Alcoholic

congratulations!
hmmm.... if you only have 30- guests, maybe not really need a wedding planner gua, unless you have like absolutely no friends that can help you out?

i've heard of the company that you have the link to, but i didn't use them.

my wedding was 180 people (banquet), and my ceremony had like close to 100 people show up. i used a wedding planner because:

A. i have friends that are just not organized at all. it sounds kinda mean, but i hope you understand: i don't trust them running my wedding at all. (just think: even for girl's night out dinner, the earliest one shows up 30 mins late, the latest one shows up 1 hour + late).

B. i don't want my family involved. i just want them to enjoy the wedding, NOT work at my wedding.

C. we are all chinese but everything is western style. i did enough research and planned everything. it's just that i cannot be the one running the whole event when i'm the bride at the same time.

Alcoholic

Jericho Beach:
- if you have ceremony at Jericho, i think it's best for you to call up Vancouver parks & recreation centre & ask them if you can use the beach on that day, & which area you're allowed to use. I know that even last year, when my company did a staff picnic at a park, we need to call up parks & rec center to pay them a fee for using public grounds.

新瑞華:
- you better reserve your venue, ask them to save you a good spot ahead of time. especially it's a chinese wedding dinner, no matter how big how small the size of your group, you still need to.

Invitations:
- sending out by the start of April is the way to go

Wedding Dress:
- geez girl. no wedding dress & it's almost March already!!!! i worry for you. the dress you pick might need to be ordered. you better get your @$$ out this weekend & find a dress ASAP & pray that you will get it in time, with all the alterations!!! omg...

Makeup:
you BETTER hire a makeup person!!! no matter how good you are at makeup, just get a professional, and have her do your mom's makeup too.

BAckup Venue:
- YES! you should have a backup, when it's outdoors! i had my wedding at the poolside of a hotel. luckily, it was sunny... otherwise, my hotel has a backup hall for me to use on a rainy day.

Commissioner:
Mine was Ivy ( i think that was her name). She speaks cantonese for sure... but mandarin, i'm not sure. YOU BETTER HURRY UP & BOOK COMMISSIONER NOWWWWWW!!! cus they're always quite busy!

Tips on booking:
- what you want & what you need is different things. try to cut unnecessary options, & it will save you a lot. balance what you want/what you need with your budget.

sorry girl... but i take back what you said: maybe you should consider hiring a wedding planner. the planners price depending on amount of work load...

good luck

Alcoholic

another reminder(s):

- you need to make a day plan/schedule
- if you have decoration for any of the sites (ceremony, restaurant), who's gonna do it?
- wedding cake neh? set up & delivery wor...
- speeches (there's gotta be something simple if your not doing something too formal).
- flower car neh? ride arrangements?
- set up at the beach/back up location neh?

side story:
do you REALLY need a mandarin speaking commissioner at your ceremony? one funny incident at my own ceremony:

- i choose Ivy Leung because she's chinese, and i guess easier to deal with. actually, it was too easy to deal with her because before the day of my wedding, we just went through details with her over email, & probably only spoke to her once on the phone... all in english.

- on the day of the ceremony, as my makeup artist was touching up on me, my commissioner asked my hubby if we want her to deliver the vows in english or cantonese. my hubby said cantonese, so that our relatives, grandparents would understand wor... which i had NO IDEA.

- just before the ceremony started, commissioner & my wedding planner coordinated. so i walked down the aisle with my dad... & we were at the front starting the vows. she said it in cantonese version, & as bad as it sounds, i started giggling so hard because i was not used to & expecting the vows to sound so "proper chinese".

- so just be prepared to hear super traditional proper cantonese with absolutely no slang~ i felt bad... but luckily, everybody knew what i was laughing at (because my hubby was giggling too), and not that we're disrespectful. but i guess mandarin is more proper than cantonese...so shouldn't be a problem

Alcoholic

some insurance agencies are authorized to do marriage license ga. there's one in Lansdowne center, & they have a sign saying they do BC marriage license. so you don't really need to go to vita stats centre geh...