Similar to fortune cookies for chinese meals, these wedding favors are perfect for asian weddings.  They are very cute decorating magnets with special meanings — ‘double lotuses’ means the perfect couple who are meant to be together.   The boutique wedding shops in Hong Kong are getting more and more creative!

I just attended a beautiful wedding in the past weekend. Nice people -> Perfect Couple -> Wonderful Wedding! On that day, I also saw the most gorgeous wedding gown on a real bride. The catch is — the dress costs more than $4000, USD! Do you think it’s worth the money? Would you spend that much to look absolutely fabulous on the most important day of your life? What do you think?

Recently heard of the term “shopping proxy”, which is actually quite neat! Imagine that you really want to buy a pair of the latest released Pure Blue Japan raw jeans. However, you simply can’t find a way to order it over the phone (if you are lucky enough to speak Japanese) or via the web. Alternatively, you can shoot an email to a Japanese shopping proxy agent. He or she will buy, pick it up from the local store, and mail it to you! How nice is that!! A shopping proxy agent is usually a student, a stay home mom, a professional with another full time job, or anyone, who enjoys shopping and doesn’t mind earning an extra few bucks.

Applying this to wedding planning, don’t sweat if you see the prettiest headpiece or the cutest wedding shower gifts from a European, Japanese or Chinese magazine, but can’t find a way to get it shipped to the United States. Shopping proxy will be your convenient solution!

Proxies in Japan:
Shopping proxy has been really hot in Japan, and you can find many trusted Japanese Shopping Proxy from Superfuture Supertalk forums, e.g. zipangu treasure.

zipangu treasure - a shopping proxy in Japan

Proxies in Europe or China:
I will update this article as soon as I hear of any trusted ones.

Proxies in United States:
Reverse engineering… in case your oversea friends would like to buy things from the United States, here is a good US shopping proxy: solombo.

solombo - a shopping proxy in the U.S.

The wedding invitation is a “wedding trailer”.  It gives your guests a sense of the style your wedding.  Guests looking at the invitation will either think ‘okay, another one’ or ‘wow, I wanna see this.’  When I look back at all the invitations I have received in the past (mostly from my Asian friends/relatives), the ones that triggered a ‘wow’ were either 1. tailored letterpress, cost $8-$15 each, or 2. handmade, cost $1-$2 each.  With this, I think it will be nice to share some diy wedding invitation projects from real weddings.  Here is the first one in the series.

recipe #1: spring elegance
theme: simple, double happiness
products: wedding invitations, wedding program, place cards
cost: ~$180 (+ cost of ink) for 150 invitations, programs, place cards

ingredients:
1. light pink cardboard (heavy weight paper): solid color, gloss, rough texture, 8.5″x11″
– note: available at local paper warehouse, e.g. Kelly Paper, $18-$25 per 250
2. sage cardboard (heavy weight paper): solid color, gloss, smooth
– note: available at local paper warehouse, e.g. Kelly Paper, $18-$25 per 250
3. vellum paper: translucent, white, solid color
– note: available at local paper warehouse, e.g. Kelly Paper, $10-$15 per 200
4. adhesive labels: transparent, printer-friendly
– note: available at Office Depot, $18 per 750
5. pearl color envelopes
– note: available at art stores, e.g. University Art, $50 per 150
6. double sided scotch tape
– note: available at Walmart, $20
7. theme clipart:  double happiness
– note: available from Google Images: double happiness, free

tools:
1. color inkjet/laser printer
2. paper edge puncher
– note: can be purchase at Michaels, $10
3. paper trimmer
– note: available at Office Depot, $25

methods – invitations:
1. open blank document in Microsoft Office
2. insert double happiness image, change color to light red, set it to behind text, increase transparency
3. type text of your choice over the double happiness image, set font color to dark sage color
4. print as ‘2 pages per page’ on 75 light pink cardboards, trim into 150 8″x5″ cardboards (A)
6. cut 75 sage cardboards into half to make 150 sage 8.5″x5.5″ cardboards (B)
7. trim another 75 sage cardboards to make 150 sage 8.25″x5.25″ cardboards (C)
8. tape (A) on (B), and tape (A)+(B) on (C), centered
9. print the map and directions as ‘4 pages per page’ on 38 vellum papers, cut pages into 4
10. print guest’s name and address on transparent labels, place on the envelope
11. insert invitation and map/direction into envelope and seal

methods – programs:
1. open blank document in Microsoft Office, divide page into 2 columns without border
2. type text of your choice in first column and copy to the 2nd column
3. save a copy with font color as black and another copy with font color as dark sage
4. print on 38 sage cardboards and 38 light pink cardboards
5. cut cardboards into half
6. use paper puncher to punch a pattern on the top edge of the program

methods – place cards:
1. open blank document in Microsoft Office, divide page into 8 equal sized cells (2 columns, 4 rows)
2. if needed, group guests into 2 groups according to their meal selection
3. per group, type guest names into rows 2 and 4
4. print group 1 on sage cardboards, and group 2 on light pink cardboards
5. cut cardboards into 4, and fold them in half

I used to think it is lame to build a website for a wedding. Do friends and families really care about how the couple met, and what they like about each other the most? Doesn’t RSVPing online lack personal touch?

