Weddingbee Blog

Hi everyone! I know it’s been a ridiculous amount of time since I’ve posted anything. I’m not going to give any excuses for neglecting my bee responsibilities. I know I’ve been a bad bee but I’ll be starting up my wedding recaps soon, I promise. First I wanted to share our wedding highlights video from Robles Video. They did a great job putting this together, and I finally figured out how to upload it so everyone could see it. It’s kinda long, but if you have ten minutes, here it is:

Videography wasn’t high on my priority list but my parents really wanted a wedding video.
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Thanks for all your input on the insanely cute business cards! There was an overwhelming love for card #3. Many of you mentioned that the bee path would look neat as a blind hit, and I totally agree! For now, I tried to Photoshop the merge of cards 2 and 3, with the bee path being a letterpress print impression with no ink (rather than green, pictured). I’m not sure if the path can interfere with my name like that, but we’ll leave it up to the pro, Mrs. Bird of Paradise! You likey? Me likey!

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I’m the kind of person that thinks that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. So I’m hesitant to talk about how insanely excited I am to look towards the future, and the good fortune I have just being here today. So, instead, I thought I’d talk a little bit about how I got here!

A few days after my honeymoon (no time wasted there), Mrs. Bee asked me to call her in regards to possibly doing some day-to-day editing work for Weddingbee. Mrs. Bee, Mr. Bee, and BIL Bee were (and remain) an incredible trio that, in my opinion, will never be matched as a team. Mrs. Bee takes an incredible amount of pride in this website—after all, it bears her name!—and while I think she would have preferred to clone herself, she was apparently skeptical of human cloning advances at the time and had no choice but to call for backup.

The thought of working—in any capacity—for Weddingbee was exciting.
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I bet you can guess what’s been on my mind lately — escort cards, and how to display them. I have no idea why, and it isn’t my highest priority right now, but I can’t stop thinking about them. Of course, I went straight to Martha to gather ideas.

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That’s where we spent the afternoon, kissing between the stacks… and on the stairs … and in the hall.

But it wasn’t just for kicks. We were mugging it for the camera of Julian Allen.

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You know how all the wedding tips for budget weddings tell you to find someone who is just getting started in photography — someone amazing and affordable? Julian is that person. I found him through a posting on the Columbus Craigslist — which was a small miracle, because that board is so full of mediocrity. But Julian’s photos struck both Mr. B and me right away. It’s the texture, the light, and the love you can see in the photos of his family. He’s only shot a few weddings so far, but he’s extremely affordable (for the moment), especially if your wedding is in the winter months. He’s still building his portfolio, so he’s not charging for engagement sessions, only for photos you choose to purchase. It was a good set up for us, since we’re hoping we can pick a handful of the best shots to use for some wedding projects.

We went to the Westerville Public Library for our engagement photo shoot. I was really nervous, but Julian’s friendly British accent quickly put us both at ease.
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It’s all Mrs. Pomegranate’s fault.

When she shared her quest to become a two-shoe bride — in four glorious installments — I had recently buzzed into the hive as a new reader. So many of the bees’ ideas — Rubber stamping! Cuttlebug! Etsy! Birdcage veils! — had my head spinning, and Mrs. Pom’s posts simply added fuel to my already kindling inspiration fire.

I envisioned tweaking Mrs. Pom’s two-shoe plan. While she had selected wedges for her outdoor ceremony and heels for the festivities that followed, I dreamed of heels (in a neutral color, please) for the church ceremony, and wedges (fun, funky and in one of our main wedding colors) for our photo jaunt through Old City, cocktail hour (’cause the courtyard at the Betsy Ross House is all brick, and kinda uneven in parts) and reception.

So I searched and searched — online, in stores and for months.
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We took advantage of the long weekend and made the trek up to Maine for a ’vendor bender’. Unfortunately, it was prom weekend, so the florists and salons were pretty busy!

We revisited our venue (Mr. Gloss had never actually been on the boat) and checked out where the tent would be located, the bathroom/kitchen situation, etc.

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Do you know that I’ve been engaged for nearly 13 months now, and I still haven’t shared pictures of my engagement ring with you? For shame!

I guess I did post an excited-engaged-hand pic a while back, but that doesn’t really count! You couldn’t see the INCREDIBLE BLING in all its glory!

Honestly, this is the most incredible piece of jewelry I’ve ever worn (or owned, for that matter!). I posted before about the weightiness (emotional, and physical - look at that rock!) of an expensive engagement ring. Like most girls, I was flippin’ thrilled to be looking forward to such a pretty piece of sentimental jewelry - I certainly would never buy something like this for myself! However, like a lot of brides, I wasn’t too enamored with the idea of a diamond engagement ring. There are a million sources on the ‘net about blood diamonds; I won’t waste your time with that. I didn’t even know if I’d like a diamond! I guess they’re nice, but truth be told, I’d never seen one larger than my mom’s (which is a 0.5 carat marquis cut).

If I could have my pick of any fancy-shmancy rock for the ring, I’d choose the one with brilliant color.
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Melissa over at Operation NICE posted this hilarious video by Improv Everywhere. According to their website, Improv Everywhere “causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places”. What could be a better definition for a wedding reception? And a surprise one, at that!

