paper, ribbon, water bottle labels and custom letterhead stationary to match. They custom make any label you want to match your wedding colors and/or theme (mine were chocolate brown and granny apple green). I put individual coffee packs, biscotti, aspirin, chocolate, peanuts, mints and 2 water bottles in each. I am posting my welcome letter below for anyone who wants ideas of what to say! We kept it short and sweet! The pic does not do them justice! Happy DIY-ing!
Dear Family and Friends,
The wait is finally over! Welcome to sun, sand and relaxation…Del Mar, California! We are so happy and honored that you made the trip to celebrate our special day with us. We can’t imagine a better way to begin our new life together than with our closest friends and family.
If you have time while you are in town, listed below are a few of San Diego’s most famous attractions. You can also find brochures and maps downstairs in the hotel lobby which offer discounts to many of them as well. We hope that the next few days will be as memorable for you as they will be for us!
Please enjoy your welcome boxes and your stay in beautiful Del Mar!
With love,
Jennifer & Christopher
Legoland California (760) 918-LEGO
San Diego Zoo (619) 234-3153
Sea World (800) Seaworld
San Diego Wild Animal Park (760) 747-8702
Gaslamp Quarter (619) 233-5227
Seaport Village (619) 235-4014
Old Town Historic District (619) 291-4903
Petco Park – Padres (619) 795-5000
We went to Maui for our honeymoon and stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Kaanapali Beach. We absolutely LOVED the grounds at the hotel. The hotel package we bought included the buffet for two each morning at Swan Lake restaurant. My husband is NOT a fan of buffets, but he admits that the Swan Lake breakfast buffet was really good. And the ambiance is so peaceful and beautiful. Swan Lake also turns into Sonz restaurant in the evening and this is THE PLACE to go for the BEST mai tai’s on Maui. You will not be disappointed. There is another more casual lounge on the hotel grounds, but their mai tai’s do not even come close to the ones at Sonz! Our room was nice, with an ocean view on both sides (it had two balconies). Service was great overall. The only real complaint we had was that the ocean water was really brown and murky. Apparently they had a rough winter and the recent storms had really done a number on the beaches. This was very disappointing since we are pretty spoiled all year round living in San Diego, I was just expecting crystal clear water like I always imagined Hawaii would have. Snorkeling conditions were so bad that they were not even renting out gear all along the boardwalk. We decided to rent a car and snorkeling gear and went anyway. This was hilarious since both my husband and I are terrified of the ocean but really wanted to try snorkeling while on Maui. I actually got a standing ovation when I finally got in the water because the whole beach was watching me take 30 minutes to get in the water with a yellow bannana floating device around my waist! I lost my flipper almost immediately. Pretty sure I won’t be snorkeling ever again! Anywho, we made several trips to Lahaina and had dinner at my favorite restaurant “Ruth’s Chris” and also went to Kimo’s, Hard Rock and the Mai Tai Lounge. I definitely recommend renting a car vs. taking taxis…it ends up being cheaper! Our favorite part was the day trip “Road to Hana”. And it takes ALL DAY, so plan for it. We bought the drive along cd and it was fun to listen to it as we drove. We also hiked up through the bamboo forest (AMAZING) and to a 400 ft high waterfall. I also dipped my foot in one of the seven sacred pools just to say I had. It was the end of the whale season, but we got lucky and saw a few breaching. All in all, it was an amazing honeymoon.
