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When I brought up the idea of doing toasts that included flutes of sparkling cider I expected my dad to say, “No way.” He can be a little bit on the conservative side at times (not like I’m not conservative myself), and although we drink sparkling cider ourselves at holidays, I thought he might say no because of how it would look in the photos. I was pleasantly surprised to find out he was on board with the idea, and it was a good thing because we were well under our catering minimum before this point and I needed a way to beef up menu a little bit.
I’m going to do what 99% of brides do at this point and say that our toasts were awesome. They included the story of how we came to be as related by the best man, some Polish from a real Pole, a little sister tattling on the bride, a teary eyed father, a bride that planned everything except her speech, and an introverted groom ending things on just the right note. But I think I’m getting ahead of myself.
I love taking pictures. When I studied in Europe for a year I took thousands of pictures. Can you imagine what it was like to travel with me? Ask any of my regular travel buddies and they will probably roll their eyes when you mention me and my camera. Well, everyone appreciated it in the end and we have some awesome pictures despite frequent picture breaks. For our wedding we want to incorporate lots of personal touches, and one of the ways to do that is with pictures.
We have not decided what exactly to incorporate, but there are so many ways to use your own photos on the wedding day. We want our guests to walk away from our wedding with the feeling that they know us just a little bit better and it was not just a party, but a personal celebration.
Here are some of the ideas I love so far:
I think decks of cards with personal photos could be great gifts for your bridesmaids or groomsmen. They would be a fun addition to any out of town bag for people who are traveling and need something extra to do.
Photo Source Martha Stewart
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.”
Anxious and behind schedule, Sister Shortcake and I returned home. My bridesmaids had already arrived, as per my elaborate timetable, but I was too harried to say more than a brief hello.
{my best friend from high school - such a beautiful bridesmaid!}
When Mr. D and I met I was living in AZ, and my fur-child Max was still living in Maryland. As far as Mr. D was concerned I didn’t really have any pets. So when Mr. D moved to Miami and I decided to get Max a sister, Mr. D was pretty wary about it. He never had a pet and wasn’t really sure how he felt about it. Since he worked from home and I worked long hours in Miami, he knew he’d be spending the majority of time with my new cat.
Though the first few days were a bit rough, Millie and Mr. D eventually got used to each other and all of us finally started sleeping through the night. Since they ended up spending so much time together, Mr. D became very attached to Millie and considered her “his” cat. When we returned to Maryland we suddenly had our entire family together under one roof. Max, Millie, Mr. D, and I were all together, and Max was not happy that I hadn’t come back alone.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I have about a thousand inspiration pictures scattered about my laptop, and soon I’ll have another bazillion wedding pictures. Organization must be imposed before that happens, so I’m pleading for input. How do you archive your digital files, both off- and online?
Let’s start with online:
Do you upload all of your pictures, or just the good ones? Do you tweak them first, or just store them as-is? How do you organize them - by tag, by date, some other way?
Read more…
Photography is such a big part of our lives. Since Mr. S is a photographer, our life tends to be captured 24/7. So finding a photographer who was going to capture our style and do a phenomenal job, all within our budget, was a must.
Fortunately we found Laurie Peacock, and we truly lucked out. We booked her last summer when she had just a handful of weddings under her belt, and her work has truly gotten more and more amazing as the days have gone by. Honestly, I haven’t figured out when Laurie finds the time to sleep, because she always seems to be uploading new work.
We did an engagement shoot with Laurie last September. Mr. S and I had our first date in the Chicago neighborhood of Wicker Park. We fell in love there, and were so sad to leave the neighborhood behind when we bought our condo on the north side this past summer. So it was great to strut around the neighborhood to our favorite haunts being followed by our own paparazzi.
These are some of my favorite shots from the day…
Once all the portraits and family photos were done, our guests started trailing on out of the lobby and down the walkway to the Gazebo to take their seats. The late afternoon sun was shining down and I imagine them sitting there, chatting away, listening to the pre-wedding soundtrack that I had spent hours agonizing over.
I can’t seem to locate the list and the only two songs I can remember at the moment are ‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz and ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson but I swear, there were many more and they were AWESOME.
