Weddingbee Blog

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Cabo, here we come (in 8 weeks)!

Mr. Beagle’s parents (my future in-laws!!!) have graciously gifted us use of their timeshare. After the mister and I browsed through a few different locations, we decided on the timeshare in Cabo. Mr. Beagle expressed interest in going somewhere outside the U.S. and somewhere with beaches, so this seemed to fit the bill. Although I have been yearning to visit New England, or somewhere with mountains, or the entire state of Washington, I’m compromising on this one.
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Hello all, I’m so excited to be a new blogger here on the ‘bee. After gathering so much inspiration and advice from the hive, I’m just hoping that someone enjoys my two cents. I’ve chosen the Moonbeam moniker as a nod to my night owl tendencies that will surely be handy in the near future.

I met Mr. Moonbeam 5 years ago in front of a castle in Tuscany at the beginning of our study abroad trip. I offered him grapes and he tried to play coy for a few weeks, but it clearly didn’t last that long. When we got back home it was me to Austin and he to College Station, so we kept the relationship going with many phone conversations and weekends filled with long drives. After college, I went off to Seattle to start my career in architecture and he stayed in Houston figuring out what to do with an English degree. I was in Seattle for a year before he moved out to be with me. We were in Seattle for 9 months together before he finally decided to go for his dream in LA. He moved out there and I followed about 8 months later. So here we are, getting settled in LA and planning a wedding back home in Texas. I’m very excited to be marrying a patient, kind, and caring man with a great sense of humor and a love of tall girls.

At the end of our semester abroad

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So, while the girls were getting ready at the B&B, the guys were getting fancy at a friend’s cabin down the way called, “Dreamland”.

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Back in April, I paid a visit to sunny (but decidedly not hypoallergenic) Coppell, Texas. I was there paying a spur of the moment visit to my flower girl Z (and, okay, the rest of her family, too). Z was very anxious to talk to me about what her “little dress” would look like. She thought it should have butterflies on it.

I wasn’t quite sure of my ability to find a flower girl dress with butterflies on it, so I convinced her that petals were just as good. Luckily, this was not too difficult. I just had to show her the dress I was talking about.

This one:

(Source)

Everything was going my way—cute dress, approval from almost four-year-old, etc., etc.—until I tried to buy the dress. The store didn’t carry it anymore!
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I really want a photobooth at our wedding. I also think that all sorts of props will be in order; I’m thinking hats, wigs, glasses, etc. I don’t know where I’ll find all this stuff, but maybe I can hit the costume stores right after Halloween? Can someone remind me of that plan?

Images from BoothBooth

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I loved the idea of making door hangers for our guests and have seen so many brides make some really great ones! I decided to give it a try. I found quite a few templates out there, but decided to tweak mine just a bit.

I have lots of leftover wood grain paper and want to carry that theme throughout the wedding. I decided to make a template and made each hanger 3.5″ by 8″. I was able to fit 3 on a page.
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Being a graphic designer, it’s a given that the computer is my best friend. Ask me what I can’t live without? I would say that it’s the computer/internet. Hey, it’s a combo! One can’t live without the other. Call it an addiction, or just plain curiosity, but I’m always online searching the ‘net, sharing cool sites, and all of that.

How my blogging obsession began: (2006)
I had heard about blogging from another designer friend and was really interested in the whole concept. He had a really cool blog sharing some personal stuff, and it got me thinking, ‘Hmm, I wonder if people would read my blog.’ Intrigued, and willing to spend a couple more hours on a computer a day, I decided to start my own blog.

I was debating at first whether I would go the personal route, or the more general route, and decided to give the personal approach a try. So, I blogged about me, and shared personal and professional experiences. I did it for a couple of months but felt something was lacking. I decided to take the plunge and abandon my old blog (about me) to start a new one about weddings in general. Since I had been engaged for over a year, I was in the planning stages, and wanted to share my knowledge with others.

