Hi my beautiful blogger brides!

I've been very busy lately...getting stuff done! The wedding is only 15 days away, but we leave to Maui (our wedding destination) in only 11 days! It seems like only yesterday I started with my wedding plans...but today my house has become a wedding workshop!

Below are the DIY projects that are getting done today and tomorrow. My FH, family, wedding party, and friends have all given me a tremendous amount of help! The programs, favors, place tags, and OOT gift bags will all be shipped out to our wedding planner by Friday and should arrive to Maui before me and my FH. It's SO exciting!

The Programs:

These will be place on each chair before the ceremony.

The OOT Welcome Bags:

These will be filled with sunscreen, water, treats, map, and an itinerary.

And last, but not least...the Place Tags:

These Shell Leis will be placed on the chairs where each of our guest will be sitting. Each lei will have their name and our guests will also be able to take it home as a favor. :)

If I have time, I'll post a "Goodbye/Aloha" blog before I leave! :)

Hola beautiful Señoritas! I just wanted to share with you ladies the fabulous time I had this last weekend! :) My family and friends got together at my parents house to celebrate my bridal shower which we called a Bridal Fiesta!

My favorite food is Mole. A common dish in the Mexican culture. It can be done servel different ways (all very yummy, but my mother's is by far the BEST! lol) and usually served with rice. Since this is my favorite food and I requested this to be served at my shower, we all agreed that what better theme than that of a FIESTA! It was an intimate, down to earth gathering with all the ladies in my life. We enjoyed some traditional yummy Mexican cuisines, laughed, talked, played some games and enjoyed the presence of each others company in the comfort of my parent's backyard. Of course my mama decorated the tables to fit the theme, their was a beautiful cake and all the good DIY stuff. My flower girls and I even sported a little something of our own....cute traditional Mexican (hand made) shirts! Just a little something to honor my roots. :D  Enjoy the pictures! :)

Invitations were finished last week and they are absolutely stunning! :) We worked with Tammie (a local vendor in OC) since the very beginning and BOY, she delivered! I was going to DIY, but it was only a little bit more to have someone do them. I'm almost done mailing them out. Enjoy the pictures. Even though I believe they don't do the invites ANY justice... truth is, they are much more beautiful in person! :) They have little crystals on the front tag that sparkles oh so pretty! RVSP's are due before March 1st and then I can start the place cards. Can't wait!

Also, on the back of one of the insert cards the FH had them put this poem:

Together we wrote our names in the sand, and the waves washed them away. So on this day, we will write our names in our hearts, and there they will always stay.

It went great because we have this picture as the default on our wedding website :*)

I wrote this in on a beach in North Shore, Oahu in Hawaii.

HELLO brides! :)

Sorry I have MIA here on Blogger Brides, but with the wedding less than 11 weeks away I've been trying to get everything in line. I have so much to share with y'all that I don't even know where to start! I just finished assembling all the wedding favors, so I'll start with those...

On Tuesday, I invited some of my dearest friends to come over for Tacos (and to help me with the wedding favors of course). Get it? Taco Tuesday! Whatever, I thought it was funny... haha. I had ordered shell key chains and shell book-markers.

Then I bought these favor boxes from JeanM. I ordered them with Palm Trees, our names, and wedding date. I went to Michael's and bought some small shells and ribbon...

And VUALA! Are they gorgeous!?

A special THANK YOU to my best girls Dana and Sylvia! :) Dana your bows are fabulous! LOL (inside joke)

We finally decided on the bridesmaids' dresses, so now we can confirm the groomsmen attire. The bridesmaid will be flaunting a beautiful cocktail length lace cafe colored dress.

I plan to have them wear pearl necklaces and pearl colored flip flops.

The groomsmen will be wearing white short sleeve "guayaberas" with khaki colored slacks and chocolate brown flip flops. Since I have the bridesmaid with beautiful pearls around their necks I decided that the groomsmen should also sport their own accessories, so they will be wearing long green leis to finish their look.

I chose the groomsmen to wear "guayaberas" to incorporate a touch of my culture. You see my family comes from Mexico and although we have traded in a lot of our Mexican culture for more Americanized customs I still want to honor my heritage.  You can learn more about the "guayabera" at wikipedia.org.

Marvin (the future hubby) will be rocking the ceremony in a tan colored suit with a yellow tie (my favorite color). 

Later in the evening he plans to take off the jacket and roll up his sleeves. I plan to surprise him with a fresh green lei to match the groomsmen. :)

Oh and before I forget.....

I pick up my wedding gown this Friday! :) It was suppose to arrive on my FH b-day, but it came in early. Looks like the wedding Party Attire is all put together! Finally....

Images: Bridesmaid dress: Alfredoangelo.com, lei: treasuredmoments.com, guayabera:pennerrsinc.com, tan suit: friartux.com 

I love bling, but I love my family more. What does the bling, brooch, and family have to do with this brides blog? (twister huh?) Well here goes....

