Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Vendors

I don't know if anyone still reads this blog, but just in case anyone's curious about the vendors we used, here's a list!

Wedding planner: Vicky from Event Accomplished
Caterer: R&R Catering
DJ: Bob from Artman DJs
Photographer: Laura Kay Photography
Salsa instruction: Lemery from Dance Factory
Hair: Mike from Chaos Salon
Makeup: Akemi Kanazaki
Musician: Wonho Hong

Sunday, August 23, 2009

We're married!

Thanks to everyone who came to the wedding last night in the pouring rain! It was so great to see you all!

We're off to Barcelona tonight and then flying straight to Boston on the 30th.

We'll try our best to post pictures of our adventures! Take care, everyone!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the big day! I can't believe it's finally here. After an entire year of planning, I can finally say that it's only one day away. It's really surreal!

We had a great time at our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner tonight, meeting new people, seeing old friends and eating truly amazing food! I guess the rehearsal is pretty important - not just because you need to practice what you're gonna do and say, but also to practice being in a big group, mingling, and being completely overwhelmed by...everything!

People ask me if I'm going crazy right now, but I'm really not. Just like how a traumatic memory gets repressed, I feel like my consciousness is protecting me from the crazy rollercoaster emotions I imagine I would be feeling by now. I think if I truly felt everything I should be feeling, I'd be rolling around on the ground crying and laughing. :)

But the one thing I know for sure is that getting a wedding planner was the best decision we've made in our planning. It's saved us money, time and stress, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's getting married!

Alright, everyone. See you tomorrow! Then wish us bon voyage as we head to Barcelona on Sunday! :)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Thunderstorms


I do not like this picture. Apparently both weather.com and accuweather.com are both calling for some kind of thunderstorm (PM, isolated, scattered) for the next 3-4 days, and the difference between 3 and 4 makes a huuuuge difference!

But I'm not too worried because our rain plan is still pretty good.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Guess what happened exactly one year ago today??


That's right! Cyrus proposed! :D

It seems like such a long time ago...


It was the most romantic evening and it was especially great to be able to celebrate with friends that night AND the night after!


Look how excited I am to be a bride! And look how short my hair was! Thank goodness it grew out fast. :)

So it turns out that our engagement will be exactly 52 weeks! How 'bout that?

Happy one-year! :)

Friday, August 14, 2009

Boo on you, Harbor Fest

I just found out that there's going to be a huge concert right between the hotel and our wedding site on the day of our wedding, which I'm sure is going to wreak havoc on traffic in the area.

But I'm not going to stress...

(8 days left!)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Packed & unpacked

Cyrus and I drove up to Boston last week, and we took up as many things as we could so we could set up our apartment.

We were surprised at how much space was still left after packing his things and mine.



Setting up the apartment was pretty successful, but we hit a dead end when there were items in the apartment that we didn't know what to do with. But still, we're so glad that we did the hard part (cleaning!) before the wedding!

I'm back home in Maryland now, and Cyrus is up in Boston and we will reunite late next week. Could this be the last long-distance period ever??

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Two weeks left

There are exactly two weeks left before our wedding! Here are our plans for today:

- open gifts that have arrived
- transport gifts from Cyrus's mom's to our apartment
- get rid of old stuff in the apartment
- clean apartment
- come back to Cyrus's mom's for dinner with lots of family!

I wish I had some pictures to show you, but I didn't bring my camera cable! :(

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Name change


Has anyone used MissNowMrs.com to change a name before?

I'm filling out paperwork for my new job, considering getting a MA driver's license, and a lot more fun stuff, and I'm wondering when I should change my name and how.

They say that for $30, using the website saves you an average of 13 hours of research.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Road trip!

This morning, Cyrus and I are headed on our second road trip to Boston to start setting up our apartment!

"When did you take your first road trip up there together?" you ask?

Let's turn back the clock to April 2007, only a few short months after we started dating.

Cyrus drove the entire way without getting sleepy or needing a break!


We stopped by in Philly for some of Jim's cheesesteaks.


I think we got onto the 93 bridge by accident, but got some cool pictures anyway...


And we met up with some friends!


Can you imagine how different that trip will be from this one? :)

Please wish us a safe and productive trip!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Our engagement session!

Please check out Laura Kay's blog to see our engagement photos!

Here's a little taste...