How I found the hive of awesomeness:
Since I was blogging about weddings, posting about inspiration boards, themes, and dresses, I became an avid reader of many wedding blogs including DIY Bride, Style Me Pretty, Something Old Something New, Perfect Bound, and Eco-Chic Weddings. So when I saw several of my fave bloggers posted about being featured on Weddingbee, I clicked on the links… and the obsession began.
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Fresh off of our (second) first dance, it was time to boogie down! We decided to forgo the traditional parent dances & hit the floor. A couple of songs into the reception, I realized that it was HOT in Jamaica. Especially when dancing the night away with your best friends.

So, an outfit change was in order.
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I always ask my brides which flowers they love, and which flowers they absolutely don’t love. Roses are almost always mentioned. Most brides see their lovable qualities- their gorgeous spiraled petals, the insane variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, their sturdiness in all kinds of weather, and their relative affordability (I can’t think of a more bang-for-your-buck flower out there.). But there are some brides who consider roses to be a little “same-old”,”traditional”, or “bleh”. Perhaps they just want to explore the hundreds of other more unique flower possibilities before they settle on the old stand-by. I totally get it.

These are the roses that excite me every time I pick them up from the mart. These are the varieties that have reignited my love for roses and have converted my most anti-rose brides into rose lovers.

1. Polo:

A creamy white rose. Love their cup-like shape and ruffly texture.

(Photo by Tony Florez Photography)

2. Pink Intuition:

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There are so many projects that I’m in the middle of right now that I can’t wait to share with you guys. For now, I’ll let you in on all of my “somethings” that I’ve gathered for the big day.

Not the actual ring, but it looks similar to this.

Something old: One day a few months ago I was at my mom’s house. She was giving me an old tin to possibly use in my wedding, so I started cleaning out all of the stuff in it. I found a delicate little ring with a row of diamonds across the top. My mom had never seen it before, but she assumed it had belonged to her grandmother—my great-grandma. We’re still not sure how old the ring is or what it symbolized, but my mom now wears it every day. I asked if I could borrow it for the wedding, and she happily obliged.
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Reader Mrs. Library shares a great style moment: houndstooth socks and stunning green peep-toes.

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.

Thanks to everyone who voted on how I should tackle the daunting task of recaps. It looks like I’ll be starting with the budget, then what I’d do differently, followed by the week before, and the recaps.

Right. Now to the task at hand: the budget breakdown.

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A few months back, when I was a new bee, I shared with everyone our budget. We were hoping to pull off a wedding AND a honeymoon for $15,000. We originally invited 130 guests which eventually ballooned to 162 guests. Oops! In the end, our final count was 116 people. Children under 5 were free, and kids 6-11 were half price. If I had to guess, I’d say we had 130 people including all the kids.
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Wedding Day Part I: The Girls Getting Ready
Wedding Day Part II: The Boys Getting Ready
Wedding Day Part III: The Guests Getting Ready
Wedding Day Part IV: Bridal Portraits
Wedding Day Part V: Moments Away
Wedding Day Part VI: The Processional 1.0
Wedding Day Part VII: The Processional 2.0
Wedding Day Part VIII: Here Comes The Bride
Wedding Day Part IX: The Ceremony
Wedding Day Part X: “You Have Them, Right?”
Wedding Day Part XI: Wrapping Up the Ceremony

All along, I knew that for me, a wedding “must” was to take a formal picture with each and every one of our  guests.

I don’t want to bombard the hive with all the formal portraits, so here are a few of my favorites:

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There won’t be any fancy linens, or Anthropologie plates like in the wedding in my dreams, but we’re hoping our other ideas to fancy-up the tables at our reception will do the trick! First, we had to decide on layout. Our reception vendor has and suggested using round tables, which Mr. Sunbeam liked.

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I, with my bridal eyes, noted the long rectangular structure of the barn and thought two long rows of rectangular tables would emphasize the line of the barn and be oh-so-nice.
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mismikado

Starting a Weddingbee bio is a cinch, and you could be featured on the blog! Bios are a great way to organize all your wedding details in one place, and an easy way to share your wedding details with everyone. Check it out!