My Wedding Report

Well I’m officially Mrs. Ducky! Our wedding day was truly amazing and beyond anything that Mr. Ducky and I could have ever hoped for. We had so much fun with all the friends and family that were there for the special day. We feel so blessed. I can’t wait to recap and share all the details with you all.

We are now back from from our amazing honeymoon in Kauai, unpacked (sort of) and back to work. I can’t believe it’s all over!! And now I seriously have some catching up to do in the hive!! It’s probably going to take me awhile to get through all the new posts, meet the new bees and figure out what exactly I’ve missed. Any favorite posts in the last 3 weeks that I need to read first?

Not to mention the catching up I have to do for my own blogging. I’ve left you hanging on my invitation tips and the million other projects I did in the weeks leading up to the wedding as we were also moving. I’ll be waiting for pro pics, but in the meantime I won’t be disappearing on you because I have a lot to share. I’ll do some recaps of our honeymoon too, because if you are looking for a place to go, Kauai is my recommendation.

Our pro pics aren’t back yet, but here are some pictures that friends took from that day just so you can get a sneak peak.

Well tomorrow I get married, and officially become Mrs. Duckling. The last week has been pretty crazy, but now that everyone has arrived and all the crafts are done Mr. Ducky and I are relaxing and enjoying each moment. There is so much I have yet to tell you about, I did about a million projects in the last week. Not to worry, I’ll catch up up after my return. Our rehearsal went so smoothly yesterday and the dinner was at my house. I feel so blessed for our amazing friends and family.

To the hive I owe you a huge thanks. Being a part of the Weddingbee community and being able to share myself with you all has been one of the best parts of this process. I’ve felt so much joy, support and encouragement from each of you. Thanks for your comments, they seriously make the most stressful moments better. You each are a part of creating this amazing community called Weddingbee, that perhaps no one can fully understand until you are a part of it.

To the bees of past and present, you each have inspired me and this wedding would not be the same without your tutorials, wisdom, pictures and ultimately support and passion.

Pengy, Mrs. Bee, Mr. Bee and BIL Bee, thanks for letting me be a part of this amazing experience. You have no idea how much joy Weddingbee has give me. In my lowest and most stressed moments of this process, the hive has gotten me through. You truly have created something that is a blessing to each of us, and your hard work does not go unnoticed.

So that’s it for now. I leave you with the picture of Mr. Ducky and I getting our marriage license this last week. We went to the historical court house in Santa Ana which was a fun experience and this is in front of the judges stand.

Thanks hive!!! Can’t wait to see you again in a few weeks!!

XOXO
Duckling

I have to start with telling you that our invitations took a whole different turn than I had originally planned. Mr. Ducky and I went to Paper Source to buy all the paper and came across Khaki A2 matchbooks at 50% off. Were we planning on using this Khaki (looks like kraft paper) color originally? Nope, but Mr. Ducky was inspired and so we went for it. We bought the matchbooks and then ordered everything else online to get a discount on a current sale they were having.

Our invitation design came from a whole bunch of different sources. Basically I knew I wanted that basic shape on the invitation that I’ve seen on several blogs lately and some sort of pattern in the background. After assisting Mr. Ducky with the basic invitation design, he just went for it and did the rest as I cut and glued away. I love how it all turned out and he did a good job of making sure it all tied in together. We aren’t professionals, but it worked!

For the liners I was inspired by many bees before me, but specifically Miss Gloss since she gave me some tips. We loved the idea of detail on the liner and were going to put our initials in that place. However, in the end Mr. D used our initials for the belly band and the date on the envelope liner. We made our own design to get two liners out of each piece of paper, but more on that later.

What you get when you pull the invitation out of the envelope.

Close up of the invitation. I’m so sad I had to blur. We used the same Feel Script font from our Save the Dates.

Our A2 matchbook that we got for a steal, holds all the invite goodies. The stamp matches the one that was on the back of our envelope.

Open it up to find lots more stuff!

The RSVP and response stickers were tucked safely into the flap.

The insides of the matchbook. We chose to put the website information and directions on the matchbook so that people could easily hold onto it and keep it handy.

And when you put it all together you get the Duckling invitations!

Anyone want to guess what craft gadget was my best friend during this project? Anyone else have an original idea completely change by the time you had the end result?

