Paul & Jenn's Adventures

should match the level of 74 State Hotel. 74 State says Crown Plaza is older and not as nice as the State Room.

Venue Dates chart Invitee list

Anyone interested in going? Albany Marriott Convention Center Sunday Jan. 4th 1-5pm Wolf Road, Albany NY 24th Annual Bridal Show Complimentary Admission & Refreshments Exhibits - Prizes - Entertainment Another Bridal Show Jan. 18th. 11am-3pm. $5 admission. Glen Sanders Mansion 1 Glen Avenue Scotia, NY 12302 And Another Bridal Show Jan. 25th. 11am-3pm. $5 admission. Hall of Springs need to call 518 374 4141 for info. Other bridal shows

Universal Preservation Hall

Saratoga Springs, NY

Desmond Hotel Colonie, NY

Rexford, NY Menu selections $45.95 - $72.95 per person + 7% tax + 19% service fee Picture gallery

Downtown Albany: 74 State Hotel - 518 434 7410 updated 12/31. Seat 50+20 people in two rooms, has table and white linen. Sarah the sales associate sent menu details to Paul's email. For Friday rehearsal dinner all Fridays are open in June and July. Menu looks like restaurant menu for plate dinner service, but different from if we went to the restaurant. Crown Plaza Albany Hotel - 518 462 6611 updated 12/31. Jennifer the event coordinator 518 427 3022. 5 hr reception package from $81 - $142. Has June 6, 13, 20, July 4. Include cake, center pieces, flower, has french vanilla linen. Includes shuttle service to and from Albany Airport, Amtrak station, and self parking on-site. Includes room stay at the hotel for the couple. min. 75 ppl. package details sent to Paul's email. State Room - 518 432 7773 updated 12/31. has June 13 and all of July. 3000 sq. ft. ballroom with 20'x40' dance floor. Package include food, floral center pieces, cake, bride-groom suit at the Crown Pl...

On December 23rd, two Chinese pandas arrived in Taipei as a gift of goodwill. The Panda's names are "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan", which means renunion in Chinese. The Pandas will be on display on the Eve of Chinese New year, Jan 25th 2009. Check out BBC's video and article . China Daily article and more pictures . Taiwan News article .

Paul: Yay! I drove from Albany to Ithaca to Cleveland to Ithaca to Albany. Our parents met for the first time and it went smoothly. We all seem to have a good time. Jenn: Although we've both met each other's parents before, this was the first time that the parents met each other. We made a list of do and don'ts for topics to talk about, although I don't think they followed it, they seem to enjoy each other's company and had a lot to talk about. Paul's dad gave us two books: " Letters to Karen " and " Letters to Philip " by Charlie Shedd, a Christian pastor's advice to his children on a successful marriage. Amy (Paul's sister) gave us a very sweet gift, a hand made glass candle holder with sand, and a cool luggage shaped card. My parents got towels, bath and body products, and macadamia nuts. We took pictures of the two families, we'll post them soon. On Monday Paul and I took his Dad to the airport to go back to Hawaii, and Paul...

Catering Info Wedding Package Info Lowest $135 per person, + bar, service fee, tax, ceremony This location is good because it will be close to most of Paul's family members, especially his grandma who may not be able to travel long distances.

Saratoga: Black Diamond

Floral Design : How To Make A Corsage Isn't this amazing? Not sure if I can actually do this though...

Great how-to websites: Montesorri by hand Sew librated Make-stuff.com Wedding Crafts from Superwedding.com Wedcraft.com Body Lotion: Essortment Soap: Miller Soap Recipes at Make-Stuff.com Envelopes Centerpieces: How to from ezine article

FiftyFlowers.com - large variety selection, starting $1.50 per stem 20cm Rose Ranunclus 150 stems at 6-12" for $179.99 + free shipping, mixed colors Grower's Box.com - starting ~$1 per stem at 100 stems or more, 20cm Rose The Flower Exchange.com - starting at $0.93 per stem, 20cm Rose Flowergrowers.com - Ranunculus 130 stems at 19" for $189 + free shipping, mixed colors Sunkingwholesale.com - Ranunculus 250 stems for $176.74 Rosesource.com - buyer's choice roses $199 for 200 stems Bulbs (getting even more adventurous) Bloomingbulb.com - Ranunclus bulbs ~$0.80 per bulb, 4in flowers Spring Hill - $12 for 24 bulbs, 5cm+ flowers Easy to grow bulbs - $7.95 for 10 mixed color bulbs, 4in flowers

Fontainebleau Inn & Lawrence Chapel http://www.fontainebleauinn.com/ Cornell Sage or Anabel Taylor Chapel http://www.curw.cornell.edu/wedmem.html

Ranunculus (Buttercup)

Here are some more that Dee found. I'm thinking about having a mix of colors, but the same style. I stitched some pictures together, let me know what you think! After Six 6503 After Six 6276

I like these flowers called Spider Mum (Chrysanthemum). I think they make a good choice as table centerpiece. You don't need a million of them to look good.