500 Days

We finally saw the movie tonight, and it was worth the wait! Very good movie for the patient and mature movie goer. Seeing Summer's strange dating behavior through a guy's perspective kinda got me thinking...


Are girls really that hard to figure out?

I didn't think so, but according to Cyrus, even I gave Cyrus some pulling-out-my-hair moments after we began dating!

But I'm glad all of the drama is over and neither of us will ever have to look back and see how things went wrong. :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Be aggressive

One thing I've learned during this wedding planning process is how important it is to be vigilant and aggressive when it comes to getting what we want.

I realized this last week when we were working with our hotel contact to make sure we reserve our complimentary bridal suite.

Way back in the winter/spring, we were cranking out our hotel room block contract with Hampton Inn, going back and forth with edits and more things we wanted to include. I confess - I thought Cyrus was being a bit anal when it came to including ALL of the spoken and unspoken things we discussed with the sales manager such as getting a complimentary room, making sure there are no penalties for not filling our entire room block reservation, etc.

But check out this email exchange...

Ina:
Our room block contract says that my fiance and I will be able to reserve a room on Saturday night (August 22) at no cost. How do we go about reserving that room?
Bruna @ Hampton Inn:
We can definitely reserve that room for you, provided that the room block you had on the contract is filled.
Ina:
We talked about reserving our complimentary bridal suite, which is in our contract, and you said that we'll need to fill the majority of our room block for that to happen. Our contract also says that there will be no penalty for rooms not filled by the cut-off date.
Bruna:
We usually do not give a complimentary room to anyone that reserves less than 20 rooms because by providing them with a complimentary suite we would show our appreciation for them sending us that many rooms. Because that was not included into your contract, I will go ahead and make your reservation for you. I will need a Credit Card number for the incidentals so as soon as I receive that, I will go ahead and make your room reservation for 1 night.
BAM! Free room, thanks to Cyrus's vigilance with including EVERYTHING in the contract!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

2.5

I can't forget to mention - today is August 2, which means that Cyrus and I started dating exactly two and a half years ago!

Soon we'll have a new date to celebrate! :)

We went to Medieval Times earlier this evening to celebrate another very special event (happy birthday, Ray & Chris!).


I'm pretty proud of that carnation in my mouth - the gallant green knight threw it my way and I caught it! In the dark!

Medieval Times is ridiculous... :D

Bridal shower

This post is long overdue! My bridesmaids, Jenny, Olivia and Sarah, threw me the greatest bridal shower - way more awesome than I could've imagined!

They put so much thought into every detail, and made sure to incorporate elements that they thought I would love. For example, a lot of it took place outside (I looove eating outside and doing things outside), seafood (the mussels & clams in that broth was amazing!), etc., etc.!

Check it out...

The party favors were so cute. I especially LOVE the "hello" stamp! I'm thinking about using these bags as inspiration for the welcome packages in our guests' hotel rooms...


They strung pictures all around like a clothesline - so cute!


I have to say, the gift opening part was my favorite! :)


Here we are a little later in the evening at the Westin Hotel in the National Harbor. We had two adjoining rooms with harbor views, and it was awesome! The beds were so comfortable and the DOUBLE shower heads were to die for! (Please excuse my fobbiness...)


We braved the pouring rain to walk up the block to Bobby McKey's piano bar! The guy on the left was probably the best singer out of all of them. He was amazing. The best songs of the night had to be Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)." Please do not post videos, ladies... :)


Here are the girls that stuck with us all evening long!


Thanks so much for a truly unforgettable celebration! You guys are so amazing!!

All pictures by Olivia.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

DIY: "reserved" signs

I had so much fun putting together our "reserved" signs for our dinner tables. Check it out!

Start with 4x6 picture frames:


Cut out some cardboard:


Go outside with your chalkboard spray paint! This stuff is awesome. It turns any surface into a chalkboard, and it's available in the spray paint section at Home Depot!


Spray. The label recommends two coats:


Phew! It was a hot day!


Wait 24 hours for the paint to fully dry. Then use chalk to write whatever you like:


Put your cardboard into your beautiful picture frames, et voila!


Fun for the whole family!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Thank God


After many unsuccessful web application submissions, I finally got an email back from ETS's TOEIC rater department. I was expecting just a confirmation that they received my app, but it's a good thing I'm a careful reader! It started:

"Dear approved TOEIC rater..."

