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Mrs. Pug, New York City/Half Moon Bay, CAAge and Occupation: 33, LawyerFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, dittoEngagement Date: July 2008Wedding Date: March 2010Venue: Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon BayAbout 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.)
I have a few ideas on things not to do right before your wedding. I learned these from the aftermath of my “pre-wedding celebration” (i.e. bridal shower/bachelorette party) last week, and the lessons generally fit into the theme of “Safety First”.
Thing Not to Do Right Before Your Wedding #1: Dance on a Stripper Pole
Yes, you heard it, I made out with a stripper pole. Dancing on a stripper pole is hard work, people. I didn’t know this, and neither did I consider this in my inebriated state during the festivities. Two things happened the next day which weren’t so pleasant, and things that I would not want to happen on the wedding day: Read more…
Ms. Potato Chips, Boston/Narragansett RIAge and Occupation: 29, PhD StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Personal Trainer/Business Owner/Physical Therapy AssistantEngagement Date: January 1, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: The Narragansett TowersAbout Me: A semi-professional bookworm, if I could be a literary character I’d be a cross between Jo March and Jane Eyre, only better accessorized and much lazier. My hobbies include sleeping in, seasonal brews, running, Trader Joe’s, and watching Unwrapped and Good Eats with Mr. Potato Chips. I harbor an irrational fear of tulle, crafts, things that are fussy, and overuse of the phrase "Your Special Day". After a year or seven together, down the aisle we go, slouching toward adulthood and planning a Rhodie party with equal parts whimsy, cheer, and pizza.
Is it just me, or was choosing a perfume simpler in middle school? You spritzed on some Electric Youth or Love’s Baby Soft, plunked on your flower-adorned Blossom fedora, unstrapped one overall strap, and called it a day. No muss, no fuss.
I love being surrounded by comforting scents: Philosophy Hot Cocoa shower gel in my tub, coconut conditioner, a sugar cookie candle in my office, a bit of lavender linen spray on my pillows. I love scents.
Mrs. Paisley, Orange County, CAAge and Occupation: 25, JournalistFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Spanish ProfessorEngagement Date: September 2008Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Family Lake HouseAbout Me: From my earliest days I attracted attention, as much for my intelligence as for beauty. I display an originality, a perspicacity, a certain je ne sais quoi that sets me apart. I posses a mysterious authority which compels people to do my bidding. I am a regal blonde with classic features and the daintiness of Dresden porcelain. I am poised, soft-spoken, and well educated... Okay, now that enough eyebrows have sufficiently shot through the roof, everybody can relax---I kid! I'm just a sarcastic NorCal-turned-SoCal girl who loves outdoor activities, books, letterpress printing and of course, Professor Paisley.
I letterpress printed my own invitation suite, in four colors, and I saved more than $10,000… no joke.
I spent a total of $650.
Let me explain briefly why I saved $10,000: A high-quality, one-color invitation alone costs about $700 for 100 invitations. Add on additional colors, and elements like save the dates, response cards and programs, and the price mounts exponentially. This is why most people have two-colors-or-fewer invitations. I did 20-plus total press runs for our save the dates, invites, programs and response cards. That means for each color, the invitation was hand-fed into the press about 130 times in my case (I allowed for spoilage… and man, was there a lot of it.)
The entire process took one week, an exhausting yet exhilarating 50-plus hours with my new-found friend and mentor. I worked from 9 AM until 7 or 8 PM, often without taking breaks or eating. I was focused. I didn’t want to stop. I loved it. Here’s the tale of how it happened:
I started getting serious about the process a year ago. But the story actually starts two years ago.
Mrs. Guinea Pig, Baltimore, MD Age and Occupation: 26, PhD student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Operations Director at a non-profit Engagement Date: December 25, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club About Me: I'm a tomboy science nerd whose girly side has made a startling appearance thanks to wedding planning! I love to bake, knit and sew but I also ride a motorcycle (that Mr. Guinea Pig wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole). We live with our three crazy cats and love to read, travel, watch movies, and do home improvement projects together! My parents/family are Canadian but I'm definitely American, although I've lived in 5 different countries, 6 different states, and speak Russian fluently. Mr. GP and I met online (did I mention I'm a scientist?) and had a whirlwind romance - now we can't wait to get married & celebrate with all our friends and family in a blue and yellow waterfront affair!
