Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
So, it’s the first idea, and we may or may not go with it. The font we used is dekthusian. The inspiration is from a Charles Rennie MacKintosh stained glass window:
Mrs. Cub, Chile/PortlandAge and Occupation: 26, AstronomerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, AstronomerEngagement Date: May 10, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Westwind YWCA campAbout Me: I'm a small-town girl who's making a living in Chile, with her heart in the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Southern California, went to high school in Texas, grad school in New Mexico, and now I can't wait to settle down in Oregon! I love pears, hazelnuts,
knitting, traveling, running, baking, and long talks on the phone with
good friends. I'm planning my Oregon coast summer camp wedding while
abroad with my best friend - I'm always at home when I'm with him!
Meet Miss Bear Cub: Professional Amateur Meteorologist!
The forecast for the Pacific Northwest US over the next few weeks is:
…
I don’t know.
But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve! Enter the Four Three Horsemen of precipitation and cold fronts:
Accuweather
As the name suggests, this must be the “accurate” weather forecast! I’ve been checking accuweather for their long-range (15 day!) predictions.
Mrs. Espresso, Corona/Big BearAge and Occupation: 23, Community Services SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Maintenance TechnicianEngagement Date: December 21, 2007Wedding Date: October, 2008Blogging Since: June 25, 2008Venue: Outside a rustic b&b in Big Bear LakeAbout Me: I'm a lover of all things good: coffee, music, travel, rain, and of course- my handsome fiance! I'm a full believer in the "Life is Short," mantra - and therefore, eat lots of dark chocolate. I'm a Geographer by degree and nerd by choice. I cook to the sound of French and Portuguese music even though I speak neither. I love road trips, camping, hiking, and capturing life through the lens of my camera. Take me to Anthropologie and I may never leave. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, bargain finds, and old movies. Mr. Espresso and I are high school sweethearts and I am so blessed to be this amazing man's future wife.
Two o’ clock. October 4, 2008. And my fiance is waiting for me beneath the pines. Check my hair. Check my makeup. Check my dress… a little loose. I guess the seamstress forgot to put the clasp back on after altering it… but no worries, now I’m being sewn in (just a little added fun for the wedding night).
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.
When the two of us met a little over two years ago, neither of us would have ever dreamed that we’d end up together. But six months ago, he proposed. And today, we’re officially becoming a family.
I found out that while I may not be America’s Next Top Sash Sewer*, I can slap together an agreeable bouquet in 30 minutes flat.
And did I mention that in the same time frame: I became a bee (which is awesome, but big commitment), we bought a house, and we are/have been enduring a huge amount of financial-stability-related stress? Where we find time for school and work, I’m not sure. But one thing remains constant: our love and support of each other. Read more…
Mrs. Apple Cider, New York/CharlotteAge and Occupation: 27, Corporate Communications ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Grad Student – Clinical Mental Health Engagement Date: September 13, 2008Wedding Date: October 2009Venue: Banner Elk Winery & Blueberry VillaAbout Me: I am a North Carolina girl with a New York City spirit. I love crafting, blogging, laughing and dreaming. I know every word to the Anne of Green Gables and Little Women movies. I own every single Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine and have been dreaming of weddings since I was little. I believe life is about doing what makes you happy. If you aren't happy re-evaluate what you are doing. You should never look back on your life and not be proud of what you are doing. If you want to travel - travel. If you want to sing - sing. If you want to start a company - start a company. If you want to blog – blog!
You will remember from this post that we really wanted a unique guest book. When I saw a bench used for another wedding, I knew that I wanted to go that route.
Mr. AC and I are incredibly lucky, as our friend is an amazing wood worker (he owns Hill Country Woodworks) and he very generously made us a bench to use as our guestbook. I am over the moon excited. Not only to have a bench, but to have something made impeccably by a talented woodworker to put in our home is priceless! Read more…
Mrs. Frozen Yogurt, DallasAge and Occupation: 28, Special Projects CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Equity TraderEngagement Date: March 19, 2009Wedding Date: April 2010Venue: Marie Gabrielle, DallasAbout Me: I was born and raised in Texas, and have lived in several of the cities across the state, but I currently reside in Austin. I went to college in Boston and have a special place in my heart for the Northeast. I love reading, shopping, wine, reuniting with college friends that are scattered across the country, reality TV, trying out new recipes, and attempting all the DIY projects that come along with wedding planning. I'm a "bleeding heart, save the world type" and thankfully my job allows me to work on legislation and policy to help out those in need. I met Mr. Frozen Yogurt in a bar, though he doesn't even drink! And now we are planning a modern yet vintage wedding in Dallas while dealing with the trials and tribulations of first time homeownership.
