Miss Jackrabbit, Brighton, UKAge and Occupation: 26, Office ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SongwriterEngagement Date: October 5, 2012Wedding Date: September 2013Venue: Fabrica Gallery, BrightonAbout Me: I honestly thought I'd go all Monica Geller when I started planning our wedding, but in truth, things couldn't have gone much differently. I am working my way through this venture, figuring things out as I go, and adopting a 'Que Sera, Sera,' approach to making decisions. When I'm not organising the biggest day of my life, I can usually be found drinking a glass of wine, crafting up one thing or another, or stopping my cat from head-butting me in the face.
Getting engaged made me do something I needed to do. Really, I should have done it a lot sooner, but once I got engaged I knew that soon time wouldn’t be on my side and I needed to get a move on. I needed to fix my skin.
I never had awful skin as a teenager, just normal teenage skin. A bit spotty, a bit oily, but not really bad acne that I’d seen others suffer with. However, as I got further into my 20s, I realised my skin wasn’t getting any better and with planning a wedding I figured I’d better get a move on to see if I could sort this out.
I made an appointment with my doctor for 9:00 AM so I could go and see her before putting on my makeup. When I walked in the room she asked me what my problem was, and when I told her it was my skin her response was, “Oh good! Because when I saw that I thought ‘well, if she’s not come about that then I will definitely have to mention something!’”
Naturally at first I was horrified—was it really that bad? But then I realised that this could only be a good thing. I had been worried at first that I’d be brushed off and it would be described as “cosmetic” and not really a problem, but she was adamant that we do something “aggressive” to sort this out.
Mrs. Hawk, Richmond, VAAge and Occupation: 26, FinanceFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, District SupervisorEngagement Date: March 13, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Chapel of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, 2007 Legacy HallAbout Me: I’m an Arizona-born girl who has spent the majority of my life living below the Mason-Dixon line. The South has definitely earned a special place in my heart (alongside my Virginia born and bred fiance, of course!). We are planning a traditional Christian ceremony at my alma mater in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, followed by a rocking reception filled with Southern cooking and vintage/shabby chic details. When we’re not wedding planning, we enjoy spending time with our three dogs, going for runs together, watching plenty of football (or baseball depending on the season), and sampling new wine.
As I sit here, it’s hard for me to grasp that an entire year has already passed us by. It’s almost as if I blinked and suddenly catapulted from May 19, 2012 to May 19, 2013, but it’s such a strange juxtaposition, feeling at the same time that we’ve been together forever.
I still remember those feelings of anxiety and nervousness as I primped and put on my dress…
Mrs. Toadstool, Obregon, MexicoAge and Occupation: 23, Research AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Sales ManagerEngagement Date: October 1, 2011Wedding Date: December 2012Venue: Hacienda los AgavesAbout Me: I’m a born and bred Mexican girl with a severe coffee addiction, an obsession for books and an aversion for exercise. I like to plan things, so this wedding’s my dream project---I just need to remind myself from time to time that I’m the bride and not just the planner. I recently realized brown’s my favorite color as I was trying to incorporate it in every aspect of our wedding and I'm dreaming of an autumn vibe since we don’t have that around here. I’m marrying my best friend and partner in crime on the day of our nine-year anniversary! He’s an awesome, smart, fun guy who is patient, and crazy enough to spend the rest of his life with me. We’re planning our not-so-dreamy dream wedding in December in a non-traditional way and making it our own.
I arrived with my parents and siblings at the venue at 2:00 PM.
Since we didn’t have a wedding planner or DOC, everything was up to us. The day before, Mr. Toadstool and I took my dress and all the decorations and store them at the venue, so I had to take everything out and tell my mom and sister how to set some things up, tell the people setting tables which table linens I wanted, and figure out a table for our fingerprint guestbook.
Meanwhile our photographer Alberto and videographer David started working on something I really, really wanted, getting pictures of my dress. So we took it out of the bag and they proceeded to shoot it while I ran around directing the people setting the tables.
At one point, my dad, who was looking at Alberto and David work, asked me (with a crazy laugh): “Are you that ugly, they’d rather photograph the dress without you in it?” Leave it to Daddy to make the joke of the day.
Mrs. Genie, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 23, Admissions AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, BiotechnologyEngagement Date: July 3, 2010Wedding Date: July 2012Venue: Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community CenterAbout Me: I am bibliophile and Disney nerd who is marrying her science genius high school sweetheart in not one, but two, weddings! When I am not working or wedding planning, I am usually found reading a book (or my Nook), weeping at an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, or frolicking in Disneyland. Mr. Genie is usually found rolling his eyes at my eccentric behaviors while playing Diablo III, solving great big science problems, and introducing me to highbrow television like Breaking Bad. We are getting married in a traditional American wedding, jetting to Costa Rica, and coming back for a traditional Bengali wedding one month later! I can’t wait to share all my plans with the Hive! "You ain’t never had a friend like me!"
We had chosen our first-dance song a long time before the wedding. We waffled between contemporary singer-songwriters and old classics, and decided on “In My Life” by The Beatles. When I read the lyrics, the words seemed so appropriate for us. We’d been together nine years by then, and had just promised each other the rest of our lives.
