Mrs. Sprinkle, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 26, Preschool Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Television Production/Writer
Engagement Date: December 24, 2008
Wedding Date: September 2009
Venue: The Marvimon House
About 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!
Marriage equality is something that Mr. Sprinkle and I feel very, very strongly about. It is hard for me to even comprehend the fact that adults of legal age are not able to marry and receive the same rights as everyone else, just because of their sexual preference.
We knew that we had to find some way to acknowledge this in our wedding ceremony. Originally, we were just going to have a small paragraph in our program explaining our beliefs. However, after some discussion with our officiant, and this wonderful post, we decided we needed to take it up a notch. Mr. Sprinkle did some additional research and found out about the White Knot for Equality non-profit organization. We knew it was the perfect foundation for us.
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Mrs. Cheeseburger, Baltimore, MD/State College, PA
Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student
Engagement Date: June 28, 2008
Wedding Date: March 2010
Venue: Catholic Church Ceremony & Hotel Reception
About Me: I'm a passionate girl from Pittsburgh, currently living in Baltimore for school, who loves Penn State, seeing movies, football, thunderstorms, black and white photos, Christmas, good beer, my amazing friends and family, and of course, my mister! We met, fell in love, got engaged, and will be married at our alma mater (go lions!) in a traditional Catholic ceremony followed by a hotel reception with lots of DIY details. It means so much to have our families and friends meet at our favorite place on earth to celebrate our love for one another - I truly couldn't ask for anything more!
The day I saw this beauty on OnceWed, I was in love (this happens to me a lot).
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Swoooooon. I had to have one.
I decided to make mine with vintage sheet music instead of book pages, but it was equally as beautiful. This was the very first DIY project I took on, just a few months after we were engaged.
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Mrs. Penguin, Northern California
Age and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in Chief
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About 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!
When I first started shopping for BM dresses, I headed straight to one of my favorite retailers that carried BM dresses. I’d bought many regular dresses in the past there, and have always been happy with their styles and quality. Usually I spent around $80-$120 for dresses there, and figured their bridesmaid collection would fall in the same price range. I was a little bummed to learn that the dresses fell somewhere in the $200-$300 range, and eventually moved on to a more affordable bridesmaid’s dress designer. (I had great success with the online retailer House of Brides, which carried the dresses we chose for $50 less than any local boutiques. My only advice is to order as early as you can from them [15 weeks + if you can], and you shouldn’t have any problems!)
Everyone has an ideal bridesmaid’s attire price in their heads, and we thought it would be interesting to do a few polls to see what the hive is paying these days for BM gear!
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Mrs. Lightning, Cape Town
Age and Occupation: 22, Journalist and Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Computer Scientist
Engagement Date: December 27, 2008
Wedding Date: September 2009
Venue: Hout Bay Manor
About Me: I'm a young American living abroad in the beautiful city of Cape Town with a wonderful South African fiance and our crazy kitty Zeus. We're young, driven and madly in love. Together we're pursuing our wildest dreams including our biggest undertaking yet, a vintage retrospective wedding filled to the brim with DIY madness. I have an unnatural attraction to cake, a passion for blogging and a love of good design. While I might be an overly obsessive creative with too many ideas and nowhere to put them, Mr Lightning is my biggest fan and I can't wait to make my true love mine.
When Mr Lightning and I thought about our first dance we hadn’t really gone beyond choosing a song. We wanted to take some lessons, and only when we actually started walking to the centre of the restaurant to open the dance floor did we realise that we hadn’t actually done anything about it. We sheepishly made our way to middle and as the first words of the Blower’s Daughter by Damien Rice began to play, we pretended there was no one else in the room and shuffled around in a series of silly circles.
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Featured on Weddingbee
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Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
Mrs. Nachos, Chicago/St. Thomas
Age and Occupation: 33, Commercial Real Estate & Hairstylist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 36, Radio Producer
Engagement Date: May 22, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2010
Venue: Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort, St. Thomas
About Me: I'm a happy, laid back city girl that can find the silver lining in any situation. An optimist at heart, my motto is to turn your "what ifs?" into "so whats!". My fiance is a radio producer and the biggest Cubs fan you'll meet - our apartment decor definitely shows it. He and I grew up next door to each other and because of it, we have the best home videos and easiest holiday dinners. We are planning an intimate wedding in the Virgin Islands and a cocktail party in June for 150 of our closest friends.
Have you ever seen those little “Love is…” cartoons in the paper? For me, love is the fact that Mr. Nachos found this in the paper the day after we moved in together, cut it out, and framed it for me…
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Mrs. Pug, New York City/Half Moon Bay, CA
Age and Occupation: 33, Lawyer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, ditto
Engagement Date: July 2008
Wedding Date: March 2010
Venue: Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
About Me: The Mr. and I are two 30-somethings who enjoy tasty sweets of all kinds, our neighborhood wine store, and cuddling with our pug. NYC is where we live and the city we love, but we’re doing the deed out in Northern California. We are trying to keep the affair small, intimate, and manageable. Our motto is: the less people, the better! (I’m kidding.)
