Jocelyn|Mark

Nice

The days are going by so fast that I feel like I won’t have enough time to work out all the details for the wedding. I have a lot of ideas already and more and more keeps popping up! I don’t even want to pick another wedding magazine or watch a television show related to anything with weddings because I am beat already! Just way too overwhelming, but I know I’ll miss it once it’s over. Well, this past weekend I was able to sit down with two of my bridesmaids and they both expressed how much they can help me, I felt like a giant truck of stress just lifted off me. Now the more reason why I chose them to be part of my wedding. ♥ Does it mean more DIY projects? Well see, dun dun dunn. ☺

I get my braces taken off in March! I am so stoked! I didn’t want to do the engagement session with them on, and now that it’s scheduled to be taken off in March, I can’t wait! Smiles all around!

I am hoping to send out the save the dates at the end of this month. My original plan was to use a photo from the engagement session but that had to be put off until April due to my braces. But Mark and I had went to a park in Cupertino and was able to get a decent shot that was taken from our mediocre camera which will be used as the STD’s. In April, we will have the professionals of Encarnacion Photography do their awesome work. Every single shoot they do I fall more and more in love with their work. I can’t wait for the wedding to be over just so I can see how the photos turn out and of course to be Mrs. Mark Cablayan!

Special thanks to my bridesmaid Denise who is helping me put the STD’s  together.

Hair & make-up

For a couple of months now I have been having bangs and every two weeks or so I tend to cut it even shorter! Now that it’s gonna hit the 6-month countdown at the end of this month, I have to leave my hair alone! Also with my bangs, it hides that fact that I’m growing out my eyebrows. =) The length of my hair is getting longer but I wish to keep this length for the wedding, just so that it won’t be too short for an up-do or too long that it will be too heavy for me to wear up.  Bridal and bridesmaid make-up and hair will be done by an artist from A-List Makeup. My hair & makeup trial is scheduled for next month, I can’t wait! The days are coming so fast that I will soon be up at the altar!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year everyone! This new year is definitely our year! A lot has happen to us in 2009 and I am thankful for what the year has brought us but 2010 is going to be greater! For my new years resolution I have decided to learn how to swim, learn the Cha-Cha and start getting in shape by running [almost] everyday. As Mark and I are planning our honeymoon on a sunny island, the thought of just sitting on the beach bores me, I want to get in the water and swim with the fishes! True story- I almost drowned in a 5 feet pool, haha. Mark and I attended the 2nd annual NAUSA party this past December and I was in awed when I saw a lot of the couples doing the cha-cha in many different ways and Mark and I maybe the only Filipino’s that doesn’t know how, so I can’t wait to start the lessons! Hopefully we’ll be pros by our wedding day to show off.

My goals for January:

-Find a DJ
-Start on my save-the-dates

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!!!
Love, Mark, Jocelyn, Gibson & Candy

Duty Free

As I was checking off my some of my to-do’s on my checklist on theknot I came across the duties of MOH and bestman, and oh man, what a list!!! Although it’s not required, all the help is greatly appreciated from the bottom of our hearts.

The maid/matron of honor is part worker bee, part emotional lifeboat. Chosen for your energetic, get-the-ball-in-motion qualities, you should also remember that listening to the bride, making her laugh, and offering emotional and logistical support are also part of your honor attendant package. Here’s what’s expected:

