Sixteen months passed by with no wedding date set, we decided on November 3rd that the time was right for us to be husband and wife. Given the short notice, we decided that it would be better to just have our immediate families and then have a huge reception at a later date with all our friends and other families who weren't able to attend.
Imagine our families reaction when we told them on November 10th that we are finally taking the plunge on November 23rd?! In unison - FINALLY!
After informing them of our last minute plans, we got down to business and started working on the nitty-gritty of it all... now the fun begins!
Thanks to the internet we reserved November 23, 2001 at Timber Cove in South Lake Tahoe for both the wedding ceremony and the reception.
We made our invitations using Mulberry and Vellum papers. We mailed them out by November 14th and wanted a final count by November 17th (hah!).
With the assistance of Robyn, Erica, Rhea, Pops, Ricky & Alex, we made our satchels using the dried roses that Jun gave me when he proposed (yup, we saved them!). Jun patiently handwrote each and every card that we tied onto the satchels. My sisters, Rica and Rheida, helped tying the bows and flowers.
Jun and I wanted our favorite songs compiled in a CD to share with our family, so we decided to make one of our own. We designed the front cover and the label on the CD itself. We also added our own sentiments on the front label and used a (sappy!) picture from our trip to Florida on the disc.
After making our favors and found out who were going to attend, we arranged the seating for the reception. On the day of the wedding, I handed Sondra of Timber Cove, a bag full of individual ziploc bags with place cards, satchels and CD's per table assignment. I also gave her the list for the processional order, pictures that the photographer will take and a list of who's-doing-what. Can we say, "ANAL?!"
Our celebrant, Rev. John Spinola and I exchanged emails regarding the ceremony. He gladly sent me his ceremony wordings which I revised according to what we wanted said at our ceremony. We added the "Blessing of the Hands" and the "Acknowledgement of our Children." I then attempted to make the programs which were handed out to our guests prior to the ceremony along with mini-bottle of bubbles that Ricky personally labeled.
Jun and I prepared for our special day for two weeks filled with sleepless nights. We had pulled an all-nighter the day before Thanksgiving and did not go to bed until 2:00 a.m. on our wedding day. After having Thanksgiving dinner with our families, we went back to our room at the Timber Cove, few steps from the beach, and turned it into a production line! My sister Rheida, Aunt Joanna and I put the programs together while Jun and my sister Rica took control over making the bouttonierres, corsages and my bouquet. We wanted to stick to our theme so we used all red roses. My bouquet was made of two dozens of roses and needless to say it was HEAVY!
Despite the fact that we didn't have so much time to prepare for our wedding and having only six hours of sleep prior to our ceremony, after seeing all (most) of our loved ones there - it was worth it... the mere fact that our special day was planned by the both of us made it even more special.
Our wedding day turned out to be just as special as we wanted it to be. We united our families together and gave our promises to each other during Thanksgiving holiday and for that we will always have something to be thankful for each and every Thanksgiving day -- besides our health, love for each other and blessed lives. Thank you God.