Mr. Fro Yo and I were talking about what the guys should wear for the wedding, and what he should wear. He’s not entirely sure if he wants to wear a tux or not, and I don’t know that I want him to wear one. I think We’re both thinking the guys should wear grey suits.
Mrs. Beagle, AustinAge and Occupation: 26, Electrical EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, FinanceEngagement Date: July 12, 2008Wedding Date: October 2009Venue: Church Ceremony/Reception at The Waterford HouseAbout Me: I am a true, but rare, Austinite---I was born, raised, and continue to live in this great city! Although
I am an engineer by day, I feed my inner creative side through crafting, sewing, and obsessing over Martha Stewart. I love coffee, my mister, NPR, and exploring all the nooks and crannies of Austin.
I can't wait to share my adventures in DIY and wedding planning with all of you!
As I write this post, our invitations are on their merry way to our guests, anxiously waiting to be opened (or maybe that’s just me that is anxious). In the meantime, I thought I would fill you in on our invitation deets:
I ordered the invitations and RSVP cards, and respective envelopes, from the White Aisle. Rebecca was really sweet and was super easy to work with. I’m extremely happy with the way they turned out. To save some $$, I decided to make the remaining enclosures… and this is where my problems began.
Lesson #1:
Originally, I had planned on drawing a cutesy map like one of these:
Mrs. Ramen, PhoenixAge and Occupation: 26, Optometry StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Industrial DesignerEngagement Date: January 3, 2009Wedding Date: December 19, 2009Venue: Phoenix Art MuseumAbout Me: I'm an SF-born, Seattle-raised girl, transplanted to Phoenix where I'll be getting married, and planning all the way from Orange County where I go to school (yes, it feels as crazy as it sounds). I loooooove Yogurtland, am slightly very obsessed with all things paper, am heavily addicted to wedding blogs, deeply desire a puppy, thoroughly enjoy cooking, cry when I watch (almost all) movies, thrive on solo car-karaoke, can't stop being sarcastic, am neurotic about taking pictures of almost everything I eat before I eat it, and aspire to travel the world. My super-talented fiance and I are attempting to DIY a majority of our massive (~350 guests) "clean & modern, yet romantic, but completely unexpected, with a teeny dash of vintage" wedding, stay within our not-so-massive budget, and somehow get a really luxe (but still fun!) look/feel at the same time. In music terms (since we're both really into music) think Coldplay meets Motown meets Kanye meets Sinatra.
We did it! We booked our sites! OK, I lied. we didn’t really book them officially, as in sent-in-our-deposits-signed-the-contracts-official. BUT we have our date reserved and the contracts/deposits are in the works - WOO HOO!
God has some seriously good timing. Everything came together literally at the last minute. God was really gracious, as I was honestly SO stressed because I essentially had 1 week to get everything taken care of before I had to leave AZ and head back to school. It’s tough to find a place that is affordable, nice, has the right je ne sais quoi, ANNND can fit around 300 guests. Anywhere.
So… back to the beginning. Sometime last summer, Mr. Ramen and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum on First Fridays for a date, since it’s freeeeeeee! We thought the space was awesome and would be incredible for a wedding reception. Although obviously, we weren’t engaged at that point. It is possible that I was the one who first thought that it was a good idea. So, I did a little research and found out that the rental was (surprisingly) quite reasonable. Since I knew I would be in optometry school, I knew that December was pretty much the only reasonable time of year for us to get married in AZ. (Not to mention, 110*+ weather in the summer in a big white dress? No thanks.) Unfortunately, the museum was planning a giant exhibit extravaganza or something for Dec 09, so the event coordinator told me to check back later in the year. So once the ring was on my finger I shot off an email… and no dice. They were still booked solid. I was pretty devastated, to say the least. 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!
… and a teaser, but you have to read through the post first.
There are a lot of things I wish I could have changed about our wedding and the planning. The first and most important thing I wish I could have changed would be asking for help. Like Ms. Beagle, I have a hard time letting go and asking for help. I had very little help planning and prepping for the wedding until about 10 days before the wedding. I knew I would need the help, but I didn’t do a good job of planning that help.
