The Wedding Cake created by Flora Liu

The Wedding Cake...

The Cake Topper...

The Groom Cake...a surprise from Flora...the bears even have our respective player numbers on their backs!

Thank you so much Flora for the gorgeous cakes...

FINISHED: Wedding Card Box

Traditions have never been really our thing.
We looked at various wedding card boxes, but none of them suited us.

After a little brainstorming...a little sketch...a mini trial run...a false start...success.

The mini prototype version was made out of textured white cardstock and green painter tape.

The main Wedding Card Box is made out of a cardboard box and clear duct tape.

 The white textured satin was adhered to the box frame with Sookwang double sided tape.

 The lining is simple colour printed paper with Richard's name, my name and our wedding date.

 The different pieces have been properly covered and lined.

 The sides of the box has been stitched by hand together, along with the front pouch and pouch zipper. The start of the side handles have been temporarily adhered on with Sookwang double sided tape.

 The 2 zippers was adhered to the top of the box with Sookwang double sided tape, then hand sewn.

The Vancouver Canucks Rink Logo was created from cardboard and covered with the white patterned satin and adhered to the front pouch with Sookwang double sided tape.

This is the completed Wedding Card Box, which includes the front pouch, the two side handles, and a shoulder strap.

FINISHED: Garter

My wedding garter is ready.

I went shopping at a fabric store and picked up all the lace, ribbon, and elastic strap I needed.

With a little sewing on mom's sewing machine and voila...it is completed.

The finishing touch was attaching a Vancouver Canucks Orca Logo charm.

DESIGNED: Wedding Cake

We always knew that we would be using the Swarovski bears Richard got me for our wedding cake topper...

As for how the wedding cake would look like, we were still undecided...until I saw this cake design...

From that cake design, I finally decided to do a play on it for my cake, that would incorporate Richard and my love for the Vancouver Canucks...

Basically, the idea is the white wedding cake would be like the white wedding dress, but if you lift up the skirt you would see the Vancouver Canucks represented...

Flora, our friend who will be making our cake loved the idea and came up with a mock design of our cake...our will however be a 5 tier cake...

We will reveal the cake on the wedding day!

PURCHASED: Chinese Bridesmaid Dresses

Purchasing Bridesmaid Dresses is not an easy thing, especially when all my bridesmaids are located in different places in Canada and it's very difficult to get them all together at the same time.

During the holidays, Julia was in town and we managed to meet up with Melanie for an afternoon to go shopping for the Chinese Bridesmaid Dresses. I was sooo nervous...it's not easy to fit people into a Chinese Dress...it took me days before I found even my Red Chinese Dress.

To my surprise, it was not that hard to find gorgeous Chinese Dresses for Julia and Melanie to try on and look amazing in. I loved how amazing the dresses looked on the two gals, that I purchased three dresses then and there that afternoon for the three bridesmaids.

I mailed Thao's dress to her in Regina. She looked amazing it in, just like Julia and Melanie did in theirs.

I can't wait till everyone sees how amazing the bridesmaid look in their Chinese Dresses! Here's a swatch of their dress:

ORDERED: Wedding Dress

My wedding dress.

I didn't really know what I wanted. I did know that it was going to be hard to pick a dress.

I thought I knew what I didn't want in my wedding dress:

- no bling

- not strapless

- no lace

- no tulle

At the moment, I didn't like any dresses I have seen and nothing has even interested me enough to want to even try on a wedding dress. Seems hopeless...little did I know...

One late evening, at the start of 2011, I was flipping through a wedding magazine at the local Walmart...flip, flip, flip...ugh, ugh, ugh...then OH! I saw a picture of a wedding dress, well, actually, the back of a wedding dress. It was a very nice picture of the back of the wedding dress. I showed it to Richard and he thought it was pretty nice too. We left Walmart without purchasing that wedding magazine.

