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VENDORS
INVITATIONS - Hand-made
and designed by the Bride
My Chinese invitations were
printed by JC Printing, Temple City, CA (A)
Yes, I've actually design the invitation the year that Jason and I got engaged.
I knew the colors and type of paper I wanted, everything except for the
invitation envelopes, and I'm not referring to the envelopes that say Mr. and
Mrs. I'm referring to the envelope that holds the invitation, location,
directions, etc. I had gone through 2 complete designs before deciding on the
finalized version. I even handmade 50 envelopes a year in advance. But I was
still no quite happy because the design wasn't fresh or unique anymore. I was
still sketching around ideas and making samples so I can show them to Jason for
feedback. One night he came over and picked up one of the brown colored
envelopes and he tried to eat it because he thought it was a chocolate bar. That
incident gave me the idea of designing my invitation envelopes to look like
chocolate bar boxes. =D |
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Reviews: I received a lot
of compliments on my invitations
and got a lot of request on how
to make the envelope boxes so
I've decided to put together a
video on how to make them and
will post them on Youtube once I
have the chance to.
CEREMONY LOCATION - Almansor Court, Alhambra, CA
(B+)
I have to admit that this venue was not my first choice, I wanted a really nice
garden-theme ceremony for my wedding, but the fact that we only had four months
to plan our wedding, it was pretty decent and was available. They had a gazebo
setting for the ceremony and a park and lake right behind the gazebo. Parking is
free, although it is at times tough to find parking on a Sunday. The cost of the
venue was within our budget and it was available during the time that we wanted,
plus we were able to get a discount for a Sunday wedding, which works well for
us! I worked with Stacy and she was very accommodating. The gazebo is the
highlight of the ceremony area, however, it's not new or as clean as you would
expected, but with the right decor, it would be a beautiful background for the
photo shoot.
On wedding day: I didn't get a chance to see how things went during the
setup but when I arrived to the gazebo, I got a glimpse of what the site looked
like and I was so pleasantly surprised. =D
OFFICIANT - Chris Robinson, Signal Hill, CA (A-)
One of my best friend had used Chris to officiate her marriage to her hubby.
Both her and her husband agreed that it was one of the best investment they've
made. Chris made it hassle-free for them to get their marriage license that all
they did was sign a few papers and Chris even made a trip to their house to
finalize the documents. So instead of having to take a day off from work, Jason
and I decide to hire Chris and have him officiate our wedding as well.
On wedding day: Chris was very friendly and accommodating. He made things
very simple and easy and had all the paperwork ready for us to sign which took
about 5 minutes. I'm just so glad I do not have to deal with having to take care
of the paperwork afterwards.
RECEPTION VENUE - New Capital Seafood Restaurant, San Gabriel, CA
(B+)
This venue was the first thing we booked right after we set our wedding date. It
wasn't really my first choice because I didn't want to do a traditional style
banquet, but long story short, it was available and is located in an area where
the parking spaces is free, and are filled with stores. But above all, the food
is great there. The floor manager, Tim, was great and offered us a bunch of free
stuff for our reception. They just remodeled one side of their building which we
will be able to use for our reception and they had a large window area where you
get a great view of the SG Valley. The only thing I didn't like was the fact
their linens and chair covers
(which were included) did not
vary in the colors that I want.
But oh well, just have to make
the best of it. Tim was very
accommodating to my requests
that after a few nudges, he
threw in a dance floor for us to
use for our wedding game which
was great.
FLORIST - Dream Flowers, Monterey Park, CA
(B)
I was actually recommended to Heidi to do my floral design. I had decided to
design my own centerpiece because I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars of
flowers. Don't get me wrong, I like flowers, but I'm not crazy about spending a
great deal of money on them. But after speaking with Heidi, we were able to work
on a deal that would benefit both of us and I'm glad I was able to come in and
meet with her to discuss my bridal bouquet and ceremony decor.
