going in circles...

You would think that with Gordon and I being such organized planners, that wedding planning would be an exciting project to take on. I mean, I’ve had the privilege of standing in a couple weddings as a bridesmaid and helped out with numerous other weddings so I’ve been a witness to the wedding planning process. Gordon has also attended numerous weddings and even was a reception coordinator once.

But already less than a week of being engaged, we’re stressing. Where do we start?

Where should the wedding be?
We want a pretty outdoor ceremony, but there are virtually no places in Houston that offer that. On the other hand, there are tons of places in the Austin hill country. BUT, our parents and home church is in Houston.

When should we get married?
We would like to be married a couple months before the fall (in case Gordon starts seminary), but there are a TON of people getting married next year before July!

How many people should we invite?
We would like a small intimate setting, but what do you do when your parents are friends with the whole Taiwanese community in Houston or friends with a ton of people at church AND they’re helping to pay for the wedding? We really want to honor our parents for raising us and supporting us...

What kind of wedding do we want? Destination? Big wedding in Houston? Small wedding in Houston? 1 or 2 receptions? Elope?
No destination wedding because if we’re going to spend the money, we want as many people as possible to witness the joyous union that God has blessed. Gordon and I do not have a money tree so big wedding in Houston might be beyond our means. Small wedding in Houston would mean that we would have to go through that uncomfortable process of cutting a lot of people off our invite list. 1 big informal reception and 1 small fancy reception would again subject us to the uncomfortable process of choosing who is invited to which reception. Eloping is looking more appealing as the wedding planning progresses…

All of those questions are tied together…they all depend on each other…so that’s why we don’t even know where to start…we keep going in circles!

But, this process has encouraged Gordon and I to pray together more…in the car, over the phone, or when we’re just sitting around…asking God to help us keep our focus on what’s important…glorifying Him who has blessed us so much and who has great plans for us beyond this one-day celebration.

Wedding FAQ's

1) Where will you guys be after you get married? Don't quite know yet. Depends on a lot of things coming up: Yvonne's project, my schooling, timing of wedding. We're praying and talking through that now.
2) Where's the wedding? We're also discusing that now. Not quite sure yet.

book review: Pocket Idiot's Guide to Being a Groom

This was given to me by a friend. I knew a lot of the stuff in here already. So it wasn't much help, it's a quick read. It was nice to have everything in one book and a reminder that you aren't alone. It's always nice to read what will be happening to you and the decisions you have to make. I like feeling prepared. Made me feel lucky to have Yvonne though, cause she wouldn't make me do a lot of the stuff that some bridzillas in the book did to their grooms. Also made me thank God for bringing us family and friends who gave us good us good advice and suggestions as our relationship matured, so a lot of the bigger issues have already been worked out. It's a pocket guide, can't expect too much.

memoirs of a bride-to-be

So I've decided to devote most of my posts to chronicalling the crazy months that are to come in the next few months...wedding planning! This may bore some of you (and if so, hopefully Gordon will post something of interest to you), but I find the wedding planning process most intriguing. I do not claim to be an expert wedding planner but I firmly believe that you can learn from other's experiences.

With that said, I will share about a recent conversion we had about wedding music...it went something like this:

Gordon: So how many songs do you think we need for the wedding ceremony?
Yvonne: at least 6 or 7; 1 for the seating of the grandparents/parents, 1 for when the bridesmaids walk in, 1 for when the bride walks in, 1 or 2 for worship, 1 for the unity candle/prayer/parent appreciation time, and 1 for when bride/groom walk out; were you thinking of playing contemporary Christian or traditional wedding music?
Gordon: Neither. What if the bridesmaids walk out to Destiny's Child [Gordon proceeds to sing "Can you keep up? Baby boy, make me lose my breath..." while Yvonne imagines her bridesmaids bouncing down the aisle to hip hop]
Yvonne: Uh...no.

So chances are, you won't be hearing hip hop at the wedding ceremony. But that doesn't mean Gordon won't be gettin his groove on to Destiny's Child after the ceremony!

