hawai'i

We returned from Hawai'i where there was a 60% chance of rain, and about a 10% chance of us secretly eloping.

This trip probably rules out any chance of us going to Hawai'i for our honeymoon.

license and registration

The California Department of Public Health website says that we can get a marriage license from any county. Yet two of Danny’s friends said that Santa Clara County required that couples get married in that county. Also, Danny’s friends who got married in Illinois had to do a last minute scramble because they were getting married in a different county in which they attempted to register.

As you know by now, we’re getting married in Daly City, which is in San Mateo County. Now, registering in San Mateo County is actually better for us for a couple of reasons. First, it’s less crowded. SF County requires reservations. Second, it’s cheaper than SF or LA counties. SF County even charges a nominal fee for a couple to make a reservation!

However, there might be one slight problem to registering in San Mateo County. There might be an issue of an outstanding traffic ticket from San Mateo County that someone may or may not have settled. The nightmare scenario is that we go to register and find out that there’s a warrant to arrest one of us.

While we’re confident that we don’t have to register in San Mateo County, we probably still will because of the aforementioned benefits. If we find out that there really is an outstanding warrant, then you will all get an email saying one of two things: (1) we’ve moved the wedding to a location in SF; or (2) one of us is in jail.

paebaek

We're planning to do paebaek during the rehearsal dinner. I think the last time I wore a hanbok was probably in the second grade... as a Halloween costume.

During the ceremony, the family members are suppose to toss dates at the bride's skirt and she's supposed to catch them. The dates symbolize the future children we're supposed to have. Now, while highly nontraditional and probably very inappropriate, I think I'm gonna have to do my best Martin Brodeur impression during this part of the ceremony.

Either that, or Chris is going to have to hold her skirt out at an angle and "accidentally" let all the dates slide off as she's "trying" to catch them.

the ring

 

childhood pictures

I've been collecting pictures for the slideshow, and I've noticed a few trends.

First, I could start a series of pictures of just me crying. I was a serious crier when I was a kid. I get it from my mom who is also a crier.

Second, only children have lots and LOTS and LOTS of pictures of themselves. Middle children... not so much.

Third, all the pictures of the only child are of just the only child. On the other hand, the middle child always seems to be sharing the picture with an older sister or a younger brother.

If you have a picture with Chris or Danny that you think should be in the slideshow, please send them to chrisanddanny2009 [at] gmail [dot] com.

party bus

Surprisingly, out of my parents, the one that has more input about the wedding is my father.

One of his ideas is to charter a tour bus to pick up all our family friends to take them to the wedding. The idea is to start in Orange County, make a stop in Los Angeles, and then make a stop in Bakersfield. Then, this bus would take a bunch of first-generation Koreans to the church in Daly City.

I can only imagine what the experience on this bus would look like. I imagine lots of singing and clapping on the way up. I imagine them stopping at a rest area and eating lots of kimbap and 7up. I imagine one ajushi completely asleep and slightly drooling on his suit.

I guess my father’s idea is that a bus would make it convenient for guests to come to the wedding rather than having to drive up on their own. While I applaud my father’s generosity, I think he seriously overestimates our popularity. Honestly, I haven’t seen some of these people since high school.

Party bus or not, if they are willing to attend and spend our special day with us, we’ll be gracious and honored that they would make such a trip.

rejected proposal idea #3

One late night, we were sitting in a café patio that was decorated with white Christmas lights. Chris commented on how pretty this was and that one day, she hoped to decorate our patio in the same manner.

Keeping this in mind, I thought that I’d try to decorate some part of her house with white Christmas lights while she was at work. When she came home from work, I would be waiting for her amidst the Christmas lights. I just thought it'd be pretty environs for us when I proposed to her.

I was hoping to decorate the backyard patio area of her house. It would’ve taken some time, but I could have fixed some Christmas lights on the outside of her house and set up a table where I could be waiting for her. I also figured I’d put a sign on her front door indicating that she should go out back.

Ultimately, I rejected this idea because of daylight savings. To surprise her, I would have had to wait till it got dark, but she comes home when there’s still daylight. In other words, the effect of pretty Christmas lights is completely nil when she gets home.

One day, if we’re lucky enough to have a patio, perhaps we’ll be able to decorate with Christmas lights.

joint ventures

We opened a joint credit card this week.

The theory is that we'll be using it for wedding-related expenses for the next six months to earn points. Then, we can use said points to pay for some or all of the honeymoon.

We've also agreed to use this card for our personal expenses just to maximize the number of points we can earn. For example, we'll put our future flights to and from SFO and LAX on this card.

This also means our expenses are no longer going to be a secret from each other. In other words, Danny is going to have to have to explain the many $5 and $10 charges at fast food restaurants that inevitably will show up on his portion credit card bill.