On wedding day: When I first saw my bouquet, I was actually a bit
disappointed. Although it was full and beautiful, it didn't meet my
expectation. Apparently, she had added more roses which was a plus, but
it didn't have that wow factor that we've discussed on. The flowers for
my Rose ceremony for the mothers turned out awesome since they had the
Hong Kong style. The flowers for the ceremony turned out great and she
had used my tissue paper flowers to decorate the gazebo which turned out
beautiful! My orchids for the parents' boutonnieres and cake were the
wrong color but they turned out fine.
ENGAGEMENT PHOTO SHOOT - Lucy's Bridal and Photography, Temple City, CA
(A+)
Henry Wang and Jenny did our engagement photo as well. We went to the Santa Fe
Dam for our outdoor session and I have to say he made the experience fun for us.
Jason and I were pretty much laughing the whole time. By the end of the day, we were so tired from just sitting and standing around. When we went in to select
our 30 photos for our album, we went through 185 photos!! The sad thing is that
we get to choose only 30 photos. I called Henry over and told him that he did
way too good of a job taking our photos that we can't possibly just pick 30 so
he gave us a discount and we were able to select additional files for only
$10/each! Yah!
We got their special promo for their engagement session for $1688 which included a
whole day's photo shoot, 30 retouched high res. digital photo files, a
beautifully designed 15 page spread 9.5" x 13" photo album consisting the 30
selected images, and a 24"x30" framed photo canvas. Each
additional photo file cost $15 (retouched).
PHOTOGRAPHER - Henry Wang Photography, Temple City, CA
(A)
We hired Henry to take our wedding photos and I have to say that it was one of
the best investment we ever made. He's a fun guy and has a great personality. He
kept us feeling comfortable and
happily entertained the whole
time. Of course, we were able to bargain over the
price considering that we got a package deal. All I have to say, Cash is King!
WEDDING GOWN - Lucy's Bridal and Photography, Temple City, CA
(A)
I rented my wedding dress and two evening gowns for only less than $500.
You can also purchase additional bridesmaid dresses from them, which I
ended up doing. You just can't beat the price. I've decided to rent a
dress for one of my bridesmaid and my mom instead and decide to look for
my evening dress elsewhere. The reason is most of their bridal gowns are
meant for those who are size 2-6. Their
seamstress, Mandy, is awesome to work with. My mom brought in her own
dress and wanted it tailored and they gave us a very reasonable price. I
was able to get my evening gown from LightintheBox.com and was able to
find this beautiful coral colored, layered gown under $140, plus it was
tailored to my size which was awesome!
GROOM TUX - Friar Tux Shop, San Gabriel, CA
(A)
We shopped around before we even went to FTS. I assumed that
their price would not be within my budget, but we were so glad that we did
because we were able to rent 4 tuxes for under $400. And they include shirt,
coat, pants, vest, tie, cuffs and shoes.
MAKE UP ARTIST - Elaine Chou, Temple City, CA
(A)
I've recommended at least 6 brides to Elaine in the past. I just love her work
and her price is pretty competitive. She charge $120/wkday and $160/wkend for
hair and makeup trial. She was the second person I contacted right after we set
the wedding date and luckily she was available that day. I don't personally wear
makeup all that much, I just don't have time so I did not know what to expect
when I did my trial with Elaine. But I love the way my trial went and right
after that, I booked her for my wedding day.
On wedding day: Elaine came on time in the morning and got started on my
makeup which had taken a bit longer than expected. But my makeup and hair turned
out great and natural, I love it so much! I had booked Elaine for practically
the whole day and she was so great and accommodating to my requests. She
traveled to my venues so I do not have to worry about having to go to her to
retouch my makeup. It was one less thing to worry about that day.
BAKERY - Amor Bakery, Temple City, CA (A-)
I have to say the cakes from Amor Bakery taste YUMMY! Especially their durian cakes.
I went around the local area to search for pricing and I have to say that no one else can beat Amor Bakery's price. I had a design in mind for my wedding cake and the estimate I got was about $1100 for a 5-tier wedding cake that feed 175 people which was ridiculous! The owner, Tommy, worked with me on budget and after a few minor modifications, he charged me almost four times less than what the other bakery charged.
I had to provide some decor accessories for him, but overall the price was worth
it!