How awesome!! The TOEIC is kind of like the TOEFL, but not exactly. And TOEIC raters score spoken or written items at home on a PC (gotta get a new laptop now...).

I'm still in the process of getting my paperwork done, but I'm a bit confused. Do I write that I'm married or single on the W-4? Do I write my future married name or maiden name? :\ confused Ina.

But the best thing about this is that I learned another lesson. (Please bear with my wordiness in this post!) When I first applied to this job a couple weeks ago, I was really confident. "I am so over qualified for this job!" I said to myself. So I waited and heard nothing. Then I found out that my application hadn't gone through. So I applied again. And once again I found out that I had to submit the application for the third time! Unbelievable! So I did it, and then didn't hear from them for a while. My confidence started turning into anxiety, and Cyrus and I talked about applying to more jobs. I even started looking at nanny positions online...

And then I prayed. And lo and behold, I get the acceptance email the next morning.

Not to say that praying was the magic trick that got me the job, but I think God's reminding me that I didn't get this job just because of my qualifications and education, but it's because He allowed it!

I still may need to find another part-time job, but this is a great start. And it's all thanks to the big man upstairs. You're awesome!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Song requests

Okay, guys! Cyrus and I need your help! It's about that time when we need to submit the songs we want to hear at our reception to our DJ.

Let's hear some fun and morally neutral songs that are fun to dance to!

Seriously, please help! :)

Just leave a comment - you don't need to sign up for anything to leave a comment if you have a Google account, which I know almost all of you do. ;-)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Classical music

When my parents told me that they had tickets to BSO's presentation of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Strathmore Hall, I wasn't sure if Cyrus would want to go.


But we went, and I got to discover how much Cyrus enjoys classical music!


My dad brought his bird-watching binoculars. At first I was kind of embarrassed, but it was pretty interesting to see people's facial expressions as they were playing!

This summer is turning out to be the best EVER!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Deep fryer

My beautiful and generous bridesmaids threw me a bridal shower this past weekend, and it was amazing! So many lovely details and it was a true reflection of how well my bridesmaids know me!

I received so many fantastic gifts, and here's one gift that I know Cyrus will really enjoy...


A deep fryer! :D Thanks, Jane! And thanks EVERYONE for a great time! :D

So help us out - What's your favorite thing to put in the deep fryer?

Saturday, July 25, 2009

The list - updated

In a previous post, I made a list of the things that I want to do before leaving the DC area for a while. Turns out that this past week has been far more productive than I thought!

- watch "500 Days of Summer"
- eat at 2 Amys once more (Cyrus saw the list and we met in Cleveland Park to eat some delicious D.O.C. margherita pizza!)
- watch a movie at the Strathmore outdoor film festival
- ride the Metro (Cyrus invited me out to watch his firm's softball game on the Ellipse, and I took the hour and a half trek out there!)
- eat Maryland blue crabs
- eat hand-pounded jja jang myun at Da Rae Won
- eat peppered short ribs at Bob's Noodle House
- get a Georgetown Cupcake (Jin and I have talked about doing this for over a year, and we finally did it! It was worth the hour & fifteen minute drive back!)

What's next?? :D

Friday, July 24, 2009

Best wedding entrance EVARR

The future bro-in-law sent us this amazing video! I wonder if we can pull it off...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

So close

30 days to go!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Our musician, Wonho

Meet our musician, Wonho! Wonho and I went to college together and sang in an a cappella group together, too. He likes to make pictures of food more exciting.


He's also a very very talented singer and songwriter. His band, Forget the Girl, is awesome and I love them!


Check out their MySpace page!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

GCC

This past Sunday marked my last Sunday at Grace Community Church with responsibilities!


I'm pretty excited to be able to attend four more GCC worship services without having to do praise or play piano for the KM, but...I won't be excited to leave my home church of 27 years!


(I think these photos were taken by Hannah Sohn. Thanks, Hannah!)

Time to hand in my church keys.

Monday, July 20, 2009

E-invitation

I just got an e-invitation from my bridesmaids to my shower this Saturday! I was a little disoriented at the non-Eviteness of it, but the website they used is wayy better than Evite!

Check out pingg.com for your next event. The graphics are way prettier ("worthy of print," they say), the layout of your invitation is sleeker, and it's still free! You can also import guest lists from a previous event (that would've been sooooo helpful with all those GCC events we had!).

