Weddingbee Blog

Mrs. Bee isn’t feeling well today, so this is Mr. Bee guestblogging.

Miss Spider, I loved your post about Mr. Spider’s proposal! The description of his proposal was just classic:

I turn to Mr. Spider and that’s when I see that he’s shaking like a leaf.

He asks me a serious of ridiculous questions that made no sense and immediately I’m like WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?!? He tells me how on the ice he said that he always wants me to skate along side him and says that he wants me to be at his side for his whole life as well. He says other things too but I don’t hear him because I’m sobbing and screaming “oh my god, oh my god, what are you doing?”

He gets down on one knee, pulls out the ring box, flips it open and says “Will you marry me?” I’m crying, my hands are covering my face and a crowd has formed a circle around us. It seems like time is suspended. Finally Mr. Spider mumbles “You have to say yes”. And I do. Again and again and again.

As happy as the moment was, my heart went out to Mr. Spider. That’s because when I proposed to Mrs. Bee, she also forgot to say yes! Actually, I made the mistake of busting out the ring before I asked her to marry me… so I don’t think she heard a word of my proposal!

At the time, I was really surprised that she didn’t say “yes” right away. But over time, I’ve heard that girls are often just overwhelmed by the whole experience (especially if you surprise them). So they go into shock, and they don’t know what to say. I’ve always wondered if this was true.

What was your immediate reaction when your boyfriend proposed?

(or the trials and tribulations of trying to be a DIY Bride)

I tried. Really I did. I made designs. I printed mock-ups. I found discount printers. I really tried. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, so I am officially giving up my role as a do-it-yourself-bride.

I had my menu cards printed by Catprint. Their prices are great (turned out to be $50 for 150 cards), turn around time is only 7 days… the only problem is that I designed my menu cards in Word, using three colors (RGB or a combination of red, green & blue), while they print in the superior 4-color CMYK printing (a combination of cyan, magenta, yellow & black).

What was a bright chartreuse and papaya in RGB translated into quite drab olive and burgundy in 4-color printing. I don’t blame Catprint (although I wish they had a warning on their website), but since I don’t own MS Publisher or any other program where I can design in CMYK, I’m quitting the print & design business. Instead, I’ll be relying on the wonderful folks at whiteaisle to design and print everything for me in a bit of a hurry. I’ll post pictures once I have everything in hand, but the designs I received today were beautiful! Live and learn….

So lately I’ve been exploring my neighborhood. It all started when I was walking home after I got off the Path and decided to go into Gourmet Organic. I bought a grapefruit for 2 bucks (Are you friggin kiddin me? I didn’t even eat it. It went bad after a week and I chucked it) and a jar of mango chutney.

While I was there I picked up a new neigborhood magazine called NEW. It listed a lot of trendy places in Jersey City so I decided that I wanted to check some of them out. A few weeks back Mr. Ladybug and I went out to get Saturday brunch (I love brunch) at Beechwood Cafe. Not bad, the service sucks, but our waiter was very accomodating while we waited for our food.

Another day, after work, we decided to get burritos at Bubby’s Burritos (no website yet). The burritos are ginormous! This past weekend my sister and I went to check out a vintage store 3 blocks from my house called Hala Vintage. I never buy anything at vintage stores but I love going to them.

After flipping through my little magazine I noticed they listed a florist, Antheia, so I went to check out the site. Gorgeous flowers! Hopefully I’ll get to stop by soon just to pop my head in and to take a lil looksie. What girl doesn’t love flowers?

A bride and groom enjoy pizza at Joe’s on Bleeker Street this past Sunday.

It’s your wedding - why not enjoy the foods you love!

(via: gothamist)

Random placecard images I’ve found on the web… I think I recognize most of them from Martha Stewart.

For pretty, classic wedding shoes, check out Grace Footwear.

Available at Kleinfeld, The Wedding Library, RK Bridal, and more.

We are pretty big into photography at home (particulalry our own photography ), so we thought we might want to create customized stamps for our wedding invitations. At 17.99 for a sheet of 20, 39 cent stamps (a whopping $10 more per sheet than regular love stamps from the post office), I couldn’t bring myself to do it for this mass mailing.

I still think they are super cute and may revisit them when it comes to sending our thank you notes. If you have a lighter guest list or don’t mind spending twice the price on stamps, check out making custom stamps. Zazzle and PhotoStamps have great sites that let you create unique postage in a less than a minute.

Also, if you are like me and *hate* going to the post office, you can buy your stamps online from the US Postal Service. They usually ship within a day and there is little chance of the site telling you they don’t sell love stamps at their branch.

Dear Weddingbee Readers,

Thanks so much for all your email! I love reading them all… I have to admit though, I’m overwhelmed by the sheer volume :o.

I am learning that we just can’t answer and post all the questions we receive :(. But there is one big thing that helps a lot: if you keep your questions broad and relevant for other brides, we’ll do our best to get the answer up on Weddingbee!

In the meantime, we have a huge backlog of emails right now. We may even be facing email bankruptcy! I’m sorry about the delayed responses, and thanks for all your help!

Love,

Mrs. Bee

I must have looked at hundreds of booths at the National Stationery Show yesterday. The one booth that stood out the most for me, was Herman Yu.

(image via design*sponge)

I chatted with the artist a bit because I loved her polaroid like classic card collection - I wanted to hang them like artwork on my apartment walls.

