October 20, 2012 Wedding

The lovely couple, Mr. Chad and Mrs. Jessica Helm, had a "Disney themed" wedding. Although the wedding wasn't over exaggerated with Disney details, there are some cute Disney aspects shown throughout the wedding. Overall, the wedding was absolutely beautiful. Although I wasn't a guest, the family of the bride and groom welcomed me while I was catering to their needs.

The bride, Jessica, stepped into her party gown to share the first dance with the groom.

The dress sported a somewhat different gown in comparison to the traditional wedding dress.
The intricate beading and lace made her gown stick out.

The couple said "So Long!" to everyone as they drove into the night to
go to their honeymoon.

This church was located in the heart of Redlands. It was actually my
first time ever stepping into a church so I found the wedding customs pretty interesting and
different when compared to the Buddhist/Vietnamese weddings I always go to. 

The couple placed a Mickey and Minnie mouse statue right next to their
wedding cake top to show their love of Disney. It's pretty funny and cute
 because the couple actually met each other for the first time at Disneyland. 

Red roses were the main flowers in the reception.
The centerpieces and ballroom was surrounded with these gorgeous flowers. 

Smooches!

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, the couple decided to go for these cute cupcakes!
 The  idea of tuxedos and wedding dresses as cupcakes is too awesome!

Another Disney detail. The couple had matching champagne glasses
with the engravement of Mickey and Minnie mouse on them. 

Credits of the above pictures goes to About The Day Photography.

July 7, 2012 Wedding

During the summer, I helped out my mentor Claudia Santialles, decorate and regulate a wedding located in San Bernardino. The couple picked a fuchsia pink theme for their reception as seen below. The entire ballroom was covered in bright pink fabric that basically lit up the guests mood when they arrived. Overall, this wedding was a great experience for me. It reminded me of the details that are needed in order to have such a successful wedding event. 

The centerpieces were absolutely gorgeous. You could tell that the couple thought
a  lot about the decoration of the table.

I had to tie over a hundred of these bad boys within a period of time, talk about stress. 

A simple table setting. 

The reception was a buffet styled wedding. This was really different for me
because the weddings I usually attend, has servers giving me nine entrees of authentic Chinese food. 

See! Proof of me tying all of the ribbons!

Cheese!

Ta da! The entire wedding reception is finished with little time to spare!

Blog 8: Rough Draft of Presentation 1

10 Minute Plan

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

CONTENT:
(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent component.

• For my independent component, I plan on putting together a list of vendors that are recommended to me or those that have a high reputation, that would be really helpful to brides; such as florists, bakeries, dress stores, dj, etc. I would also like to put together wedding packages that would range from inexpensive to luxurious weddings for brides. But these packages and vendors would not only be for the standard traditional American wedding, but would also include Vietnamese/Chinese weddings as well. 

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hour work requirement.

• I think my independent component would meet the 30 hour work requirement because I plan on talking one on one with individual vendors. If possible, I would like to meet them face to face and receive pictures of their work. Also, my plan would meet the 30 hour requirement because there is a lot of organization going on within finding each planner. I have to see if any of my mentors have any recommendations for vendors and I would have to do a lot of research in finding vendors with high reputations. I would have to communicate with wedding vendors in Vietnamese and Chinese to create such packages. 

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your working EQ?

• Although I have not yet created an EQ, this independent component would relate to it by driving me into the direction I would like to go to. By giving me an idea of the financial and technical side of wedding planning, the independent component can make me consider on which side of wedding planning should I focus my EQ on, the technical or visual side.

Blog 6: Second Interview Questions

1. How long have you been working in this field and what has changed since you started?
2. When did you realize that this is the career you wanted to go into?
3. Was there anyone who influenced you in this career? If not, what influenced you?
4. What part of your career satisfies you the most?
5. Was there any wedding you planned that stood out to you the most?

Blog 5a: Science Fair Problem Statement

1. Topic: Wedding Planning/Coordination
2. Problem: There is too much competition in the wedding industry and there are not enough people getting married to satisfy everyone in the wedding coordinating business. Once I solve this problem, I will give tips to my mentor and other wedding coordinating companies to help induce their profits and gain more customers. 
3. Problem: Weddings nowadays are too expensive for an engaged couple to afford (the average wedding cost around $27,00). I will educated newly engaged couples on how to have a less expensive wedding but at the same time, have the wedding they hoped for. 

Blog 4: Project Reflection and Working EQ

The Pentagon:

1. Positive Statement: What positive thing happen as a result of what you completed so far?
One positive result is that I have learned and appreciated the difficulty it takes to plan a wedding. Unlike the media portrays of wedding planning, this career is not easy. Gretchen enlightened me on the fact that much of a wedding planners personal time is taken up to plan a wedding. There is no such thing as a vacation if there is a wedding to plan.

2. EQ Content: Pick a piece of research or your interview. How has it helped you improve your understanding of your topic? 
When I interviewed my mentor, I was bombarded with a ton on new information. Due to the interview, I can understand the substantial amount of time and stress it takes to plan a wedding. Many specific details were explained to me, which helped me understand my topic even more. I now realize that wedding planning is not all fun and games and it can also affect your physical and mental health.

3. What has worked for you so far in the senior project?
So far, the service learning came pretty easy to me. Getting to work with a Wedding Coordinating company was fun and exciting. Also, there is no problem gathering research. There are so many articles and books about wedding planning as well as interviews and videos.

4. What hasn't worked so far?
Scheduling an interview with my mentor was pretty tough. Seeing as how wedding coordinators work everyday, almost 24 hours a day, it was very difficult to figure out a place and time when my mentor and I could meet. Also, my mentor was due to surgery soon so it will be difficult to ask for her assistance in the next few weeks.

5. Finding Value: Based on your experience so far

• What possible question or questions come to mind regarding what you would like to study this year?
• One possible question that comes to mind in regards to what I would like to study this year is "What are the best possible routes for me to take for me to be an effective wedding planner?". Also, I would like to ask "How can I become an organized and efficient wedding planner??"
• What is your end goal this year with your senior project?
• My end goal for my senior project this year is to grasp the way the wedding industry works. It is such a bustling industry that it is so hard to keep up with trends. I would also like to plan my Uncle's Wedding if given the chance to. After having the experience this year, I'm sure he'll let me coordinate his wedding for him. 
• Who would you like to talk to you next? Why?
• If I could talk to anyone next, it would have to be David Tutera. David is known in the wedding industry as a successful wedding/event planner. It would be amazing if I would have a chance to talk to him. He would be able to answer so many of my questions and to be able to view the wedding industry from his perspective would be down right fascinating.