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!
I decided that the headbands weren’t enough, so I went on a hunt for earrings. I went to Kohl’s and found some great earrings, and with some major sales, I got them for a good price. The one downside with Kohl’s was the packaging for the earrings. They were your typical white earring holders. You know what I mean; they look sort of boring and plain. 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.
So, while we were busily putting together our save the dates, I casually mentioned that I wanted to see Mr. Fro Yo before the wedding and do our reveal at that point. Sister Fro Yo looked at me like I said I want to stab puppies in the eyes and said, “Um…I just went to a wedding where a couple did that and we made fun of them, but whatevs.” Direct quote. (Sorry sister fro yo, but you did!) Well, I argued that our ceremony didn’t begin until 6:30 and I wanted to be sure that we could enjoy our cocktail hour and hors d’oveures, and hell, our wedding! I know taking pictures can take a very long time and I don’t want to regret not taking any because I was itching to get to the party.
Plus, I am totally going to cry. Not that I won’t cry during the ceremony, but maybe if I see Mr. Fro Yo in our own private reveal, I’ll get some of it out there, touch up my make up, and be able to hold it together during the ceremony. While I get that it is not traditional to see your future husband before the wedding, I don’t believe it’s bad luck and in our case I think it’s what works best for us. Read more…
WatercoolerFeature Launched: July 1, 2007About: The most discussed posts of the week.
Ms. Potato Chips, Boston/Narragansett RIAge and Occupation: 29, PhD StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Personal Trainer/Business Owner/Physical Therapy AssistantEngagement Date: January 1, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: The Narragansett TowersAbout Me: A semi-professional bookworm, if I could be a literary character I’d be a cross between Jo March and Jane Eyre, only better accessorized and much lazier. My hobbies include sleeping in, seasonal brews, running, Trader Joe’s, and watching Unwrapped and Good Eats with Mr. Potato Chips. I harbor an irrational fear of tulle, crafts, things that are fussy, and overuse of the phrase "Your Special Day". After a year or seven together, down the aisle we go, slouching toward adulthood and planning a Rhodie party with equal parts whimsy, cheer, and pizza.
There was no putting off the day that advanced—the bridal day; and all preparations for its arrival were complete. I at least, had nothing more to do: there were my trunks, packed, locked, corded, ranged in a row along the wall of my little chamber: to-morrow, at this time, they would be far on their road to London: and so should I (God willing),—or rather, not I, but one Jane Rochester, a person whom as yet I knew not… Mrs. Rochester! She did not exist: she would not be born till to-morrow, some time after eight o’clock a.m.; and I would wait to be assured she had come into the world alive before I assigned to her all that property.
-Chapter XXV, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Put another way:
They call me quiet girl
But I’m a riot yeah
Maybe Joleisa
Always the same.
That’s not my name.
That’s not my name.
That’s not my name.
That’s not my name.
-The Ting Tings, “That’s Not My Name”
True, Jane (spoiler alert!) would eventually become Mrs. Rochester. And true, The Ting Tings were likely not singing about the confusion and societal expectations surrounding the patriarchal tradition of name changes. But both passages stir me (okay one stirs, the other I bop my head to).
Mrs. French Fries, MilwaukeeAge and Occupation: 27, ParalegalFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Investments AdvisorEngagement Date: September 20, 2008Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Ceremony: Catholic Church, Reception: Hotel BallroomAbout Me: I'm a Midwestern girl who longs to live in a warmer climate (my feet would be happy in flip flops any day!). I love travel, impromptu napping, grilled cheese sandwiches, my iPhone, singing with reckless abandon in my car, and Mr. French Fries.
So, when we last left the story of our venue selection, we were starting to wonder if we would ever find a place to hold our reception that would fit what we needed. We had considered a few options, but nothing had really stuck. So, we made some more phone calls. And sent even more emails. And then one afternoon, while we were running errands, I did a few Google searches on my phone (Mr. French Fries was driving, no worries). An option that we previously hadn’t considered popped up in the browser window, and I made a quick phone call to see if we could view the space. The event manager was there — and he had time to show it to us!
When we walked into the ballroom space, I immediately knew that it was where we were going to have our wedding. It just felt right. I loved the ceiling height, the options for a cocktail hour, and how the room was private and set off from other foot traffic at the venue. I didn’t love the chandeliers, though, but was reassured that they’re in the middle of remodeling and that they will be replaced before our event. So, it had a lot more pluses than minuses. Since Mr. French Fries is the negotiator in our partnership, he suggested that we sit down and talk turkey.
Mrs. Parfait, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 26, TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Senior Online ConsultantEngagement Date: February 14, 2009Wedding Date: April 2010Venue: Signature EventsAbout Me: I have a soft spot for all things sweet and romantic. Desserts, love songs, sappy movies? Yes, yes, and ohh yes. My fiance and I enjoy singing to our dogs, creating crazy ice cream sundaes, and generally being lovey dovey cuddle bunnies. We also do socially acceptable things like dancing, throwing Frisbees, playing high stakes board games, and taking unreasonably fun road-trips. We're planning a Korean/Serbian wedding with plenty of playful, personal touches!