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I’m one of those people who really needs a deadline in order to get anything done. Unless I do something immediately, I’ll let it slide indefinitely until someone tells me that it needs to get done. I’ve learned this about myself over time and have found that creating my own due-dates is the best way to deal with it. I tell myself that X must be done by a certain date, and I stick to it. I’m a procrastinator, but I do get things done.

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If you recall, back in April I posted about how we were less than 5 months out and still had a big “to-do” list to tackle.

Well… guess what! With around 100 days until our wedding, we still have most of that on our plates! To be honest, I really haven’t made much of a wedding effort in the past six weeks.
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Here I am again with one of those untouchable wedding topics: regrets. I get it, really I do. You don’t want to “shake the glitter off” (as was commented on my last post) and you don’t want to pay any attention to things you can’t rectify or get right the next time (because as of right now, I am never. going. through. that. again. Ever).

On the other hand, I’ve yet to meet a newly-minted wife (just-graduated bride? What do we call ourselves now?) that doesn’t have regrets. Like doubts, regrets are one of those shared experiences that we never share. So I will share them, as they occur to me, more to scare them away with the light of honesty than anything else.

• I wish I had done more of the little touches ahead of time. By the time our wedding weekend rolled around, we were in full prioritization-by-fire mode, so little things got rushed. I wrote thank you notes to my bridesmaids while getting my hair done. I printed goofy little matchbook cards (”Come on baby, Light my fire”) and tags for the potted geraniums (”Take me home tonight/ I don’t want to let you go til you see the light/ Love, geranium”) at 2 AM0. I handed over token gifts without wrapping them. It seemed like a small thing beforehand – nobody’s going to love me less because I didn’t wrap their gifts – but overwhelmed with gratitude for the people who showed up early and stayed late, cleaned the bathroom and picked up any stray dog poos, I fervently wished that I’d put as much love into thanking them as they did into helping me.

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For the last few years I have been obsessing over a photographer named Laura Taylor from The Darling Life Photography. She is one of the truest and rarest photography talents out there. I have purchased her work for friends and family and have seriously been a stalker fan. By a stroke of fate I was able to get in touch with Laura over the years. As soon as I was engaged I sent Laura an email and asked her to shoot some engagement photos of me and Mr. AC. Over the weekend we finally set the date, and next week Laura is coming to New York to spend the whole day shooting us. I am honored, floored, nervous, and excited. I know that the photos will be forever mementos.

Here is some of Laura’s work. You can learn more about her on her website. She is not known for shooting weddings/engagement photos, but I think that is what makes me so excited. Her style and her talent will be unique.

(I have purchased this print for so many friends! How perfect is it for a bride or baby girl’s room?)

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From the Gallery:

This centerpiece by reader rachwest is an alternative to standard floral centerpieces. Along with the help of her family and a graphic designer, she used glass cylinders, vellum paper, floating candles, and ribbon to create this look along with place cards.

From the PRO Folio:

This clear quartz necklace created by Regina B is perfect to wear to a wedding or to give as a gift.

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. And don’t forget to check out all the professional inspiration in the PRO Folio!

I can officially say that at this point in my planning process, I am over it. You’re probably thinking: Whoa, Miss Beagle, what does that mean?

When Mr. Beagle and I became engaged (almost a year ago!) I had my heart set on a small, intimate wedding. In my mind, I envisioned something small- even a casual backyard shindig would have been fine, as long as I got to marry my mister in a cute, “weddingish” dress. However, when we started looking at the guest list I knew that keeping our party small and quaint was going to be impossible. Between the both of our families, we came up with around 100 people. As we added in our friends, and some of our parents’ guests (I should note that these are people very close to both of our parents), our guest list ballooned to 200.

I wish I could easily “x” people off, but all our invited guests have been significant figures in our lives and I think they would be disappointed (and we would probably feel the same) if they weren’t able to witness such a big event in our lives. The cut from “large” to “small” is a lot easier said than done. This, paired with the possibility that the two people who are most near and dear to me may not be able to be there with me on our wedding day, has left me feeling a little numb about our wedding.
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How much money should you spend on your wedding, and how should you spend it? Probably two of the biggest and most stressful questions a bride has to answer when it comes to planning her wedding. I often educate my clients about how much things cost today, so I thought it would be a good idea to share my advice with everyone.

Everyone will spend their money differently because each bride has different priorities. Some will splurge on their photographer and cut back on their paper products. There’s no right or wrong in this department, you just need to be aware of the costs involved and to always be prepared for extra expenses which always come up.

So on to the first to topic: Venue/Caterer Budget
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Being your own wedding coordinator can save you money, but I’m starting to learn that it has its drawbacks, as well.

I’ve never done this before. Not only am I a first-time bride, I’ve never even been in anyone else’s wedding. When questions arise, I turn to Weddingbee or The Knot etiquette posts to see whether I’m doing this right.

Our florist is the first vendor (or wedding elf, if you’re of A Practical Bride’s school of thought) I’ve booked. Logging into my inbox today, I was faced with the daunting task of writing to the other two florists I’d met with, but hadn’t booked, to let them know I’d decided to go a different route.

What’s the appropriate etiquette for such a situation? It’s not as though I disliked their proposals. They just weren’t the right fit for our vision and our budget.

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It’s like a wedding vendor version of The Bachelorette or something.
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