Laced with Love: The Main Event

We put a lot of time and energy into planning our wedding, but we knew that the most important part for us was our wedding ceremony.  Hive, it's time to share the most important part of our wedding day with you.  Since this post was kind of picture heavy, I took some of the photos and put them together as little collages so you wouldn't have to scroll through fifty pictures. Now you only have to scroll through forty. Just kiddin'.

All photos are courtesy of the wonderful Hanssie Trainor.

 My husband-to-be walking in with the pastor and groomsmen.

The kids and bridesmaids lines up and ready to go.

My Dad and I walking down the "aisle."  And by aisle, I mean flight of stairs. At rehearsal, the BM's and I spent a long time practicing walking down the stairs to find a balance between looking up and avoiding a face plant.

On a side note, if you can, please get a second shooter.  Without a second shooter, you only have one perspective.

 Here are a couple to give you an idea of what the Orange County Performing Arts Center looks like.

It's really hard to fully capture the beauty of this place. You have to just be there!

In his introduction, the pastor said, "aren't we excited for Mr. and Miss Lace?" As the audience cheered, our groomsmen whipped out their kazoos and noise makers. I love the BM's reactions.

We had a Christian ceremony so we chose to have our friend Mike play a few worship songs for us.

We chose to do both traditional and personal vows. Mr. Lace liked it and he put a ring on it.

Because we don't need a photo of Mr. Lace and I smooching, here's one right after we kissed.

Mr. Lace is ready to walk back down that aisle.

The photo on the far right is framed in our bedroom. I don't know if you can tell, but I have an ECSTATIC smile on my face in the photo on the top left.  I wasn't smiling because I was relieved it was over.  I'm sure part of it was because I was happy, but I know for sure that part of it was because up until this point, I had not even thought about our guests.  Our ceremony was truly ours. We shared in each moment together and were vaguely aware of the people around us.  When we started walking down the aisle it was like, "Oh hey! You're here! I'm so glad to see you!"  Sounds kinda mean, but I'm just being honest. I was concentrating on getting married and trying to remember every detail of what we were saying to each other.

My next post will likely be about our initially dreadful, but later wonderful personal vows. Stay tuned!

We had awesome music.We took photos.
Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
I get all dolled up.
We go to the happiest place on Earth.
I become a real housewife of Orange County.

Laced with Love: The Ceremony Music

Sorry for the hiatus.  Life has been busy and I have struggled to find a nice block of time to sit down and blog.  I am stealing time away from something right now so I can tell you all about our wedding ceremony.

Mr. Lace and I actually put a lot of thought into each aspect of our wedding ceremony.  It took us several months to choose the songs involved in our ceremony.  We spent an entire day on our ceremony schedule. Most importantly, hours upon excruciating hours writing personal vows.

Let's focus today, on music.

We hired a great DJ named Eugene Ng through Zuno Productions.  He met with us several times to find out about our musical tastes, to get a feel for our wedding guest crowd and answered all my e-mails in a timely fashion. I was really annoying because our wedding site didn't have ANY sound equipment so I'd e-mail him once to see if he had 2 microphones for my wedding musicians and pastor, another time to find out if he had music stands, another time to see if he could be in charge of our slideshow and about a billion times in between.

With our DJ in place, Mr. Lace and I sat down on Saturday to choose all of music from the processional to the bouquet toss.  We were determined to choose it all in one day.  After all, there were plenty of times, pre-engagement, that we'd hear a song and think, "That'd be a good song for our wedding."  Alas, neither one of us made mental notes or wrote the titles down.  We thought it'd be easy between our two iTunes libraries, YouTube and our old cd collections to nail down a handful of songs.

WRONG. After a very tiring day of listening to song after song, we came up empty. Songs we thought would be perfect ended up being too fast, too slow or had an inappropriate lyric in one place or another.  What we thought would be a one day job, we ended up spending MONTHS on.

What did we end up? Let me share some of our song selections with you.

Mr. Lace and I really like Ocean's Eleven and it doesn't hurt that the whole movie is set in Vegas, one of our favorite quick trip spots.  So, Mr. Lace and the groomsmen walked into the ceremony to Claire de Lune.  We opted for a piano version we found on iTunes.