(image via design*sponge)

Her cards are so pretty they just gave me an idea for a diy invitation… What about getting a stamp made with your invitation wording, and then stamping the inside of blank cards like this?

I thought her gorgeous desk calendar, which uses the images you see above, would make a wonderful save the date that everyone is sure to love and use.

I’m simply in love with her designs. You can find her work at stores like A.I. Friedman, Kate’s Paperie, the Clay Pot, the ABC Home Store and more in the New York area.

Haircomb - The haircomb that I posted on ebay is up for 1 more day so if you’re interested time is running out.

Veil / Unity Candle Holders / Beaded Accents - These were also posted on ebay and the bidding is over in 2 days so bid if you’re interested.

Cylinder Vases - I know a lot of you have inquired about them. I’m selling them locally only. I don’t want to risk them breaking during shipping so if you’re either in NY / Northern Jersey you’re in luck. Drop me another email. I have so many emails that have come in I can’t keep up. And the paper and ribbons that were on them were all taken off.

Birdcage - No I am not parting with my birdcage. I love it too much and want to keep it for home decor when we buy a house….in 4-5 years?

Also word of advice for those that are going with a unity candle for your wedding: For the fat middle candle, go cheap. For the 2 thin candles find out how long they’ll burn. We went cheap and those were burning so fast that they reached the ribbon. During the whole ceremony Mr. Caterpillar and I kept staring at the candles and nudging each other as it got closer, and closer to the ribbons I glued in the center.

Oh also, before I forget, I was walking to work this morning and I noticed this Asian girl walking towards me. As she got closer I thought she looked really familiar. You know who it was? (Click Me) For those who don’t know, she had a GORGEOUS wedding!

I read about the Glass Slipper Project, a Chicago based nonprofit organization, in the most recent issue of Brides magazine. The Glass Slipper Project accepts donations of dresses and accessories, and gives them to underprivileged girls who can’t afford to go to prom.

What a fantastic idea! I definitely want to donate the bridesmaid dress I wore in my sister-in-law’s wedding. Rather than keep it hanging in my closet where it’ll collect dust, I can help some girl attend prom. They encourage you to donate to the program that’s nearest to you so I’m sending my dress to Operation Fairy Dust based in Brooklyn.

For instructions on how to make a donation to Operation Fairy Dust, please go here.

Mr. Caterpillar is probably the leanest man on earth — he’s the Hedi Slimane hipster ideal at 6′2″ and 160ish pounds. When he goes to the gym, he’ll run on the treadmill effortlessly for a hour at almost 10 miles an hour.

I, on the other hand, tend to avoid the gym and running and treadmills at all costs. My rule was “only run if you have to,” and “have to” was limited to situations involving wild animals and being chased and knowing you were going to be EATEN rather than just mauled a little. So, when Mr. Caterpillar suggested we start running around Central Park Reservoir, I was somewhat disinclined. I had to, you know, clean the toilet or get my teeth scaled or something. But, eventually we made it out there.

(The idea that I would have to wear a satin wedding dress with serious lumpiness magnifying qualities was probably some motivation.)

The first day, I ran about 5 feet. Then stopped. I think it was a heart attack. Mr. Caterpillar thought it was 29 years of Filet-O-Fishes coming back to haunt me.

The next time, I ran about 10 feet. Then stopped, thinking a lung had collapsed.

This stopping and starting continued for about 12 weeks.

But today? I actually made it around the whole reservoir with nary an organ malfunction. I can’t believe it either. So, this is the beginning of my wedding exercise program. I will run around the reservoir every other day until I can run around it every day. If anyone would like to join me, just let me know.

PS: The best parts? Seriously beautiful scenery + it’s free!

via nymetro:

The first 50 people to purchase anything from the Elizabeth Showers Vintage sample sale will receive this pair of mother of pearl earrings for free! Prices up to 80% off retail on her website. Type NY MAG at checkout.

Elizabeth’s classically beautiful designs have been featured in Modern Bride, In Style Weddings, and the Knot magazine and are carried at fine retailers like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue throughout the country.

Her regularly priced pieces can be found at elizabethshowers.com.

Oh Joy! recently featured something old, something new - a great new wedding blog run by Brooklynite Kenzie Kate, who also happens to design her own line of chic invitations. Kenzie finds and posts “products and inspiration for modern weddings, parties, and big to-do’s.”

And the site is oh so purty - I’m a sucker for nicely designed, easy to read sites.

I’ve been meaning to post this because not even my sisters have seen these. I love these photos that we took on the terrace. They show how my sisters and I REALLY ARE in real life. We’re strange people. We also push our weirdness onto our mother. Embrace it mom! Embrace the strangeness. Own it! Don’t be embarrassed of us in public places or we will just run after you screaming “MOM! Why are you embarrased of your own children!? Why are you trying to abandon us momma!” (we really would do this). Cherish us or we will make you pay dearly in front of your bible loving friends.

6 women, 1 1/2 bathrooms for 20 some years. Throw in a little bit of pms, well actually a whole lot of pms cause I’m sure all 5 of us have synced up at one point, then throw in an older Korean woman going through menopause. It’s beautiful baby. I remember when my dad was still around, when we were still little, he’d be shaving in the bathroom and one of us would be peeing in the toilet looking up at him while 2 of us have our pants down and are peeing in the bathtub behind him. Priceless.

Thank heaven for little girls.
(Look at how tall the giraffe in the back is. You were adopted. It’s the truth sasquatch.)