We made it!

Just a quick update for now, we are busy getting back into the swing of things so for now here is a taste of our wonderful day.

http://bellajanephotography.com/gallery/index.php?s=rebecca-steven

More updates to follow

Welcome to Wedding Week!

Well, here we are 5 days and counting until the big day.  I’m severely disappointed in my lack of posts on here.  I would have hoped to have posted more frequently, but it’s not because we were slacking, it’s more because we were so dang busy!   For the last 7 months Steve and I have been consumed with wedding planning -- from all the big issues to the smallest details -- and just pray that everything comes together as we have hoped.  But thanks should go out to my friend Brian for giving me the little nudge to post something for this last week of impending nuptials.

One thing that Steve and I have been floored by is how many people are wanting to be a part of our special day and wanting to share in it with us.  You are all amazing!  We are thrilled and humbled by the response we’ve been getting.  So many people are just as excited as we are and it couldn’t make us happier.  I know most of our close friends and family are sick of hearing of our wedding talk, but knowing that people are so excited for us touches us beyond words.

We are now nearing the days where we can officially be on vacation and spend a couple of days before the ceremony with family and friends that have come in from out of town.  It’s going to be a hectic week, but one that we are looking forward to so much.  We’ve tied up a lot of the loose ends, confirmed with vendors and made plans for the days ahead.  But there’s still quite a bit to do, finalize the ceremony, get together with our wedding party and take a time to breathe.  Steve and I are meeting with our wedding coordinator tomorrow to finalize the ceremony and then it’s meeting after meeting after appointment that follows.  Steve is almost completely moved out of his house and we’ve crammed storage and my garage with stuff!  It’s getting real!  The marriage license has been turned in, we got our reception dialed in and are finishing on all the little touches to make the day special.

It seems like it’s been ages since we started planning, but then again it seems that it was just yesterday Steve proposed in front of the great white-out that had Crater Lake hidden somewhere behind it.  ;)  We’ve come a long way and want to thank each and every one of you that has been there for us, gave me a shoulder to cry on when the stress got to be too much and has given us unfailing support and encouragement, not to mention help!  Thank you to everyone who has chipped in to help.  I must especially thank my sister Melody.  If it wasn’t for her and her fabulous graphic design skills we would have had to spend so much more money than we have.  She has gone above and beyond not only her maid-of-honor duties, but those as a sister and future sister-in-law.  She has been my rock and crutch and therapist, event planner and personal graphic design artist.  She’s done it all!

So…5 days and counting!!  If you are reading this and are coming to our celebration then we simply can’t wait to see you and share this wonderful day with you!  It’s gonna be amazing!!  And if you can’t make it, we will be thinking of you and knowing you are there in spirit.  Thank you everyone!  It’s been a ride and I can’t wait for the rest!!  =)

p.s.  This won’t be the end, but the beginning…our blog will continue and you can check in on us at www.oregonchongs.com.   The site leads to our wedding site now, but eventually we’ll have it up and running with more stuffs!  =)

Gettin' Fancy!

3 months and 2 days! Eeeee! We are now officially under the three digit mark with 94 days until the big day. Seriously. I cannot believe how fast this is all going. While there’s still a lot to do before the hitching begins I took last night to think beyond the wedding and instead toward the…honeymoon! =)

Last night after work I met my mom and my sis and we went to go check out some dresses. Steve and I are going on a 12 day cruise of the Mediterranean for our honeymoon. Little did I know they have these things called “formal nights” on the ship. Formal? What’s that?! And does my closet know what that means?? After a quick mental check and a eye-to-clothes double check I did, indeed, confirm that my closet does NOT know what formal means. So dress shopping it was!!

The three of us once again made a trek down to David’s Bridal (where I bought my wedding dress) to check out their party dresses and to see if there was anything that didn’t scream bridesmaid. After trying on about 13 dresses – some super cute, others bridesmaidy and a few that made me look like I was trying to prey on the young, I found two. And wouldn’t you know it, the first two I tried on were the two that I got. Haha… But we had a great time and it was fun to just be out with the mom and the sis.

It had been about a month since I was last in there to pick up my wedding dress…THEE wedding dress…from alterations. It looked great and I’m not divulging any details. But let’s say that Maria from DB did a great job altering it…and boy does it fit snug! It actually makes me look like I have good posture. Hahaha… In addition to my mom and sis, my cousin Lisa and my Aunt Penny joined us. I’ll post a pic of everyone together (minus me. ;) There is no way Steve can know anything about the dress before the big unveil.) =) So just a pic of my posse will do for now. We had a great time and my Aunt Penny actually cried when I came out of the dressing room in my dress. That’s a good thing, right? ;)

A Break from the Planning

Wedding planning is exhausting, but moving a washer and dryer...geez! I can barely keep my eyes open right now. Haha

After we're married Steve is going to be moving into my house. So to make things easier on both of us we're doing what we call the "slow move in". Haha... We're gradually over time combining households and incorporating his stuff over here. This way by the time we're married we don't have the massive stress of a big move to contend with. So. Today's task? Washer and dryer! Steve has a newer set and so I'm selling mine and we're going to use his.

We got them over here easy enough and with some help from my neighbors got them unloaded. Off to dinner we went and then it was time to hunker down and do the swapping.

"How long do you think this will take?" I asked. "About an hour?"

"Oh, probably around 30-45 minutes," came the reply.

So off to work we went. And let's just say I now have zero inclination or want to start up my own moving business.

Long story short, over 2 hours, two changed light bulbs (not affiliated with either the washer or dryer), a swapped power cord, several attempts at leveling, and quite a bit of exhaustion moving two heavy washers and luckily a bit lighter dryers later, we did it.

Whew!

So now we're tired and thankful that it's going to be a long while before we do this again. =P

After this, I say bring on the wedding planning!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Cars, Pillows and Weddings...Oh My!

Holy cow. It's mid March already and where has the time gone?? We're well on our way yet still have quite a lot of planning to do. However, one more step in the right direction resulted in securing our vehicle of transportation from the church to the reception. Thanks to a great friend of my dad's, he volunteered not only his car, but to drive it for us. You'll have to see it in person at the ceremony, but can you say black 1918 Overland Touring? It's gonna be Suh-Weet!! A big thank you to Gary and Rosealie for their wonderful generosity.

In other news, my awesome Aunt Penny had hand-made our ring bearer pillow. It looks absolutely fantastic and my handsome little Godson, Rece, is going to look great walking it down the aisle. She embroidered the "RS" logo that was embossed on the Save the Date envelopes (and was designed by my talented sis) and also stitched our names with the date on the white satin all in red. It. Looks. Amazing. Aunt Penny, thank you and you should have your own clothing line. ;)

Steve and I are getting very excited for June and can't wait to have you all here to celebrate with us!

Tootles for now! And keep checking back...

Y.a.u.! Yet another update!

We've been pretty busy this past week. Things are really starting to come together though. We've finally finalized the design for the cake and finished ordering all the flowers! Check and check. We are working on lining up the decorations and we have a few neat tricks up our sleeves for the reception we hope you all enjoy.

We will be at a friends wedding this weekend so we can see how it's done and maybe steal a few ideas, congrats Jeff and Sarah!

Finally, the invitations also arrived so those should be in the mail soon, keep an eye out!

Update!

We have updated our wedding site with a registry!

ChongAndGeear.OurWedding.com
Or
GeearAndChong.OurWedding.com

Thanks!