• Lead the bridesmaid troupe. It’s the maid/matron of honor’s (MOH) job to direct the other maids through their duties. Make sure everyone gets their bridesmaid dresses, go to dress fittings, and find the right jewelry. Also provide them with the 411 on all prewedding parties.
• Help shop for dresses (the bride’s and the bridesmaids’). And the MOH pays for her own entire wedding outfit (including shoes).
• Offer to help the bride with prewedding tasks, from addressing invites to choosing the wedding colors and nodding enthusiastically when she waxes poetic about wedding cake.
• Spread the news about where the bride and groom are registered.
• Help the bride change for her honeymoon and take charge of her gown after the ceremony. Arrange for storage in a safe place until she returns.
• Lend an ear. Whether it’s about the planning, the marriage, or the registry china patterns, the MOH should assure the bride that she has someone with whom she can share her thoughts. Even if she seems to dwell on the same subjects repeatedly, the MOH keeps listening.
• Host or cohost a bridal shower for the bride.
• Attend all prewedding parties.
• Keep a record of all the gifts received at various parties and showers (or delegate a bridesmaid to handle this).
• Plan the bachelorette party with the bridesmaids.
• See to it that all bridesmaids get to the rehearsal; coordinate transportation and lodging, if necessary.
• Make sure that all bridesmaids get their hair and makeup done, get to the ceremony on time, and have the correct bouquets.
• Hold the groom’s ring during the ceremony. Safest place to put it? On your thumb.
• Arrange the bride’s train and veil before the ceremony begins and just after she arrives at the altar. The MOH might also need to help her bustle the train for easy dancing at the reception.
• Hold the bride’s bouquet while the couple exchanges vows.
• Sign the marriage license as a witness, along with the best man.
• Stand next to the groom in the receiving line (this is optional; the bride may decide to have attendants circulate among the guests instead).
• Play hostess along with the other bridesmaids at frequent points during the reception: show guests where to sit, direct them to restrooms, tell them to where to put presents, invite them to sign the guest book, etc.
• Collect any gift envelopes brought to the reception and keep them in a safe place
• Make sure the bride takes a moment to eat something — refresh her drink, get her a plate of food from the buffet table, or instruct the wait staff to keep her entree warm.
• Dance with the best man during the formal first-dance sequence and possibly be announced with him at the beginning of the party. Also dance with other groomsmen, the groom, and others.
• Toast the couple after the best man. (This is optional, but it is a nice touch.)
• Troubleshoot emotional crises. In most cases, this will require lots of tissues, hugging, and hair-smoothing. The MOH continues to be a trusted friend, a good listener, and a smart advisor.
• Keep the bride laughing. For the stressed-out bride, laughter can be as effective as venting.

As best man, you may think you’re just a glorified groomsman, but guess what? You actually have special responsibilities — you’ll be a combination valet and hand-holder as you help the groom come through this nerve-racking experience with flying colors. As leader of the groom’s posse, you’ll

• Serve as the groom’s personal aide and adviser before and during the wedding. This can include helping him pack for the honeymoon (the valet part)
• Help the groom choose and rent (or buy) wedding formalwear, and coordinate the other groomsmen’s rentals. You guys are supposed to match, after all! You may be expected to arrange accommodations for out-of-town groomsmen.
• Organize the bachelor party. Don’t be shy about enlisting other groomsmen to help you out — most guys don’t mind this duty! Put financial worries out of your mind — the cost should be split among everyone who attends the bash.
• Attend the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner with the bride and groom and all the other attendants. This is your chance to figure out how you’re supposed to walk down that aisle.
• Stand beside the groom at the altar and keep the bride’s ring until vows are exchanged. Find a safe place for the ring (and triple check that your pockets don’t have holes) — you don’t want to fumble around when it’s time to whip it out.
• Corral the other guys and make sure they’re performing their groomsman duties.
• Sign the marriage license as a witness after the ceremony, along with the maid of honor.
• Give the officiant a sealed envelope with his or her fee (the groom’s responsibility) just after the ceremony.
• You may be announced with the maid of honor when the reception begins.
• Dance with both the honor attendant and the bride during the wedding party dances.
• Give the first toast to the bride and groom at the reception. This is your biggest — and probably most frightening — duty. Read our article about how to give a toast, and remember the cardinal rule: Mum’s the word on the bachelor bacchanalia.
• Collect any gift envelopes guests bring to the reception. You may be asked to deposit them in the couple’s bank account or at least to keep them until the couple returns from their honeymoon.
• Decorate the getaway mobile. Grab the other groomsmen and the bridesmaids for this one.
• Drive the couple to the wedding-night hotel or airport after the reception. If you perform this service, you’ll need to stay sober throughout the reception. If you have a feeling this may not be possible, hire a limo to drive the couple into the sunset.
• The wedding will be over in the blink of an eye, so remember to enjoy yourself at the reception. After all, you’re there to celebrate the happiest day of your best friend’s life.

Absolutely!

237 days to go! I’ve been on a lot of wedding blogs lately, especially mine! =) I try my best to do weekly updates but with the wedding planning, holidays and everything else, I’ve been keeping my blogs pretty short. I like the idea of blogging cause when planning is over, I can read back and remember the stress and fun that was involved.

One of my favorites has been Kissthegroom, it’s not all about weddings but mostly all about love. Consuming it on my daily reads, makes me feel the warmth of falling in love all over again. It reminds me of all the little things I love about Mark.  But I won’t start listing them now because I will need more than a day to finish! =) Below is a kissing tree that’s on the website that you can send to yourself or to someone you love.

Another is Stylemepretty. After tying the knot, maybe I will submit my wedding details. The blog has a lot of fun ideas that I want to steal! Planning is so fun! I love it!