Last time, I oh so maturely b*%tched and moaned about having a ceremony. But on the upside of having a ceremony, this is what I found:
- It gives better purpose/focus to the wedding for our guests. I suppose this is obvious to most people except me.
- In my imagining/dreaming/planning of every wedding aspect until now, none of them has made me tear up the way thinking about our ceremony does.
- It’ll give my parents a chance to walk down the aisle, which I think will be nice for them.
- I will get to have a moment, albeit a short one, where I walk down the aisle and people are looking at me in my EXPENSIVE get-up.
- I’ll get pictures like this!!!
Source
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Mrs. Buttons, Clearwater, FL
Age and Occupation: 24, "Working on it"
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Financial Services
Engagement Date: June 13, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2010
Venue: Carlouel Yacht Club
About Me: I'm a self proclaimed perfectionist and a professional nomad (seriously, I've lived in TX, WI, MI, FL, NC, and now VA!). I love wine, cooking, curling up with a good book (nerd alert!), spoiling the furbaby, and of course, the wonderful Mr. Buttons! We are planning a lighthearted and whimsical wedding (with a good deal of DIY projects) in Clearwater, Florida, but from a distance of 800 miles away! We are looking forward to sharing our day with our family and friends, and most importantly, starting our lives together as husband and wife!
When it came to selecting bridesmaids dresses, I surprised myself by being pretty darn decisive.
I wanted to make the bridesmaid dress process as easy and streamlined as possible, since my ladies are all from different states. I immediately honed in on J.Crew’s bridesmaid collection. I figured that they would be familiar with sizing, since it is a pretty common store. There is a great selection available in colors, fabrics, and dress styles.
Because the wedding is at the end of May in Florida, I knew that I wanted short dresses. I also zeroed in on the silk chiffon options, in the hopes that they would stay cool with a light and breezy fabric.
Then, the color selection. After ordering a few swatches of the silk chiffon, I decided that the Vintage Blue was best suited for the look I was going for.
As for the dress style? I decided to let the girls decide for themselves. I am not a huge fan of everyone matching (although if they all wanted the same dress, then I would have been fine with that), so the dress options that J.Crew offered provided my party with some variety.
So, what will my maids be wearing?
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Mrs. Espresso, Corona/Big Bear
Age and Occupation: 23, Community Services Specialist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Maintenance Technician
Engagement Date: December 21, 2007
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: June 25, 2008
Venue: Outside a rustic b&b in Big Bear Lake
About Me: I'm a lover of all things good: coffee, music, travel, rain, and of course- my handsome fiance! I'm a full believer in the "Life is Short," mantra - and therefore, eat lots of dark chocolate. I'm a Geographer by degree and nerd by choice. I cook to the sound of French and Portuguese music even though I speak neither. I love road trips, camping, hiking, and capturing life through the lens of my camera. Take me to Anthropologie and I may never leave. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging, bargain finds, and old movies. Mr. Espresso and I are high school sweethearts and I am so blessed to be this amazing man's future wife.
This is an emotional post for me. I’ve dreaded writing it because every time I think about it, I start crying… I’m crying now. But it’s important for me to write because it was one of the most memorable moments from our wedding… an unplanned moment, even. And I really do want to share it with you.
My Papa (grandpa) was my hero. He was one of those guys that you instantly liked and respected. He had a no nonsense, selfless, and fun loving way about him that just drew people in. About 4 years ago, he was diagnosed with multiple types of cancer. By the time my wedding came around he had already had 2 brain surgeries and lost his ear to the cancer- but he was in a sort of remission. Because of his pride and goal to get better, he had refused to see anyone but our immediate family since getting sick. But he willingly pushed it aside for our wedding. And a few songs into the dance floor opening up, “American Girl” by Tom Petty came on and my Papa grabbed my hands and pulled me into the center of the dance floor.
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Mrs. Scissors, LaGrange, GA
Age and Occupation: 25, Photography & Graphic Design
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Engineering Grad Student
Engagement Date: January 1, 2009
Wedding Date: June 2010
Venue: Ceremony - First United Methodist Church; Reception - My parents' house!
About Me: I’m a six-foot-three bride with a fifty-foot personality! I love great art, fabulous design, intense color, tons of music, indie photography, watching movies on repeat, and being really awesome. This super-tall, Southern, loud, quirky, neurotic artist is marrying a German, quiet, silly, super-amazing roboticist in an eclectic, funky, fun, snazzy, technicolored June wedding. Anything is game for this shindig, for it is all about us! We’re bringing giant paper cranes, six-foot-tall portraits, fortune cookies, a photo booth, a club-circuit DJ, handcuffs, and possibly a kidnapping to this small Southern town. Watch out, y’all, and try to keep up!
Mr. S lives in his Chucks. He wears them all. the. time. He goes through about 2 pair a year, I’d say. I love it. They’re awesome and classic, all at the same time. Since we’re trying to have as much “us” as possible show through in our wedding, why not inject a li’l’ Mr. S-style into our shindig?
