Mrs. Hamster, New York CityAge and Occupation: 28, Finance GalFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Finance GuyEngagement Date: March 9, 2009Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Pierre HotelAbout Me: I'm an original Jersey girl living it up in the big NYC! I love baking for others, hosting brunches, and exploring NYC with my mans. Besides Mr. Hamster (of course), I'm attracted to shiny things, bold colors, snacks, matching and coordination, pork and duck fats, miniature versions of things, corny jokes and puns. We are planning a swanky Spring wedding in the heart of NYC, followed by a second reception in Singapore. From one city that never sleeps to another - I can't imagine a more exciting ride!
In my last DIY post, I showcased my very first DIY project - our save-the-dates! In this post, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step tutorial. It’s easy, I promise!
You will need:
Cardstock
Moo Cards
A printing device (printer, Gocco, etc.)
Adhesive foam stickies
Ribbon
Scissors
1. Cut your cardstock into desired save-the-date size.
Or, buy the cardstock pre-cut into the size you want (score!). Make sure that the cardstock fits into your chosen envelope! Read more…
Mrs. Penguin, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in ChiefFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical TherapyEngagement Date: January 29, 2007Wedding Date: June 7, 2008Blogging Since: September 14, 2007Venue: Winery in the Gold CountryAbout 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!
What happens when a theatre gal and a graphic designer guy get married? Find out from our newest bee: Miss Snow! Join me in welcoming her into the hive!
Miss Snow, Madison, WI/Asheville, NC Age & Occupation: 28, PhD student Fiance’s Age & Occupation: 29, Graphic Designer Engagement Date: August 5, 2009 Wedding Date: June 2010 Venue: Claxton Farm About Me: I am true Southern gal displaced in the beautiful and blustery midwest. A true theatre geek at heart, I love any kind of performance and spend most of my time researching old productions in dank library archives. When not in the library, I love music (punk rock, bluegrass, and everything in between), design in all forms, any reality TV show on Bravo (especially those that feature housewives or sharp knives), beer and wine from Oregon, and exploring the outdoors. My fiance and I are true best friends, and he inspires me every day. After a long and happy dating relationship, we’ve decided to tie the knot in the mountains of North Carolina, our home state. We’re planning a long-distance, largely-DIY, eco-conscious hip farm affair that celebrates family, friends, and love.
Mrs. Gloss, Boston/MaineAge and Occupation: 24, Designer/soon-to-be ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Systems EngineerEngagement Date: May 23, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: SS Katahdin/Lakeside TentAbout 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!
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!
I know that this is controversial, but we had a money dance. We were on the fence about it for a while but then everyone started asking us if we were going to do it. I don’t mean just my family where the money dance is tradition, I mean Mr. Joey’s family and our friends. When I realized that Mr. Joey’s family had done the money dance before, I was OK with us doing it because I knew we wouldn’t have to explain it to people.
I have to say, the money dance was actually one of the most fun things we did. I didn’t think Mr. Joey would enjoy it, but he did. And we were both surprised by the people who came forward to dance with us.
Mrs. Sprinkle, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 26, Preschool Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Television Production/WriterEngagement Date: December 24, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: The Marvimon HouseAbout Me: I'm a Bay Area native trying to create a life for myself (and my fiance, and our three cats!) in the vast city of Los Angeles. I love vegan red velvet cupcakes, pilates ,and mid-century furniture. Mr. Sprinkle and I met when my band toured through his city (we bonded over cake and a mutual love of Morrissey) and we are getting married on the four year anniversary of our first date. When I am not teaching preschool (or blogging!) you can find me perfecting recipes, petting kittens, hiking in Griffith Park, and overusing exclamation points. We are planning a vegan, green-as-possible, DIY wedding, and I couldn't be more excited to share all of the details!
As we made our way south on the confusing freeways of the Eastern US, it began to get darker and darker. But it wasn’t nighttime, it was STORM TIME! Slowly, slowly we inched toward another state. After driving through three major rainstorms, we finally made it to Greensboro, North Carolina. There were several moments when I thought we might not make it—the rain was intense and I couldn’t see more than two feet in front of the car. Everyone else was driving like it was nothing, but we slowed down to about 10 MPH. Yes, we were those people, the annoying Californian tourists who don’t know how to drive in the rain!
We found our hotel, the Proximity, easily enough from the freeway, parked, and ran through the rain to the front desk. We were kindly upgraded to the top floor and we made our way to the room, dripping all over the elevator.
We were stunned when we opened the door to our room. The view was fantastic! Even with the rain splattering against the windows, we were able to see what seemed like the entire city.
(the best corner of our room, the reading corner and lovely window)
Mrs. Stiletto, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit/FundraisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Engineer and PhotographerEngagement Date: March 2, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: The 19th Century ClubAbout 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.
While I was experiencing an odd mixture of gettin’ pretty amidst nerves and anxiety, Mr. S and his guys seemed to be having a good old time! He, his groomsmen, and our ushers met at the church to get ready, where they were joined by our fabulous second photographer for the day, Maggie Rife.
I love how excited he looks, like he’s telling a great story (I like to think it was about me!).
Mrs. Perfume, DCAge and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor)Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, ConsultantEngagement Date: May 13, 2008Wedding Date: May, 2009Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, VirginiaAbout Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.
Notice I used the word “gathering”. It wasn’t a party. There were no themes, plastic phalluses, matching tank tops with sparkly wordz, games, and most of all, no plans. There was no time. On the Saturday before the wedding, there was so much to do, including that dance lesson and baking the last batch of macarons.
