Thursday, July 30, 2009

And...we're married!

Hello blog world, I have returned from a fantastic reason for a mini-hiatus: our wedding and honeymoon!

It. was. fantastic.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better day. Ever.

I set out to plan our wedding a a couple of goals: Make it fun. Make it personal. Make it memorable. And I think we hit all three goals with full force!!

Our wedding day would not have gone as smoothly and effortlessly as it did without our amazing crew of vendors, who I must thank for all their hard work!

Our photographer: Travis Hoehne

Travis, in a word, AMAZING. His team of Charlton and Lindsey, AMAZING. His nonstop and unmatchable energy kept the party going. He was so easy to work with and all the guests couldn’t stop complimenting how awesome he was. Travis also set up a photo booth, and it was SWEET! I say this is the best way to get photos with guests without having to do the obligatory cheesy table shots that I know photographers *love* to take. I know that I, along with all of my guests, are sitting at the edges of our seats, ready to see the photo explosion!
Me, my sister, and my cousins working the photo booth. (Thanks Auntie Terry for the photo)

Our cake diva: Jen’s Cakes

Our cakes were FANTASTIC. Not only in style but in taste too. Delicious. And yes, cakes. Jen made us a Groom’s cake to my specs – a Super Nintendo system just for Cent! As you may know, I’m kind of a cake buff. Ok, who am I kidding, I’m cake obsessed! I’m so glad that we booked with Jen’s Cakes because she did a FABULOUS job and I enjoyed every bite!

Check out our EPIC Groom’s cake (thanks to David for the photo):


And our beautiful cake! (Thanks Dianne for the photo!)


Our fantabulous florist: Huckleberry Karen Designs

The day of the wedding, Karen twittered that she had surprise for me. I had no idea what it could be. Well, let me just say that Karen is a miracle worker. We had our one and only initial meeting back in January. We had exchanged emails to confirm details, and she is wonderful to work with. So easy to communicate with and make changes. Anyway, the big day rolls around and we arrive at the church. Karen says she wants to deliver my bouquet to me personally.

She says, “Now what kind of flowers did you really want for your bouquet?”

“Peonies?!” I asked shyly.

She pulls the bouquet from behind her back. And there they were. Peonies. In the middle of July. See I told you she was a miracle worker. Thank you Karen!

She also pulled together some wonderfully fantastic centerpieces, which I wish I had had more time to check out and enjoy. They were lovely from some of the photos I saw from friends and family.

Our coordinator extraordinaire: Laura Saldana of Pink Petals Event Design

One of the best investments hands down to keep sane on your wedding day. Even if you are planning the wedding yourself, as I did, I’m so glad we decided to hire a day-of coordinator. After a few briefings, I passed the reigns to Laura and she took care of everything! She asked me all the questions and reminded me of things I had forgotten or overlooked. She brought pins for the money dance and pens for the guestbook. She was a lifesaver for sure. And I didn’t have to worry about anything the day of. I had so much fun!!

Our Make Up Artist: Yolanda Thayer of Prima Donna Makeover

Yolanda was our first vendor to arrive on the big day. She arrived at my parents’ home at 7:30am. I’m no early riser, but I think the excitement didn’t let me sleep in. Yolanda worked her magic on us and it was great working with her. She stayed with us through the ceremony and came to the reception site to do touch ups before the reception started. Thank you Yolanda for beautifying all of us!

Our DJ: Mark Haggerty of Denon & Doyle Entertainment

Mark made our night. He kept the flow going and everyone dancing. I mean EVERYONE. I haven’t been to that many weddings, but I have never seen as many people as were at our wedding DANCING. Usually people are shy about dancing, but not at our wedding! He played all the songs Cent and I had personally requested (sadly he didn’t get to one song my sister and friend had requested sorry girls!) Everyone danced until the very last song. My father-in-law was getting ready to leave (all of Cent’s family had to catch a 6am flight Sunday morning), but when Mark played “Flashlight” by Parliament, he rushed to the dancefloor and waved his phone like a lighter. Awesome!

Here’s me in the middle (Thanks David for the photo!)

Thank you to everyone who traveled near and far to share our wedding day with us. I can’t say enough how much it meant to both of us.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

11 Days left!

I was sitting at my computer last night, staring at an email from my awesome florist, Karen of Huckleberry Karen Designs.  In the close of her note, she wrote, “12 more days!”

When I thought about it, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Okay, maybe not the whole ton. Maybe just a couple.

