Weddingbee Blog

You’re lucky you won’t be wearing one of these horrific concoctions this St. Patrick’s Day! Brought to you by the good folks over at UglyDress.com - a collection of the world’s most hideous bridesmaids dresses.

I know some of you have been waiting for this and I’m sorry I took so long to post but here goes… (Double click any of the photos to enlarge)

I was originally going to do this and I even cut it out and everything:

But then I decided after doing the ‘S’ and the ‘A’ that it would be too expensive doing another letter since each flower was a $1, so I tossed the ‘J’ out.

Here are the tools that I used (Everything bought at A.C. Moore):

• Hot glue gun (I bought a hot glue bowl that you plug into the wall which I think is better for this project)
• Hot glue
• Styrofoam cutting knife / serated knife
• Scissors
• Wire cutters
• Floral wire
• Silk / any fake flower
• Styrofoam boards

First I blew up the letter that I wanted on Microsoft Word to about 500 font. When I printed it, it actually printed on 4 sheets of paper. I cut it out and stuck the template onto the styrofoam board with little pieces of the floral wire bent. Then I used my knife and cut the letter out. It gets really messy once you start cutting. If you have a wooden letter instead, I’d highly recommend that over the styrofoam. Also word of advice, don’t cut your letters too thin. The flowers will weigh down the styrofoam and cause it to break.

This is what it looked like after I cut it out:

Then I got my flowers and I popped the heads off:

Bunch up the flower so the petals don’t get damaged and dip the bottom into the hot glue:

Then press the flower into the styrofoam. Be careful not to burn your fingers. The glue is very hot! I would actually start on the edges:

And once you’re done the edges work your way down starting from the top:

After you’re done you attach your ribbon. I used floral wire to hold it in place. You have to be really careful otherwise your wire could end up just chipping off pieces of the styrofoam. Voila! You’re done!

(Without flash)

(With flash)

I will NEVER do this again. It’s very time consuming. If you’re coming to the wedding DO NOT TOUCHIE! They will break and then I will have to break you.

(Double click to enlarge)

We didn’t finish though. My friends Anna, Jane, and Nancy came over to help. Mr. Ladybug and I fed the skanks and got them working like a bunch of factory workers. Work it bitches, work it! Jane looked possessed half of the time, Nancy was bitching as usual, and Anna actually got into the whole arts and crafts stuff. She made the bows and stuck the clasps on. Aren’t they cute?!

Mr. Ladybug and I also went to apply for our mawwage license yesterday in Philly. My mom is going to go pick it up for us on Monday.

I’ll post my DIY Floral Monograms before I go to sleep. It’s weird. I don’t know 99% of you but I actually missed you guys these few days since I haven’t been updating as much.

I have some very exciting things that are going to happen with our wedding. As soon as I know more details I’ll post them up as I go along. I can’t wait to share it with you guys.

Miss me,
Ladybug

With and without flash

My aisle runner! 75 ft of off white patterned fabric from Brides Village. I love it when I come home after completing something on my to do list and then I open the door and something else just got checked off my list. I lub eeeet!

Let me just say that if and when you go pick up your gown DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT carry it on the subway like an idiot and no I did not do that yes I did.

I got on the Path and right before I got off at my stop these 2 guys were about to fight on the train. I was like, “OH HELLS NO YOU AIN’T FIGHTING NEAR MY DRESS! IF YOU EVEN GET A DROP OF BLOOD ON THIS I WILL GOUGE YOUR EYES OUT AND I WILL CUT YOU MOTHER FUDGERS!!!”

Ok I didn’t say it but I was thinking it so stfu. Oh and please ignore my blue bed sheet in the back that is binder clipped to the window. Haha…now that is ghetto fab if I do say so meshelf.

Today I was at work minding my own business when the package delivery woman came up and made me sign for a box.

Guess what I got from Aegie? I am truly touched. She doesn’t even know me and she sent me this because she thought I was stressed out.

