Weddingbee Blog

I admit it. I have, without a doubt, a Type A personality. And for a Type A-er, admitting this is hard stuff. I like lists that I can check off, I work best under pressure, and I’m incredibly task-oriented. I exhibit Type A behavior in most situations… in a meeting at work, a night out with friends, and especially in wedding planning.

But lately, a little bit of Type B is creepin’ in. The reception dinner location hasn’t been booked (gasp!), the groomsmen’s attire hasn’t been ordered (gulp!), and the invitations? Non-existent. Woah. Deep breaths, Latte.

Instead, I’ve been mindlessly surfing the web, daydreaming, excessively sighing and staring googly-eyed at pictures like this:

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Thank you to everyone who shared their favor preference with us. In the end, we went with the luggage tags. I know it didn’t get too many votes, but we think they will still be pretty popular with guests.

We didn’t pick the limoncello because of the price of the bottles, and because when we counted, we had over 30 people who don’t or can’t drink. We didn’t want to come up with two beverage favors. We plan to bottle the limoncello we have and gift it to people who have helped with the wedding. Also, since my sister isn’t around, we don’t have access to the discounted vodka we need until a week before the wedding. To make the Limoncello, we’d need to start now.

The trail mix was the overwhelming winner (and one of our favorites), but it turns out it is not as easy to get our hands on it as we thought it would be. Shipping it here would cost a lot. We could maybe find a place out of California or Vancouver to get it, but each mix differs, sometimes greatly. We’d want to try the variety out first. If my Uncle can get a US tourist Visa, we are going to ask him to bring 6 or 7 bags with him to Seattle. Instead of giving mini bags out as favors, we think we’ll put them out on tables and at the bar for guests to snack on. It’s likely my uncle won’t get to Seattle until a few days before the wedding, and it would be too much work to repackage them in such a short amount of time. MIL Joey will be here a week before the wedding and can start on the Chex Mix then.
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Congratulations to the winner bluejay2201!

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You still have time to enter to win a HD Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera!  You can use this handy cam to create a video save the date for your guests — it’s a fun, personal and green way to let your guests know about your upcoming nuptials!

Check out this cute sample video save the date:

To enter this contest, please tell us how your fiance proposed!  You have until this Sunday, March 16th to enter. Good luck!

If after purchasing a flight to Vegas, coughing up at least $100/night for a hotel room, and emptying your wallet for each and every meal, you still have some money to spare, you will buy a pass to go to the classes at WPPI (I was able to go for free as a guest of my mom and I’m still mourning the fact that I didn’t get a seat in Elizabeth Messina’s class).

If you don’t have that kind of money, or the inclination to spend it that way, you are like the majority of photographers who skip out on the classes and go for the more cost effective trade show-only passes (for the networking, of course!).

Speaking of networking, the business card exchange at WPPI reminds me of when I used to exchange and trade Pogs when I was in elementary school. It’s definitely the “in” thing to do at WPPI. If I had a business card, it would have said: Mrs. Avocado. Weddingbee Blogger. Visit Weddingbee to read all about my wedding that I didn’t choose you to photograph.

My three favorite cards were from Leo Patrone, Bobbi+Mike, and Jonathan Canlas (all letterpress and all so beautiful).

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Hello Hive!

Thanks so much for having me! I’m Miss Cowboy Boot, and as much as I love rocking a pair of vintage, leather boots with a summer dress in warmer months, I am no cowgirl. That’s right—I’m an impostor!

I’m a Southern California girl who can’t get enough of the ocean but happens to live in a dusty little town called Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is why we’re eligible to become the Cowboy Boots. That, and we’re getting married at a ranch in Colorado.

Mr. and Ms. CB at our engagement party in September ’08, New York

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One of my favorite Etsy sellers, Muscari Designs, is having a secret sale.

Sorry, Muscari, I’m not good with secrets!

From now until March 15, you can get 20% off of all of their gorgeous handmade hair florals.

Like the “Minnesota Bloom”, which I just bought as a wedding shower present for a friend.
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In my head, I’m a DIYer. I’ve built furniture, painted (and painted and painted) houses, laid tile, and sewed slipcovers. When it comes to anything home-related, I think, “I can do that!” And then I do.

Then I started planning a wedding. I assumed that I could pull together a fabulous wedding on a super low budget by being creative about materials. I mean, c’mon, I practically LIVE at Home Depot and Lowe’s. (True story: every time I walk in, I’m greeted by at least one worker who asks how my latest project is going.)

The DIY bride in real life is not living up to the DIY bride in my head. I got to thinking today, maybe I’m NOT a DIY bride. Maybe I’m a DIY homeowner who has to accept her limitations on the bridal front. Because boy, oh, boy, the DIY thing is not going well.

