Mrs. Powder Puff, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 25, Preschool TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Career ServicesEngagement Date: May, 2008Wedding Date: July, 2009Blogging Since: November 12, 2008Venue: Outdoor ceremony, banquet hall receptionAbout Me: I am your typical Midwestern girl attempting to plan a sane, budget-friendly, fun wedding to the man of my dreams. I love shoes, laughing at “Platinum Weddings”, crafts, inspiration boards, candy, and basically anything I can DIY. While weddings can certainly be all-consuming, I honestly can’t wait until the ceremony is over and I can finally call Mr. Powder Puff my husband!
When Mr. Powder Puff and I first became engaged, we knew immediately there were certain wedding traditions that we did not want to uphold. Namely, the garter and bouquet tosses. We find them to be awkward, uncomfortable, and (in the mister’s groomsmen’s hands) prime time for some R-rated moments. No thank you!
Now, since we are foregoing the traditional bouquet and garter tosses, I am not in the market for a garter. But if you are, you must must MUST check out the gorgeous creations over at Bleu Garters. They have some totally swoon-worthy creations like these:
Mrs. Crab Cake, Columbus, GAAge and Occupation: 25, Registered NurseFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Director of Education and Living History for a museumEngagement Date: April 6, 2008Wedding Date: June, 2009Blogging Since: November 26, 2008Venue: Holy Family Catholic Church, reception: National Infantry MuseumAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist trying to balance two jobs, motherhood, my craft obsession, and wedding planning. I am obsessed with all things wedding, especially creative ideas for saving money and DIY projects. A Southern Belle at heart, I love anything southern, especially sweet tea, grits, afternoon thunder storms, crab cakes, and good old Southern hospitality. Mr. Crab Cake and I are planning a vintage inspired wedding with tons of Southern flare (can y'all say that with a thick Southern drawl?).
Mrs. French Bulldog, Orange CountyAge and Occupation: 28, Administrative Assistant & Interior Design StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Purchasing AnalystEngagement Date: November 8, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Bernardo WineryAbout 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.
This past Thursday, Papa Frenchie and I went to our first dance lesson. Papa Frenchie didn’t really dance at his own wedding, so Mama Frenchie still can’t believe taking dance lessons was his idea. My job was to find the studio, and since I only knew of two in our area (Londance and Arthur Murray) I called the closest one, Londance. Pat (one of the owners) set us up with a free trial lesson to see how we liked everything and for us to decide if we’d want to take more lessons.
Photo by Me. Sorry it’s dark :-/
Papa Frenchie and I had NO CLUE what our song would be going into this lesson; we just figured we would pick something we could dance to. Read more…
Mrs. Strawberry, SeattleAge and Occupation: 25, Radio DJ, Advertising Sales, Day of Wedding CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: 07/04/2006Wedding Date: September 1, 2007Venue: Lake Union Cafe, SeattleAbout Me: I'm a Navy brat that has lived all over the world. I love reality shows that are in poor taste, going to new restaurants, and trying to be crafty. Emphasis on trying!
I stumbled across this fun idea via Lovely Package. It’s a wedding invitation in a can! How genius! You tie the can to the back of the getaway car— it’s totally brilliant! It makes me want to start stockpiling Campbell’s Soup. What’s that? I’m already married? Small detail.
Mrs. Yorkie, Miami Age and Occupation: 30, Graduate Admissions CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Asst. Professor Engagement Date: July 3, 2008Wedding Date: June 2009Venue: Red Fish GrillAbout Me: I’m an East Coast girl with a crafty streak who loves traveling, photography and being outdoors (barefoot, if possible). When I do have to wear shoes, I prefer Mizunos, and have worn out a few pairs running marathons. I have a thing for chai, crossword puzzles, Apples to Apples, The Office and my real-life Yorkie, Bella. My West Coast transplant, Mr. Yorkie, roots for the Buckeyes, loves baseball, and climbs mountains for fun. We’re planning a fun little seaside wedding filled with handmade details and vintage charm. I can hardly wait!