I was a little sad earlier in the week when I thought that I would miss this rite of passage (though I never envisioned a traditional bachelorette party). No one was really game, and plus we already had the couple’s pre-wedding non-shower party and my bridal shower.
But last minute, my sister came down from New York, and a few friends who happened to be around rallied.
Mrs. Trail Mix, New YorkAge and Occupation: 26, PE TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, MBA StudentEngagement Date: March 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Tannery Pond at the Darrow SchoolAbout Me: I'm a country girl who somehow found herself living in the Big Apple and loving every minute of it. I'm planning a rustic, country-chic wedding in my hometown in upstate New York and it's going to be a Party with a capital P. White wine, flea markets and running keep me happy and my friends, family and fiance are my world. I'm a little bit crafty, a little bit crazy but mostly just crazy in love.
… Is on my hand! I promised to show a picture of my engagement ring, so here we go. I didn’t pick it out, although I did give Mr Trail Mix some guidelines to go by. More on that in a little bit. He did an amazing job and even though it’s been more than 6 months since we got engaged, I still catch myself staring at my hand sometimes.
Here’s the frst pic of the ring, the day of the engagement at brunch. My mom brought me flowers; isn’t that sweet?
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!
Our invitations are currently in the works! I’ve been talking with a graphic designer to come up with something formal, bright, personal, and cute! I love cute. And even though I have no idea what it will look like, I already know that my favorite part is going to be the map!
Mr. Parfait and I grew up (and currently live) in the town where we’re having our ceremony. Our houses are about 30 seconds away from each other, and our reception venue is just down the street! All of this close proximity means that we can feature our favorite places on the map, including:
Our current homes
The place we met: Our high school!
The hill where we have all our picnic-and-Frisbee afternoons
The fountain where he proposed to me
Our favorite restaurant
Our favorite ice cream shop
Oh, and our church and reception venue… can’t forget those!
While looking for map-inspiration, I came across Aerialist Press. I fell in love with the maps in their gallery! Here is a sampling of what they create: Read more…
Mrs. Pretzel, SeattleAge and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing EngineerEngagement Date: September 2, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown StudiosAbout Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married.
Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
So, Mr Pretzel and I had a trip to New England planned since this past spring. I grew up in NH and most of my mom’s family is in Maine or Massachusetts, so this was our “meet the rest of the family” trip. My mom made the trip with us—making it even more special. My heart was set on being engaged for this trip, so we could celebrate our engagement with my family. As the days ticked by and our trip got closer, I got more and more stressed out. Had he bought the ring? Was he going to propose? Read more…
Mrs. Penguin, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in ChiefFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical TherapyEngagement Date: January 29, 2007Wedding Date: June 7, 2008Blogging Since: September 14, 2007Venue: Winery in the Gold CountryAbout 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!
We still have a bunch of great icons left, just waiting to be snapped up by our future bees!
But we’re always looking ahead, and wanted to mix it up a bit in the hive. So we’re brainstorming our next generation: Patterns and Craft Items! So far, we’ve come up with a small list of characters, but we need your help!
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.
For you girls in the waiting section, I thought I’d try to help you and your SOs out (I know you made a vow to say nothing until Christmas, but just hear me out). Maybe your SO is trying really hard to come up with a creative idea or way to propose, but just can’t figure out what the hell to do.
Well, that’s where your blog friends come in. See, this sweet guy knew that his girlfriend loved reading Bakerella (and who wouldn’t, her stuff is amazing), so he emailed Bakerella to see if she would help him out with his proposal! Well, of course she said yes, and this was the result:
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!
Yay, I’m married! (Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system…)
On Saturday, after my hair was set and my makeup was being prepped, I voiced my concern about mascara to my stylist. The problem is that I already have long, thick lashes and, therefore, I don’t wear mascara often. Because of this, It feels weird when I have it on and I think it makes my eyes look odd. That’s when my stylist told me she should have suggested making an appointment to have my lashes dyed. Although it wouldn’t make them longer or thicker, she said it would make them darker.
I, being naive about makeup and most beauty products in general, had never heard of this and now I am intrigued. I did some brief research on the topic via a Google search and found out you can also buy dye if you want to do it at home. I am not that brave and would definitely have someone do it for me, at least the first time. The only problem I see with this is that it’s dye, which means I can’t just take it off (like I can with mascara) if I don’t like it. Also, I am a little concerned about having chemicals that close to my eyeballs. Read more…
ClassifiedsFeature Launched: April 30, 2008About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
TiffanyBlue2009 is selling her Maggie Sottero “Sabelle” gown. The size 12 strapless dress is corseted and would fit brides sizes 10 to 14. She’s asking $1200.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!
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!
My name is Miss “Impulse Buyer” Lamb. I’ve got the shopping gene and it’s a strong one passed down by grandmewether to Ewe Mother to me. TJ Maxx, Ross, DSW, Marshall’s, Home Goods… I imagine a piece of heaven to be similar stores where you find a bargain every time you walk in.
Thankfully for my overtaxed personal budget, the wedding budget has allowed me to satisfy some impulse buying without any guilt. For example, I was wandering around TJ Maxx at the Janaf Center (a tad on the sketchy side, but they have surprisingly good stuff) and happened to spot these little guys:
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
(the best corner of our room, the reading corner and lovely window)
And even though I have no idea what it will look like, I already know that my favorite part is going to be the map!
