Weddingbee Blog

I was never planning on doing this post. It seemed less evasive to show you a picture of Mr. Peep in bed the day after our wedding than showing you the nitty-gritty details of our budget.

BUT a few weeks ago, Mama Peep commented that every penny spent on our wedding seemed well spent. So maybe this post is an ode to our good work—the hours and hours of hunting for the best vendors and feeling like we really did spend “our” money well. I say “our” money, because most of it really was a no-strings-attached gift from our beyond-generous parents.

That said, here is a rough estimate of all the gory details.

Budget: Originally I wanted to keep it under $20K, but then we got an unexpected boost from our in-laws. So our overall goal was $25K.

Venue, rentals and reception budget: 50%, or $10K.
Actual: ~$11,000
Venue: $1,000

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Remember when spring break used to involve beads and Jell-O shots? And it wasn’t “spring break”—it was SPRINGBREAKWOOHOOOO!!? Remember that?

Last March Mr. Potato Head and I, by virtue of our teacher/student lifestyle, shared the same week of SPRINGBREAKWOOHOOOO!! Our big plans, however, included neither a beer funnel nor a suspicious man with a video camera and questionable release forms.

Instead, we made our first appointment to meet with wedding photographers. We planned on enjoying a relaxing brunch at our favorite diner and a leisurely drive up to New Hampshire to meet with the husband-wife duo at Hinkley Photo. Instead, we woke up to a flooded basement. Potato Head ran around with mops and buckets while I yelled a lot and tried to rescue as many shoes as possible.

Let’s recap:

Spring Break 99 = sunshine, ocean, party bus to Miami

Spring Break 2009 = drizzly 40-degree weather, waking up to a flooded basement, road trip to New Hampshire. My thirties. They are a-comin’.

Luckily, the day was saved by a successful meeting, when we finally got there several hours later.
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OK, you all convinced me about the assigning of tables. So I’m going to do it. I am a major planner, and I agreed that although I will be stressed creating the name cards and assigning tables so close to the wedding, I will be even more stressed if people are running around trying to find a place to sit. Well, luckily I came across the cutest name card holders from Good Guest on Etsy.

I think they are so sweet, and people can take them home and use them to hold pictures later if they want to.

However, I decided that instead of spending $19 for 12 of them, I am going to attempt to make them.
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Some days I wish Mr. HD and I could just go down to the J.O.P. with a few of our closest friends and family and do the deed there. It would involve so much less stress. But every time my mind circles back to that, I know that deep down I would really regret it. And not just me; I think my whole family would be a little disappointed. We live at least 2 hours away from ANYONE in either of our families, so even though we see a select few once a month, we both have a lot of distant family that we rarely get to visit. We really want this wedding to be like a big family reunion—relaxed, fun, and a chance for our families to meet and blend. But lately it seems as though the money issue is going to be my undoing.

We are on a tight budget. I mean TINY. We’re talking around $5,000. Hopefully less. That’s not to say we won’t be getting some help. My mom bought my wedding dress for $350, thanks to PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com (Thanks Mom!). My dad and step-mom offered to pay for the cake and desserts. And both parties have offered to help with other costs as we tackle them. But the brunt of the wedding costs will be on us. Paper goods, photographer, catering… the big boys. Needless to say, we’re going to have to get creative.

I knew from the get-go that I wanted to hand-craft as many of the details as I could. It’s starting to look like I’m going to get my wish.

Another big hurdle for us is going to be sticking to the budget.

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1. See something cute and wedding-y in one of the following places: Etsy, one of the 50 wedding blogs in your 0reader, or in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine.

2. Decide that you absolutelymusthaveitOMGitistooperfect.

3. Google it like it’s your job, trying to find pictures of it in any capacity.

3 (a). Fall in love with said item even more.

4. Congratulate self on finding something so unique/”you”/kitschy/awesome.

5. Look to see what vendors are charging for said item.

5 (a). Cue jaw dropping at (potentially) astronomical price.

6. Have the following train of thought: ‘Self… you can totally do this. It’s so easy! You’re crafty! Remember that diorama in 2nd grade? That thing was awesome. This is way easier than that. Let’s do this.’
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I received this lovely invitation in the mail at the beginning of September.

*Edited thanks to one of my Lambaids - she said that my attempts at hot pink spray paint for privacy’s sake was sad. Hahaha, she just found herself a new job as my personal privacy painter!

Then in October, Ewe Mother, Lambaid Maid of Honor and a slew of helpers and Lambaids hosted the most beautiful shower. Ewe Mother turned her house into a bona fide tea room with real china tea settings and lots of special touches. In the photograph below, you can see some of the spread and the table where Mr. Lamb’s family and my family mingled over Earl Grey.

