Weddingbee Blog

Today’s photo of the day was uploaded by beesknees. How adorable is her knit “cupcake” ring pillow? It’s even complete with bead “sprinkles”!

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Mr. AC and I try to be different. When it comes to our wedding, we want people to think about some of the unique angles and want them to be impressed (who doesn’t right?!). Lately, guestbooks have been on my mind. I actually never really understood guestbooks. In 20 years, am I really going to forget who came to my wedding? I think guestbooks have really evolved from a record of who attended the wedding, to a way to offer the bride and groom advice or a guest’s thoughts. You don’t have to be traditional when it comes to guestbooks.

(see below for more info about how we plan to use a bench as our guestbook)

With that idea in mind, Mr. AC and I plan to embrace the guestbook idea and find a cool way to incorporate it into the wedding! I have been hunting on the web for inspiration, and I have seen some really cool guestbooks here on the ‘bee.
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As you approach your wedding day, everyone asks you if you’re getting nervous. I wonder how they’d react if I said, “Yes, frankly, I’m scared shitless of the huge commitment I’m about to make. Not because of him — I love him and admire him — but because it’s me, and to be the kind of partner I want to be is something I’m not sure I can achieve. And sometimes I just don’t want to be a good partner. I want to stomp my feet and throw a tantrum and have someone save me.”

What if I don’t succeed this time? What if I can’t? What if I don’t want to? Bending myself to accommodate him/ us is tiring. Watching my words so that he doesn’t get hurt is tiring. Can I really do this? Do I really want to?

I often feel like I’m in this all alone… and by “this” I guess I mean life. I know that I don’t often feel relaxed or at peace or any of those other things that people seem to feel with their beloveds. I’m not at my most comfortable with him since I’m working so hard on improving behaviors that don’t work for us. I long to see him, to be with him, but I don’t always feel a big rush of relief when I do. Nothing seems to come naturally.

Will I ever get “the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe/ having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words”, or have I traded that for the proud stability of personal growth? I’m succeeding in becoming a better partner, but will I ever get there? Is there even a “there” where I can stop having to think and just be? I don’t really get to be 100% me, but 100% me includes selfish and stubborn and confrontational. I guess I can be 100% me, but I don’t want to. I want to be a better me.

I’ve been working on our ceremony, and this comes to mind:
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Oh, how quickly it flies by. I can’t believe one year ago yesterday, on April 28th, 2008, we were lollygagging around Capri, Italy, soaking up life and (duhn, Duhn, DUHN) getting engaged. In honor of that fine date, I felt like I should share something with you.

Ms. D’orsay inspired me to try to take pro pics of my engagement ring. That said, Ms. D’orsay also taught me that I am nowhere as talented as her at taking photos, nor as talented as some of the readers who have tried this!

Here goes (Note: I only have two. As I said, I wasn’t as talented and most of them came out blurry…):

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I thought I’d share some details behind the Modern Bride photo shoot!

Remember how I did redid my workspace back in January? It was this photo shoot that was the impetus! When they said they wanted to shoot in the apartment that I just moved into, I knew I had to get cracking. Kim of Inspired Goodness (aka SIL Cupcake) did a fabulous job revamping my workspace!

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While we still haven’t finalized the menu, we have chosen a caterer and have a general idea of what will be served at our reception. Since Italian food is somewhat of a specialty where we’re from (and a favorite among both of our families), we knew from the beginning that we’d be serving it at our wedding.

(source)

Here’s a sneak peek at our menu! (I will be making the descriptions sound prettier after it’s finalized… if anyone has suggestions on wording, I’d love to hear them!)

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Reader mrstls is selling a Naugi hair comb. It is style “Sweet Maria”, a double comb, and features silver and crystals. It was worn once. 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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Mr. Joey isn’t a big “picture person”. He said that we had to smile in one too many pictures as a child, and that has ruined him for life. I think he looks great in pictures, but I do know what he’s talking about. In about half of his pictures, he gets this awkward uncomfortable smile. I also am not comfortable in front of the camera. I feel like my lips and cheeks take over my face. I guess everyone has their picture issues.

Because we’re not picture taking people, we don’t have very many photos commemorating big events. We don’t have one from the night he proposed, and there aren’t many of us (that we know of) from the last wedding we attended. Instead, we collect something else that captures the moment — corks. Yes, it sounds weird, but it’s different and it works for us.

