Last month, Mr. Bloom and I finally had our engagement photo shoot after two rain-outs.
It is Vancouver, BC afterall!

Our photographer for our engagement portraits is Hamid Attie.  He is also our wedding photographer.
I have known Hamid for a few years now.  He had shot amazing group portraits of my very close friends, my brother, and I.  I highly recommend him for his photo-journalistic style and also his calm personality.
His website is here:  http://www.hamidattie.com .  Book early with Hamid as he is usually fully booked all weekends of the wedding season!

We had our photo shoot around the Roundhouse Community Centre and the Yaletown seawall.  We were aiming for urban, casual and relaxed.   The entire shoot took about an hour and fifteen minutes.
Hamid’s turnaround time for proofs and development is very quick.
Something to note… Hamid shoots digital for his engagement portraits.  He uses film for all his wedding photography.

Here are some proofs of our engagement photos.  We had fourteen proofs to choose from!
* Please note that some of the photos have “P R O O F” watermarked on them and have not yet been retouched.
** Our apologies for not being “Canada’s Next Top Model”!  We’re kinda shy!

Today, Mr. Bloom and I went to Moores Clothing for Men on Granville St. between W. Georgia and W. Hastings St.  Their website is here:  http://www.mooresformalwear.com .  It’s walk-in service, no appointment required.  Surprisingly, it was a busy day for them on this very rainy day.  After waiting for about 15 minutes, we were helped by one of their consultants, Colin.  He is great!  He escorted us to their tuxedo rental consulting desk area where he proceeded to show us their picture catalogue of tuxedos.  We went through the catalogues.  Afterwards, he asked us what struck us the most.  After Mr. Bloom gave his opinion, Colin let us know that the catalogue was ordered by most popular.

The most popular tuxedo were the two newest brands to hit the tuxedo market, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.  I really like the 100s series Calvin Klein 2-button notch tuxedo.  Mr. Bloom likes the cut of the 3-button Ralph Lauren but did not want to be in pin-stripes for our wedding.  So, Mr. Bloom chose to go with the Joseph & Feiss 3-button notch tuxedo in solid black with pleated pants.  I thought he’d go with the flat front pants because it looks more relaxed, but Mr. Bloom surprised me by selecting the more formal pleated pant.  Here is a photo of his tuxedo that I recreated using Moores “Create Your Tuxedo” website feature:

Our wedding celebration will be held at St. Patrick’s Parish in Vancouver.
We were lucky enough (lucky for me and my family anyway!) to be granted a full Catholic mass ceremony even though my fiancé is not Catholic nor baptized. He was born during the Communist era in Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic).
So yes, it’s going to be a long mass when you include music and the Filipino parts of the mass.
The parish is located on the corner of East 12th and Main Street.

I’m having a “Money Dance” at our wedding in September.  I’m of Filipino descent and born in Canada.  My fiancé is Czech but came here as a child.

Filipino weddings have adopted the “Money Dance” from the Hispanics and it’s actually expected at Filipino weddings.

The Czech tradition has the bride carrying a small blanket like a baby.  The guests come up to her and put money in the small basket as a symbol of supporting the start of the couple’s new family.

I’ve been to over 125 weddings (I perform at weddings) over the years.  The most successful money dance in terms of not boring your guests to tears as well as  in terms of $ is to:
1)  Not forget to bring the straight pins with plastic ball tips.
2)  Have the MC introduce the money dance with an explanation of the tradition as to not offend those who don’t know about the tradition.
3)  Most importantly, have people dance around the bride and groom doing the Money Dance.  This way, guests aren’t just sitting around watching the lineup…