Weddingbee

Read more… or Read more right here… »

Loved its vintage style and eBay price ($225), but the ease of wear was almost even better. The train was manageable, I could sit, walk, and dance without trouble, and not once did I have to suck in my stomach, adjust the neckline, or otherwise worry about my dress in any way…. I was free to just enjoy myself and be a bride!

Red Shoes: No-Name Brand from eBay

Originally, I considered wearing beribboned ivory pumps for the ceremony and switching to these flats for the reception. But I don’t wear heels often, and after suffering through the rehearsal dinner in 3″ heels, I swore it would be flats for the wedding day. Turns out it was a great decision — not only was I extremely comfortable, but my cheerful red shoes made me happy all day. And the guests loved them too — I got so many comments on my “ruby slippers.”

And, in a funny coincidence, my mother showed up wearing the same shoes in gold!

Veil: Veilsbylana on eBay

I knew that I wanted a veil because wearing one made me feel “like a bride.” In fact, as soon as we put it on, my bridesmaids remarked that “wow, you were a bride before, but now you look like a BRIDE!!”

Beautifully crafted veils can run hundreds of dollars. But you certainly don’t have to shell out that much. My version was $35 (including shipping) on eBay. In fact, it was the most expensive version in the seller’s whole store. And it did the trick just fine.

Parasol:

I love the look of parasols in wedding photos, so I picked up a few red parasols for the bridesmaids from the Paper Lantern Store. For myself, I bought a beautiful vintage Japanese parasol off eBay … but as I opened it to show it to my MOH during our dressing hour, it EXPLODED! Apparently, seven-decades-old paper = very fragile. So, back to red!

Shawl:

In my mind, our late-March wedding would enjoy beautiful, sunny, spring-like weather. Sadly, the reality was much colder. Thank heavens I panicked and picked up a shawl (a peacock, which I love, in red and turquoise like our wedding colors) from eBay a couple of weeks before the wedding.

Other Accessories:

I did carry a small clutch, which I purchased off eBay for less than $10. I’m glad it was inexpensive, because in the end it just sat in a corner all day. It would have been far easier to ask my MOH to carry my lipstick and handkerchief.

My ruby earrings were originally for sale in my own small eBay store, but I always loved them and wished I could keep them for my own. It was so exciting when I realized they were red and perfect for my dress! Sadly, I don’t have much of a photo.

The shawl wasn’t entirely warm enough, so I also resorted to an ivory wool coat that I already owned. (From eBay, of course! $40 from seller evaluebrands, which sells Bloomingdales catalog returns.) And it looked fine, even over my dress. Because, when in doubt, it’s better to be warm than to suffer for fashion! (Though, even growing up in Wisconsin in below-zero winters, I’m afraid it took me a while to learn that particular fashion philosophy….)

How will you accessorize your wedding day?
« Hide it

Read more… or Read more right here… »

And you know what? They did it and they got married.

As sad as it is and as disappointed I would be if something like that happened to me, I find this story kind of awesome because it reminded me, as frantic as I am with 50 days (50 days?!?) left to go, that a lot of the stuff that we brides freak out about is just gravy. Lots of things in life don’t turn out exactly as we plan, but we still get through them and many times, we end up stronger and better because of it.

God knows it’s hard to be zen during the craziness of a wedding, but for the next month and a half, I’m going to try and keep this story in the back of my head to remind myself as long as Mr. Hum and I are together, we can get through anything.

Anyway, since it’s Friday and a day that totally requires happy thoughts, I want to know - Married ladies, did anything go wrong at your weddings and how did you deal with it?
« Hide it

Read more… or Read more right here… »

I was happily surprised to be contacted by a few people who know me and saw my posts just by chance (Hi Cassie!). A couple of my college friends who I haven’t talked to in years, and a girl from my hometown recognized me and wrote to say hi. I’m telling you, weddingbee is everywhere! (Like seriously everywhere- look: countries represented). There are readers in countries I can’t even pronounce. I dutifully blur out my personal info from my invitation posts and refrain from using our last names, but the truth is, our info is sort of out there for all to see.

So come out come out wherever you are… do you know one of the bees in “real life”? And am I the only blogger out there who worries a little bit about anonymity?

« Hide it

Read more… or Read more right here… »

I’m super excited about this pre-wedding party because there is no pressure. It’ll just be a fun opportunity to hang out with some of our favourite people at our house. We’ll probably serve BBQ, beer, and cupcakes. Mmmm. I’m digging the contrast between our informal “rehearsal” dinner and our more formal wedding reception. I also like the cost saving properties of this plan. Plus it’ll be a nice opportunity for everyone to meet each other before the wedding.This seems like a good (random) opportunity to introduce you to the Gingerbread kids

Hannah is the queen of the house.

Abby and Henry are angels when they’re sleeping.