As friends and relatives started to arrive, we started getting a lot of offers to help. Instead of accepting the help immediately and assigning someone a task, I politely thanked them for the offers and told them I’d let them know if anything came up. BIG MISTAKE! What I should have done was make a list of who offered to help and noted what their special talents were, if they had recently gotten married, and if they had access to a car.
Mrs. Swan, New York CityAge and Occupation: 31, Legislative RepresentativeFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Finance GuyEngagement Date: August 9, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Battery GardensAbout Me: I am an un-crafty but resourceful, Caribbean-born but New York-raised woman who's been known to analyze "Dancing with the Stars" and “So You Think You Can Dance”, buy stinky cheese, and use way too many parentheses. I keep lists for fun, am constantly daydreaming of my next international travel adventure (four continents down, three to go), debating sports (let’s Got Mets/Giants!) and dancing around my apartment to stay sane. I am excited to share our wedding planning journey as I hope to plan a streamlined, personal, and fun wedding with the greatest life partner I could ever imagine, Mr. Swan.
Yesterday I celebrated another birthday as the well as my first month as a newlywed. As one of the older bride bloggers in recent memory on Weddingbee, I figured that I would talk about being a slightly older bride. I’ve definitely appreciated Miss Star’s posts about being a younger bride (here, here, here, and here). Since I’ve got a couple years on her (okay, like, a whole lot more), I thought I would also provide some perspective on the other end of the spectrum. I know that I am not the oldest bride/newlywed ever on Weddingbee, but I think being a bride marrying well after the national average of 26 years old for women in the U.S. has some specific joys and challenges as well. One of my primary motivations for writing this post is that I often feel like sometimes there is this sense that there is a self-destruct button when one turns 30, especially for unmarried women. Well, I am here to let you know that I been to the mountaintop, and the view is fine. Read more…
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.
The day after our wedding, we’ll be loading up the car from Colorado and driving to Los Angeles with a stop in Las Vegas (mandatory, of course). Mr. CB has never been to Vegas and since it’s directly on the way of our 14-hour drive, we figure we should make a thing of it!
From there, we’ll drive to LA (where we’ll unload the dogs at my parents’ house) and fly to the Land of Kiwis the same day we arrive. How we’re going to fit everything in my car (two medium-size dogs, my wedding dress, our honeymoon luggage, dog beds, etc), I’m not sure. Good thing I drive a station wagon.
Once we arrive in Auckland, it’s straight to the South Island for nine days of New Zealand fun. Where are we going?
But where are we really going? And what are we doing? I’m all too excited to share what we’ve planned so far. Read more…
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!
This weekend I posted about our ceremony music and got some very positive feedback! Thanks ladies. Now it’s time to mosey on over to cocktail hour. Immediately following our ceremony we are inviting guests to head off to cocktail hour, while we finish up our photos. Grab a drink, eat some cheese, and enjoy a snippet of our cocktail hour music with me:
Mrs. Cub, Chile/PortlandAge and Occupation: 26, AstronomerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, AstronomerEngagement Date: May 10, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Westwind YWCA campAbout Me: I'm a small-town girl who's making a living in Chile, with her heart in the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Southern California, went to high school in Texas, grad school in New Mexico, and now I can't wait to settle down in Oregon! I love pears, hazelnuts,
knitting, traveling, running, baking, and long talks on the phone with
good friends. I'm planning my Oregon coast summer camp wedding while
abroad with my best friend - I'm always at home when I'm with him!
It doesn’t help that certain other Bear Cubs also don’t know a thing about lingerie - a Ms Bear Cub, in particular, needs to find “sexay” bum-cover-uppers STAT!
Luckily, in this forest of Oregon called “Stumptown” (the trees became stumps? Oh bother. At least there’s good coffee honey.) there seems to be a preponderance of cutesy lingerie stores! Read more…
ClassifiedsFeature Launched: April 30, 2008About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
Miss LB is selling two J. Crew Sophia bridesmaid’s dresses. They are long silk tricotine dresses in the color Air, a very pale sky blue color. Size 0 and size 2. She’s asking $150 for each or $280 for both.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
I’ve always loved brown, as opposed to black. Maybe it’s because in architecture school, there are too many people obsessed with wearing black, so I rebelled. I think it’s highly likely, as some of the professors literally only wear black; it’s quite uniform-like. So, I’ve always loved brown and really bold earth-toned color combos, as evidenced by the quilt I made for my bed. (Momma Moonbeam helped, and it was a Mr. Moonbeam’s Christmas gift one year. I was so happy when we moved in together and we got to put it on our bed.)
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
