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Weddingbee Blog
Bonjour Hive!
I am so shocked, excited, elated and more adjectives ending in ’ed’ to become a “bee”. I started reading Weddingbee months before Mr Frenchie and I became engaged, and now with only 4 months left til The Big Day (OMG I only have 4 months), I can’t believe that that cute little doggie is up there representing ME!
Why Miss Frenchie? Not only is this little doggie freakin’ adorable, but after Mr. Frenchie and I are married we’re considering adding a French Bulldog to our little family. We don’t currently live together, so we don’t have any pets, yet. My parents (whose house I current reside in) have two Westies, Barney and Benny. B&B are so cute that they convinced my not-a-pet-person Mr to actually want a dog after we’re married. I can’t wait to get our puppy after we’re all settled in.
I don’t want to give out all my secrets on the first post, but to let you know a little about me.
Read more…
Ever since I decided against designing and making my own dress, I have been really excited to design and make my veil. I was extremely inspired by some of the lovely cathedral length veils that fellow bees have worn. Armed with yards of tulle, I started my veil journey. It would have been easier if I had my dress at home… guessing on length and the shape of the bottom of the veil was a bit tricky.
First, I asked a friend to come over and model so I could do the draping. My dress form is headless!
Draping the veil was really easy, since I didn’t want to gather the tulle. Here it is, after I trimmed the sides, with pieces of tape marking the center. Don’t mind the soup cans on the floor, I use them as fabric weights. A tutorial will be coming soon!
Mr. Taffy, no peeking!!! I’m not hiding these veils in the back of my closet for nothing! 
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I had an interesting dilemma facing me with who would take the job of walking me down the aisle. My real father lives in California and I’ve never really had a relationship with him. My stepfather, who I considered the closest thing I ever had to a real father, died when I was 14. My parents divorced when I was very young and my stepfather helped raise me. I called him Dad and never thought more of it.
Once I became engaged, one of the first things that popped into my mind was missing out on the father-daughter events like walking down the aisle, being given away, and having a dance just for us. I had already gone through high school and college graduations, and sorority daddy-daughter days without one. Who would take over this important role for me? Would I end up walking the aisle alone?
I thought about my grandfather, but as soon as I mentioned it to my mom (who knew it was coming already), she broke some bad news to me. My grandpa had already declined because he’s been suffering from dizzy spells and didn’t want to have an attack while halfway down the aisle, thus ruining our big day. I honestly wasn’t worried that it would happen or that if it did it would matter much to me, but mom assured me he would say no, regardless. 
I was back at square one.
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Dreaming. Romanticizing. Those are two things I am darn skilled at. Put me in charge of whipping up a swoon-worthy wedding with no budget attached and I’d be off and running in no time. But, with family on two sides of the country to consider and a bank account that’s nowhere near out of this world, we had to be a wee bit more realistic.
That said, a girl can dream, can’t she? Somewhere in between searching for venues back East and booking Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Colorado, a few venues popped up that could be appropriately filed under “gasp”, “sigh”, “swoon”, and, well, “unrealistic”.
Let’s rewind and run through my short-list of dream venues, shall we?
1. Mankas Inverness Lodge one hour north of San Francisco. It’s a fishing and hunting lodge from 1910 tucked between Tomales Bay and Tomales State Park near Point Reyes. Surrounded by woods and nature, this arts-and-crafts rustic style camp (with nine rooms and two cabins) is intimate (read: probably 50 guests max), but so special. I mean, check out this gorgeous wedding there. All pictures below by Mel Barlow.
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.”
[For those just joining me on the dress-hunt, revisit the past:
Part I; Part 2; Part 3]
Remember my brown suit? Well, forget it. I returned it earlier this week.
Why? Well… as much as I liked the familial symbolism of it, and as much as I liked the suit itself, it really wasn’t me (at least not bride-me). The more I thought about it, the more I really did not want to get married in a brown suit. You see, I know that many of you may say I’m crazy, but I’ve always had some trouble feeling feminine. I’ve been a tomboy much of my life (with interests in cars and electronics and no fear of getting my hands dirty). I’m also quite tall and have struggled with my appearance and self-image a lot over the years. And in December I had a momentary lapse of judgment and got a very short pixie haircut. Not a style that screams womanly beauty for me.
So the idea of getting married in a long-sleeved, brownish suit was making me rather wary. I want to be feminine and cute on my wedding day, and I’m not particularly cute-looking by default (IMHO). Sure, I look like a girl, and not a particularly bad looking girl at that. I have a girl shape and a girl face. No one is confusing me for the opposite sex. But I’m also almost the same height as my groom. I have long arms, big feet, and the aforementioned short hair. Nothing can make me petite, and it takes the perfect dress to make me look delicate. While my suit did have delicate elements to it (like the notched boat neck), I decided it would be a better fit if our wedding was going to be in the late fall or winter. In early September, the weather will still be summery and I’ll likely look out of place and sweaty in such a heavy, conservative outfit.
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Remember this post on inspiration? Well, now I’m going to tell you what became of it. 
I really wanted to display our initials (either first or last or both) somewhere in our reception venue. I love the look of moss covered initials:
However, after my lust subsided, I decided I wanted something a little different. Then I came across this:
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I’d have to say that the French Bulldog icon with her little tongue sticking out is my favorite of the bunch, and I’m so excited to announce our newest bee, Miss French Bulldog… but you can call her Miss Frenchie!
Miss French Bulldog, Orange County
Age and Occupation: 28, Administrative Assistant & Interior Design Student
Fiance’s Age and Occupation: 28, Purchasing Analyst
Engagement Date: November 8, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Bernardo Winery
About Me: I’ve lived in Atlanta, Dallas and Laguna Niguel; although I’ve lived in Orange County, CA most my life, I’m a Southerner at heart. I work full time for a Commercial General Contractor (aka my father) and I go to school for Interior Design at night. I love modern design, music, wine, crafting, DMailing, my family, my Westies, and of course, Mr Frenchie! Mr Frenchie and I met 3 years ago on Match.com and have been best friends ever since. I love his “old soul” and how he laughs with his whole body, among many other things. We are planning our summer wedding at the winery near his hometown, just 45 minutes south of Orange County.
Well, after my last post about wooden details, I happened to come across a few more inspirational pictures I had to share with you all. You probably are all thinking I’m crazy, but I thought a few of you might appreciate a little bit more inspiration.
Like many other brides before me, I have been workin’ on my fitness so I can be a super sexy lady come wedding time. And so far, I’ve been doing really well. I’ve been sticking to my workout regimen, and I’ve seen some great results!
But I have a downfall. And oh, what a downfall it is!
Yes, the delicious monkey clinging to my back is none other than the lovely, tart yet sweet Sour Patch Kids. Om nom nom!
Oh Sour Patch Kids, why can’t I quit you?!
Congratulations to the winners of the Kathlin Argiro Bridesmaid/Rehearsal Dress Giveaway! Our grand prize winner, Lizz C., has won up to 5 Kathlin Argiro bridesmaid dresses for her inspiration board submission:
As Mr. Bruschetta and I learned during our engagement session, props serve a dual purpose: They give you something to do or hold, allowing you to feel more comfortable in front of the camera, and they make for fun, whimsical pictures.
Since we’ll have time between the ceremony and reception, I’ve got high hopes of capturing bridal party candids in the streets surrounding our reception location. And there will be props.
What kind, you ask?
Two of my nephews, Trevor and Gavin, will play very important roles on our wedding day. As part of the bridal party, they will be outfitted in tuxedos that will be mini versions of Mr. Deviled Egg’s, right down to matching vests and ties. Last weekend, my sister and I took the boys to get measured for their tuxes.
Trevor, our ring bearer, getting his belly measured.
We received emails from a few users that their computers were infected with WinPC Defender, a fake anti-spyware application. WinPC Defender claims to be an anti-spyware program, but it actually isn’t. It displays pop-up ads encouraging you to buy the “licensed” version of WinPC Defender software to “remove” it, which itself is a fraud.
We’ve done a security audit of our site and our advertisers, and there’s no trace of WinPC Defender. We’re investigating what could’ve caused this - but in the meantime, I did a ton of research on the program, and thought I’d share what we’ve found.
This isn’t a subtle program: if you’ve been infected, it will probably be obvious. Infected users will see regular ads for a licensed version of WinPC Defender. If you think your computer may be infected with WinPC Defender, a number of sites (like here) recommend you install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software to remove it.
I found an Editor’s review by CNET that gave them a great review: “Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective freeware antimalware tool. It’s a relatively speedy malware remover, with the quick scan taking about 8 minutes even with other high-resource programs running.”
Read more…
Worn out and frustrated with our search for a rehearsal site venue had me grasping at straws. I had the Baguette Box idea but FIL Joeys weren’t jumping up and down crazy about it. They really liked it, but they worried that not having a place for everyone to sit would be a problem. Hmm… I saw their point. I was just about to give up for then night when I thought, ‘maybe Craigslist? What could it hurt?’ So I wrote a small ad:
We’re looking for someone to cater and host (in their space) our rehearsal dinner on xx around 6PM. We’d like to spend $25 per person for food not including tax or tip. We have 35 people in our party. We’d love to bring our own booze but are open to purchasing it from you. Interested parties, please email us the location of your space, link to pictures (if possible) and a sample menu.
I didn’t expect much from the ad but it was worth a shot. I had been lucky with my invitation printer, photographer and hair/makeup artist. Why not roll the dice again?
I got the usual weirdos. My favorite was someone named “The Captain” who said for $24 extra, he’d throw in the parrot and “rev” could marry us that night. Yeah, I’m thinking I’ll pass.
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