We sort of did the middle-school sway and sang to each other, but Mr. Genie, an alum of cotillion classes, added in some turns and fancy moves at the appropriate places. I was completely happy to follow and also not be worried about choreography. It was much like dancing at home, which was comfortable and easy.
Mrs. Lemur, Greenville, South CarolinaAge and Occupation: 22, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Security OfficerEngagement Date: October 9, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Pleasant Ridge Camp & Retreat CenterAbout Me: I may fancy myself a doctor after too many episodes of House—but in reality I'm finally almost done with my degree in business administration (less than three months left!). My fiance and I met at school in undergrad hundreds of miles away from either of our hometowns and have been happily running and hiking together ever since. We're undertaking a long distance relationship as I finish school and we plan our casual wedding for a day after graduation—needless to say, it will be the busiest and most exciting weekend of our lives so far!
I graduated with my master’s degree on May 3rd, and we got married on May 4th. Making matters more complicated, graduation was in the afternoon and we had a morning wedding…plus Mr. Lemur also graduated…plus I also had to move all of my stuff out of my apartment and pack it to travel 800 miles.
This was not my original plan. Back when we first started talking about dates, I was pushing for May 11th. We knew we wanted to get married in early May because South Carolina is *usually* already 85-plus degrees by that time of year. I also didn’t want a huge gap between finishing my degree and work contract and moving to a new area and finding a job.
Personal photo / Mr. Lemur and me with my grandparents after graduation
For many reasons, May 11th wasn’t convenient for the rest of our families. Namely, the fact that Mr. Lemur’s parents are in Michigan, and he has siblings in Utah, Guam, and Africa. My parents are in Wisconsin. It would have been incredibly difficult and in at least one case impossible for our closest family members to attend both our graduation and wedding. Not cool.
Miss Palm Tree, Pittsburgh, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Lease AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Associate Systems AnalystEngagement Date: December 22, 2011Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: The Fez in Aliquippa, PAAbout Me: I’m Miss Palm Tree - an opinionated, loyal and outgoing bride-to-be. I currently work as a Lease Analyst by day and a catering assistant by night. Mr. Palm Tree is a Computer Engineer with a love for all things cats. Mr. Palm Tree and I are absolute soul mates. Having grown up across the street from each other (I have the scars to prove it), we have been a part of each other’s lives for almost as long as we can remember. We are far from perfect: we fight, we get annoyed with each other and we certainly take advantage of knowing one another so well when pushed to the edge, but ultimately, what truly defines us as a couple is our love.
Please enjoy the musical stylings of Europe, provided for your reading pleasure.
Hive, I’m in the final stretch. I have gone from counting a year and some months, to just months, to weeks, to DAYS. Single-digit days at that.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a little bit crazier than usual (which is saying something—I’m kind of bananas). There has been so much going on lately that hasn’t even been wedding related. I’ve been working like crazy; there have been a lot of personal happenings and just general stuff. Granted, it’s helped the time fly, for which I am grateful, but it’s also found me in a weird place.
I’ve been so scatterbrained and, well, blonde lately. For instance, I was working an event earlier this week and had to park both my car and the catering van in a parking garage. I lost both vehicles…and by “lost” I mean that I walked the entire seven or so floors of the garage looking for both of them, only to find them both on the first and second levels. I’ve been unable to focus lately and have caught myself staring off into space or having completely blank moments. It’s so unlike me.
Miss Camera, Charlotte, NC/Charleston, SCAge and Occupation: 27 & Emergency Room Physician Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31 & Newspaper Editor/Designer
Engagement Date: October 7, 2012Wedding Date: September 2013Venue: The Island House, Charleston, SCAbout Me: I'm a north-to-south transplant, currently living in Charlotte, North Carolina, but still representing all things Pittsburgh, PA. One month after I moved to NC, I went on a date with a guy I met on Match.com, and now we're getting married! I work in a busy Emergency Room as a Physician Assistant and while the hours are sometimes difficult, I can't see myself doing anything else. I live with my fiance in uptown Charlotte. We have an opinionated 5 year old tabby cat named Milo and a sweet, but rambunctious 8 month old mutt named Charlie (short for Charlotte - she's a girl!). I've embraced Southern culture, and our wedding is no exception---what better location than Charleston, SC? I watch too much TV and know every word to every episode of Friends (I've watched The One With Monica and Chandler's Wedding at least a hundred times...hope I have enough money for Wedding Scenario A!). I love baking cupcakes, cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penn State Nittany Lions and am openly addicted to celebrity gossip and pop culture.
Hive, if you’re planning a wedding, surely you’ve come across this fantastic little group. I have no idea why “Vitamin” is in their name, but the VSQ is a string quartet based in Los Angeles, California that creates, performs, and records string versions of modern rock and pop songs.
Image via last.fm
These range from pretty much everything you can think of—they do “string quartet tributes” to Alice in Chains, Green Day, 311, Led Zeppelin, Adele, Beach Boys, Coldplay…this list goes on and on. Seriously, if you look at their website or iTunes page, they have upwards of 260 albums. Cray.