She even got me a card! Let me read you the card she wrote to me: (Ahem)

Dear Susan,
I worship the ground you walk on. I am not a lesbian but if I were I wish you were my woman. I think we could be best friends if we met. It would mean so much to me if I could braid your hair like Pocahontas and just be in your presence. Please consider this.

I also want to give you 2 free puppies. I know you’ll name them something clever like Hercules and Zeus.

Love,
Angie.

How did you know?! So sweet! Psych. That’s not what she wrote you gullible biotches. I showed Mr. Ladybug and he swears that we are “all crazy bitches.” He’s soooo jealous and don’t even know it.

Thank you so much Ange. I am honestly from the bottom of my heart truly moved. Now we have to meet and hold hands like lesbians and skip down Park Ave and scare all the rich people in their chinchilla fur coats!! Hahaha. No but seriously we have to meet. Have you ever touched chinchilla? It feels really REALLY nice. I would just buy a chinchilla fur coat just to have it next to me while I watch TV so I can just pet it all day long and talk to it.

Schylling offers these fun favors that your guests will get a kick out of. There’s a button underneath this bride and groom wooden thumb toy that makes them dance! ($4.99)

(source: In Style Weddings)

This bride and groom rubber ducky set is $3.99. They’re sure to make your guests’ baths a splash!

We featured Filigree Monograms last year for their wonderful monogrammed wedding products.

The latest thing they offer is monogrammed dress labels. Knottie bride of the week meg&ksexton had one sewn into her beautiful wedding dress (pictured above).

Traditionally the bride’s maiden initials are used for the wedding gown monogram. A few tiny stitches secures the label to the inside top of the dress or at the hemline.

A perfect “something blue” gift.

$45 at Filigree Monograms.

Actor Jack Black eloped with his girlfriend Tanya Hadden in Big Sur California.

(photo: Unimedia)

Congrats to the happy couple! Interesting tidbit - Tanya is a triplet!

I love boxed invitations because they’re different from your run of the mill invite and everyone loves receiving a package. But they’re also super expensive… until now! Paper-Source has these great DIY boxed invitation sets for $217 - $240. (For some reason they’re impossible to find on the site so type in “boxed invitations” into the search feature.)

The components for the set above include:

• 50 Luxe Mailing Boxes
• 50 flat cards 5″ x 7″
• 50 label wraps 2 1/4″x13″
• 50 sashes 3 1/2″ x 11″
• 30 White sheets 8 1/2″ x 11″ to print your invitations
• 1 roll 1/4″ Ivory Satin ribbon
• 50 Yellow Flower Bouquets

Of course if you’re feeling super creative, you could buy the mailer box and all the components separately to create your own invitation.

You can also buy an embosser and a return address plate to emboss your return addresses on the envelopes - it’s an affordable way to make your invitations look expensive and elegant. Plus you can use the embosser to create your own stationery after the wedding.

These invites will look like the cost you a fortune.

Ok I promise not to talk about Paper-Source anymore… unless they come out with new products.

Yesterday we blogged about emitations - a company that creates knock offs of the most popular celebrity red carpet jewelry. Today I came across two similar sites.

Sparkles Forever

Inspired Silver - which created a special line for the television program The View.

I guess we just can’t get enough of celebrity style. I know I can’t because my secret guilty pleasure is my subscription to US Weekly. Shhh….

I absolutely loved the elegant wedding hairstyles featured on Once Upon a Bride’s site. The vintage inspired combs, brooches and headbands they used in their hairstyles were simply gorgeous.

I gave the place a call and chatted with the owner about the different services they offer. Once Upon a Bride is actually a full service bridal studio that travels to you on your wedding day. Their services include make-up, hair styling, hair cut/color, airbrush makeup, spray tan, eyelash extensions and make-up/hair lessons. They even carry a line of hair accessories.

Prices vary depend on whether you book a senior stylist, the founder, or the owner. Trial consultations last approximately 2 1/2 hours where several different looks will be tried.

