And you are who?

FH and I just spent last night with about 60 of his parents' closest friends (including a few family members). Apparently, even without a ring or formal engagement notice, the associated "aunts and uncles" are fully aware of our wedding date and locale. I think most everyone at the party expects to be invited. We are of course more than happy to entertain all friends and family... just one teensy-weensy problem... our reception hall says "max. 100" and ceremony site says "max. 60 # of seats". Ummmm... FH has 40 family members on one side of his family alone.

We know who "has to be there". It's just the others who should be but aren't on the list that I worry about. What did you do/are you going to do about the ones who aren't invited to the main celebration? We will be having a local reception as well so the more the merrier at that event. I just have a feeling that most would want to be invited to the main event in Hawaii. Any tips or suggestions? Leave it to the parental units to break the news or send them separate invites for the local reception only?

Back from our trip with wedding loot!

We are back from our Malaysia & Cambodia trip! First of all, the Angkor temples are A-MAZ-ING!!! You must definitely see them in your lifetime! And the food in Malaysia is incredible!!! A pic of us at the famous Angkor Wat temple with one of the 4 smiling gods.

But, back to wedding stuff now. Upon seeing these gorgeous silk scarves in Cambodia, I recalled a blog in which the bride placed pashmina scarves on the backs of chairs, I thought these would be PERFECT for MY wedding. They were much lighter weight than pashminas, and the bright colors would make the perfect colorful accent to our beautiful ocean backdrop. AND they were much more affordable. The different vendors wanted $3-4 for each scarf but FH, being such a negotiator, worked out the volume discount. I got 60 scarves for the wedding to drape across the backs of chairs and have the women to take one as a gift! (This is the closest kind of scarf I could find a picture of). They are each wrapped so nice and flat in a bag that I don't want to take them out of the bags yet).

What was even more amazing was how I managed to fit them all in my already overstuffed luggage.

def. Budget

Ahhh. i think this is a foreign word i will soon need to make my new BFF.

budg·et (bjt) KEY NOUN:
- An itemized summary of estimated or intended expenditures for a given period along with proposals for financing them: submitted the annual budget to Congress. As in - I need to make an itemized summary of estimated or intended expenditures for a given period of a few days for our destination wedding. Am I the only one who thinks it's not just a 1day/1meal event?
- A systematic plan for the expenditure of a usually fixed resource, such as money or time, during a given period: A new car will not be part of our budget this year. As in - a free for all bar and complimentary luau for all of our guests will not be a part of our budget in this lifetime.
- The total sum of money allocated for a particular purpose or period of time: a project with an annual budget of five million dollars. As in - Our wedding bugdet has a limited budget of $xx dollars.
A stock or collection with definite limits: "his budget of general knowledge" (William Hazlitt). As in - my budget of shoes and dresses do not fulfill our needs?
Appalachian Mountains A wallet or small pouch. VERB: budg·et·ed , budg·et·ing , budg·ets VERB: tr.
To plan in advance the expenditure of: needed help budgeting our income; budgeted my time wisely. As in - we DO need help to budget these expenditures and help to budget our time as well.
To enter or account for in a budget: forgot to budget the car payments. As in - I cannot budget for a live band?
VERB: intr.
To make or use a budget. As in - How does a budget work?
ADJECTIVE:
Of or relating to a budget: budget items approved by Congress. As in - Budget items not approved by FotB.
Appropriate for a restricted budget; inexpensive: a budget car; budget meals. As in - I think other than the location - ours will need to be a Budget wedding. But I love it!!!

Does size really matter?

Ahh... perhaps something that pops into every guy's mind at least once in their lifetime. In my case, the issue of size IS wedding related. The rock, the ice, the bling bling! I have my mind set on an (at least 2 carat) Asscher cut stone, flanked by two smaller side stones. Thing I have come to discover about this "idea" I have in mind - to make it a reality will cost Mr. Pineapple a pretty penny! Is it unfair to hold your FH up to this ideal we've created in our minds? Mr. Pineapple is soo sweet and willing to make me happy in just about any way possible. I don't like to be unreasonable or beyond logic and practicality. But I think my dream wedding along with a ring of my dreams may just be too much ka-ching ka-ching!

I don't want to put any more pressure on Mr. Pineapple - I won't say anything further about the the size of the rock or even the setting. It's all for him to decide. I'm quite happy with the fact that I got the destination wedding, and even more estactic to have found and be loved by such a wonderful man as Mr. Pineapple.
But I still have a bit of that little-girl-feeling inside - you know - the one every girl has - (in best pouty face) "but i want to have my cake and eat it too---"
I just have to remind that little girl that "you can't and shouldn't get everything you want in life," otherwise it wouldn't make special things special at all.