A post with a tutorial and tips is coming soon…feel free to tell me if there is something specific that you want to know!

Aside from just getting my make-up figured out for the wedding, I was especially excited for the trial because my make-up artist is my very good friend Janelle, who is a artist and regional manager for Laura Mercier. She’s done lots of weddings and knows what does and doesn’t work. I’ve known Janelle since I was in high school and her husband, David is the officiant for our wedding. Isn’t that fun?

I’ve had some interesting experiences in the past with make-up artists. They’ve done my make-up so heavy and dark that I look like a different person, or people don’t know quite what to do with my 1/2 Chinese eyes. They are Asian shaped but not, yeah I know it’s confusing. Mark still talks about a sorority formal in college where the make-up artist had my eye liner out to my ears.

On a daily basis I wear a little bit of Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer, some eye shadow, blush and mascara. For lips I generally wear chap stick or a neutral gloss. When I go out everything is just a bit darker and I wear concealer and translucent powder. It’s simple, quick and natural. However, for my wedding I want to look like myself but not that I don’t have make-up on at all. Sometimes even when I have my make-up done for going out, pictures look like I have nothing on.

Going to meet with Janelle I just felt comfortable and excited. She knows me well and knows what I look like on a day to day basis. Plus, it was a good chance to catch up on life. She does an amazing job at make-up so I could relax and feel at ease.

For my make-up we decided to go with more of a classic bridal look. Janelle wanted to emphasize my lips and cheeks. I was really happy with how it turned out. I felt like a beautified version of myself. The make-up felt light but covered and lasted really well.

Here are some pictures that we took after. This is a little nerve-racking posting a close-up of my face on the internet, but I promised I’d document for you. Excuse the lighting of the indoor pictures, Nordstrom does not have good or flattering lighting. And of course you will have to use your imagination since my hair is not done (I don’t think I even styled or blow dried it that day).

What do you think? Any suggestions? What kind of look are you going for on your wedding day?

Have you ever had one of those moments during wedding planning when you want to just squeal and do the happy dance because you are so excited? Well I often have those moments whenever I meet with our amazing florist, LaVonne from Adorations.

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During this wedding experience, I’ve told you how important it is that I can trust my team that is helping me make the day happen. LaVonne is someone you want on your team. First of all she is beyond creative and so talented with every detail she creates. Truly everything I have seen of hers is a masterpiece no matter what style, color or event the pieces are for. Secondly, and probably more importantly to me, LaVonne is such a kind and beautiful person you just want to spend more time with her. I have so much fun every time I see LaVonne and feel blessed to have gotten to know her during this time.

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As I’ve mentioned before flowers are not my strength. I can tell you what I think looks good, but am at a loss when it comes to names, seasons, colors or knowing how to take flowers to their full potential. So when I asked Courtney (our DOC) for a recommendation for a florist she suggested LaVonne and Adorations knowing me and my hopes for the day. From the moment I first started talking with LaVonne she immediately understood and encouraged my desire to DIY lots of details and just got my vision. Beyond that she helped to add to it to make it better.

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I can’t wait to see all of the ideas and inspiration come to life. I know I won’t do the ideas justice if I try to explain them so you’ll just have to wait. But if you are really curious here is a brief description from LaVonne about our arch, “Rich in color and rustic in materials; from the pedestal to the intertwining willow; reclaimed wood pedestals perfectly frame the altar area, old world style urns are placed upon each while trailing lobelia spills with bachelor buttons and rustic eryngium peeking through sinuous blooming curly willow. Clematis vine lightly intertwines the willow stems as they arc toward one another creating a seemingly natural arch.” To go with all of the descriptions LaVonne sent me a inspiration board with each flower type labeled and my color palette (that I created on ColourLovers) in the middle so I could see how all the flowers tie in. Perfect, for my lack of flower knowledge.

I am beyond excited for everything that LaVonne is creating for our wedding. I trust her completely and know it will all be perfect. Want to see some of LaVonne’s latest work?

I fell in love with these pictures when I was at her studio and she was kind enough to let me share with you. But sshhh it’s a preview of what is to come in an upcoming edition of Ceremony 2010 magazine.

Photos below were taken by Joshua Aull.