Here’s an example: wedding-day makeup. I’ve done three makeup trials and none were quite right. I’ve taken to wearing full makeup on a daily basis (looks really cute with my work-from-home attire, let me tell you) just to practice. Today, at lunch, on a Wal-Mart run for cat food, I found myself paralyzed in indecision — pinkish or yellowish eye shadow? Um, hello, it’s FIVE BUCKS. So I chose one, tried it out in the car in the parking lot (yea, I’m totally classy like that) and didn’t like it.

That, in a nutshell, is my DIY experience.
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Reader bakerbride is selling 40 gold origami boxes. They are brand new in their original packaging, and measure approximately 1 inch deep by 3 inches in diameter. She is asking for $50 for the lot.

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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Gather ’round, gals & guys, because I have a feeling you’re gonna love this recap.

Today’s post is chock-full of gorgeous, close-up portrait photography taken by Nicole Tavenner of Piknik Studios. I’ve peppered some of my previous recaps with a few of these photos (particularly getting ready, the bus ride, and pre-ceremony shenanigans), but there are just so many amazing individual portraits that I have to dedicate not one, but TWO posts entirely to them.

This first post will showcase some of our portraits of me and the mister (individually, versus the portraits we took together), and my next post will feature portraits of our guests.

Fabulous portraiture was one of the many benefits of hiring Nicole. She has an impressive online portrait portfolio of families, kids, brides, and seniors, and we were wowed by what she delivered during our 2007 engagement shoot in Glacier National Park. Good portraits are excellent photos for framing, particularly in a series of two or three, and having flattering close-up pictures just makes you feel so glamorous!

I hope these pictures can help convince you to consider a wedding photographer with a talent for portraits, or to add portraiture to your wedding day photo-list. Anyway, enough chatter… let me now allow the pictures to speak for themselves.

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(source)

I didn’t always hate my camera.

For a few years, I snapped, zoomed and cropped happily, capturing holidays, birthdays and random get-togethers.

Over time, though, my camera — an almost four-year-old Nikon Coolpix 5900 — increasingly produced blurry pictures.

My technique hadn’t changed (in fact, I’d like to think it had improved since I purchased the camera!). I consulted some troubleshooting guides, and figured a new battery would help the situation.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t.
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I’ve been on the lookout for the perfect hairstyle for the wedding day. Here is my criteria for picking a style:

1. An updo. Don’t get me wrong, I love the way a half-up style looks with a veil on, but I have to be realistic. Since it will be early September when Mr. M and I get hitched and my hair does not get along with humidity, an updo is a necessity. The last thing I want to have to worry about on that day is if my perfectly straightened hairstyle has been attacked by the frizz!
2. Something that is not too much of a departure from my normal look. I want to look like myself (of course, with a little improvement). After all, that’s who Mr. M asked to marry in the first place, right? My trademark has always been my bangs, long and swept to the side. Every time I get a haircut I always come out with a slight variation of this same style. I want a wedding day style in which I can wear my bangs on the side like I always do.
3. It can’t be too fussy or elaborate. I know I’m going to be really nervous and excited on the day of, and sitting in a chair for two hours while someone plays with my hair isn’t going to help calm my nerves.
4. I need to be able to add my flowers in to finish off the look!

Here are the top contenders for my wedding day hairstyle:

From Martha Stewart

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The Joey wedding is still 4.5 months away, but already I’m thinking about what I would have done differently. Don’t get me wrong, I still love what we’ve done and are going to do, but it hasn’t stopped me from coming up with “what if” alternatives.

My first new idea? A school-themed wedding at McMenamins Kennedy School in Portland. Mr. Joey and I had lunch there when we were in Portland a month ago. As soon as we walked in, we both thought it would be the perfect location for a wedding.

image

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Today is the last day to enter to win a $150 gift certificate from Invitation Consultants, one of the biggest sources of wedding invitations and stationery on the web!  Be sure to check out their huge selection of bestselling rehearsal dinner invitations!

To enter this contest, please check out some of their rehearsal dinner invitations and comment with a style that you like.  You have until 12pm PST today to enter.  Good luck!

A few months ago I wrote this post about my bouquet charms.

Well, I finally finished them.

I’m kind of a bad blogger and I didn’t take any pictures of the process. However, I will promise to make y’all a tutorial soon, as Mr. CC wants me to make more of them.

First, let me introduce you to the people we are honoring (these are also the pictures I used).

This is Mr. CC’s Poppa. He passed in the early ’90s. Mr. CC basically grew up on this man’s lap.
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Happy Friday the 13th hive! We’ll counteract this most unlucky day with the introduction of our newest bee. I’ve been following Miss Cowboy’s personal blog for a while now, and feel so lucky to welcome her into the hive! Say hello to…