rsvp chase..

tomorrow's the last day to rsvp! well.. for my invites at least.. kiwi's invites were sent out a bit late, so his deadline's not for another two weeks. as of wednesday, my parents and i have the joy of making phone calls after phone calls.. *fun*

we used the built in rsvp system on the website to give an easy option to guests to let us know if they're attending. it's great because the guests can input the names of the people attending; which is way better than assuming it's the parents will be there.

the website assigns rsvp codes to each invitation sent out. so on my invite, i have a list of ways to rsvp:

parents
[parents' home number]

brother & bhabhi
[our home number]

email
[my email address]

online
[website address]

rsvp code #####

i guess the space left for the rsvp code was a bit too far from "online" because a few people emailed me saying they're coming, and then proceeded to give me their rsvp code in the email! i haven't gotten a lot like that, maybe 5-6 or so..

the other type of email i got was that the rsvp wasn't working online. the system requires you to input your rsvp code as well as the last name.  now it says in small beside it (bride or groom's last name). it seems a few people didn't catch that and emailed me their rsvp saying it didn't work online.. (later finding out it was the last name issue.. they were putting their own instead of either mine or kiwi's).

i guess the whole thing isn't completely intuitive.. especially since i've only seen one person use an online rsvp before, so it's not very common yet.

oh well, the whole thing's not bad considering the use of the website and rsvp system was so cheap! would i recommend using an online rsvp system? i would. especially if you went through the effort to put together a wedding website.. it almost forces people to wander through, so your work isn't completely wasted.

live food at work

last night i attended a wedding and reception of a friend of mine (who also double's as my bhabhi's cousin).   i had a great time!  unfortunately i couldn't enjoy the dancing and dessert at the reception as i had to drive home that night (2 hours), so i left shortly after eating dinner.

one of our family friends called this morning to see if we reached home okay.  she was telling me they had a live jalebi station for dessert.  TOTALLY IMPRESSED!  she was saying how it was a big hit, since it was hot and fresh.  not to mention it was a really different idea for a reception.

i knew it.. people appreciate something made in front of their eyes.

up inspired engagement shoot

this is super cute: engagement shoot inspired by the movie up. part 1 & part 2.



kiwi and i both love this movie (well, most fun animations for that matter..), so i can totally relate to their decision of doing a themed photoshoot. i can't get over how cute this is! i wonder where they got the model house from..



from the wedding chicks

hairspray

i went for my hair trial today. very successful! i actually didn't have a clue of what i wanted for the afternoon; it was only the evening that i wanted something simple and classic. i sent the hairstylist a picture of what i wanted for the afternoon, so she was prepared with a suggestion for the look for the wedding. both mum and bhabhi really liked the look. it totally matched the style of my jewellery and the vibe for the wedding.

now all i need to do is make a hair accessory to wear for the reception..

*shakey fist* ash cloud

last weekend i was supposed to go to london for four days - arrive friday, leave monday. instead, being cautious about the ash cloud, they closed heathrow between 1am and 7am on monday, which resulted in a lot of cancelled flights for that day.. (if no planes were able to come in, then there are obviously no planes to take us out!) i was rescheduled to fly out on thursday; earliest they could get me out *sigh* oh well, i'm home now.

is it sad all i could think during the extended portion of my trip was that i was losing 3 days towards getting wedding things done? ugh.

the biggest thing though.. got my wedding shoes! actually i bought two pairs. one to bedazzle, and one as a back-up in case i ruin the other pair. we'll see how it goes. i've already bought the crystals off ebay, so i just sit and wait with the trusty glue gun.

because i was stranded in london for a few extra days, my masi's daughter took pity on me and took wednesday off work. we wandered around london. going on the eye was ridiculously boring.. maybe the champagne pod would have been more interesting *hic*. i went a bit crazy in primark. had delicious dessert at a place i don't remember the name of. then 50% off drinks at on anon for happy hour :)

kind of glad she didn't bring a veil with her (she considered making it into a sort of bachelorette).. thanks sister from another mother!

colour match

indian weddings are known for their (what seems to be never-ending) gift giving to family members. after the wedding, parents of the bride/groom give a gift to their family; usually this is a sari and/or dress shirt.

for my generation of kids in our family, we've bought saris for close family to wear at the wedding which doubles as their gift after the wedding. two-in-one.. you get your colour scheme without breaking the bank.

the saris i bought for my close cousin-sisters to wear are all odd shades of blue and green. for the international cousins, i was trying to figure out a way to give them the sari colour so that they can sort out their chaniyo and jewellery.

taking a picture and emailing it doesn't work.  the image shown on your screen vs. my screen is not usually the same as far as colours are concerned; they tend to vary slightly.

one of my fois suggested i use bobbins. since the thread is easily found in a wide shade variety. eh.. that costs money. we're in wallet-friendly mode here!