Ladies, I can't wait for this weekend! Thank you for all the planning and thought you've put in to this. I know you all are really busy people, so this means so much to me! :D Thank you thank you thank you!

The list


Things I want to do before leaving the DC area

- watch "500 Days of Summer"
- eat at 2 Amys once more
- watch a movie at the Strathmore outdoor film festival
- ride the Metro
- eat Maryland blue crabs
- eat hand-pounded jja jang myun at Da Rae Won
- eat peppered short ribs at Bob's Noodle House
- get a Georgetown Cupcake

DC, I will miss you...

Sunday, July 19, 2009

So little time

Like sand through the hourglass, so are the...

Source

My schedule for the rest of the summer:

Today-Aug 4: Planning & long-distance job searching at home in Maryland
Aug 4 -13: Set up new apartment in Boston
Aug 14-Aug 21: Finish planning
Aug 22: WEDDING!
Aug 23-30: Honeymoon in Barcelona
August 31: Begin life in Boston

This means...
- In two weeks, I need to have my bags packed for Boston and finish almost all of our wedding planning!
- My time left in Maryland is now a mere 25 days!
- I have 6 weeks to find a job in Boston!

Seriously. Sand through the hourglass.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Cyrus is awesome, Part II

Cyrus wrote an email to some of our RSVP "delinquents," and I am so impressed with his thoroughness. Check out this well-written email!

It is July 15th, our RSVP due date. If you are receiving this e-mail, it is because Ina and I haven't received your RSVP card yet and we're wondering what's going on with you. We definitely want you all there. That's why you're invited. Unfortunately, we'll need concrete answers soon because we need to provide a number to the caterer within the next few days. So, let me try to address concerns you may have.

1. I already sent my thing in. Why are you bothering me about this? We've found that with some of the postcards we've got, part of the address has mysteriously been torn out. It's possible that this happened to your postcard, so if this is the case, please e-mail us and tell us what your response was.

2. You should know that I'm coming. Duh. This may be true, but we need to know how many are in your party, especially if you're a family invite.

3. I don't know who else is going, so I can't decide. Well, first - is the wedding not enough for you? =) If this makes a difference though, e-mail me and I'll send you a list of people you know who have replied so far.

4. Where will I stay? What is there to do? How do I get there? Ina's spent a bunch of time writing all this down on our website at www.weddingwire.com/inaandcyrus. If the website doesn't answer your questions, ask me. I'll try.

5. I want to come, but I'm worried I'm going to be alone at the party. First, the people who are coming are very friendly people. But seriously, if this is a worry, talk to us. We'll work something out.

6. What RSVP card? I never got your invitation. You should have. If you didn't get it, there may have been a typo in the address or it might've got lost in the mail.

7. Can't I just do the equivalent of clicking the "Maybe" button on Evite? There is no maybe button. I cannot help you here.

Maybe something else is the issue? Who knows? Anyway, we'd love for you to be there, so let us know what we can do to be accommodating if there's some hangup. Otherwise, please help us out by responding soon.

Thanks,
Cyrus and Ina

You like that?? NO room for ambiguity! Well done, Cyrus! I'm glad I'm marrying someone with such great email communication! :D LOL~

Friday, July 17, 2009

Wedding etiquette resources

If you've never been to a wedding before, how are you supposed to know the appropriate etiquette? There are so many things you're supposed to know, things you do and things you don't do - but how is someone supposed to figure it out?

Even after having gone to tons of weddings, been a part of half as many weddings and read Martha Stewart Magazines cover-to-cover for the last three years, there are still things that I don't know.

So here are some resources for all of us. (I was reading through some of this stuff, though, and I don't agree with 100% of it...)

- Survive Wedding Season, with 23 entries about etiquette

- Wedding Guests: How to Be a Great One

- Biggest Mistakes Guests Make

- 5 Guest Myths Busted

- Top 8 Etiquette Q&A

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Party planning

I started planning my own birthdays after my 24th. My good friends were planning my 24th birthday and asked where I wanted to go. I'd heard a lot about Makoto, but I had no idea that it was THE Japanese restaurant in DC or, more importantly, that it was $80/person! So in we went, the 10 of us in this tiny narrow strip of a restaurant. Of course they didn't let me pay, and of course I felt awwwful.

Some pictures from that very expensive (but fun!) evening...

High rollers at Makoto


Later that evening at Eyebar. Look! My maid of honor and future boyfriend/fiance! Who knew??

