Mark & Amy’s Wedding

CHRONICLING THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR

July 10, 2008

Photos Online

Check out Jay’s photos here:
amymark.mochamonkey.com

Also, all of Jay’s photos are FREE TO DOWNLOAD (thanks Jay!). Go here:
amymark.mochamonkey.com/assets/080531/hires/

————–

Various wedding photos shot by brother Fred and Derek Chung are here:
http://www.mobilerepublic.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4313
(By the way, if you have photos that you want to share, email us at wedding at mobilerepublic.net and I’ll add them to the gallery.)

————–

Other photos from our Rehearsal Day, bridal shower(s), and yes, a bachelorette party are here:
http://www.mobilerepublic.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1145

————–

Oh, and if you’re curious about what happened during our honeymoon:
http://www.mobilerepublic.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4432

June 2, 2008

Yay, we’re married!

It’s been a day since our wedding, and I have to say that it feels great to be married!

Mark and I are frantically packing for our honeymoon at the moment, but we will have more to share as soon as we get back. Thank you to everyone who made this such a special day for us.

May 27, 2008

Happy Anniversaries

The next few days are some significant anniversaries for Mark and me. Today, May 27, is the 2 year anniversary of our engagement. Then tomorrow is the beginning of what we call our “Two-Day Jubilee”, which is when we started flirting at Club Lamia (now G3 Lounge) on May 28. We officially kissed for the first time at about 2am on May 29, in the parking lot of Smart and Final (yes, such a romantic hot spot). As our friend Min Jung put it, that kiss was both “smart and final”. 

To commemorate these occasions, over the weekend, we took some engagement photos with Jay Jao. Here are some highlights:

 

And in just four days, we’ll have another milestone to celebrate. See you there!

May 23, 2008

Bridal Shower Photos

Photos from the bridal shower in Dublin (April 26) and Burlingame (May 10) have been posted online. Click on the photos to check out the highlights!

From Dublin (April 26): 

From South San Francisco (May 10):

March 18, 2008

Registering gifts with the government

This article about Carol Migden being fined by the California Fair Political Practices Commission reminded us that we are also being held accountable by the same commission. Since Mark works for California State Assemblymember Gene Mullin, he is required to disclose the source and amount of any gifts valued at over $100.

What this means is that after the wedding, Mark and I need to submit an itemized list to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, with the names and values of any $100+ gifts we receive.

We hope that this requirement does not discourage you from considering any gifts over $100 from our lovely gift registry. However, if the thought of your name in a government report scares you, there’s still a number of gifts from Target that are easy on the budget and that will keep you safe from Uncle Sam’s prying eyes.

February 25, 2008

Close Encounters with the Engaged Kind

A couple of weekends ago, Mark and I attended an Engaged Encounter retreat in Menlo Park. What a wonderful thing, for a couple to devote an entire weekend, in an idyllic setting, working on their relationship, right? Well, honestly, we weren’t too thrilled about having to go to this retreat.

In order to be married at St. Ignatius Church, we were required to take a marriage preparation course. We had just moved to our new apartment in South City, and hadn’t even been living in our place for a week before packing up for a weekend outing. Not only that, we would each be staying in separate rooms, 1950s style. Out of deference to Catholic Church values, the genders had to sleep separately, no fooling around after hours.

We had never gone to a Church retreat and didn’t know what to expect; singing, prayer marathons, Bible quizzes? We envisioned ourselves sitting with other couples, discussing intimate and embarrassing details of our lives to total strangers. The thought of talking about nothing but our feelings for two days straight didn’t exactly appeal to us.

About twenty other couples attended the retreat with us. The presenting couples, Luis & Carol Aguilar and Joe & Maria Bonkowski, each took turns presenting a topic, partly lecturing, partly sharing their personal experiences in their marriages. They covered topics such as fighting fairly (no Robin Williams-style provocations, thankfully), decision-making, and forgiveness. After their presentations, each person spent about 20 minutes writing separately about the topics, before meeting back with their future spouses to discuss their answers.

During breaks, Mark pretended that we were at a drug rehab clinic, suffering from pseudo-withdrawal symptoms as we shuffled through the gardens. We also had to be quiet around another group that was on a silent retreat, since they couldn’t tell us if we were bothering them.

There were some cheesy, yet fun moments. We definitely sang, during a Church prayer service and at a serenade of romantic songs by the guys. The gals got silk roses from their guys before a group activity, where people revealed whether or not they agreed with certain statements (such as, “I don’t like seeing hair on soap”). One of the presenting couples, Joe and Maria, performed a hilarious skit about neglecting your wife during the Super Bowl (it was supposed to be about what NOT to do as a couple, but come on, nobody should be interrupted during the Super Bowl).

The writing and sharing exercises sparked conversations on some topics that we hadn’t thought about before. Mark and I talked openly about various issues, and while we didn’t figure out all the answers, we resolved to work with each other to strengthen our relationship. As it turns out, we are still convinced that we want to get married (whew!). The retreat turned out to be an enjoyable experience and helped affirm our commitment to each other.

December 12, 2007

Welcome!

Mark and I would like to welcome you to our official wedding website! Over the next few weeks and months, we’ll add more stories about ourselves, how we met, where we’re getting married, who’s in the wedding party, etc. etc. Check back regularly and find out what’s happening with us! Thanks for visiting!