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.
My day actually started out pretty early. My sister and I stayed in the same hotel room at the Rancho Bernardo Inn the night before. We both had to shower, get all of our crap together and get over to my parents’ (larger) room to get ready. I also had to make sure everything I brought with me was packed and put together separate from Sister Frenchie’s things. The hotel was going to pick up my luggage and relocate it to Mr Frenchie’s and my room once it was available.
Sister Frenchie and Mama Frenchie had a 9:30 hair appointment and my makeup artist was getting to my parents’ room around the same time to start making my bridesmaids prettier, so we booked it over to my parents’ room just in time for Mama Frenchie and Sister Frenchie to head off to the salon.
This portion of the morning was all a blur to me. While Mama Frenchie and Sister Frenchie had hair appointments I decided to do my hair myself. My morning went something like this… 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!
Lately, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to jazz up our table numbers. Granted, we’re having a very small wedding and will only need 6 tables to accommodate our guests, but still. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve got Bride Brain, and with Bride Brain comes the irrational desire to incorporate every cute detail that I come across, no matter how small. So, naturally, while surfing Weddingbee—particularly Mrs. Perfume’s archives, as I’ve found that we have an almost identical sense of style, I came across these:
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 used some scraps of raw silk, silk chiffon, lace and some beads that I had lying around. I ended up not using the pearls pictured.
I took the silk and ironed on the first side of the two-sided iron on stuff. Read more…
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.
Did you like my little pun in the title? If you haven’t already figured this out, I am beyond obsessed with mason jars in general. Blue Ball mason jars, specifically. I’ve already found enough to serve as flower holders for the centerpieces at our wedding, so I thought I’d do a little research and find some inspiration for the flowers and settings of these beautiful jars. Here we go…
There’s just something about the combination of blue and yellow that slays me every time. I like both of these flower arrangements, even though they’re very different.
Mrs. Spaniel, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 28, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, PsychologistWedding Date: March 2010Venue: Calamigos RanchAbout Me: I'm a third-year law student trying to balance graduating with starting my career, keeping up a relationship, and, oh yeah, planning an Old World, multi-cultural, "mountain lodge" wedding for 180 guests! A South Asian Jewish girl getting ready to marry my handsome Catholic Dane, I'm hoping to blend our cultures in our wedding just a bit more gently than by providing samosas as appetizers and offering æbleskiver for dessert. (Although that would also be awesome.)
When I got the email from Pengy on an otherwise nondescript Monday night, I think I flapped my arms so quickly in my excitement that I may have actually buzzed. Could it be? Was it me? Am I really a bee? Will Mr. Spaniel need to pinch me again?
Miss Spaniel’s excited face!
The Mister and I met back in January 2006, and after a whirlwind! three-year romance, we decided to make it official and announce our intentions (which were to get married, sillies!). 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!
Screeeech - My recaps are a bit out of order! Before we get to the wedding I want to share our rehearsal and a gathering at my folks’ house! I hope you’ll hang in there with me just a bit longer!
It was the day before our wedding. I woke up with 101 things to do, as you may have guessed from my previous post. One thing that wasn’t mentioned was that among my already scheduled appointments and to-dos, I found out I had to completely redo our seating chart. With no time to do this, I ended up fixing our seating chart in the car on the way to our rehearsal dinner, which was scheduled for 4:30PM. Read more…
Wiley Valentine, CaliforniaVendor: Invitations and Paper ProductsWebsite: Wiley ValentineAbout Me: Wiley Valentine is named for our artistic grandmothers, Mary Wiley and Norma Jean Valentine. Our company is 4 years old and growing strong. We specialize in invitations, stationery, and all sorts of paper delights. We love the forest, vintage books, thunder storms, butterflies, fairy tales and the smell of rain. We strive to think of our environment first when creating our paper products, and only use 100% recycled or 100% cotton papers.
This invitation suite we just did with our fabulous retailer, The Dandelion Patch, came out so pretty I had to share. The bride chose the Vintage Romance collection from the Letterpress Album and customized the design with her color palette of Champagne and Blush.
Mrs. Pudding, Greater Toronto Area/VermontAge and Occupation: 26, High School TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Computer EngineerEngagement Date: August 2008Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catholic Ceremony, Cultural Hall ReceptionAbout Me: Quite literally a citizen of the world, I was born in Poland, grew up in Canada, and now live in the beautiful state of Vermont. I love reading historical biographies, multi-tasking, teasing my hair, and, despite my height, wearing high heeled shoes. I am the ultimate klutz with an uncanny ability to put on a graceful front. Mr. Pudding and I have been dating for over six years, and are very excited to finally merge our (very large) families. We are planning a traditional Polish-Catholic wedding that is anything but predictable.
The way I see it, damask is the undisputed champion of weddings these days. Wedding blogs are full of inspiration for the “damask bride”. I have to admit, I love the idea of damask. It’s romantic, it provides a theme and central focus to the wedding, and gives texture to the decor. However, I had a problem with jumping on this bandwagon. I really wanted to find a theme that had a similar feel, but was a little bit more unique.
