Mrs. Poodle, Santiago, Chile/San Bernardino, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Industrial & Web DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Firefighter & Mountain PatrolEngagement Date: February 25, 2009Wedding Date: January 2010Venue: Mr. P's Grandparents’ RanchAbout Me: I’m a Chilean girl who's crazy about nature and swimming. I enjoy carving, drawing, reading and sewing; I drool over computers, fabric, pretty paper, purple and patterns. To me, chocolate should be one of the seven wonders, right next to lemon pie. I never thought an exchange work experience program was going to change my life forever, but while working in California, I met Mr. Poodle, and ever since my days are better and brighter. We are two goofy souls that, after finding each other, couldn’t help but want to be together forever. It has being a long and sometimes hard road, since we have to deal with such a long distance between us, but we are now facing the last stage of our Fiancé Visa, and soon we will be together. You know the best part? We will be married! So I’ll be blogging from Chile until just a few months before our “green and purple” wedding.
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.
Okay, okay, one (maybe two) more random post before the recaps…
Hello, I’m Mrs. P and I had an ugly wedding cake. Remember when I was trying to decide between the blue cake and croquembouche? Well, I should have gone with the latter.
On our last planning trip back in February, Esme (our coordinator) informed me that the resort’s pastry chef could not do the cake in my requested design after all.
The lacey details required a special mould which he did not have.
Mrs. Joey, SeattleAge and Occupation: 28, Project Administrator for Public Health NGOFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, High School History TeacherEngagement Date: June 24, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Eastside Catholic Chapel and Lake Union CafeAbout Me: I'm a Seattle girl through and through except for the fact that I don't drink coffee. I love my job most of the time because I get to travel and work with brilliant people who are trying to prevent Malaria. I love DIY projects of all sorts, cooking, and watching sports. I'd wear anything at Anthropologie and could spend all day on Etsy. I love to travel but shouldn't because I always get myself into unbelievable situations!
Even though we’re not done with the wedding madness, I’ve already started prepping for the honeymoon. We got all the big plans out of the way like hotels and transportation, it’s just all the little details like packing we need to do.
I’m a pretty experienced traveler but this trip is going to test my packing skills. We’ve got all sorts of packing requirements. We need clothes for spring weather (cool temps) and clothes for summer. We need to be able to go from beach bum to opera goer, but still fit everything into fairly small bags since we’re going on planes, trains and a boat (oh my!). Plus, we need to be able to pack enough reading and listening materials to at least get us to Australia.
I’ve got the reading and listening materials covered. I’ve been saving magazines for weeks and picking up books at Goodwill. We also have plenty to listen to thanks to everyone’s suggestions. I’m still working on the clothes part. Every time I think of a versatile outfit I can bring with me, I jot it down on a notebook I carry around. I also jot down all the random things we’ll need that I may forget in the heat of packing like my reading glasses, lip balm and a reusable shopping bag.
Mrs. Stiletto, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit/FundraisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Engineer and PhotographerEngagement Date: March 2, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: The 19th Century ClubAbout Me: My fiance and I love living in the city of Chicago with our cats Basil and Linus, and vow to never move to the suburbs if we can possibly avoid it! We’ve poured ourselves into planning a wedding that reflects our personal style - modern and high contrast with a vintage twist. Blogging keeps me creative, baking keeps me happy, and grande nonfat no foam sugar free vanilla lattes keep me sane.
Mr. S and I have been debating doing a “first look.” Well, I’ve been debating… he’s been, err, demanding. At first I thought he just wanted to do it because logistically and photographically it would be great - fun first look pictures, get some shots out of the way, and get on with the show.
I refused to do a first look out of convenience, and he conceded. He even suggested we not have our photographer there if I wanted it to be more personal and just us.
I’m still just torn. It would be nice to have that special moment together beforehand, but I wonder if it will take away some of the anticipation and excitement of me walking down the aisle. With our timeline, we’d have to do the first look right before the ceremony start time, and it would have to be at the church which wouldn’t leave us a lot of options for great first look settings. I don’t want to risk guests seeing me beforehand, so we’d have to be sneaky and find a private place that would look nice (should we choose to photograph it… which, knowing us, we probably would do).