Days later, I found myself looking for that wedding magazine, looking for that picture. It seemed that particular picture left a very lasting impression on me and I just had to have that magazine to have that picture of that dress. It was the only dress I have seen in wedding magazines that I actually liked the look of. I found a magazine weeks later with that same picture of the back of that dress I saw...different magazine, but I wasn't going to be picky about it.

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February 2011, I went online to find more images of the dress and found great photos of the dress. I found out there were local stores that carried the dress. After a little humming and hawing, my mother and I went to Tiffany NY Bridal Store on a whim one afternoon to try on the dress. It was really the only dress I was even a little bit interested in.

We went to Tiffany NY because it was the first store to answer my mid afternoon phone call and didn't require me to make an appointment. They said they had the dress on display and can take it down for me to try on and to come on by any time. DONE.

It was the first dress I tried on when we got to store. Luckily, they had something close to my size, snug fit. It was amazing wearing it. I couldn't believe I was trying on and wearing a wedding dress. Furthermore, I was soooo surprised that I really liked it. I would have never guessed I would like a dress like this one. It was very different from what I pictured in my mind.

Mom got me to try on a few more dresses, but they were okay. Some were nice, some were "I don't think so". In the end, I got back into that first dress. It was still great. Furthermore, it was within my budget that I was willing to spend on a wedding dress...well under the higher budget that Richard gave me! We left the store without buying it, because there was lots of time still before I had to really pick and order a dress.

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November 2011, less than a year to go before the big day...I was bound for Ottawa, a surprise visit to Julia. I made a decision shortly after booking my flights that I will pick and buy my wedding dress before boarding that airplane.

I snuck out of work Monday afternoon for a dress appointment and lunch date with my mother and future mother-in-law. This time, my appointment was at Isabell Bridal in North Vancouver, they also had the dress that first interested me. Once again, they had the dress in my size and it was the first dress I tried on. Yet again, it was just as I remembered, and I loved how I felt in it. I stilled tried on other dresses, and what surprised me was that I tried on a very different dress and I found that I also liked it...helped that it had pockets, though my future mother-in-law was quick to say I was not allowed to hide my phone in the pocket!

I tried on THE dress again. Walked their show floor in it. Twirled in it. Checked out all the mirrors with the dress on. Had a gorgeous veil to go with it.

I told myself and everyone that I was not leaving that store without choosing and buying a wedding dress. It was a now or now decision time. It helped that Isabell Bridal offered a 20% off discount for the first visit purchase of a wedding dress.

Mom and my mother-in-law said, pick the dress that I want. I looked great in the dresses, no matter which of the final 2 I chose. (By the way, my sister said she's be pissed at me if I didn't get THE dress.) In the end, after careful considerations of all the things that could possibly influence the choice of wedding dress. I chose THE dress.

I chose the first wedding dress I saw in a magazine with Richard, that I liked.

I chose the first wedding dress I ever tried on.

I chose the first wedding dress I tried on at each store.

I chose THE wedding dress.

I can't wait to reveal THE dress to everyone on my wedding day!

SELECTED: Cake Maker

It was just recently Richard's friend Evan, our hockey buddy, got married to Flora on an Alaskan cruise.

During the post-wedding celebration with friends, I finally got to chat with Flora one-on-one. We discussed her wedding and my wedding planning. When we got to the discussion of wedding cakes, it was then that I found out that she's a pastry chef at Sutton Place Hotel. Flora offered to make our wedding cake!

It was amazing! Nothing beats having a friend make your wedding cake!

Basic starting details:

5 tiers

round cakes

royal icing (no fondant)

3 classical flavours

Swarovski Crystal Wedding Bears

As for the look and appearance of the cake...time for us to start googling and checking out wedding magazine for ideas on how we would like the cake to look. At the same time, besides a simple and clean design for the cake, we'll probably leave it to Flora and let her have a free artistic hand at the creation of the cake. 

Engagement Photoshoot @ Bowen Island

So for our second engagement photo shoot we decided to do it on Bowen Island. As most know, my family has property on the island, and we were spending the weekend there anyways.