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Mrs. Cola, Mountain View, CA
Age and Occupation: 27, Product Communications and Promotions
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Managing Partner and Senior Designer
Engagement Date: March 5, 2009
Wedding Date: June 2010
Venue: The Mountain Terrace, Woodside, CA
About Me: I’m a Washington State native, enjoying life in Silicon Valley California with my fiancé, our three kitties and one leopard gecko. I like reading wedding blogs, Photoshopping wedding design mock ups, making lists, and planning, planning, planning! I’m a bit of an anomaly, on one side I’m a very girlie girl, I collect shoes, I lay out my outfits 4-6 weeks in advance, and I’d never leave the house without my hair curled and makeup on. But on the other side, I’m a total tomboy, I love to go camping and hiking, play drinking games (hey, I’m Irish!) and most of my closest friends are guys. My fiancé and I are planning a DIY-focused wedding with a balance between easygoing (what he wants) and chic and stylish (what I want), and are tying it all together with elements in lavender, sage, butter cream and chocolate.
… More like an OH MY GOD, THERE’S ALMOST ONLY 5 MONTHS LEFT freak out-inspired resolve to get my lazy butt in gear!
Like so many of the Bees, fitness has been on my mind a lot lately. Specifically, now that I’m about a week away from the 5-months-until-the-wedding mark. I’ve really slacked off lately, not so much with what I eat, but with my exercise level. For a while there I was doing the 30 Day Shred a couple times a week, but from October until about now is a really busy time at my company, and combined with my 45 minute each way commute, I just couldn’t find the time. Plus, much like Miss Nachos, I’m kinda allergic to exercise, so it’s always pretty easy to talk myself out of working out.
{Source}
But, no more! I’ve got a goal, hive, to feel better about myself and get more toned before my wedding. With my motivational issues, I need a reason to push myself, and the wedding couldn’t be a better reason!
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Weddingbee Gallery
Feature Launched: April 10, 2009
About: A collection of inspirational wedding pictures from readers and bees.
Cranky wore a stunning vintage-inspired headpiece she found on etsy.
Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.
Mrs. Spaniel, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 28, Law Student
Fiance's Age and 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.)
On Black Friday, Mr. Spaniel and I avoided the mall and hit up the tux shop instead. We went back and forth about whether to go for the shadow stripes or solid black, and we had a heck of a time choosing between two or three buttons. Pure agony! Okay, so it wasn’t that hard: Mr. Spaniel knew he wanted tuxedos for him and his groomsmen as opposed to suits, and he knew he wanted black. Menswear in general has a lot of catching up to do to ladies’ fashions in terms of complexity and stress induction, because there really weren’t that many options once those two choices were made. (I promise I will make up for the simplicity of his decisions by belaboring the sock selection as much as possible.)
For the groom: a black shadow stripe, two-button coat with Victorian Gold paisley vest and tie (we’ll be substituting the rental tie for this one).
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Mrs. Frozen Yogurt, Dallas
Age and Occupation: 28, Special Projects Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Equity Trader
Engagement Date: March 19, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2010
Venue: Marie Gabrielle, Dallas
About 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.
Can we talk about my boobs for a minute? We’ve heard stories from some of my fellow bees regarding their hope for a more ample bosom that will be achieved through the perfect bra or “cutlet”. Yeah, um… I’m working on the minimizing effect. Is there a bra for that? One that won’t make me look like I have uni-boob, long boob, chin boob (where you’re pushed up so high you feel like your boobs stop at your chin) or smushed boob. If there is, I haven’t found it yet.
See, this boob thing has been a real problem for me my entire life, and of course, wedding time is no different. I’m petite. 5′3″, though I lie and say 5″4″. (Everyone does that, right?) I’m not a big girl, but the boobs always make me look bigger, and they make shopping for clothes impossible. Shopping for my wedding dress was great fun, but also stressful. I was worried that the sample dresses wouldn’t fit, and worried that I would look “too sexy” in dresses. Actually, I worry about that often and find myself throwing on a cardigan or something else to cover up, although I’m not really showing that much skin. I feel like having a large chest can make you feel over-sexualized in whatever you wear when really you just want to wear a cute top, but somehow you end up looking like a girl heading out to the club and it’s only noon. And don’t even get me started on bathing suits.
So how do I handle all this?
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Mrs. Pretzel, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development Specialist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing Engineer
Engagement Date: September 2, 2009
Wedding Date: July 2010
Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown Studios
About 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.
The dress journey has been a long one.
First I had foreboding feelings about wedding dresses and dress shopping. Then I looked into custom made simple and modern dresses. Next I fell for Stephanie James Couture Retro styled short dresses. My pocketbook ached, so I did a little vintage dress hunting.
Never fear, the dress hunt is nearing the end. The important thing is that I had a clear vision of my dress. I had gotten in touch with my inner 1950s bride.
1953 cover of Ladies’ Home Journal
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Classifieds
Feature Launched: April 30, 2008
About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
Elissa is selling her gorgeous Melissa Sweet “Ellie” ivory taffeta trumpet gown. She’s asking $2000 for the size 8 dress (street size 4) and is including the fingertip veil.
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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All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