I wish I could have my cake and eat it too… experience the first look, but also experience Mr. S and I seeing each other for the first time that day as I walk down the aisle.
We really appreciate all of the fantastic ideas you’ve shared with us to help make Weddingbee better! Recently we’ve implemented the following ideas:
Tea suggested that we consolidate tags to make it easier to search through posts. You can see all of Weddingbee’s cleaned up tags here.
Mrspaetz suggested adding a calendar to make it easier to browse any recent posts you may have missed. We recently added calendar browsing along with our new streamlined front page!
Gemerald suggested that we add a link to Bios of the Week in the Features drop-down menu, and now you can find it there.
Caribqueen suggested that we add more “Real Budgets” from the bees, and we recently completed a Real Budgets series that reviewed all the bees’ budgets by category.
JeanL1984 said requested a Weddingbee Twitter page. Now we have a Weddingbee twitter account that Mrs. Penguin updates with behind the scenes Weddingbee scoops!
Mrs. Hydrangea, DallasAge and Occupation: 26, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Network AnalystEngagement Date: June 2007Wedding Date: September 2008Blogging Since: January 14, 2008Venue: Catholic Church and Reception at The W HotelAbout Me: Mr. H and I come from very different cultures and backgrounds so I'm excited to plan our wedding with a balance of both traditions. My mom has always been a DIY queen, and I'm just now starting to get into it with a new house and a wedding to plan!
I was given bits and pieces of advice for my own bridal portrait session from my photographer and various brides before I actually went to take pictures in my dress before the wedding. A couple of friends who have gotten married were surprised to hear of some of the tips, so I thought it might be a good idea to share with the hive as well! Here are some suggestions for your shoot:
1) Try to choose a time of year with mild weather. Sometimes this is easier said than done. It pays to try for a cooler time of year when you are wearing a heavy dress, and walking around for a long period of time outdoors. While the heat is not always avoidable, try your best to schedule the shoot during mild weather, even if it means taking your pictures months before your wedding. (Although I tried to plan for the cool weather, my luck it was record heat on the day I took my photos - 4.5 months before our wedding!)
2) Bring at least one person along to be your “assistant” for the shoot. I was fortunate enough to have both my mother and my best friend there to help me. Excessive? Maybe so, but oftentimes, you will shoot your pictures in some unclean areas, and it pays to have the extra hands around to help carry your belongings and keep your dress off of the dirty floor.
3) Pack a bag of items to bring with you. This can included water, baby wipes (you’ll be amazed at how easily your hands get dirty when you’re wearing a white dress), makeup, tissues, deoderant and flip flops (those heels start to hurt after a while). Add to this whatever you think might come in handy… it’s always good to be prepared.
Mrs. Mary Jane, Grand Forks, NDAge and Occupation: 26, Instructional DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Lead ProgrammerEngagement Date: February 28, 2009Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: City HallAbout Me: I'm a career woman on the surface and a homemaker at heart. I love fast cars and high heels, and my favorite food is cake. Mr. Mary Jane and I are both full-time employees and students, and we just bought our first house. We love to curl up on the couch with buttery popcorn, Sour Patch Kids, and the latest Netflix arrival -- whenever we can get a break from everyday life.
A week or so prior, I realized that I needed to get in contact with Shawna ASAP because even though she had told us she’d love to shoot our wedding, we hadn’t worked out any details, we hadn’t discussed a contract or solidified pricing, and she didn’t know that we’d moved our wedding to another county. I also realized that I had never actually met Shawna before, though we are Facebook friends and I know a relative of hers. So it was definitely time to meet our photographer!
Shawna and I exchanged several emails (she was OK with our venue-change and still willing to shoot us, hurray!!), and ultimately decided that Mr. Mary Jane and I would meet her and Kory at their office for coffee. Then we’d be able to chat and also look at examples of their photos and fun stuff like that.
