170224 Thank you for providing the venue

His and hers

As our wedding is just less than 6 months away, I was getting antsy and anxious about not having a reception venue. We will be having our ceremony at our church but we have yet to find a venue for our evening reception. Back in October last year, we actually had a venue booked that I really liked and it seemed like it could make my dream wedding come true. However, we ended up cancelling that because of our budget. I believe I made that hard decision around the end of December, and for the last couple of months, Mr. K and I were venue-less. We kept looking and looking, but there was nothing that was budget friendly, or that fit my expectation. If the venue was decent, it was way over our budget. If the budget was on point, the venue was... well, meh.

As time kept passing, I was getting more and more antsy. And, probably to the point I was getting depressed and sad... even with the possibility of having a "giving up" spirit in me. During this whole time, Mr. K was patient with me and kept encouraging me that God will provide, and that we will find something at the end of February. Yes, I believed him and more importantly, I believed that God will provide. But I kept doubting in the back of my mind, that yes, for sure God will provide, but I will have to compromise big time on the quality of the venue. That's the part that was bothering me. I want a budget friendly wedding, at the same time, I wanted a nice venue. Well, realistically that is impossible, right?

We visited out our "last" venue this morning. Well, I call it last because, I was so hopeless and I didn't want to check out any other venues after this point. If it didn't work out today, I was just gonna suggest a Korean restaurant or whatever. Yes, whatever. I hate that word and I especially hate it when my fiancé uses it and now I'm using it. That just shows how done I was with this venue thing.

As we were driving to the venue, and as we were waiting to meet with the coordinator on site, Mr. K kept ensuring me how beautiful that venue will be in the summer. The venue that we checked out today is a golf course, so it was very bare and miserable during winter, especially on a rainy day like today. I tried to envision that and yeah, I can definitely imagine it being full of colours and beautiful in August. But I wasn't buying it yet, just because I had looked up this golf course online and the hall wasn't... well, my style. Therefore, I had no expectation. I went regardless with the thought to just take this venue (or the Korean restaurant), just to get this whole thing over with. But when the coordinator took us to the room, from just the look through the doors from outside, I loved it. I just loved the airiness of the space because of all the large windows! There was so much light coming in, and I could just imagine the green field beyond those glass panes. Ahh! finally! On top of that, there was upstairs! Well, the upstairs didn't have that "wow" effect as the ground floor, but I thought I could work with it.

I was so thankful and relieved to finally have a venue, and not just any venue but somewhere that I see myself and Mr. K celebrate our wedding day. It was another reminder of God's goodness and provision for both of us! Oh, and we knew that this had to be it because this was the only Saturday available for the month of August! Isn't that so crazy how it all worked out? Like Mr. K was saying, I'm sure that it was all God who provided this awesome place for us. A admit that I was overly anxious and worried about this for so long. Apparently I was being a Debbie downer for some time now... but really, I wasn't that bad, was I?

Anyways, thank you Lord for providing this great place for us! We continue to pray that God will walk with us as we plan our wedding day, and most importantly, our marriage together as a husband and a wife!

170220 Thank you for our one month engagement anniversary

By the George Washington Bridge, New York

A month ago today, something real special happened. I got engaged to my favourite guy, Mr. K! I knew that he was gonna make this proposal real special but he definitely went over and beyond what I expected.

It's been a month since we got engaged. I am happy for the most part, but the wedding planning has been rather stressful than fun. Many married couples have told me to enjoy this time but I find it hard to enjoy because of so much stress with so many uncertainties. Our wedding is only 6 months away and we still haven't found a venue. I keep going back and forth between what I want and what is pleasing to God. I didn't want a wedding that everyone's doing. The wedding culture nowadays is just too crazy looking from a financial perspective. Everything that's labeled with "wedding" just jumps in price. I do have an image of what my wedding day to be. And it seems it's almost impossible with the time that I have... In a way, I feel like I couldn't get what I wanted so I kinda gave up... and with the options that I have, I should choose the best available but I keep thinking of the wedding in my mind. And because the reality does not match with what I had envisioned, I have a trouble settling down on our choices. So I don't know what to do anymore. At times, I am hopeful that I'll find the things I want (and I don't think my dream wedding is unrealistic), but at times, I lose all the hope and become very discouraged to the point, that I don't want to plan anything anymore. "It's just for one day" is an excuse that I tell myself - that it's okay to want and carry out what I envision, but it also becomes a reality check to remind me that what I desire the most is to have a wedding that is honouring God. But is that really what I desire the most? Or am I just saying that?

I've been praying for wisdom more than ever during this season of wedding planning.

170214 Thank you for another V-day with my Valentine

There was another chocolate bar but, let's say I kinda ate it all... :P

I was shocked to see a long line up at a flower shop at one of my local grocery stores this evening. Yes, it's Valentine's day - the day of love, celebrating love between couples, friends and even family.

It's our third Valentine's day together this year, and my fiancé and I decided not to celebrate it this time. Well, I think our celebration for V-day varied from year to year. But as we are planning for our wedding, we thought it'd be wise to save money in whatever capacity we can. And I'm glad that we did what we did because I realized the prices for flowers have gone up super high in February! I love receiving flowers from my Mr. K but I wouldn't want him to pay an unreasonable price for this "day of love." He's already good at surprising me with flowers and other gifts, and we don't need commercialism to acknowledge our love for each other. 

Well, although we said we won't do anything this year, Mr. K got me bars of chocolate that I wanted to try:) I'm just happy that we got to spend the day with each other!