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Day to day my shoes are not awe inspiring. My normal footwear sports a star—it isn’t made by a star:

Source

That being said, I’m short—5′2″—fun-sized short. What petite girl doesn’t appreciate the height some heels give her? Even though I rock Chucks most the time, when I wear heels I wear HEELS. I’m not a stranger to the balancing act stilettos. After reading blogs like Green Wedding Shoes and seeing insanely awesome colored shoes like the ones wore by Mrs Cheese and Mrs Toucan, I was inspired.
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When it comes to shabby, country chic, I think lavender flowers take the (wedding) cake for reflecting that sensibility. It’s not a flashy, overstated flower; it’s sweet, simple and smells divine.

I thought about using lavender for my bouquet. Something like this:

(Source)

I do love the idea but it doesn’t really go with our color scheme and it’s not quite what I’m envisioning for my bouquet. It would smell so lovely, though…

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Selecting our color palette has been an evolutionary process. I’ve really wanted to use shades of green (Mr. Spaniel’s favorite color!), and I think I have finally figured out what I mean by that.

I think I’m going with mostly black and white/ivory (damask? paisley?), with flowers and accents in shades of green.

source

I’ve been really drawn to these bridesmaids’ dresses since I first saw them. I have five girls, who are all different shapes and sizes, and I want to give them options that each will be comfortable in, but that still go well together. I like the tea length, I like the lace. I am not sure about the white/ivory underlay; I might go with black on black.
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The reason we’d arranged to meet my family in the lobby before the ceremony was so we could get all of my family portraits out of the way.

I knew I really wanted pictures of me with Grandma Frenchie,

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Our wedding is a go! With the booking of a church and a reception venue, we are officially getting married in July, 2010! It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.

So, here is what we have so far:

We will be getting married at my childhood church. It is a Polish Roman Catholic church, which means that most of the congregation is Polish. There are many churches like this around the Greater Toronto Area, as there is a very large Polish community here:

(source)

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Olgaram is selling a never worn, never altered Paloma Blanca 05313 wedding gown. The size 8 duchess silk dress is a strapless A-line with crinoline underneath. She’s asking $400 or best offer.

Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee classifieds and you might see it featured on the blog!

Other great items for sale:

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For some reason I’ve felt like our wedding was losing some of its vintage appeal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the direction it’s heading in, but I want to be sure that I stick to my original plan of vintage yet modern. Well, thankfully I stumbled on Three Potato Four.

You see, I’m not much of a bargain shopper, nor am I able to find hidden gems at Goodwill or the Flea Market. It feels like a curse. I see all the amazing things people have acquired at said shops, but I just don’t have that skill. I need to be able to look through things in an organized manner, and finding vintage items online is the perfect way to do that.

Here are some things I’m loving from Three Potato Four:

I’ve never seen anything so cute. I would continue to use this even after the wedding.
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HeLLLLOOOOOOOO hive! I cannot BEELIEVE I’ve been chosen to blog here! I just celebrated my 23rd birthday and this is the best gift! I received the email last night and seriously thought I was dreaming! I had to check it again this morning when I woke up, at which time I gave myself a bear hug and did a little hip-wiggling celebratory dance!

So, why Miss Hot Dog? Well Mr. HD and I have two fur babies, Olie and Mia, and they happen to be of the weiner dog variety. And since a wonderful bee already beat me to the Dachshund moniker, Hot Dog seemed the next best thing!

I met H.Dawg in my senior year of high school. He was helping our cheerleading squad prepare for state and I was smitten. But speechless. So nothing happened. Then, freshman year of college, guess who was at cheerleading tryouts? Yup. The rest is history! We’ve been through our ups and downs and have both put each other through a lot. But we’ve come out all the better for it.
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Might I offer a humble contribution to the wedding lexicon?

Bridol -noun- 1. a bride who becomes your idol or role model; 2. a previously engaged woman (or man) whose planning style and general attitude invoked feelings of respect and admiration.

I’ve had many bridols. It goes without saying that I pretty much worship all past and present bees for their design skills, DIY savvy, can-do attitudes, and general awesomeness. I’ve also been lucky enough to have some real-life bridols close to my heart.

There’s been my super-organized pal whose dress cost even less than mine, who forgave me when I missed (missed!) her beautiful wedding to study Shakespeare in London (bad, right? I know).

There’s been my lovely friend who pulled off a gorgeous, romantic Boston wedding. She provided the bridesmaids with lollipop bouquets at the rehearsal and flip flops to wear at the reception; no detail was overlooked.
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