We showed up a bit before five and they had coffee waiting for us from my favorite shop: Caribou. Shawna’s office space was really inviting and modern. Crisp light gray walls, vases of fresh flowers, and beautiful poster-sized prints greeted us as we stepped inside. (Hmm, I wonder if light gray would work in a room of our house? It might be a little too modern. Hmmm!)
We started talking to Shawna and Kory and soon it was like we were old friends. I can tell this is going to work out well for us. We mostly chatted about life and photography and weddings (she reads Weddingbee, so she knows as much as I do about our big day!). We did chat a little about pricing: we’ll be paying a little more because our venue is a 45 minute drive away now, whereas the Grand Forks courthouse would have been practically within walking distance of their office. We expected that, and it’s more than fine. Looking at their pictures makes me forget my budget entirely.
Mrs. Cowboy Boot, Santa FeAge and Occupation: 25, Magazine EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Artist and Whitewater Rafting GuideEngagement Date: April 28th, 2008Wedding Date: October 2009Venue: Devil's Thumb Ranch, ColoradoAbout Me: I grew up in Los Angeles and have since lived in San Diego, Boston, Italy, Hawaii, New York City, and Santa Fe. I speak Italian and love pasta. My real passion is the outdoors, though. When I'm not at work, I'm snowboarding, hiking with my two dogs, mountain biking, surfing, cross-country-skiing, or boating New Mexico's rivers. Despite my boyish love for adventure, I'm a girly-girl at heart and am overly-excited to pull off the romantic, vintage-inspired, country wedding of my dreams.
With less than three months to go until the big day, I’ve got plenty to chat about. So, join me, Saturday, July 25th (tomorrow), at 8 pm EST. I might even wear my favorite footwear.
Mrs. Sunbeam, San Francisco/Grove City, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Grad Student & Office ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Motion DesignerEngagement Date: May 10, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Harbison Chapel & The Maple Lane FarmAbout Me: Mr. Sunbeam and I are high school sweethearts. We both come from a small town in PA but are growing to love the California lifestyle. He loves wine and I love cheese... the perfect combination! When I'm not drooling over wedding blogs, I'm attending grad school, out being a foodie, or attempting to "walk" our cat at the park. Two things guaranteed to excite me are wedding cakes and breaking out my suitcase to travel. Mr. Sunbeam and I are personalizing our hometown wedding to celebrate our high school sweetheart status and PA roots with a few CA touches. After ten years of dating we couldn't be more excited to call each other husband and wife!
Here are some more Etsy bookmarks to share! Seriously, the bookmark folder is getting out of control. Again, all photos are from the seller’s site unless noted otherwise.
Hand makes really cute boleros and wraps, and is so sassy! Though she is no longer doing custom pieces, probably due to her success, I am sure I could survive with one of her ’regular’ pieces if September ends up being cool. Fingers crossed for warm weather, everyone!
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!
Mr. Bunny and I are still without internet at our new place, so it’s been tough to find time to blog. We don’t have a TV, either. Except for our cell phones and constant drone of talk radio, we’re disconnected from the outside world from the moment we leave work for the day!
One upside to Stone Age living has been that it’s given us plenty of time to spend paying attention to each other and our relationship in the first few weeks of marriage. We didn’t live together before the wedding, so the past two weeks since the honeymoon were our introduction to what it’s going to be like from here on out.
Honestly, it’s awesome being married. We both LOVE coming home to each other every night, and because we’re each enjoying ourselves, we’re nice to each other (most of the time). It’s been a self-perpetuating state of wedded bliss thus far.
That’s not to say that we haven’t had some difficult moments — because we definitely have.
Mrs. Lollipop, PittsburghAge and Occupation: 26, Computational LinguistFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Project ManagerEngagement Date: August 2, 2006Wedding Date: September 2, 2007Blogging Since: July 17, 2007Venue: The PPG Aquarium at the Pittsburgh ZooAbout Me: I'm a Pittsburgh transplant who grew up in the deep south. I have a weakness for exotic alphabets, DIY projects, mobster movies and international travel. My fiance and I are both non-native Japanese speakers and we have a bullfrog named Skinny.
