It's Here!

Like many brides around the world, I am awash with emotion: it's my wedding year!

Can I get a "HECK YES!" ?

I didn't think that a quiet new year's eve with friends was going to open the floodgates for me, but it hit me like a ton of bricks shortly after I kissed Matt atop a 16 story building in the freezing cold while listening to a Korean gong being struck in a park far below. All of a sudden I realized that this wedding, something we've been planning for almost a year now, is not just something in the far future. In less than 7 months we'll be on a plane home to Maine for a crazy whirlwind wedding month.

I admit, for the past few weeks we haven't done any planning at all.

WHAT?! Yeah, for my friends who are not yet engaged, it is hard for them to believe that I can go days, let alone minutes, without conjuring up some detail or another regarding table numbers, candy bars or pew decorations. But for those who are in the same boat as me (or who have been before!), you probably agree that there are times when you almost forget you're on a boat at all and forget to look out of the cabin window for a few seasick days. That has been me. Not that I WANT to forget about wedding planning, it's just that life has taken hold for a few solid weeks, which I don't mind one bit. Granted it's one of the most important days of my life, but seriously, I can't forget about the days that I am actually currently living!

Besides, I leave for Vietnam in T-minus ONE WEEK and you know what that means! THE DRESS! So, rest assured, I will be right back into the swing of things when I return from 3.5 weeks of Southeast Asian awesomeness.

Come February 4th, it's full steam ahead!

As for now, I will post as often as I can from Korea and beyond! 

Crane Crazy.

One of the first questions family and friends asked after we got engaged (besides when and where the wedding would be), was "is it going to be Asian themed?" What IS it with this? Who knew that simply living in Korea automatically meant a wedding full of bamboo, lanterns, Chinese characters and chopstick favors.

While everyone has the best intentions, we were a little irked at first, until we realized that Korea is a huge part of our lives, and that we should think about incorporating it into our special day. It took a few months, but we narrowed down a few key elements in our design that nod to our life in the "Land of the Morning Calm". The most dominant of which is the crane. More specifically, the origami crane.


Uh, Dani...

Yes?

The origami crane? Isn't that Japanese?

Why, yes. Thank you for noticing. It IS Japanese. That was one of the reasons why it took us 6 months or so to decide to use it as our symbol. You see, the crane is a very important part of Korean folklore and tradition, so it's not like it doesn't have any meaning. But technically the origami crane was first created in Japan. While we thought long and hard about using a more traditional crane (like the one shown below), we loved the modern feel of the origami crane. Besides, in all actuality, who really cares?

The crane in traditional Korean culture is a symbol of longevity and prosperity. There are tall-tales about cranes in Korean folklore, and there is a phrase in Korean that roughly translates to "May you live 1000 years like the crane". Apparently, cranes live to be 1000 years old. We liked this symbolism. It wasn't as obvious as something with a friendship or love meaning, but longevity spoke to us, considering our long history with each other.

So the crane it is! We already incorporated this design into our STDs and invitations, and will be using it in various other ways throughout the reception decor. One thing that is tricky about kind of symbol in your wedding is making sure that it's not super-saturated. In other words, I don't want an origami crane on every single detail of the wedding. To do this, Matt and I have written down a few ways in which we'll use the crane, and stop it there. Don't want to be going too crane crazy!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone who celebrates had a lovely Christmas weekend! This was Matt and my 4th (!!!) Christmas together, and it was probably my favorite thus far.

Despite having a small apartment with a tiny tree and living in a country that is just now catching on to the Christmas craze, my Christmas was extra special due to the people I spent it with. Isn't that what it's all about anyways? Although I really miss driving around on a cold Maine night admiring the lights and decorations around my neighborhood, it's somewhat refreshing living in a place that doesn't put a whole lot of Hallmark value on Christmas. Only 25% of Koreans consider themselves Christian. Most of those people are really devout and spend their entire Christmas in church. Instead of Christmas being a family holiday, it's more religious, and for those who aren't Christian, it's more of a couple holiday. If you see anyone celebrating, it's couples going out to a nice dinner. Families don't normally get together and make big meals like we do. And trees are not common.