Trial Consultations - $250-$300
Bridal hair - $250-$450.
Bridal make-up - $250-$450
Wedding Party hair - $125-$150
Wedding Party make-up - $125-$150

Once Upon a Bride
296 Elizabeth Street (Bet Bleecker & Houston)
212-696-7829

I went to try on wedding dresses for the first time yesterday!!

I learned two things while trying on dresses. One - I need to lose a LOT of weight. Two - I LOVE very long trains. I found a dress that I absolutely adored, however, the neckline was all wrong - no halters for me. But the dress itself was beautiful… oh I hope I can find one similar to it!

Anyway, I’m a complete newbie at dress shopping and I know nothing about necklines, gown styles, etc. I found this site that explains all the different styles, necklines, sleeves, waistlines, and materials that’s pretty useful. Or you could go to this post by Miss Bee for pictures.

The dress that I fell in love with had beading all the way around the middle, with a ribbon bow passing through it. That was my favorite part of the dress! (Thanks to my friend Sara for picking it out!) Then the train… oh my god… the train was cathedral, very, very long, and had beading too. And it was a french bustle!!

The place I went to was the Bridal Garden. Not the fanciest place in the world, but I had very specific reasons for going there. When I first started planning my wedding, I wanted to rent a dress. I’m still going to go to the rental place to check out what they have, but it’s basically on a first come first serve basis. You go to try on the dress, if it’s in your size, then you can make minor alterations to it. But what about people like me who will lose at least 1 dress size before the wedding?

So I decided to at least consider buying a dress and at the Bridal Garden, all of the dresses are donated - either by designers or by brides. All proceeds go to a charity called Sheltering Arms Childrens Services. How can I say no to a dress that’s reasonably affordable and helps needy children in NY?

My thoughts on the place?

• Pros: No pushy sales people who work on commission. The people who work there are there to help you try on dresses, make sure the dresses don’t get damaged, and that’s pretty much it. One woman next to me must have tried on at least 15 different dresses while I was there and the employees were completely OK with that. They are honest with their opinions. I tried on one dress that was awful, and as soon as I walked out, they were making “ewww” faces.
  
• Cons: Not fancy schmancy at all. If you want to be pampered like a princess, then this is not the place for you. Some of the dresses were slightly damaged - like a busted zipper. But they are easy fixes.

Prices are reasonable - I saw dresses ranging from $500 to $2500 dollars. I saw designer labels everywhere too! I am going to shop around more (obviously), but now at least I know what type of dress I’m looking for.

For those of you who know what dress you want and want to buy it cheaper, you can always order them online.

Bridalgown.net
NetBride.com
Lee Philip Bridals

These three sites have gotten some pretty good reviews by real brides - although I would still do a lot of research for each place before placing an order. For most online stores, you basically go try on the designer dresses at your local store. Once you find the dress you like, you send in the model number, color, and size, and they’ll send you a quote. Pretty easy, especially if you have a dress in mind.

This article lists several online stores for wedding gowns that you might want to check out (scroll down to “hers and his apparel”).

I’m going to David’s Bridal on Saturday, so stay tuned for reviews!

I should have mentioned, I don’t love the make-up, so it’s back to the drawing board (argh!).

The bright side (yes, there is a bright side) is that I finally found a celebrity photo to show to make-up artists what I’m going for. I kinda like the hair too if I decide not to go with it half up… but I’m not ready to deal with hair until makeup is squared away.

Here are the results of my trial with Meredith Carre. I’m not crazy about the lower eyelid eyeliner or the lower lash mascara. I tried taking some off, but not much could come off without disturbing the rest of the look. Please ignore the bad hair…

Before:

After (with darker lipstick):

After (with lighter lipstick) … that liner is making me look a bit bug-eyed in pictures:

At home (after taking off some off some of the under-eye liner) … my own lipgloss … I like this the best of the three:

As a comparison, this is the make-up trial I did last week: