Wedding Favor Photobook

We made a photo book story of how we met and our life together up 'til the wedding to share with our wedding guests as a wedding favor. I think they were very much liked.


Any wedding guests who did not bring one home or who would like an extra one can order a copy on-line from MyPublisher.com. Or if you just want to flip through the digital version, you can use the link as well.

Rehearsal Celebration

Everyone attending the wedding is invited to the rehearsal celebration on August 7th, 2008 starting at 4 PM at our house.




The rehearsal was originally going to be a cookout, but we decided instead to have it catered so everyone can experience authentic Carolina Country BBQ. We will be serving pulled pork sandwiches and chicken "cooked slowly eight to nine hours with Hickory Wood and served with famous souther style barbecue sauce." Sides will include cole slaw, baked beans, hush puppies, and sweet tea (Hey, Ya'll come on out!).

My mom is also going to provide fresh fruit, various other sides, and dessert while Mike's Mom Barbara will provide the alcohol including beer and sangria. Can't wait to see everyone!

Mom Dresses

So, my mom is going to be the accent color in our wedding - a burgundy red. Not quite the traditional Chinese, red, but close enough for me. She will match the bows on the programs and the burgundy in the middle of the cream colored moth orchids in our bouquets. She will be walking me down the aisle. I bought her dress on Ann Taylor's website on clearance. She had to get it taken out, but as of yesterday she could get into her dress. Yay!



Mike's mom originally bought a latte colored dress, but I don't think she was in love with it. So we went shopping at Cache and found her this dress. The ivory and black will match perfectly with our sand ceremony and the ivory satin table cloths and black river rocks on the tables. I showed Mike this picture, and he said, "my mom is wearing WHAT?" I had to reassure him that the dress was actually knee-length on his mom, not a mini-skirt like the model. :-)

License to Wed

Mike and I went to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse today to apply for our marriage license . . . and they gave it to us! Now we are licensed to wed!! Woo hoo! Evidentally, you have to go to the Register of Deeds to get a marriage license. Mike was concerned that meant I was going to have a deed on him now. Hehehe.



We have quite a few more details to work out before the wedding, but everything is starting to come together. Unfortunately, I think I am starting to come down with a cold. Argh.

Hair and Make Up

Originally, I was going to have the bridal party get ready at William Henry Salon in Belmont, NC. However, I did a bridal consultation, and I really did not like the Bare Escentuals make up that they used. I even had to wash it off and redo my own make up before our engagement portraits. Yes, it was that bad.

So after being not-so-impressed, I decided to search out another solution. Since we really love our photographers and Cherie is actually also a model, we asked them for a suggestion. They referred me to Heather Hawkins who is a make-up and hair artist. She mostly does make up and hair for models and commercials, but she takes bridal customers with referrals. She came and did a consultation, and it passed the test! One very cool thing is that she uses airbrush make-up with lasts for 16 hours. We tested it - my make up was done at 10 AM, we took a afternoon nap, and my make up was still good for dinner that evening.

So, Heather is going to do my hair and make up as well as Kim, Michele, and Lisa's. Jill, Mike's cousin, is also a cosmetologist, so she will be helping out and doing hair and make up for my mom, Mike's mom, Rachael, and Emily. So, all in all, it works out for the best!

Here are some pictures from my consultation:

Bridal Shower

I am very thankful to have such great friends! Amy is Matt's wife, and Matt is the first friend that I made in Charlotte who started the PhD program with me. Anyway, Amy offered to throw a bridal shower for me. I thought it was very sweet!

(A picture of Matt and Amy)

The bridal shower will be at their house on May 24th at 2 PM. I just gave her a list of local people who I thought might be able to make it. I wasn't sure if I was supposed the invite far away people who wouldn't be able to make it anyway. I know they have books for etiquette about all this stuff!

Charlotte - Things to See and Do

Top 7 Sights to See Excerpted from Charlotte City Search


Bank of America Stadium

S Graham St, Charlotte, NC
Spend an autumn afternoon with the rest of Charlotte and root for the 2003 NFC Championship Carolina Panthers.

Price's Chicken Coop

1614 Camden Rd, Charlotte, NC
Pick up a box of the best fried chicken in the Carolinas and head to Latta Park for a picnic lunch.

Double Door Inn

| Website

218 E Independence Blvd, Charlotte, NC
Catch a first-rate blues act at this famous Charlotte haunt, winner of the W.C. Handy Award for best blues club.

Lowe's Motor Speedway

5555 Concord Pkwy S, Concord, NC
Forget the luxury box: Snag a pit pass and watch your favorite racing team work its NASCAR magic.

Discovery Place

301 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC
Walk through a giant replica of a human eyeball and watch fascinating electricity demonstrations at one of the best hands-on science museums in the nation.

Metrolina Expo

7100 Statesville Rd, Charlotte, NC
Hunt for treasure at the biannual Antiques Extravaganza, the biggest antique show in the South.

Ranch House Steak House Of Charlotte

| Website

5614 Wilkinson Blvd, Charlotte, NC
Feast on fiery shrimp "cocktale" and a juicy steak while basking in this Charlotte institution's old-school ambiance.

Our Compilation of Things to Do

• Levin Museum of the New South
• Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
• US National White Water Center
• Carowinds
• Lazy 5 Ranch
• Raptor Center
• Discovery Place
• Cricket Arena
• North Davidson "NoDa" Art District

If you are willing to take a bit of a drive, here are some other great North Carolina attractions:

• Chimney Rock Park
• Childress Vineyards
• Biltmore Estate
• Land of Waterfalls
• North Carolina State Parks

Additional Suggestions from our Wedding Planner at Head over Heels

Amber Crest Winery: http://www.ambercrestwinery.com/

There are several vineyards in Albemarle if you wanted an all day activity

Lake Norman Comedy Club: http://www.lkncomedyzone.com/

Queen's Landing (boat ride around Lake Norman): http://www.queenslanding.com/

Concord Mills: http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=1239

Lowes Motor Speedway: http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/

You can also check out the other museums downtown. The art and design museum has a free event with live jazz music every Thursday night.

Latta Plantation: http://www.lattaplantation.org/

Birkdale Village (has free outdoor concerts in the summer): http://www.birkdalevillage.net/

Amazing Pottery: http://www.amazingpotterybirkdale.com/

Dan Nicholas Park: http://www.dannicholas.net/

You can also check out Visit Charlotte for more ideas about our Queen City.

Wedding Event Timeline

We are still finalizing some of the details, but here is the latest as far as the agenda of events for the wedding (since Matt couldn't find it in the novel below).

Wednesday August 6th

1:30 PM - Mike's Bachelor Party at the US National White Water Center. Michele (Mike's sister and best man) has sent out an eVite for those who are invited to attend.

7:30 PM- Bridal dinner for Pam's family who will be arriving that day. Hosted by the bride. Location TBD.


Thursday August 7th

1 PM - Rehearsal for wedding party at DSBG
4 PM - Rehearsal Cookout at our house for everyone!!

Friday August 8th

6 PM to 11 PM - Wedding Ceremony, Reception immediately follows

Bamboo Fans

We just purchased these bamboo fans for the wedding ceremony from Bliss Wedding Market. Here is a Photoshopped version of the program design that we are aiming to do.

Favor Frenzy on eBay is Evil

I purchased a tiara on eBay at a store called Favor Frenzy, and I never received my tiara.



3/23 - I purchased and paid for my item
4/4 - I inquired about the status of the item
4/8 - I inquired about the status again
4/14 - I inquired again
4/17 - I have not received any response to my inquiries and have not received my product

Left negative feedback on eBay, and the seller had the nerve to leave ME negative feedback then request for a mutual withdrawal of the feedback. How absurd!

Don't buy stuff from Favor Frenzy on eBay, ladies.

Wedding Officiant

I didn't even know what the guy who performed the ceremony was called until all this wedding planning started! However, JR Carrel (and his wife Bonnie) are coming all the way up from Clearwater, Florida to perform our ceremony. I feel really blessed that they will be able to make it.


JR was the pastor at NE Christian church which was a non-denominational church I attended when I lived in St. Petersburg, Florida. He and his wife were there for me when Sean and I broke up and hurricanes Frances and Jeanne flooded my house. I was going through a very tough time, and they were literally a God-send. Bonnie calls me her adopted daughter, and we spent some quality time together going to lunch, painting pottery, and going to a Christmas tree expo. I am looking forward to seeing them again because I only had the chance to visit them once since I moved to Charlotte three years ago.

Having JR perform the ceremony is also special to me because he was the one who baptized me. I made a special request to get baptized at St. Pete beach instead of inside the church, so they invited the whole church to my baptism in the ocean. It was very moving to have a church family care so much about me.

In fact, that wasn't the first church family I ever had. Pastor Patrick and his wife Linda are also making the trip from Gainesville to attend our wedding. Pastor Patrick is a deacon at the family church who first prayed with me when I became a Christian, and Linda is a Christian counselor who mentored me as well.

I might not seem as "religious" as some people, but God is a very important part of my life. He has always brought people into my life at the exact time I really needed them. Although I have had many struggles over the years, somehow God has kept his promise not to give me more than I can bear by bringing loving people into my life to help me through. Amen!

Dance Lessons

So Mike and I are taking dance lessons at Arthur Murray Studios so we can know how to dance at our wedding. We are trying to learn a rumba dance to Ingrid Michaelson's song The Way I Am. We are still in the early stages, but at least we are having fun doing it.


