Weddingbee bios

Mr. LatteLove is a seminary student in Southern California, where he was born and raised and thinks is paradise on earth.  When he's not playing Nazi zombies, he enjoys reading, writing, HBO tv shows, comic books and super heroes, and ocassionally cooking for his new wifey!

Mrs. LatteLove is adjusting to her post-wedding move across country (Chicago to San Diego), a new job, and married life.  She is looking forward to planting a garden, and to the time when her new house is a little more settled and homey.

We had the most amazing wedding day I could have ever imagined, surrounded by so much love.  It was a blast!

And after 8 months of planning with WeddingBee, I'm not about to be over weddings!  (though the mister is happy it's all over!)

Mr. LatteLove and I have lived 2,200 miles apart since we both graduated from college in May 2008. We had a little long distance practice over Christmas break where we were apart for 5 weeks, but over all--it was a rough experience.Absence makes the heart grow fonder? I don't think so. In my case, absence makes the heart sad, stressed, whiney and miserable!! Poor fiancé. He put up with a lot.

Fast forward--I flew out to Cali over Labor Day weekend, and gasp, our next planned trip wasn't until he came out here for Thanksgiving! It was going to be a long haul...and things were a little rocky for us in the beginning of October. I was sad and moany that he wasn't here and he was very busy and stressed in his first semester of seminary. I was ready to start planning our wedding, and now I knew I wouldn’t get a ring until at least Thanksgiving!

here's us at disneyland over Labor day weekend...soaking wet after splash mountain.

I called E that night and his phone was turned off. It was early, so I thought it was strange…but not too strange, because he often turns his phone off when he is studying, napping, sleeping, etc. (and it drives me crazy!!)I left a message and didn’t worry when I got a call back about an hour and a half later from him. He sounded really tired and said that he was going to be bed right away and we could talk tomorrow. I was a little peeved he couldn’t make time for 10 minute chat before bed, and I think I hung up upset.

We got to Navy Pier and even though it was a little chilly grandpa wanted to walk outside to see the boats on the water. I grabbed his camera and starting snapping away as we made our way all the way down navy pier.

wasn't it a gorgeous night?

After handing the camera back, I heard my name being called. I instantly cringed. I thought for sure some old friend from school was coincidentally at Navy Pier at the same time and was going to make a big scene in front of my grandparents and the Jets. I ignored the voice and kept chatting. I heard my name again, this time it was much more familiar…

grandma nudged and I looked….

And there he was.

Dressed in the sport coat I scolded him for buying the week before.
Looking freezing cold and nervous, but more excited than I’ve ever seen him.

I. Stopped. Dead. In. My. Tracks.

And then, in a split second, as tears sprang to my eyes, I found myself running.

I dropped my purse. I threw my arms around his neck. I whisper-screamed into his ear…”are you really here?!” And I cried.

the ugly laugh/cry/surprise face

He gently removed my death grip from his neck, and dropped to one knee. He popped open the box and kept it short and sweet.

see my poor purse? and grandpa trying to snatch the perfect shot?

I blubbered, “Of course I’ll marry you”. I was shaking so badly, he could hardly put the ring on my ring after I asked him to. and then i laughed. and cried some more.

I love this photo below because even though it's horribly fuzzy, you can completely see the surprise and thrill on my face

and happiness

 with my grandparents, showing off the bling, calling my family!

Then my soon-to-be-hubs announced we were off.  We walked around giggly for a few minutes before boarding The Odyssey cruise ship off Navy Pier.

The dinner cruise on the Odyssey was not even close to cheesy (which is what I would've imagined a dinner cruise to be). It was completely romantic, delicious food, great service, and a fireworks show. I felt so lovey-dovey we decided to break some of our PDA rules and hold hands, kiss, and sit next to eachother at the table (in public!)

The whole world stopped for that entire evening, and we made phone calls at 11pm on our way home.

A perfect start to this adventure of engagement...

Our pictures wer e a little unique.  Because of the long-distance we only had 2 opportunities to get our e-pics taken, and one of those opportunities was in the dead of winter. 

