Knottie of the Week - mikimoto6

TysWife2Be

1. First Name & Fiance's First Name

2. Your Birthday & Age and Fiance's Birthday and Age

3. City Born In?

4. City Live in?

5. Where did you go to college?

6. What was your major?

7. What is your current job?

8. What is your dream job?

9. How did you and your fiance meet?

10.  When did you get engaged and how did he do it??

11. When is the Wedding Day?

12. Where is the ceremony and reception?

13. What are your wedding colors?

14. Where are you honeymooning?

15. Favorite wedding vendor so far?

16. Biggest wedding splurge?

17. What is something you wish you could have at the wedding but don't?

18. Another knottie wedding you'd like to attend?

19. Favorite book?

20. Favorite movie?

21. Favorite tv show?

22. Favorite wedding dress designer?

23. Any advice you can give?

24. Anything you wish you could change about your wedding?

25. Share something about yourself!!

mikimoto6

1. First Name & Fiance's First Name - Patrice and Randy

2. Your Birthday & Age and Fiance's Birthday and Age  - I am March 13 (36); FI is March 22 (45)

3. City Born In? Atlanta; moved to Pasadena,CA @ 3 months old. Been a California girl ever since.

4. City Live in? Hollywood

5. Where did you go to college? University of California at Berkeley (Go Bears!)

6. What was your major? African American Studies, minor in Critical Pedagogy

7. What is your current job? consulting, but looking for a full time gig

8. What is your dream job? Government Relations Manager in the Corporate or Public Sector. It would combine all of my passions of special event planning, politics, and community outreach

9. How did you and your fiance meet?  We met (the first time) at an event at 626 Wine Bar in March 2009.  We had a brief conversation but didn't exchange contact information.  Fast forward to summer 2009 and our paths crossed again. Our respective organizations were planning to host a joint event and we served on the planning committee together.  We had another conversation after the meeting where Randy alleges he was playing with my hair. (I still do not believe that happened because I would not have allowed a stranger to touch my hair).   We ran into each other again at a happy hour in December 2009.  We were with a group of friends initially, and at some point, all of the friends left the two of us alone.  When I left for the evening, Randy walked me to my car and gave me his business card.  I sent him an email to thank him for being so thoughtful for walking me to the car. During this time, we were on another committee together to host an event that took place in February 2010, so there were some conference calls and a couple chances for us to talk offline.  After the event, Randy asked me out for dinner the next day and we have been together since.
10.  When did you get engaged and how did he do it?? He proposed on June 24, 2011 at the Alpha Phi Alpha national conference in Chicago.  I suspected that he might propose in Chicago since we were going to him hometown, however, I was not expecting the surprise engagement party that he managed to pull off with 2 days lead time.  A couple of my friends in Chicago helped him co-conspire, hence them taking pictures with my camera and sending me this video link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhDdQQ2ci3w

11. When is the Wedding Day? October 14, 2011 (38 days away)

12. Where is the ceremony and reception? La Casita del Arroyo in Pasadena. The property was originally built and used as the home of the Pasadena Garden Club in the 1930's.  At some point the City took ownership of it and now it is part of the parks department.

13. What are your wedding colors? There are a lot of them, so bear with me.  Orange, wasabi green, yellow, fuchsia and turquoise. My BFF and florist says it will be fab.  I got a sample of it at my bridal shower.  

14. Where are you honeymooning? Sandals La Toc in St. Lucia

15. Favorite wedding vendor so far? My vendors are all amazing.  I went to my "go-to" people and secured all of my services within 5 calls.  My photographer just did a second engagement shoot because he wanted to add more diversity to the portfolio, my caterer is creating an amazing menu, and my BFF since 6th grade has grand plans for the flowers. I think I am secretly most excited to see what she does with the decor and to see my bouquet. Her creativity is beyond my wildest dreams, so who knows what she will do with "her wedding" as she calls it. 

16. Biggest wedding splurge? Stella Rosa wine for the bar! 

17. What is something you wish you could have at the wedding but don't? videography and speciality lighting 

18. Another knottie wedding you'd like to attend? Hatropes and Chescam 

19. Favorite book? Getting to I Do by Dr. Patricia Allen 

20. Favorite movie? Coming to America

21. Favorite tv show? Team HBO: Game of Thrones, True Blood, Treme, Boardwalk Empire

22. Favorite wedding dress designer? Tie between Romona Keveza and Amsale.  Shout out to Mori Lee!

23. Any advice you can give? Keep the focus on you and your fiance for your wedding day. As long as you actually get married, the little things don't matter.  Spend your money on the high impact areas and save yourself time wherever possible. Nobody knows what didn't happen if you never tell them. 

24. Anything you wish you could change about your wedding? I wish my venue allowed amplified sound outside.  Since they don't we are doing an entirely acoustic wedding.  My officiant, soloist and musician will roll the program without a PA system. 

25. Share something about yourself!! I have loved weddings since I was a little girl. The first time I remember going to a wedding was when I was about 6 years old. I remember there were 16 bridesmaids, the bride wore one of those wide brimmed hats that had the veil attached that was popular in the early 1980's.  The bride came in to You and I  by Stevie Wonder. I feel in love with them then and they have always been something that I enjoyed. I remember walking into the LA Music Center to the LA Phil play in second grade. When I saw the huge chandeliers in the foyer and the double sided grand staircase and thought that people should be able to get married there.  I suppose my subconscious has had an eye for weddings and events for a long time.  

