Mrs. Starfish, Boston/NewportAge and Occupation: 25, Operations AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SalesEngagement Date: October 8, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: The Atlantic Beach ClubAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
1. Don’t stress. Even if something terrible happens, don’t stress about it. Sister Starfish’s videographer never showed up to the ceremony or reception. Instead of stressing about it, she pretty much said, “oh well, at least we have amazing photographers,” and enjoyed the rest of her night. This could have ruined her day, but she chose not to let it. She realized that in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t that important.
2. Enjoy the time with friends and family. Sister Starfish used her wedding as an “excuse” to get her friends together. As you grow up it gets harder to coordinate schedules with friends. She made a point of including many girls’ days with her friends and family related to the wedding. I have so many fun memories from the past year with our closest friends and family—the engagement parties, Running of the Brides, a day at Priscilla of Boston and lunch downtown with the bridesmaids, bachelorette parties, the bridesmaids’ tea, the rehearsal dinner, the pampering the day before the wedding, and most importantly—the actual wedding. It was so nice to share in all of these special events.
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!
After planning our rehearsal dinner at Lucille’s, I took a short break from thinking about the rehearsal. I have this bad habit of thinking, ‘I can do this later.’ However, with about two months left to go before the wedding, I don’t really have too many “laters” left, yanno?
With many more DIY projects still left to do, I considered a couple of low maintenance invitation options instead of making invitations. Due to budget constraints, printing invites was out of the question.
Evite: My friends and I use Evite ALL the time for parties or any kind of get together. It’s convenient and keeps track of your RSVPs for you. I could probably do this with a few simple clicks and be done with it especially since my address book is already loaded up on Evite.
Paperless Post: This is the HQ* version of Evite. They have fine stationery invitations and they also allow you track your guest list. The first 25 invites are free when you sign up and after that there’s a small cost for each invite.
We have about 55 guests for the rehearsal dinner, but after counting the actual number of invitations we’d need to send, it was a mere 25! That was much more doable than I thought so I decided to whip something up that was super simple and easy to reproduce. Read more…
Mrs. Lobster, BrooklynAge and Occupation: 29, Finance GirlFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Finance BoyEngagement Date: July 25, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Stage 6 Steiner StudiosAbout Me: I'm a New York-born, Virginia-bred girl who's found her way back to the big city. Mr. Lobster and I met in grad school and have been together ever since. I'm clueless about DIY but am an avid online shopper and love all things polka dots, stripes, and ruffles! When I'm not making wedding lists, you can find me looking for snacks, watching Gilmore Girls, or hanging out with Mr. Lobster and our new puppy Buddy! We are planning a fancy-pantsy Brooklyn wedding for a hot New York summer night which is sure to be a misadventure in the making.
I love wedding photography. It captures the genuine moments of a big day and every bride and groom looks flawless. Two of my favorite contenders during my search were CLY Creation and Bonnie Tsang. Both have great portfolios but with a different feel in color. Here are some examples:
CLY Creation. This small group of photographers hails from the West Coast but their studio is in Soho, New York. Their look is what I’d call photojournalistic with a vintage feel. Samples from their blog:
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
Previously, I told you about how I was planning to do wine charm escort cards. Many of you shared my concern that guests might think the wine glasses were theirs to keep, so I emailed our venue to ask how much it would cost per glass if our guests accidentally took home the wine glasses and if the venue had this problem before. The venue coordinator emailed me back and basically said I can’t do wine charm escort cards, unless I provide my own stemware. You can imagine how I annoyed I felt! I really don’t want to spend money on 200 wine glasses when the venue already has wine glasses. Also, Mama Jelly and I already made about 75 wine charms!
Mrs. Seashell, Chicago, IL / Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 28, Marriage and Family TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: September 3, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: The Glen Manor HouseAbout Me: Fonts and fashion, stationery and Sundays, photography and french toast... the beauty is in the details for this fun-loving Chicagoan who loves to plan plan plan! The soon-to-be hubs plays "Mr. Fix-It" in our new condo while I swoon over beautiful, personalized stationery and choose shades of aubergine for my bridesmaids' dresses... and thus begins my new fairy tale! Skirting to the East Coast for our September nuptials where my home state of Rhode Island awaits with fall foliage, I'm just a few dress fittings and bachelorette party away from saying "I Do" to a very happy ending!
So, there I was. My vision of a black and white wedding wasn’t quite coming together, and the addition of gold wasn’t the perfect solution I’d imagined. Ugh. You’d think it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I was bound and determined to find something with an elegance and simplicity that had nothing to do with what I considered a fall cliche.