I am good friends with our photographer, so when i called them to tell them the news i was engaged they asked about an e-shoot--they had an opening that same day!

So with about 3 hours of notice, no time to shop for new clothes, pick out 4 coordinating outfits and shoes, we winged it.

The results aren't perfect, but they're us--and I loved the fall setting.

PS.  If you don't want to read this terribly long dress saga, skip to the end to see the final version of my wedding dress!

I wedding dress shopped at least three times, with what I thought was a pretty clear picture of what I wanted....the only thing I wasn't sure about was the neckline I was looking for.  I always assumed I'd go simple strapless, but when I saw it on me, i wasn't as wowed.

I kept finding little features of a dress that I loved, but never found the whole package.  So 5 months before the wedding, I decided to order a custom made dress!

These were the inspiration photos I gave the seamstress:

Casablanca 1831

Tried on by me here (about 6 sizes too big)

my mom cried when I came out of the dressing room like this, and I felt the most comfortable...so that's how I decided on the v-neckline.

I wanted the neck and rouching to be the same on my dress, but the casablance had thin straps and straight backline which I hated!

Here's the inpiration for the back:

(Anne Barge)

Watching the dress come together was a painful process.  It started out looking like nothing I wanted.  My first fitting was a little disappointing, but I had to remember a custom made dress isn't going to look perfect at the first fitting!

On the bright side, she nailed the rouching, body and skirt.

I asked her to lower and uncross the fabric in the neckline, make the *cherry tomato* coverage a little smoother and smaller, (Hello, righty!...you're not that much bigger than lefty!), thin the straps. and make the back wider and lower.

Second Fitting:

Getting closer.  The straps still weren't thin enough and the top still wasn't quite small enough (especially on my right side)

here's the comparison from 1st to 2nd fitting:

Second                                                                        First

At the second fitting I also picked a bustle.  Because I chose a one point and my dress had pleats, I had a hard time keeping it looking how I wanted to on the wedding day:

Train and Bustle:

 At the wedding, I kept having wings!

At my final fitting, just a week before the wedding, there were still some things that needed to be taken care of...like taking it in a good 3 inches! 

Rather than have to come back and try again, my very patient seamstress fixed them on the spot.  I don't have any pictures of the third fitting, but here's how the dress came out:  I absolutely adored the final product and felt beautiful in it all day!

My ring was selected by my fiance (and looked nothing like the photos I'd shown him!), but I absolutely adore it.

he worked with my grandfather, a retired jewler, to design the ring.  my grandfather picked out the center stone which is a grogeous hearts on fire.  A couple weeks after the engagement I took a few photos of it on my canon powershot SD750, and a blogging friend edited them in photoshop for me!

My wedding day shoes were Caparros Victor Satin Peeptoe pumps purchased from DSW on sale for $26!

By far my favorite part of the shoes is the adorable bow!

I was originally going to clasp vintage rhinestone shoe clips from my aunt to them, as my "something old" but I loved the shoes so much without them.  and I didn't want to distract the adorableness of the bow.

The first three photos are by me, and the last by our photographer on the wedding day.  They look a little less gold-colored in real life.

they're pretty rewearable for dressy functions and I love that the color isn't bridal white or ivory, but still matched with the nuetral tones of my wedding.

Some friends and family helped me DIY all of my flowers--bouquets and arrangements the day before the wedding.  My aunt is a craft and creative green-thumb and she helped us put everything together! (over mimosas, of course)

Before we began, this bouquet was my primary inspiration (but I wanted to add a little green)

source

Then we got to work!  I ordered all my flowers about 2 weeks ahead of time from the local grocery store.  Everything you see here: Roses, Peonies, Mums, Alstromeria, Gerberas, Tulips, Hypericum Berries, Baby's Breath, Hydrangeascost a total of $600. 

This was enough for 5 bm bouquets and bride's, 12 bouts, 5 corsages, 16 centerpieces, 2 large floral decorations for church, and aisle decor. (with leftovers)

A couple of finished bridesmaid bouquets in the bucket

The finished product!

the bridesmaid bouquets were basically mini-bride bouquets without the peonies: