Congrats Appa!

Yesterday, at 11:00 a.m., appa (dad) took his Oath as a U.S. Citizen. It was a long process but well worth the wait. Everyone went up to Baltimore for the ceremony. It was perfect timing being right before we all leave to CA for our wedding. There is so much to celebrate this week. We are so happy and proud of him!


Umma and appa after the ceremony


Outside following the ceremony


Outside following the ceremony

Flowers

Our final wedding flower choice was sent to our florist a few weeks ago. I can't wait to see them next Saturday.


Our florist made the centerpiece while I was visiting her in downtown LA's flower district


My bouquet and Daniel's boutonniere–I love Cala Lilies


Wedding party flowers


Ring bearer's flower pillow & the corsage for our parents and grandmother

Wedding Cake

We probably went to 6-7 different bakeries to try wedding cakes. We both love cake and we definitely took advantage of cake tasting. Cake House in LA's Koreatown has the best fruit cake I've ever had. It's so moist and the frosting is so soft. It's not too sweet at all, which I loved.


Left: we picked the design with silver balls as decorations; Right: flower design inspiration on the cake for our florist (photos from projectwedding.com)


Our cake toppers–Korean Bride and Groom

Bridal and Groom Suite Sign & Reserved Seat Sign

I will have a pretty authentic bridal suite at Yamashiro so, of course, I need custom decor for that. ^^ I had dinner place mats that I got from IKEA a while back and, again, it was only 99¢. We actually haven't used them and they are the perfect decor for our Asian theme.

The reserved seat signs for our family at our ceremony are very simple menu cards with little bamboo that I've been using for all the other materials.


I love the cropping of the type


Tying a branch with orange hemp


Tying the branches together


Attaching the paper to the place mat


I love the branches attached to the door knobs


The same bamboo from the rest of our stationery


For all of our family

East Meets West

I wanted to create nice signage for the table that our guests will see as soon as they enter the ceremony. I found dark brown baskets–only 99¢–at the Crate and Barrel outlet right by my work. I started playing with it to see what I could come up with and that was it! I had the cool signage that I wanted. I had only gotten two, so I went back to get one more and it was sold out. I was so upset and sad. The regular price for the baskets is $15 so I had to go with an alternative option.


Beautiful dark brown basket with my leftover green paper


The middle one is wallet box that I turned into part of our decor


The tiny pearl pin is added to secure the green paper


I used "Delta" for the wording


"Meets" still bothers me but oh well …


Our wedding theme, "East Meets West"

Table seating

Folding origami has come natural since I was young. When my friends and I played together at home or even at school, we learned how to fold cranes, boats, roses, animals, etc. It was a way of spending time together while talking and laughing. Folding 1,000 origami cranes means a lot in Korea. They believe it represents longevity, loyalty, and love. When I told Daniel about it, he started folding cranes. He said he wanted to fold 1,000 cranes for my mom when he went to meet her for the first time. It was so thoughtful. He couldn't quite make 1,000 cranes, even with my help, but his effort and his patience was what mattered.

We decided to put our guest names on the wings of our origami cranes. They not only look good but also it's our way of showing how our different cultures can merge into one great idea.


5"x5" makes a pretty good size crane


There are two different ways to fold cranes and I do it my favorite way


Folding


Body part is almost complete


Making wings


Origami is so intriguing


How precious


Marching cranes


I love how it all came out


100% Complete

Table Names Two

Playing with candles was so much fun that I decided to make another set with square candles that we had in our bathroom. Daniel said we won't have any decorations left at our place after our wedding. : )

I was going to use the previous ones for both our ceremony and reception but I'll just use this set for our ceremony and the other set for the reception.


Daniel was so shocked how perfectly I can cut circles by hand


Making sure that I tilt the x-acto knife so that the paper will be tilted when I insert it


Securing the paper with a glue gun


Little branch to cover up the mess


Sturdiness test


Again, our top five favorite fonts


Little rocks will surround the candle table names

Table Names One

I wanted to incorporate some aspects of graphic design since we're both graphic designers. We decided to pick our top five favorite fonts: Avenir, Bembo, Helvetica, Fairfield and Delta. I was able to use some candles that I got from Pier 1 a while ago for only $.75 each. I've been using a lot of items that we already had. I'm pretty happy with the way they came out. I normally don't like ribbons, but in this case, it adds a nice final touch.


Everything probably cost only $6 (I'm all about budget-friendly planning)


I've been doing a lot of wrapping lately


These candles have different width on the top and the bottom so I had to make sure that I folded the rice paper as I was rolling it


Sticking the pins


The pins came in handy to attach the paper to the candles


Hiding the pins with my favorite green paper


The final touch


It'll be placed with our favors and cranes


Pretty cute


Our reception tables are named after our favorite fonts

Cocktail Flags

I decided to throw in a little fun—and education—at our wedding reception. These cocktail flags will teach our guests how to say "Thank You" in Korean and "Cheers" in both Korean and Italian. Korean: Thank You = Go-Mop-Sum-Mi-Da; Cheers = Ganbae. Italian: Cheers = Cin-Cin. Hopefully, our guests will enjoy these and it will add some culture to our wedding.


Sticks from Michaels


My little flags


These will be a nice photo op at our reception