The other song I'll share with you is the one I walked down the aisle (well, stairs actually) to.  Did you ever come to some part of your wedding planning and you just found "it."  You didn't have to decide, you just knew. Well that was this song for me. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was the song I'd walk down to.  I'll be honest and tell you that when I decided on this song, I swore I'd never share it with anyone.  I didn't want to share my good find with anyone. I know, so selfish.  But now, four months out from my wedding, I'm finally ready to let go and share this beautiful song called "River Flows in You" by Yiruma with you.



I was considering "Bella's Lullaby" by Carter Burwell, but parts of it were just too eerie for a wedding.  But during my search, I found this song which was incorrectly called Bella's Lullaby and fell in love. I love happy accidents!

What songs are you walking to? Were there any decisions that you didn't have to think about in your wedding planning process?

• We took photos.
• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• I get all dolled up.
• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I become a real housewife of Orange County.

Laced with Love: The Romantics

After a morning of pressing and primping, Mr. Lace and I were off!  Mr. Lace and I, the photogs and my MOH C, drove off to the Lab to take some photos.  We chose to go to the Lab because we took half of our engagement photos there and it was down the street from our venue.  Since a lot of our photos took place in public places, we got a lot of oohs and aahs and well wishes from people who saw us walking around. Everyone was really sweet and they made me feel pretty darn good about how I looked! :) Taking photos totally helped me feel more relaxed because we were busy and I didn't have to think about walking down the aisle with people looking at us.  

So, now it's tip time from the other side of the wedding.

1. Photos before, between or after?  

Couples do there weddings in many different ways. Some people opt to take their photos before the ceremony so that they're all out of the way.  Some people choose to take them between the ceremony and reception so that they don't break tradition and see each other before the ceremony.  Some take them after all the partying is done.  I suppose it depends on what time your ceremony is also, but Mr. Lace and I took our photos before the ceremony and then took another set of photos after the ceremony with our bridal party.  We split our photos into two sessions mainly because we HAD to have a cocktail hour (for the venue to change the ceremony location into a reception location) and we didn't want our bridal party to show up four hours beforehand and follow us around to take photos.  

2. Bring someone with you!  
MOH C had the foresight to volunteer her services during the two hours we were taking photos. She got ready a bit earlier than the rest of the BM's and came with Mr. Lace and I. She was AWESOME!  When Mr. Lace's orchid snapped and we had to stop by the wedding site to pick up another bout, it was MOH C who ran down to pick it up.  When I needed someone to hold my bouquet or lift my dress, MOH C was there.  When I was trying to get into the car, it was MOH C that made sure that all of my dress made it into the car and didn't drag on the street as we drove from place to place.  And lastly, when we were getting a bit hungry and needed a snack, it was MOH C that jumped out of the car in 4 inch heels and bought a 20 piece chicken nugget for us to share.

3. Location, location, location! 

If your photog isn't familiar with your reception site, snap some photos while you're there so your photog can get an idea of what the place looks like.  Better yet, when we went to take our engagement photos, we spun by our venue to let her see it for herself.  That really helped because she knew what the lighting would be like, potential locations for group photos and any interesting spots to snap photos.  We decided to go back to the Lab because we thought it'd be fun to have a set of casual and formal photos in the same spot. See? (All photos by the fabulous Hanssie!)

The Rainbow Wall during our engagement photos.

And at the same wall on our wedding day.

The Waterfall Cans during engagement photos.

And here we are again in our wedding duds!

4. Props

While I would've loved to bring props, I had too much to keep track of to remember to lug props around with us.  Plus, I think Hanssie did a great job making every photo look interesting!

The girl is amazing. She took this set of beautiful photos with a wall and some light!

Can't decide if I like this better in black and white or color! I LOVE the shadow on the wall!

And my perpetual dilemma as I look through wedding photos...black and white or color?!

Do you have any special plans for your wedding day photos?

• Mr. Lace and I get a peep of each other.
• I get all dolled up.
• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I become a real housewife of Orange County.

Laced with Love: Peep This!

The morning of my wedding was a whirlwind. I spent about four or five hours getting ready and all of sudden, it was time to go downstairs to see Mr. Lace.  It all happened so fast and I was about to partake in the part of my wedding day that I totally didn't plan. That's right. I didn't plan our first look. Well, that's not completely true.  Mr. Lace and I knew what time we'd meet and that we'd meet at the hotel that I was getting ready at, but that's all.  After Mr. Lace arrived, he spoke to MOH C and then Hanssie did the rest. Hanssie went to find Chris. Her second shooter, Michelle, stayed with me. I walked when she told me to walk. I waited when she told me to wait.  I had no clue what was going on with Mr. Lace, but my photogs had everything under control.  All of a sudden, Michelle had me walk out and after a brief pause she said, "Okay, in a second I'm going to have you turn around and you're going to walk to Mr. Lace and tap him on the shoulder."  