Our instructor is this young Welch fellow named Stirling. He is probably 6'3'' and has hair that stands up another 3 inches. He is very fun to work with. Mike and I feel old, but sometimes we are just like, "aww, he is such a cute kid."

Engagement Portraits

James and Cherie Mendez from James Mendez Photography did a great job on our engagement portraits. I am really glad we booked them as our photographers for the wedding. They are very easy to work with and got some really great shots. At first, we were both really nervous, but they did a wonderful job guiding us as far as what we should be doing. They took their time and made the session all about what we wanted. They come highly recommended!!

We received over 3 GBs of digital images from the engagement session. Click the picture below to look at a slide show of some of the untouched pictures.

Engagement Portraits

Gift Registries Revisited

We broke down and decided to get a mainstream wedding registry with Target along with our other gift registries with Amazon.com and Lowes Home Improvement. So, here are links to each of the gift registries:

Target


Amazon

Lowes

Reception Napkins

We are done with most of the big planning items, and we are working on all the little details. Here is one of them - we have ordered dark brown and ivory napkins that are imprinted with our names and the day of our wedding.


We ordered these from The Party Block.

Sand Ceremony

My Divine Wedding

Mike was raised Catholic so it would be traditional if we did a unity candle lighting during our ceremony. However, since we will be getting married outdoors and because trusting us with fire is probably risky, we have opted instead to do a unity sand ceremony. It is nice because the sand ceremony will also serve as a great keepsake from our ceremony. The sand comes in two different colors and is mingled together to represent our wedding union.

Wedding Planner

We met with Laura Massie from Head over Heels wedding planning today and decided to hire her services to coordinate the day of the wedding. She seems fun and easy to work with.

She is going to help us coordinate the vendors and take care of the little details of the wedding. Mike knows how organized I am so he was worried that I would be all stressed out the day of the wedding. He feels better knowing someone else (other than me) will be ironing out the kinks on our special day. :-)

Wedding Bands for Abroad

Mike wanted to get inexpensive wedding bands to take with us on our honeymoon. Even though my ring is insured, he didn't want to take the chance that a pick pocket would try to lift it while we were abroad.


So we got matching titanium infinity groove bands from e-weddingbands. The 08/08/08 and the infinity kinda go together, so I liked the symbolism. His rings says "Pam & Mike Always ~ 08/08/08 ~" and mine says "Mike & Pam Always ~ 08/08/08 ~." Mine is 6mm and his 8mm. It was a bit difficult to find a titanium band that came in a 4 1/4. The smallest Jared would make a titanium band was in a size 5.

Emily's Flower Girl Basket

Here is a picture of Emily's flower girl basket. She will be tossing orchid heads instead of rose petals while coming down the aisle. The basket is in ivory to match my dress. The men in the bridal party will also be wearing ivory shirts instead of white.

I purchased the basket online from Beyond Bridal because it had the cheapest price out of all the bridal retailers that I saw online. Some vendors were selling the basket for up to $45.

UPDATE: We got the flower girl basket in the mail today, and it is T-I-N-Y. I guess most flower girls are younger than Emily, but this basket is just silly. I think I will have to list it on eBay and find a new basket more suited for an 8 year old.

So, I found this basket at Michael's on clearance. It isn't a traditional flower girl basket, but I think it will go well with the dark brown color scheme we have for the wedding. We may try to dress it up a bit with some ribbon or something.



UPDATE UPDATE: So we decided against having Emily throw any kind of flowers. Instead, we are having our florist make a kissing ball (aka wedding ball, pomander). This will work well because the garden requires you to pick up anything that is thrown on the ground after the ceremony anyways.

Wedding Party Attire

Women

The females in the wedding party will be getting their dresses from David's Bridal. They are probably the largest bridal chain with the most locations. We decided to let the women of the wedding party decide their own style for their dresses except they will be wearing truffle (brown) knee-length dresses. We figured knee-length would be a lot cooler for the summer and my mom just looked silly in tea-length.

Color: Truffle
Style: Knee-length
Deadline for Ordering: July 1, 2008 (need to give 8 weeks for delivery)


Here is an example:


Men

The guys are going to be wearing tuxedos from Men's Warehouse or MW Tux because they carry the coordinating colors with David's Bridal. It is also nice because they are a national chain with a pretty good reputation. We decided to go with ivory shirts to match my dress instead of the bright white. Mike will be wearing a champagne colored vest while the groomsmen will be wearing truffle.

Group Name: Wisniewski-Karr Wedding
Group ID: 1665931
Fitting Deadline: 7/25/2008
Pick up in Charlotte, NC: 8/6/2008 - 8/7/2008