Despite the lack of Christmas cheer in the neighborhood, we had plenty to go around on Christmas Eve in our apartment. I tried my hand at green bean casserole, and also made holiday potatoes, chicken (there are zero turkeys here), and some other fixings. It was great to share our holiday with the friends we care about most. Actually, Matt's best man lives in Korea and his family celebrated with us, along with a few others.

Living abroad makes you realize that no matter where you are in the world, you can make a holiday special in your small corner, despite what is going on around you.

Our stockings we made, my name is in Korean

Our Christmas corner

Happy Holidays! ^^

STD's: They're What I want.

Okay, so it's not the best wedding acronym out there. Anyways, because my wedding is in August and we are inviting a lot of people from afar, we knew our STDs had to be mailed out earlier than most weddings. After searching on the Googs, I read that they are usually mailed around the 6 month mark. Well, considering ours are almost done and ready to mail and we have 8 months to go, we're not going with the grain.

I will get into more detail about Korean weddings in another post, but I will say that save-the-dates are not used here. Invitations are usually simple, one sided cards that a local printing shop similar to Kinkos will print for you. Instead of individually labeling each one, Koreans simply give one invitation to each "group" of acquaintances. For example, when a teacher is getting married, they tack an invitation to the information board in the teachers room. Anyone can come and invite whoever they please. You're right, there's no formal guest list. More on that later!

Because they don't offer a lot of creative outlets for stationary, we immediately knew we'd have to go the DIY route. We spent months hashing out ideas on scraps of paper at coffee shops and whenever we had a free moment. Our final plan for the STD was actually Matt's idea (I know, right????) and major kudos to him because they came out GREAT.

While we were going to go entirely DIY, our good friend here in Korea happens to be a graphic designer and she was delighted to help make our idea a little more streamlined and professional.

While I can't share the finished product yet, here are some teaser photos of the process:

Cutting the white paper down to size for printing

origami cranes

One of the work stations, all ready to go

We decided that we wanted a scrapbooky feel to our STDs without skimping on professionalism. It was Matt's idea to incorporate some cool cut outs and we also decided to print out pictures and attach them instead of printing the picture directly onto the paper.

They'll be sent out soon, so once some people get them all the way from Korea I will post the final product, as well as a step by step for those who are interested in adding some crafty touches to their own STDs and/or invites.

To conclude, here are some tips about making your own STDs/invites from abroad:

1. Search high and low in every art store you can and write down all materials that are easily available.

2. If you can't find something you need (for us it was the blue card stock), order it from home and have a trusted family member ship it. Thank goodness for mommys!

3. If you don't have the necessary materials to DIY and print your own, then find someone that you can easily work with online to do the dirty work for you. When they're ready for printing, you can have one sent to you before you go ahead and send to everyone. We fortunately have our own printer so this wasn't neccessary.

4. I've said it before and I'll say it again: friends and family! Find someone who is either into the design field, good with computer programs or who is just downright crafty. Utilize whoever you can! Most people are more than happy to help and LOVE talking wedding :)


We just got our invitations designed as well and I'm SUPER excited to share those in a few months when they're ready to be made! I can't wait! :)

Global Events v. Wedding

As the whole world has most likely heard, the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, has died.

 Too soon? I won’t apologize. I find that one needs a little humor in these situations to keep a good balance.

 The news, for the most part, is good. We can now add Kim Jong Il’s name to the lengthy list of dictators/evil people that have died in 2011. Certainly not a good year for tyrants. But for me, and my life in Korea, things could get interesting. What does this mean for the North Korean people? What does this mean for South Korea? While I am in no imminent danger, there is a rather large chance that the death of Kim Jong Il will spark something. Whether that something comes peacefully or not, there is no doubt in my mind that change is “closer than it appears”. 

While I could go into an entire political rant about the numerous possibilities, this is a wedding blog about my wedding, so I will keep it personal. In no way am I dismissing the dire situation of the North Korean people, I just don’t feel like this is the appropriate soapbox on which to express those feelings.

So, in terms of ME, what is the worst case scenario? 

