- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
The amazing Ashley came over on Saturday to do our real hair and makeup trial. We did one previously, but I didn’t know what I really wanted. She was great. She used my inspiration pictures to come up with the perfect hair and makeup combo.
So, this is me on a normal day. I don’t wear much makeup, save for blush, eyeliner (mostly on the bottom), and mascara. That’s it. I used wear more, but traveling has forced me to simplify.
There are lots of reasons that motivate people to lose weight. For some (like Ash is Fit) it’s a wedding, for others, it’s to be able to play with their soon-to-be born children without getting winded, and for Seth Rogan, it’s to play the Green Hornet. For me? It’s a combination of things. I’m tired of being overweight, and I was blaming my knee surgery for avoiding exercise (it was 2 years ago, I need to get over it). I don’t want my wedding pictures to feature an overweight stranger, and most importantly, I have an audition in June for a local dance company. I want to be back to my fit, healthy, and dancing self.
Here are a few blogs that continue to inspire me:
I first saw Tyler on the Consumerist. I started following his blog, and then I was inspired by him - he’s gone from 344 pounds to 279 pounds in 13 weeks. He writes about his weight loss journey and blogs about his calories, weight, exercise, and everything in between. He even posts pictures about himself and clearly has more cajones than I do. He has run a 1 minute pledge on his blog - for every comment, he promised to work out for 1 minute on the elliptical at level 14 (he ended up with over 90 comments!). Sure, he’s not losing weight for his wedding, but that doesn’t stop him from inspiring me!
My other favorite weight loss blog (which Miss Ballet Flat also loves) is Ash is Fit. I recently checked out her cooking site and tweaked her Chili Bean Burgers. Mr. D (a meat lover) actually begged me to make them again that same week! Ashley has lost almost 80 pounds in 2 years, and was motivated to lose weight for her wedding. I always figure if Ashley can shred levels 2 and 3 back to back, then I can at least do level 1 or 2 back to back.
Read more…
My most recent shoe find has nearly all the attributes of my ideal wedding footwear: They’re peep toe slingbacks, with a not-too-high (and not-too-short) heel. After first spotting these seemingly perfect shoes at the newly-opened South Jersey Nordstrom, I also learned they’re oh-so comfortable, and not priced out of my budget.
There’s only one thing keeping me from snapping up them up and ending my shoe search.
They’re not just green, they’re GREEN. And the only other available color? Black.
Read more…
Our $1000 budget wasn’t actually set in stone: it just worked out to be around that much. We wanted to spend as little as possible, so I tried to come up with what I thought were reasonable amounts to spend on the things we need and want in order to pull off our wedding in style. Here are the details. The green number after the slash indicates our actual expenditure.
Marriage License: $110/?
$110 is the cost for a marriage license in Minnesota, where we were originally considering tying the knot. If we do it in North Dakota, it’ll cost a little less. We haven’t decided yet.
Dress: $250/$14
This was my initial dress budget. The brown suit cost $170; I returned it. My white eyelet dress was much more budget friendly! I am still planning to buy a shrug, pashmina, or light jacket to go with my dress, but I don’t think it’s going to bring the dress budget total even close to my original estimate.
Shoes: $100/?
I haven’t bought my shoes yet, but I hope to do better than $100 for them.
Read more…
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.”
Congratulations to the winner grace527!
~~~
We’ve got an exciting letterpress giveaway today! One lucky winner will receive a customized set of personal stationery (50 2-color letterpress-printed flat cards in the design of your choice – a $300 value), OR a $300 gift certificate towards anything you like from Ephemera!
To enter, please let us know what your design would look like! You have until midnight PST on Thursday to enter. Good luck! 
Ephemera is also offering 10% off of their a la carte wedding invitation prices to Weddingbee readers who place their invitation orders by May 29. Check out their gorgeous letterpress designs on their website!
When I do something weird or quirky, which I am known to do, Mr Frenchie just smiles and says, “Where did I find you?”
To which I answer, “On the internet.”
Yep, Mr Frenchie and I met on the internet. How very new millennium of us! 
I guess I was never really turned off, or afraid of meeting someone on the internet because that was how I met my very first college boyfriend. He was a friend of a friend, and we were set up online before we met. So in that case, I didn’t really “meet” him on the internet but I talked to him on the internet before I “met” him. Does that make sense? Internet dating didn’t turn Mr Frenchie off either, because when his parents remarried, after their divorce, they both met their new husband/wife using the personals in the newspaper.
Read more…
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
So, Heidi and Spencer got married this weekend. Normally I roll my eyes at any news about Speidi, but this was a special occasion for many people, even me! Why, you ask?
