Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UK
Age and Occupation: 24, nonprofit communications
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shop
Engagement Date: August 10, 2008
Wedding Date: August, 2009
Venue: Oakland Manor
About Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
When I arrived back form England, I realized I had an important detail that I had left hanging, like a chad blowing in the winds of Florida: finding a seamstress to do my alterations.
I checked reviews on Wedding Wire, Yelp, Weddingbee, and The Knot, and found out there were two popular seamstresses that both capped their alterations at reasonable prices. Meaning, no matter what I wanted done, the price wouldn’t go above $200. Which was super sweet for this bee, since I’m asking her to hem the dress, take it in a few (hopefully more!) sizes, shorten the straps, elongate the armpit holes, create a crinoline, and make a bustle.
I foolishly thought I had remembered everything I needed to bring - shoes, undergarments, a veil. But I still hadn’t purchased my crinoline, and it had completely slipped my mind after even though I had just wrote a post about needing one! Luckily, my seamstress is much smarter than I, and suggested she make one and sew it directly into my dress. She had leftover tulle from another bride and just pinned it right between a few of the layers. This helped calm my fears that I would be a seriously hot sweaty mess dripping down the aisle in August. Instead of having 5 layers, I’ll now only have to worry about 4 (underthings, slip, satin slip, ivory lace). Huzzah!
With all the inspiration on the internet I started to have second thoughts about my dress.
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Mrs. Poodle, Santiago, Chile/San Bernardino, CA
Age and Occupation: 27, Industrial & Web Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Firefighter & Mountain Patrol
Engagement Date: February 25, 2009
Wedding Date: January 2010
Venue: Mr. P's Grandparents’ Ranch
About 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.
{ The Poodles freaking out! Okay, we are not good at making faces
}
For most couples after the—ohh so wanted!—proposal, the first thing on the “to do” list is to set a date! But, for the Poodles, things couldn’t be done that way 
; we first needed to fill out tons of forms and visa papers, and then send out our petition package. After our package was sent, and having the visa process timing on hand, we then had a better idea of an approximate month we could get married, but not an exact date. So for 6 months, we had no idea of when the wedding was going to be… until this week! Now we know! We’ll marry in January (woo hoo!).
Of course, I wasn’t going to sit with my arms crossed and wait almost 6 months to start planning.
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Classifieds
Feature Launched: April 30, 2008
About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
Reader Bocman2010 is selling her brand new Ann Barge “Sabrina” Style Couture Gown. It is in street size 6-8 and the dress has not been altered.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!
Other great items for sale:
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Mrs. Cowboy Boot, Santa Fe
Age and Occupation: 25, Magazine Editor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Artist and Whitewater Rafting Guide
Engagement Date: April 28th, 2008
Wedding Date: October 2009
Venue: Devil's Thumb Ranch, Colorado
About 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.
Months ago, when I started collecting addresses for our save-the-dates, I was stumped. I could call, text, e-mail and delegate to gather everyone’s addresses, but this seemed like it would take forever and be a hassle to those helping me collect.
Instead, I heeded Mrs. Fondue’s advice and created a Google document that would collect everyone’s addresses for me. My little robot, if you will.
To be fair, I’m not going to list Mrs. Fondue’s steps again, as she so efficiently describes them, but I will let you in on a few tweaks that helped me in the long run.
How it works:
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Featured on Weddingbee
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
Mrs. Cloud, Richmond
Age and Occupation: 25, Sales Rep
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Customer Service Manager/DJ
Engagement Date: February 14, 2008
Wedding Date: November 2009
Venue: Cathedral of the Sacred Heart & The Jefferson Hotel
About Me: Mr. Cloud and I are Yankees planning a Southern wedding to show our families from Boston and New York our fabulous city. We are complete opposites, resulting in a wedding to include bridesmaids in pearls and groomsmen in Adidas shell toes. I’m a sorority girl at heart with strong addictions to my blackberry, cherry Chapstick, Coach purses, the Boston Red Sox and our fur baby, Bella. I can’t wait to the throw the party of our lives and of course, marry my best friend!
I admit, I’m an emotional shopper. I have to not only be in the mood to really shop, but if things aren’t going my way, I let it get to me, and give up quickly. After my first stop at a bridal salon and only liking one dress, I was discouraged. I had poured over pictures in magazines and online, but then having some of those same gorgeous dresses on my body, I just wasn’t feeling the love.
(Okay Mr. Cloud, that’s your cue! Love you long time, but scram!)