I decided on a few locations, as I have spent many hours roaming the island.

The golf course was an easy choice as I usually take up a round or two when spending any time on Bowen. Sue Ann is a golfer, however she is usually more in it for "fun" than for a low score.

"The Gap" (not the store) is a long time favorite spot of mine, and my friends. It is at the North East corner of the island, and features an ismist island of which some permanent residence resides. Their claim to fame is a tunnel they blasted through the island to access their house.

We also checked out another favorite spot of mine for some "fishing". Usually I would be accessing the area via boat, but currently do not own one, so we took the closest land to it.

And finally, we swung our rackets on the local tennis court for a winner takes all to see who had to Blog about the photo shoot. And as you can tell, I guess I didn't win.....

Thank you Tamiko, Evoke Imagery, for spending the afternoon with us...and for taking over a thousand photos.

Ringbearer Sasha

My puppy Sasha is going to be my Ringbearer...a man's bestfriend!

She is a Border Collie - Labrador cross, born in Terrace, BC.
I picked up to go home as soon as she was just weaned at the age of 6 weeks.

She is the best dog in the universe, my best friend for life and I am so happy that I can include her in my wedding!!!

Groomsman Adrien Mitchell

My other groomsman is my bestfriend Adrian Mitchell.

I've known Adrian since we were in Grade 10.

We spent a lot of time together mountain biking, skiing, playing Guitar Hero, and so much more...

It was through Adrian that I started playing roller hockey, on his team, then moved on to running The Blades.

We've travelled together to Norway and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Like with Dave, our first jobs were together at the PetroCanada in Edgemont Village in North Vancouver. We continued to also work together as Valets. It was through me that Dave and Adrian met and became friends.

Our friendship is a very dynamic friendship...with ups and downs, but the stories we have to tell...will probably get us in trouble...so we'll just leave it there...

Adrian beat me in getting married and even though I wasn't there for his special day, he will be there for mine.

Groomsman David Nordman

My groomsman is my bestfriend David Nordman.

I've known Dave the longest, all the way back to Grade 5 where we would spend every possible moment together. We were spending so much time together that the teachers one year decided we had to be split up...in different classes...but that wasn't a problem for our friendship.

We grew up together mountain biking, skiing, playing Guitar Hero, driving our cars, camping, boating, fishing, watching movies and so much...

We even got our first job together at the PetroCanada in Edgemount Village in North Vancouver!

A lifetime of memories and stories that just keeps growing with time...

I am honoured that Dave will be there by my side during this special day in my life...

Best Man Stephen Hackett

My best man is my bestfriend Stephen Hackett.

I've known Steve since Grade 7, it was actually during the Hood Point Tennis Tournament that summer, where we were paired together and won the tournament together that our friendship began.

Our friendship, during the early years, was strongest during the summer months. During the summers, we would be spending most of our summers on Bowen Island at our respective families' cabins at Hood Point. We would be boating, swimming, fishing, playing tennis, golfing, sailing and every other activity two boys can do on the island with their friends.

We even spent 3 summers going to Camp Elfinstone together.

As we grew older, our friendship grew stronger, not just isolated to those summer months on Bowen Island.

We spent many years playing roller hockey together on The Blades roller hockey team. I was the captain and he was the alternate captain. I dealt with offense and he dealt with the defense on the team.

Now, into our adulthood, we are still golfing, boating, playing tennis, fishing and so much more.

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Steve is now engaged to Marion Kehoe and will be moving down to Australia to join her. He will make it back into town to be here for the wedding!

The distance will put a strain on our friendship, but hey...we have the world in between to meet up and vacation, if he doesn't make it back to Vancouver and if I dn't make it down to Australia!

Bridesmaid Melanie Chow

My bridesmaid is my best friend, Melanie Chow.