On wedding day: The decor on the cake looks good. Tommy brought the cake
to the reception on time. The cake was supported to be on the center of
the stage and I found out that the staff had placed the cake to the side
of the stage instead. I assumed it was brought over to the reception in
great condition, but was slightly toppled because I had asked for the
wedding cake table to be moved to the center of the stage. I was a bit
bummed because the my photographer didn't get a chance to take a photo
of it prior to the move. Ah well, the cake taste great and moist!
CENTERPIECES - Hand-made from scratch and designed by the Bride
I'm not a florist, but I am a designer. I've been to many wedding where the
centerpieces are nice to look at, but they don't have the wow factor. I've
research for many ideas on decors and decided to do a DIY centerpiece by
watching lots of YouTube videos on how to design your own centerpieces. After
many hours of gathering ideas and watching all these videos, I came upon the
idea of doing a manzanita tree centerpiece. First of all, they aren't cheap,
second, it was a LOT of work that I didn't expect to do. And I mean a LOT of
work, from building the vase box, to painting them and the trees and the
orchids, making the florals and pompoms from tissue papers, tying the crystals,
gluing the orchids, taping the ribbons, etc. I did about 34 sets so you can only
imagine. However, I love the result and in the end, each piece cost me
less than $20. All thanks to
Save on Crafts,
Bloom and Branches, and
HSM panel.
On wedding day: I had asked my helpers to take them down from the tables
so we can give them out to those who participated in our wedding games. Lol,
surprisingly our guests were trying to hide the centerpieces so that they can
take them home. I had received a lot of compliments on them and now it was worth
all the time and effort that I put into them.
LIGHTING - Inlight Lighting, Temple City, CA (A)
Anyone who work in the entertainment industry will know that lighting
can get expensive. They can cost thousands of dollars for only 4-5
hours, but Terry from Inlight Lighting gave me such a great deal, I
couldn't resist getting lighting decor for my reception. He was quick to
respond to my inquiries and spent time demo-ing different lighting
effects during my appointment. I finally decided on fuchsia and orange
for my lighting decor. Jason wasn't too keen on getting lighting decor
in the first place, but after I brought him over to take a look at the
lighting effect, I got him to sign the check for the deposit. >:)
On wedding day: All I have to say is the lighting at our reception venue
turned out great and awesome. Terry put up 20+ uplights against the wall
and they created a dramatic environment and mood which complimented the
centerpieces, table linens and everything else at the reception. Jason
was pleasantly surprised at how they turned out and said it was worth
it! I would definitely recommend Inlight Lighting to any bride and groom
who wants professional lighting decor or rentals on chair, linens,
floral decors, drapes, and makeup services etc. They got it all!
PHOTO BOOTH - Sparkle Photo Booth, Long Beach, CA (A)
Paul from Sparkle Photo Booth was very friendly and accommodating. Getting a photo
booth was one of the ideas I wanted to do at the last minute and I had to
convince Jason that we should get it. He wasn't keen on the idea and thinks that
it was a waste of money. I was able to negotiate on using their photo booth
since they had one booth that was not in use on our day, which was great! They
provided two friendly staffs, props, scrapbook and supplies, custom banner on
the photo prints, double prints, and a digital copy of all the photos taken.
On wedding day: The photo booth was a hit at our reception! Jason
actually admits that it was a great idea that night after he saw the long line
of people waiting to take photos. We were so busy that we almost forgot to take
photos ourselves, but good thing we did and I was able to take more photos with
friends and the best thing about it is that we didn't have to wait in line!
LOL...
DJ / MUSIC - None
I didn't really want to pay for a DJ since I planned to just have my
brother use his laptop to play music in the background. It turned out just fine
and I just picked out the songs I wanted to play for the ceremony which
cost me $28 and reception which I had played the top 100 songs in 1980's
and have them on repeat...
ANNOUNCEMENT MC - (D)
I have to say that I will never recommend anyone to have their unknown relative
MC their wedding party during the reception. It is a big no no, and it was one
of the hiccup that day, but ah well, what's done is done...
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