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Weddingbee Blog
Last night, a bunch of us Chi-town bees met up at Salt n’ Pepper Diner in Wrigleyville, and it was such a blast getting to know everyone. We ate. We drank. I had a gigantic celery tree in my bloody mary that was rather amusing. We talked weddings, Olympics, the city, etc. One thing I learned that I didn’t realize is that we have a lot of destination brides in Chicago. And wouldn’t you know it, Mandstan’s family is from St. Thomas so Mr. Nachos and I had lots to talk to her about!
Mandstan and her Mr.
In my initial letterpress post, I wrote about Boxcar Press, and how they were such a joy to work with. All of my communications were through their Office Manager and Client Coordinator Carrie. She answered every single little crazy question I ever asked, and believe me, there were a whole slew of them. She knew the ins-and-outs of the whole process, and helped me not to feel like such a clueless bird.
Sadly, Carrie passed away on March 13th due to an automobile accident that also claimed the life of her fiancé. You may find more details on Boxcar’s blog, as well as information on the trust set up for her 4-year-old son. My heart goes out to Carrie’s family and the Boxcar Press staff.
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I realize that while I was planning I omitted some of the details on the special projects I was working on, but I have an excuse (don’t I always?). Some of my friends and family read this blog and I wanted some of the wedding to be a surprise. We’ve spoken before about how un-crafty I am and how my bee status should have been revoked a long time ago—you remember the invitations, the place cards and the hot glue-gun mess that I tried to pass off as pomander, right? Sadly, those weren’t the only DIY projects I had up my (very wrinkled) sleeve.
Our wedding didn’t really have a theme other than Neapolitan ice cream, so I really tried to incorporate some of each of our heritages into our big day. We used custom fortune cookies as our STDs, so I thought it would be nice to serve Southern food at our reception. But it didn’t stop there—we thought it would be a hoot to name the dishes after family members. Sounds stupid, right? I know. It totally does. Somehow we pulled it off, and people were so touched to be included like that.
All of these were made with Microsoft Word, a black & white laser jet printer and a stack of A7 Paper Source luxe cream flat cards. Don’t be jealous of my skillz.
My mom lives right in the middle of football heaven (or hell, if you’re like me and loathe sports), so we thought it would be funny to name one of our main dishes after her.
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Oh, hello bandwagon, may I get on? K, thanks.
The cake buffet bandwagon!
So let me tell you a story, interspersed with amazing photos of cake buffets.
A long time ago (read: last November) the Pencils chose their menu and cake. We chose the cake flavors, the shape, and the design. The only problem? We absolutely, utterly and completely forgot what we chose.
As I forgot and forgot what we had decided, I dwelled on what I realized I wanted: a cake buffet.
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I was definitely never the a little girl who had her wedding all planned out. There was no beach or castle or anything like that where I had grown up imagining my special day taking place. Lucky for us that this was the case, because after we got engaged, Mr. Turtle suggested getting married in his grandparents’ backyard on California’s Central Coast. It wasn’t crushing any of my dreams, because at that point, our wedding was a blank canvas in my mind. In fact, I loved the idea! I could not imagine us getting married indoors, and of course I love the sentimental value of a backyard wedding, so I immediately agreed!
(That’s a panoramic view of the yard I made on Photoshop right after we made the venue decision. The yard is actually curved in a big U-shape.)
I like to think of our wedding as a backyard wedding, even though it’s going to be a liiiittle bit more upscale than that. (I’m definitely not thinking bare feet with hot dogs at picnic tables and Dad on the grill a la the daydream that Steve Martin has in Father of the Bride.) But I do like the old-fashioned feel of a backyard wedding.
A few months ago, we went to Macy’s to start our first registry. We had a lot of fun, but boy was it time consuming! We spent two hours there and only registered for 18 items! One of my favorite parts of registering was looking at all the pretty china patterns! I definitely want to get some fine china, but it’s going to be a tough decision. Here are some of the patterns I like so far (all images courtesy of Macys.com):
Royal Doulton “Everlasting” – this was Mr. Jelly’s favorite and I liked it a lot too. It’s simple and I like the little knot detail around the rim (it might be hard to see in this picture but look at the center of the teacup rim). From Macy’s website: “Delicate chains and polished platinum bands put the finishing touches on premium bone china dinnerware from Royal Doulton. Classic and understated, Everlasting is the ultimate accessory for today’s formal tables.”
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
When I was considering venues and forming our initial guest list (wow that was a long long long time ago), I was always interested in any information regarding how many of the invited guests actually come to the wedding. The numbers of course differ based on many factors, such as the size/location/time/etc. of the wedding, but I wanted to quickly share our numbers.
Our venue capacity is 60 people. We invited about 65 people, 61 of whom could realistically make it (we were 99.99% sure that a few older relatives would not be able to make the cross-country/international trip). About 17 invited guests are from the Bay Area (i.e. close to the venue), and the rest were from out of town, so we considered it a semi-destination wedding.
Of the 65, 48 have RSVPed as “yes”. That is around 70%, or 75% of the 61 guests we felt could realistically make it. This seems like a reasonable percentage to me.
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Today, good ol’ Saint Patrick’s Day, is my parents’ 31st wedding anniversary. I don’t know the whole story, but the gist of it is that they paid minimal bucks and eloped in California. Remember, I said eloping ran in my family.
My parents have been a very good influence on me and my views of marriage. I definitely look up to them and hope to base my own marriage off of their own. The secret to their marriage…
Join the LA area bees for great food and wedding chat this Sunday, March 21!
Where: Cafe Santorini, 64 West Union Street, Pasadena
When: Sunday, March 21 at Noon
Please head over to the official thread on the LA boards to let everyone know if you’ll be there!
For some reason, I’ve been somewhat resistant to playing Hava Nagila at the wedding. Then I accidentally heard this version, and was sold.
Of course, after further consideration, I realized that people trying to run in circles on a dance floor at a pace to keep up with this tempo could be dangerous!
Last Saturday I attended the most beautiful, delectable, joyful shower ever! It was so much fun, and to my amazement, it was all for me! My mom’s dear friend (Auntie J) and my bridesmaids planned every perfectly pink detail.
When I walked in, my SIL greeted me with a smile and placed a flower in my hair. She did this for everyone who entered and collected recipe cards in a box for me to take home. You can see all the hair flowers below!
The girls ushered me into the kitchen to see the display of mini cheesecakes, cream puffs, cookies, and chocolate-covered strawberries. Auntie J placed a gorgeous corsage on my wrist. I loved it!
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A hearty hello to the Weddingbee hive!
So, what am I doing here?
Some people thrive under the stress of other peoples’ events. Others, given only one excited bride and a color or two, put their artistic talents to good use. I write about it: whether it’s an email to a pal, an item on a list, or a blog post read by brides-to-be all over the country. A questioner of my own sanity during stressful times, reading other peoples’ stories and writing my own has been cathartic, reassuring, and a trigger for inspiration. I hope my little corner of this site will serve the same purpose for you.
Why Miss Taco? I live in a pretty purple flat (rented) in a neighborhood of San Francisco known far and wide for its tasty Mexican food. Californians like me are famous for getting into brawls on- and offline over which part of the state wins for best Mex, so we’ll leave that argument for another time (Viva NorCal!!!!). I’ve lived there for roughly a year now with Mr. Taco and a Boston Terrier that often gets mistaken for a French Bulldog. The ‘hood is a funky one (and it has tacos, come on), with its top-tier shops, restaurants, and bars. We love it, as it’s one piece of our SF experience that will surely keep us around year after year.
(Stonehenge, Sept. 2008)
Lamowery is selling her Jenny Packham ivory feather stole. Make her an offer. She’s also selling the Club Monaco pin she used to fasten the stole for $80.
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:
My bridesmaids have been awesome and supportive, but I think it’s because I haven’t asked them to tie a thousand bows or cut and fold a million sheets of paper… yet. Oh, just you wait, girls!
However, with boxes of jewelry from J.Crew, my almost finished sash and dress in hand, I was at a complete loss with my total look for the day. Which bracelet? Which pair of earrings? What direction should the sash go? I had been staring at everything so long that I didn’t feel like I could make a good decision anymore. I needed help… desperately!
(personal photo)
I decided to ask MOH Lace (you may have seen her around as a commenter named Best Friend Lace) and BM Lace-dini (her dad’s a magician) over to my place to give me a hand. I decided early on that if I asked anyone to help me with wedding stuff, I would make sure they were fed. So, we began with this:
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I’ve mentioned that I’m not crafty, right? Once or twice?
I wonder if artistry skips a generation. Make that two. My grandmother? Crocheted the loveliest blankets. My uncle? Wove Nantucket Baskets (self-taught). Me? *crickets*
Enough with pontificating on my feelings of inadequacy. My mom recently revealed a project she’d been working on for a while. It’s a wooden box to hold wedding memorabilia (and cards from well-wishers at our reception too!).
I was speechless when she showed me. She is amazing. I am amazed. (I may have even shown sentiment.) I’m not sure my photos do it justice, but I’ll try.
Here’s the tour:
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