Framed Goodbye Poem

My friend, Randy, was in the bay area all summer, but sadly, we weren't able to meet up. I also wasn't able to make it to his goodbye party due to a previous engagement. Instead, I quickly wrote an "I *heart* Randy" poem which was an optional item to bring to the party. I thought I'd make the poem extra special by framing it. =D

I heart Randy

He's so dandy

He's such a lad

And I am sad

That we can't play

Before L.A.

So eat drink right

On Friday night!

Cheers!

Given I have chicken scratch handwriting, I decided to print the poem out on paper and trace the letters onto the glass panel of the picture frame.

S&K Wedding Pt. II

I finally got my hands on the professional photos of Shinie and Kevin's wedding. Enjoy!

Wedding Programs:

Escort cards:

Menus and table numbers:

Candy jar favors:

Candy/cookie table:

Here are some behind-the-scenes pictures of Kim "The Lifesaver", Kathy, and me setting up the candy/cookie table. GO TEAM GO!

All photos courtesy of Evan Chung Photography

Baby Shower Inspiration Boards

During my time in New York, I got to flex my event design and planning skills for a baby shower. Sophie and her friends were planning a "non-baby shower" shower for their friend Jane. Jane didn't want presents or to be fussed over, so the shower became more of a co-ed dinner party with a guest of honor who happens to be pregnant. They even planned to have alcohol flowing - for the non-pregnant guests of course!

Sophie and a few other girls had the food portion covered, but they needed some help with decorations. This is when Sophie asked if I'd be interested in helping.

The ideas they had so far were:

• Green mums
• Photobooth
• Guests are to write down some words of encouragement for the couple

This was my first time shopping for event in NYC, so I wasn't sure what stores to go to. With Sophie and Google's help, I ended up hitting up a few stores in the Flower District (including Jamali Floral & Garden Supplies), Paper Presentation, and A.I. Friedman. Because I flew back to California the day before, I wasn't able to help set up the decorations for the shower, and I actually have no idea what they ended up doing the day of.

I left Sophie with my inspiration boards and some supplies I was able to pick up for her.

S&K Wedding Pt. I

Yay, Shinie and Kevin are married!

Not only did I get to celebrate alongside the two of them as a bridesmaid, I also had the opportunity to help design the wedding (and pick reception music - so fun!). Though I've helped at a lot of other weddings, this is the first time I have been involved in all of the design planning, decision-making, and execution.

A couple of thoughts after the jump:

• Nothing came as a surprise - this either means I did a pretty good job at thinking things through, or it means I'm not easily fazed... or maybe it means both. =)
• I felt like I took on a second full-time job and have no regrets about it. I was afraid that by the time the wedding came around, I would end up hating event design. On the contrary, I felt exhilarated, happy, and pleased.
• I am glad I decided to get everything done a week in advance. I was able to rest and relax the week leading up to the wedding.
• I have never seen a groom so involved in wedding planning and designing as I saw Kevin was. Shinie was 'stuck' in Michigan in her first year of residency, so Kevin and I were left to see things through. As much as he insisted that he wasn't very creative, I witnessed Kevin making a lot of stuff - he needs to give himself A LOT more credit.
• I need to hire people to help cut stuff. I have never cut so much stuff in such a short period of time.

1. Candy/Cookie Table - Kathy and I teamed up once again to give Shinie a beautiful candy and cookie bar. We met up a couple weeks before the wedding to decide on a setup and to figure out what needed to be done. Our awesome friend Kim helped setup the table the day of. This is definitely one of my favorite tables that I have worked on.

Photos courtesy of Kathy Chong

2. Candy Bar Wrappers - I designed a few candy bar wrappers for our milk chocolate bars.

Photo courtesy of Kathy Chong

3. Candy Jar Favors - Jars were provided by Kevin and Shinie so guests could pack up some candy for the road. The labels were designed using Powerpoint (I'm still not very Photoshop/Illustrator savvy) and printed on white sticky sheets.

Photos courtesy of Kathy Chong

4. Escort Cards - We decided to keep things simple. Name on front, table number on back. The color of the card indicated each guests' dish: cream was sea bass, brown was beef, pink was vegetarian, striped was kid's.

Photo by Jeneric Photography

5. Flip Cam Pouch - Kevin wanted to have a video booth where guests could leave short messages for him and Shinie. He planned to borrow my Flip Cam, which was a gift from my company. I didn't really want to make a pouch for it but ended up making one at the last minute. My company logo is printed on the front of the camera, and I felt it would have been ugly in a wedding setting.

There are a few more things that I need to find photos of: wedding programs, menus, and table numbers. I am hoping the professional photographers took photos of them.

S&K Wedding Rehearsal Bouquet

A cute bouquet for a cute bride =)

Photo courtesy of Kathy Chong