Celebrating Two years and My husband's cancer story

Our two year anniversary has come and gone but there is another anniversary that is also near and dear to my heart: Brian's two year mark of being cancer free!

Read his story here: http://donate.bccancerfoundation.com/goto/briangregg

Hello World! I did it! I tied the knot!!!!

That's one tight ass knot.

So yes. This just might be the worst wedding blog EVER.

But I never like to leave things incomplete and the memory of this blog would have slowly decayed my soul and left a bitterness in the recesses of my conscious mind. So......

Brian and I got married on August 4th at 3pm at the Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Vancouver. It was absolutely perfect. An equally as perfect reception followed at the Vancouver Art Gallery and I am still stunned as to how well the day went and what an amazing time I had. Here's the visual proof!

I still can't fully grasp how accurately my vision came to life and nothing could have been done without the dedicated help of my friends, family, and catering staff members. I had to trust a lot of straight up strangers with creating my dream wedding. I mean seriously... How does this:

The sketch of our cake. The description I gave was "Royal Hollywood Glam with touches of classic elegance and TONS of modern fabulousity! Make it fierce!!!!!"

 ....... Turn to this:

Cadeaux Bakery is the bombdotcom. They totally delivered everything I wanted in a cake!!!!! AND. The best part? HOW FREAKING DELICIOUS IT WAS!!!!!!

Cadeaux Bakery is a new bakery that just opened up approximately six months ago in Gastown. They design and make custom cakes and other yummy yummy goodies. Check out their DELICIOUS and DIVINE products here.

Or this:

The sample table I put together at the All Occasions Chic Decor studio.

To THIS:

Dinner patio setup. Dreamyyyy. The prep team did an AMAZING job.

I have a new respect for wedding planners -- It's a tough job! I'm so lucky that everything came out as great as they did because it really does take a lot of faith in your suppliers to deliver your dream wedding!!!!


As perfect as the day was, there were a couple close calls:

Near Panic Attack #1:

Of course every credit/debit card I had was declined upon check-in at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia the morning of the wedding. Of. Course. I had all of my bridesmaids, mother, and hair staff waiting with all their luggage to go upstairs to start prepping for the big shebang and the receptionist (who was absolutely charming, friendly, and polite - Rosewood has the most AMAZING staff) was just as mortified as I was when he quietly leaned forward and said "I'm dreadfully sorry Miss Chung but your card was declined. Shall I try again?" I take a second, think really hard about the balance that I had calculated in my head that should have been in my bank account, and tell him to go ahead and please try it again. Again, a tight-lipped nervous look of confusion comes on his face as he says politely, "I'm so sorry Miss Chung, but the card isn't going though. Do you possibly have another card?" Luckily, Brian and I had just opened up a joint account and I knew that I could use that debit card although it was linked to our savings fund and was NEVER supposed to be used save for times of absolute emergency. Like this one. With a bit of re-composure and reassurance, I cheerfully tell him that it's not a problem and I hand him over the second card. I start grabbing my luggage off the floor when Mr. Receptionist again leans forward and whispers "I'm so terribly sorry but this card is declined as well." My heart is starting to race now. WHAT?!?!?! What does he mean it's declining as well????!!!! IT CAN'T POSSIBLY DECLINE. This is obviously some sort of SICK JOKE. I'm standing in one of the nicest hotels in Vancouver, booked with one of the nicest suites in the hotel, with eight giddy ladies behind me and I can't check in! Agh! Disaster! I ask him again to run that card once more as there was no reason in the world that card should be declining for any reason. Mr. Receptionist readily agrees and politely gives his "Our payment machines aren't serviced nearly as often as they should be...." spiel (which gave me some inkling of hope) as he reswipes the card.

De. Clined. 

HolycrapwhatthehelldoIdo?!?!?!? MOM! I turn to the woman who has nurtured me for the past 26 years and say quietly but urgently "Mom, I need your credit card! My cards are declining!" Momma Dearest takes a second to process what I just said to her in desperation and she says with alarm "I left my purse with your father back at home!" EEK!!! Full-blown panic mode now. I call my loving husband-to-be. "Brian! I need your card! Where are you?" He was grocery shopping with his mother about 10 blocks away. Grocery shopping?!?!? The morning of our wedding???? No time to ask questions. Brian offers to read his card numbers to Mr. Receptionist. I relay this to the patiently waiting man. He apologetically says they have a "Swipe Only Policy." A WHAA?!?!?!?! Well that's just the STUPIDEST thing I've ever heard. Mr. Receptionist apologetically agrees. Brian says he can't come by for another half hour. Ohmygodwhatthehellthiscannotbehappening. By this time, the ladies are all starting to wonder what the holdup is. My ever-observant sis-in-law comes to the rescue. She has a hunch as to what was going on and graciously offers her card as the charge would just be a hold for the room. SIL saves the day!!!!! I had been contemplating asking the girls to all chip in $100 each towards the hold on the room but my awesome Heather said that it really wasn't a problem as the hold wasn't a charge. Pending that we would pay the balance ourselves upon check out, it shouldn't really affect her in any way. And just in case it does -- She knows where we live. Heather is one badass chick. I love her. :) Crisis #1 averted.



