To Bee or Not to Bee

Mrs. Bee, New York Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet Engagement Date: May 7, 2004 Wedding Date: March 5, 2005 Venue: Westside Loft, New York About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!

June 29th, 2008 @ 4:30 pm by Mrs. Bee

I promised you guys a post on what we’re looking for in a bee, so here goes!

I often tell people that if I were to apply to be a bee today, I’d get rejected. There are so many talented ladies blogging in the hive! But I’ll let you guys in on a little bee secret: many of our bees are second and even third time applicants.

Why does it usually take a few applications to become a Weddingbee blogger? Most of the time, it’s because most blogs have a more ”personal blog” like tone. On your own blog, you can pretty much blog about whatever you want - because it’s mostly your friends reading, it’s all good. A Weddngbee blog is kinda dfferent: you have to write for an audience, which can be a tricky transition.

You should read our blogging tips and guidelines before you decide to apply, as they really go over everything we’re looking for when we review applications.

I hope this helps! We hope you consider applying or even reapplying, because we have a lot of spots opening up as bees get married over the next couple of months. If you have any questions, please comment below and I’ll try to answer them.

15 Responses to “To Bee or Not to Bee”

McG says:

I’d love to be a Bee, but I’m not a full out DIY kind of gal… plus after reading a lot of the blogs and ideas from the current Bee’s I find myself “borrowing” a couple of the ideas… so mine aren’t really that original anymore. *sigh*

Maybe I’ll change my tune in a couple months, if you’ll have me

6/29/08 at 4:41 pm (reply)

kim says:

would i be able to apply a little bit earlier than the 7 month period if it takes a while to go through the applications? so by the time the application goes through there’s still a full 7 months of being a bee and blogging instead of cramming all blogs into a much lesser time span? (not sure if that makes any sense, but i hope you get what i mean. heh.)

6/29/08 at 5:08 pm (reply)

Katharine says:

While I’ve got you here, Mrs Bee - it’s totally off the subject, but why don’t you do the “real weddings” feature anymore? That was actually how I found Weddingbee to start with.

6/29/08 at 6:03 pm (reply)

Mrs. Bee says:

@kim: sure kim — i know you’ve been waiting.

@Katharine: we just don’t get that many submissions for real weddings because we don’t ask for them. but we are always taking them!

6/29/08 at 6:22 pm (reply)

melodicsighs1 says:

I’ve still got too much time before my wedding to apply, but I definitely wanna start making my own blog more “audience friendly”. Thanks for all you do, Bee!

6/29/08 at 7:34 pm (reply)

caribqueen says:

Mrs. Bee,

Do you have a preference for applicants who are crafty?

6/30/08 at 9:24 am (reply)

Jo says:

I would love to be a guest vendor blogger from time to time- any interest in adding this to the list in the hive?
Also do you take real wedding submissions from photographers as well as brides?

Thanks for everything. This place has been a source of inspiration for so many of us!

6/30/08 at 9:50 am (reply)

Mrs. Bee says:

@caribqueen: it’s a plus but not a requirement.

@Jo: we have a guest blog option for vendors and photographers can submit real weddings as well. check out the guest blogs link in the right column.

6/30/08 at 10:14 am (reply)

Becky says:

Have you ever considered branching out and adding a “newlywed division” to your weddingbee site? I got married in December and I often feel like a lurker when I check out your site. There are so many things that I wished someone had been around to tell me about when I was newlywed, from joint finance adventures to merging home decor styles, etc.

Just wondering.
Thanks!
Becky

6/30/08 at 11:14 am (reply)

10.

Loralie says:

This is sorta an extension of Kim’s question. How far in advance (of the seven months) should we apply? My wedding is April 25, 2009, so seven months prior would be September 25. That’s only three months away. How long do I need to wait?

6/30/08 at 11:40 am (reply)

11.

jessica says:

It seems like you only choose bees from larger metropolitan areas. It seems like the majority is from NYC or California… Is that a requirement? Or is there hope for a Tennessee bride like me?

6/30/08 at 12:33 pm (reply)

12.

Mrs. Bee says:

@Becky: we’ve always considered it, but don’t have plans for one in the immediate future.

@Loralie: Feel free to apply when it becomes September.

@jessica: anyone anywhere in the world can apply. it’s just that most people who apply live in major cities!

6/30/08 at 12:46 pm (reply)

13.

enmoore66 says:

Mrs. Bee, I have been enjoying Weddingbee since I got engaged last August. I have no desire to blog, but as an avid reader, I think maybe it would be interesting to ask some readers (who do not want to be bees) what stuff they’d like to read. Though unsolicited - here is what I’d like to see in a bee…
1.) People that aren’t already friends with other bees. This really annoys me, and we’ve seen a lot of it.
2.) Bees who have jobs - real jobs - not freelance, working from home, grad school jobs. Planning a wedding and working are difficult, and a lot of us can relate to that - it would be nice to see more bees that don’t have a lot of time on their hands (these same brides may not want to spend their limited spare time blogging - so this could be a catch 22).
3.) Do any African Americans apply?
4.) Enough with the gocco. There are a lot of other ways to DIY. Flamingo probably has had the best invites of any bee - and they weren’t on a gocco The cost of going to a local printer with what you’ve designed is near equal to the cost of a gocco, bulbs, paper, paint. Let’s explore other ways of making invitations.
4.) Age - my favorite bees have been 25+

Things have gotten much more diverse in the hive lately - we have an LSD and a Jewish bride; a couple of fabulous Canadians (Miss Shortcake is my favorite), and thank you for the fabulous Miss Gingerbread. And finally, the bee doesn’t have to be anything like me or my wedding for me to love them. Mrs. Lovebug and I have close to nothing in common - I wouldn’t have chosen her color, her theme, her dress - and yet I looked forward to every post. You get another blogger than can blog like her, and I’d keep reading post wedding! Good luck finding more bees.

7/1/08 at 9:08 pm (reply)

14.

Mrs. Bee says:

@enmoore66: thanks for your comments. let me address them..

1) none of the bees are friends. they may have followed along on the person’s blog before they became a bee, but to my knowledge none of the bees have been friends prior to joining weddingbee.
2) almost everyone has a “real” job? there are maybe 1 or 2 grad students?
3) mrs butterscotch and mrs pearl were african american bees.
4) yes we’ve beat the gocco horse to death but it’s such a cheap way to produce beautiful stationery.
5) it always comes down to the quality of the blog when we select a bee.

we try to keep the hive as diverse as possible, but we really don’t control the type of applications we receive. it’s a really really really hard process and there will always be some underepresented market.

hopefully we are doing an ok job of a showing a diverse group of women.

7/1/08 at 11:11 pm (reply)

15.

Tosha says:

I am counting down the months/days/YEARS?! until I can apply. I LOVE this website oh, so much and hope to improve my own blogging skills through reading! I’ve been lurking for maybe two months now and I am SO addicted!! My wedding isnt until July or 2010 so It’ll be a while!!

7/3/08 at 12:44 am (reply)