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Weddingbee Blog
As I sit here at the dining room table, trimming, gluing and tying our programs, I can’t help but think of everything that’s brought me to this moment in time. I’m not talking so much about the journey that Mr. Yorkie and I have shared for the past three years which, believe me, has been amazing. What really makes me well up right about now is thinking about the generations and marriages that have preceded mine.
Abuela & Abuelo Yorkie in Cuba, 1947
I think about my four grandparents who will not be physically with me on Saturday. (They’ll definitely be in my heart and on my mind, though.) Most recently, my family lost Abuela Yorkie last August. I swear I can still hear her familiar refrain “Una sonrisa es una arruga menos”… or “every smile is one less wrinkle”. She would constantly remind me, “Yorkisita, don’t worry so much!” I credit her live-in-the-moment example for my relatively calm approach to planning this wedding. Oh, how I wish that she could be here!
In an attempt to honor Abuela Y (and all of those from whom Mr. Y and I have descended), we’re working a number of details into the special day.
Read more…
I received my Fiori Belli silk peony stems earlier this week and finally had a chance to play around with them today!
My first impression of them was slight disappointment. I made a trip to Michaels to scope their floral section before deciding on fakes. The ones at Michaels felt more “velvety”, like a real flower. But they didn’t have cream-colored peonies (neither did Hobby Lobby) so I decided to go ahead with the online order. After a while, the stems began to grow on me. They look real but are just missing that velvet feel. But I knew I had to sacrifice something when going with fake flowers. Now that I’ve done the trial, I’m in LOVE. Here’s the result of my first trial with my bridal bouquet:
But let’s take a moment to rewind and start from the beginning. The process of assembling the bouquet was ridiculously easy. Here’s how it all went down!
Remember when we peeked inside the upstairs bathroom at the F.U.E.L. House? I’d been puzzling over what type of container to use for our bathroom “baskets”. And, suddenly, when I wasn’t even looking for it, the perfect option was right in front of me.
Several weekends back, Mr. Bruschetta and I were running through a list of errands, and popped into Harry & David to use an about-to-expire coupon. I spotted some cute bowls and picked one up, thinking they’d be perfect for entertaining — just the right size to fill with snacks. And then, the bowl caught a stream of sunlight flooding into the store, and I noticed the hint of blue running along its rim. Could this cool-shaped bowl work for our bathroom baskets?
I was hesitating — is it too small? is using a bowl too bizarre? — when I noticed the clearance sign. A quick check of the return policy — no time limit, provided you have the receipt — and I snapped up four bowls for a total of $6.79.
But unlike my friend Brit, I’m not cry-cry-crying. Well, not out of loneliness, anyway. Let me explain.
My bridesmaids threw me the most wonderful, thoughtful and memorable bridal shower EVER. I’ll post about it once I receive the pictures from the “photographers”. Yup, there were people assigned to be the “photographers”… how great are they?!? So I will have to keep you waiting on the details, but I will tell you that there was a lot of laughing, eating (yum!) and yes, a little bit of (good) crying.
In the meantime, I’ll let you in on a little secret… I knew that my bridesmaids would throw me an amazing shower. They’re a creative, fun-loving group and that’s just what creative, fun-loving groups do… amazing stuff. And I had heard snippets about emails being sent, pictures being collected and heat embossers being used. All the makings of an amazing bridal shower.
I wanted to thank them for all their hard work and thoughtfulness so after the shower, I presented each lady with one of these:
Each “THANK YOU” bag contained 3 things I wanted to thank them for:
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.”
hen I say I “invented” my own wedding cake recipe, that may have been a bit of an embellishment. Realistically, I edited a few key recipes I found online. Editing recipes can get a little hairy, though. You should be prepared to bake lots of cakes, or just scrap some cakes altogether (cake baking is the most volatile form of stoichiometry I know!). I was looking for something pretty specific, so when I didn’t find it as I imagined, I made it that way.
The specific things I was looking for in my main wedding cake were:
Our main cake is going to be - get this - three layers of almond chiffon cake with lemon poppyseed curd filling, and lavender infused Italian meringue icing. We have a lavender and poppies cake! 
sticking to simple decorations is best for me.
We’re excited to hear all your new suggestions over on the ideas board! We’ve recently implemented three of the following ideas:
Keep those ideas for improving Weddingbee coming! We’ve received a number of great ideas this past week, including:
By checking out and voting on ideas you’d like to see implemented, you can help us improve your Weddingbee experience! Check out and vote for others’ suggestions, or submit your own by heading over to the ideas section of the site.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
This morning, before heading into Saks Fifth Avenue for my second fitting, I was nervous. I’d played out how it would go down in the dressing room over and over after my first fitting. If I wasn’t methodical about it–taking my time, trying my cap sleeves again, holding tulle over my straps–I’d rush into a decision and second guess myself. But when we arrived, everything changed.
Jean slicing away at the tulle.
We worked slowly, starting at the at the bottom–avoiding the inevitable question.
Today we’re featuring two similar anonymous bee budgets in the under $10K range.
Bee Budget #1 - $6900
# of Guests: 315
Location: medium southern city w/ population of 200k
Wedding Day Costs:
Church Fees: $175 Wedding Director, $150 Custodial fees
Reception Site: Free
Caterer/Food/Drink: $1500
Bridal Gown & Alterations: $600
Bridal Accessories (Veil, Undergarments, Shoes, Jewelry): $300
Groom’s Attire: free
Stationery/Postage: $500
Photography: $900
Reception Music: $350
Flowers: $800
Favors: $75
Cake: $400
Officiant: $100 (offering to Church)
Hair/Makeup: $85
Wedding Party Gifts: $500
Rentals: $500
WEDDING DAY TOTAL: $6935
TOTAL COST PER PERSON: $22
Other Costs:
Wedding Bands: $1500
Rehearsal Dinner/Day After Brunch: $1500
Honeymoon: $1500
OTHER COSTS TOTAL: $4500
GRAND TOTAL: $11,435
Read more…
Congratulations to the winner Spinningjenny!
