Weddingbee Blog

Most of us are familiar with the popular toilet-paper-wedding-dress bridal shower game, but check out these toilet paper dresses. Amazing!

These are the winning entries in last year’s Toilet Paper Wedding Dress contest sponsored by Cheap Chic Weddings. You have until June 30th to enter this year’s contest and win $500 towards your wedding. I’ll never look at a toilet paper wedding dress the same again!

(via budgetdreams)

My wedding dress is coming in much earlier than I thought. I ordered it on April 20th, and it will be in at the end of July. Only 3 months!! Wow. Anyway, I wil not be getting my first fitting until I am done with my training sessions, which should be at the end of August.

However, this now means that I have to start shopping for shoes. I know that open toed heels are the rage, but since I’m getting married in November, I really want just simple heels that have the bridal look.

These are some that I found from bridalpeople.

May - 3″ Heel Silk Satin Bridal Shoe $ 75.60

Some dyeable shoes - this way, my BMs and I can match shoes, but they can dye it to match their dresses.

Viliana - 3 1/2″ Dyeable Satin Rhinestone Shoes $ 112.70

Agatha - 1 3/4″ Dyeable Silk Bridal Shoe $ 75.60

And of course, some flip flops for dancing (can also be worn during honeymoon).

Eva - 1 1/2″ Platform Wedding Flip Flops $ 36.95

And OK, I would never wear this - just because it’s really not my style, but I thought the idea was so cute!

Cinderella - 2″ Heel Clear Wedding Shoe $ 48.30

I really like this website. It categorizes everything into easily searchable buckets. Example: Those flip flops are listed under flip flops, and under honeymoon necessities!

Ok, as I alluded to in a prior post, my china pattern has returned from the dead.

Orsay Powder Blue by Philippe Deshoulieres.

“But, how ever could a china pattern be so swiftly resurrected?” one might ask. The answer is, it’s fairly easy when the pattern was, apparently, never discontinued in the first place.

Flashback to April 28, 2006. On that day, my mom’s friend went to Bloomingdale’s, 59th Street, to purchase some china off my registry. An unidentified registry sales associate informed her that the pattern had been discontinued. Upon hearing this tragic news (trust me, it *was* bad news–it took us-for-freaking-ever to pick a pattern), my mother also contacted Bloomingdale’s, whereupon the discontinuance was confirmed. Reluctantly, my mom called me to break the news. I wasn’t looking forward to choosing another pattern, but I was definitely far more consolable than Mr. Daisy who highly dreaded another scorched earth china search mission.

Unwilling, to take Bloomingdale’s word for it, I contacted the china manufacturer, Philippe Deshoulieres. In my very poor French, I asked them if this were true. When I didn’t receive any answer, my mom–being ridiculously helpful–went to Bloomingdale’s and switched our registry over to Bernardaud’s ElysÆ’©e, which we had previously seen and quite liked:

The fact that the cost of an ElysÆ’©e place-setting is roughly 2x the cost of an Orsay setting stuck in my craw, but only for a bit. I came to love my ElysÆ’©e even more than the Orsay that came before. But then, I received the following email in my inbox:

From: [Bloomingdale's Registry Guy]
To: Miss Daisy
CC: [Philippe Deshoulieres Lady]
Date: Friday - June 9, 2006 2:41 PM
Subject: Fw:
RequÆ’ªte envoyÆ’©e depuis le site internet Philippe DESHOULIERES

Dear Ms. Daisy,
I’m not sure why you were told that Philippe Deshoulieres “Orsay Powder Blue” is no longer made. It’s our best selling china pattern from Philippe Deshoulieres. It is still manufactured, we still carry it, and we would be happy to register you for that pattern.
Most sincerely,
[Bloomingdale's Registry Guy]

Below his email was my original email, which had been forwarded to him by the Philippe Deshoulieres’ national sales manager. She had written the following note:

Hello,
Sorry for not sending this email to both of you sooner but I am still cleaning up from my maternity leave. I will translate and summarize this email from a Bloomingdales bride: She emailed the factory to find out if the factory was still making Orsay Powder blue, the pattern she is registered for because she had been told by the store that the factory had stopped the production of this pattern.
Best regards,
[Philippe Deshoulieres lady]

So, now, what do I do??? Do I stick with the pricier ElysÆ’©e, or do I take back my poor, beleaguered Orsay? (wasn’t Helen Hunt faced with a similar choice in that movie Cast Away?)
I need guidance*!
~~~

* And, as Mr. Daisy knows by now, despite my own request for such guidance, I reserve the right to ignore any and all guidance with a “Whatever! I do what I want!” It’s kind of my life motto, modeled after the great Eric Cartman.

Miss Beetle,

I read Mrs. Bee’s entry last week on early bird brides, and I have a confession to make: I am one!

Chrissie
Lexington, KY

~~~

Dear Early Bird,

We are a kindred spirit. I had stacks of “bridal porn” hidden underneath my bed long before I had any bling on my finger–a girl’s gotta plan ahead, right? That’s what I told myself, at least. Forget about Brad and Angelina. I was hooked on Preston Bailey and Carolina Herrera. I was so immersed in everything bridal, I actually started my own bridal biz!

