two weeks to go.

y'all, it's crazy town up in here. not just the wedding, but moving, and trying to find a new job.... it's nuts. sorry i've been such a bad blogger.

i will give you updates as soon as i can. in the meantime, perhaps you'd like to follow me and my almost-husband on twitter?

Wishpot = My Current BFF

Y'all, it is crazy fun times to see pretty little presents being reserved on our wishpot wish list every day! Our friends and family members are super generous and we love them :)

The thing is, I think we need to add more items! Not that we really need more stuff, and honestly we're hoping that people will choose to gift us with cash or gift cards, but apparently people really love buying presents... all the big-ticket items are being snatched up first.

So... would y'all do me a huge favor and take a look at our wishpot? I'd love to hear your ideas, feedback, whatever. Is there anything important that we forgot? Anything fun we could add?

Click here to see our wish list, then throw me your ideas!

BTW, we've also updated our website a little bit, and you can check that out here.

3 weeks to go! so excited.

Apparently our E-pics rock AND roll.

Y'all. Our engagement session was featured on Rock 'n Roll Bride the other day. Sweeeeeet.

Thanks Kat!

Also... just noticed I have 100 followers. So.... YOU GUYS rock 'n roll :)

Sometimes I really like my job.

I've been working here for the past 9 months. It's been the perfect place to be during this transition period while I'm waiting to get married and move to L.A. and start a whole new chapter. All the girls I work with have become great friends, and I've connected with some wonderful people in the wedding industry. Plus, every once in a while, I meet really cool brides. They are sweet, down-to-earth, have amazing style, and they want to create weddings that are honest, practical, joyous, and reflective of who they are.

Ginger is one totally 100% one of those brides. When she told me she was getting married in Maine and having a clambake reception, I got really giddy. Finally, something different and fun! We didn't have much luck finding the perfect dress that day, but she came back a few weeks later during a Melissa Sweet event and fell in love with the Santorini dress from Melissa Sweet's Reverie collection. After looking at some pictures from her wedding day, I'm sure you'll agree it was the perfect choice.


Ginger and Will tied the knot on July 25, 2009. Although they live in L.A., Will's family is from the East Coast so they chose Portland, Maine for their wedding location. When Ginger told me that her photographer had posted a few pictures, I rushed to watch the slideshow and was instantly smitten. Their photographer, Amy Salerno, did a wonderful job of capturing all the emotions of the day. It's so clear from the pictures that this wedding was practically dripping with love and excitement.


Being the sweetheart that she is, Ginger graciously answered a few questions...

Mason Jar Bride: How did you and Will meet?
Ginger: We met at work - both teachers!

Ginger brought her two sisters with her to The White Dress... I also helped them pick out their bridesmaid dresses!

MJB: What made you decide on Portland? Was it difficult to do all the planning from the opposite coast?
Ginger: Will's family is all from the East Coast, and mine is all from the West Coast, so we had to choose one. It was easier to get my family over to the East coast for a vacation, so we opted for that. It also gave us the opportunity to have a clambake theme. Planning was a bit more difficult, but the good thing about planning a destination wedding is that when you find a good vendor you have to make a decision to go with them - you don't have the opportunity to shop around. Since I'm really indecisive, limited options were really good! Will's family was also a huge help in scouting out the photographer and other vendors.

LOVE Will's seersucker suit. Perfection.

On the first day we met, Ginger mentioned that the wedding would be very DIY and would take advantage of the multifaceted talents of friends and family. Here's what her photographer said about the DIY approach: Family and friends were the central focus of the event. Ginger’s aunts created the beautiful floral arrangements and bouquets, a friend of the groom performed the ceremony, and the reception was rocking thanks to the talents of many of the guests. Every time I turned around someone new was up on stage. The groom even took a turn at the mike and keyboards.

MJB: Is there anything you DIY'd that you wish you hadn't? Or vice-versa?
Ginger: DIY things were the flowers, band, favors, invitations, place card rocks, programs and my hair and makeup. They all all turned out great I think, but all in all I was a busy bride. I don't regret any of it though - I loved it all.