I searched and searched, and came across this little photo:
Mrs. Veggie, Raglan, New Zealand/Scranton, PAAge and Occupation: 27, Director of Small Non-ProfitFiance's Age and Occupation: 42, PhD Student & FarmerEngagement Date: June 13, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Indian Head Camp, Honesdale Pennsylvania
About Me: I am a tree-huggin' farmer turned enthusiastic wedding-planner. I live in a house truck and wear flip-flops more often than shoes. In my old life I was a high school Spanish teacher in love with a crazy guy who lived off-the grid on a farm in New Hampshire. But, we decided to mix things up a bit, quit our jobs and move to New Zealand. My southern hemisphere lifestyle involves growing veggies, teaching, running our small non-profit, and surfing. I love laughing, singing, playing, and the inspirational Mr. Veggie (of course!). For our wedding, I am committed to throwing a killer party that celebrates our values without breaking the bank. Look forward to an eco-thrifty summer-campy weekend-long extravaganza.
Part of having a low eco-footprint wedding was figuring out what to do about dresses for our four bridesmaids, groomsmaid, and three moms of honor.
Here is the ideal situation as it played out in my head:
I send out an email inviting all of the veggie sisters to be bridesmaids. I send them a brief email explaining the concept of mismatched bridesmaids dresses. They talk amongst themselves, the groomsmaid, and the veggie moms and discover that all of them already own dresses made from eco-friendly materials and purchased from companies that support fair trade practices. And what luck! These dresses happen to be in colors that don’t clash with each other and fall within our wedding color scheme. On our big day they pull said dresses out of their closets. They look gorgeous. Since the dresses are already a part of their clothing artillery, they are used many more times and loved thoroughly.
Mrs. Dolphin, Gainesville, FLAge and Occupation: 24, Graduate Architecture StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Interactive Interface DeveloperEngagement Date: February 14, 2008Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Plantation Bay Country ClubAbout Me: I’m currently a Graduate Student at the University of Florida studying Architecture. I enjoy playing Scrabble with my Fiance, rooting for the Florida Gators, making any drink that involves a blender, cleaning (yes... I’m crazy), design... GOOD design that is, the new Pepsi with natural sugar, taking pictures, discovering new places in the U.S., and obsessing over doing (and designing) everything myself for our upcoming wedding!
Before I show you all these amazing pictures I found of golf carts in weddings, I have to give you a little back story on my relationship with golf carts.
I have a love/hate relationship with golf carts.
Have you ever heard of a bride having a love/hate relationship with golf carts? I know, it’s a weird thing to have. Although Mr. Dolphin and I will be getting married on a golf course and have golf carts as our vehicles from getting the wedding party from point A to point B, we aren’t incredibly big golf fans.
I really should explain a little background on by relationship with golf carts so you will better understand me.
It all started back in high school when we got our own golf cart. Why did we have a golf cart? I really can’t tell you why, because I have no idea, other then that it was something fun to ride around in. We would ride it to friends’ houses (that were just down the street), and to the park nearby. It also made an awesome ride for trick or treating in. Read more…
Mrs. Octopus, Boston, MA/Pittsburgh, PAAge and Occupation: 25, Grad StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Graphics Operator for TV NewsEngagement Date: May 6th, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Heinz Chapel Ceremony, Museum Reception
About Me: When my best friend dragged me to a toga party in our freshmen year of college, I was not expecting to meet my future husband; but seven years later, here we are. I'm a crazy-organized planner at heart, and I am a great lover of random trivia, books, chocolate, blogs, new and exciting adventures, mockumentary-style television, and anything heavily flavored with bright orange fake cheese powder. We're planning a festive and fun mini-destination wedding in the place where we met: fabulous Pittsburgh, PA! I can't wait to marry the man I love!
When I first started shopping for my wedding dress, the thought of a veil hadn’t really crossed my mind. I was sure I wanted one—I love the classic bridal look they create—but ’veil: wear one’ was as far as the plan went. I tried on a few different styles here and there, and mostly went “ehhhh…”. Until, out of curiosity, I donned the biggest, bride-iest, veil-iest veil in the store. A big ol’ cathedral-length veil with a thin ribbon trim that extended past the train of my dress. I saw the way the light ivory tulle floated out from my hair, hovered behind my shoulders, and trailed lightly behind me on the floor, and I was in pink-puffy-heart love. I knew that I most definitely wanted to wear what I super-classily deemed, “the big-ass veil.”
And then the attendant told me that it cost $175. Yooowwwwch. The veil was bee-yoo-tiful, all right—but $175? For a long piece of tulle attached to a plastic comb? Couldn’t do it.
I still really, really wanted a big-ass veil, though. Solution? Hire Bridesmaid Clara’s amazingly talented seamstress mom to make one for me instead! She feels sure that with a few inspiration pictures and some Internet research, she can turn out a gorgeous cathedral veil with no problems, at an itty-bitty fraction of the retail price. Hooray!
