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Hello, hive! We’ve got another great giveaway for you today! Keep reading to find out how to enter for your chance to win a $250 gift card to Blue Nile!
What’s not to love about Blue Nile? They’re exclusively online and the biggest online retailer of certified diamonds, engagement rings, and fine jewelry. Is bigger better? YES! The perfect diamond for you—size, cut, clarity, and price—is definitely at Blue Nile. They have over 100,000 diamonds to choose from…yep. 100K.
If s/he already put a ring on it, but you’re still looking for that perfect “something blue,” we love Blue Nile’s selection of jewelry in sapphire, topaz, and aquamarine—a blue for every color palette!
Featured (Clockwise from top right): Diamond Curved Necklace 2ctw | Halo Diamond Earrings 1ctw | Blue Topaz and Diamond Pendant Classic Akoya Cultured Pearl and Diamond Earrings | Classic Akoya Cultured Pearl Strand Necklace | Fleur Diamond Earrings 1.5ctw
Pearls, platinum, colored stones, gold, silver, platinum, and more…whew. Jewelry makes the perfect gift for your family and bridal party that they can wear for your wedding and beyond. Shop anytime, with 24/7 live and commission-free customer service, free FedEx shipping on all orders, and a comprehensive education and guidance section helping you with your purchasing decisions every step of the way, day or night.
Are you ready to win some fine jewelry?
Entry is simple:
The grand prize winner will receive a $250 gift card to Blue Nile, and two runners-up will receive $100 Blue Nile gift cards!
You have until 11:59 PM PST on May 28 to enter. Good luck!
You can follow Blue Nile on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.
I strongly believe that life shouldn’t go “back to normal” immediately following a wedding. I couldn’t imagine spending a year of my life planning one day, only to go back home after the reception and return to work on Monday.
Of course, this all comes down to budget. And time off work, but I just want to focus on the budget element of this right now.
We’re incredibly fortunate to be able to go away for three weeks the day after we get married, but before the option of Disney became available, we threw around some lower-budget ideas. Although I have to admit, I found it near impossible to find something “honeymoon-worthy” for around £500.
A couple of weeks ago, a colleague of mine was taken on a surprise birthday trip by his girlfriend. When he returned he sent me a link to the place he stayed, and Oh.My.God why hadn’t I known about this site before?!
If you live in the UK and want a mini getaway for less than £500 (or even less in some cases) then I want to let you in on this little secret…
Canopy & Stars is a site that lists rural retreats across the UK, Spain, France, and Portugal. Some of these cabins are to die for.
My colleague stayed at The Wriggly Tin in Hampshire.
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Image via Canopy & Stars
There are two of these little huts in a secluded meadow—one at each end. With a shabby-chic interior, this hut also has a wood-burning stove, hurricane lamps, and candles. No electric here—you are completely cut off from the world in your own little romantic bubble.
FutureMrsHuneyBee shares a photo of her brightly colored DIY tulle flower girl skirts.
Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the Weddingbee Gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.
If your photo is featured as the Gallery of the Day, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! Check out instructions on how to grab the badge here!
Last November Sparky and I went to a charity wedding event. We’d gone to a couple of events, but this was the first one that was entirely for charity. This was something we were really excited about—getting wedding vendors we needed AND donating money was kind of wonderful.
Sparky with a mighty fine mustache / Personal photo
Get Hitched Give Hope (also mentioned two times by Mrs. Cherry Pie!) was part silent auction and part live auction. The proceeds for this event went to the Dream Foundation, which is like the Make a Wish but for adults. The beautiful thing about the evening was that the founder for the charity was there and he told a moving story about his husband who passed away and how he wanted to make his last months super meaningful.
One of my rationales for having an insanely long engagement was the idea that I could do many DIY projects and not be rushing to do them at the last minute.
I didn’t really take into account that I am a bit of a procrastinator and thus would still leave projects to do at the last minute anyways, but oh well, live and learn. It seems like I’m not the only one with this problem!
Here are a couple of projects that I’ve put together recently. I wanted to share them with you guys since I’m really proud of how they turned out, but they really aren’t big enough for their own post, so random projects in a row!
1) Thank you banner. Pbear thinks making a gigantic prop for one picture for our thank you cards is silly, but I kind of like it.
I have no idea why the peach photographs so orangey. *sigh*
It’s hard to tell from afar, but the letters have this gorgeous watercolor look to them.
And now you get to hear all about the Unicorns’ rehearsal…or lack thereof.
You see, after all my careful planning, Mr. Unicorn managed to derail my idea of how the rehearsal dinner ought to go.
Allow me to explain.
I’m sure y’all remember my diagrams detailing the EXACT order in which the bridesmaids and groomsmen were to walk up and down the aisle for the wedding. My original plan was to have them do a couple run-throughs before the rehearsal dinner. Sounds perfectly reasonable, right?
Apparently, Mr. Unicorn disagreed. For whatever reason, he got it into his head that he wanted to make a huge production of it. He wanted us to wait until all the guests arrived before calling our bridesmaids and groomsmen down one by one, in no particular order, to receive their thank you gifts.
Rather miffed that my very specific plans for the rehearsal were falling to pieces, I reluctantly agreed. Though, if looks could kill, there is a very good chance Mr. Unicorn would not have made it to the wedding day.
Once the guests arrived, Mr. Uni gave a little speech thanking everyone for coming. He thanked our parents, and we presented them with thank you gifts. Then he explained that food would be served after he introduced each bridesmaid and groomsman. Let me do the math for you: that’s 13 introductions.
Needless to say, by the end of it, everyone was eyeballing the barbecue with hungry looks. As soon as Mr. Unicorn finished his presentation, the horde descended upon the buffet line like locusts, and any attempt to divert their attention was in vain.
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Some of the groomsmen trying on their new hats! / Personal photo
After my recent dramatic post, I’ve decided to regale you all with hilarity in the form of my past. I’ve mentioned once or twice that I was kind of a bitch in high school, but this time there are PICTURES.
all photos personal
THEN:
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Sophomore year of high school. Oh yeah, guys, this is real—except, I didn’t say any of that. One of my classmates was on the yearbook committee and they needed a filler, so they used me. One of my first claims to fame. 
In high school, I was such an affected, miserable girl. I felt like I had no place in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun for a lot of it and I wasn’t, like, pushing people into lockers or anything. I was mostly just a bit of a know-it-all with a chip on my shoulder. I think my attitude was basically, “Yeah, well, my life is tough and I’m better than this high school and I CAN’T WAIT TO LEAVE and never come back, so THERE.” You know.
Before Mr. Palm Tree and I started dating, I was all “I don’t want to find a boyfriend in high school. Why do I want to be tied down? There’s no one here for me, anyway.” I was serious, too. I remember hanging out with BM Tiny Dancer one night shortly after Mr. Palm Tree and I started dating and her saying, “I can’t believe this is all coming out of your mouth. You didn’t want any of this but you seem so much…happier.”
I decided to give you a break from looking at my face for a while (after I inundated you with my engagement photos). Instead, I’ll talk to you about shoes again!
I mentioned previously that I was thinking about creating a pair of hand-painted Toms. I was a bit nervous about doing it myself because Toms are not exactly the least expensive shoe around.
I took some time to think about what I was hoping for and to sketch it out.
I traced the shoe and sketched what the top looks like.
I went with a Moroccan pattern because I thought it was simple but fun. I found the pattern through a Google image search, printed it on card stock, and cut out the pattern to make a stencil.
Once I was happy with how it looked on paper, I used a pencil and traced the pattern onto the shoe using my stencil.
MrsF2b shares this photo of tabletop wedding reception flowers.
Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the Weddingbee Gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.
If your photo is featured as the Gallery of the Day, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! Check out instructions on how to grab the badge here!
With only three and a half short months before I become Mrs. Camera, my to-do checklist is dwindling down in the loveliest way. Unfortunately, an open box remains next to “Bridal Party Gifts.” Seeing this makes the panic set in, for the millionth time.
As a reminder, we have eight bridesmaids and eight groomsmen. That’s sixteen members of the wedding party to gift…not including something for the flower girl and ring bearer, but they’re three and a half and two and a half, and not picky.
I’ve seen every common bridesmaid gift out there—personalized stationary, shot glasses, robes, travel coffee mugs, you name it. I just can’t seem to nail down an idea that I like, that would fit everyone, and that’s within our preset $20 limit per person. Below are some of the options I have put on the “possible ideas” list for my bridesmaids, though none are particularly jumping out at me.
1. Jewelry Roll: When my brother married his wife a few years ago, I was a bridesmaid and received a roll similar to this. I use it whenever I travel, and have found it quite useful. Mine is not personalized, but a lot of websites have options to do so.
Image via The Organized Bride Store
2. Tote Bags: I love tote bags, especially these from Land’s End or L.L. Bean. Unfortunately, the ones I find to be more useful are the larger ones, which tend to run over $30, out of our budget. I also am not sure if anyone else would actually enjoy them as much as I do.
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