So for my following birthday, I decided - no inconvenience, no hassle.

I paid for the food for my 25th birthday and had friends over at our house for an evening under the stars. For my 26th, we went to a National's baseball game, courtesy of Aaron's season tickets. For my 27th, we kept it dirty and went to Paul Kee's Chinese restaurant! Mmm!

Long intro, I know, but my point is that I liked being in control of my parties so that I wouldn't risk putting anyone in an uncomfortable situation, like paying...a LOT.

So when it comes to my bachelorette party, it makes me nervous and excited at the same time that my bridesmaids are in charge. I told the girls my concerns and priorities, and I know and trust that they know what they're doing. It's just an unfamiliar feeling - not knowing.

Ladies, I am truly honored that you've put so much time and thought into this! I'm so excited to see what happens!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Attire

I read about a snazzy new place in DC at the W Hotel called POV. I took a look at their rooftop terrace that overlooks the White House, and it is gorgeous!


Then I look at the information below, and I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw how they described the attire: "casual sophistication."

What's that?

According to Wikipedia, the popular dress code terms go like this: white tie, black tie, smart casual, business casual, contemporary business casual.

I love this graphic from that page:


Some people have asked what to wear to our wedding, and I have NOT answered using terms like "casual sophistication," thankavermuch! Cyrus and I just want our guests to be comfortable.

Remember that the ceremony will be outside before the sun sets, and inside AND outside for the reception after the sun sets. So it may be very warm, and it may become very cool. So be comfortable and look good! That's all we ask.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Lost RSVP cards


We found out that some of our friends' RSVP postcards are getting lost in the mail! But we're not too worried about it - tomorrow's the day we'll begin calling/emailing the "delinquents" (as our planner calls them) to find out if they're coming to the wedding.

And I must mention that there are only 39 days left! Can you believe it? Cyrus and I had a "OMG" moment yesterday. Every once in a while, I get these waves of excitement/anxiety/omgness when I think about how soon it is! Can't wait! :D

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Engagement pictures!

Cyrus and I will be taking our engagement pictures next weekend, and I've been going crazy trying to figure out what to wear!

Our photographer from Laura Kay Photography is totally amazing. Here are some of her pictures from e-sessions that might help.

Do we want to be more casual like this couple?



Or do we want something a bit on the formal side, like the couple below?


What do you think is more "cyrus&ina"?

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Please RSVP by...

...July 15. One week from today.

I didn't realize how soon this was until a couple days ago! And it seems like right NOW is the best time to book tickets. It's a little frustrating that I can't get out information to the masses (like reminders, tips, etc.) like I can on an Evite.

I know I should trust people to make their travel plans and figure out accommodations, car rentals, etc., but it's the control freak in me that wants to make sure everyone is on top of things. I'm always over-planning and overbearing, especially when it comes to travel.

I could use this blog or our wedding website to send out info, but not a lot of our guests seem to know about it...

So I'll just take a deep breath and trust that everything will be okay, as Cyrus always reminds me! :)

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Check marks?

One of the most difficult things to deal with in our wedding planning process has to do with cultural differences we've encountered. It's pretty crazy.

I have tons of examples, but the only one I'm comfortable sharing over the internet is the very simple check mark vs. O difference.

I had no idea that Koreans didn't use check marks! Imagine my confusion when someone wrote, "Can't wait to see you in August!" and then wrote this on the front of the RSVP card:


0 people accept with delight?


It looks like five people are coming, but...??

I showed my mom, and she says that these people, though they live in the United States, haven't learned the way of the check mark!

Beware!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Found!

I said earlier that I'd lost my shoes...

My mom and I looked everywhere. I called my seamstress twice to make sure I didn't leave them at her house.

I checked and double-checked, and finally, when I triple-checked under the bed, I found them.

Crisis averted! Shoes found!

RSVP messages

So far, we've received RSVPs from almost half of the households we sent them out to! Pretty exciting stuff! But if you haven't sent yours back yet, you have...GASP! A little more than a week? Did that RSVP window fly by that fast?

Anyway, Cyrus and I have been enjoying the message people write on the RSVP postcards!

Here are some of my favorites!


Let's take a closer look. We have a cow man...


A message written like a 14-year-old Korean girl writing in someone's yearbook... :) (love you, Stella!)


And more drawings!


Keep 'em coming!