toastykitten (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
toastykitten) wrote2007-10-21 11:08 am
toastykitten) wrote2007-10-21 11:08 am
of engagements and weddings....
Thanks to everyone who congratulated us! If you want more details, I'm putting it behind a cut so I don't bore everybody else:
It wasn't a surprise.
I mean, I LOVE surprises, but I don't think engagements should be one of them. Although they may work for you!
We mutually decided that we were ready, and then did about a few months of ring-shopping. I didn't want to give myself too many choices, or spend too much time. Also, as you all know, I'm pretty particular about what I want when I'm shopping, and I wanted to get something a bit more unique than a plain solitaire.
We shopped around at some jewelers in the Bay Area, and learned that 1. there's very few places who will guarantee that that their diamonds are conflict-free, even though they follow the Kimberley process, 2. asking men about the rings they bought their significant others leads to that scene in American Psycho in which guys are just whipping out their business cards and obsessing over how much they spent, type of font, etc., 3. diamond prices are a crapshoot anyway and 4. I didn't particularly want a diamond, even though diamonds are my birthstone and I have the perfect excuse to get them. I guess it's been the trend lately to get sapphires, but I swear I didn't even know other people were getting sapphires. Blues are my favorite colors, so getting a sapphire was perfect.
We checked out several jewelry stores in the Bay Area, all with great reputations and none of whom pressured us to buy anything. If anybody wants recommendations, I'll gladly send them to you. We weren't totally set on the sapphire, but we did see a synthetic diamond that we really loved and almost went for that one instead.
The one we did end up with was a sapphire ring set in platinum from Brilliant Earth, which is one-stop guilt-free liberal shopping for people like us - all gems are certified conflict-free and mined in eco-friendly conditions; workers are paid a fair wage, and even the metals are renewed, meaning that they've already been used, so there's no extra mining involved for metals. 5% of the proceeds go to African communities harmed by the diamond industry. Anyway, they are based in San Francisco in Union Square, (next to the Agent Provacateur store), and they were generally pretty awesome in answering our questions and being very nice about everything.
Although the jewelry industry claims that 95% or more of the diamonds out there are conflict-free, it's kind of hard to take that statement at face value without something to back it up. There's the Kimberley process, which is self-enforced, and we all know how well that works out when business is involved. Some of the justifications I read about from jewelers pissed me off, though - it just reminded me of all the arguments people made about how sweatshops are actually good.
We still have to buy wedding bands, and I'm not sure that we'll end up going with Brilliant Earth again, though I would love to. Their selection is a bit limited at this point, although you can custom-design rings.
Anyway, we picked out the ring, and then I picked out the sapphire I wanted. We still had to wait about two weeks to get it set and sized. I was on edge the entire two weeks! On Wednesday, I called Mark up and basically demanded, "Where's my ring?!" Mark regretfully told me that the ring wasn't done yet, and may not be done until Monday. But, he made reservations at our favorite French restaurant, so let's go eat there anyway!
We ate, and then ordered up dessert. Then Mark pulls out the ring all of a sudden, and pops the question! I was ecstatic. And no, I didn't cry. It was awesome, and a perfect ending to a really nice evening.
Anyway, I have so many things to do now, and I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing.
Does anyone have any suggestions for incorporating our cultures into the wedding? We will do the tea ceremony for sure, although food is likely to be American-style instead of a mix of Arab and Chinese food (I mean, I would LOVE to do that, but given that both sides are not particularly familiar with the other's foods, it might be a bit much to ask - Mark's family doesn't eat much pork, and my family is not a big fan of the spices used in Arab food). Mark's cousin had a belly dancer at her wedding; I am not sure if my family would be fascinated or scandalized. I can never tell anymore.
Would it be weird if we found somebody who could make us a Super Mario wedding cake? Actually, you know what Mark would love more? A Zelda cake.
My mom said we didn't have to do the banquet thing. In fact, she said that we could have the wedding in Vegas or elope if we wanted to. Which is either proof that my mom is awesome, or she will totally forget that she said it in a week or two.
We're going to have the wedding in Los Angeles and we need to do research on sites first. I flipped through the Here Comes the Guide magazine, and the yacht thing looks really tempting.
As for other stuff - I may not be writing much more until after I take an exam for work in November. I really need to focus on this one.
It wasn't a surprise.
I mean, I LOVE surprises, but I don't think engagements should be one of them. Although they may work for you!
We mutually decided that we were ready, and then did about a few months of ring-shopping. I didn't want to give myself too many choices, or spend too much time. Also, as you all know, I'm pretty particular about what I want when I'm shopping, and I wanted to get something a bit more unique than a plain solitaire.
We shopped around at some jewelers in the Bay Area, and learned that 1. there's very few places who will guarantee that that their diamonds are conflict-free, even though they follow the Kimberley process, 2. asking men about the rings they bought their significant others leads to that scene in American Psycho in which guys are just whipping out their business cards and obsessing over how much they spent, type of font, etc., 3. diamond prices are a crapshoot anyway and 4. I didn't particularly want a diamond, even though diamonds are my birthstone and I have the perfect excuse to get them. I guess it's been the trend lately to get sapphires, but I swear I didn't even know other people were getting sapphires. Blues are my favorite colors, so getting a sapphire was perfect.