Look at the incredible detail in this birch wood boutonniere.

And I just drooled over the beautiful texture and contrasts of this bouquet. Gorgeous!

What part of your planning can you not wait to see come to life?

Remember way back, when I was wishing and hoping for a certain pair of shoes? I basically had given up on the search. I couldn’t find the shoes for a decent price and many stores weren’t even carrying them anymore. I had begun a new search for “the shoe.”

I recently had my birthday and went down to visit my family in San Diego for the weekend. Imagine my surprise when I was handed a lovely green box with the words Kate Spade across the top. Opening the box, I squealed with delight to find my dream shoes inside! My family had gone out of their way to surprise me and I was thrilled.

Probably one of the funniest things was my 19-year-old brother’s reaction to the shoes, “You are wearing pink shoes? Aren’t you supposed to wear white because of the dress?” Apparently he isn’t a regular reader of the wedding blogs. haha

Even more fun? We found mama duckling’s wedding shoes that weekend and they subtly match mine. Notice the bow-like detail? Just wait until you see the shoes with her dress. Hint: her dress matches the color of my shoes.

Did you ever give up on the hopes of getting something only to be delightfully surprised in the end?

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The last few years have been filled with the weddings of our friends. It just seems to be that time in life. At each wedding it is so fun to catch up with friends and celebrate a couple that we are blessed to have in our life. Recently one of my MOHs got engaged. I was thrilled for her! She told me to save the first weekend in October for her wedding since they were going to do a short engagement. I’m so excited! We’ve known each other since high school and it’s amazing to see how much we have been though together. Not to mention I had someone to share my mountain of wedding magazines and must-read blog list with!

Well a week later Mr. Ducky best man also got engaged! And he was also planning a short engagement to be married sometime in the fall. Woo hoo! Two weddings! Mr. Ducky’s BM went to high school with him and we all went to the same college so we have a lot of mutual friends. Yeah for a reunion plus a wedding! Well, imagine our surprise when he picks the first weekend in October to be married as well. And thus why I need a clone or a way to teleport magically. Since neither of those is possible we are going to have to split up.

So a few weeks after we return from the honeymoon Mr. Ducky will be flying off to Colorado and I’ll be driving down to San Diego for the wedding. Obviously, we are soo happy for both our MOH and BM. It’s just a bummer that we can’t be there to support each other’s best friends and their marriages since we’ve gotten close to each couple. They’ve done so much for us, I wish we could both be at each of their weddings and celebrate them in the same way they are doing for us. There’s also a part of me that is just slightly bummed that first wedding I’ll attend after getting married will be solo. I know we will each have a wonderful time at the different weddings as both weddings will be filled with close friends and lots of love and laughter. I just wish there was a way to do both. But hey, you can’t do everything right?

Have you and your significant other had to split up at weddings due to multiple invitations?

Well, first I must apologize for the delay of this post and my absence. I know I promised you the tutorial long ago, and I figure I should probably finish that before I show you all my invitations. In the middle of my wedding craziness my computer hard drive crashed and I lost a whole bunch of blog pictures and posts along with address spreadsheets, contracts and all sorts of other stuff that stresses you out. Not to worry, I think I’ve pieced a lot of it back together in the last few weeks.

Ready for the tutorial on the Duckling save the dates? I’m warning you ahead of time there were quite a few steps. So stay with me and let me know if I start to not make sense.

The original inspiration for our save the dates came from Martha Stewart. I happened to be having a brainstorming meeting with my month-of-coordinator, Courtney from Joyful Weddings and Events and showed her the inspiration picture and a few of the other ideas I wanted to incorporate. Courtney is fellow cricut user so I knew that she would appreciate the idea. She had the idea of adding in the mini envelope for the numbers to come out of and encouraged me to just go for it.

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I knew I wanted to use one of our engagement pictures and bring out some of our wedding colors. So with the idea of a number ribbon, a mini envelope and after making a few test samples, I decided to just go for it.

