Mrs. Glitter, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 27, Research Consultant/Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Accounting
Engagement Date: May 6, 2007
Wedding Date: June, 2009
Venue: Millenium Biltmore Hotel
About Me: I was born and raised in West Los Angeles, California. I spent eight years in the Northeast working and completing my education. Having split time between two sides of the country has given me a true appreciation for both coasts. It has also provided an overabundance of cross country drives, flights and long distance relationship fun/misery! I love my family, my doggy Emma, fabulous wine, Anthropologie, politics, reading, being outdoors, exploring new cities, and good movies! My fiance and I are complete opposites, but somehow we have managed to fall completely and hopelessly in love.
A while back, when I was still a WB reader and not yet a bee, I entered a contest in an attempt to win a beautiful hair accessory from Naugi.com. I didn’t take any of it too seriously, because I am one of those people that never wins anything. Well, you can probably guess how this story ended. Days later I got an email from the lovely Mrs. Bee herself, telling me that I had won any Naugi hair accessory of my choosing! I jumped up and down with excitement, because if it wasn’t for this contest, purchasing an expensive headpiece was out of my budget.
So then came the difficult part of choosing the perfect piece. I knew I wanted something distinctive and vintage-inspired: something that would go well with my dress. (Yes, I know I’ve been totally annoying and haven’t yet revealed my dress!)
Here were a few of my final contenders:
The August Love Bridal Comb
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Mrs. Hot Cocoa, Boston/Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 31, JD/PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Medical Student
Engagement Date: May 30, 2008
Wedding Date: March, 2009
Blogging Since: April, 2008
Venue: Ritz Carlton, Marina Del Rey
About Me:
I am a professional student by day and an amateur cupcake taster, bargain shopper, and wedding planner by night. I am obsessed with NPR, the Food Network, paper, dance shows, Anthropologie, post-structuralist theory, Weddingbee!, "The Office," and celebrity gossip. When not procrastinating from my dissertation, I spend time catering to Jellyby, our overly anxious shih tzu, and getting to know Mr. Hot Cocoa. We have only been dating for fifteen years, so it's like I'm in love with a stranger! From the East Coast, we are planning a Jewish-Chinese Extravaganza in L.A., where we both grew up.
Here is me at the first bar mitzvah I ever attended (no, that’s not a lamp shade around my ass, that is what we in 1990 called “fashion”):
And here’s me at my own bat-chelorette shower-mitzvah almost 19 years later:
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Mrs. Meatball, Hollywood
Age and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office Maven
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/Writer
Engagement Date: October 7, 2007
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: September 16, 2008
Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow Club
About Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
SSSSSsssssssssss… can you hear that? It’s the fat melting off my body, as I type!
Well, that may be an exaggeration, but I am very pleased to say that after 1 short week of my Flab to Fab Plan, I’m really noticing some differences in my body and my energy levels, and I’m down 4 pounds. To be fair, that 4 pounds was probably mostly water and holiday weight… but my face is slightly slimmer, my upper ribcage is feeling smaller, and my jeans are much more comfortable in the waist. I wish I’d gotten measurements before starting, but I remedied that by having Tiger measure me on Saturday. The most exciting part of it all? I had fun, and still managed to fit margaritas, pizza and queso into my diet!
THE WORKOUTS:
1 hour training with Tiger - Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
Long walks/hikes Monday, Wednesday.
Mr. Meatball has been coming with me to my personal training sessions with Tiger, which is really fun and a good way for us to blow off some steam together. Being unemployed in a tiny house together with only one computer makes for some major tension build-up, so not only do the sessions work as “personal training” but they also have acted a bit as couples therapy, which we really enjoy.
All four times we’ve met with Tiger so far, the routine is different and unique.
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Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UK
Age and Occupation: 24, nonprofit communications
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shop
Engagement Date: August 10, 2008
Wedding Date: August, 2009
Venue: Oakland Manor
About Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
After reading Miss Fondue’s post, I decided we MUST have embossed invitations.
The only large ink pads we found were clear or black, so we opted for clear and began the hunt for brown embossing powder. With our powder in tow we headed back with our Kinko’s printed invitations and whipped out our custom stamps.
How hard could it be? Stamp, powder, heat…3 easy steps!!!
(Mr. D’orsay is startled by my not-so-stealthy photo snapping)
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Featured on Weddingbee
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
Mrs. Peony, New York
Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer
Engagement Date: June 28, 2007
Wedding Date: April 18, 2008
Venue: The Fountainhead
Blogging Since: August 7, 2007
About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
With all four bridesmaids, my mother-in-law, and myself all scheduled for hair and makeup, we girls started the day bright and early at 8AM so that we would be ready for the traditional Chinese tea ceremony at 1PM.
