Laced with Love: I Should Tell Your Momma

I only titled this post "I Should Tell Your Momma" because when we got a disc of photobooth photos from Snappy Joe, I saw my friends and family do things I've never seen them do before.  Since some of these friends and family follow my blog, facebook and Etsy sites which are all linked together, I decided I shouldn't post them lest I embarrass them. However, I had a mom wear a bandana around her head like Tupac, people kissing and touching of body parts that would prompt you to shout out "stranger danger!"

Anyway, here are a few highlights courtesy of Snappy Joe Photography! 

I SHOULD tell your mommas...

a la Michael Jackson

Our flowergirls gettin' down.

This family dressed up as KISS for Halloween.

In college, a few of my friends called this the ultimate test of friendship. If you were willing to stick your finger in your friend's nose, you were a true friend. Marriage should be enough, but just in case, we had to do the test.

I bought and wore this bee hat just for you Hive!

We made sure we set aside money for a photobooth in our budget because we knew it'd be entertaining for our guests and for us when we got to see all the photos afterwards.  Even though most of my guests have been to many weddings with photobooths, they still go back again and again to take photos.  We had no doubt we wanted to have one at our wedding. Are you pro- or anti-photobooths?

Missed something?

• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I get all dolled up.
• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• We had awesome music.
• We took photos.
• We get married!
• We write. We fight. We say our vows.
• Big surprise...I cry.
• We are photo crazed. 
• Say cheese!
• I'm obsessed with details.
• Feeling toasty?
• Traditional surprises?
• Dress change REMIX!

Laced with Love: The Dress Change Remixed

In many Chinese-American weddings, many brides change into a traditional Chinese dress called a qi pao (pronounced chi-pow).  First off, it's a beautiful, but unforgiving dress.  Here are a few images I found on the web:

(source)

(source)

In my mind, it's most traditionally worn in red with gold shoes, both colors associated with good luck. Well, I've never been much of a traditionalist so I didn't want to wear a qi pao. After all, my wedding dress was the most expensive dress I'd ever bought and I did love it ever so much, why would I change out of it?! Nevertheless, being a good daughter, I asked my Mom if she wanted me to partake in this tradition.  She said no, I didn't need to do it if I didn't want to.  Just to be sure, a couple months later, I asked her again because it would take a couple months to have a qi pao made for me.  She said no again.  Since I had asked twice, I decided she was sure.  

Two weeks before the wedding, we were out shopping for accessories for her outfit for the wedding and as we were walking through the mall she says, "So, don't you think you should do a dress change?"  *insert record scratch here*  It's two weeks before the wedding, I had checked twice and NOW she was asking for a dress change?!  We both agreed that there'd be no time to get a qi pao made so she suggested a "normal" special occasion dress as my change.  I agreed and we began looking.  As we walked through the mall, I tried on various dresses in ivory, white and green, our wedding colors, but couldn't find anything I liked. The next day, I said that if I couldn't find a dress, we'd forget the whole idea.  We headed to another mall and I tried on every white, ivory and green dress I could lay my hands on.  I decided another color wouldn't really match.  But then, with an armful of dresses, I found a reddish pink dress and fell in love!  I took it along with me to the dressing room and saved it for last.  Every dress was a no until I changed into the little red number.  Through the dressing room door, I said, "Mom, it's not the right color. If they only had it in white or something, I think I'd buy this dress!"  I opened the door and she said, "it's perfect! It's RED! You can wear this red dress instead of a red qi pao!"  It turned out to be perfect compromise for my Mom and I.  Red for my Mom and gorgeous for me! :)

So, here it is, my red dress change remixed -- 

All photos courtesy of Hanssie Trainor.

Are you planning on changing into something else during your reception?

Missed something?

• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I get all dolled up.
• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• We had awesome music.
• We took photos.
• We get married!
• We write. We fight. We say our vows.
• Big surprise...I cry.
• We are photo crazed. 
• Say cheese!
• I'm obsessed with details.
• Feeling toasty?
• Traditional surprises?

Laced with Love: Two Traditional Surprises

My title is a bit of an oxymoron, I know. How can something be a surprise, yet a regular tradition? Well, let me explain.

Surprise #1: Mr. Lace's family always does a family dance for the bride and groom.  We've done 80's songs, 90's songs and more recently "Grease!" So, Mr. Lace and I knew they'd plan a dance for us, but we just didn't know what songs they'd be dancing to. We were so lucky because we've had the longest, most complicated dance thus far! All photos courtesy of Hanssie Trainor.

Put your hands up!

If you liked then you shoulda put a ring on it, if you liked then you shoulda put a ring on it...

Cotton candy, sweet and low, let me see that tootsie roll!

Surprise #2:  My friends always do a little entertaining skit or speech for whoever is getting married.  So, my friends put together this little video for Mr. Lace and I.  First, photos of our reactions (complete with ugly face -- you know, when you laugh too hard and your face gets all screwed up?) and then the video!

A few things I should preface before you see this video:
1. When my friends first met Mr. Lace they thought he was kind of a tough guy.
2. I've always been a "nice" girl.
3. Mr. Lace and I really like Popeye's chicken.

Okay...action!

Do your family or friends have any wedding traditions or surprises in store for your wedding day?

Missed something?

• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I get all dolled up.
• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• We had awesome music.
• We took photos.
• We get married!
• We write. We fight. We say our vows.
• Big surprise...I cry.
• We are photo crazed. 
• Say cheese!
• I'm obsessed with details.
• Feeling toasty?

Laced with Love: The Toasts

....*blush* sorry.... I know, it's been a long time. Between the holiday program at our school, the holiday season, SIL Lace getting married and starting up my Etsy shop, I haven't had time to sit down and blog!  But, thank goodness for a chance to breathe with the MLK holiday!

So, let's see, where did we leave off? Oh yes, the wedding reception! We had planned to have the traditional best man and maid of honor speeches, but my brother asked if he could give a toast when I told him I was engaged and of course, I said yes. Then, bridesmaid M, who introduced Mr. Lace and I way back in 2000, surprised us with toasts.

So, here are a few snippets -- the laughs, the tears and everything in between! All photos courtesy of Hanssie Trainor.

This was before all the crying started!

Look carefully in MOH C's hand. TWO pages of notes and she said that she didn't really know what she was going to say. :) She did great though and managed to make me cry.

Bridesmaid M also has a typed page of notes and made me cry.

Look at how prepared all of our toasters were.  Brother Lace also has a page of notes. Here, he's reading a thank you note I wrote to him for buying me a souvenir from his trip to Florida. Can you see the Keroppi sticker on the letter? I used my best stickers for people I love.

I don't know why, but when I cry and need a tissue, I usually fold my tissue into increasingly small triangles or rectangles. I don't know why crying makes me start breaking out into origami.

About to burst at the seams from my brother's speech!

I think the crying part of the wedding was finally over.

Even though the toasts ended up taking a lot longer than we had planned for, it was worth it in the end to have some of our closest family and friends speak to us on our wedding day!

Are you having toasts on your wedding day? Are there any additional toasts besides the best man and maid of honor speaking?

Missed something?

• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I get all dolled up.
• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• We had awesome music.
• We took photos.
• We get married!
• We write. We fight. We say our vows.
• Big surprise...I cry.
• We are photo crazed. 
• Say cheese!
• I'm obsessed with details.