This awesome Coca Cola Superbowl ad features so many of our original bugs! It was too cute not to share. Be on the lookout for ladybug, grasshopper, bee, butterfly, dragonfly, caterpillar, and beetle! 
When we decided on the location for our wedding, I have to say the name “Blueberry Villa” totally sold the place for me. I spent most of my summers around blueberry farms (near White Lake, NC) and love everything blueberry. My grandfather used to take my sister and me blueberry picking and many of my family members insisted on blueberry pies for their birthday cakes. The Blueberry Villa is on the grounds of the Banner Elk Winery, and yes, they even make blueberry wine!
Here are some pictures from a recent visit to the location with my mom, sister and BFF and bridesmaid, Jaime.
This is the villa where 16 people will stay. This will be the lodging for my side of the bridal party and my mom.
I have read numerous board posts on Weddingbee about wedding guests and who gets a plus one and who doesn’t. Mrs. Jasmine even wrote her own post about this very subject. Here is my take on it.
Some brides have the plus one down to a science. Something like this:
Allowable Plus Ones - Married couples or significant others who have been dating for 12 months or more. By “dating” this means they have had been on more than 25 consecutive Friday night dinner dates with one another and/or have slept over one another’s places at least 50 times. In addition, you (as the bride and groom) both must have met this alleged significant other no less than 20 times in mixed company.
I’m kidding! Every couple has to make up their own rules about this situation. I get that. But seriously, what is it that makes brides go bananas over plus ones?
Mr. G and I have been working on our wedding guest list, and we have been faced with the plus one conundrum. But, we’ve decided we need to breathe and relax. Whether second cousin Jim gets a plus one or not is not the end of the world.
Here are a few things I have jotted down to keep some perspective. (These tips, in no way, are endorsed by the Weddingbee community. They are all my own personal opinion.)
Read more…
Reader happilywed is selling her 2-tier fingertip-length ivory veil. It has scalloped edges and delicate embroidery. It has never been worn. Make her an offer!
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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A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with one of our good friends for a little chat. He had just gotten the job offer of a lifetime, and was incredibly excited. So what was the problem? He had also just met a girl. One who could be “The One”. And taking the job meant that he would have to move across the country, basically squashing all hopes of a relationship with this person. He vented to me about the situation, and asked for my advice.
What did I tell him? Well, my friends, I wove him a little tale about myself and the mister that went something like this:
Back when Mr. PP and I first met, he was finishing up his master’s degree and looking for jobs. He had been seriously interviewing with a lot of different universities, and had been offered a great position with one in Texas.
Then he met me. We had a few fantastic dates, and things were going really well, but the deadline for his decision was fast approaching. Either Mr. PP would have to end things with me and move away, or take a leap of faith and see how things went with us.
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Sometimes I go on overload with all the amazing wedding inspiration and ideas that are out there. For our wedding, I definitely had some ideas of what I wanted, but had been struggling with how to put it together. Our venue has this beautiful rustic Tuscan feel with gorgeous outdoor greenery. We want the wedding to be rustic and simple with lots of whimsical and romantic details. I see lots of things that fit into that criteria, but still end up all over the place when it comes to colors and feel.
When I first started blogging, I “met” Anne from The City Sage blog. Anne is so helpful and supportive and it has been such a pleasure getting to know her. Anne has this amazing eye for design and always finds the most inspiring images. When she offered to create an inspiration board for our wedding, I jumped at the opportunity. I told Anne about what I had envisioned and different things that I liked, but I was having a hard time putting it on one board. Anne just sent me the inspiration board over the weekend and I LOVED what she put together. I wanted to share it with you all because I am just drooling over all the images.
Row 1: Karen Collins via This Is Glamorous, Cox and Cox via Simply Natural, French Style via This Is Glamorous, Ami McKay via Desire to Inspire
Row 2: Emilie Inc., Jose Villa, Ditte Isager, Rebecca Thuss
Row 3: Tim Evan Cook, Lucas Allen, Braedon Flynn via Once Wed, Paul Lowe
Row 4: Marie Claire Maison via Coco and Kelly, Martha Stewart Weddings, Hello Handmade Paperie via Snippet and Ink, The Knot
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