Weddingbee Blog

Weddingbee, this is how much I love you. I was going through all of my digital photos from my photographer, and I found some… not so nice pictures. Of course, I love candids, but some of these are weird and quirky… and not so pretty! But I will share them with you as a reminder, especially for you bride-to-bes, that the camera is ALWAYS watching every gross move you do.

First off, here we are relaxing on the formal set. Our shoes are kicked off, there are petals everywhere… we’re just relaxing in our flip flops—I love it!

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I can appreciate how some brides-to-be work hard to find cute vintage and recently retired themed stamps for mailing their save-the-dates and invitations. And I know sometimes the Postal Service sells stamps that go along with the theme of the wedding, making them a perfect fit for the invitation envelopes. I also think Zazzle stamps are so cute, and if they weren’t so expensive, I’d use them in a heartbeat.

In my case, I didn’t get too picky about the stamps and news from the Post Office weighed heavily in my decision to purchase one of the postage options I used.

With a RSVP reply date closely coinciding with the postage rate increase on May 11th, I figured it would just be easier on me and our guests if I used the Forever stamps for our response envelopes.

Source

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Source

This just came across my RSS feed, and I thought I’d share the happy news. Following in the footsteps of Iowa –on Friday the Iowa Supreme court ruled the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional –the Vermont Legislature overrode the Governor’s veto of a bill, allowing gay couples to marry, just this morning. This brings the total of states allowing same-sex marriages to four: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. Woot woot!

Reader johnsrachel is selling a pearl and Swarovski crystal tiara/headband. Attached to the piece is a removable ivory satin ribbon so you can wear it as a necklace, or leave the ribbon on when using it as a hairpiece. 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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I didn’t know what an STD was before I started planning a wedding. In fact, Mr. B received a minor scare when I saved a file called “STD #1″ on his computer (oops, maybe I should have called it something else). In the beginning, I wasn’t going to make STDs. I thought they were a waste of time and money, but the more I perused the web, the more I began to see the necessity for them. It makes sense to notify your family and friends of such an important event. With all the time and effort that is put towards such an event, I wanted to make sure our family and friends would not miss out. I decided to create them myself, so I went to this crafting mecca and searched for my supplies.

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All photos below by The Wiebners unless otherwise noted. We purchased a disc of all unedited images from our wedding day, so some post-processing has been done by me for the purpose of sharing the photos with you. Click on any photo to enlarge.

After our sneak peek at our beautiful reception space, we snuck out of the ballroom while our guests started making their way to their seats. We lined up with our parents and bridal party for our grand entrance and really didn’t care that we had just spent the last 45 minutes or so chatting with our guests — it took none of the excitement away from the fact that we were about to be introduced as husband and wife.
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Photo Source

I’m on a very tight budget for my wedding. I’m not even sure of the final budget number (I’m dreading the “how much can you help me” talk with my mom) but I have a working number in my head. It’s going to come from leftover loan money, lots of extra shifts at work, cutting back in everyday spending, selling stuff on eBay, whatever Mom can give, and of course, Mr. Lab’s family.

I prefer not to list the budget number until after the wedding, where I promise I will break down all the wedding costs one by one. And if any of you are REALLY wanting to know how much I’m spending, I’m sure that you’ll be able to keep track with individual items as I book, reserve, and pay for them. But that would make you a borderline stalker.

With all that said, I will routinely list ways I’m planning on saving money during the planning/paying process. One of those ways is with the dress.
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I love flowers. I love the way they look, the way they smell, and the emotions they can evoke. I like them on trees, in bushes, in vases, and even as decoration on my sushi platter. Mr. Latte took note of this love early on and won many points by sending me lots of flowers during our dating relationship. My coworkers still joke that he must have stock in proflowers.com.

Not surprisingly, I was super excited to start thinking and planning out the flowers for the wedding. I opened up my “wedding ideas” folder (both on my computer and in my wedding binder) and uncovered files upon files (and magazine cutouts upon cutouts) of bouquet and centerpiece ideas. Pretty overwhelming… except that they were all pictures of pretty much the same flowers. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, here’s the inspiration board I created for our wedding party newsletter:

(sources for all pictures here)

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I’m ’bout to get real on ya. A new item has popped up on my list of concerns as I near my wedding day, and it’s got baggage.

About a year ago, I noticed a slight swelling in the ball of my right foot and saw a podiatrist, but he couldn’t find anything. A month or so ago I noticed it was worse, and there was a new development: a strange lumpy bit that popped up whenever I stood, right between my 2nd and 3rd toes. I went back to the doctor, got an MRI, and was diagnosed with Morton’s Neuroma - an enlarged nerve, likely caused by my profound flat footed-ness. It’s treatable, and not uncommon. I received a cortisone (steroid) injection in an attempt to reduce the inflammation.