8.8.08 is the date!

Let me preface this by saying that our engagement-to-be is less than traditional, and more rooted in superstitions & practicality. If you know Chinese people, you may have figured out the "why" on the date. FH and I are both ABC's (the common nickname for "American Born Chinese"). However, just because we are ABC's doesn't mean we don't hold a lot of passed on superstitions of our elders. We both partially believe in our parent's superstitions and preferences for particular numbers and traditions. In Chinese, the pronunciation of "8" sounds very much like the pronunciation for the word "fah" or "fat", that is used for fortune, wealth, and good luck. The particular grouping of 8-8-8 is a very popular one, evidenced by selected groupings for phone #'s, license plates, and even addresses.

Now how did we set a date when there hasn't even been a proposal or ring presented yet? It all took place over the long 4th of July weekend this year. As it has now been well-documented, 7-7-07 was a record-breaking date in the history of weddings! Being such an auspicious date favored world-wide, transcending cultures, languages, and even religion, our most superstitious friend wanted to marry on 7.7.07. As we discussed the virtues and glorification of this date, I mentioned I would favor 8.8.08 to FH. As we discussed the virtues of the date, it occurred to FH that 8.8.08 was indeed an ideal date both auspiciously AND practically speaking. While I have a medium sized family and circle of friends, FH comes from a large family with lots of friends (his sister's wedding was 400+ people). The combination of my dream for a destination wedding, the fact that 8.8.08 lands on a Friday immediately cut down on the guest list. Further, there is a high likelihood that many potential guests would be committed to other Chinese weddings, or gambling, or in China for the start of the Olympics, we believe our guest list would be even smaller, with only core friends and family we'd really love to share the event with.

Since we knew it was going to be a very popular date, FH told me to start calling places I was interested in right away. Alas, I only knew of several hotel/resorts in Waikiki that I would like for the wedding I had envisioned in my head since I was in the 4th grade - on a cliff overlooking the ocean. When I started calling around a few weeks ago, my 1st pick was the Kahala Hotel & Resort (formerly known as The Kahala Mandarin). Although I have never been there, I just instantly felt it was the right place when I saw the website. Intimate, spectacular views, with the right ambiance of casual, sophisticated elegance. When I called the Kahala, I was told they did not accept reservations for up to 1 year in advance. That left me with a week and a half before I could book.

During that week, I spent countless hours searching the "net" for other options. The Royal Hawaiian - classic - all booked. The Hilton Hawaiian - well-known - all booked. The Sheraton Moana - no call back - probably all booked. The Sheraton Waikiki - not really what I wanted - no call back either. The Halekulani - beautiful, but also where my cousin was married and I don't want to steal anyone's thunder - no call back. So I ended up where I began, desperately hoping I could get The Kahala.

On 8.8.07 at exactly 11:02 am (that would be 8:02 am Hawaii time) I called The Kahala and they dropped the bomb on me. "Since 8.8.08 is such a popular date and we've had so many inquiries, we are doing a lottery to choose the couple for this date." Ahhhh!!!! What do they mean? How can that be fair? Shouldn't it be "first come fist serve" and gosh darnit I MUST be the 1st caller! My practical side decides to calm down and we give her all our info - preferences for ceremony? "I'd love the Koko Head gazebo, but I'll take what you have." Number of guests? "Give or take 100 - but I'll take what you have." Day or Evening ceremony? "I prefer evening, but again - I'll take what you have." The day progressed with anxiety and I almost gave up on my date. I figured if Hawaii were so difficult to book, then we were too late to get anything local (as where we live has many Chinese communities). 8.9.07 - I call my contact at The Kahala around noon. There were 15 entries for the lotto on 8.8.08 (they only accepted calls on 8.8.07). There were 4 slots and they had not done the drawing yet. Where else to look if I don't get picked? The Halekulani, miraculously on 8.9.07 (around 1pm) they called me back with the message that there were possibilities. Immediately I returned their call and reserved the morning ceremony on The Hau Lanai/Terrace, followed by a lunch reception. This is the picture on their site.
Within the next hour, I receive a call from Karo at The Kahala. I was selected in the drawing and reserved for the Diamond Head Gazebo morning ceremony to be followed with lunch reception in the Waialae Ballroom! I went from despair to having 2 reservations!!!

As of this moment, I am confident we will choose The Kahala. I have heard nothing but rave reviews about their weddings. And although The Halekulani is equally impressive, I would rather let my cousin and his wife keep that hotel as theirs in memories.

So now we have the date! It's feasible! It's possible! Now I need the actual proposal and an e-ring!!!