Oh yeah, I'm totally a Mrs now!

You know when you have a huge project to work on and it's so massive that you don't even know where to begin? Yeah...that's what this post is like.

But just break it up into doable steps you say? NO! Don't tell me what to do! I needed to knock this out at once, and I wasn't sure how to go about it. So I'm going to post a lot of pictures, tell some anectodal stories, and start blogging again.

Let's do it!

Before we start, all photos are taken either by:
Sherri J Photography 
Studio Dru (contact on AskPhivy because I can't find his links!)

Hair & Makeup by: Posh-OC

DJ: AudioFXDJs

Videographer: Luv in Flying Colors

The wedding was a blast. Yes, it was the exact cliche of "It went by so fast" but that's because you spend at least a year (or in my case 23 months) planning something for ONE day and so yes, that ONE day is so small and fast compared to the 23 months you plan it, not including the hundreds of hours spent daydreaming and Pinning before even getting engaged! (YOUKNOW what I'm talking about!)

{HAIR & MAKEUP}


I got my hair and makeup done by a local OC artist. My favorite part was that her and her team wouldn't leave until I was 100% happy with both my hair and makeup. They were super accommodating with my crazy-liner demands and extra curly hair. As a blogger, I felt like any MUA had a disadvantage because I knew what I liked and I knew how to achieve it. It's hard to relinquish that power to someone else on the biggest day of your life to someone you've met once. Luckily Noemi and her team were super patient, understanding, and FUN!

My hair and makeup inspiration were really about my "signature" (so self-indulging) red lips and cat eyeliner. Wanted everything else to be subtle, but definitely flawless. We did airbrush foundation, individual lashes, and of course, Mac Red for lipstick. I actually like this more than Russian Red or Ruby Woo because it's much more moisturizing. I actually bought it after my trial run and now it's my go-to red!

For my hair, I wanted it half-up with a modern twist on a victory-roll. I didn't want to do the traditional one because I ended up looking like an old woman! So I went with a little twisty that helped give the side-swept look a little more drama. 

{THE ATTIRE}
My dress is from David's Bridal (don't knock it til you try it!) along with all of my bridesmaids dresses. I had two sashes: a sequin one for the ceremony (per my mom's request/demand) and a black and white stripped ribbon that fell to the floor for the reception. My favorite part of my dress is the basketweaving. It looked super modern.

My favorite part about finding this dress is that I went with a few friends and one of my good friends, Bri, actually picked it out to tell me how "crazy" this dress was because it looked like "Chinese finger trap" - it turned out to be THE ONE. Weird how that works out.

Ryan's and the groomsmen's tuxes were from Men's Warehouse; we bought his black-and-white stripe hankerchief online to match my sash.

You might notice that their ties are various shades of purple - our theme was purple ombre with a black-and-white stripe accent. We had the idea to have our bridesmaids dresses and groomsmen reflect that theme. It was surprisingly easy because the bridesmaids dresses were from David's Bridal and groomsmen's tuxes from Men's Warehouse so each shade of purple matched easily.

I simply asked the bridesmaids to stick with a few easy rules: 1. I assigned their color based on where they would be positioned 2. floor-length 3. chiffon. The actual style and cut were up to them. I think it turned out a lot better than I imagined because I had no idea if this would work out or not! You'll notice that everyone picked a stye that was flattering to them and hair and makeup was also up to them! The only rule was "no red lips!" LOL, SUCH A BRIDEZILLA.

My shoes were one of my favorite parts - my mom purchased these Charlotte Olympia heels for my birthday:

The veil is also one of my favorites and isn't even mine! It is Ryan's eldest sister's who wore it last year at her wedding! My something borrowed! The earrings I wore are Ryan's middle sister's who wore it to her wedding and his eldest sister also wore it to her's so I closed to loop and also wore it as well. My something borrowed x2!

The flower girls dresses were custom-made by my older sister / Matron of Honor and my bridesmaid's mother. They also wore black-and-white striped ribbon and had a flower crown.

Halfway through our reception, Ryan and I changed into our respective Ao Dai and Barong to pay tribute to our ethnicity and cultures. We wore it to do the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances.

My Ao Dai was a custom-design from Cynthia Bui and cost almost as much as my wedding dress (thanks Dad!). It too, was a modern take on a traditional dress with a low neckline and train:

 

{THE CEREMONY}

Ryan and I had a traditional Catholic ceremony (and yes, I did complete RCIA to be a confirmed Catholic before we were married). We asked Ryan's childhood / lifelong Priest precide over our wedding even though it wasn't at his parish and he graciously accepted. The entire ceremony was about an hour and included 2 readings, the Gospel, homily, and blessings.

A few funny hiccups:
My friend/day-of coordinator didn't get to watch me walk down the aisle because she was busy fluffing my dress and veil. I'm sad she didn't see me!

Another friend had to go BACK to the hotel before the ceremony started because we left my engagement ring there!

Our cantor fell asleep DURING the ceremony!

I was the victim of 2 coughing attacks and said my vows and had my first kiss with a COUGH DROP in my mouth!

Ryan's phone went off during the ceremony and he kicked it under our seat!

Other than that, it went off without a hitch. I was not a sappy / crying bride. I was a laughing / giggly bride. Everyone was surprised how UNemotional I was...I was just excited to be there. Also some of it may have been nerves getting the best of me.

Now for some of my favorite photos:

 

{PHOTOSHOOT YOU SAY?}

Afterwards, we took the time between the ceremony and reception for our portraits:

 

{THE DECOR}

The decor, which I didn't think I cared too much about, ended up being one THE most stunning part of my wedding (besides me, OBVIOUSLY). On a whim, we asked our DJ to bring purple ombre up-lighting and we had installed string lighting over the dance floor. My mom took care of all of the center pieces and floral arrangements and did an incredibly job. She, along with my friends that I owe my first-born to, spent all night the night before the wedding putting together over 50 center pieces, cake table and candy table decor, and installing a 8ft. driftwood tree.

We were lucky to take a sneak peek of the reception before the guests came in. I HIGHLY recommend it!

 The escort cards were made by my younger sister - red lips for 'her' and black-rimmed glasses for 'him':

The cake topper, given by our good friend / Day of Coordinator, was of Ryan and me in our exact replica of Barong and Ao Dai...and of course, Dallas!

Here it is come to life:

(Yes, our hotel was dog-friendly!)

{THE FUN}

We had signature drinks for the cocktail hour, wine and beer for dinner hour, and open bar for the rest of the night. Her: Lychee Martini // His: Jameson & Ginger Ale.

 

 Some fun moments:

Ryan and I walked into A-ha's "Take On Me" and did the dance from the "Just Dance" videogame.

My sister gave the shortest speech and the Best Man felt so bad, he cut his short:

 Ryan and my song was Band of Horses "No One's Gonna Love You":

I danced the Rhumba with my dad (his one and only request) to Andrea Bocelli "Love in Portofino"

Ryan and his mom danced to The Beatle's "I Will"

Our friends surprised us with a mobile-based photo montage, set to the No Doubt's "Spiderwebs", so we looked at the photos, laughed, and then jumped up & down like we were at their concert:

Our last song was set to the ever-so-legendary Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and of course, we all went CRAZY!!

THE END!

Feel free to ask questions to AskPhivy!!

Hope you enjoyed looking at these photos as much as I did posting them. I promise to blog more!

Xx

Photography:
Sherri J Photography 
Studio Dru (contact on AskPhivy because I can't find his links!)

Hair & Makeup by: Posh-OC

DJ: AudioFXDJs

Videographer: Luv in Flying Colors