Weddingbee Blog

For our ceremony, I’ll be wearing a finger-tip veil (that I’m almost done working on and will post about soon!) and some jewelry pieces that belonged to each of my grandmothers (for my something old and something borrowed). But after we finish getting hitched, I would like to relax my look a little before heading to our reception, perhaps by adding a few of these pieces:

The Hair Flower (to replace the veil):

I found a few small, but elegant pieces from none other than the talented Myra Kim. I think I’m leaning toward the one on the left the most. I’ve never worn a hair flower though, and I’m not sure how comfortable I’ll be with one on my head for the entire night.

Myra Kim, Twigs and Honey

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Since it appears that save-the-dates have started rolling in, I think I’m safe to post pictures of them. I was very happy with the way they turned out—making the STDs myself was a project I had been dreading every since I purchased my Gocco. But, I turned out not needing it for this project. (Don’t worry, Gocco fans—I have plans for it. Oh, do I have plans.)

The Dude and I had a friend design our STDs for us. He not a graphic designer, just an all-around creative guy. I was really glad to hand this project over to someone else—I honestly don’t think I could’ve come up with anything as cool on my own.

The guest bedroom during our night of frenzied printing

After we picked one of his designs, on a whim I decided to try printing it on my Canon Pixma printer. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much—but the colors came out nicely, and it looked better than I could’ve imagined. Of course, the ink on that bad boy costs more than the printer’s worth, but I only had to replace the cartridges once.
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Maureen & Adam - August 16, 2008

Location: Rural Michigan
Budget: $15,000 ($10,000 gifted from bride’s parents)
# of Guests: 125

Wedding Day Costs
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Trying to find a cake stand was really frustrating. Our cake baker had one rule: for tiered cakes, she would only accept a platform type of stand. That was fine with us, as we didn’t want to chance a toppling cake! However, once we saw the platform stands available, we were disappointed with the choices. Our cake inspiration was of a very graphic nature, and we really wanted a simple black stand. I know I’ve shown you this a few times, but here it is again:

From In Style weddings, Spring 2008

We were hoping for a black stand, but we couldn’t find a black platform anywhere. The elaborate silver platforms that our baker had were beautiful, but really clashed with the graphic elements of our cake design. I was really getting nervous, and hadn’t once considered making our own stand…
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I am finally back with the second half of my dress fitting story. Sorry it has taken so long! The wedding is less than two weeks away, and I’m swamped with errands. Anyway, when I last left you (Part I), I had my first dress fitting with a very questionable tailor. As many of you noted, I should have stormed out after the tailor’s first, second, or third insult. But, in my defense, I was kind of stunned. The next part of my story is kind of embarrassing. I have struggled over whether to share it, but I figured, why not?

Immediately after my bad fitting, I started questioning my dress. Was it too plain? Not formal enough? I even got online and began stalking other dresses. A couple of days later, I did the unthinkable. Late at night, with a guilty conscience, I put in a bid for a dress on eBay. I never thought my bid would actually be accepted, but of course, I won.

A minor bump in the road had quickly metamorphisized into a dilemma involving insecurity, indecision, and dress jitters. I didn’t have the time nor the money to be having this meltdown, and I still feel bad that I had it (hence, the feelings of embarrassment). But luckily, as soon as I put the second dress on, I felt like I was cheating on my first dress. I fell more in love with my original dress and my mind was set right pretty quickly. In retrospect, I think strangely I needed to go through the whole “second dress ordeal” in order to truly appreciate my dress. I immediately knew what I had to do.
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Having a kick-ass Out of Town Bag for our guests was high priority on our list. I mean, our awesome friends and family were traveling all the way to Jamaica to celebrate us, so the least we could do was try to thank them with a few goodies!

Letter and agenda for our guests, rum, waterproof camera, coffee, DIY CD, sunscreen and mosquito wipes!

One of our first tasks upon arriving in Jamaica was buying two local items: a bottle of Appleton Estate Rum & Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. We had our driver take us to a slightly shady grocery store/bar/I don’t know what, where we ended up bargaining down the price of the rum about 30%! Score!
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Want to open a can of worms? Tell people you want a “no children wedding”. You’ll get a few supporters, but others will secretly scorn you. Namely, the ones on your guest list who can’t imagine leaving their little ones with a babysitter.