so i decided to visit the paint section at the renovation stores.. those paint swatches are free. :) i went to three different stores and completely raided them of their blues and greens. i was nice and only took one of each. in the end, i think i had about 50 strips of paint cards (with 5 different shades per card). with the slightest difference in colours being covered by these swatches, i was able to find exact matches for all the saris. SUCCESS! i'm impressed by my genius'ness. :)

you know, i wished i'd have asked myself.. what would martha stewart do? make fashion cards of course! i could have easily made these.. i have the tools, supplies, and skills. oh well.. maybe for someone else's wedding.

from the ritzy bee blog

wedding video songs

i've been thinking about songs for our wedding video.. the key here is something that's not trendy.  those songs tend to get annoying after a while, especially if you're exposed to it all the time.  the best songs are the ones that are at least a couple of years old that you still love listening to on a road trip or will sing (off key) to while cleaning the bathroom..

these are definitely some of my favourite picks (approval/rejection by kiwi still pending..):

atif aslam - tu jaane na (ajab prem ki ghazab aahani)

colbie caillat - realize

shreya ghoshal and rahat fateh ali khan - teri ore (singh is kinng)

train - hey, soul sister

kailash kher - dilruba

plain white ts - hey there delilah

shreya ghoshal and sonu nigam - koi tumsa nahin (krrish)

michael bublé - haven't met you yet

falguni pathak - o piya

sixpence none the richer - there she goes

rahat fateh ali khan and suzanne - surili akhiyon wale (veer)

the fray - never say never

i wish i paid more attention to the gap ads and the wanna-be gap ads.. they usually have good songs that would totally be appropriate for wedding videos.

vivaah & manish malhotra

in india, i bought my wedding sari and reception lehenga from vivaah. they just announced that they're now carrying manish malhotra! booo.. i like his saris. why couldn't they have carried his collection 6 months ago? oh well.. i guess we'll just have to go back to india.. i'm sure kiwi's starting to get the hang of sari shopping :)

stress pains

my tongue hurts. my jaw hurts. my head hurts. why am i so whiny? i think i'm grinding and clenching my teeth at night. i have two back teeth that have become super sharp - like a carnivore. no.. i'm not going to start eating meat again because of my new razor-edged choppers. :P

i'm popping into the dentist tomorrow hoping they can slip me in to get a quick assessment for a mouth guard.. foxy, i know. it's gotten to the point that the sharp teeth are digging into my tongue making me talk funny. apparently this is all because of stress. *sigh*

maybe we should have just eloped.. bleh, i wish.

wish list - venue

one of the proposed wedding ideas i gave my parents was an outdoor wedding. that idea was nixed two seconds after i suggested it.. what if it rains? what if it's too hot? what if someone gets heat stroke from being in the sun too long?

my ideal location would have been outside, in an open space surrounded by trees. the key part here is a space where there happened to be four trees that would make up the mandap. in my head i thought - cheap, simple, and uniquely stunning.

i'm not talking about pine trees or anything.. those old oak trees with huge trunks, thick branches, full of greenery. or in my imaginary utopia, there would be four huge flowering trees perfectly placed by mother nature creating four corners of a square - the perfect mandap. i'm not huge on flowers, but this i would love because it's very organic.

i know, i know.. impossible to find. i'm sure it exists somewhere in the world.

from project: 10k wedding

all yellow

this weekend we went around to deliver invites to family.  it's been a weekend full of juice and food.. at every single house we went to.  saturday morning, bhabhi's stomach was getting upset at the thought of all the food we were going to be eating! :S

when delivering an invite to each of your mum's relatives, they give you some turmeric to use for the pithi ceremony.  i guess this goes back to the whole idea that weddings are a community event, not just an event for the bride and groom.  because weddings can be a huge financial burden with all the different rituals that need to take place, everyone pitches in.  considering the cost of tumeric and the amount you would need to coat a person from head to toe, it actually makes sense.

the pithi ceremony is where turmeric, oil, and sometimes rose water are mixed to form a paste which is slathered all over the bride and groom (in separate ceremonies) to "beautify" them.

turmeric is a natural exfoliant, so it's basically softens and slightly lightens your skin (like most exfoliants would..)  turmeric powder can be really, really potent.. some of the tumeric people were giving were really stinking up the car while going from house to house.  i sat there thinking, "this is what i'm going to smell like for two days.."

a few years back, one of my banevis explained to me another reason for the pithi.  back in the day, you would be married when you were kids.  the turmeric served as two purposes: an antiseptic if you were to cut yourself from horsing around.. and as a way to prevent a child from horsing around.  i remember so many people saying after a few hours of getting the pithi applied, they would feel pretty tired and would take more naps than usual.

i suppose i should be excited for all of this.. after all, they're going to turn me into my favourite colour: yellow!  hopefully i don't look like i have jaundice on the wedding day though..