The only problem with this plan was that we had booked our photographer, Danny Weiss, for 10 hours. Would we sacrifice “getting ready” pictures for more photos of the reception?
In the end, Mr. Peony and I decided that reception photos were more important to us. As a result we scheduled Danny to arrive at 12 noon. He got to the hotel just in time to catch Claudia Pedala, my hair stylist, add finishing touches to my ’do (all photos by Danny Weiss):
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Mrs. Quiche, Chicago/Montego Bay
Age and Occupation: 28, Interior Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 42, Telecom Guru
Engagement Date: July 2, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Venue: Coyaba Resort, Montego Bay
About Me: I love Chicago and can’t imagine living anywhere else (Well, except Paris. Or anywhere in France, for that matter!). I’m a full-time worker, part-time student, soon-to-be-step-mom, indie music lovin’, architecture and design fanatic, macaroni and cheese addict, vegetarian, Francophile, Ohio State football obsessed, wedding planning girl. Mr. Quiche and I are “Partners-in-Crime” and cannot wait to celebrate our marriage surrounded by our family and closest friends. I plan on DIYing my little heart out (or as much as a suitcase to Jamaica will hold).
An interesting article popped up today posing the question, “Do Romantic Comedies Spoil Our Love Lives?”
As a helpless lover of all things chick-flick/lit, this article intrigued me. I was hoping for a little “more” from the article, but even without reading it, you get the idea.
Even more helpless when said movie/book is British…
Do people have unrealistic expectations of love and relationships after watching this particular genre of movies?
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Miss Snapdragon, Chicago/Dallas
Age and Occupation: 32,Associate Producer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Lighting Designer
Blogging Since: November 14, 2008
Engagement Date: January 1, 2011
Wedding Date: March 2012
Venue: Marie Gabrielle
About Me: Voracious reader of short stories, Russian literature, National Geographic and Cosmo. I'm a GENIUS at spicing up Weight Watchers recipes and a pathological cheater at board games. I run a slow marathon, but my feet are learning to move faster. Mornings aren't my thing, but I can night owl with the best of them. Don't tempt me with your Cherry Cokes---I'm trying to quit. Tomorrow. Or never.
(Image Source)
One big wedding rule-of-thumb is, if you need to cut costs… trim your guest list, trim your guest list, trim your guest list.
Another well-known budget guideline is to have your wedding on a Friday, a Sunday, a Monday, a Tuesday… any day but Saturday!!!
My question to the hive is… is that really true? Read more…
Mrs. Lollipop, Pittsburgh
Age and Occupation: 26, Computational Linguist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Project Manager
Engagement Date: August 2, 2006
Wedding Date: September 2, 2007
Blogging Since: July 17, 2007
Venue: The PPG Aquarium at the Pittsburgh Zoo
About Me: I'm a Pittsburgh transplant who grew up in the deep south. I have a weakness for exotic alphabets, DIY projects, mobster movies and international travel. My fiance and I are both non-native Japanese speakers and we have a bullfrog named Skinny.
I’m very partial to amber as a semi-precious… stone… or… um… resin? I have a hard time calling it a stone when it’s so different than anything else I have in my gemstone bead collection. It’s warm to the touch and feels very light. I like the color and the glow; I think it’s the kind of thing that works well with my skin tone.
I’ll be making an adjustable amber necklace for a party I’m going to, to add a little color. I can never decide what length of necklace works for me, so having an adjustable piece is critical.
Ingredients:
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Classifieds
Feature Launched: April 30, 2008
About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
Reader werlemmings is selling (3) Ann Taylor Celebrations bridesmaids dresses. They are cornflower blue and were worn once. there are (2) size 2’s and (1) size 4 available. She is asking for $40 each.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!
Other great items for sale:
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Mrs. Cookie, Denver
Age and Occupation: 25, Nonprofit Fundraiser/Theatre Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Financial Analyst
Engagement Date: September 2007
Wedding Date: September 2008
Blogging Since: May 8, 2008
Venue: Ten Mile Station
About Me: With a degree in Theatre I never realized that planning a wedding was a lot like Theatre Management, until I started planning my own. I am a coffee addict, especially Starbucks' Grande Mochas, yummy! I love to cook (especially chocolate chip cookies for my honey), travel to exotic places, and be creative. As a couple, Mr. Cookie and I are extremely practical, down to earth, and children at heart. We live in a cozy abode with our adorable Pomeranian, and love to play board games and watch movies into the evening.
After we wiped the chocolate cake goodness from our faces, it was time to take the dance floor for our first dance…
As silly as it sounds, Mr. Cookie and I are together today because he asked me to dance. Yep, our relationship started out old-school movie style. A confident and debonair Cookie spots a cute, single Cookie from across the room at a wedding, asks her to dance, they fall in love and get married. But wait, life doesn’t happen like the movies, and it especially did not for us Cookies.
Prior to the wedding, Mr. Cookie confessed a concern to me — he was a ball of nerves over our first dance. Knowing all eyes would be on us, my confident and debonair man got a bout of cold feet. We talked about taking dance lessons to ease the nerves, but with busy schedules we never found the time. So, a week before the wedding, we whipped out our iPod and went to the task of choreographing our first dance: a few turns, swaying back-and-forth, and a dip at the end. Our routine was sweet and simple and helped calm Mr. Cookie’s nerves.
When the first few notes of Eva Cassidy’s “Songbird” played, Mr. Cookie took my hand and twirled me onto the dance floor.
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Mrs. Avocado, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 23, Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Consultant
Engagement Date: July 27, 2008
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: June 30, 2008
Venue: LDS Seattle Temple & Hotel 1000
About Me: Somehow this little farm girl found herself a genuine Pole to fall in love and eventually move away to Poland with. I am an LDS bride attempting to plan a private religious ceremony, ring ceremony, seated reception for 100, and an open house while coordinating for guests flying in from across the United States and as far away as Poland. I try to avoid fads, excess waste, and saturated fat. I strongly endorse photography, DDR, calorie counting, rss feeds, cooking, and utilizing your resources.
Mrs. Hydrangea and I are meeting up in Dallas to watch Bride Wars together this weekend and we would like to invite you to join us!
When: 10:45 AM, Saturday, January 17 (We are going to attend the 11:25 AM showing)
Where: Northpark Center, Dallas. We’re meeting at the Starbucks near the theater inside the mall to load up on some treats before we head inside.
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Mrs. Latte, Boston/NYC
Age and Occupation: 29, College Admissions Counselor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Elementary School Teacher
Engagement Date: August 23, 2008
Wedding Date: July 2009
Venue: Stage 6 at Steiner Studios
About Me: I am an East Coast girl marrying a West Coast boy. After 2 years of over 3,000 miles between us, Mr. Latte and I are looking forward to finally living in the same time zone/coast/city/home and living “normal couple” lives. I am a crafter at heart and enjoy dragging my friends into new craft projects. I love my Mac, baking cupcakes, wrapping presents, my BlackBerry, naps, good NY style pizza, Jack Bauer and of course, Mr. Latte. I love him a latte. :)
The day has come! You ready for this??? I chose…
CAUTION: WHITE DRESSES AHEAD.
Mr. Latte, if you cheated and peeked before, that’s OK, I forgive you. But now I’m serious. Do not move ahead.
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Beehive
Feature Launched: Aug 31, 2006
About: A forum for readers to post questions and get feedback from the hive, aka the weddingbee community.
January 13th, 2009 @ 12:20 pm by Beehive
Hi bees!
I was simply wondering… what are the average “stats” for an engagement ring? I’ve been hearing that price-wise, it should be the cost of three-months’ salary and 1 full carat of D-F color with VVS1-IF clarity. That “standard” is pretty high to me… I am wondering if I’m in the minority in having that opinion. Though I know size shouldn’t matter if it comes from your beloved’s heart, there’s a part of me that desires a “nice” ring for sentimental reasons because I would like to have it as a family heirloom that I could give to my daughter or daughter-in-law in the future.
becks75
~~~
Please comment on the thread here.
Mrs. Powder Puff, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 25, Preschool Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Career Services
Engagement Date: May, 2008
Wedding Date: July, 2009
Blogging Since: November 12, 2008
Venue: Outdoor ceremony, banquet hall reception
About Me: I am your typical Midwestern girl attempting to plan a sane, budget-friendly, fun wedding to the man of my dreams. I love shoes, laughing at “Platinum Weddings”, crafts, inspiration boards, candy, and basically anything I can DIY. While weddings can certainly be all-consuming, I honestly can’t wait until the ceremony is over and I can finally call Mr. Powder Puff my husband!
Well buck up, my friend. I have just discovered the most awesome program ever to solve all of your woes! And the best part? It’s free!
The Polardroid Project is a really cool program that allows you to turn any of your pictures into Polaroids! All digital, of course. You can even “shake” the pictures to make them load faster.
I went to town after downloading this nifty little gadget—here’s some of my work. I saved these pics a little before they were finished to give them an antique look.
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Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UK
Age and Occupation: 24, nonprofit communications
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shop
Engagement Date: August 10, 2008
Wedding Date: August, 2009
Venue: Oakland Manor
About Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
La la la la… so cool right?
In any case, it seems like everyone’s dress has a name. My dress however, only has a number so I’d like to introduce you to her, and for you to help me pick a name. I’m very sorry I don’t have better pictures, as I didn’t think they’d be on the internets…
As you can see, my dress is from the DB’s but I still think she deserves a name. We’ve been separated since I left the country and when I return I hope the dress won’t fit (in a good way!).
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All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