“ We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It’s easy. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. Her name was Missy; we talked about horses. The last girl I love will be someone I haven’t even met yet, probably. They all count. But there are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you’ll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there’s still one more tier to all this; there is always one person who you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it always happens eventually. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of those lovable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. You will remember having conversations with this person that never actually happened. You will recall sexual trysts with this person that never technically occurred. This is because the individual who embodies your personal definition of love does not really exist. The person is real, and the feelings are real—but you create the context. And context is everything. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they’re often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else. ” - Chuck Klosterman (Killing Yourself to Live)

We got colors!

Not one color, but two!!! What a relief!!! I can finally picture my wedding in color! Like I have said too many times now- my colors were going be what the bridesmaids dresses were available in and I couldn’t be happier with what what the dresses picked for me. My MOH and bridesmaids will be rockin’ BCBG dresses.  We took advantage of Black Friday and got the dresses for a bargain! Then on Cyber Monday the girls bought their shoes! Maybe the rest of the budget well go to my bachlorette party… VIP all the way! =) I actually wanted the girls to spend more on shoes but the one I saw online were too cute to pass, but if it doesn’t look in any way like it did in the picture, thank goodness for free return.

Special thanks to my maid of honor and bridesmaids for not being difficult with my choice of the dresses, of course they had their say, but nobody gave me any rude respond. They are truly the best! Cant wait til we start planning the bachlorette party!

fuschia/navy wedding idea

Happy Thanksgiving!

I don’t wait until Thanksgiving Day to be thankful for what God has blessed me with. I am blessed with wonderful, amazing people in my life that thanking them one day of the year just would not be enough. But since we are in the topic of giving thanks, I want to let the whole wide world know how thankful I am to have my FH in my life. With the struggles we’ve been through, I am more than thankful for how far love has gotten us to. I can’t wait for the great feast tomorrow. I will be working but the upside to it is I don’t have to cook! =) Gobble, Gobble!

Shoes

My wedding dress will be available for fitting in February and you can’t imagine the stress that I’m going through thinking about the fit of the dress. I have thoughts like my dress will be too big and if it is too big, because of the way my dress is designed, the top part of my dress can’t be altered, according to my the bridal salesman, or what if it’s too small, or too white that its blinding? Oh boy! The list of worries continue on and on. Because February will be here sooner than I think, I have been shopping around for my wedding shoes.  I have very small feet, small enough that I can say my nephews in elementary school has bigger feet than me! But I blame that on the growth hormones that are in a lot of food now a days— going off topic again. The search for my wedding shoes has begun before I even thought about what kind of dress I wanted. I have a hard time finding shoes that I like in women’s size just because I wear a 4 in womens. I believe that God gave me small feet so I don’t spend all my money on shoes Besides comfort, I am also looking to add some color to my shoes for some spunk so the traditional white is on the bottom of my list. As for the bridesmaids, I have decided that I wanted all of them to wear the same shoes, but I will make sure it’s cute so they can wear more than once.

Kate Spade “kellis” Pump

“It’s really hard to walk in a single woman’s shoes — that’s why you sometimes need really special shoes!” -Carrie Bradshaw

Got refferal?

Today one of my bridesmaid and I were on a hunt for bridesmaid dresses, it’s a lot harder than finding my wedding dress! It’s challenging because it has to accomadate the taste of 6 girls with different tastes and styles. This journey will be long but fun because I get to drag my bridesmaid to come along and just imagine what trouble we can get into— Like for instance, today, while my bridesmaid was parking, we witnessed two cars that backed up into eachother! Funny story but will be very off topic for this blog. Ok, back to bridesmaid dresses, I have chosen one a couple months ago but when it was time to purchase them, the retail store did not have all the sizes that they said they had in stock. It was only disapointing because it was only one dress that they did not have. The dress was going to be used on for the show Deal or No Deal so most of the sizes was sold earlier. It was a dark purple, one strap shoulder tea-length dress and I absolutely loved it when I saw it, but I will continue my search and hope to find a even better one! Like, I have said from my previous post, my wedding color will be determined by what color the bridesmaid dresses is available in, but I think I have my heart set on purple/plum.

I have been on Yelp a lot lately trying to find different vendors that I need for my wedding day. I have emailed a few such as flowers, makeup, cakes, but I can’t decide. I think I prefer to use the ones that was used by someone I know. I have been hearing too many horrific wedding day stories that I’m taking extra precuation so my wedding day will be close to perfect. Please feel free to leave a refferal.