Scenery in Oregon

Instead of battling campgrounds or traffic to get away for the Memorial Day weekend, we ventured North to Oregon. We have friends who live in Silverton and Portland so it makes it perfect for us to visit and really see the beauty of Oregon. Marijn and I were there last year for New Year's but most of the scenery of Oregon was covered in snow. What a difference in five months! It was so incredible to really see the beauty of Oregon (although my allergies were struggling). We did everything we possibly could do on a holiday weekend: hiking to waterfalls, BBQing, wine-tasting, beer tasting, fireworks, horseshoes and even a festival. I'm beginning to fall in love with Oregon. I can't wait to go back and visit again (and again)!

• Silverton Falls, Oregon •

• soaking in the scenery •

• Oregon Poppies •

• Brilliant colors •

• winery in Mount Angel, Oregon •

• delicious pinot noir •

• we were really bad at horseshoes •

• it's not 4th of July but we're still going to play with fire •

• beer tasting in Portland •

• bagpipers at the rose festival •

• the Oregon and Santa Clara crew •

Excessive unwinding in the Dominican Republic

I really wish that I could say that I had the chance to visit all the Dominican Republic and soak in the beautiful country but since it was our honeymoon, we didn't have a chance to explore as much as we would normally do on our adventures.

The first three days we did nothing except eat, drink, sleep, nap and the extent of our tough choices were: "cocktail on the beach or by the pool?" Although this is something that we would normally never do, we needed it. The two weeks prior to the wedding were very draining and stressful. So the first three days there we did not want to strain ourselves from doing anything so we choose to do nothing and it was a guilty pleasure!

• pool? •

• beach? •

We couldn't travel all the way to the D.R. and not do anything so we did venture out twice. The first trip was a city tour of Puerto Plata which is a very beautiful city. Our tour guide did mention that a lot of the businesses in town have gone under because of growth of the all-inclusive resorts since they provide everything that there is no need to go into town. We felt a little guilty since we were those tourists (next time, we'll venture out more!). The tour was a little silly but we did get to see how rum and cigars were made and it only confirmed how much I don't care for rum but do like a cigar on occasion :)

• the view into Puerto Plata •

• Brugal Rum factory •

• smoking a freshly rolled cigar (guilty pleasure, not a habit) •

Our other adventure was white-water rafting in the Yaque del Norte River which is in the valley of Jarabocoa (central mountains of the D.R.) and that was exhilarating! The drive was about two and a half hours (which was full of Dutch tourists so Marijn was so happy!) which I loved because having long drives in a foreign country really gives you a chance to see more of the countryside.

• somewhere in the central mountains •

This is the third time that I have gone river rafting (first time for Marijn) and it was crazy the difference between the States and a foreign country. They have you watch a five minute training video and then toss you out to the river but it's worth it! We had Class IV rapids and the whole journey was more than two hours. The river was so beautiful and serene and one of the best rafting trips that I have ever done. They even had cold beer waiting for us at the end of our journey! How perfect is that?!

• rocking the gear •

• we survived and ready to do it again •

So besides that, the rest of the honeymoon was what one would expect from one...a lot of relaxation. It was the perfect way for us finish the final chapter of the wedding madness. We definitely want to explore the D.R. again in the future but will make sure to stay away from the all-inclusives!

Here are some photos of the beautiful flowers and sunsets in the D.R., it would have been nice to be awake for some of their sunrises but oh well :)

• such a beautiful flower for something so evil: tobacco •

• wish I knew more about flowers but look at those colors •

• i love macro lenses •

• day one sunset, day two of marriage •

• day two after the thunderstorm •

• day three, pure bliss •

• getting towards the end of our trip, incredible colors •

• final night in the D.R. & pure ecstasy to end our honeymoon •

Details of our wedding (with a splash of uniqueness)

With eleven months of wedding planning, I scoured the wedding blogs to find inspiration. My Google reader was always full of new posts about some wedding out there in the world. At first, I found it exhilarating to learn more about what was out there and how to make our wedding fit us as a couple. I'm sure that I started to fall into the category of the "coordinating" bride where I had to consider what might be thematic like colors, flowers, decorations or whatever. But about a few months into our engagement, I realized that these themes were not who we are so we tossed any thematic idea out the window. Instead, we focused on making sure that we threw a party that was fun, exciting, different and most importantly, a place where our family and friends can just enjoy themselves.

The first step to ensure that most of our visual elements was fun was enlisting the help of a dear friend who designed all of our elements and made sure that nothing was conservative or boring. The final effect was that all of our visual elements was bright, colorful, fancy with a little hint of psychedelic-ness which is not the standard fare.

• our escort board with photos of our families and selves •

Besides making sure that all the visual, printed elements rocked, we added in some additional touches that would be unique. We wanted to include splashes of my Vietnamese heritage so my mom created these Vietnamese hats that she decorated throughout our ceremony and reception site. By the end of the evening, they were all snatched up because our guests loved them as souvenirs. My mom rocks.