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!
Last time I told all of you about the Hottie Wing Date we had on a weeknight after work for our Date-a-versary. Now, let’s talk about how to be work appropriate and create some date-worthy sassiness for after work.
I must love y’all or something to show you so many pictures of myself looking like a hot mess. Or I just have no shame. Maybe both!
Here’s my before picture of me with no makeup. Can you see why I still get carded? Geez. Yeah, let’s keep that photo small.
Mrs. Dachshund, Fresno, CAAge and Occupation: 24, Legal Office AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Computer TechnicianEngagement Date: April 18, 2009Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Victorian Gardens of Two SistersAbout Me: I’m a 24-year-old Californian bride-to-be who found love in the most unlikely of places - an online video game! I’m a farmer’s daughter living in rural Central California, but will always have a special place in my heart for the city. My future husband is a 27-year-old extraordinarily tall, exceptionally cute, and undoubtedly Canadian boy who was able to sweep me off my feet and take me for his bride. I love color, folksy songs that make me smile, interior design, kettle corn, my one-year-old puppy, Juno, and my fiance, of course! We’re planning a DIY garden wedding with a laundry-list of projects, all while dealing with the bureaucracy that is American Immigration!
Guys, I have a confession to make. I am sick of DIY projects. I still have a ton, but I am embracing the K.I.S.S. philosophy, for lack of time, if not for my own sanity. The other day I had to order some paper and envelopes from PaperSource, and I figured that I’d go ahead and order a few extra things since I was already paying for shipping.
Ever since I saw this card box, I’ve had my eyes on those cardboard suitcases from Paper Source. I loved the card box idea, and finally decided to order them. One more thing to check off the list, right? Right!
This card box was super easy. I ordered two suitcases, the large and the medium, cut the bottom out of the smaller one with a box cutter, and then traced that hole on the larger one and cut that out too. The holes definitely aren’t perfect, but no one’s going to see the inside! I taped the two suitcases together with a bunch of shipping tape until it was secure.
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. Buttons, Clearwater, FLAge and Occupation: 24, "Working on it"Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Financial ServicesEngagement Date: June 13, 2009Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Carlouel Yacht ClubAbout 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!
If you have been following along, you will remember that I selected Mr. Buttons’ wedding band from an awesome Etsy vendor: Fabuluster. But, if you don’t remember, you can refresh your memory: here! Well, now that the decision had been made, it was time to get my fingerprint molded!
The artisans at Fabuluster sent me a kit with detailed instructions on how to make my imprints. After reading the instructions about 100 times to make sure I had the process down pat, it was time to begin! Read more…
Mrs. Taco, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, writer/editorFiance's Age and Occupation: 37, editorEngagement Date: May 13, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: The Green Room at the War Memorial Veterans BuildingAbout Me: I like laughing and talking with good friends over good food and good drink, be it wine, cocktail, or brew. I write and edit things for fun and profit, but I rarely "write" these days without a keyboard and high-speed internets. Favorites include Mr. Taco, my Boston terrier, San Francisco, getting out of town, and the Roaring ’20s. I was kind-of planning a wedding since roughly 2006, when I discovered "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" on the WE channel. I ran and didn't look back with a theme I called "urban vintage," and it culminated in the most magical day a taco could ask for.
As much as I adore and stuff the wedding binder, I spend a lot of time in the binary, intertubes world of wedding planning. To that end, I have a lot of fun being Miss Taco in the hive, as it’s always nice when people read what you write. It’s less fun, but I’m also Google Documents Worry Bride, armed with my Gmail account, a laptop, and my BlackBerry to either confirm or negate the crap that pops into my head on the bus. These E-xperiences (I just came up with that) are very important right now. (Note, they’re not “always important,” like, say, at dinner. They’re just generally important until August.) I need that spreadsheet because it says when our fees are due. I need that day-of schedule. I need the music list. Etc.
But on August 15, I won’t need any of it. Read more…
Mrs. Lamb, NorfolkAge and Occupation: 25, Homeland Security ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: January 2009Wedding Date: January 2010Venue: Trinity Presbyterian Church/Harrison Opera HouseAbout Me: I’m a Homeland Security Consultant with a tendency towards pulling office pranks, taking lunch breaks, and drinking Wawa shakes. I’m also an English major with a serious obsession with alliteration and rhymes. While I’m not keeping America safe, I’m training for half marathons and the Escape from Alcatraz swim. Or moving for the third time this year. Or baking. Or wedding crafting. Or crying about wedding planning. All the while, I’m getting myself into Lucille Ball-esque scrapes and making Jim Carey-esque faces. