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Weddingbee Blog
I’ve learned that it’s the little things in wedding planning that can make you the happiest. Like stumbling upon the name of a new favorite flower that you never knew existed prior to wedding planning, but that you’ve seen everywhere (ranunculus). Or getting a sorry we missed you slip from the UPS guy that means that your long-awaited insert item here has finally arrived!
Well, this weekend Bridesmaid Kim (we haven’t come up with a cute Weddingbee name yet) came in town and I felt like I’d hit the bridal jackpot. First, I got to show her all the wedding items that are taking over our guest room. See, I’ve ordered a lot of wedding items necessities and completed some DIY projects and have no one to show; that is, until a bridesmaid comes into town. And, I got to try on my dress for a real reason, not just because it had been a few weeks since I last slipped it out of its giant, white bag.
And best of all? She came bearing gifts! Maybe not gifts all people would get excited about, but a bride (or at least this bride) definitely would. So, are you ready to see what the gift was?
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It’s no secret that I love all things sparkly. Needless to say, I was sad when my friend wouldn’t let me bedazzle her wedding dress, so I decided to bedazzle myself. Yesterday I started and finished a small project that I really wasn’t sure would turn out the way I pictured it in my head. I had bought a silver sash to wear with the white dress I’m planning on wearing after our ceremony and at the party back home (click here to see it again). I had picked up a strand of rhinestones from Hobby Lobby when I was shopping for my invitation supplies and decided to sew them along the edge of the sash for a little extra bling. I truly, truly adore sparkly things and I think it’s become an obsession!
The materials I needed were:
After surviving our never ending hora, our guests deserved to be fed. But first we asked Mr. HC’s two uncles to perform the blessing over the wine (kiddush) and bread (hamotze).
When we asked for a challah for 200, we weren’t quite expecting a five-foot-long monstrosity. But there it was. In its full, phallic glory. Seriously, this thing could have had top-billing in its own x-rated video.
As you can probably tell from the face I’m making, the challah tasted like burnt cardboard.
I’ve been planning the wedding for a while (we got engaged in July 08), so there are a bunch of things I want to tell you about. Let’s start with the save the dates.
As I mentioned in my last post, I fell in love with Gocco-made invitations, daydreaming about the “squish” of the Gocco ink as it gets pressed onto paper. I knew Goccoing the save the dates and invitations wouldn’t save a ton of money considering the cost of a Gocco, so that’s why I made my sister buy it. Ha! (Lest you think I’m a horrible person, my sister is actually quite artistic and crafty, so the Gocco is right up her alley.)
Despite the cost, I had decided it was the best way for us to personalize the save the dates and make them say “it’s us!” to the guests, as well as print on paper that was a size and thickness that I wanted.
So, in addition to the actual image that would be printed onto the save the dates, what was going to be my canvas? Rectangle, square, circle, triangle, trapezoid? Ivory, white, metallic, vellum?
I browsed through many websites for inspiration, such as Bella Figura (I almost made out with the computer screen) and Sanskripts. And lookee lookee what I found. Who knew that rounded corners could push such an emotional button?
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Now that I’ve shamelessly milked you for your music suggestions for our wedding video, I thought it was only fair that I returned the favor and posted the playlist and do-not-play list that Mr. DD and I used for our wedding.
This is when you start to realize just how big of a procrastinator I really am.
You see, although I started thinking about a playlist early on, it seemed kind of complicated.
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Another project that I found on Do-It-Yourself-Weddings was fabric and toilet paper roll napkin rings! These were super easy to do, and will add a nice pop of color to the purple napkins I plan on using on ivory table linens, like how I mocked up here.
To start, I cut the green fabric (the same fabric that I used for two of the card box layers) into 10 sections that were 7 inches by 33 inches:
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I’ve been following this thread and with some of the stories of applicants and questions, I thought it would be the perfect time to share my story.
How did I find Weddingbee?
I’ve mentioned my friend, the Part-Time Happy Homemaker, in a few of my posts. Christine was the first person to suggest that I look at Weddingbee. My reaction was, “Wedding what?” Oh, poor, little, ignorant soul. She had compassion on me until I saw the light. The first couple of visits, I thought it was a nice blog, but I didn’t get what a bee was or why there were so many. Then it all came together for me when I realized it updated throughout the day! I started following Bruschetta and Beagle. I loved the writing, wedding, and DIY styles that the bees possessed. About 4 weeks after finding the website, I was convinced I wanted to blog here as well. I’ve been blogging since high school (back when Blogger was new!). I loved to write, but had been caught up in writing only work related government documents. I was really ready to pursue writing about more personal things, and the wedding was the perfect focus.
My application story:
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Truth? I knew I couldn’t limit myself to just a shawl, even if it was a high quality one and even though people I polled generally thought it would be a better idea than a collection of smaller things. I’d already started looking into individually selected brooches, wanted to get different bridesmaids different things that I knew they would each love (etc.), and the idea of already going $20 or more over my budget per girl (over $100 total, and likely more since there was no way I would not order myself a lovely pashmina as well!) while getting fewer cute things was sounding less and less appealing to me!