Ever since we finalized the details with the cake, I’ve been on the lookout for the perfect pedestal stand. If you’ll remember my original inspiration photo from Jordan Ferney’s wedding, what initially struck me was her amazing collection of milk glass stands. While the vision for our own sweet creation has seen its share of changes, one thing has remained constant: the stand.
There’s just something about the graceful lines of a simple stand that can elevate a cake to the next level (pun intended). I wish that I could tell you that the search has been a piece of cake (sorry, I couldn’t resist!). Unfortunately, it hasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve found some GORGEOUS pedestals in the process. The only problem is that most of them have been too small! (The ones that are large enough for our 13″ cake are, unfortunately, much too expensive for our remaining budget.)
While none of the following were winners in The Yorkies’ search for the perfect pedestal, I think they’re at least worthy of an honorable mention! Read more…
Mrs. Perfume, DCAge and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor)Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, ConsultantEngagement Date: May 13, 2008Wedding Date: May, 2009Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, VirginiaAbout Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.
We’re getting married today!!! Four years ago when we first met, I never would have guessed that this would ever happen!!! Through the years (has it been years???) of travel, celebration, and breakups, we finally made it!!
I chose this picture because it represents a turning point in our relationship. During that summer two years ago, we reunited one last time after a long hiatus. I sensed something different, more committed, about our relationship. And eight months later, you proposed!!!
Mrs. Bunny, ColumbusAge and Occupation: 24, Associate Editor/ReporterFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, ReporterEngagement Date: September 23, 2008Wedding Date: July 2009Venue: Everal Barn, WestervilleAbout Me: Organized, but messy. I love art (all kinds). I don't have any secrets. I talk a lot and listen even more. I show love by baking. I'm timid by nature, but brave when it counts.
Mr. Bunny and I work at competing weekly newspapers, which makes it a little interesting trying to describe our work joys and frustrations without giving away too much before the paper comes out. In spite of that little hurdle, we've managed to build a pretty solid relationship in the short one-and-a-half years we will have been together when we tie the knot. I can't wait!
Okay, not quite one hundred. But it kinda felt like it after we’d been out for a few hours.
We started out the morning with a brunch of yagels — egg bagel sandwiches.
I’d made appointments at two different stores and had plans to visit a third that didn’t require appointments for bridesmaids. We headed to that store first, but discovered it wouldn’t open until noon.
So instead we drove a couple blocks to David’s Bridal and waited for it to open at 11. Since our appointment wasn’t until 12:30, we started by looking around on our own.
My requirements were that the dresses must be blue and tea length. Here were some of the contenders:
This is my lil’ sister “Sunny Bunny”, my MOH, in dress #1 from David’s Bridal. This was definitely one of my top picks for the girls. I don’t know if you can tell, but the blue is a little purple-y. Sunny liked that it had pockets. Read more…
Mrs. Taffy, Ann ArborAge and Occupation: 28, Color and Materials DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Automotive DesignerEngagement Date: May 9, 2008Wedding Date: May 2009Blogging Since: September 14, 2008Venue: University of Michigan UnionAbout Me: I’m a girl who is crazy about Mr. Taffy, sewing, dancing, almost all types of sweets, and our cute pet canaries. I dislike touching fuzzy fabric of any kind, eating somewhat squishy food, and Michigan winters. Mr. Taffy and I are having a blast planning our Ann Arbor wedding, and cannot wait to share our day with friends and family.
In just a few hours, I’ll be walking down the aisle. I am thrilled to marry Mr. Taffy- my best friend, the love of my life! I am fairly sleep deprived, and Mr. Taffy is doing even worse in that department, but the outpouring of love by our friends and family that we will experience today is absolutely worth the lack of sleep!
I want to thank the hive for all of the advice, support and encouragement during our engagement!!! You ladies are amazing. Read more…
Mrs. Cub, Chile/PortlandAge and Occupation: 26, AstronomerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, AstronomerEngagement Date: May 10, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Westwind YWCA campAbout Me: I'm a small-town girl who's making a living in Chile, with her heart in the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Southern California, went to high school in Texas, grad school in New Mexico, and now I can't wait to settle down in Oregon! I love pears, hazelnuts,
knitting, traveling, running, baking, and long talks on the phone with
good friends. I'm planning my Oregon coast summer camp wedding while
abroad with my best friend - I'm always at home when I'm with him!
There’s no denying it - a summer camp isn’t exactly a “normal” wedding venue. I love our venue (we did pick it! ), but it does come with its quirks.
Camp Westwind is situated on the southern shore of the Salmon River estuary in northwest Oregon. It’s completely surrounded by land preserved by The Nature Conservancy, and the camp itself strives to live in symbiosis with the land. It’s less a “summer camp” these days (it was formerly owned by the YWCA) and more a wilderness education camp.
The primary goal of Camp Westwind (besides environmental education) is to conserve the ecosystem it’s in. As such, they don’t allow many cars to drive directly to the site.
We can have about one to two cars for our entire wedding group (all 80ish of us). The majority of our guests will have to park on the north shore of the estuary in a sanctioned parking lot and cross the river in a barge. Read more…
Mrs. Peep Toe, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, Policy AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 36, Olive Oil Production ManagerEngagement Date: December 16, 2007Wedding Date: May, 2009Blogging Since: November 26, 2008Venue: Hotel VitaleAbout Me: I am a west coast lady who loves the San Francisco Bay Area. I love living with Mr. Peep and our animals: Huck the Dog and Ferris the Cat. I work to save the environment in San Francisco, while Mr. Peep makes ridiculously delicious Olive Oil. On any day you can find me reading the latest book I have gotten my hands on, eating Swedish Fish, and perusing wedding blogs! We are both champagne drinking foodies on a Bud Light budget. We are planning an eco-chic, intimate, and interfaith San Francisco City wedding.
And today—today, I get to make you my husband!! You’re the love of my life and I can’t WAIT to continue this crazy journey with you next to me. I can’t believe that I get to hold your hand ’til it’s wrinkled and your hair has turned gray. You mean the world to me. You have my heart, so hold onto it tight! OR else! Hee hee.
Mrs. Swan, New York CityAge and Occupation: 31, Legislative RepresentativeFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Finance GuyEngagement Date: August 9, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Battery GardensAbout Me: I am an un-crafty but resourceful, Caribbean-born but New York-raised woman who's been known to analyze "Dancing with the Stars" and “So You Think You Can Dance”, buy stinky cheese, and use way too many parentheses. I keep lists for fun, am constantly daydreaming of my next international travel adventure (four continents down, three to go), debating sports (let’s Got Mets/Giants!) and dancing around my apartment to stay sane. I am excited to share our wedding planning journey as I hope to plan a streamlined, personal, and fun wedding with the greatest life partner I could ever imagine, Mr. Swan.
As I was thinking about something to blog about yesterday, I realized that I have not blogged about my invitations. I’m warning you now, everyone, that this is not going to be the usual Weddingbee invitation post. I’ll again be up front with you… I’m not into paper. I think it’s pretty, just not enough to make a major investment of time (making invites or paper products myself) or money (dropping loot on letterpress) into.
With my un-craftiness and a decision to keep things streamlined and simple, this thinking spilled over into my search for invitations. I knew I wanted to keep things looking very modern, simple, and full of color, which is essentially what our wedding will be. That meant I tried to look for invites with no birds, flowers, plants, bows, yadda, yadda, yadda. I was thoroughly surprised at how hard it is to find invitations without these elements in this day and age. Almost every invitation out there has one of those elements. If anything, with that criteria, at least it made it easy to narrow things down! I was also not concerned about letterpress, engraving, or pretty much how they were printed, as long as the cardstock was at least substantial.