I had no clue how close or far he was from me. For all I knew, he could be across the street. After a moment though, Michelle got in place and gave me the thumbs up to turn around. I turned around and realized we were on a grassy lawn in front of the hotel. Mr. Lace was only about 100 yards away, but everything seemed to go in slow motion.  As I got closer, I started crying and I thought, "I can't be crying already!"  In that moment, I wasn't really sure why I was crying, but in retrospect, I realize I was completely overwhelmed by the culmination of so many hopes and dreams of so many years. 


As I tapped Mr. Lace, on the shoulder, I felt like my day was really beginning. All photos courtesy of Hanssie Trainor.

I know everyone has different opinions about the First Look, but for Mr. Lace and I, it was perfect.  We had a few precious moments to ourselves before the whirlwind of events that would follow to say what we wanted to say and get a peep of each other before the ceremony. We ended up spending most of the early afternoon together taking photos before our ceremony.  Mr. Lace makes me feel calm and safe and being able to spend some time with him calmed me before our ceremony.  Had we not done the first look, I think I would've been a ball of nerves for the entire day.


What made you decide on having or not having a first look?

• I get all dolled up.
• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I become a real housewife of Orange County.

Laced with Love: All Dolled Up

The day before our wedding, Mr. Lace and I spent the day running errands, checking into hotels and getting ready for our rehearsal. I purposely woke up early that morning so that I'd be really tired at night and it would trump that nervous excitement that might keep me all night.  After the rehearsal, Mr. Lace dropped off Momma Lace and I off at our hotel and we parted ways.

And what did I do the night before the wedding? I took a shower and went to bed.  Yup. That's all. I was worried about getting tired midday and feeling sleepy on my wedding day.   I think I crashed around 11 p.m., but of course I woke up in the middle of the night, not because I couldn't sleep, but because my Mom was having some kind of dream where people were ordering her around and she yelled "STOP!" really loud around 3 a.m. I woke up with a start, but managed to fall asleep again pretty quickly.

The next morning, Momma Lace and I stopped at Starbucks to pick up some coffee before we met up with the bridesmaids to get ready.  My fantastic hair and makeup artist, Kelly Zhang, was early and began working on the bridesmaids right away.  We spent 4 hours getting ready, but the time zipped by super quickly.  Before I knew it, my fabulous photographer, Hanssie Trainor, knocked on the door, stepped in and began snapping photos!

Before I share some photos from the morning of, here are a few things for those of you getting ready for your big day.

1. Be prepared - bobby pins, q-tips, cotton balls, Kleenex, water, blotting sheets, hair spray, safety pins, straight pins, chapstick, lip gloss, fake eyelash glue, toothpicks...throw it all in a bag and bring it with you all day.  I was surprised at how often we ended up using items from this bag!  When you're in a wedding dress and your girls are in dresses and heels, it's more inconvenient to get around.

2. Consider your transportation from one place to another. Make sure there's enough space for you and your dress. It ended up being more difficult to move around, sit, bend, etc. in my dress than I would've imagined.

3. If you plan to get ready in a hotel room and your photographer is going to take photos, try to get large room.  Our hotel room was a LOT smaller than we thought and was really crowded most of the morning.  There wasn't much space for my photographer to be able to snap photos without people or stuff being around.  She did beautifully for such a cramped hotel room!

So now that I've given you a few tips, it's time for photos. All photos are courtesy of Hanssie Trainor unless otherwise noted.

That's Kelly making sure my hair will stay up all day long (which it did!). She gave me a great tip before she left, she said at the end of the night, when I was going to wash my hair, to condition first, wash and then condition again.

All done!

Bridesmaid M is the camera queen.  She has such good aim!

Sister-in-law Lace getting ready. Her hair was super cute.

Getting into my dress.  It felt a little awkward getting into my dress.  You only see three of my BM's here, but there were actually ten other people in this room.

I had to adjust my boobs.

I wasn't in love with the original sash that came with my dress so I made my own.

MOH Lace helped me get it on. It was a little tricky because the ribbon in the back was so long.