I have known Melanie on and off for many years now...probably dating back to early 2000 when she was volunteering with me in the Lions Club International organization. We lost touch during our Post-Secondary School years...but reconnected again after Melanie graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

I had helped Melanie get hired at Bell and we worked together with her there for half a year, before I took off for Moneris Solutions Corporation. Even after leaving, I still came back to Bell and enjoyed another year or two with Melanie training for the Sun Run. It was during this time that we became better friends, which lead her to becoming my second best friend.

Melanie and I have always agreed that depending how things go, we would go into business together, since we are both very motivated to be self sufficient as Entrepreneurs. We had come up with many plans and attempted to seek out many opportunities together. we just haven't found something that was worth investing our time and effort in yet. Melanie has beat me to the punch and has already taken steps to accomplish that goal. I'm so proud of her! She's now certified in Fitness Training and Real Estates!

As friends we have always been there for each other, even though not physically there all the time. But time and place means nothing between bestfriends. We can pick things up right where we left off! When we need each other, we can always depend on having the other there for them.

It's no surprise that Melanie knew about my dating period with Richard. She was waiting patiently till the big day when Richard "officially" proposed to me. She wanted me to join in her shared happiness with her husband Ian, by marrying Richard.

Melanie will be there by my side, as my bridesmaid, when Richard and I tie the knot next year!

Maybe if things go the way we hope they go...we'll both be looking at expanding our families around the same time too! Fingers cross...generation after generations of friendship to bind our family and friendships together more!

Matron of Honour Thea Evert & Flower Girl Tristen Evert

My Matron of Honour is my elder sister Thao Evert.

As children, we had always talked about being each others bridesmaids when we decided to get married. We are keeping to that childhood promise...

My sister had a tiny private wedding in 2002 in Vancouver to her husband, Terence Evert. I got to be her Maid of Honour! She didn't get all the bells and whistles a bride would normally get since she really wanted to just elope, but our mother and I managed to give her some bells and whistles :)

We hooked her and Terence in gorgeous suite at the Four Seasons in Downtown Vancouver. Her hair and make up were taken care of from Bello's Wedding. The head photographer from Bello's Wedding also took care of her wedding photos for the whole day!

Their wedding ceremony was performed in their suite before the officiant, our mother, me and the best man. For their wedding reception, it was a private dinner for the newly wed, me and the best man at the Five Sails Restaurant at Canada Place. And to top off the night...we presented to the newly wed a wedding cake!!!

For my wedding next year, my sister and brother-in-law will be celebrating their 10 year anniversary! Congratulations!

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My Flower Girl is my sister's daughter, Tristen Brooke Evert.

She was born in November 2006...and from the day of her birth, it was already agreed that she will be my flower girl as soon as I decided to get married. She has been practicing since she first started moving on her two little feet!!!

Maid of Honour Julia Harrison

My maid of honour is my bestfriend Julia Harrison.

I met Julia during my years at Bell Canada...sometime during 2004...she was working as my counterpart on the Enterprise Sales team.

The very first thing we did together after we first met was go out to Red Robins for lunch together...we both needed the lunchtime indulgence! To this day, our go to food is the Crispy Chicken Salad and Freckled Lemonade...along with all the appies on their menu...yummie! We always make a trip to Red Robins when Julia is in town!

We became instant friends, probably since that first day we met and went out to lunch together. We became bestfriends not too long after that....might have happened all on the same day for all I know....hehehe

For the years that Julia stayed in the city, we did anything and everything together whenever it was possible. We even took up part time jobs together, during the summer, to earn extra cash and to spend more time together outside of our day jobs, where we see each other all the time! Just couldn't get enough of each other! We blackberried like crazy! Thank goodness for corporate blackberries back then! So many stories, so many outtings, so many memories...all under 2 years...

In 2006, Julia took off for Europe to pursue her Master's degree at LSE(PS). She ended up staying in Europe for another couple of years! I was sooo upset and depressed...for all I knew she was going to stay there forever! As much as it was great to have her in Europe and an excuse for free accommodations for European trips...we were just not connected often enough!