~~~
What better way is there to treasure the memories of a wedding than with a photo album? Today we’re giving away two matte silver medallion photo albums, a small one and a large one, from Cambria Cove.
To enter, please comment below and we’ll select one random winner. Also, be sure to check out Cambria Cove’s full selection of great wedding gifts, and their contest for a $2000 gift certificate! The contest ends at midnight PST tonight. Good luck!
MAIL!!!!!
(I’m all about Blue’s Clues, people. I used to work at a daycare.)
I love getting mail. Most of my bills are delivered via e-mail, so I’m always excited to find something when I open my mailbox. It’s usually something good — either coupons, a package I ordered, or something special from a friend. Paper+ink+stamps = happiness, in my book.
Lately, every time I go home to my parents’, I have at least one or two postcards waiting for me. I always take time to read them thoroughly before updating the guest list and filing them away for safe-keeping.
I was a little wary at first of leaving the backs of our vintage postcard RSVPs blank, but it hasn’t caused much trouble. Everyone has been good about signing their name and being very clear about how many people will attend.
Unfortunately, in one case, they were a little too straightforward.
I got one postcard back that just said a last name and “6″.
Read more…
I knew he was going to do it. For months I had been hounding him about when we were going to get engaged. He kept telling me to just give it time–he wanted it to happen, too, but he wanted it to be a surprise. I’m not very good with surprises. He finally caved in and told me that he was planning on proposing. So I, being the utter control freak that I am, told him that I wanted to pick out the ring. He was cool with that.
We went ring shopping, and I showed him what sorts of rings I liked (Ascher-cut or emerald-cut solitaire in a platinum Tiffany setting) and we had fun trying on lots of different styles. One day, a little before Thanksgiving, the Dude came home from work over an hour late and said he had been at “the post office”. I knew something was up but let it slide.
Cut to December 19, 2007. I was sitting in our dining room, taking my last final of the semester (a 24-hour take-home). The Dude and I were planning on opening Christmas presents together when he got home from work. I just knew that my ring was wrapped up in one of those little boxes underneath the tree. I half-assed my exam, turned it in, and waited for him to get home.
Later that night, the Dude took me out to dinner to a nice little neighborhood restaurant.
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The biggest issue with growing out a super-short haircut is the layers. My hair is bone-straight, so no unpredictable waves or curls will hide my uneven growth. Unless it’s trimmed fairly often, my hair quickly transforms from “short & sassy” into a style somewhere between “Midwestern-mom-chic” and “mullet“.
…Yeah. So I need somewhat regular haircuts, even while growing it out. (It’s a good habit anyway - fewer split ends equals healthier hair at any length, ladies!)
To help me reach my goal haircut, I bring inspirational pictures to each hair appointment and remind my stylist that I’m trying to grow my hair out to reach that style. This helps her shape my hair. Since it’s still too short, it won’t look like the inspirational picture when she’s finished, but it’ll be one step closer to getting there.
Here’s the photo I’ve been bringing for the last 6 months.
[source]
And here’s me before and after.
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I am like Miss Mary Jane. Wearing anything on my head sort of weirds me out. I was kinda dead set against any kind of veil when I first started planning my wedding. You remember when that David’s Bridal consultant put a veil on me, right? I’ve never been someone who wears hats or baseball caps primarily because they just don’t fit over my hair in its current or past versions.
I was definitely looking for an alternative to a veil and then was inspired by homegirl, Keisha over here:
(source)
I don’t think that everyone can pull off a fascinator, but why not try it?
When I was Goccoing our invitations, ink colors were always somewhat of a sore point to me. In the beginning, I wasn’t exactly sure which color of aqua/Tiffany blue/teal I wanted to use, and even then, if that color was even available as a Gocco ink. Googling “RISO Gocco ink colors” did little to help me out here, because, obviously, colors represented on your computer screen will always be different than what the colors look like in person. In the end, I ordered 4 different inks in the light blue/light green color range, 3 of which I didn’t end up using, and then later ordered 7 tubes of the color I used. What a waste.
Well, all you printing princesses and flashbulb fairies out there, I found a great solution! Etsy seller blue22 sells a Gocco color chart, printed on 3 different paper colors (white, grey, black) where you can see every Gocco ink color available.
Rehearsal dinners are always a blast. More low-key than the wedding dinner the next day, everyone’s super excited for the upcoming nuptials, and it allows the bride, groom, bridal party, and parents to have some quality time to relax, eat some good food, and have a fabulous time before the big day!
But sometimes people forget about the actual purpose behind the Rehearsal dinner – the rehearsal! It’s an important element of the wedding ceremony, and can really help to alleviate stress on the day of the wedding.
I don’t always suggest having a rehearsal – if you’re having a very straightforward wedding ceremony (no rituals or ceremonies in the ceremony itself, a minimal wedding party, no music changes or cues), it’s not always necessary. But I do recommend having a rehearsal if you have more than three people on each side of the wedding party, children involved in any way, shape or form, or any rituals or traditions that you may want to practice. It’s also a great way to have everyone in the wedding party get to know who everyone else is on the day of, which can make everything run really smoothly on your wedding day.
The whole bridal party! The people standing were “honored guests”, like grandparents and parents, who walked down the aisle and then were seated.
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