We checked out several jewelry stores in the Bay Area, all with great reputations and none of whom pressured us to buy anything. If anybody wants recommendations, I'll gladly send them to you. We weren't totally set on the sapphire, but we did see a synthetic diamond that we really loved and almost went for that one instead.
The one we did end up with was a sapphire ring set in platinum from Brilliant Earth, which is one-stop guilt-free liberal shopping for people like us - all gems are certified conflict-free and mined in eco-friendly conditions; workers are paid a fair wage, and even the metals are renewed, meaning that they've already been used, so there's no extra mining involved for metals. 5% of the proceeds go to African communities harmed by the diamond industry. Anyway, they are based in San Francisco in Union Square, (next to the Agent Provacateur store), and they were generally pretty awesome in answering our questions and being very nice about everything.
Although the jewelry industry claims that 95% or more of the diamonds out there are conflict-free, it's kind of hard to take that statement at face value without something to back it up. There's the Kimberley process, which is self-enforced, and we all know how well that works out when business is involved. Some of the justifications I read about from jewelers pissed me off, though - it just reminded me of all the arguments people made about how sweatshops are actually good.
We still have to buy wedding bands, and I'm not sure that we'll end up going with Brilliant Earth again, though I would love to. Their selection is a bit limited at this point, although you can custom-design rings.
Anyway, we picked out the ring, and then I picked out the sapphire I wanted. We still had to wait about two weeks to get it set and sized. I was on edge the entire two weeks! On Wednesday, I called Mark up and basically demanded, "Where's my ring?!" Mark regretfully told me that the ring wasn't done yet, and may not be done until Monday. But, he made reservations at our favorite French restaurant, so let's go eat there anyway!
We ate, and then ordered up dessert. Then Mark pulls out the ring all of a sudden, and pops the question! I was ecstatic. And no, I didn't cry. It was awesome, and a perfect ending to a really nice evening.
Anyway, I have so many things to do now, and I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing.
Does anyone have any suggestions for incorporating our cultures into the wedding? We will do the tea ceremony for sure, although food is likely to be American-style instead of a mix of Arab and Chinese food (I mean, I would LOVE to do that, but given that both sides are not particularly familiar with the other's foods, it might be a bit much to ask - Mark's family doesn't eat much pork, and my family is not a big fan of the spices used in Arab food). Mark's cousin had a belly dancer at her wedding; I am not sure if my family would be fascinated or scandalized. I can never tell anymore.
Would it be weird if we found somebody who could make us a Super Mario wedding cake? Actually, you know what Mark would love more? A Zelda cake.
My mom said we didn't have to do the banquet thing. In fact, she said that we could have the wedding in Vegas or elope if we wanted to. Which is either proof that my mom is awesome, or she will totally forget that she said it in a week or two.
We're going to have the wedding in Los Angeles and we need to do research on sites first. I flipped through the Here Comes the Guide magazine, and the yacht thing looks really tempting.
As for other stuff - I may not be writing much more until after I take an exam for work in November. I really need to focus on this one.
no subject
Alex and I are going to hire Global Gourmet as our caterer.
http://ggcatering.com
They can do a variety of different cuisines so we are going to have American, Chinese, Japanese and Mexican food. I chose them because we like the idea of buffet stations and we can also incorporate different foods from our mixed backgrounds. Our Chinese relatives will be happy, and our caucasian relatives won't get scared.
My cousin and her hubby had a buffet with food that had American, Chinese and Filipino fused together. They also went with the whole incorporation of different cultures in their wedding.
And HI! I'm crazy, I come bearing links...
I took some links of my Knottie Bio, check these out after your exam.
Blogs, Boards and more fun:
weddingbee.com
offbeatbride.com
projectwedding.com
indiebride.com
chopstickbride.com
bios.magnificentbliss.com
etiquettehell.com
goingbridal.com
brideorama.com
The Knot Nor Cal forum:
http://talk.theknot.com/BOARDS/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=56
Podcasts:
weddingpodcastnetwork.com
alwayseventful.com/podcast/index.php
thegeekwedding.libsyn.com
You can get a Free Wedding Planner from State Farm, it's really good and saves you $20. There's no obligation to sign up for their services and so far they haven't harassed me. They just sent me a free planner!
http://www.statefarm.com/Customer/hidden/FreeServicesLogin.asp?dest=/customer/hidden/marriage.asp&type=A
User name: Good
Password: Neighbor
I don't know if you're into event design for your wedding, but I like The Bride and Bloom for ideas.
http://www.thebrideandbloom.com
And you should totally do a Zelda cake! If not the main wedding cake, then the one at the rehearsal dinner or Groom's Cake. I LOVE that Mario cake, it's SO cute and well put together.