During the times apart, we had ups and we had downs in our lives. The short periods when Julia was in town for the holidays, we made the most of it! We did our best to be there for each other for the good and the bad, but really needed to be together more! I did manage to sneak over to Europe in 2008 to spend a little over 2 weeks with her. We travelled around London and Spain together. We loved Spain! We love the Spanish food, area and their "LOVELY" beaches...hehehe But the 2 weeks and a bit flew by too fast and we were separated again!

It was soo hard! I had major abandonment issues over all this during this period! She was in Europe for 3 years! We were apart more than we were together! But our friendship was still strong as ever!

Julia finally came home in 2009...

When I first met Richard, Julia was back in Vancouver! She was one of the first to hear about him when we were corresponding! She was the first to meet Richard, literally, the day after my first date with Richard! She was the first to hang out with Richard and I together...days after that first date! Hahaha...she went on a movie date with Richard before I went on a movie date with him....hahaha

It was hard when Julia moved away to Ottawa shortly after coming home from Europe! She promised to return permanently one day....

Julia knew when Richard and I started talking about getting married...

Julia knew when Richard was planning on asking me "officially" to marry him...

Julia was the first one I called, after family, after Richard proposed to me!

I never asked her to be my Maid of Honour! I TOLD her she had no choice...she's my Maid of Honour!

I though nothing can top this....I was wrong...Julia will also be getting married in 2012, shortly after I tie the knot and...she's nicer than me...she ASKED me to be one of her bridesmaid! Of course I said YES! How amazing is that? We'll be each others bridesmaids for each others wedding all in a matter of a month!!! As Julia pointed out, it's like a hollywood movie, where 2 bestfriends get married roughly at the same time! I can't wait for 2012!!!!

ONE year...12 months...366 days...to go...

ONE year...

12 months...

366 days...(leap year...get one more full day)

8,784 hours...

527,040 minutes...

31,622,400 seconds...

...give or take a little...to go...

...till Saturday the Eighteenth of August of Two Thousand Twelve at eleven o'clock in the morning!

Richard and I had our first date on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009...two years (minus 1 day) ago...and now...in one year, from today...on Saturday, August 18th, 2012...we'll be married!!!!

Time sure flies...

Yet it seems only yesterday...

We were hating each others roller hockey teams and the team captains, Richard and I, were hating each other too...

Hahaha...how things have changed...

Today...

We love each other...sappy right?

Our hockey teams and players have mixed amongst themselves...no one has killed anyone yet on the team...one big happy family!

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

DESIGNED: Wedding Placecards

It's so hard to decide!!!

Do we keep in simple...do we mass produce...do we go creative...or do we go handmade one by one...do we go all out Canucks...or do we go traditional...

After much deliberation, design and testing...we have finally decided on our wedding reception placecard...

It's going to be a combination of everything we listed at the start...hahaha

Never one for going the easy route!!!

Due to it's customization, we're going to have to do these at the last minute too...guess that's where all my friends and family come in to help! Can't wait to reveal the placecards to everyone!!!

DELIVERED: Wedding Invitations (1st Set)

Richard and I had the first set of invitations completed by the end of June, shortly before heading off to Edmonton to visit my mother's family for my uncle Thanh's 50th Birthday and Canada Day.

All the invitations were hand delievered to my mother's extended family, as per Chinese traditions. My relatives have all accepted the invitations and all have RSVP'd YES!

My aunts and uncles are all calling our wedding invitations, thick wedding invoices...hehehe

For those of you who are not aware, Chinese weddings, guests usually present the bride & groom with red envelope, (also known as a red packet, in Chinese: (Mandarin) 紅包, hóngbā and (Cantonese) lai see, in Korean: Sae Bae Don (세뱃돈/歲拜돈) and in Vietnamese: Lì Xì) containing a monetary gift rather than a wedding gift. The RED of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits. The EVEN monetary value of the gift is to represent the couple (and the value cannot containing any 4s as the word 4 in Chinese resembles death) . The gifting of these red envelope is an auspicious gift to the couple that is also a blessing for a blissful marriage!