Well, take exhibit A: this photo of Perez Hilton mingling at the cocktail reception.
Oh, Perez. Wait, who’s that behind him? In the white suit?
Read more…
We finally made the trek to Hansen’s Bakery this weekend to pick out our wedding cake. Hansen’s Bakery holds a special place in my heart because (A) it’s a L.A. landmark (they’ve been in the business for seven generations!), and (B) my mom bought my first birthday cake at Hansen’s. Awwww.
I had two simple criteria going into it. The cake had to look old school and vintage-esque, and it had to taste super yummy. I think we’ve achieved both goals, and I’ll just say that I am in LOVE.
I have a teaser picture of our chosen cake’s “floor model” for you (yes, they had models of their cakes displayed all around the bakery).
Much to Mr. Peep’s chagrin, we will not be serving cocktails at our wedding. Not even a signature cocktail. In order to serve even just a signature cocktail, we’d incur a $300 charge to have a bartender (we don’t need a bartender to serve beer and wine- just a server). And at $10 per signature drink, it just didn’t sound like a smart investment.
But we will be serving signature drinks! Do you want to know how?
Well, I’ve talked about how we are going to be serving sparkling wine made by Mr. Peep’s own hands, so I am going to jazz up our beer and wine selection.
Read more…
This post is a warning for all brides-to-be out there:
Do NOT let your groom watch wedding shows with you!
Why, you ask? Because there is the possibility that he may get some crazy idea from a show, and force you to make it happen. You say, “But it’s GOOD that he’s getting involved and voicing his opinion!” But I politely scream back, “Not when that idea is a MEAT groom’s cake!!!!”
Mr. Lab and I were watching an episode of “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?” when one groom insisted on having a “meat cake” for his groom’s cake.
Mr. Lab, look away if you want even the slightest chance of having your meat cake!
I should be ashamed of myself. I had low expectations for my bridal shower. As I’ve mentioned before, there was a little bit of tension in the planning of it. I had felt that my BMs weren’t into it, and I was over it. So this weekend, when I arrived at my mom’s house with my friend Michelle (to whom I protested), I was VERY surprised and seriously humbled by the huge effort everyone had made on my behalf.
My mother, BM Abby, and my sister pulled together a wonderful and thoughtful event that came together beautifully. My mom cooked up a storm of Vietnamese lunch goodies. Abby made the cutest guest gifts of spatulas and cookie cutters.
And my sister coordinated the whole thing—despite being a busy lawyer commuting between Tel Aviv and New York. I chalked her harried/haphazard planning up to not caring. (But seriously, if I had her schedule, a bridal shower would be the last thing on my priority list, for sure. It was very perspective-giving.)
Read more…
After months of back and forth going from vendor to vendor, I finally found a hair piece I like. When last we left the hair piece saga, I was choosing between two gorgeous numbers. Most bees liked option 2. Classic with a little color. I liked it too, but I also really liked the craziness of option 1.
Wow! Can you believe it’s almost MAY? I remember March 2008 so vividly. Ever since my engagement ring was placed on my finger, Mr. BF and I have been planning for our big day to happen!
This past weekend, I met my amazing photographer, Amanda Meyer, at City Park in New Orleans, where we took my bridal pictures. This made me thankful for our indoor wedding, because I will not need to dodge large caterpillars, nor will I need to pick random leaves out of my crinoline.
I do need to mention that I had a snag that morning. I tore my right contact lens with NO extras at my parents’ home, so I decided that I would just take the bridals without glasses, trying my best to focus on the camera. I’m pretty blind without my contacts, so this made for an interesting day. I spent the day (except for the picture taking) in my glasses. I usually wouldn’t care, but because I got those little nose marks from the pads on my glasses, I would constantly have to re-blend my makeup in that area to make sure it wasn’t really noticeable.
I had my hair/makeup trials done that morning by Get Polished, and ladies, let me tell you that airbrush makeup is worth every penny. I had it applied at 11AM Saturday morning, and late that night, it was mostly still on! Amazing for my oily face! 
Here’s my face with the wedding makeup and my curly hairdo.
There are a little under 3 weeks left to participate in the first Weddingbee book club! Check out the details on this month’s book club here, and if you’d like to participate, purchase a copy of this month’s selection, The Seven Principles for Making a Marriage Work by John Gottman, which is available for purchase on Amazon for $10.17.
To participate in the discussion, please read this month’s selection by May 17th! I’ve been reading my copy and Mr. Penguin has snuck a few chapters, as well! We look forward to discussing the book with you!
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