MJB: Was there an overall style/theme/mood/feel that served as the inspiration behind the decor?

Ginger: We wanted the wedding to have a outdoor island feel. It was a clambake (which means mussels and lobster) which can sometimes be informal, so we kept all the decor really classic in order to dress it up a bit.

MJB: What was your favorite moment of the day?

Ginger: I had two favorite moments - the ceremony and the first dance. We put so much planning into the perfect reception, that we weren't expecting to be so moved by the ceremony. It was so beautiful, and my husband is so sweet. For the dance, we did a traditional Filipino dance where we jump in and out of bamboo sticks that are being hit together in rhythm. Will and I practiced a ton (not to mention that we choreographed it), so we were really pleased that it was a success.

(Go check out Will and Ginger's slideshow to see a couple pictures of the first dance... it looks like so much fun!)


MJB: Any advice for other brides?

Ginger: My biggest piece of advice for brides is to stay true to themselves, and plan a wedding that they want. I tried to remember this, and ended up having a really special day.

MJB: Where did you guys go on your honeymoon?

Jamaica!! So beautiful :)


Congratulations Will and Ginger! May you enjoy many years of bliss!

Curt's Manly-Man Bachelor Weekend

So the mister is gone all weekend for his bachelor party.

The boys essentially kidnapped him Friday afternoon, told him what to pack, and put him in the car for a long ride to the middle of nowhere.

I've been left in the dark about the whole thing, but Curt finally got a chance to call me this afternoon and I found out that they're camping and fishing in the mountains somewhere near Bishop. Definitely not your typical bachelor party, and if you read his blog you know that Curt's not exactly a rough-and-tumble mountain man...

But they're sleeping on the ground in tents, bathing in a stream, and apparently they hiked about 4 miles today to get to the lake to go fishing. I would looooove to see that.

Dear Dane, Dan, and Ryan: Thanks for not taking him to Mexico. Or Vegas. I appreciate it.

On a completely different note, this episode of It's Me Or the Dog is playing as I type.

Yeah, Corrie, that one's just for you.

Grab a Comfy Seat.

'Cuz this is a looooong post.


I'm so excited to finally share our engagement photos with you! Our awesome photographer, Sarah K. Chen, met us at the Orange County fair on a hot sunny afternoon at the end of July. We had SO MUCH FUN taking pictures and pigging out on delicious fair food. There are almost 150 pictures on the disc we got from Sarah, and it was hard to pick our favorites, but here's a nice little sampling...

Ok, yes. The oversized-balloons-at-your-engagement-session thing is getting a little cliche around the blogs. I realize that. But at this point I had been obsessing over Joanna's pictures for, like, a year, so whatever. We had to have them. And they were perfect for the fair. And it was FUN, damn it.




What we learned from this, #1: We look kind of funny when we're kissing. We need to work on that.


Always a sucker for shoe shots...


Y'all.

I LOVE Curt's face in this next one. Doesn't he look SO happy? Every time I see it I just want to give him a big squeeze.



We brought Corrie and Ryan along so we'd have some extra hands. They were life savers. (Thanks guys!) Unfortunately, we had an escapee when trying to transfer the balloons from one pair of hands to another...



We tried to get a good shot of our silhouette but you can't tell people at the fair what to do! This one guy had no clue what was going on, and we couldn't get him to move. So his shadow is in the shot too. After several failed attempts to get a clear shot, we just got over it.



That thing we're standing on? It's the middle section of this big planter with a small brick wall all the way around it, and of course there were like 20 people sitting there, but Sarah was determined to get us up there, so we just asked really nicely and people let us squeeze through them. It was not easy to climb up there in a dress and heels. But so. worth. it.


The lucky recipients of the big yellow balloons! They were so cute :)


Hands-down FAVE:




For me, the fair is really all about the food. And the roasted corn? Like Mr. Pibb and Red Vines, it's crazy delicious.



While Sarah adjusted her settings, we got down with our bad selves.



Dying to see more? Click here.

sneak peeks

Here are some projects we've been working on....










busy, busy.