Okay, back to weddings… Is anyone else doing something super laid back for their rehearsal dinner or wedding?
« Hide it

Read more… or Read more right here… »

Joanna and Christopher

Laura and Ian

« Hide it

Read more… or Read more right here… »

A few days into our trek we went to Paris. On our second day there, we did a whirlwind day of sightseeing: the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, and then we decided to go the top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset. We had timed the sunset at 8:15 pm the day before, so we got to the Eiffel Tower at 7:00pm. After waiting 45 minutes in line and taking the elevator up to the second level, I had to go the restroom really bad. Unfortunately, a French woman was cleaning the only bathroom on the second level, and wouldn’t let anyone in until she finished.

Twenty minutes later we got in line for the top, and by this time we had missed sunset. Mr. Cookie was really grumpy at this point and was sulking. While we were standing in line for the top I said, “Why are you so grumpy? I am really going to be mad at myself if you were going to propose at the top, and I ruined it by going to the bathroom.”

Well, we made it to the top. It was really windy and crowded, so we went back down.

We had planned to have a picnic of crackers, wine, and cheese on the Champ de Mars by the Eiffel Tower. As Mr. Cookie was taking out the wine cork, it broke in halfk,5j4ii6i so I grabbed a pen out of my bag. As Mr. Cookie was digging out the cork, the pen exploded. He grabbed my bracelet, which is bendable, and successfully pulled the cork out just as the light show at the Eiffel Tower started. As we were snuggling, Mr. Cookie says to me, “I have a present for you. Since, I didn’t get you a ring, I got you these earrings.” He pulled out these beautiful pair of earrings, and we went back to snuggling.

Quick digression: Two weeks prior to the trip, Mr. Cookie had literally devastated me by saying one night that he wasn’t ready to get married. I was crushed because we had been talking about getting married for months, so when he pulled out the earrings, I thought it was the proposal and was even more disappointed when it wasn’t. Unbeknownst to me, it was all apart of Mr. Cookie’s plan.

Then Mr. Cookie starts saying “You’re my partner, my best friend, my travel buddy and I want to travel through this thing called life with you!” gets down on one knee, and pulls out the ring. Instantly, I started crying.

FYI: I said yes!!!

Sorry it’s a really bad photo, but this is me with my ring after the proposal

I have to give Mr. Cookie props for the best proposal ever! He put a lot of time and attention into the proposal, and also played it mighty cool when things went wrong. Also, I have to give Mr. Cookie major props for the ring — I’ll have some better photos later. He picked out my round cut three-stone platinum ring all by himself! Then he had it hidden in our house for a month without me even knowing, and traveled through airport security and three countries before placing it on my finger. I truly love this man!

« Hide it

Read more… or Read more right here… »

She used the template she created to cut votive wraps from vellum. She was able to fit 4 wraps per sheet. We used beautifully shimmery gold vellum from Paper Source.

Then my mom decided to give the wraps some texture by running them through the Cuttlebug machine. She used a paisley folder to create a gorgeous paisley design on each wrap. Because the Cuttlebug can only take lengths of 6 inches at a time, she had to do the embossing in two parts.

I love the design because it’s a little bit Indian inspired and I think the texture adds such a luxe touch.

Then she set about wrapping each votive with the vellum wraps. She initally used vellum tape, but for some reason, it came apart after a few hours! So she tried an adhesive spray with better results.

And here they are all lit up!

We’re going to have about 5-6 on each table and I think they’re going to look so pretty. Thanks Mom!** I promise I’m not a bossy crafts task-master. My mom loves doing these projects and excitedly volunteers to do them « Hide it

Read more… or Read more right here… »

Now, I think we can all agree that buying a tux would be silly (unless I’d bought it years ago before going to five proms… oh the rental savings!) especially since I’m unlikely to get much wear out of it. But I don’t own a suit. I don’t even own a good suit jacket! A suit is something I could get some future wear out of, and as such I’d entertain the idea of getting a good one that I could wear for the wedding and beyond.

Wearing a suit instead of a tux does present some problems… there’s less to color-coordinate with groomsmen, bridesmaids and bride; no cummerbund or vest to be had, but I do get a tie instead of a bow tie. And buying a suit raises some questions: what accents can I use besides pocket squares and a necktie? And if I wear a suit, do I put the groomsmen in tuxes or rented suits to (hopefully) match?

What do you ladies think? Is a nice suit just as worthy of a wedding as a tuxedo? (Obviously we’re not having a black or white-tie wedding.)

And what if I wanted to get something made in dark gray instead of black? Is that too gauche?

From Miss Cherry Pie: I just realized while looking for photos to illustrate this post that except in the most extreme examples, I cannot tell the difference on-sight, between some suits and tuxes.According to Pricescope, “Tuxedos are always one button, there are two different types of lapels to choose from (shawl or peak, never notched–that would fall into a “suit” category), tuxedo pants never have belt loops…and there are many other details we would never even think of on an everyday basis! But there are many differences not necessarily noticeable to the non-discriminating eye that determine the difference.” Welp. The more you know…(Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4)

« Hide it