I have a complicated history with the steroid family. At 19, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that affects my eyes. Basically, my immune system decided that my eyes are foreign objects and attacked them as if they were a tumor, bacteria, or a similarly undesirable interloper. The result was chronic inflammation inside my eyes - which, when untreated, causes damage and/or blindness. The most common treatment for inflammation is steroids, so for many years I used steroid drops and took steroid pills. Not “pump it up” steroids, silly. The other kind.

I’m what doctors affectionately call a “steroid responder” - meaning I’m hypersensitive to the drug and, consequently, its myriad of nightmare side effects. Some of those include anxiety, mood swings, puffy face, weight gain, insomnia, depression, and even forced menopause (which I experienced at 21 - yeah. Hot flashes as an undergrad rule). It came to a head when I was over-prescribed drugs to counteract the side effects of a particularly long course of the steroids, and ended up unconscious after a numb few weeks of my life of which I now have no memory of, whatsoever. My doctors starting injecting the steroids directly into my eyes instead, which kept the medicine localized, so the only side effects I have are cataracts and glaucoma (both of which I’ve had surgery for, cuz I’m clearly 80 years old). For 4 years, I also had to also take a low-dose chemotherapy pill to suppress my immune system. Staying on the chemo any longer would be too hard on my body, and I couldn’t take steroids anymore, so we needed a new plan. Serendipitously, a study on a new, implantable steroid drug for my disease was just beginning. Bausch & Lomb funded 3 years of my eye care, the drug passed FDA approval, and the implants have been the most effective treatment yet. They last 3 or so years each, and when they run out, I simply get them replaced. Over the last 5 years or so, I’ve had 7 eye surgeries. I’m bionic, yo.

Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be about my feet?
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I can’t really wear a necklace since my dress is a halter right now (although this may change after my alterations appointment), so I’m planning on wearing fantastic earrings, and possibly a bracelet.

Please meet the contenders… all via Amy’s Bridal Accessories.

First, we have Deana:

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My fiance and I are a little shy and don’t dance particularly well, either. He suggested finding a short song for our first dance, but nothing comes to mind at the moment. We both love pretty much all
kinds of music, but slow, sentimental, and short ones are kind of hard to think of.

Do any of you have suggestions?

underneathy

~~~

Please comment on the thread here.

Like my fave Disney movie song says so well, “Go on and kiss the girl.” (I know you all know what movie I am talking about. Here’s a hint: she’s a mermaid.) I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our new life together!

Once the ceremony was finished, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. No more pressure of screwing up my vows, or being afraid of losing my garter while walking down the aisle. (Oh wait—that DID happen…)
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I’ve just completed weeks 2 & 3 of the brown dress plan. I have to say, week 1 was much easier, but 2 & 3 weren’t bad. I learned a few things that I hope will get me through weeks 5, 6, and 100.

My goals were:

1. Spin class twice a week
2. Eating breakfast every morning
3. Weights and abs an hour a week
4. Additional hour of cardio

How’d I do?

1. Spin class twice a week - week 2: 1 spin class, week 3: no spin classes
2. Eating breakfast every morning : check
3. Weights and abs an hour a week : check
4. Additional hour of cardio : week 2: 2 hours, week 3: 3.5 hours

I also managed to get in 2 yoga classes both weeks and a little extra walking in during week 3, since spring has finally come to Seattle. I wasn’t as good with the walking to the grocery store part of the plan, but it did teach me some lessons.

My first lesson learned was all about planning.
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The reports are true: the Hot Cocoas are maaarrrrieeeed!

Thanks to Luna Photo and Leigh Miller for making two stale marshmallows like us look toasty.

The unexciting old fogeys that we are, we spent a few days lazing about our wedding hotel and then promptly flew home to work (dissertation = albatross).
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A few months into our engagement, I started getting a sinking feeling in my stomach: I realized I didn’t like the setting we had hastily selected. Admitting this to myself was tough; gathering the nerve to talk about it with Mr. Bruschetta was ridiculously challenging.

I’m already an over emotional little Bruschetta, so of course, halfway through the conversation, I was rendered incoherent by heaving sobs. I deeply regretted choosing a platinum style rather than a simpler (and much cheaper!) white gold design to act as a temporary setting. But, I also knew I wouldn’t be able to relax until we found a design that would accentuate (and not overwhelm) the Dream diamond.

Mr. Bruschetta was truly wonderful, agreeing on the aspects of the setting that bothered me, and silencing my self-deprecating comments (don’t forget — I’m actually the one who picked out the setting!). Together, we discussed what the ideal setting would look like — a prong, rather than cathedral, setting with a thinner band. But, after a visit to the jewelry store, we learned that my beloved Dream diamond posed a unique challenge: Its octagonal shape meant it could be twisted easily out of a prong setting, and so an “under gallery” was necessary to hold it firmly in place.

I combed websites searching for a gallery that wouldn’t obscure the diamond, but showcase it like I envisioned. Finally, I found a promising design from Ritani.

(source)

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