Anyway, I was in a very similar situation to yours, and my engagement still managed to be a total surprise. After visiting with our diamond guy and choosing my ring and my setting, I completely and totally just let the thought of it go. I forgot about it. Completely put it out of my mind. This may sound easier said than done, but you should be in the most relaxed state of mind there is right now. You’ve got your guy… got a gorgeous sparkler on the way and you know this engagement will be coming. If it comes in 2 weeks or two months, it’s still comin’, so try to relax and forget about it for the time being. If you are analyzing every phone call, putting on mascara and straightening your hair to go get coffee in the morn or second guessing every “hey let’s grab a bite to eat” your fiance offers, that does suck a bit of the fun out of it all, don’t you agree?

You’re a super duper lucky girl. So just forget about everything for now, relax, enjoy your time with your guy and make sure you’ve always got some lip gloss within easy reach. That’s about as much planning as I would recommend at this point.

Good luck Ms. Early Bird bride-to-be!
Erica
www.paperbride.com
www.papermama.com

It’s a bay area kind of day because I am truly blown away by San Francisco based I Dream of Cake’s masterful creations. From whimsical to delicate to elegant, each of artist Shinmin Li’s cakes reflect excruciating attention to detail. You have to check out the rest of the extensive gallery to see the scope of Shinmin’s artistry.

No wonder she was named a Modern Bride trendsetter of the year.

As a loyal subscriber of In Style Magazine (one of my all time favorites!), I just received this coupon for $1 off In Style Weddings in my email box. And of course I had to share it with you all.

On newsstands now. Valid June 13 - September 12, 2006.

I thought the premise behind these buttons from Make’m Mingle was fun - get guests who don’t know each other to mingle by giving them an icebreaker. They have one for all your wedding guests.

But I don’t think I’d want to see these buttons in every wedding picture on our guests’ fancy duds. What do you think? Cheesy or fun?

Here’s a nifty and functional idea - vase placecard holders!

$3.50 each at weddingthings.

Josh Holloway of Lost on how he met Yessica, his wife of more than one year.

She gave me a slap on the shoulder, looked me up and down and said, “Give me your number before you leave.” She had game.

Woohoo Yessica! That’s awesome!

(source: usweekly)

I’ve been a fan of End Design’s work for quite some time. Though they’re based in the Bay Area, I love to save pretty pictures like these for inspiration. Maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for red roses.

I used to ask Mr. Bee if he would remarry if I died, say… within the first five years of marriage when we didn’t have children. He said that he wouldn’t, but that I probably would because I wouldn’t be happy without a family. I really can’t imagine being married to anyone other than Mr. Bee, but he is right about the family part. Not to be morbid but…

If you haven’t learned from the example of Pamela and Tommy Lee, read these real life stories of women who had their racy pictures exposed!

On our wedding night, my husband and I found out we had a couple of extra disposable cameras left over from the reception. So we decided to use them for our “personal” photo album. The next day, my maid of honor came by and picked up all the cameras from our hotel room, accidentally grabbing the ones with those photos. That evening, we invited our friends and family over to look at the wedding pictures. While we all sat around reminiscing about our beautiful ceremony, I heard my mother-in-law gasp. In her hands, she held a picture of me and her son in a very compromising position! My husband practically flew through the air to pull the rest of the pictures out of his mother’s hands, as well as photos that the other relatives were holding. Hopefully, they’ve erased the images from their minds. I’ll have a harder time forgetting their shocked faces!
–Kathy, 28

Read more stories here.

Joann’s online coupon good through this Saturday!

We first introduced you to Kenzie Kate when we featured her fabulous wedding blog something old, something new. Coincidentally, both Mackenzie and I had signed up for a program with Ladies Who Launch, and we actually met a couple of days after weddingbee featured her blog. Anyway, last night Mackenzie brought some of her invitations to one of our meetings and they were absolutely beautiful!

Her invitations come packaged in these lovely boxes that are ready for mailing. The Vienna pictured above is like opening a gift, complete with bow. Receiving an invitation this nice would make my day!

Call me biased because I live here, but the Manhattan invitation below is my favorite.

Mackenzie is also one of the sweetest people you’ll meet. Not only will you find it a pleasure to work with her, but you’ll also get gorgeous invitations you’re sure to love.

Oliver Hudson recently had a destination wedding at the luxurious 5 star Palmilla Resort & Spa in Baja Mexico. It’s a favorite of celebrities like Ashton & Demi, Oprah, and John Travolta, who celebrated his 50th birthday here.

The Palmilla offers spa services galore, exercise classes, golf courses, top dining, and water sports. Sure there are rooms that go for over $2000 a night, but they also have rooms that start at $375/night for mere mortals like us - and each room has a terrace with an unobstructed view of the ocean.

What a gorgeous place for a destination wedding or honeymoon!

For more information and reviews about Palmilla,visit travelassist and about.com.