Weddingbee Blog

Who needs diet and exercise, proper nutrition or skin care when you can apparently photoshop life’s little imperfections away.

For some amazing pre and post airbrush pics, go to this site! Click on “portfolio” “agree” and “before/after” …

Maybe I should reconsider Weight Watchers?

Favors are always one of the most popular topics of discussion when it comes to weddings. We want to give something guests will like, but we also don’t want to break the bank (a gift for each guest really adds up!)

I’m always on the lookout for cool favors and came across these garden themed gifts on Olive Barn. My favorite thing on the site is this Italian Bread Baker in a terracotta baker’s pot. At $12.95 a piece they’re a little pricey but too adorable. It even comes with a little whisk!

Some other great things the site carries are: Wedding sprinkles (flower seeds); $2.95

Garden in a bag flowers; $12.99

Garden in a bag (mini tulips and irises); $7.99

Herb in a bag; $6.95, 6/$39.00

Garden in a bag (tomatoes); $8.95, 3/$25.00

Christmas tree kit; $9.99

A lot of other sites carry the garden in a bag so I’d check them out for the best prices and selection: amazon, wishingfish, calliopeboutique, wrapables, earthlygoods.

Earthlygoods also carries these personalized seed packets (flowers, herbs, veggies); $200 for 500. A couple of seed packets (maybe of your wedding flowers) with a little terracotta pot would make a nice favor.

They also carry a customizable Wedding seed pack.

And even seed embedded invitations that you can plant after reading!

The Window Box carries a couple of cute items including the Eggling; $8.95

And the Lucky Clover Growing Kit. You’re lucky in love so why not give some good luck wishes to your guests; $4.95

These favors are especially perfect if you’re having an outdoor or garden themed wedding.

Arak Kanofsy Studios offers couture wedding stationery where everything is custom tailored to your specific vision.

We offer the ultimate in personalization empowering and interpreting each client’s personal story and celebration. Our approach and work are created to be the epitome of luxury; always sophisticated and expressive.

Stationery goes a long way in personalizing a wedding and they do some fantabulous work. But wow… I bet this costs a bundle!

Just in case any of you are interested I got this emailed to me from NY Magazine. (click on image)

Want to add a little bling to your wedding? La Petite Fleur offers personalized cake knife sets and champagne flutes bejeweled with your choice of colors for $85 each.

They also offer many custom baked goods from miniature ice creams fruits (love it!),

to cookies,

to hand decorated almonds,

hand decorated mints and more!

Do you have a wedding question? Need advice?

Ask weddingbee at ask@weddingbee.com!

This past Saturday, Miss Butterfly and I attended The Bridal Event at the Pierre. This was actually the first bridal event I attended in New York! The free wedding magazines and goodies alone made it worth attending. Actually I did have a good time and liked looking through all the wedding album options out there because I still haven’t made my albums a year after my wedding.

Anyway while we were there, we did a little interview about weddingbee with Robert of the Wedding Podcast Network. You can download the podcast (which also includes interviews with brides and grooms) on the site and listen to it. Our interview is about halfway through so check it out!

I received a sample of Aunt Nalani’s Cookies yesterday. The packaging is beautiful. However, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the cookies themselves; they are much smaller than those shown on the website. I think the cookies would make a nice favor for the shower, but I’ll go with something else (hopefully the photobooth), for the wedding.

I joined Weight Watchers yesterday! With the wedding less than 4 months away, I really need to get my act together. I’m not looking to get skinny (that ain’t gonna happen ) but I do want to lose a size… more for the honeymoon than the wedding, since the dress will fit me now.

Weight Watchers is pretty easy - stick to one of their two eating plans, go to a weekly meeting (and weigh-in) and pay $13 a week. Wish me luck… I have my first fitting next week, so I probably should have joined earlier, but better late than never.

Today, more and more people are sending out save the dates. Because they are are usually sent out so far in advance, people often want them to be something that will be held onto (magnet, calendar, etc.). I was cleaning out my 2005 wedding magazines today and came across a great save the date idea in an old issue of Modern Bride - a monogrammed bookmark! All the materials were purchased through Paper-Source (woohoo!) so it’s a project you can do yourself.

These bookmarks come in 7 different colors with a prepunched hole in the top where you can add a ribbon. 25 for $6.

Then monograms were glued onto the bookmark. These come in 6 different colors and are $5 for 10.