Question for the married folk out there: What percentage of invitees can you expect to not attend your wedding? Like how many people can you overshoot your ideal size by?

wedding journal

So Yvonne and I are going to do a wedding journal. Share in all the joys, happiness, fun, as well as all the stress, disappointments, and not so fun moments of planning a wedding. We'll also include some hints and tips for other couples out there.

A word about about our blog. You'll be able to tell who's writing what by the font.
This is Gordon.
This is Yvonne.

So
Tip #1: get a gmail account. Set one to forward to one of your email addresses, and the other to be "popped." Instructions will be explained as needed. And if you need an invite, email us.

Tip #2: get another gmail account. And use gmailfs to share files between both of you. Instead of emailing back and forth and not having the latest copy of the guest list.

Tip #3: Come up with a short version and a long version of your proposal story. Not everyone wants to hear a 10 min story. Better yet, put it on a blog. You can cut it down to 3.2 sec.

the short version . . .

Okay, some people have been asking for my side of the story, or what guys call the shorter version. So here it is. . .

For me it wasn't any single act or moment that made me think it was time to propose to Yvonne, but it was the patience for putting up with my,shall we say, dominating, headstrong, sometimes tyrannical standards of doing things? Each project I worked on she was there right beside me (well most of the time, where then she put me in my place and told me to be more sensitive.) So, I started putting together a plan of how I was going to propose.

Step 1 The Ring
Date: September 10th
Made appointment with Jewler through a 3rd party (behind Yvonne's back)

Date: September 11th
Picked out/designed ring. Had a friend and his wife come along to help make sure a girl would like it. Knew the ring size already, and steadily started to get freaked out.

To other guys. . .need some help? or a hook up? email me.

Step 2 Asking the Parents
Date: November 25th
Nerve wrecking to say the least. But this actually didn't happen till the day of the proposal! I wanted to do it a couple weeks earlier, but schedule conflicts with her parents came up, and add doing this behind Yvonne is even harder! But the excuse I used. "Honey, I have to go run errands with my mom during lunch. That okay?" "Sure," Yvonne said. . . "You sure?" I said in reply. "Yeah, it's okay. . ." Great! So immediately started the 45 min drive to Clear Lake, and back!

Step 3 The Plan
Disguising our 1 year anniversary as the Proposal. Got the 12 dozen roses (wholesale!) from a good friend. 6 dozen white roses (my favorite) 6 dozen red roses (to say I love you.) I had to hide these in the back of my car to prevent Yvonne from seeing it before picking her up from the Austin airport and then drive back to Houston for Thanksgiving.

How to say, "I love you." I'm not one to throw these words around carelessly. So a couple months before, I actually painted "I [heart] U" on a pottery piece disguised when we went pottery painting. It would help me get the words out, cause I could point it out to her, and all I had to do was read it. :) whew. . .

Her ring was hidden in a pair of mittens. Now, she was actually suppose to put on the mittens and feel the ring, but it fell out when she was putting it on. It's okay, she still saw it and couldn't believe it.

I first said, "Will you do me the honor of being my wife?" She said "yes, of course." Then I got down on my knees and said the classic line, "Will you marry me?" She said yes again, and I put the ring on her finger.

FAQS (I'll add more as people ask questions.)
1) Why a mitten? Yvonne's hand gets cold easily.
2) How come you didn't even tell your mom? I didn't tell anyone. I wanted Yvonne to be the first one to know.
3) Were you nervous? Not really. Kinda just sucked it in and did what I've been wanting to do.
4) Was she surprised? Yes.
5) Why did you ask twice? Well, I wanted to first ask her to be my wife. Not just to have a marriage. And the first time, I planned to do it on my knees, but honestly, I was too nervous to move.
6) Where's the multimedia presentation? We're working on it. :) It takes time!
7) What did you and Yvonne's parents talk about? Couple of topics came up: What I admire most about Yvonne. What the wedding was going to be like. How good of a bargain the Mexican buffet was. How people were going crazy in the malls shopping on Black Friday. How I need to be saving money now.

things to be thankful for...

