Almost Finished
Almost is the key word. Even though I haven’t gone to work since Tuesday of last week, I’m STILL not finished with all of the little to-dos. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!
“Just Don’t Walk Anymore”
That’s what my dad told me today. Why? Because on my way out to get a facial with my mom, I reached across my desk to grab my watch (like I’ve done a thousand times) and hit my head on the shelp above … HARD. I literally yelled “Son of a!” louder than I normally yell. A bump appeared on my head immediately.
Of course I’ve iced it, multiple times. And of course, it will go away by Sunday. It’s just SO irritating how clumsy I am. Later on in the evening, I almost ate it by tripping on a rug that has always been there.
My dad is THIS close to enfolding me in all the bubble wrap that’s been arriving with our registry gifts.
In One Week’s Time, It Will All Be Over
Wow, it’s less than a week away. I want to freak out, but there’s no time.
Other than finally being married to my best friend in the whole wide world, the thing that I’m most looking forward to once the wedding is over is being able to have a good night’s sleep again. When I’m laying in bed at night, my mind is still going a mile a minute. I think of things I have to do or things not to forget. I also walk through the whole day and picture how things will go. So it’s hard to fall asleep. It also doesn’t help that I’m not pooped from work. Ever since my vacation from WB started, my body isn’t tired enough to tell my mind to shut up so we can sleep.
The wedding is even invading my dreams. What cracks me up is that the details in my dream are very on point with the real wedding plans. It’s almost as if these dream scenarios could actually happen. My favorite so far is last night’s when dream-Stacy and dream-Barbara surprised me by bringing me to the harbor to board a “don’t-stress-about-the-wedding” cruise. I was all for it until I realized it didn’t come back until Friday and I wouldn’t be able to get anything done this week. The funny part was when I decided I couldn’t go, the two of them said okay and went without me. It was totally like, “whatever … peace out!” So at least these wedding dreams are amusing.
In a week when it’s all in the past, I’ll be glad to return to my normal dreams of random happen-stances.
You’ve Got Mail!
Up until recently, my favorite thing to do would be to come home and find little yellow envelopes waiting for me on the kitchen counter. My parents and Marie would watch as I would rip open these envelopes and read the RSVP responses. We’d get excited over who was coming, sad over who was not … but occasionally relieved that at least a few people were replying no because our guest count was too crazy. It was something to look forward to at the end of the day.
Nowadays, there’s a very similar feeling when I get home and see what registry gifts have arrived. Most of the time, I get a heads up from Victor who checks our registry online often to see if we need to update it. So he lets me know something has been purchased so I can look out for it on my porch just in case the gift-giver opted to send it to the house. It’s been so fun receiving all of these Macy’s and BedBath&Beyond boxes. (We registered at two stores for more variety.)
Vic and I are so appreciative of the love our friends and family have already showed us so far. There are moments when I’ll get a gift in the mail and think, “WOW! I can’t believe somone got this for us. It’s so awesome!” The wedding hasn’t even arrived yet and I’m bursting with emotion over how much I love our peeps.
I’m Alive
Nope. My tailor did not murder me. With powerful deduction skills, you’re probably figured out that my wedding dress fits. Yay!
I have to admit, it’s holding on to me for dear life … but it zips up and I can breathe in it. Of course, I should still eat healthy for these next few weeks ‘cause the dress fits just barely. We don’t want any wardrobe malfunctions on the big day!
“If You Don’t Lose Weight, I’m Gonna Kill You.”
Never thought I’d EVER here anyone say these words to me. ME … the girl who has NEVER had a problem with weight in her life.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still thin and I know I’m not overweight or anything. The only reason I need to lose weight (other than avoid getting murdered by lady who said this, who happens to be my tailor) is because the wedding dress I bought back in October doesn’t quite zip up all the way anymore.
I blame the free Starbucks pastries that I eat at the end of every work day. Blerg!