Much like many of you these days I’m sure, I have on approximately 25 layers all the time and feel like I haven’t seen the sun in years (stupid [cute] groundhog and 6 more weeks of winter). As Miss Cheeseburger mentioned and Miss Pencils alluded to, we in the mid-Atlantic area recently got hit with “snowpocalypse” - which was fun for the first two snow-days, but the gray, salty, slushy days that have followed have felt a leeetle bit soul-crushing. So I decided, why think about this:
(shoveling out the snow that accumulated in ONE night outside our front door after the first blizzard)
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!
Miss Lace asked when there would be a Wedding Bootcamp in Los Angeles. Ask and you shall receive! Grazia at the Wedding Salon emailed us and offered free tickets to their LA event at Hansen’s Cakes, in addition to their NYC event at Dylan’s Candy Bar! Join experts in the industry and fellow brides as the latest gowns and trends are showcased, taste some yummy cake, and take home a bag of free goodies!
To score two free tickets, visit The Wedding Salon and use code WB3BC upon checkout.
Mrs. Hot Wings, Chicago/San DiegoAge and Occupation: 28, ProfessorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, InstructorEngagement Date: December 20, 2008Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Ocean View Villas/Jasmine Seafood RestaurantAbout Me: I am a psychology grad student living in Chicago and planning my wedding to a fellow psych grad student. I am a Sunny So-Cal bred gal who trudged across the country to follow her love of psychology and ended up finding a partner in the process. I am overly passionate about anything I involve myself with. I am an activist, a foodie, a reality TV watching junkie, an over-analyzer, a photography obsesser, and am utterly cheesy to the core. This is a story of what happens when a boy and a girl meet, fall in love over academic dorkiness, and a shared love for life. We (mostly I) are planning our semi-destination wedding in my hometown of San Diego. We are excited to bring our families and friends together from across our lifespans to celebrate our future in a grand 400+ person culturally blended affair!
Who knew there were so many options? As if it wasn’t enough to have to pick a dress and decide whether or not to wear a veil at all. If you do choose a veil, then which kind will you wear? I decided I want to wear a birdcage veil. Our civil ceremony location is on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It will no doubt be very windy. I certainly don’t want to deal with an out of control veil. But there are so many more decisions to make when it comes to the birdcage. I had no idea until I started really thinking about it.
How will the birdcage veil be worn? Should it come across my eyes? should it be pinned at the side of my head, on top of my head, or on both sides of my temples? White or black? Fascinator or none? Eek.. to make my point and help to clarify the differences, I’ve gathered these images.
(1) Over the forehead but not quite over the eyes.
Mrs. Sewing, San Mateo, CA/Honolulu, HIAge and Occupation: 24, Electrical EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: June 27, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Anela Garden Chapel & Japanese Cultural Center, HonoluluAbout Me: I'm an easily entertained, compulsive idea-scheming machine who loves good art, good food, and a good engineering challenge. I'm planning a half-destination wedding on the beautiful island of Oahu - imagine a plethora of movies, art and games; savory Hawaiian food; blended Chinese and Japanese cultural details; lush, fragrant tropical flowers and all the air conditioning a NorCal native could want! And once I marry the love of my life, we'll come back to the 'mainland' to party it up all over again in my hometown of Salinas, the salad-bowl capital of the world!
Continuing on with the next installment of the big-bag-adventure, we have the sewing!
At about 100 inches of sewing per bag, this adds up to roughly 1,000 feet of “mileage” on my little sewing machine. Good thing we bought those giant spools of thread!
We started with our printed sheet of fabric, which is a 18″ x 47″ size. This is a tad larger than the average backpack, since it was meant to fit the reception chairs, so if you want to make your own for non-chair use, I suggest making it a couple inches shorter in length. Read more…
Mrs. Lace, Pasadena, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Elementary school teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, EngineerEngagement Date: September 6, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Orange County Performing Arts CenterAbout Me: Born and raised in Southern California, my fiance and I are marrying in Orange County. We're planning a vintage wedding with a modern twist. I am an elementary school teacher by day and a wedding planner by night. I love reading, blogging, scrapbooking, trying out new DIY projects, buying awesome finds at incredible deals and spending time with friends and family. Trying new restaurants, traveling and shopping also top my hobby list. I'm anxious to share my wedding ideas and planning with the hive!
