By dot@mintsPublished: June 4th, 2009Posted in: Featured, Featured Vendors Many things can be do-it-yourself, but when it comes to bridal make-up, you better think twice! You probably think “well, I have done it all my life, why not on my wedding day” or “It costs too much and I want to look natural anyway!”
Fair enough. I don’t like being over-made too, but it is really money worth spent to have someone professional make you look special and polished on your wedding day. First of all, the products they used can last for the whole day and so you won’t look melted under the sun. You know what I mean. Second, you don’t have to worry and be relaxed on your day! One of my friends decided to do her own make-up, and with so many things going on, she forgot to bring her make-up bag to the hotel.
As make-up is very personal, you need to find someone who make you feel comfortable and listen to you, and I can assure you that having one professional make-up artist makes a big difference! Out of many ones in the Bay Area, many of our customers recommended Maria Chang of the Professional Makeup Artistry. She has over 18 years of experience and her approach to make-up is “realistic yet provocative.” Many brides told me they felt so pampered and lucky to have Maria Chang to do their make-ups. I bet the images speak better than my words.
By dot@mintsPublished: June 4th, 2009Posted in: Featured, Inspirations, Mints Picks 
invitation by Oslo Press, wood letter blocks by craftcuts.com, wood flower boutonniere by Domestic Candy, flowers in birch tube by Small Stumb, wood candle holders by Pottery Barn, wood coasters from Mints Design, & cake by Martha Stewart Weddings.
By dot@mintsPublished: June 3rd, 2009Posted in: Featured, Inspirations, Mints Picks 
Happer dress by Jenny Yoo, Larkspur bracelet by J.Crew & Lora by Kate Spade.
By dot@mintsPublished: June 2nd, 2009Posted in: Featured, Featured Vendors I am so excited to do this post today as it is really my pleasure to write about my friend and colleague Gloria Wong of Gloria Wong Design! so where do I start?!
When we first met last year, I thought she looked familiar, but with my small brain and limited memory, I couldn’t pinpoint where I saw her face. =P and it took me about a month to figure out she was the beautiful bride whose wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty and The Knot. Last year, Gloria and Mints worked on 2 weddings together and it was so much fun working. Her attention to details and sense of style are what you need to have a gorgeous wedding. Why? Gloria is obsessive with colors and designs and boy I am not kidding here. Let me give you some examples. With her extensive fashion design background, Gloria came in well prepared with the mood boards and she usually spent hours scouting around to find the perfect items for her clients. For instance, we were working on a butterfly theme wedding, instead of buying what’s on the market, Gloria went extra miles and spray painted the butterflies to blushing pink color matching the invitation and the rest of the decor. That’s impressive.
But most importantly is her flawless execution and yes, this is really the key to having your dream a reality. When planning our weddings, many of us probably would go to every single wedding blogs and sites and clip/ save a ton of pictures. I am guilty of that as well! I have a huge image bank. The problem i s we end up with so many ideas we want to used for our weddings and most of the things don’t match or basically too much too many. What Gloria really good at (beside her tasteful designs) is to filter and sort through ideas and help the couple figuring out a unique style, ensuring everything from a tiny place card to the lighting of the room compliment each other to enhance the wedding theme and the couple’s personalities. To make sure everything comes out perfect, she partners with the best vendors in each category, such as Nancy Liu Chin Designs, Jean Marks Weddings, Good on Paper Design and of course Mints Design.
As the images show, her designs are just absolutely beautiful!
By dot@mintsPublished: June 1st, 2009Posted in: Featured, Wedding Planning Style Me Pretty just launched their new site today! It’s one of the most fabulous wedding resources website with all sorts of inspirations, eye candy and real wedding pictures. Check it out!
By dot@mintsPublished: May 27th, 2009Posted in: Featured, News I am so pleased to welcome Venus of L’ Atelier Vi to the Mints’ Blog! Venus is an aspiring fashion designer; an amateur baker; cooking enthusiast and snobbish foodie. I am one of the lucky people who had tried her sweet and dessert and oh boy! they were helllllla delicious. Venus likes all things French-inspired, likes to collect tea cups, vintage trims & notions, dessert books, and above all likes to shop! And that’s why we invite her to write for us. Enjoy and Welcome Venus!
all images by L’ Aterlier Vi
By dot@mintsPublished: May 22nd, 2009Posted in: Featured, Inspirations, Mints Picks, News, random dots This year Charlyn Koo didn’t attend National Stationery Show as my life has been a little bit frantic with two businesses, many on-going projects, and a wedding to plan, and though I stand by my decision that I should only attend the show if I could give it my best, I do miss new York and being a part of the creative circle. We debut our first collection last year and we met many talented designers, such as Elum Designs and Red Cap Cards and our personalized collection is now available exclusively at Neiman Marcus. As a newbie in the industry, we did a pretty good job and I was really looking forward to launch more designs but oh well…
This is our idea board and work for last year show and the good news is we have already started our new inspiration boards with many new products coming in 2010! New york, we will be back soon. =)
By dot@mintsPublished: May 22nd, 2009Posted in: Featured, News, Real Weddings I came across these wedding photos by Jose Villa featured on Design*sponge this morning and completely fell in love! I love how they accented the chairs with ribbons, the cute illustrations on the stationery and the cozy benches with cushions.
Bride & Groom: Alissa and Ryan at shop horne
Venue: San Ysidro Ranch
Event Design: oh, how charming!
Photography: Jose Villa
Flowers: Mindy Rice Floral Design
More details at Design*sponge
By dot@mintsPublished: May 11th, 2009Posted in: Featured, Featured Vendors, Wedding Planning, dot's wedding journal 
Since we were kids, Canna and I are inseparable even though I am into books and she is into lipsticks and heels. Disregarded our differences, we walked to school together. We sneaked out to play together. We bought our first sanrio pencil cases together. We traveled together. We cried and laughed together. So it is really true that I can’t plan my wedding without her being by my side. As Canna is a certified bridal make up hair stylist, it is really my privilege and it is really personal to have her do my makeup and hair. Thank you mom for giving my such a talented sister! Now I can just simply cross out one more thing on my to do list!
Before we started Mints, Canna got her professional training from Make Up Forever Academy and Bebridal will be featured on The Knot this coming fall!
photo by Myrtle and Marjoram Photography
