Weddingbee Blog

When we first got engaged, Mr. Parfait and I spent a night separately writing out our ideas of the “dream wedding”. If you can’t tell from the premise, this was totally my idea. We wrote what we’d choose for each element of a wedding if our budget, time, and resources were limitless, and then we compared our lists. Let’s start with Mr. Parfait’s notes, shall we? These are the quick notes he jotted down that night:

Music: A DJ that we know… but will play some of our favorite songs. I am sure if we started to record the ones we love together, we will have a nice list. I want to stay away from typical “white people” wedding songs. Does this make sense? I think it does.

Colors: Blue and white… the blue can be a contrast of blues, but they have to be the color of a blue rose. I think the color of a blue rose should be the basis for all napkins and silverware, etc.

Picture Source

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We are still in the process of selecting photographs with our photographer, but I wanted to share a little something with you all… seeing the pictures really brings back so many details I thought I might have forgotten. I can’t wait to show them all to you soon!

jmengland1 poses for a gorgeous vintage-inspired bridal portrait.

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.

On the same busy day that I had my second hair trial, I got it together and visited a makeup artist in the city looking for guidance on how to put on my makeup for my wedding day. A bonus was trying out the full bridal look,since I kept my hair trial style intact all day! Signing up for a makeup lesson was not done because I know nothing about makeup (the how to put on mascara lesson make me LOL inside), but I rarely wear eyeshadow and didn’t know the secrets to that bridal glow, so I thought a lesson was money well spent. I came armed with my inspirations.

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I must say, I am pleasantly surprised that the calm and excitement for the wedding are settling in. I am two full days away from leaving for the big day (I am taking a whole week in North Carolina before the big day). I have shared so many projects with the ‘bee (and there are more to come), but I have been light on the “emotional” talk. I am the type of person that under stress shuts off all emotional expression.

I think now that everything is coming together, the projects are getting completed, my family and friends are getting excited, we are getting fun presents in the mail… I am catching on. I don’t feel very stressed. I just feel excited.

There are some hurdles on the horizon, but honestly, I think I can take them like a true Olympian and jump right over them gracefully.
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They all went out in the mail Saturday, and it’s such a great weight off my shoulders.
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A while back, I gave my five bridesmaids the choice to buy any dress* they wanted. (*Stipulations included 1. picking from J.Crew’s silk chiffon options in Light Shell or Deep Rose; 2. Choosing a custom Sarah Seven dress in a coordinating color; or 3. Finding a different dress altogether, but getting my OK before buying it.)

Two of the girls opted for J. Crew’s Juliette dress in Deep Rose, below.

(source)

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I could totally make this into a long drawn-out story, but I’ll just cut to the chase.

My family moved to Phoenix in ‘04. I had briefly been introduced to Mr. Ramen, whose family goes to the church that my dad currently pastors in Phoenix a few months prior to then. We were NOT into each other when we first met, but we somehow became friends anyway. After I graduated from UCI (goooo anteaters!), I moved to Phoenix since I had no plans for the future. Mr. Ramen and I started hanging out on a regular basis, and were both involved with a Christian campus ministry at ASU. I was never really interested in him, since he IS younger than me, but we just clicked! And at some point, we both started getting mixed signals from each other. We both confided in a mutual friend (one of Mr. Ramen’s groomsmen, D) who decided to try to mastermind us together.

—> Funny tangent: Mr. Ramen and I had played a practical joke on this same friend, D, about a year before we started dating. We were both on AIM, chatting with him at the same time (I think we were actually sitting next to each other, giggling) and telling him that we liked each other and didn’t know what to do. He was freaking out completely! Funny how the tables turned, and this scenario actually became reality! <—
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I wish I had the pictures of the morning before the wedding and the actual rehearsal, but unfortunately they are somewhere far, far away, with all the documents on my old hard drive. Instead, you’ll have to use your imagination.

The morning was hectic. Really hectic. I had to get all the flowers done (I won’t go into details but you can read about them here), take the rest of the booze to the reception site, pack a bag, and get myself ready to be married in the morning.

I pretty much failed miserably on the 3rd and 4th tasks on my to do list. Originally, I begrudgingly agreed to spend the night before the wedding at my parents’ house. Under normal circumstances, staying there would have been fine, but because of the wedding, my parents had 7 out-of-town relatives staying with them. Their house is hot in the summer, but with the heat wave, I knew it would be unbearable. After some effective guilt tripping from Mama Joey, I agreed. I had planned to pack a bag after the rehearsal dinner and head over to my parents house.

So my plans changed when Mama Joey called 3 hours before we left for the rehearsal and said they had booked a room 5 minutes from the chapel and that we’d just stay there.
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So now, for the post that I’ve been waiting to share throughout all of our recaps. Mr. H and I wanted, if nothing more, a huge party for our wedding. We love to go out, to hang with friends, to dance (I might not like to slow dance, but I can boogie with the best), have a few drinks, and make some memories. Our wedding did not fail us in the least.

After BIL Hydrangea and Mom H made their speeches, it was time to continue the dancing.

Below are the best pics from the night - but not nearly all of them. In the end we had well over 1000 images to choose from (not an easy feat)! I’ll let the images speak for themselves, and add a little detail here and there to explain.
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Did you ever participate in Book-it, the Pizza Hut literacy program? Back in the day, I would read my little heart out for the reward of my very own personal pan pizza. Nummeh nummeh! Get in mah tummeh!

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Nowadays (who knew that was all one word? You did if you read M-W.com!), I read for either the pastoral or the relaxation benefits. I started to read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, thinking it would benefit my work life and my business practices. Turns out, this is just a great book for interacting with people, period.

If you are planning a wedding, or ever interact with other human beings, I highly recommend this book.
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I was recently telling a friend of mine that if we were to do a more casual wedding, I would want to do it in a barn. A barn? Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but I’ve seen some amazing photos of peoples’ weddings in barns. I’m from Texas, so it’s not totally random for me to think of a barn. I really want to do a mix of vintage, rustic and some modern elements, and I think that would be pretty simple to do with a barn backdrop. I would easily be able to incorporate the mason jars, and then I would also have a reason to use a chalkboard, which I’ve been secretly loving. Just look at some of these amazing photos from Leigh Miller Photography.

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I have a secret.

I have been “pretend planning” my wedding for years.

“Pretend planning” was a byproduct of my voracious appetite for lovely images and creative ideas. “Pretend planning” involved the hourly visitation of favorite wedding blogs and daily discovery of new wedding websites. It also involved saving every glorious wedding idea and image that appealed to me on my computer. Now that I’m actually planning my own wedding, I find myself swimming in inspiration in every style and color palette imaginable!

I have a whole series of soft pink palettes, like this gorgeous one created by Mrs. Flamingo:

And plenty of inspiration from the best and brightest in event design:
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Jennacl is selling her Pronovias beaded bridal long sleeve jacket. She’s asking $300 for the size 10 ivory jacket.

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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And so after 3 very long posts, I’d like to share with you the Lightning Guide to Egypt!

Booking your trip:
I highly recommend booking a package tour when visiting a foreign country where English is not the first language. Your transfers from airport to hotel are taken care of and if you book any tours through them as well, you are less likely to be taken for a ride or charged more than normal. We booked through a local travel agent and were taken care of by Excel Tours in Egypt. Excel had very friendly, well spoken representatives who helped us immensely in retrieving our bags. They also took us outside of the tourist areas to purchase water and batteries (both of which are incredibly expensive in the hotels and nearby cafes).
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