Also against current convention, I did not want multiple inserts, pocketfolds or an RSVP card. Part of that was motivated by a desire to be “green” (we are paper recycling fiends in the Swan household) and to maintain part of the underlying goal of our planning, which is to (say it with me, everybody) “Keep it simple!”. Instead of an RSVP card, we included a small insert with our RSVP date, an email address and a telephone number for our guests to respond, and also a mention of our wedding website on My Wedding. Read more…
WatercoolerFeature Launched: July 1, 2007About: The most discussed posts of the week.
Mrs. Pomegranate, SacramentoAge and Occupation: 27, Technical SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Software EngineerEngagement Date: August 23, 2007Wedding Date: October, 2008Blogging Since: June 5, 2008Venue: R.H. Phillips WineryAbout Me: Hi, I'm Miss Pomegranate and I'm a shopaholic. I have a weak spot for the chic cheap - especially anything I can re-create on the DIY. Shoes are my vice, music is my passion in life and technology is the medium by which I live and work. When I'm not scoping out a sale, I'm spending my quality time training for a marathon, playing Wii with my fiance and snuggling with my Silver Labrador and Teacup Panther - and oh yeah, planning my wedding!
Six (plus) months fly by so fast! I can’t believe it’s been so long - and that I’ve been so negligent with my bee responsibilities. My wedding recap fell by the wayside while we scrambled through what seemed like pure chaos:
I dyed my hair dark brown (post wedding dye, instead of chop) - and I promise a photo will come soon!
Mr. Pomegranate started a new job.
I kept my job, but I started my own new side-business. I’ve been swaaaaaamped, to say the least.
Sebastian ended up in the kitty hospital for a week - we almost lost him! He’s since recovered from his rather serious bladder infection. Whew!
The Poms have been sick for the last month - but I’m finally recovering from the chicken pox (no, I didn’t catch it as a child). If you’ve never had it, get the vaccine, stat!
So yes, it’s been far, far too long - but it’s time to start back up the Pomegranate wedding recap. I have tons to share and I can’t wait to catch up with all of the new bees.
Where did this sudden motivation to finish my recaps come from? Well, we’ve been published! I just got my copy of Real Weddings Magazine and was so excited to read the article that they wrote and see the photos they chose to print. Read more…
Laura Nadeau, New York CityVendor: Makep ArtistWebsite: Lo and Co.About Me: Laura (Lo) loves all brides all of the time, and nothing makes her happier than making another woman feel great! Laura was born and raised in rural Alaska among huskies, grizzly bears and way too much flannel! With stars in her eyes, Lo moved to New York to pursue acting and realized how makeup could help to create a character and transform an actor. Laura began to see how she could use this skill to transform women in their everyday life and thus her new passion was born - helping women feel confident and beautiful through makeup.
Here are two questions that I recently received from readers:
Just a silly question -what should I wear to get ready in? Something I can unbutton or easily take off my head so I don’t mess anything up? ~Paige
Sweetheart, there are no silly questions! You are right about a button up or something with a loose neck. Not really an issue for me, but for hair. If you have a festive or cute tank this is a great opportunity to wear it and you will look adorable in photos.
I have small wrinkles underneath my eyes; I guess I would say mild crow’s feet? I am paranoid about them showing in wedding pics, and I read in a magazine, to ask your makeup artist to not put powder over this area because it would bring out the wrinkles. Is this true? Any tips on how to de-emphasize that area? I’m thinking I might not have any choice in the matter. Thank you Lo! ~Victoria
Great question, Victoria. Everyone has wrinkles around or under their eyes, but it is important to brighten or lighten the under eye area. If you look really closely in the mirror you may notice the wrinkles more because of the concealer, but no one else sees this. If they are that close -tell them to back off! It is well worth the tradeoff of lightning the area. This is what I suggest when applying concealer: Read more…
We’re getting married today!!! Four years ago when we first met, I never would have guessed that this would ever happen!!! Through the years (has it been years???) of travel, celebration, and breakups, we finally made it!!
), but it does come with its quirks.
It is well worth the tradeoff of lightning the area. This is what I suggest when applying concealer:
