Weddingbee Blog

It’s cheesy, it’s corny, and I just couldn’t contain myself. I had to make a bridesmaid newsletter. I am one of those weirdos that still loves to write letters. I like buying stationery, new pens, putting stamps on envelopes, and licking the seal (well, OK, not the licking the seal part, that’s kind of gross). When I heard that there’s such a thing as a bridesmaid newsletter, I had to do it!!!

The first page is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo with our wedding date, location, and a note from the bride and groom. The second page introduces each of the bridesmaids to one another. I blocked it off for their privacy, but the lefthand side is all pictures (one for each girl) and the right are little blurbs I wrote about them. Aw.

The Gown Company is going out of business at the end of the month and they are selling their samples at very reduced rates. The sample sale is open without an appointment Tuesdays through Saturdays 12:00 pm to 6:30 pm until Thursday, August 31st.

HousewifeNY posted an interesting link to Blue Nile’s Recently Purchased Diamonds feature today. Check out what rocks others are purchasing in the diamond world.

Sales

Junko Yoshioko for Bonaparte
What: 50-75% off designer gowns
Where: 154 Spring Street, 2nd Fl (btwn. Broadway & Wooster)
Phone: 212-206-9302
When: 8/31 - 9/2

Peter Langner
What: 50-75% off designer gowns
Where: 109 W. 39th St. #903 (btwn. Broadway & 6th Ave)
Phone: 212-997-0335
When: 9/7 - 9/8

Bridal Garden
What: 50-75% off designer gowns
Where: 54 W. 21st St. #907 (btwn. 5th & 6th Aves.)
Phone: 212-252-0661
When: 8/14 - 9/30

Designer Loft
What: Sample Sale
Where: 226 West 37th Street, Suite 1501, bet 7th and 8th Ave
Phone: 212 944 9013
When: Aug 15-30, Mon - Sat 10am to 6pm, late nights weekdays, as necessary

Birnbaum & Bullock
What: 10% off to brides who purchase a gown at their NYC showroom when you mention weddingbee. (Regular Retail: $2500-$6000)
Where: 151 W. 25th St., Ste 2A, @ Seventh Ave.
Phone: 212-242-2914, by appt only.

Trunk Shows

Pnini Tornai
Where: Kleinfeld, 110 West 20th Street
Phone: 646-633-4300
When: 8/24 - 9/7

Reem Acra
Where: Kleinfeld, 110 West 20th Street
Phone: 646-633-4300
When: 9/8 - 9/10

Promotions

Bliss Weddings Market
What: Get 10% off your order excluding bridal labels and bridal hang tags.
Code: weddingbee
Expires: 10/1/06 at 12am est

Angela Liu Designs
What: Get free shipping with the purchase of 2 or more items
Code: weddingbee
Expires: 8/31

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Every Tuesday we post listings for upcoming trunk shows and sales in the city. If you know of a trunk show, sample sale, or sale that we’re missing, please send it to us at tips@weddingbee.com. Thanks!

My lips are sealed when it comes to the details of a good friend’s bachelorette party that took place last Saturday…

…except for one small thing: the cake I baked for the pre-going out festivities!

Sure, bachelerotte parties normally spoof the male anatomy more than the female, but my friend’s fiance is so obsessed with her boobs, I figured she needed a boobie cake!

Bachelorette parties are notoriously difficult to plan because you pretty much have to embrace there is going to be an element of cheese involved (well, that’s my take… otherwise it’s just a bunch of girls out on the town as per usual).

What other wacky / fun/ridiculous / different things have you all done ???

In today’s beehive:

• ncmz is looking for a big (15″?) jewelry box to store precious and nonprecious jewelry. Or perhaps any other organization system recommendations?

See all past beehives here. To add your question to the beehive, leave a comment below and we’ll update this post to include your question.

Footprints to Eternity posted these great pictures on how to make your own favor boxes!

We used gold wrapping paper (75cm x 4m from Borders for $8.95 which makes 65 complete boxes of 2 x 15cm x 15cm).

They’re easy to make, economical, and they look awesome. Thanks for sharing!

I am just a sucker for random projects. Accordingly, I broke my No More DIY rule, and started some water bottle labels. I did them in pink and brown because that was the easiest way to make cheap paper look not so cheap. Ha.

Half the label is a monogram of sorts; the other half is a piece of a love poem from Nizar Qadah. I wanted to give guests something to read, i.e. distract them, while waiting in the blazing sun for the ceremony to start.

Is it required to invite the minister to the rehearsal dinner and/or reception dinner? Since I’m having a destination wedding in Hawaii, I probably won’t meet him until the day of my wedding.

Thanks,
ocicats

An email from my makeup woman today:

HI Miss Caterpillar,
how are you? I just got back from San Pedro, Belize.
I erased your message with your phone number by accident so I have to email you.

I spoke to a couple of different hair people and they are booked.
It’s a really popular day.

So here is what I suggest…I would like to meet with you and your bridesmaid the night before to set and curl the hair. When I arrive in Corralitos, I will do makeup and finish with hair.

I have one more hair person I would like to contact but she may not want to travel.

It makes me a little nervous you are going last, but understand you have things to do. I need to start on you guys a little earlier bc they scheduled me to work that day and I need to leave Corralitos by 12:00 noon.

She wants me to travel 90 miles to San Francisco to get my hair done the night before the wedding? NOT BLOODY LIKELY! I told her she needs to figure out how to stay longer in Corralitos, or I’ll find a new hair person here. What’s wrong with these people?

Almost everywhere I turn everyone is raving about Spanx. I’m considering going out and getting myself Spanx-ed out as well. As a not so thin girl, I need all the help I can get! From what I hear it’s supposed to hold everything in place, give you ultra clean lines under your gown (no unsightly pantylines) and give you some nice lift and contour just in the right places.

My current dilemma is which Spanx should I get. My choice of wedding gown has a pretty low back, so I’m not sure a bodysuit would work for me. Although, I would love to be able to wear something that helps me with the tummy area as well. Any of you Spanxed out ladies have any suggestions on which Spanx us ladies wearing low back/backless gowns should look into?

Here’s a glimpse of what the back of my gown is going to look like.

We finished our registry! Well, almost….

Mr. Butterfly and I went to Crate and Barrel this weekend to finish registering for our kitchen and dining room items. This time, I definitely went a little crazy with the scanner gun because I ended up with 70 unique items in the store. This does not count the 8 different place settings for each item.

I will have to look through both Macy’s and Crate & Barrel lists to edit, add and dump some items, but otherwise it’s another thing off the to-do list!

Now, I have a question for you readers.

For our Macy’s registry, a couple of the items are not available online. So the guests will either have to call the store and have them delivered, or go pick it up themselves. I have a feeling that people will just not buy those items since it’s too much trouble. So, do I leave them on the registry anyway? Or do I replace them with other items?

What do you think?

This weekend Mr. Spider and I went to Mens Wearhouse to organize our wedding party tuxedo package. We were in and out in less than an hour. *Sigh, if only everything else was this easy. I mean seriously, it was all so idiot-proof. Figures that things involving the groom are easy as pie.

Mens Wearhouse offers a few promotional specials and the one that works best for us is:

Grooms Tuxes are always FREE with four paid rental packages.

The tuxedos run from $69.99 to $149.99 and include: jacket, pants, shirt, tie, vest, suspenders, cuff links and shoes. That’s right, the whole kit and caboodle. Sorry guys, gotta wear your own socks and underwear. (Which begs the question, which is worse? Stores who rent out socks and underwear with tux packages or the guys actually willing to rent them. If it were an option, I’m sure SOME guy out there would do it.)

The tux selection begins with the jacket and more specifically, with the number of buttons. When asked what type of look he liked to go with, Mr. Spider said, “British.” haha.

One-Button

A one-button jacket gives a formal and traditional look but may not work for bigger builds as the one button may give a strained look. Note how much of the vest is visible.

Two-Button

You can’t go wrong with a two-button jacket. It gives medium exposure of the vest and is flattering on all body types.

Three-Button

The three-button jacket produces a more modern and slimming look. Since it buttons up higher, less of the vest is visible. The three-button jacket may be troublesome for men on the bigger or shorter side as it elongates the torso (at the expense of the legs) and is generally a tighter fit.

Next comes the vest and tie, which is the fun part as it actually involves color. Mr. Spider was disappointed that all the ties are clip-ons. I was relieved - anything that saves time, saves sanity. Vest and tie styles really run the gamut but of course I was drawn to the PINK ones haha (hope the groomsmen don’t mind).

Tie and Vest

Ascot and Vest

Bowtie and Cumberbund

Then comes the shirt.

Point collar; pleated or no pleats

Wing tip collar; pleated or no pleats

The rest are small details that the guys can choose as they please.

To end, here is the timeline, Mens Warehouse gave us:

• To book: one month in advance
• To be fitted (at any location): at least two weeks in advance
• To pick up: two days before the wedding

A couple of people have left comments saying we should create a “Ms.” category for the bees in addition to the “Miss” and “Mrs.” categories we already have. I chose the titles of Miss and Mrs. to distinguish between the brides-to-bee and the married brides on weddingbee, but Ms. could apply to either.

I’ve talked about this before and I understand it’s a matter of personal preference, but I think sometimes we’re overly concerned with being “pc” all the time. This is a site about getting married after all. I don’t mind being called either Ms. or Mrs., and I don’t think our bees mind either. But does it matter to you?

The wonderful and magnificent Lauren came over to do cones! With the help of Mr. Caterpillar’s mama, we finished them in about 30 minutes.

I can’t believe they’re done.

But, the pinwheels remain . . . sigh . . . .