   

hatroopes

I enjoyed learning more about you and your FI! Your wedding sounds like it would be a faboulous and intimate affair. I also enjoy reading your posts - you give very thoughtful and helpful advice

If money was no object, would you have a bigger wedding wedding with more guests or stick to your small and intimate wedding?

mikimoto6

@Hatroopes:  If money were no object, I would still have an intimate wedding (maybe like 100 guests) but it would be a destination wedding.  I would pay for 2 nights hotel for all of the guests and have an ultra fab wedding at a great locale. Vermont in September would be great with the changing leaves at a cozy inn. On the flip side, Hawaii or Los Cabos always work too.  

 OR

Fantasy wedding #2 is to get a documentary film permit to block off the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena to car traffic for the day. I would build a ceremony site, cocktail hour and reception site and shuttle people to different points along the bridge with electronic trolley cars. (you can only close the bridge for filming purposes and the City is really stingy with those permits.)   As we do the grand entrance, I would want fireworks in the background of the bridge.  We took our e-pics on the bridge since I cannot have my fantasy wedding there.   Photog wants to do a picture of us in front of the limo on the bridge on our wedding day. 

island07b2b

Wow you have an interesting background.  First I had to look up what your minor was all about.  It's fascinating and certainly complements your major.  Why did you choose that field?

Your colors sound wonderful.  What design element are you most looking forward to seeing on your wedding day?

Is your dress from any of the designers you listed as your favorite?  What do you love most about your dress?

Finally, I loved your proposal and how your FH said when a man loves a woman, he doesn't talk about, etc. That was too cute.  

mikimoto6

@island07b2b: Initially, I wanted to teach school on the elementary school level.  After graduation, I learned very quickly that I wasn't as passionate about education as I thought one should be who was going to pursue teaching as a career.  I didn't want to be another teach who wasn't committed to teaching, so I found another career path. 

I am curious to see the flowers and the type of textures that she incorporates into the design. She uses a lot of fruit, so I wonder if she will use oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, or lemon leaf into her designs. I just know that I will be blown away with whatever it turns out to be. 

My dress is by Mori Lee.  I really like it and its really comfortable to wear.  I wish it were back so that I can fit for it, but I am trying to be patient. I decided that I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a dress, so I went another way. Had it been a must have for me to get a couture gown, I would have gone Amsale. If I had to spend that kind of money I would have wanted to support the sista girl. 

My Sweetie is really great. I don't know how he pulled that off without me suspecting anything. He will always get points for that one. 

MrsBoss2012

Are there any kids in the picture?

mikimoto6

@MrsBoss2012:  Right now, we are on the fence about kids.  I am not sold on the idea at the moment, but don't know if I will change my mind in the future.  FI said he can go either way. He said if its really important to me than we can totally have kids, otherwise he would be okay for us to be DINK (double income, no kids).  We do both agree that if we decide to have children and it doesn't happen naturally, we will adopt before going through in-vitro or anything. I am afraid to give blood, so I know I wouldn't be able to go through that process.  We haven't made any definitive decisions, so that is something that we will deal with at a later time. 

chescam

I loved the proposal video. Hats off to your FI for pulling it off so beautifully. I've been to Pasadena and I love it there. Your wedding sounds like it's going to be so beautiful. I am so jealous of your small guest list. Ours has just gotten out of hand and if I had stood up for wanting a smaller wedding, it probably wouldn't have been so stressful. Flattered that you would want to attend my wedding. 

How involved is your FI in the planning and what is he most excited about?

mikimoto6

@chescam:  I love your wedding colors. Your e-pics are lovely too.  The vintage theme was really cute. 

A small wedding was the one thing I was adamant about. Had my mom been involved, it would have been out of control.  When I told her than we were seriously talking about getting married, she instantly came up with a list of like 40 people that she wanted to invite.  When I told her it would be small she just about went through the roof and came in the back door.  It was the only time during the planning where I was literally in tears.  Thanks to my godmother for giving her a reality check on the fact that it was our money and that she had to back off.  I have to say that it has been hard to see people that we would like to invite but just don't have space to accommodate. Ultimately, we are really happy with the small wedding decision.  

Is FI involved in the wedding planning? Sort of. He is interested in the music and the budget primarily.  He keeps telling me that I can have whatever I want that fits into our budget.  LOL  I have made sure to stash away extra cash so that I can end the discussion about how much things cost. He wants us to pay cash for the wedding, so as long as there is cash to cover the expenses then it fits into the budget.  

MarryingmyKnight

Very nice to read about you!  I am loving this Knottie of the week; thank you to whomever came up with this.  I love me some Stella Rosa; it is some really good wine! I feel in love with a Mori Lee gown after I bought mine and FI said I couldn't get another one so I am just keeping what I got. Nice to meet you!

mikimoto6

I decided not to serve beer at the reception so that the Stella Rosa can flow freely all night.   

faithlady

Mikimoto6 it is great reading your story, thank you for sharing. Are you excited about marriage?

mikimoto6

I have very excited about marriage.  On some level, I can take or leave the wedding. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to share our wedding celebration with our family and friends.  Being able to share my life with a wonderful man is a blessing that I will always be grateful for.   

Dancerppf

My husband is an Alpha. I'm looking forward to seeing your floral arrangements as well. I thought I was quick, putting together a wedding in 8 months (I loved every stressful moment). What made you decide to move so expeditiously?