We’re only mere {4} days away from our wedding and so to capture all the wedding planning efforts, I’ll be featuring a recap of things we’ve done, which may be helpful for those planning or helping out future brides. So with that, here’s a teaser of all the bridal details we’ve completed and incorporated…
save the date announcements
The Save the Date announcements were ordered from Sweet Sights Etsy Shop. I loved how interactive the cards were and because Patrick is a huge fan of puns, it fit us perfectly!
FORMAL INVITATIONS
Our formal invitations were personally created by yours truly via Zazzle. We chose to create our own invitations via Zazzle, using the colorful birds of paradise flower as our motif. It’s my favorite flower and I love how unique and colorful it is. Besides, seeing this flower definitely puts you into a tropical feel… which is exactly what I’d like our guests to feel right off the bat! We created the main invitation, rsvp card, along with matching postage.
casual pre-wedding picnic INVITATIONS
Also included in our invitation is a postcard invite to the Pre-Wedding Picnic that will be hosted the night before the wedding. We wanted the invite different from the formal invitation since it was a different event altogether with a more casual, relaxed theme. We purchased these from Simply Smitten Designs Etsy Shop, but the shop is currently closed since the owner recently had a baby.
Rather than calling specific individuals to be in our bridal party, we decided to have full families participate. We are very family oriented, often spending time with our closest friends who have children close in age to Joel. That said, our wedding is definitely a family affair so it made sense to have everyone participate somehow. To capture the tropical vibe for our Wedding Luau, the adults of our bridal party will be wearing aloha wear with the birds of paradise motif as used in invitations. I purchased the attire for the families of our wedding party… not only to look cohesive and stand out as our wedding party, but also for their professional family photos.
BRIDAL PARTY (children) ATTIRE
The children of our bridal party will be sporting the same white printed Hawaiian attire as Joel, who is our best young man. At first I was hesitant for the kids to be wearing all white… but they are kids after all and they get dirty and messy regardless of what they wear, right?!
MAID OF HONOR ATTIRE
Now onto Melissa’s dress! I asked her to go look for a dress that she liked and she found one. It was beautiful on her and I loved how it was light and comfortable. The best part was finding out the dress was less than $30! What?! The dress was such a steal and more importantly, she loved it! It especially goes well with the bouquet I have for her.
mother of the groom attire & sister of the groom ATTIRE
Both my future mother and sister in laws will be wearing a light khaki chiffon dress they chose to compliment our bridal party. Going with a classic solid color balances out the Hawaiian prints and the dresses are ones they can use even after the wedding. The dress above is what my sister in law will be wearing, while my mother in law’s dress is similar and worn with a short sleeve jacket.
father of the groom ATTIRE
My future father in law will also wear the same as our bridal party – our signature Hawaiian shirt with the birds of paradise motif, paired with khaki pants. Light, comfortable and festive!
mother of the bride ATTIRE
As a nod to my Filipino culture, my parents are donning traditional barong tagalog fashion. My mom will be wearing this barong tagalog dress made with Pina-Jusi fabric, which is hand loomed from pineapple fibers and fibers from pineapple leaves. Her dress has a tint of blush color, with the natural deep ivory color of the fibers.
fatHER OF THE BRIDE ATTIRE
Just as my mom is wearing barong tagalog fashion, my dad is sporting a traditional barong tagalog shirt. This is also madeout of Pina-Jusi fabric, which is in the natural deep ivory color of the fibers. Although long sleeve, it is quite cool and light to wear. After the ceremony, my dad will change into the signature Hawaiian shirt and khakis to match with my future father in law.
Just as my mom is wearing barong tagalog fashion, my dad is sporting a traditional barong tagalog shirt. This is also madeout of Pina-Jusi fabric, which is in the natural deep ivory color of the fibers. Although long sleeve, it is quite cool and light to wear. After the ceremony, my dad will change into the signature Hawaiian shirt and khakis to match with my future father in law.