As social networking becomes hotter and hotter, people are now so used to reading what everybody else is up to online. Feed your wedding information to others on the web may be a wedding planning step that you do not want to miss. From a guest’s point of view, a wedding website may be the only way to confirm the couple’s identity when the names on the invitation do not ring a bell. It comes in handy (if you have a mobile device) when you forget where the banquet is held and you don’t have the invitation with you. And… it is indeed quite sweet to read about the couple’s romantic stories. From the couple’s perspective, a wedding website makes it much easier to organize RSVPs (and to save a few trees at the same time). It helps save some money when you can share hundreds of wedding pictures online instead of printing and mailing them. After all, it is a great tool to capture the memories of the biggest event in your life!

There are now countless sites out there that offer free wedding websites, or (to be exact) wedding websites with ‘free trial’. Here are 2 favorite places where you can build modern-looking wedding websites absolutely free:

1. bridalfever.com

• 30 unique and contemporary templates
• customizable sections – up to 8 sections for each template.
• can add third party codes for more functions - cut and paste code tags from other sites to show photos, add counters, banners, music, and videos.
• sample website: http://www.bridalfever.com/users/demo/art/

2. justproposed.com

• unlimited photos and videos
• flash albums
• customizable templates
• sample website: http://www.justproposed.com/scottandleah08/

Favors may the the least significant to the couple, but can be one of the most memorable details to the guests at a wedding. I have received many favors that I wanna throw away right away, thinking ‘who on earth will give out such ugly, dollar-shop-like favors?’. A cute, handmade favor certainly makes your guests feel special. It is indeed not difficult to buy handmade favors in a specified quantity. Go to Etsy.com, one of my favorite websites. You can also find invitations, boutonnière, jewelries, etc.

Mini Tree favors above offered by – byapryl.etsy.com
Bake Your Cake favors below offered by – daisysanddots.etsy.com

It is surprising that I have not written an article on wedding gown. Should a bride go ‘all-in’ for a wedding gown? My answer has always been ‘100% yes’ until recently. It’s been 4 years since my wedding and I have been regretting that I did not spend more to pick an even nicer dress since then. (For your reference, I spent $2500 on a Justina McCaffrey dress.) Now, my husband and I start to have a hard time remembering our wedding anniversary, and this is the time when I realize I could have done a lot with that $2500.

I am not saying you should buy a cheap dress. NEVER buy a cheap wedding gown, as you will look cheap real-time and on your photos! I am saying there can be ways to buy a premiere designer gown with less.

Wedding gown above by Vera Wang

One store I like which sells discounted bridal couture:

Glamour Closet in San Francisco, where you can get excellent labels for less. The nice thing is no appointment is required. This is what I called the ‘win-win’ situation – wear a nice gown on your wedding, while saving the money to do other things that are valuable in your life.

This may be my biased opinion — invest in a good makeup & hair artist! As mentioned in my previous article Wedding Makeup, it is exceptionally difficult to find a good makeup & hair artist in the bay area. Regardless of how good the photographer and how nice the venue is, these are all useless if you do not look good on the wedding day.

Below are a few personal recommendations:

Evan Huang (styleevan@yahoo.com): Evan helped on my own wedding; and after that, 5+ friends also hired him for theirs. I think he is the best full-service makeup and hair artist whom you can find in California. He is super skilled and fun. I would recommend him to all my friends. You need to book him really early since he travels around the world to work on fashion shows, etc.

Jessie Wang (weddingbyjessie@yahoo.com): I have seen Jessie’s work in 2 weddings, and the brides looked stunning! Jessie does a superb job!

Hair & Makeup by Masami: Masami is a rare Japanese hair and makeup artist serving weddings in the Bay Area. Japan has always been well-known for its clean and elegant hair and makeup styles. It is definitely worthy to make a trial appointment with her.

Christine Makeup & Hair Design: Another decent Asian makeup and hair artist serving Bay Area weddings.

Other popular choices:

Professional Makeup Artistry: Maria is a well-known and popular makeup and hair artist in the Bay Area. You can’t go wrong to hire her.

Taylor Pham: Taylor is an Asian makeup guru in the high end.

Makeupnv by Nam Vo: Nam is another Asian makeup guru in the high end.

Photography is an item you cannot save too much on. Couples easily spend $4000+ for whole day coverage, I think it worths the money. Below are a few recommendation on photographers:

Jay Kelly photography: Jay is a hidden treasure. He does not get himself advertised on any of the popular wedding sites, and he is already fully booked with clients via referrals. Jay’s shots are fun and unique, and he is very nice and easy to work with.

Jade Studio Production: Philippe helped at my own wedding, and I highly recommend him due to his professionalism, skills, and pleasant personality. Philippe also helped on 2 other close friends’ weddings, and the pictures turned out to be all awesome.

Photomomento: Michelle is a fun and talented young artist. Her work is beautiful and candid.

Videography is not as insignificant as most people think. You will be surprised how often you will be watching the video even long after your wedding. If you have a tight budget, hire someone to shoot and and deliver the raw tapes. Asking a friend to do it may not be a good idea, as the friend will unlikely to be able to enjoy the wedding. Below is a personal recommendation:

TruVision Media: Albert and Eric helped on my wedding. They are very ‘quick-actioned’, and uses really nice and unique shooting angles. Their post-production DVD was delivered within 2 weeks after the wedding, and quality was very good – simple and elegant!