Early in our planning process, I took a survey from my wedding organizer called “Your Couple Style Questionnaire.” Of course, after I wrote down my answers, I had Mr. Parfait answer them, too.
If you’ve read my previousposts, you could probably guess that 99% of our answers matched! When asked what we envision for our wedding, we both chose “modern/contemporary” over “classic/traditional” and “somewhere in between.” With our modern/contemporary vision in mind, we set out to find a ceremony location!
Outdoor Parks: We would both love to get married outside, and nature isn’t even on the “traditional to modern” spectrum. Grass and flowers are timeless! But April brings mud, and the flowers and leaves may not be out until May.
Mrs. French Bulldog, Orange CountyAge and Occupation: 28, Administrative Assistant & Interior Design StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Purchasing AnalystEngagement Date: November 8, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Bernardo WineryAbout 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.
Mr Frenchie and I both agree that our last day in Vermont was the BEST day of our honeymoon.
When we knew we’d be starting and ending our honeymoon in Vermont, Mr Frenchie tried to find a way for us to boat around Lake Champlain… in hopes of seeing Champ. Sea Monsters have been an inside joke between Mr Frenchie and I since we started dating, and the Vermont U-Haul seems to follow us wherever we go.
Mrs. Taffy, Ann ArborAge and Occupation: 28, Color and Materials DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Automotive DesignerEngagement Date: May 9, 2008Wedding Date: May 2009Blogging Since: September 14, 2008Venue: University of Michigan UnionAbout Me: I’m a girl who is crazy about Mr. Taffy, sewing, dancing, almost all types of sweets, and our cute pet canaries. I dislike touching fuzzy fabric of any kind, eating somewhat squishy food, and Michigan winters. Mr. Taffy and I are having a blast planning our Ann Arbor wedding, and cannot wait to share our day with friends and family.
We just received our discs from our photographer, so the official Taffy recaps are ready to begin! Before I post about our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, I’d like to start things off with a quick recap of the week before our wedding.
All week there had been a lot to do, but I was on track with my schedule and thrilled to see friends and family arriving from out of state. Last minute decisions were made: we scrapped the idea of OOT bags and used the money to pay for a guest shuttle after hours, and placed a map of Ann Arbor and an info card for the shuttle in their rooms instead. We nixed bathroom baskets because I realized the bathroom in our venue had no ledge to place them on!
A picture of our venue taken a few days before the wedding:
Everything was going very well until the day before, which resulted in what I like to call ‘the storm before the calm’. Read more…
Mrs. Hot Cocoa, Boston/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 31, JD/PhD StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Medical StudentEngagement Date: May 30, 2008Wedding Date: March, 2009Blogging Since: April, 2008Venue: Ritz Carlton, Marina Del ReyAbout Me:
I am a professional student by day and an amateur cupcake taster, bargain shopper, and wedding planner by night. I am obsessed with NPR, the Food Network, paper, dance shows, Anthropologie, post-structuralist theory, Weddingbee!, "The Office," and celebrity gossip. When not procrastinating from my dissertation, I spend time catering to Jellyby, our overly anxious shih tzu, and getting to know Mr. Hot Cocoa. We have only been dating for fifteen years, so it's like I'm in love with a stranger! From the East Coast, we are planning a Jewish-Chinese Extravaganza in L.A., where we both grew up.
For Mr. HC and me, the most emotional part of our wedding day was not the vows or ring exchange, but rather something that happened before the wedding ceremony: the bedecken.
Bedecken is a Yiddish word that means “to cover.” In traditional Jewish weddings, the bedecken is a ritual in which the groom veils the bride immediately before the ceremony. The custom is attributed to the biblical story in which Jacob, intending to marry Rachel, is tricked into marrying Rachel’s sister Leah. To prevent such epic switcheroos, the story goes, a groom ought to personally veil the bride and thus have the opportunity to ascertain that she is, in fact, the person he intended to marry.
Mrs. Mascara, Chicago/Upper MichiganAge and Occupation: 25, Biomedical EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Process EngineerEngagement Date: July 27, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Catholic ceremony, reception at local armoryAbout Me: A lover of Mr. Mascara, crafting, baking, Gossip Girl, diet soda, and all things wedding. A Yooper girl somehow displaced in the Chicago suburbs, planning a wedding from a distance, and counting down the days until I marry my best friend.
Fact: The honeymoon posts seem to be well-received, but they take a really long time to write! And I’m feeling lazy today. So, sorry. Rather than not posting anything, I’ll leave you with a bunch of pictures of me and my husband! Exciting, I know. But these are some of our pre-wedding/engagement pictures that were taken two days before our wedding. Our photographers Deb and Matt were awesome, and wanted to come up to the Yoop a few days early to see what Upper Michigan had to offer. We took them on a little tour of the area and they took some beautiful pictures along the way. Here are some of our favorites for your viewing pleasure.
Mrs. Mouse, AustinAge and Occupation: 25, Weddingbee Editor/AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Civil EngineerEngagement Date: December 19, 2007Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Barr MansionAbout Me: I just graduated from law school and will be taking the bar, getting married, going on a honeymoon with my guy, and then trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I was born and raised in a small East Texas town, but I'm no country girl! I'm obsessed with British accents, fantasy (including Harry Potter, of course), and classic rock. My fiance and I consider ourselves both music and beer snobs--but every once in awhile we love to hear a crappy band and drink a cheap brew or two. We're planning an eco-friendly, casual, English garden affair for the end of summer, and we can't wait for it to get here!
For our second day in Paris, I decided to take the Dude to a few of my favorite Parisian locales from when I was there six years ago. Since he didn’t care about museums, I planned a day packed with as many iconic Paris sites as possible. We started off the day with a Metro ride to Champs-Elysees, the gorgeous tree-lined shopping district, at the end of which the Arc de Triumph stands proudly in the center of the biggest roundabout I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos, since we still hadn’t found a charger for our camera.
We did some shopping along the avenue—I bought tights and a pair of high top sneaker/boot thingies because I was FREEZING. We popped into an electronics store and found a universal charger that we were able to use later that night to charge the camera battery—score! We had some interesting pizza in a cafe, pepperoni with a fried egg on top! Finally, we stopped at Laduree for some macarons.
Please pardon my dorkiness in this video. Read more…
Mrs. Rainbow, TampaAge and Occupation: 22, Makeup ArtistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Electrical Engineer/ProgrammerEngagement Date: November 27, 2008Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Gamble PlantationAbout Me: I'm a quirky (and slightly Type-A) freelance makeup artist who was born in Washington State, raised in Alabama, and now living with my one and only in sunny Florida. I'm fashion and beauty obsessed, and have recently discovered my inner domestic diva extraordinaire. I'm a wannabe chef, decorating addict, and trying desperately to be as crafty as possible---albeit only with a glue gun. I'm hopelessly in love with my fiance, and all things sparkly and feathery. Despite the glittery exterior, I'm a total hippie on the inside. When I'm not making up pretty faces, I love doing what I can to help people, animals, and the environment. Someday the FI and I will change the world, but first we're tackling our modern-vintage-Marie-Antoinette-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland inspired wedding. I just can't wait to be Mrs. Rainbow!
Before I do the “big reveal”, let’s talk about my aversion to cake. Ever since I was a child, I was never fond of cake. I love the batter, but the spongey, saccharine sweet, iced after-effects? Not so much. It’s just not my thing; it never was and probably never will be. Now, you’re probably wondering what I did for my birthdays, as what’s a birthday without a birthday cake? Enter the one, the only, the cheesecake.
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. Lamb, NorfolkAge and Occupation: 25, Homeland Security ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: January 2009Wedding Date: January 2010Venue: Trinity Presbyterian Church/Harrison Opera HouseAbout Me: I’m a Homeland Security Consultant with a tendency towards pulling office pranks, taking lunch breaks, and drinking Wawa shakes. I’m also an English major with a serious obsession with alliteration and rhymes. While I’m not keeping America safe, I’m training for half marathons and the Escape from Alcatraz swim. Or moving for the third time this year. Or baking. Or wedding crafting. Or crying about wedding planning. All the while, I’m getting myself into Lucille Ball-esque scrapes and making Jim Carey-esque faces. Our big fat Czech/Baptist/Jewish/Italian wedding is a combination of vintage eclectic, DIY, and little spoonful of sugar from our Event Coordinator. It’s going to be a Norfolk flavored wedding with the verve of an only-daughter-blow-out bash!
It’s all over the internet and through the magazines - cut your wedding budget by cutting your guest list. Some places say it nicer than others, but I think Martha Stewart’s people said it the most cutthroat way: Be Ruthless with the Headcount.
I’m not super militant, out marching against the Wedding Industrial Complex (WIC), but something about this rubs me the wrong way. Good ole Merriam-Webster says that ruthless means having no pity, merciless, cruel. The wedding industry sets these standards of beauty and indulgence to the point where the average bride must RUTHLESSLY cut her guest list to maintain the American Dream Wedding.
Yes, limiting the guest list is usually a necessary evil due to space and budget constraints. I don’t blame the bride who has to manage unwieldy lists that are bloated by more of their parents’ friends then they can shake a stick at. However, for our wedding, we decided that our priority would be to include as many of our friends and family as possible. Children were not invited, but not because we wanted to save a buck - because we wanted our guests to have the freedom to enjoy themselves during our wedding festivities. 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!
There are SOOOOO many details and pictures coming over the next few weeks, but I wanted to share a few more projects that I haven’t yet shared.
Like many other couples, we decided to go the sparkler route for our send off. They make for amazing pictures. Of course, I really wanted the sparklers to not be just sitting there, so I used some of my leftover wood grain paper and printed the words “thank you for adding SPARKLE to our day” and cut out 1” by 8” tags for the sparklers to sit in.
(photo by Anna Naphtali Photography- more to come from Anna!)
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
