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Performance is not my forte. Because you see, I’ve had terrible stage fright since the tender age of 5, when I participated in the dance recital that will live in infamy. During the annual talent showcase at my church, in front of an audience of more than 100 people, I fell off the stage mid-performance. There was a collective gasp throughout the auditorium, a split moment of silence, then my grandmother proceeded to run to the base of the stage, screaming her head off in an effort to make sure her baby was alright. My parents, in an act that is typical of them, took pictures.
My entire family still teases me about the incident to this day. And I just know that my sister will mention it in her maid of honor speech.
I’ve also never taken dance lessons. Perhaps that may have helped in my klutzy-ness, but while all the other little girls were off to ballet and tap lessons, my sister and I were deported to taekwondo (at least I got a second degree black belt from it). A couple of years ago, a friend had complimentary dance lessons at her birthday party. Everyone was shaking their thang, gracefully executing turns, flips, triple somersaults (okay not really but that’s what it seemed like to me) and whatnot while I proceeded to look like a total spaz. Mr. Peony even asked me, “Uh…babe? What are you doing?”
…knows that a luggage tag is the most powerful traveling accessory. That’s how one description for a luggage tag reads.
Mrs. Bee already blogged about luggage tags back in March 2006, but I thought enough time may have passed to bring them up again! Also, I thought of them more for their practical use than as a favor or STD idea, though some of these may work that way, too! 
I’ve always loved luggage tags; they’re a great way to express yourself and, with so many people traveling with the same black/grey/brown bags, they make your bags easily recognizable, thereby insuring you take the right bag back to your swanky honeymoon hotel and not some grandma’s needlepoint and waist-high panties.
Consider all these different styles!
Flash your new last name initial if you’re changing your name with these tags from p-b travel, or get them in both your first names’ initials
When I first heard of “the signature drink,” I was a bit hesitant. How is it that every new wedding trend seems like the key to a perfect wedding? My parents scoffed at the idea and I couldn’t help but wonder if it’s necessary. I still admit that it isn’t necessary. I doubt guests will talk about it for years to come. It won’t make or break the day. Despite all this, I think we will be having one and I am pleased about it. The way our day will be structured–with a cocktail hour in between the ceremony and reception while the wedding party and family takes formal photos–it seemed like a nice way to spice up that time.
So now the only question is what drink should be our ’signature’. Mr. Peppermint and I recently settled on Pimm’s. I first heard of Pimm’s when I was doing a summer acting program in England. The teachers would congregate out on the green and drink Pimm’s after class! It’s mostly a British thing–and from what I understand, recently making a comeback? When I went to my cousin’s wedding in Ipswich last summer, this was their signature drink. It’s refreshing, delicious and, I must admit, packs a punch!
(image found here)
So exhausted. I spent last night putting postage on our RSVP cards, and stamping the inner/outer envelopes with leaf stamps and bronze ink. I say I spent last night doing it, but I still haven’t finished. Our return address stamp is due to arrive any day now, and once that comes in I can actually start mailing the invitations out.
So, although the invitations look fine with just plain envelopes, I just HAD to add an extra 2 minutes per invite. Factor in the 125 invites we have and that’s about four and a half hours of just envelope work. Why do I do this to myself? 
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
… and another 831349016548941067 more things to go ….
A while back, we booked our videographer! Woo HOO! Another huge sigh of relief. Videography was always a semi-question mark on our list (more so on Mr. CB’s than mine, but I was kinda okay with forgoing it if the budget didn’t allow for it.) I’m huge on photography, pictures, visuals…. and especially since I am working hard to make sure we have a fun, memorable, and detailed wedding, it’s naturally important to me to have the memories to flip through a million bajillion times again afterwards (which my girls can vouch for).
Sometimes, the things we learn about ourselves while planning a wedding can be surprising. Mr. T and I are very early in the process, but already I’ve been surprised by my change of feelings on engagement rings.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Ok, well it doesn’t HAVE to be, but it can be thanks to the great work and reasonable prices of Michele Clark. She has been a dream to work with — very responsive, willing to mix colors for you to match your invitations and take on any project you can dream up. She did our invitation envelopes, our place cards and even a project I took on for my bridesmaids (personalized note cards). Here is some of the work she did for us (sadly some of it is blurred for privacy).