I’m spending this weekend in Omaha for my brother-in-law’s wedding. The bride and groom are pretty relaxed about planning the reception, so me and my other, oldest brother-in-law will probably be doing a good chunk of the planning, at least where it comes to decorations.
Being a type-A, hyper-organizer, immediately upon arrival I took out my research notebook and grilled everyone on what needed to be done. We took charge of the flowers, the favors, and the cake topper. The cake topper would be the simplest to get done, so we addressed it first. Read more…
Mrs. Joey, SeattleAge and Occupation: 28, Project Administrator for Public Health NGOFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, High School History TeacherEngagement Date: June 24, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Eastside Catholic Chapel and Lake Union CafeAbout Me: I'm a Seattle girl through and through except for the fact that I don't drink coffee. I love my job most of the time because I get to travel and work with brilliant people who are trying to prevent Malaria. I love DIY projects of all sorts, cooking, and watching sports. I'd wear anything at Anthropologie and could spend all day on Etsy. I love to travel but shouldn't because I always get myself into unbelievable situations!
Mrs. Sprinkle, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Preschool Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Television Production/WriterEngagement Date: December 24, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: The Marvimon HouseAbout Me: I'm a Bay Area native trying to create a life for myself (and my fiance, and our three cats!) in the vast city of Los Angeles. I love vegan red velvet cupcakes, pilates ,and mid-century furniture. Mr. Sprinkle and I met when my band toured through his city (we bonded over cake and a mutual love of Morrissey) and we are getting married on the four year anniversary of our first date. When I am not teaching preschool (or blogging!) you can find me perfecting recipes, petting kittens, hiking in Griffith Park, and overusing exclamation points. We are planning a vegan, green-as-possible, DIY wedding, and I couldn't be more excited to share all of the details!
These are the cards that almost weren’t. There was some universal force that did not want these save the date cards made, but I pushed through it, and they were finished, and successfully sent!
Here is what went wrong:
Our magnets were delivered to the wrong address, and then mysteriously appeared (opened up and fussed with) on the hood of our car in the middle of the night.
When I finally got around to opening up our (free! they came with my eBay-ed Gocco) 100% recycled cards and envelopes, I absolutely hated the texture. I am not at all a texture/paper snob (I am so new to this paper crafting world) but even I knew these were junky cards (no wonder the eBay seller didn’t use them!)
After panicking and trying to school myself in the ways of paper (weight, size, cut, cardstock ugh ugh ugh) I went to PaperSource in Pasadena. The colors completely overwhelmed me and I left with nothing! I did some more online searching and finally figured out what colors and such to buy. Made a second trek out to Pasadena (and I hate wasting gas and time, I prefer to stay in my neighborhood!) and the store was closed for a private event!
I have no computer design programs. I have never designed anything in my life, and I don’t know why I thought it was such a great idea to do all the wedding design stuff myself! Designing these cards was incredibly difficult for me. I went through two different versions and I am still not sure I picked the right one.
I do not read Japanese, so the Gocco directions were useless to me! I had to do much Googling and tutorial reading to figure it out. The Weddingbee wiki was a great place for Gocco help!
Here they are, in all of their home-made DIY glory: Read more…
Mrs. Bruschetta, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 25, Communication ProfessionalFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Physical Therapy Graduate StudentEngagement Date: November 30, 2007Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: St. Thomas of Villanova Church & the F.U.E.L. HouseAbout Me: I’m a self-proclaimed grammar geek who loves singing (like, really belting it) in the car. My mister and I are planning a vibrant summer soiree celebrating our passions – including food and Philly – and when we make it official, we’ll have been together for eight years! Being super competitive is in my nature, and talking excessively is in my genes. I’ve got a terrible sense of direction, but can always easily find my way into Mr. Bruschetta’s arms.