My parents, whom I adore, offered to purchase my wedding gown shortly after we announced our engagement. It was important to me to pick a dress that they liked. My dad said he wanted it timeless, nothing poofy or goofy. My mom wanted to see me in lace and Marvin, who's opinion matters most, wanted me happy. :) Just my luck because every ones wish was granted when I found my dress at a local bridal shop in my city! Its a gorgeous ivory A line dress with a sweetheart neck line and just a touch of lace designed by Vantana Watters. I knew it was perfect the moment I saw it and when the sales girl asked if I'd like to try it on first I refused. I wanted it to be last because I didn't to be disappointed. But after trying on more than a dozen dresses with no love connection I slipped it on. I melted! I'm usually an emotional train wreak, but this no reason to cry. I was so excited I started jumping up and down and hugging the sales girl. I walked out and my SIL said, "That's the dress!" I said "Yup!" and she turned to my mom who had her check book out and said "Hurry I don't want her to change her mind" (I have the tendency to do that). Later that week the store called to give me the arrival date of my dress and I KNEW it was the right one when they told me it would arrive on my FH birthday! No joke. If that wasn't a good sign that I don't know what is.

Ok back to the brooch bling and family....my dress has a sash which I wanted to find the perfect brooch for. I search and search and guess where I ended up? In my own closet! I had borrowed a brooch from my mom for something (I don't even remember) but never wore it because it was TOO fancy (apparently I never returned it either because it was still in my closet!). I took it to the bridal shop and tried it on with my dress and it looked perfect! So on my day I will sporting a beautiful dress that my parent's purchase and with my something "borrowed" by my side that represents those that I love most. My family. TA-DA! :)

Below are some brooches that I loved but couldn't affordsome that I loved but knew wouldn't work

some that came pretty close to being purchased......and finally the one I had all along that means more and has more value than any of these. (sentimental value that is!)...

From Top to bottom:

Aquamarine brooch by Tiffany & Co.; Seahorse w/gems on Ebay; Stafish w/pearl & chocolate diamonds by RossSimons.com; Starfish w/gems by Zales; Silver Starfish by Bella True

Okay so I am usually on time, but apparently I'm a little behind with deciding on the bridesmaid dresses! I only have 3 bridesmaids (my younger sisters and SIL) and one MOH (my big sister). I had original told them that they could all wear whatever they wanted as long as the colors matched (latte, cafe, or light browns), well they started shopping and the two younger ones ended up liking the same dress by Alfred Angelo. Then they asked if my SIL would mind wearing it too. You see they are twins and strangely they wanted to wear the same dress for the wedding. Lucky for me my SIL is the best!!!! She said that she'd wear whatever they liked and agreed that only the MOH should wear a different style. :) I liked the idea, so we started narrowing down some choices. Below are the two finalist, but looks like they might not even make it to the wedding because Alfred Angelo gets their 2009 styles on Saturday and we plan on going then. If they like something else then these dresses are out of the ball game! I'll keep you all posted, but let me know what you think of these...

Since the wedding is on a green lawn over looking a quite beach all the girls will be wearing some fancy flip flops. :)

If the bridesmaids decide on the top dress the MOH is going with this one (above).

I LOVE this one! Only thing is MY wedding dress has lace. :/ Do you think that's too much lace for a wedding?

The MOH "might" go with this one (the color matched the top lace bridesmaid dress). She felt more comfortable in the 1st MOH dress which looks good too.... either one is fine with me.

Here's a sneak peak of the lace on my dress...it is only on the top of the dress....

Bridesmaid Dresses:alfredangelo.com

Even before I got engaged I knew I was going to have a destination wedding. My fiancé had always made it clear that he wanted something small and on the beach and although I love the beach I didn't want sand in between my toes on my wedding day. I pictured a larger wedding in a garden. The day he popped the question I asked him if he still wanted a beach wedding... to my surprise he said "whatever you want baby" Staring at my flawless one carat Asscher cut engagement ring I was forced to think long and hard about the wedding...OUR wedding (not MY wedding)

Drum roll please!.....

We came up with a compromise. A destination wedding on a private estate literally 5 feet from the beach! :) So after we say our "I do's' on a beautiful green lawn with gorgeous trees in the back ground (my choice) we can walk onto the sandy beach and take pictures with waves crashing and a beautiful sunset in the back ground (his choice). 

Enjoy the images of the Olowalu Plantation Estate... this is where my honey and I will make history! :) And remember Brides, it's about the both of you! :)

These are the save the dates magnets that we ordered. They have already been mailed out. Marvin, my fiancé, picked the photos - not my favorite, but he looks handsome and that's all that matters! We ordered them with beautiful chocolate brown envelopes and ivory place cards that said "we're getting Maui'd!"  They were perfect!

Magnets by: agiftfulheart.com

Photography by: Victoria Castillo (my cousin)

So this is my very first blog EVER! I have NEVER done one of these until my prince charming got on one bended knee. :) Marvin proposed in January 2008 after dating for 9 years. I'm not going to lie, I thought I knew exactly what our wedding would look like, but truth is....once you start researching what you thought you knew your eyes are open to all the beauty! And let me tell you...Weddings are beautiful! Especially when you add your own little style. The picture below is a little preview of our wedding theme.

The location has been determined. Maui!!! After that the big stuff followed: the wedding date, the wedding planner, the venue, the wedding dress, and the save the dates! But we have SO much more to do!

I'll be posting many blogs to come on the details that I'm currently trying to decide on.

<3,

tee