As some of you know, this past Thanksgiving was quite eventful for Gordon and I. Our parents met for the first time as Gordon and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my place. Mr. and Mrs. Lee (Sam and Carol's parents) also joined us, accompanied by their great food...oh and their son, Peter =). We think the parents hit it off great so we thank and praise God for that!

The day after Thanksgiving, Gordon and I planned on celebrating our 1-year anniversary. Last year on the day after Thanksgiving, we had our "DTR" (defining the relationship) at Starbucks after dining at one of our favorite resaurants, Maggiano's...Rigatoni D...yum! We officially became girlfriend and boyfriend on Nov. 26, 2005 (I know...cheesy!).

During the first few months of dating, Gordon would give me a bouquet of flowers on or near the 26th of each month. After the first few months, though, there were no more flowers on our monthly anniversary. That was ok with me, though, because I shouldn't expect flowers EVERY month right? =)

Well when Gordon picked me up from the airport the day before Thanksgiving, there were 2 dozen pink roses waiting for me in the passenger seat. He told me he had more gifts for me in the back of the car, but I couldn't see them until the day after Thanksgiving, when we would celebrate our 1-year anniversary. When the day finally came, I had expected to spend the whole day with him. But that morning, he called and said he had to run errands with his mom and eat lunch with her. In actuality, he went to Clear Lake and had lunch with my parents to ask them for their blessing to marry me.

When he came back that afternoon, he just plopped down on my couch and declared that he was tired and wanted to take a nap before dinner (this is something he typically does). So while he was sleeping, I went out and ran some errands. When I got home, he told me that he wanted to exchange gifts before dinner and that my gifts were downstairs and I had to immediately go upstairs and change into my dinner attire. When I was done changing, he covered my eyes and led me to the couch. As my eyes were closed, he draped something over my lap. It was slightly heavy, so I thought to myself, "New winter coat?". When I opened my eyes, i saw a TON of red and white roses on my lap. He proceeded to give me a card that he had made. As I read the card, I realized that there were 12 dozen roses on my lap (1 dozen for each month we dated...to make up for not giving flowers every month). Woah...144 roses in my lap!

The card said that there were 2 other surprises. The second surprise was 3 words that he's been waiting to say until we were engaged..."I love you". I thought to myself, "Omigoodness...he said I love you...does that mean he's proposing today?!" We had gone pottery painting a few months ago, and he actually painted "I love you" and blended it into the picture so that I couldn't see it. So he showed me to prove that he knew he loved me a few months ago. What's funny is that, earlier in the day, I was talking to a friend and she asked what phase Gordon and I were in. I said we were in the "I want to say I love you, but I can't until we're engaged" phase. Ironically, we were finally able to say it that night!

The third surprise was a pair of mittens, because my hands are always cold. Gordon always gets me practical gifts...like slippers because my feet are always cold...a suitcase for my birthday because I was going to start travelling for work...a USB flash drive on our first date. So I thought to myself, "Eh...typical Gordon...always getting me practical things. Silly me, he's not proposing!" But as I slipped on the mittens, something shiny fell out into the pile of roses in my lap. I looked down and picked up a shiny diamond ring. I thought to myself, "There's no way he's proposing right now...omigoodness, he is proposing right now! Gordon took the ring from me and asked me if I would do him the honor of becoming his wife. I said, "Yes, of course!" But then he said he had to get down on one knee and ask, so he asked again, and I said yes again, and then he slipped the ring on my finger. And through it all, I didn't shed a tear...not because I wasn't happy, but it was all still kind of surreal to me.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at Maggiano's and chatted at Starbucks again...but instead of that marking our first date as boyfriend and girlfriend like one year ago, it marked our first date as an engaged couple =).

We are both so thankful for all of our family and friends who have been so supportive of our relationship and have been praying for us. And we are most thankful to our God, whose perfect plan for each of us has brought the two of us together and we pray that our union will bring God more glory and make more of an impact on His kingdom than if we were not together.

it's about time...

Hi there! So we’ve finally jumped on the bandwagon and joined the blogging world! We apologize ahead of time if we don’t post very interesting or insightful entries or pictures…but we’ll try our best to make your visit to our blog worthwhile =). I know some of you visit blogs almost relgiously so please add us to your rotation!