So yeah, the awesome lady who is hemming my dress told me that unless I want my zipper to break half way through my reception, I need to lose a few pounds. No, it’s not the end of the world … but it’s hard for a little girl like me to lose weight.
My friend from work, Sheryl, told me that the reason I’m gaining unwanted weight is because I’m thinking about it so much. Since I HAVE to fit into this one piece of clothing by a certain date, my mind is screwing with my body. Normally, I can eat anything I want and never fluctuate in weight … even after eating like a gluttonous pig during my last family cruise. Now, I have to eat a little healthier and maybe hop back on the treadmill a few days a week.
I know it’s possible, and it probably won’t even be that hard. It just sucks.
Blast you, Starbucks pastries! No more coffee crumb cakes or cookies-and-cream cupcakes for me!
The Wong Name
Some of our guests might have been surprised when they got our invitations in the mail and saw that I was marrying some dude named Victor Wong. “Who is that? What happened to Victor Huynh?” No worries, everyone. It’s the same ole Vic we all know and love.
Victor Huynh has officially changed his name to Victor Wong. You see, “Wong” is his original family surname. Why he’s grown up with the last name “Huynh” (even though the rest of his family, including his brother and sister, were Wongs) is a long story that you’ll have to hear from him. We figured that since we’re getting married, it was a good time for him to change it to the correct name so that he can pass it on to future generations.
Little did we know this process was not gonna be quick and simple. He started the paperwork back in January and only got his official documents from the court earlier this month. Before officially changing his name, he even had to take out an add in a newspaper (to his own expense) and publicize the upcoming name change. I guess that’s to make sure that he’s not hiding from someone he owes money to or anything shady like that. Now he’s working on getting a new social security card, driver’s license, passport, etc. It would be awesome if after he got his name change, he could submit the paperwork to just one place and they would do all the major stuff for him. Once we get married, it should be much easier for me to change my name. At the very least, I doubt I’ll have to take out a newspaper ad.
Which brings me to my new dilemma: what am I gonna change my name to? I know for sure that I want to keep Yapyuco in some form. There are so few of us! I also want to take Vic’s name, so here are my two options:
- Cathlene Yapyuco Wong (Yapyuco being my middle name)
- Cathlene Sarah Yapyuco-Wong (Sarah’s my original middle name)
I’m not a fan of the hyphen, so I’m leaning towards option number one. The thing is, my grandpa (“Den”) came up with “Cathlene Sarah” and most of my family on my mom’s side calls me “C.S.” for short. So it’s kinda sentimental. Ideally, I’d want “Cathlene Sarah Yapyuco Wong” as my full name, but according to this marriage license application I’m about to fill out, if I have two last names, they need to be hyphenated.
So Cathlene Yapyuco Wong it is. While I’m sad I won’t officially be “C.S.” anymore, I’m okay with changing my middle name to Yapyuco. Sarah will be an informal middle name that I use with family. Plus, option two is just really long and I’d hate to have to fill that out on forms all the time. hahaha.
Our First One!
Last month, Victor and I registered for gifts. It was a fun and tiring process. We’ve been checking and updating our registries online ever since and today Victor noticed something exciting: an item from our registry has been purchased! Yippeeee! I’m all giddy with anticipation of opening all our gifts (and envelopes) after the wedding.
The cool thing about registries these days is that almost every big-name brand offers registry and completion incentives. This means that companies will give us free gifts for registering for their products … then even more gifts down the line if people actually purchase these items for us. Already, Victor and I have received fun freebies like a cheese board with knives, a pie slicer/server and a mini butter warmer (whatever the heck that is). Nothing in the freebie list is absolutely necessary for us to have, but it’s always fun getting free stuff. I feel like Monica and Chandler when they went on their honeymoon and they kept trying to get upgraded like the couple ahead of them:
Front Desk Clerk: As a wedding gift to you, the hotel would like to give you the honeymoon suite.