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Mrs. Meatball, Hollywood
Age and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office Maven
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/Writer
Engagement Date: October 7, 2007
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: September 16, 2008
Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow Club
About Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
I’m thrilled to bring you the “party time” edition of my bestie MaPo’s Fairie Tale Wedding! Missed Part 1? Wondering what a MaPo is? Find it all here!
But before we get to the partying - and oh, was there partying - let me rewind to quickly highlight a few wonderful details of the rehearsal that I left off the last post!
For instance, MaPo’s drop dead perfect Charlotte York inspired rehearsal look:
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Mrs. Penguin, Northern California
Age and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in Chief
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About Me: I love the Spice Girls, dogs with underbites, bean burritos, making messes, high fives, avoiding showers, crossword puzzles, blogs, weddings, and blogs about weddings!
Hey hey hive! We’ve gotten a number of requests to streamline author archives, so that it’s easier to find posts.
Well, here it is… come and get it! We just created this streamlined archive page, that shows the title and tags of each post - along with a 60 or so word excerpt. And because pictures are such a big part of our posts, we threw in a thumbnail to help give a sense for each post:
Pengy face! Now in 190 px wide!
As an added benefit, the archive page should load much faster now! We have an increasing amount of traffic coming from iPhones, Blackberries, and other smartphones - so the smaller page sizes (2/3 smaller!) should make browsing much faster for mobile users, as well!
Read more…
Mrs. Bunny, Columbus
Age and Occupation: 24, Associate Editor/Reporter
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Reporter
Engagement Date: September 23, 2008
Wedding Date: July 2009
Venue: Everal Barn, Westerville
About 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!
Hi, I’m Mrs. Bunny, formerly Miss Bunny. Remember me?
Thanks for all the well-wishes, positive thoughts and prayers you sent our way for our wedding and honeymoon.
Not everything went according to plan, but everything was absolutely perfect. I mean that with all my heart. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more. (That’s not to say that there aren’t some things I would do differently if I had it to do over again, but that’s another post!)
Instead of starting right in on my recaps, I’d like to take you back in time with me. As much as I’d love to show you the gorgeous photos from our wedding (and yes, I do have them already! Our photographer works at light speed!), there are still so many plans and back stories to share in order for you to understand what kind of miracle took place in order for our wedding to go as smoothly as it did. Please be patient! I promise we’ll get there!
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one – just one – teaser photo from our wedding.
Photo by Julian Allen
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Mrs. Powder Puff, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 25, Preschool Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Career Services
Engagement Date: May, 2008
Wedding Date: July, 2009
Blogging Since: November 12, 2008
Venue: Outdoor ceremony, banquet hall reception
About 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!
Actually, despite the implications, this is a relatively tame post. This is a sweet and innocent Powder Puff! No shenanigans for me! 
On the Thursday before the wedding, my bridesmaids and some friends met up to eat some nummy tapas and dance the night away in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Me and bridesmaid Kristyn.
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Mrs. French Bulldog, Orange County
Age and Occupation: 28, Administrative Assistant & Interior Design Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Purchasing Analyst
Engagement Date: November 8, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Bernardo Winery
About 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 weekend was another hot one here in Southern California. The weather had been lovely all week. On my birthday, it was perfect - sunny with a nice breeze. Mama Frenchie bought me a coral 3/4 sweater to wear with my white skirt for my second shower on Saturday, and it seemed like the perfect outfit. That was until I woke-up and Saturday morning and it. was. summer. I don’t know why the heat surprises me every year, but it kinda sneaks up on me. Surprise! It’s summer! And it is HOT!
There was no way I could go all afternoon in a sweater, no matter how pretty. I was already sweating in the shorts and t-shirt I had slept in. I went through my closet, but nothing felt appropriate for a bride to wear to her shower. Most things looked like something I would wear as a guest, but not the guest of honor.
Sister Frenchie told me that White House/Black Market was having a big sale. Um, hello - I love White House/Black Market! And, who doesn’t love a sale? I figured I would drive over and try on every white dress in the store, if something didn’t work I would wear a skirt/shirt combo I had managed to pull together.
White House/Black Market only had 2 white dresses in my size. TWO. Those are not good odds! The first dress I tried on would have been great if I didn’t have a short torso, or I had the time to have the shoulders taken in about an inch.