Invitations:
The best advice I can give to other DIY brides is to test! everything! I am surprised everyday by the varied ways that things can go wrong. Case in point, our favors:
Part I: Location, location, location!
Part II: Family Matters
Part III: Get it in writing!
I was in a bit of a bind. On the one hand, part of me was jumping up and down inside and saying, “This is the opportunity you have been waiting for! Tell her that you’ll handle it from here.” and “That’s exactly the problem, it’s not her wedding, it’s yours!” But another voice inside was saying, “This is a test…be careful here,” and yet another voice whispered, “Be more sensitive, she feels really hurt by the both of you.”
I wasn’t sure what the best way to respond would be, so I did the easy thing and stalled. “I will speak with Mr. D,” I said. “We’ll talk everything out and try to figure out what the best roles for everyone would be, and perhaps when we are all in LA together in a few weeks, we can sit down and discuss together.” FMIL seemed satisfied with that answer. I then called Mr. D and he agreed that was the right response; it would be better to talk about all this in person with her. Perhaps we could delegate a couple of roles to her, let her run with those, and we would handle the rest.
Dear lord I’m getting married on Saturday. I need your help. I had my hair trial yesterday and need some help deciding which do to do. Oh by the way, while I was getting my hair done, I got my car towed. $350 to get it out of the impound lot. Fortunately, I had my veil with me and I sobbed hysterically and got it reduced. Anyway. Should I go for the side sweep bangs or the poof in the middle? Sweep or Poof? Poof or Sweep?
We’re taking a break from flowers to introduce a candy! Please welcome Miss Caramel!
Miss Caramel, Los Angeles
Age & Occupation: 24, Museums/Galleries
Fiance’s Age & Occupation: 24, Engineer
Engagement Date: Jan 8, 2007
Wedding Date: October 2007
Venue: Wilshire United Methodist Church
About Me: I love dancing, singing, eating out, eating in, surfing on the net, and brainstorming fantastic ideas. I also love cats, coffee, and know every quote written on Sex & the City. I’m known to laugh really loud and have really crazy hand gestures while I talk. My fiance writes songs and I take pictures. What else? We’re just a crazy young couple in love, trying to make a fabulous wedding!
Rachelle from Wiley Valentine pulled elements from my DIY monogram to create the floral motif on my invites. But I loved all the invite concepts she had originally sent over:
I’ve never actually seen that movie, but that’s what people kept saying before Mr. Petunia’s family and mine finally met! My FMIL was wonderful enough to put together this little shindig for everyone. We were all a little worried because our families couldn’t be more different. His family is, for the most part, staid and quiet and…well, I have a big Hispanic family, so, I’ll go ahead and stereotype: they’re loud! Also, my dad doesn’t speak that much English, so I thought there might be a language barrier. But it was wonderful! The Petunias are quite anti-social actually, but we were both really happy that this meeting happened and that it went so well!
Here are some pictures (I don’t know why, but I didn’t end up with too many pictures of my future in-laws! I swear that is not an indication of my not liking them. The opposite is true!)
My MOH and Mom Petunia
It’s final crunch time — I’m getting married in 10 days, but we are leaving for Vermont in 8 days so I basically have a week left to nail down all the details. Here’s what’s on tap for me:
1) Finalizing our flower plan (just dropped Dana from Fresh Floral Design Studio an email). Because we are having 20+ less people than we’d invited/planned on, we had some money left over for pew decorations like these:
From Martha Stewart Weddings
Hi!
I am recently engaged, and my fiance has been chosen for a very prestigious position at work overseas. He is there now and expected to be there for at least a year, possibly longer. I just started a new job, so I wasn’t able to go out there with him. I really want to meet him over there, and seeing as I just started my position I have no leave to take. I will probably quit my job, but if I’m going to do that I think we should be married first. Plus, I get the benefits of a spouse from his job. I’m still young, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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