Monica: No!! You have been screwing us all day!
Man: Who are you?
Chandler: We’re you just ten seconds later!
Monica: Yeah! You already got the first class tickets; you got the lounge! I mean we should get free stuff too! I mean you’re not the only ones on your honeymoon!
Woman: Well you can have the suite if you want. We don’t care about where we stay. We’re here to celebrate our love together. We don’t have to get free stuff. We just want to be together.
Chandler: (looks at Monica then at them) We need the stuff.
“We cordially request to invite the honor of your presence …”
There are many ways to say it but all of them should not be used at the same time. Take away all of the flowery language, and an invitation basically says “there’s a party and you get to come … just make sure you tell us if you’re coming or not.”
The last two weeks have been all about those pieces of paper/cardstock that do this job. Victor and I decided to (for the most part) make our own. We found a website that sold these kits to print and assemble invitations. After ordering the stuff we couldn’t make on our own (pocketfolds and envelopes), we headed to Staples and paper stores to do the rest. It was a delicate balance of finding paper and cardstock that weighed enough to give elegance to the invite, but didn’t weigh too much as to make each invite too heavy to mail regularly. It was like Goldilocks and the Three Paper Weights. Finally, we found a bunch that were juuuuust right.
Victor then volunteered the laser printer at his office to print all of the invites and info inserts. Thanks Hunter Industries! (Shhh. Don’t tell them. They don’t know they did this good deed.)
Last weekend, in San Diego, we had a paper cutting party. Victor and Marissa each brought home those awesome industrial paper cutters (the kind Josh Hartnett’s character kills an alien with in the film, The Faculty). Boy was there a lot of cutting to do! We started a bit of the gluing process as well. Thankfully, we had Kay, Marissa and Marissa’s mom (I know, awesome) to help with that as Vic and I caught our dinner reservations Friday night.
This weekend, my LA girls came over and continued the job. Stacy, Jessie and Barbara glued, collated and stuffed all of the invites and envelopes. It only took three hours and a 14-piece family meal from El Pollo Loco. No, they didn’t finish the chicken, but yes, they finished the invites!
What’s the point of this story? Invitations are a peek into what your wedding will look like: from the color scheme to the level of fanciness. Victor and I have been doing this whole wedding planning process by ourselves, without a wedding planner. Our invites definitely reflect this DIY attitude. We also want our ish to look good, but we don’t want to spend an insane amount of money on things that aren’t too important (they are just pieces of paper that tells you info that, for the most part, you already know). Same goes for our wedding … it’s gonna look nice and be fun, but it is just one party and there are much better things that we can be spending our money on (like the actual marriage and our life together). Lastly, we could never pull off our wedding without help from others. This is true for the invitations. If Victor and I had to do all of the cutting, gluing, collating, stuffing and labeling ourselves, we still would not be finished.
Our friends and family have been champs so far in helping us with our wedding. That’s why we plan to show them a damn good time come party night! Shots? You better believe it.
It’s Not Easy Being Blue
You would think blue would be an easy color to plan your wedding around. It’s sooo not. Obviously, there are many shades of blue and getting just the right one is difficult. What’s even harder is finding the right shade of blue with all of our vendors. It’s proven to be pretty impossible.
So what’s the answer? Compromise. Going into this wedding planning business, I knew that I would have to constantly re-prioritize and manage my expectations. I just didn’t think that the color blue would be something that I would have to be flexible about.
At first, I was thinking navy. It turns out, not everyone agrees on what navy looks like. With some places, it’s super dark and with other places, it’s a nice shade that I’m going for. Other places would call this royal blue. Some places have neither! Aiyah!
I feel like Goldilocks and the three bears. My invitation blue is a bit too dark, my wedding party dresses blue is a bit too light … still looking for the blue that’s JUUUST right. Luckily, all these blues look good together and they all look good with yellow (which is our accent color). It will all turn out fine, I just wish it could have been easier.
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