After deciding on the ivory and navy blue colour scheme, I began searching for inspiration. I had this idea in my head to find striped table cloths. I didn’t manage to find any, but I did find this:
This is ToiledeJouy, and according to wikipedia: Read more…
Mrs. Star, New York CityAge and Occupation: 22, ActressFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Casting AssistantWedding Date: October 2009Venue: Ceremony: The Kraine Theatre, Reception: Midtown Loft & TerraceAbout Me: I’m a professional actress who’s always had New York City in her blood and I'm finally getting the chance to make a home in Manhattan with my fiancé, my dog, and my big dreams! I love polka dots, craft projects, Dunkin’ Donuts’ iced coffee, and anything sparkly. I’m having a blast planning our elegant/dramatic/New York City/acting-themed/largely-DIY wedding and am thrilled to be the youngest current Miss Blogger!
Getting to and from another country and then all around said country is not always an easy feat. It requires a lot of planning, a whole heaping helping of patience, and is often one of the largest vacation budget items, behind lodging and food.
Over the course of two weeks, The Stars utilized just about every method of transportation possible. But don’t worry, we documented it so you would know what we were getting into.
This is on the train to Newark airport from NYC. We weren’t even an hour into our honeymoon and Mr. Star was busting out the crazy faces. Transportation count: 1.
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.
I’ve got opinions… lots of them. I also fancy myself a creative-type. That’s all well and good, but Mr Pretzel has the same characteristics. This really hasn’t been a problem… until wedding planning, more specifically, the save the dates.
Mr Pretzel and I decided very early on that we wanted to design all of our paper products ourselves. I was excited because Mr P was a computer graphics major in college, so I knew I would have some help in this department. Little did I know that the design process would thrust us into the biggest head-butting competition of our relationship. It might sound funny, but even though we are both opinionated people, we don’t argue much. When we talked about inspiration, we were on the same page. We both wanted our Save the Dates to have a “rock ‘n’ roll poster” feel to them. The problem came in articulating the vision that that term brought to mind.
I am a get things on paper kind of girl. As soon as I have an idea, I boot up Photoshop and try to get my idea from my head to the screen. Mr P looked at my first mock up and said, “I don’t like it.” I asked him what he was thinking of, and he said, “a punk poster with bright paper and black text,” and I said, “no freakin’ way.” We talked a little more and I tried to incorporate his ideas a second time. “Nah I don’t like that either.”
After a minor blow up, I got him to sketch on paper what he was envisioning. This is what he drew. Read more…
ClassifiedsFeature Launched: April 30, 2008About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
Mel0463 is selling 215 gold charger plates from Pier 1 Imports. The plates are 13.5 inches in diameter. Due to the heaviness and fragility of the plates, pick-up in the Metro Detroit are is preferred.
She’s asking $400.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!
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!
When I started wedding planning, I had all these dreams of making my own tablecloths, napkins, bridesmaids’ dresses, fabric draping, and centerpieces. A lack of sewing skills caused the fabric-related DIYs to fall away, but I was still determined to add a homemade touch to the centerpieces.
So I went and bought 50 vases, all of which have been sitting in my basement, waiting to be personalized and Parfait-ized. And here’s what I plan to do with them!
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!
Today we’re welcoming our newest doggie bee—Miss Spaniel! She’s planning a multicultural wedding in Southern California, and we can’t wait to hear of all the details! Say hello to Miss Spaniel!
Miss Spaniel, Los Angeles Age & Occupation: 28, Law Student Fiance’s Age & Occupation: 29, Psychologist Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Calamigos Ranch About Me: I’m a third-year law student trying to balance graduating with starting my career, keeping up a relationship, and, oh yeah, planning an Old World, multi-cultural, “mountain lodge” wedding for 180 guests! A South Asian Jewish girl getting ready to marry my handsome Catholic Dane, I’m hoping to blend our cultures in our wedding just a bit more gently than by providing samosas as appetizers and offering æbleskiver for dessert. (Although that would also be awesome.)
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 had our second engagement shoot while we were in San Francisco for Cousin Ramen’s August wedding. Sister Ramen has a natural eye for photography, so we borrowed our uncle’s SLR and took some photos around the Academy of Science and the DeYoung Museum. It was a super cold August day, but we braved the frigid San Franciscan weather and got some amazing shots! Cousin Fishcake and little Cousin mini-BM came along to help direct poses and hold purses/coats. It was actually really fun, even if my freshly-shaved leg hairs ended up growing 2 inches in the cold.
We stopped by the Ferry building beforehand and spontaneously picked up a couple bunches of dahlias from some street vendors and made a little bouquet to use as a prop. This little impromptu bouquet actually came in handy as one of the buttons on my dress popped off (too much good food in SF, I guess!), and I was able to use it to prevent any over-exposure! Either way, I was glad I got to have pictures with some pretty dahlias since we won’t be using them in the wedding.
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.
I think it’s safe to say everyone loves the Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, ya? I was looking at the current fall issue online and found this picture, which I am beyond in love with and had to share…
OK, I confess, there’s an ulterior motive for posting this picture. Not only is it a beautiful shot, but that pretty little red-headed lady sitting there is my Maid of Honor!
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
