Jenie and Frank dot com slash blog

My best friend and matron of honor, Diane, hosted my bridal shower at her beautiful home last weekend. I had such a fabulous time! I can’t thank her enough for all the thought she put into it and everything she did to make it happen! A big thanks to my sisters, Anita and Alyssa, who helped Diane put it all together!

The shower was Italian themed, in honor of our honeymoon destination. From the decor to the food to the favors, everything reflected Italy! So cute! Here are some pictures from the day. The entire set of pictures will be emailed to everyone who came soon!

A picture with Frank before I left for the shower

Diane and me

Me and my mommy

Me and my sister Anita

My baby sister Alyssa and me

Some of the decor

The table setting

More decor, the cake, and the favors

The favors-chocolate dipped biscotti. Yum!

One of the games–How Well Do You Know Jenie and Frank? Anita and Lina tied as the winners!

Giving answers to the game

The prizes…aren’t they wrapped up so cute?

One of Diane’s gifts to me was a huge collection of lingerie on a line of tulle. It kept coming and coming out the bag! Frank had stopped by and we thought it’d be fun to have him model some! He wasn’t too happy!

Everyone was asked to fill out a card that included when each person first met me, three words they would use to describe me, a favorite memory, and marriage advice. By the time the shower was over, Diane had put together an awesome scrapbook for me. Amazing! It included pictures of me and each guest with the advice cards. How cute!

Here’s the first page, which showcases the shower invitation

Diane’s page

The entire book

I had so much fun! It was so nice to celebrate with family and friends. Thank you to everyone who was able to come enjoy the day with me! It really meant a lot, and you all helped make wonderful memories that I will cherish always!

We’ve been so consumed with the store construction the last few weeks that it occurred to me just a little while ago that we had some catching up to do with wedding stuff. So in the in the last few days, we started searching for wedding invitations, checked out local Livermore hotels, and I got my hair and makeup trial done.

The whole makeup artist search was a HUGE headache! I was banking on one particular artist who was highly recommended by our photographer. When I first made contact with her (she will remain nameless) back in November, she informed me that she works on a 6 month business calendar and therefore wasn’t taking bookings for August 2008 weddings until February 2008. So, on my calendar, I marked Jan. 31 as the day to send my second email inquiry to her. I heard from her two days later (and honestly, those two days waiting were not fun), saying she regretted to inform me that she was unavailable on our wedding day. Huh? What happened to the six month calendar thing? I guess someone beat me to it by emailing her earlier than I did.

So the search for a different makeup artist was on. I was finding it very difficult to get someone to come out to Livermore to do only makeup–one was charging an additional $200 because I didn’t want hair services. So in the end, I decided to go with makeup and hair, which I found out saves money in the long run and also saves us time on that day (I was originally going to have my regular hair stylist take care of our hair because I love her and she knows my hair and style).

Anyway, I found someone who was available on our day and set up the trial right away. I didn’t want to book someone without getting a trial first, and I didn’t want to loose out on getting someone, so I had to do the trial right away. It was fun! I even got some pictures taken by a professional photographer that the makeup artist hired for that day, just to take complimentary “after” shots. Girls, don’t you wish you looked that pretty everyday?

Today, I went to Trudy’s to order the bridesmaid dresses for my best friend and two sisters. I can’t believe it takes 3-4 months to get them in, but can’t wait for the call!

Next up, wedding invite samples…and I’m still looking for those gold shoes for my Chinese dress.

Diane, my best friend since high school and matron of honor, came with me to go bridesmaid dress shopping today. We had so much fun dressing up and being girlie, even though it rained pretty much all day. I believe we found a winner!

We also got to look around for veils and tiaras, and oh my goodness! It’s ridiculous how much these things can cost at bridal stores! Frank would probably pass out if he knew how much…so the search is still on for these accessories. Mom’s going to look in Hong Kong for me when she visits later this year. Given that most of them say “Made in China” on the tags, we’re hoping Hong Kong will save us major $. Keeping my fingers crossed…

Thanks Diane for braving your least favorite kind of weather and helping me go through what seemed like a million dress choices.  You are the best!  I’m still full from our late lunch and skipped dinner entirely!  But it was yummmmm!