With this thought in mind, I visited Etsy seller ClassyWedding and found black paisley shawls in the same size I would have ordered for beaucoup bucks, but for only $20 each. Score!
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Can I say that? Yes, I can because it’s referring to a Swedish word meaning”speed play” that was developed by famed Coach Gosta Holmer in the 1930s. In essence, a fartlek session is where you run at alternating speeds throughout your run (i.e. slow and fast).
In spite of its funny connotations, fartleks are a actually a great workout tool because the change in speed and in your body’s heart rate is a better metabolism-booster than a similar distance run at the same speed.
Remember when I mentioned run-walking? This is kinda like the next step up from that. It’s also a great way to maximize a workout when time is limited. For example, a 20 minute run with 5 quick bursts at about 30 second each would be considered a fartlek run and make for a better quality run than just running straight for 20 minutes.
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As I mentioned in a previous post, it is hard to keep a secret in our house. This is because our favorite thing to do with surprises - even small ones - is to come up with obscure, tangentially related hints, then see if the other person can guess what it is. For example, last month Mr. Guinea Pig called me at work and said, “I have a surprise for you to guess: you can’t touch it, and it’s related to the Wizard of Oz”. I’ll spare you the random guesses I texted to him all day - when I came home I found that Mr. GP had gotten a (long overdue) oil change for my car! Wizard of Oz -> Tin Man -> Oil. Of course. 
Naturally, the hints just make me more curious to know what a surprise is, which leads to a lot of time spent quizzing Mr. Guinea Pig about birthday gifts, anniversary plans, and of course - the proposal (you’d think I’d just let that one be a surprise, but noooo). Thus by December, I was pretty sure Mr. GP was going to propose within the month, but I (mistakenly) thought it would be on our 11-month anniversary. When that came and went, I assumed that he would wait until our one-year anniversary, and sort of forgot about it. Then we went to my parents’ house for Christmas, and I walked into my dad’s office one day to have both Mr. GP and my dad yelp in surprise and tell me to get out! When my mom was secreted away to the office while my dad distracted me, I thought, ‘Aha! Sometime soon.’
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All the toasts were shared and champagne sipped. Our special dances were done and thank yous complete. There was nothing left to do but hit the dance floor for the night!
However… before we get into the good stuff, I have a confession to make. I. Can’t. Dance. Whew, there, I said it. Having absolutely no rhythm, moves, or confidence on the dance floor was a huge concern for me leading up to the wedding. Brides always seem so confident and happy on the dance floor, and I knew that wasn’t me.
I didn’t want to consume the required number of alcoholic beverages to give me the false confidence required to even enter the dance space. What’s a bride to do, you say? Fake it till you make it!
OK, confession time is over, onto the fun.
Our fantastic wedding party took to the floor…
Another thing Mr. Burger and I took care of recently was gifts for our bridal party! I’m going to hold off writing about the gifts for the girls for now, so we’ll all just have to settle for a post on groomsmen’s gifts!
We went shopping with the objective of finding ties for the guys (you see, they will be wearing tuxes, but no vests or ties from the shop - just regular old neckties). Remember, the girls are wearing a deep purple, and we figured that it would look great if the guys wore green ties.
Our official color green is sage, but we were looking for anything in the ballpark, really. It was important to Burger that we get “cool” ties - so any of the plain satin ones were out. After striking out at J.Crew, Banana, Kenneth Cole, and some generic “tie store” at the mall, we finally found the goods at Calvin Klein!
Check them out:
Ms. Fondue is offering a free portrait session if you book before the end of the year! The Nashville-area package will include approximately an hour-long session, edited images displayed in a password-protected online gallery, and low-res images on disc for sharing on Facebook or your blog.
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:
When a bride-to-be seeks advice from the outside world, be it friends, family, or strangers on the Internet, we often hear the phrase, “it’s your day”. Should I spend more than I can afford on a dress? “Go for it! It’s your day!”. Should I make my bridesmaids wear seafoam green taffeta dresses? “Whatever you want; It’s your special day!”
I have to be honest: This concept is pretty foreign to me. Our wedding is about a celebration of our love, yes, but it is far from being “our day”. It is about bringing our families together, and honouring the fact that our guests have traveled long distances to celebrate with us. Being on a strict budget, this means that we will have to sacrifice some of “our” comforts as bride and groom for the comforts of our guests.
I have already mentioned that we will have a full open bar at our wedding. This is an expensive venture, but one that is expected at a Polish celebration. We will be organizing the bar ourselves which will save us a few pennies, but cutting the bar, or offering signature cocktails, would disappoint our guests***.
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I will do anything for some free dessert. Including being sneezed on by a cow.
Let me back up.
Mr. Potato Head and I decided early on that we didn’t want cake. I always think cakes look better than they taste. No offense, cake, I’m just not that into you.
We made the immediate decision to serve gelato. I mean, immediate. I mean, we saw the gelato vendor at the bridal show and I just about fell over them throwing out blank checks. We haven’t yet narrowed down flavors but I look forward to a tasting in the spring, where I will enjoy all that yummy gelato roundly!
Back to the cows. We decided, in lieu of cake, to go with pies, which led to us driving down to Rhode Island this past weekend to visit a dairy farm + bakery.
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