Having a kid-free wedding is one way to scale back the guest list for a small wedding, but be prepared for criticism. Judging by the comments on some bridal forums, there are some pretty strong opinions about kids and weddings. Some can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t allow kids. They argue that it’s anti-family not to invite children and that weddings are all about family. Others can’t comprehend why anyone would want little ones underfoot at such an “adult” event.

We had kids at our wedding. Mind you, there were only three – but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. That said, I understand why some couples opt for a “no children wedding”. Couples generally spend months orchestrating their weddings – not to mention saving for them. Along comes one tantrum throwing toddler, and “kaboom!” perfection is destroyed – especially if it happens during the vows.

Kids are unpredictable. They cry. They make messes. They bump into things and are known to stick their fingers into places that they shouldn’t (e.g. cake, nose, you get the picture.) But oftentimes, they’re also surprisingly well-behaved during special occasions and can add a lot to your big day.

If you are sure you want a “no children wedding”, how do you ensure that your adult guests won’t bring their offspring?
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(Photo Credit)

So after writing all about our reception location drama, you might be wondering where our oh-so-special ceremony site is and why we didn’t just opt to have both the ceremony and the reception at our gorgeous loft. Well, there’s a very good rationale behind that: we’re pretty much in love with the idea of our ceremony site, which just so happens to be a THEATER! I mean, does it get more perfect for us than that?
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Hi hive! I need your help! I need a necklace. I don’t have any ideas, except that I want it to kind of match my grandmother’s earrings. I did have a plan at one time. I was going to take the matching ring and have the stone part turned into a pendant. Then I was going to have the band part formed into a complete circle and use it as a pendant for a necklace for my sister. That way, we would both get a piece of the heirloom. But the ring is M.I.A. No one knows where it is.

the neckline

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(source)

I realize that I have never really talked about how Mr. Swan and I met. As I mentioned, we met at a wedding, of all places! We met for the first time at the destination wedding of Z and B, two of our childhood friends, in Negril, Jamaica in November 2005.
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Mr. Cubbie and I both love music - we love how your mood can change with just a song!

A few months ago he discovered a new UK folk singer, Ruth Notman. If you know who Kate Rusby is, she sounds a bit like that! Ms. Notman has some original songs, but when we heard her cover of Caledonia, we knew it was something special.

The song Caledonia (sung by Dougie Maclean) holds special significance to Mr. Cubbie when it comes to his mom.

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When I found out my younger brother’s prom was being held at our wedding venue, the Everal Barn in Westerville, Oh., I couldn’t wait to see how they decorated the place.

source

The barn (and the homestead, where my bridesmaids and I will get dressed) was once part of a privately owned family farm before the land was transferred to the City of Westerville in 1978.

The prom theme was Twilight at Everal (I wasn’t surprised, considering the popularity of the Twilight series).
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Hi hive! Based on reader feedback, we’ve retooled the Bee budget posts! We’re approaching the series in a different way by focusing on different aspects of the bees’ budgets and including pictures of what they got, and for what price! We hope this series will give readers a glimpse into what wedding details cost real brides! So, without further ado, we’re kicking off the series with everyone’s favorite detail: shoes!

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Mrs. Cherry Blossom’s Shoes

Shoes: Grace Shoes (Style: Crystal)
Cost: $145 + 15% off

I originally had a different pair of shoes. They were called the rich ‘n post by Kenneth Cole reaction which were a cheaper mock of a pair of Kate Spades … but it was love at first sight … I saw these and couldn’t stop thinking about them. They just screamed bridal and … to me, how could I resist? The best part: I got to wear them twice!

And I also got these to wear with my Chinese Qi Pao Dress… they go with everything.

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A grand exit — following the ceremony, or at the conclusion of the reception — provides an opportunity for amazing pictures, as well as a chance to have some carefree fun with your guests (and new husband!). And, for me, it’s all about what’s tossed. So, let’s review some of the ideas bees have carried out to great effect.

Mrs. Avocado’s guests showered her (and the new hubby — oh boy, did he get it!) in ecofetti.

(source)

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Kmdxbb’s “Got Him” photo was taken was taken at the farm where the couple had their ceremony and reception.

Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.