The Supplies
A7 Papersource Soft White (looks like a light cream)
A7 Lake Envelopes Paper Source
Mini Envelope Lake Paper Source
Fiskars Corner Rounder
Cricut
Opposites Cartridge
Basics Cartridge
Cuttlebug
10 mm ribbon in cream
Raspberry 12x 12 Scrapbook Heavy Paper
Blue 12×12 Scrapbook Heavy Paper
Mini Hole Punch
Mini Xyron Tape Adhesive Runner
Xacto Knife
Scotch Tape

The Graphic Design
I am definitely not a graphic designer, but with Mr. Ducky’s encouragement I decided to do our Save the Date design myself. He definitely helped along the way to help me with how to do the different Photoshop effects since I was very rusty on using the program. I inserted one of our engagement pictures and used the masking feature to create the rounded corners.

I’ve been drooling over Veer’s Feel Script font since Mrs. Lemon shared a sample in a post awhile ago. Feel Script is one of the glyph fonts that Pengy wrote about the other day. To compliment the Feel Script I used Garamont which is just a basic font that came with my computer.

The swirly design you see in the background is a photoshop brush. Pixels and Ice Cream has such a great selection of free photoshop brushes and patterns. I used the April Showers photoshop brushes for our Save the Dates, although there are lots of cute options on the website.

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We printed the Save the Dates on A7 Soft White paper from Papersource. The printer is a Canon MP830 and the quality is amazing. The color is very vibrant and saturated in person. If you are looking for a printer I really recommend this one, because it looks like we got them professionally printed. After everything was printed out we used the Fiskars corner rounder. I bought this after reading a post by Penguin on DIY essentials. It was awesome.

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The Number Strings
To cut out all the numbers and spacers I used the Cricut. The numbers were from the Opposites Attract Cartridge. To get the correct size to fit in the envelope without looking to small I set the settings to 2 inches high and on the shadow setting you see on the Cricut keyboard. After printing all the numbers we had to punch two holes with the mini hole punch so that the ribbon could be laced later. This was probably the biggest pain of the whole project.

For the spacers I selected a rounded square from the Geometrics and Shapes cartridge that already had the slots automatically cut into each square. This was a cartridge that came with my cricut when I originally bought it. This was a big time saver and my family was grateful to not use that hole punch anymore. For the settings I used 1 inch high and that seemed to work well. Also, you may have noticed that the original inspiration had bows in between each set of numbers but ours have spacers and a single bow at the end. Part of this was just the simple fact that bows take way longer, but also that bows create knots that could mean extra postage. Our were regular postage and we bought the forever stamp before pricing went up.

I had originally bought the ribbon from Paper Source but returned it after I found a much cheaper version at Michaels for $0.99 a spool. After cutting all the ribbon to the desired length we tied mini bows at each end. Then it was pretty much back to elementary school lacing the ribbon through. It was important that each number have 2 holes so that it would stay flat and not twist to be perpendicular to the ribbon.

The Mini Envelopes
Before stamping the mini envelope I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the flap so that I wouldn’t have to worry about smearing the ink. By arranging the envelopes like below I could emboss 4 envelopes at once, so it did not take too long.

After all the envelope flaps were embossed I used the Save the Date stamp from Paper Source with silver ink from Colorink. The ink took forever to dry, but showed up really well on the lake blue paper. I think it was meant for embossing. I’d recommend the Brilliance brand if you wanted to stamp without embossing. The ink dries faster. The stamp was the perfect size for the envelope and I felt like the writing tied into the font and look of the overall card. You had to line up the stamp so that it was next to flap.

On the opposite side from the stamp of each envelope I used an xacto knife to cut a tiny slot to string the ribbon through. To make sure you don’t cut through to the other side you can slide a thick piece of paper into the envelope before you make the slot.

Final Assembly!
To attach the number date string I strung the end through the little slot and used scotch tape to secure it. Yeah I know not the most beautiful thing in the world but it worked.

To fold up the numbers I basically did it accordion style with the last two numbers “09″ being on top. I tried to show this in the picture below. Then gently tuck the numbers into the envelope letting the bow stick out just enough to be slightly beyond the flap. I did not seal the flap because I worried about the ribbon sticking and creating issues when it was time to be pulled out. Instead I just made sure the the flap was staying down and flattened the crease a little bit if it wasn’t.

We used the Xyron 3/8 inch Adhesive Runner to stick the mini envelope to the cardstock. I was so impressed with the quality and durability of the “stickiness” from the xyron tape. We also tried the photo mounting squares but they just didn’t work as well. The xyron tape was so easy to roll onto the back and it just stuck. I highly recommend it.