I’ll be honest. I don’t really want to share this information. You know, some awesome find that is super impressive, you don’t want to give it away? Well, that’s my venue. Mr. Lace and I watched a show called Blast! here for our first Valentine’s day. We went outside during intermission to take a photo in front. We fell in love, right then, right there. So naturally, when we got engaged and began thinking of a venue for the wedding, this place popped into our heads. We wanted to pick a place that was different and new (at least to our friends). You see, every time I go to a wedding, there are anywhere from 300-1,000 guests, so our typical venues have pretty much been played out. The new string of brides at my church are all getting married between May and July of 2010. I’m smack dab in the middle of the slew of weddings, so Mr. Lace and I really wanted to pick a place that was fresh, NEW and different.
Mrs. Green Tea, SacramentoAge and Occupation: 30, Tea AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee CriticEngagement Date: November 17, 2006Wedding Date: August 23, 2008Blogging Since: June 10, 2008Venue: Vineyard on the DeltaAbout Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
I designed several back options for MOH-Ho to choose from. My favorite was the cleaner looking centered print… Read more…
Mrs. Hot Dog, Cheyenne, WYAge and Occupation: 23, Health Information SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Personal Trainer
Engagement Date: March 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Family Ranch outside Glenrock, WYAbout Me: I'm a city girl by birth and rural girl by choice. I'm ready to take on the world with a big heart and a big smile! I love all things crafty and DIY. I live in Cheyenne, WY with Mr. HD and our 2 fur babies, our dachshunds, Ollie and Mia. I love travel, adventure, Finding Nemo, '90s music, animals, and laughing. He is the cheese to my macaroni and together we spend more time watching movies than we probably should! I'm an old soul who is super duper excited to pull off our down home-rustic-chic-country wedding (on the cheap)!
Hullo, again, hive. How have you been? You have no IDEA how I’ve missed you…
I’ve been trying to write this post for 2 hours. I guess the best thing to do is be honest. With myself AND with you.
YouSeeWhatHappenedWas…
To put it bluntly, I was becoming too wrapped up in all the deets. I was neglecting my relationship with my future hubby. We were fighting a lot over stupid, little things. It finally came to a head (sorry for the grodey zit analogy!) right after I got the news that I’d been made a bee. He told me that he felt like I was more interested in the wedding than in the actual marriage.
And he was right. It’s not like I don’t love Mr. Hot Dog with every fiber of my being. But I was becoming so wrapped up in stuff that, in the long run, really doesn’t matter, and neglecting the most important thing - our relationship.
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!
Our families and bridal party gathered at the bow of the boat immediately after the ceremony to do a champagne toast and start the family portraits. There was lots of hugging going on at this point. I gave a few to the other important men in my life:
Mrs. Pug, New York City/Half Moon Bay, CAAge and Occupation: 33, LawyerFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, dittoEngagement Date: July 2008Wedding Date: March 2010Venue: Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon BayAbout 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.)
Um, rememberwhen I was talking about how I have practically unilateral decision-making ability in wedding planning, and that Mr. Pug’s non-involvement wasn’t really a problem? I was pretty damn proud of ourselves for not bickering, because I was happy to do the work and it wasn’t his thing. I couldn’t stop patting myself on the back! Pat pat…
Well, um, hee hee, so right after I wrote those posts, we made up for the lack of small bickering with one DOOZY of a fight. Ha. Read more…
Mrs. Argyle, St. LouisAge and Occupation: 24, Project CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, PilotEngagement Date: February 15, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Jewel Box in Forest Park and Windows on WashingtonAbout Me: I'm a true Midwestern girl (born and raised), lover of red wine, reality TV and the entire J.Crew catalog. I love to dance regardless of who is watching, and enjoy a good laugh with my girls. I have a soft spot in my heart for planet Earth, my two dogs and my fiance. Fall is my favorite season (which is why we are marrying in September), but I love a warm summer day and the Colorado mountains in the winter. We are planning a modern soiree downtown, with lots of bold colors, and fun, eco-friendly elements.
Recently, I fell in love with gray and yellow. I always loved those two colors together, but really had my heart set on “Garnet, Tangerine and Chocolate” for the wedding colors. Don’t get me wrong, I just had a moment of “Ooo, these colors could be fun and modern!”
And, to give you a taste of the gloriousness that is gray and yellow, here you go:
Thanks to Miss Joey for this inspiration. I just love the yellow envelopes!
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.
In my last post, I talked about the inspiration behind my first hair trial. I went into the appointment determined to communicate my vision to the stylist, and even though I was more vocal than usual, I found that I didn’t get exactly what I wanted. As a reminder, here is what I was going for:
Here’s the tale of how it happened:
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