Near Panic Attack #2:

So we're all up in the AMAZING hotel suite, doing our girly bridal and bridesmaidy things.... Hair, makeup, dabbles of bubbly drinks here and there when I get a phone call from my fabulous and AMAZING MC Eunji -- "Hey Gina, not to cause any alarm or worry or anything but just wondering if you knew when your father was coming by to drop off the tea ceremony supplies?" Um, no. He should have dropped off all the supplies an hour ago. "Okay! No worries Gina! He's probably just on his way! Get back to your beautifying ways and don't think about anything else! Everything is being taken care of! Bye!" Hm. Only slightly concerning. Deep breath. Not. Going. To. Stress. Everythingisok. Heather looks up from her phone conversation a few minutes later and says "Hey Gina just wondering if you happen to know where your brother is? He's supposed to be getting ready with the other groomsmen at the other suite." He's supposed to have gotten there with my dad an hour ago. Heather senses the hint of panic in my voice. "Oh I'm sure they're on their way and just got lost downtown." Hmmm.... Not..... going to panic. Not. Panicking. Must focus on my hair. Why is the hairdresser giving me Shirley Temple ringlets. This does NOT look "Hollywood Glam." She's making me look like a poodle. Why is she bobbypinning my bangs down to the side of my head? I look like a freaking chola. All I need are some thin, tattooed-on, high arched eyebrows and some dark brown lipliner. Thank GOD I went with a down-do."Gina! Your brother's on the phone!" I'mgoingtoKILLhim! 

"James! Where are you?!"

"At church."

"Where's dad? And the boutonnieres?? And the corsages??"

"It's all here. With me. At church."

"James. It's 45 minutes before the wedding ceremony supposed to start. Those boutonnieres need to get distributed. The corsages go on the parents. Why aren't you getting ready with the other groomsmen?"

"Oh, do you want me to start getting ready now?"

"YES. Fortheloveof... Go get your ass ready in the church bathroom downstairs! The groomsmen are already on their way to the church! What are you doing? Why can't you follow simple orders!? Why are you and dad ALWAYS late?!?!?!"

"Okayokay, geez. No need to be all stressed. Take it easy sis."

CLICK.

Ultimately, both my dad and brother make it to the wedding. They were there two and a half hours later than expected, but they made it in time for the wedding ceremony and they looked great. Even my bro. The groomsman who got ready alone in the church bathroom. Sigh.



All in all, the day was FABULOUS.

I'll include all the great staff and companies in a list below that helped make my dream such a reality. Minus my hair and makeup staff -- they just fell short with scheduling, communication, attitude, common courtesy, and ability to deliver overall. I won't name them but I definitely won't recommend them.

THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!!



List of Service Providers -- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for professionalism and accommodating nature!

- Christ Church Cathedral: Ceremony location. One of the most beautiful Anglican Churches on the mainland. 
- Vancouver Art Gallery: Reception location. Dinner and dancing took place at the rooftop pavillion. Perfect space to accommodate 120 people (max) and has countless rooms and areas for different events (Tea Ceremony was held in the 1st floor rotunda). 
- Rosewood Hotel Georgia: Bridal prep and Honeymoon suite (Great place for photos as well! Such a beautiful location!) in Downtown Vancouver.
- Megan Edelman Photography: Amazing photos. Amazing husband and wife team. And competitive prices!!! 
- Savoury Chef Catering: One of the best that Vancouver offers. So much experience and flexibility. Whatever you want, they will make happen. Food? To DIE for!!!!
- Cadeaux Bakery: They make dreams come true with custom designed DELICIOUS cakes!!!! Downtown Vancouver.
- Expressions Photobooth: EVERY WEDDING NEEDS A PHOTOBOOTH WITH PROPS. My only regret? Not renting the booth for the whole night!!!! And they give you a USB right on the spot with every photo taken in the booth! Hilarious goingsons -- captured! Services all of the greater mainland.
- Spin Doctor DJ: Pretty much what you get for a DJ named "Spin Doctor." All I needed was for them to keep the music pumpin, and they did just that.
- All Occasions Chic Decor Rental: Located in New Westminster, this smaller company offers the best rental deals I could find for the level of quality!!!   
- Paper Poet:For all your printing needs! Their best trait is their impeccable attention to detail! They provided us with thank you cards, seating chart, menus, and table number cards. Located in New Westminster!
- Uptown Market: Best floral deals on the mainland! The bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres were PERFECT. Very friendly and accommodating staff. Located in New Westminster.
- Lazaro Wedding Dress: I am a die hard fan for life. I tried on 120 dresses and this was the dress that won my heart. He keeps coming out with more amazing dresses every season so I had to stop looking! He's perfect for the more glam-searching bride! 
- Debonair Formal Wear: Tuxedos for the boys. New Westminster. Seriously though, the cheesy website music has GOT to GO. Who decided that background music was okay??? Tuxes are legit though. :) We went with the skinny tie/Mad Men look for the guys. 
- Chilliwack River Valley Natural Honey: Sweetest guests' gifts EVER!!! Literally. Perfect little Vancouver prezzie.
- Wedding Brooch Bouquet by Lena Kang. Sometimes brilliance and perfection can only be achieved by those closest to you. Leelee pretty much summed up my dreams in a bling bouquet. She's amazing. 

I hope I didn't forget anyone!!! 




*******EDIT******


I don't know HOW I could have overlooked this but I have to give shout outs to the SUPER TALENTED Angela of Luxa Jewelry. How could I forget? She was the maker of my bridesmaids gifts which were two-tone green/teel drop earrings that were absolutely stunning! 

See for yourselves!

Top right pic: Julez modeling the beautiful earrings.

Close up of my SIL rockin' the bling.

 They were the perfect little accent color for the entire ensemble! Thanks Luxa Jewelry! :D