Having a sugar rush (besides the free alcohol) is also important for guests of a wedding so we included a full candy bar and dessert bar. Unfortunately, the candy bar was demolished before dinner had even started! We never even had a chance to see what it looked like. I'm glad that some people took some photos so we could see what the end result was like. We also had a cupcake tower (with our cake topper as a Dutch delft ceramic couple kissing with tulips) and a full dessert table. I don't think that I even had a chance to see what the dessert table looked like but that was demolished too!

To wrap it all up, there was the wacky photo booth! Oh my goodness, we can't believe how wild and crazy our guests went over this! There was always a line and everyone made sure to wear the props that we provided. The best idea though was the album that we found for people to put their photos into. We got a Kolo photo album (best ever) and purchased a variety of colored markers and fun stickers and let the guests do the rest. The end result is a wonderful keepsake that is bright, unique, creative and just fantastic. Each page really showcases the level of fun that everyone had and each time we look through it, we are happy with ourselves that our wedding really did achieve our main goals: fun, exciting and different. Here are just some of the wackiness that went into our book...

• the wacky photo album •

• my parents •

• my in laws •

• dinosaurs made it into our book •

• zombies made it into our book •

• even crystal made an appearance from cape town •

• full page of fun-ness •

• love this photo of the little girl •

• even the reserved vietnamese let it all out for the camera •

L.A. Flower Market

Way back when we were planning the wedding, the ballooning cost was becoming more apparent as we figured out what our final bill would be (gulp). One of the cost cutting solutions was with our flowers and decorations. Our location was located in the mountains of Malibu and nature surrounded us so there really wasn't a need to spend lots of money on floral arrangements. We had twenty tables, six wedding peeps and our family members so if we went out of house to do that, the floral costs would have been way too high. So I decided to do the flowers myself (4 bouquets, 10 boutonnieres/corsages, 20 tables and sprinkles of decorations) and while I was in the process of making everything (including gluing my fingers together with the glue gun), I seriously thought that I was crazy for doing this task.

But it was worth it! Especially since L.A. has the most incredible flower market in downtown L.A. The warehouse covers about two city blocks (or so it seems) and it's full of everything related to flowers. Warehouses normally don't smell too pleasant but this one sure did (although my allergies didn't care for it). We spent about two hours wandering to see what was the freshest. Unlike most (crazy) brides, I did not know what our flowers/theme/colors were going to be. I had an idea of the flowers that I like working with but nothing was set until I saw what was in season. I think that this gave me more flexibility to have fun with the flowers.

• checking out the Gerbera Daisies •

• finalizing the bride's bouquet •

The final choices of flowers were: button mums for the boutonnieres, yellow carnations for the bridesmaids and white hydrangeas for my bouquet. Gerbera daisies were used in the centerpieces and tulips for our sweetheart table. In total, these flowers (including the costs additional material) ended up being about $200. Much less than if we went to a florist!

• the final flowers •

Instead of doing actual floral centerpieces, I decided that a low vase filled with water, floating candles and floating flowers would be the most ideal. They were simple, easy to set up and everyone loved them enough to take them home. Our guests loved that they could use it for anything in their home so they were all snatched up before the evening was even over!

• a small section of the dining room •

• close up of the centerpiece •

• my family with all the flowers I made •

I'm so happy that I made the decision to do the flowers, I have the battle scars on my fingers to look back and laugh (really, glue guns are way too hot) but I will look back at these photos in the years to come and it will make me smile knowing that they were put together with love and care (sappy).

Back to the real world?!

It's been awhile since I've had a moment to stop and write although there have been plenty of times in the past month where I have wanted to vent out all the stress and emotions that I was dealing with regarding the wedding planning but time just slipped through and looking back, the emotions and feelings were so fleeting that I'm glad I didn't have a chance to write them down. So now I am back in the grind which means that I can now finally write, update and post some photos although I don't even know where to start!

We highly enjoyed and loved every moment of the wedding stress madness. We dealt with every problem that came our way with laughs, giggles and a few tears but it made the journey memorable. We had family and friends fly in from all over the US and the Netherlands and we actually got to spend quality time with many of them. The best thing that we chose to do to spend time with our guests is instead of doing a rehearsal dinner, we opted to throw "Party in the Park" and we opened it to anyone who could come. We spent the day soaking in the LA sun at Lake Balboa, played games like Bocce Ball and Lawn Golf, ate food and drank beer. It was so relaxing and stress free that I think people should reconsider the Rehearsal Dinner concept. Who needs another layer of stress to throw a dinner in a small, crampy restaurant?

Anyway, we think (and have been told) that the wedding celebration was a great success and the photos and stories have only confirmed that. As the photos keep piling in and I have time to organize my thoughts and musings (apparently I should be working at the moment), I will delve into more of the fun, wedding stuff that we went through.

For now, here is one of the photos that we were able to get from our photographer. I think that this photo shows the level of craziness and fun that we wanted our celebration to have. We rented a big yellow school bus to take our out of town guests to and from the hotel and made sure to stock it with alcohol so guests could finally get a little tipsy in a school bus. Our photographers convinced us to go through the roof (I had to be lifted through the vent very carefully due to the dress and the top of the bus was so dirty) and stand on top. It was a little scary getting up there but in the end, so worth it for shots like this!

• courtesy of wildflowersphotos.com •