Every time we celebrate with bottle of something, we save the cork and write the date and occasion on it. We have one from our first night in our apartment, our engagement, various holidays, and celebration dinners. There’s no actual image to waken the memory, but just picking up the cork and looking at the date and occasion stirs up the memory of the entire celebration for me in my head. And it’s not about the vintage or type of beverage consumed (there are a lot of Cook’s corks), but about how much fun we had, or how what we toasted changed our lives forever.

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I rarely post about non-wedding related things regarding the Peeps, but Mr. Peep got some pretty big news this weekend, and I am glowing with excitement.

Ever since I met Mr. Peep, he’s talked about changing careers or or going back to grad school. The problem: he left undergrad with some hanging credits. A hot-headed 22-year-old walked out of undergraduate school and moved to California with ONE class to go. While the wine industry has been a great career for over 10 years for him, a couple of bad job choices finally left him wanting more.

After some soul searching, my typically laissez-faire fiance took the bull by the horns and enrolled in a program to not only finish up his undergraduate degree, but to fulfill the prerequisites to apply for his MBA. He found an MBA program in San Francisco that not only caters to older students (since he’s no spring chicken), but that focuses on business and the environment, aka a Green MBA.

Since August, Mr. Peep has been going to school 3 to 4 nights a week, working weekends, attending grad school open houses, and doing what he needed to do to get accepted.
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I’m a nail biter, I have acne, and I don’t like vegetables.

How’s that for a super-fun way to start a post? Well, it’s all true. These are issues I’ve been trying to deal with for years, and as my wedding day approaches they’re becoming even more important to me. This is the first post of a three-part series about wedding-inspired self-improvement.

[source]

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Although my BFF’s hubbers proposed to her before the two had discussed marriage, in this day and age I think it is rare that a couple would get engaged without the bride knowing it was coming. Among all my newly engaged friends, 4 out of 4 couples had discussed getting married before becoming engaged. So, like them, I knew it was coming…

Last June, on the hottest day I can remember, Mr Frenchie and I went were eating lunch at The Corner Bakery and trying to decide what to do for the day. To my delight, Mr Frenchie asked if I’d like to go to Robin’s Bros and look at rings (UM YEAH!), not to purchase anything, but just to give him an idea of what I liked, since I’d be wearing the ring for the rest of my life.

I kinda threw him a bone and offered to first head over to the closest Auto Center to check out some new cars. Mr Frenchie had been talking about several new models he wanted to see in person, and I wanted to check out the new VWs.

After looking at all those shiny things, we went to Robin’s Bros to look at these shiny things…
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Um, well hopefully not ALL of them, but I’m crossing my fingers for one in particular (that’s you, Mr. Gloss).

As we discussed here, my workout regimen is not going so hot, so I figure the next best thing to actual weight loss is a weight loss illusion… i.e., SPANX!!

Hey – a girl is allowed to have a little help, right? Fake it till you make it, ladies.

Who knew there were so many SPANX options? The girl at Nordstrom was SUPER helpful—we had a very informative Q&A:
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Previously:

All the Right Ingredients: Fleur De Lys Catering
All the Right Ingredients: Cindy Patrick Photography

When we started researching florists, I definitely had Sister Bruschetta’s florist — who created her vibrant fall bouquets — on my radar.

I set up a consultation, bringing with me our wedding color paint swatches, and one centerpiece inspiration picture — ripped from a bridal magazine even before Mr. Bruschetta proposed!

Brittany, who is delightfully cheery, walked me through the types of flowers readily available in late August. She was mindful of my vision, and respectful of my budget.
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With around a month to go (yikes!), I have been in serious crafting mode. Here is my latest project, our table numbers:

I think the circles will tie in nicely with our invitations.

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Photo courtesy our fabulous floral designer, Erin McLarty

What’s up, y’all?! Well, it’s official, we are MARRIED! That Saturday night was, to date, the best night of my life. I have never felt so loved, confident, and excited, and wish I could do it all over again and again!!

Mr. L and I felt so blessed, as the day truly was perfect (for us) — we were surrounded by sunshine(!!!), almost every member in our extended families, and amazing friends, old and new.
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