A piece of cardstock was glued onto the back of the bookmark with the “save the date” information. I love this idea - easy, affordable, and practical!

When I first started planning my wedding, I had just moved to New York from Los Angeles. None of my bridesmaids were able to try on dresses since they lived in California, so I went to try them on myself. I had challenges finding red bridemaids dresses and trying to find a flattering style for 3 completely different body types. With only 6 months to plan the wedding, I made a pretty quick decision because the bridesmaids dresses took a couple of months to come in plus I needed to ship them to California with enough time for my bridesmaids to get alterations.

In retrospect I wish I had done a little more research because there are so many gorgeous bridesmaids dresses out there that you can really wear again after the wedding. I think I could have found something better… alas time was of the essence.

One of my favorite designers is Lazaro.

I lean towards feminine, flowing, girly frocks. They’re just so pretty!

Paper-Source is one of my all time favorite stores. I’ve visited the one in Pasadena, CA and I’m just waiting until they open a store in New York! Meanwhile they have an awesome website where you can order beautiful, high quality paper products from.

I just found out that they’ve added instructional videos to their site on how to make many of their wedding stationery products.

envelope liners

#10 booklet

petal

pocket folder

program kits and more!

This makes DIY easy for even the craft challenged!

I saw this in the most recent New York/New Jersey issue of weddingchannel magazine. M. Avery Designs in Hoboken, New Jersey offers “make your own handbag” parties either in their studio or at your home.

A host is also provided to oversee the entire event.

Each party allows for your guests to custom design the bag of their dreams choosing the style, the fabric and all the extras, just like on the website. Your custom bag creation is then manufactured for you by hand in the M Avery Designs studio and sent to you 3 weeks following the party.

Prices vary according to the handbag style, but they are very reasonable - this adorable Heather Envelope Clutch is only $32. Plus they’ll make it in reversible fabric for free so you can have a formal fabric on the outside for the wedding and maybe a different fabric for everyday use on the other side.

This would be a great idea for a bridal shower or bachelorette party. Or you could do this with your bridesmaids and give them the bags as bridesmaids gifts. So cute!

I wrote a blog about the best wedding movies recently, but I have to confess that I’m actually a big fat sappy sucker for romantic comedies and tear jerking love stories. I make Mr. Bee watch so many with me he recently said he was gonna go watch an action flick without me because he hadn’t seen one in so long.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret - The Notebook was the first dvd I rented when I first joined Netflix. Mr. Bee watched it with me and he confessed….. that he liked it.

These are my all time favorite romantic comedies:

Love Actually

Ever After

When Harry Met Sally

50 First Dates

Serendipity

Chances Are

Pretty Woman

Forget Paris

Romantic Movies that aren’t comedies:

The Notebook

Untamed Heart

The English Patient

Before Sunset

I know there are a couple more that I’m forgetting, but these are movies that I’ve watched a million times. I own almost all of them but I still watch them whenever they come on tv. We’re all super romantic girly girls deep down inside.

Here’s a list of the 100 greatest chick flicks of all time. What are your favorite chick flicks?

Photographer Search I

I met with another photographer this weekend - just to check out her work. Here’s a review.

Photographer 3 - China Jorrin Photography (her name is pronounced Chee-na)

Packages & Pricing:

• 6 hours, 18 rolls film and digital - $2800
• 8 hours, unlimited film and digital, proof prints in box - $3000
• 8 hours, unlimited film and digital, proof prints in 2 books - $3400
• 8 hours, unlimited film and digital, proof prints in 2 books, 2 parent albums (30 4×6 images) - $3700

Extras:

• Per hour fee - $350 (engagement shoots)
• Film per roll - $50
• Proof books (300 4×6 images per book) - $300 for first, $200 per additional
• All prices include tax and travel
• All packages include negatives

Final Rating:
A-/B+

I think her work is really great for this price range. She has a background in documentary shoots, so her pictures come out with a great quality and have a lot of depth and emotion. However, she doesnt work with an assistant, so it’s impossible to get simultaneous shots (i.e. groom getting ready at the same time the bride is getting ready OR close up ceremony shot vs wide angle shot).

I really liked her work, but I think her personality would fit better with someone who’s not such a bridezilla as I am. She’s very laid back and relaxed, whereas I am super bubbly and like to think fast, talk fast and do fast. So I need a photographer who can deal with that. Also, she just started offering albums, but apparently most people do their own albums when they work with her.