That North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, will want to show the world that he is as serious and demented as his father was, and will use guns to prove it. This happened TWICE last year, as you may recall. A torpedo from the North hit and sank a South Korean battleship in March. Again in November, North Koreans fired at a small South Korean island, killing a few people. Now if little (chubby) son wants to show force, he will do something worse. If that happens, it could potentially spark a full out war. China will back NOKO, the United States will back SOKO, and all will go to shit.

My wedding is in 8 months. 

Here are the (somewhat obvious) reasons why this will seriously blow for me:

1. If both Koreas go to war, I will have to be evacuated.

2. If I am evacuated before March, I will most likely lose my bonus money.

3. If I lose my bonus money, I can’t afford the wedding.

4. If I am evacuated, I go home, jobless, with little savings.

5. And, to just throw this in here: I will be insanely worried about all of the friends and people I’ve met here. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep knowing they weren’t safe.

While I was, like many other people, worrying about vendors cancelling at the last minute or things going awry with reservations, now I am worried about the possibility of losing my job due to war. But for now I will do exactly what all of the other South Koreans are doing, keeping calm and carrying on :)

Pre-Honeymoon

So when it comes to the travel front, Matt and I are completely spoiled. Granted we had to make the decision to apply for jobs clear across the other side of the world in order to experience a lot of travel, which not everyone is willing to do. Sacrifices have been made. But man. Experiencing new places has become a pretty big part of what makes us, us. While we act as a team wherever we are, we find a lot of commonality and thoroughly enjoy all aspects of vacations, whether it's trip planning or figuring out how to get from point A to point B with nothing but a Lonely Planet guidebook.

As I mentioned before, in just a few short weeks we will be off to Southeast Asia for our 4th trip since coming to Korea. While my mom will be sharing the journey with us for the first 2 weeks, Matt and I are going off exploring for another 12 days after she leaves for home.

So we didn't plan on making this a pre-honeymoon, but our plans to go to Cambodia and Northern Thailand together have mysteriously made themselves somewhat romantic. Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia with a pool? Watching the sunset together at Angkor Wat, one of the largest temple complexes in the world? Enjoying a 4 hour "romance" package at a day spa in Chiang Mai, Thailand? Spending a day riding, washing and feeding elephants? Okay, so some of these things might not sound so luxurious. A hotel with a pool? C'mon, Dani, that's nothing to brag about. But seriously, people, when you are used to $10.00 a night places while carrying around a dirty, dusty backpack, a place with a pool damn near qualifies as heaven.

BOTTOM LINE: wherever you are, whenever you can, for however long, take trips together. Don't get the idea stuck in your head that you have to do a honeymoon "just right". Of course honeymoons are special, they're not some run-of-the-mill vacation, but if it's not in the stars for you right after the wedding, then find another time, another opportunity. Whenever you have the chance to get away with your boyfriend/fiance/husband is a blessing!

I will get into more detail about an actual honeymoon later, but I will say that because we only have a month off to go home for the wedding, we won't be going on an actual honeymoon right after the wedding. While we could have added in a stopover in Hawaii on the way back to Korea, we both thought it was more important to spend the entire time with family and friends. Besides, we have BIG plans for a BIG trip 6 months after the wedding. While not honeymoonish by any means, it will count for us.

More details to come soon!

Ceremony Deets

Like I've mentioned before, it didn't take Matt and me a long time to figure out where we wanted to have both the ceremony and the reception.

I spent my childhood attending Sacred Heart Parish inYarmouth, Maine, which is about ten minutes from my house. Yarmouth is where my maternal great-grandparents immigrated from Prince Edward Island back in the day. The church has special meaning for me and my family. My grandmother,who is 93, is the oldest living parishioner and still attends every Sunday.  Although I don't regularly attend church anymore, I appreciate the traditions and thankfully Matt does, too. He was also raised Catholic and we're happy to exchange our vows in such a beautiful place of worship:

My grandmother was married in the same church more than 70 years ago. There is a picture of her and my grandfather (who passed away 40 years ago) in front of the steps on their wedding day. We plan on getting the picture enlarged and holding it in the same spot where they once stood.