All my cousins are excited about next year, where we're ALL going to be together in Vancouver!

Plans are underway for the family to spend most of August in Vancouver...maybe starting as early as late July to catch the Celebration of Lights and to help Richard and I with final preparations for the wedding. So we are starting to look for full vacation house rentals for the month of August...it'll cut down hotel rental costs for soo many family members. We're probably going to have at least 2 vacation homes rented for August...one for the cousins and one for the aunts and uncles. A handful have also decided to stay at a hotel for the wedding...they love room service!

The next set of invitations are now underway...for Richard's family, then for the family friends and then A-List guests...there's going to be around 3 rounds of invitations...lots of invitations to make...

BOOKED: Cecil Green Park House

Early May 2011

I had the most depressing news...Ceceil Green Park House informed me that Saturday, August 18th was not available for booking. Someone had already booked off that date for their own full day celebration.

I was soo shocked and quite depressed!

I was quite shocked because someone had already booked the venue. How was that possible? I have been waiting since late last year, 2010. I wasn't allowed to book yet, since they only book 15 months in advance. It's not even 15 months yet!!!

I was quite depressed because I had really had my heart set on Cecil Green Park House being my wedding ceremony venue.

I gave up hope...I wanted to throw in the towel...I was very mad...I wanted head to roll...

Richard told me to take a deep breath and let him deal with it.

Richard spend most of May working on getting Cecil Green Park House for our Wedding Ceremony venue. From daily phone calls and daily emails to the Interm Manager to calling his other contacts to see if they can do something about this situation. We pulled every string we had. We contact everyone person with a connection we had. We went over and above the Interm Manager's head. We left no stone unturned!!!

During this time, we also started talking about alternative wedding ceremony locations...not that either one of us really wanted to get married anywhere else, but we had to cover our bases just in case...

We looked at the following locations:

Aberthau Mansion at West Point Grey Community Centre

- similar to Cecil Green Park House, but smaller and a bit more rustic

Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver Convention Centre

- why not go big by the Olympic Cauldron...hehehe

Friday, May 20th, 2011

After Richard's persistence for most of May, he finally got it!!!

The Intern Manager dropped the other unconfirmed booking and booked us in!

We have Cecil Green Park House, University of British Columbia as our Wedding Ceremony Venue!!!

Thank you Richard!!!

Engagement Photos @ Rogers Arena (Vancouver Canucks)

Richard and I are avid Vancouver Canucks fans! Go Canucks Go! Being a season ticket holder, I have ticket holder perks like access to the Public Skating Event at Roger's Arena in March 2011. We took this opportunity to have some of our engagement photos taken!

As mentioned before, Richard and I had decided to go with Evoke Imagery for our wedding photos! We loved having Tamiko, her husband, Curtis, and the Evoke Imagery team during the Chinese Engagement Event in February 2011 and we loved the photos they took for us!

We invited Tamiko & Curtis out to the Vancouver Canucks Season Ticket Holders Public Skating Event.

We had photos taken outside around Roger's Arena...

We had photos taken inside where the Zambonis are parked...

We had photos along the corridor where the Vancouver Canucks practice and warm up...

We had photos along the jersey corridor...the Vancouver Canucks team hallway to the ice...

We, of course, had photos taken on the ice...

Tamiko was awesome...she even got us bodychecking the boards for her...OUCH!!!

But the kicker was Tamiko going above and beyond getting the facility's manager to allow us, literally, a couple of minutes INSIDE the Vancouver Canucks Team Locker Room for, literally, a couple of photos! The house rule was, do not TOUCH the logo on the carpet...no professional camera...and only a couple of photos...then OUT!

It was an amazing evening! Skating on the same ice the Vancouver Canucks play on for the first time for both of us. Making out in the team Locker Room...thanks to Tamiko! Hundreds of amazing photos from Tamiko and Curtis!