GROOM ATTIRE
Patrick will be wearing an all white Hawaiian shirt along with khaki pants. I think he’s most pleased knowing we didn’t go the traditional route with tuxes or suits! I’m just happy he will be comfortable on an already busy and exciting day.
BEST young man ATTIRE
Joel will also be in an all white Hawaiian print outfit with matching shirt and shorts. He will not only match his soon to be stepdad but the other children in our wedding party as well. Let’s just hope after the wedding his outfit isn’t too messy (even though I know it will be lol!)
WEDDING dress
Ah yes. My dress. I’m not sharing it quite yet as I’d like Patrick to really experience the surprise of seeing me in it as opposed to the teaser of what it looks like on a hanger. I will say that it is a gown with lace cap sleeves, illusion neckline and beaded lace appliques. I’m excited to wear it and get all glammed up!
WEDDING SHOES
When my wedding shoes arrived and I started to break them in. I definitely needed to go the wedge route since we’ll be in the park so I’m happy I found these to wear. Surprisingly they are more comfortable that I originally thought at the bridal shop! I love them and how they really work perfectly for my dress.
something old
For my ‘something old’ I will be using the diamond earrings Patrick gave me for my birthday/mother’s day last year. I rarely wear them for fear they will get lost but they are perfect for the wedding!
For my ‘something new’ I will be using my brand new {official} wedding dress. I never wore one before, since I used a bridesmaid spring printed dress for my first marriage. This dress is one that was fitted perfectly for me and captures my style. I cannot wait to wear it!
something borrowed
My maid of honor, Melissa, insisted on getting this hairclip when we were shopping at the bridal store. I wasn’t sure exactly why but then she handed to me, she said I could borrow it lol. So this pretty hair clip is my something borrowed. My hair trial comes up the day before the wedding so it will be fun to see how my hair stylist will work her magic to have it in my hair.
something blue
For my something blue, I purchased this embroidered powder blue handkerchief because I anticipate shedding some happy, joyous tears. This was from the Stofkos Designs Etsy Shop and reflects our initials and wedding date.
BRIDAL PARTY SWAG BAG
Since my bridal party consists of my dearest and closest women in my life and I put together a swag bag of gifts for them. The swag bag includes some sweet and savory munchies (such as Hawaiian kettle potato chips and chocolate covered macadamia nuts) along with Fiji bottled water, helpful items (Advil tablets, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, Kleenex packets) and I also included a kimono robe in their favorite color to wear while we get glammed up with hair and makeup the morning of the wedding.
WEDDING makeup
Our wedding makeup is being done by Simply Perfect Makeup. I loved the way I looked after having a sample trial done at a local bridal show. I ended up winning a free bridal trial and decided to go with them for my wedding – so easy and highly recommended! It helps that the makeup artist doing our makeup lives minutes from us and we’re practically neighbors!
WEDDING hair
Our wedding hair is being done by Brittney of Blondie Hair Artistry. I met Brittney at the same bridal show and we clicked immediately. She’s been my sole hair stylist since and I’ve seen her twice now for haircuts! Since meeting, we’ve become great friends and cannot wait for her to do her hair magic for our big day.
BRIDAL PARTY HAIR
The ladies in our bridal party will add a finishing touch to their hair with this birds of paradise hair clip. Brittney will surely work it in to accent their dresses and overall wedding theme.
WEDDING DAY BREAKFAST
We have a very early start the day of our wedding. Our stylists have a total of 8 ladies to glam up, and each take roughly 30-45 minutes to do for both hair makeup. This translates to starting as early as 5:45am / 6:00am in order to be completely done and ready for photos before the ceremony. With a very early start, I want my ladies to be taken care of so we’re having Panera delivery some breakfast for us.
WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER
My uncle is our videographer and I’m especially excited for his work. He works for a tv/movie film company and will be offering his professional services to do our wedding. He’ll be coming some time in the morning as us ladies are getting ready to capture the candid moments. From there, we will all head over to our ceremony and reception venue!
Stay tuned to find out details of our ceremony tomorrow!…
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