MOH Lace is my best friend because she can tie a perfect bow.

I'm ready to go downstairs and see Mr. Lace!

And before I leave you today, I love these detail shots by Hanssie.

My Watters dress with my handmade sash.

Mr. Lace's cousin in made all three of these rings.

Ballet flats from one of my favorite retail shops.

I love this hanger from Etsy, but it turned out that my dress was too heavy to hang out it so, it was mainly decorative. I still love it though.

Our friend Darren Lo designed our invitations for us.

The morning went by fast, but the rest of the day went by faster! More on that later!

• We go to the happiest place on Earth.
• I become a real housewife of Orange County.

Laced with Love: The Most Magical Place on Earth

Whilst planning our honeymoon to Disneyworld, I discovered that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would have it's grand opening two weeks before we were there.  And have I ever mentioned to you that I love the Harry Potter series? If not, let it be known, I LOVE the Harry Potter series.  For my sake, Mr. Lace has watched all the movies with me.  However, as time passed, he started asking questions.  "Why does Snape hate Harry so much?" "Does Hermione like Ron?"  "Why didn't Harry die?" He was looking for a short answer, but for any of you Harry Potter fans, you know, there are no short or easy explanations in Harry Potter. I wouldn't say he loves Harry Potter, but I think he'll admit that it's a well-crafted story and is impressed with my in-depth knowledge on the topic (or so I'd like to think).  

Anyway, when I mentioned going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, Mr. Lace was all for it. However, we didn't make any firm plans.  After our third day at Walt Disney World we realized that if we didn't do a little research and planning, we might not get around to going so Mr. Lace stayed up late looking up tickets and transportation. I know that he wasn't necessarily excited about leaving Walt Disney World to go to Harry Potter Land, but he knew I'd be majorly bummed if we didn't make the trip.  So, on the fifth day of our honeymoon, we hopped in a taxi outside the Grand Floridian and headed to Universal Studios.

Mr. Lace forking over $200 for our tickets. 

So, how do I describe the Wizarding World of Harry Potter? It's about the size of Toon Town at Disneyland if you're familiar with that so I was a bit disappointed with the size.  I kind of feel like they could make an entire theme park just centered around Harry Potter - a Hogsmeade, a Diagon Alley, the Weasley home, Hogwart's Castle, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the Dursley's home.  This was a mish mash of Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and Hogwarts.  When you enter you see the Hogwart's train.

Don't let the snow deceive you. It was 100 degrees and 100% humidity (or so it felt).  See this guy wiping the sweat from his brow?

First item on the agenda was to get something to drink.  Libations anyone? Your choices were frozen butterbeer, cold butterbeer or pumpkin juice.

Sweat-drenched Mrs. Lace drinking cold butterbeer.

Okay, so these drinks were like $5 each which is obviously pricey, but to be expected. I was so STINKIN' excited about buying the butterbeer though. Mr. Lace ordered us each a butterbeer.  While I was drinking it, Mr. Lace said, "How is it?"  I replied, "MMMM it's sooooo good."  Mr. Lace took a sip of his butterbeer and said, "We just paid $10 for cream soda."  Okay, so yes it was pretty much really cold cream soda, but it was so good.

Our next visit was to Hogwart's which happened to be the entrance to a ride.

The line weaves through Hogwart's Castle.

Professor Sprout's greenhouse

Hall of talking photos and yes, they talked! There were larger paintings of the four founders and they talked to each other about He-who-must-not-be-named and Harry Potter.

Mr. Lace taking a dive into the pensieve to check out some old memories.

Dumbledore's office

Honeyduke's and YES, there was a line to get into this store.

I didn't catch photos of Ollivander's (where you could choose your own wand), the Owl Post (where you could send a postcard stamped at Hogsmeade), Dervish and Banges and Zonko's.  There were hour long waits to get into the STORES.

Soon after this, as we were leaving Universal Studios, it began to POUR.  People were walking around drenched and shoeless because everyone was ankle deep in water. What was supposed to be a twenty minute taxi ride back to Walt Disney World, turned into an hour and a half long ride.  We were soaked and tired. At dinner, Mr. Lace asked, "so, what did you think?"  Even after the ridiculous ride back to Walt Disney World, the crazy crowds at Harry Potter Land and the mother of all rain storms, it was totally worth it.

We go to the happiest place on Earth.
I become a real housewife of Orange County.