Source
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Mrs. Glitter, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 27, Research Consultant/Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Accounting
Engagement Date: May 6, 2007
Wedding Date: June, 2009
Venue: Millenium Biltmore Hotel
About Me: I was born and raised in West Los Angeles, California. I spent eight years in the Northeast working and completing my education. Having split time between two sides of the country has given me a true appreciation for both coasts. It has also provided an overabundance of cross country drives, flights and long distance relationship fun/misery! I love my family, my doggy Emma, fabulous wine, Anthropologie, politics, reading, being outdoors, exploring new cities, and good movies! My fiance and I are complete opposites, but somehow we have managed to fall completely and hopelessly in love.
About a month before the wedding, I began a mad search for the perfect hair flower to wear at the reception. I am not sure why I waited so long. Oh yeah, I procrastinated. Anyway, my wedding hairstylist had previously warned me that fresh flowers might wilt. So, I jumped on good ol’ Etsy.com and tried my hand at finding a flower hair fascinator.
I knew exactly what I was looking for: something romantic, beautiful, whimsy, and (yes) affordable. My goal was to find something under $40. I got lucky and stumbled across the gorgeous creations of Aundrea and Erin. I was instantly sold!
Aundrea and Erin are beautiful and super sweet twin sisters from Kansas City, whose Etsy shop, MeadowBelleMarket, showcases their talents in creating jewelry, flowers, and accessories.
Here is just some of their floral goodness:
Buttercream Peony
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Mrs. Joey, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 28, Project Administrator for Public Health NGO
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, High School History Teacher
Engagement Date: June 24, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Eastside Catholic Chapel and Lake Union Cafe
About 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!
After deciding on the content and inside design of our programs, we decided the best style for the program was something similar to the Cupcakes’ accordion fold pocket programs.
Since we only had 4 pages of content, we went with legal size paper and printed 2 programs on each sheet.
Step 1
I folded the sheet of paper in half lengthwise. It makes it easier to cut.
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Mrs. Poodle, Santiago, Chile/San Bernardino, CA
Age and Occupation: 27, Industrial & Web Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Firefighter & Mountain Patrol
Engagement Date: February 25, 2009
Wedding Date: January 2010
Venue: Mr. P's Grandparents’ Ranch
About 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.
So after jumping around the apartment all morning, I finally got the time to sit calmly and say “HOLA” to the hive! I still can’t believe it! I’m a BEE! Woo hoo!
So, why Miss Poodle? Well I have a son; he’s 11 years old and extremely hairy; he loves to eat oranges and apples (he can smell them when you eat them and won’t stop crying until you give him a little piece). So he’s the reason why I wanted to be Miss Poodle. And, my cute little icon has purple bows! 
{ Miss Poodle and Curly, our baby poodle - Okay, he’s not such a baby }
I thought I should start with a little introduction. I’m a Chilean Industrial and web designer, and I graduated from the Universidad de Chile last year.
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Mrs. Stiletto, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit/Fundraising
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Engineer and Photographer
Engagement Date: March 2, 2008
Wedding Date: September 2009
Venue: The 19th Century Club
About 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.
Yes, the main decor element on the head table at our wedding will be a combination of cheap IKEA vases and tape… and yes, I’m quite proud of this!
My plan has always been to have the bouquets pull double duty and enhance the head table, but I didn’t want to just put them in boring, clear vases and call it a day. I thought about silver julep cups—Save On Crafts has quite the selection—but it was more of a financial investment than I wanted to make. Plus, they don’t really go with anything else we’re doing. They’re very elegant, and for any other affair I’d be head over heels for them. But there isn’t an ounce of silver anything at the wedding… excluding eating utensils, of course.
On a recent trip to IKEA, I purchased a 9-inch tall square vase for my bouquet…
Source: IKEA
and five 6-inch tall square vases for the bridesmaids’ bouquets…
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Mrs. Gloss, Boston/Maine
Age and Occupation: 24, Designer/soon-to-be Architect
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Systems Engineer
Engagement Date: May 23, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: SS Katahdin/Lakeside Tent
About Me: I don't like nickels or the skin that forms on pudding when it's in the fridge for too long. I couldn't live without Pantone markers, fountain soda (3/4 diet, ¼ regular Coke), run-on sentences, or ridiculously oversized sunglasses. I will try to DIY almost anything and am just OCD enough to make most of it work. I am truly excited about having all my family and friends together, becoming Mrs. Gloss, and having amazing photos to prove it!
I love making lists. I make lists of lists.
I am also, unfortunately, very likely to lose said lists.
With the wedding only one month away (eep!) these lists are becoming more and more precious. Lists of things left to do, things to remember to bring, people I need to call, etc.
So, I’ve made my lists digital:
Enter the brilliance of Google.
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