J Crew on sale for $129 BCBG on sale for $219

Talked to Jenn last night and since she wants a Spring themed wedding, I had some inspirations of the type of dresses we can consider. Think a silk chiffon material that flows with the wind would go very well with the spring theme. Here are some examples: (Let me know your thoughts!)

Globe Thistle Michaelmas Daisy Iris Dalmatian Bellflower

On December 15th, China and Taiwan will open 54 direct flights per week . Isn't it cool that China and Taiwan are being more friendly to each other also around the same time as our engagement? Maybe we can take some credit for this... =) In any case, this might also save time for us on our honeymoon if we choose to visit both China and Taiwan.

Status: Tentative Date: June 6, 2009 Time: 5 pm Venue: Saratoga Springs Mansion Contact: Event planner - Shannon Rose (518) 885-1607 or 378-9539 Capacity: 50 inside, 150 on deck Renting the mansion for 2 nights & breakfast for guests staying at the mansion -$4130 (required, 12 rooms sleeps 24) Reception - $65 / person (depending on customizable menu) 5 hr. Open bar - $27 / person Ceremony can be added for $15 / person ($1500 min.) Need to rent tables, chairs, and linen. $1500 deposit to secure the date Vendor referals: Allerdice Party Rental Rain or Shine

Jenn's comments in red DONE: Schedule fittings for custom made bridesmaids gowns - bridesmaids gowns have been bought from J Crew DONE: Arrange marriage prep-courses, if necessary - meeting with pastor Rick and read book and do exercises, now on chapter 2: Saving your marriage before it starts by Les and Leslie Parrott Reserve rental items - need to contact party supply vendor for tables, chairs, linen, etc., NO NEED, Stockade Inn package will cover this Select and book decorator - we will do this ourselves, with help from bridal party. Specificts to be determined Finalize an A and B list of guests - Current potential guest list is about 200 DONE: Select and order invitations and other wedding stationary - invitation from Simply Elegant Set date, time and location for rehearsal dinner - Date will be June 5th around 6pm. Paul will book this. Select and book honeymoon night suite - not sure if we need this? Arrange accommodations for out-of-town guests - 18 rooms at the Stock...

Jenn's comments in red Select and book caterer, if needed - need to decide on Catering for the Church reception, Paul will lead this DONE: Select and book photographer - Imagine Portrait Studio Select wedding party - in progress Bridesmaids: Diane Chang, Dee Hu, Grace Lai, Maggie So, Rita Shulman Groomsmen: Jonathan, Ming, ... Give wedding party a list of their responsibilities - need to do this Select attire or bridesmaids & flower girl - Bridesmaids done, need to find flower girl still Select attire for mothers of the bride and groom - Bride's mom is doing this Select and book ceremony musicians - need to contact Charlie Moose, the church organist. Thinking about strings quartet or harpist. Maybe Caroline will sing something, if she can come. Select and book live band or DJ for reception - live band would be cool, or we can make a mix of MP3's, Ting Yu will be our volunteer DJ friend. IN Progress: Select and book videography - probably only for ceremony Selec...

Jenn's comments in red Announce Engagement - 60% - in progress DONE: Select Wedding Date - 6.6.09 Hire wedding consultant/coordinator - not sure if we need a coordinator DONE: Determine wedding type - mainly western/Christian ( with some Asian details in the decor, not decided yet ) DONE: Determine wedding location - Schenectady, NY DONE: Determine # of guests - 80-100 for formal reception, 200+ for ceremony and church reception DONE: Determine wedding formality - formal ( with a quirky flaire, more to come... ) DONE: Determine wedding time of day - 3pm ceremony, 3:45 church reception, 5pm formal reception, 6pm dinner Determine budget & how expenses will be shared - Aim for half/half between Paul and Jenn's parents. Jenn's parents will pay for dinner reception and ceremony. Paul will pay for Church reception and rehearsal dinner and honeymoon. Develop a record keeping system for payments - need to do this DONE: Create an approximate # guest list - preliminar...

I have deJonghe Original Jewelry in Saratoga Springs make the ring according to a design that Jenn likes. It looks beautiful on her hand.

Jenn and I have been together since 2003. Recently we celebrated our 5th anniversary. We are now engaged and we start this blog to help us plan for our wedding. The first thing we accomplished was deciding on a subdomain name. The names Jenn came up with were better than mine. After some debate we decided to go with pcjz (for Paul Chen Jenn Zhao). Thus the domain name for this blog is pcjz.blogger.com. This is a short name that is easy to remember. Hopefully it will be easy for our friends to remember as well. Some names I came up with were like pjaeunln, bonyu, and cyuzzbo.