But it was a good thing. A happy realization. And it was like I knew that, but her words typed out words made it that much more REAL.

I’ve been getting messages and emails from friends and family who will be gathering next week for our wedding. Our wedding is NEXT. WEEK. Holy moly. And maybe I keep doting on this fact because we’ve been engaged since March 2008. I didn’t know how quickly this day would come considering that it seemed light years away! Now, we’re down to just under eleven.

People keep asking my mom about how I’m doing. Like I’m supposed to turn into a fuming, drooling, three-eyed monster, commonly known as a “Bridezilla” like the type you see on the television series. And she laughs simply and says, “Everything is going great.” She asked me the other day, “Should you be freaking out? My friends keep wondering.”

Well, good news, I haven’t sprouted any extra optical units or turned any shades close to Elphaba from Wicked, so I think everything is going to be alright.

I’ve been asked, “How are you feeling?” “Are you ready?” “Are you nervous?” I’m so excited and elated that the big day is coming. Okay, so the nerves should creep up around 1:55pm on July 18, but those will be happy nerves. Like “It’s finally time” nerves.

We want everyone to have a good time and have fun at our wedding.

See you in 11 days!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

60 days left!

Invitations are going out this week, so be sure to keep an eye on the mail!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Music Requests!

Have a song to suggest? Would you like something played at our wedding? You can make song requests on our wedding website!

Click here to make a song request

See you at the wedding!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Discounted Hotel Rate!

Courtyard by Marriott Silicon Valley:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sjcft-courtyard-newark-silicon-valley/

* 34905 Newark Blvd
* Newark, California 94560 USA
* Phone: 1-510-792-5200
* Fax: 1-510-792-5255
* Toll-free: 1-800-455-7315

$59/night for King size room (1 King Bed)

$69/night for Queen size room (2 Queen Beds)

Discounted rate available for THURSDAY, JULY 16 through SATURDAY, JULY 18. Please book by June 24, 2009.

See you soon!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Less than 3 months to go!

How did time pass so quickly?

I thought that a sixteen month engagement would take forever to pass, but apparently I was wrong. We have just under three months to go and I know it's going to fly by quicker than I can even fathom.

We're excited though! Even with all the planning nuttiness, I'm looking forward to the big day and making it official.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

1 year ago!

Yes, one year ago Cent popped the big question! And I said, "Yes!" I can't believe that it's been a whole year since that day and all of the things that have been happening. All the planning, all the traveling, all the preparations. The big day is almost here!!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

5 months to go!

Photographer, check.
Dress, check.
Church, check.
Venue, check.
DJ, check.
Flowers, check.
Cake, check.

Invitations are still brewing and will be out in the mail by May!!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Vote for me!

So I enter contests with the thought that I probably won't win. But I guess I have some luck. I once won the pumpkin carving contest at work, $50! I won the drawing at the company Christmas party, $100! I won the drawing from F-Stop Beyond TV, $60 value! And I won a $10 iTunes card from Southern Weddings Magazine! I'm not trying to brag, I'm just amazed that I have won stuff.


I'm up for something again.


Southern Weddings Magazine has been running a contest since they launched their print magazine in January. It's a chance to win The Flip. All you had to do was take a picture of yourself with the magazine or a picture of the magazine on the stands. Well, I happened to be in Dallas when the magazine launched and since as the title suggests, it features Southern Weddings, it was way more readily available in Texas than California. So I asked Cent for a special trip to Tom Thumb (Texas equivalent of Safeway) and snatched one up off the shelves! I was all excited about taking a unique picture. I didn't really know what to do...So I lagged. I waited and the deadline past twice, but they extended it twice. So I finally got my act together and submitted a photo!

Southern Wedding Flip Entry
Southern Wedding Flip Entry


Here's my entry! #11 on the page: Flipping out for Southern Weddings!


Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you'd rock the vote for me, dear reader. All you have to do is comment with #11 at the bottom of the page! Voting ends February 6! I appreciate it!


Thanks and happy Saturday!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! With the new year it means that we are only 6 1/2 months away from the wedding! Woo hoo!

We know that some of you who are coming in from out of town will be needing some rooms. Marriott sent us the shortcut! Click below to go straight to a reservation page for the room type you'd like to reserve. The special rate of $59/King Room $69/Queen Room is good for 7/17-7/19. Email us if you will be staying for longer! We'll find out if we can extend the special... catieandcent[at]gmail[dot]com

 
Queen Room (2 Queen Beds)

King Room (1 King Bed)