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Last but not least we were able to slide the final product into a regular A7 envelope in lake blue that matched the mini envelope. As I mentioned they were even regular postage using the forever stamps I had bought before postage went up. Often times the post office will charge you for using ribbon, but the bow was so small that it didn’t add extra bulk. Each envelope had a slight bulge from the folded paper and mini envelope but it was still skinny enough to easily slide through the test hole they have at the post office that determines if they charge extra.

My biggest piece of advice? Make sure you have people to help you. I by no means did this by myself. My family was literally an assembly line for all of the different stages. Otherwise I’d probably still be stringing those suckers today.

And that is the long story of the Duckling Save the Dates. I hope it wasn’t entirely confusing. Does anyone have any questions I can clarify?

Up next? Duckling invitations!!

I recently had my first bridal shower. Going into it, I was excited but slightly nervous. I am not one to be the center of attention, and knowing that people would obviously be looking at me a lot was a little overwhelming. (Just imagine what I’ll be like before the wedding! haha) However, once I arrived at the shower I had the best time.

My aunt did an amazing job decorating and setting everything up in her beautiful home.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts about this whole process is the opportunities that weddings create for quality time with those you love. And if you remember my post on the Five Love Languages, you’ll know that I am big on quality time. It was so fun to see my extended family and close family friends.

How cute is our flowergirl?

One of the more humorous parts of the shower was the question game. You know the game, where they ask the groom ahead of time a bunch of questions and then you have to guess his answers? Well, Mr. Ducky and I have always joked that we’d be horrible on any sort of Newlywed Game Show because he has no real absolute favorites so questions about him tend to be difficult. Sure enough that was the game at our shower and for each wrong answer I had to put gum in my mouth. I got all the relationship questions right, but when it came to his favorites it was a tad difficult. Even my Aunt said that when she talked to Mr. Ducky he wasn’t sure what to answer. Something like a favorite band/artist changes weekly depending on what mood he is in. We aren’t entering a game show anytime soon. Here is the result of me getting so many questions wrong…Sorry for the graphic and terribly unflattering picture! But now you can see how many wrong answer I had!

All of the food was delicious! Look at this fruit! Something about fresh fruit is so amazingly delicious.

My mom made a beautiful ribbon bouquet from all the gifts. Have you ever heard of the tradition that for every ribbon you break it is a future kid? Mr. Ducky was very concerned about this tradition.

Look at the hilarious favors my Aunt made! Kitchen gloves with some bling and nail polish! Mr. Ducky says they creep him out, but they make me laugh.

A picture of mama duckling and I at the end of the shower.

It was such a special time and I was so thankful for the generosity of everyone there. I regret that I didn’t take more pictures to share, but I guess I know for next time right?

Were you nervous before your first shower? What is your favorite part of a shower?

With just about two months to go all the sudden I hear Europe’s “The Final Countdown” playing in my head or simply because Mr. Ducky is humming it. It’s one of those moments when you say “Oh.My.Gosh, I have SO much to do!!”  I think I’d redo this music video with flashes of loading my my cricut and cuttlebug, lots of glue, paper everywhere and wedding magazines scattered across the floor. (Maybe with out the 80s hair as well!)

The biggest thing is all the DIY projects that I need to get moving on. Mr. Ducky and I went to Paper Source this weekend and ordered all the paper for our invitations. I need to finish the design and hopefully those will be out by next week. Our design changed a little bit when we discovered Khaki A2 matchbooks on sale for 50% off. Mr. Ducky was inspired, and sure enough we bought enough for both our invitations and programs. They have that kraft paper feel and I’m really excited for what we are going to do with them. Cross your fingers that you see a post on them next week, meaning that I finished them!

I could write out a list of all the DIY projects that need to be done, but I think that might be kind of boring for you and my head might possibly explode. I have the designs and ideas, it’s time to start executing them though. What’s the best way to prioritize?

There are so many details that need to be taken care of, much less finding a place to live and all the other things that come along with being married. We have been engaged for over a year, and the wedding has felt so far away for so long. Now it is right around the corner!

Anyone else feeling the time ticking away? What is next on your to-do list?