Prince of Providence

By popular request, our little love had some wonderful shots at our e-session too.

First Look Favorites

Our photographers, Visual-Obsession delivered us some stunning shots from our Night Escapade session. Pepe and I are in total awe. We are not the most photogenic people. In fact we are pretty camera shy but our photographers made us feel so comfortable they completely put us at ease. They also gave us plenty of direction when it came to taking photos. They even took turn watching our dog, who was a bit of a handful at times. The night was a bit nippy and after the long day we were tired. However, it was all worth it.

Goody Bags

Pepe modeling the puppets
We are expecting quite a few little ones between the ages of 4-8 at our wedding. So to keep the kids entertained during the wedding, we decided to put together goody bags for them. Included in the bags are the adorable finger puppets Pepe found at Ikea, pipe cleaners for creative craft projects (highly recommended by our day of coordinators, ribbon wands, Hello Kitty note pads and pens for the girls, and mini slinky for the boys.

1. Pipe Cleaners $2.99 for 100 pc
2. Ribbon Wands $1.25 each
3. Hello Kitty note pads were 4 for $2, I bought 3 sets for $6
4. Hello Kitty Mini Pens $2 for 4
5. Mini slinky $1
6. Finger puppets $15 for 27 (Each child will receive two puppets)
7. Mini gift bags 0.40 cents each

15 kids total, 10 girls and 5 boys...oh my!

I also purchased 48 mini bubbles ($7.99) for the kids and adults to use during the beach ceremony and 30 glow in the dark stick bracelets for $2.
As for the older kids and teens, I will probably have some sweet treat for favors plus the ribbon wands. I did not include any sugary delights for the little ones in fear of a sugar high. I am still on the hunt for baby favors as I have a few tiny tots. The little trinkets I put in the goody bags were choking hazards for any child under 3 yrs of age. So if anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Most of the items I purchased were from Target - thanks to a friend/mommy for informing me on the great deals!

Cultural Conflict: RSVPs & Open Seating

One of the most tormenting task for me has been creating a seating chart for our wedding. The other is getting guests to RSVP. Both are relatively foreign notions to most of our Cambodian guests. So I have resigned myself to the fact that most of our elderly guests will not RSVP. I can accept this as RSVP is not the norm. However, I can't figure out why my friends - mostly my age have not RSVP yet. I had to send messages, texts and make a few phone calls. It is a bit annoying as the deadline date gets closer. I don't want to assume no response is a no show.

As for my plans for open seating - it makes me a bit nervous. I find this type of seating arrangement to be unorganized and somewhat chaotic. However this is the norm at Cambodian weddings. On the other hand, it is often helpful to design a seating chart that assigns tables but allows individual guests to decide. This works well with guests who know each other and are assign to the same table where they can intermingle freely. We have decided to mark a few tables "Reserve" for these guests and the rest is free style - open seating. Wedding Seating Etiquette differs from culture to culture but being able to find a compromise that is both practical and respectful is always important.

Engagement session in Cambodia

Beautiful, Breath taking, Brilliant! Those are the words that sum up this amazing engagement session on Savady Photography . The couple looks blissfully in love while the the backdrop shots of the majestic temples of Angkor make it even more Ah-mazing! To see more stunning photos please click above!

Hair comes the bride!

A Cambodian bride will have more than a dozen wardrobe changes on her wedding day or days if she chooses to go all out. She will have her hair styled and make up applied just as many times. As a no fuss bride, I prefer practicality over tradition. I plan on wearing two traditional wedding outfits for the morning ceremony and than don my white gown for the evening reception. This means I will have two looks for the wedding. My make up for the Cambodian wedding will be on the dramatic side. I will go more natural for the Western reception. As for hair styles, I love the half up and half down dos with soft romantic curls. A dramatic updo is also timeless and classic too. My hair trial isn't until May 5th so I have a little more time to narrow it down.

Light it up

My monogram luminaries came in the other day! I assembled two so I could bring them to the venue on Monday when we meet with our DOC. The luminaries look really chic. They are also fairly budget friendly. Originally, I wanted uplights but I couldn't justify spending the money with so much daylight hour (sunset is around 8ish).

The luminaries will be used to decorate the windows inside the Rotunda ballroom. I am using battery operated flickering led lights for safety reasons. 6 luminaires, 3 lows and 3 highs for each window unit. There are 9 window units total so that's about 54 luminaries! We have a few more that will be used to decorate our guest book table. Thanks to The Papery Nook for making my custom luminaries!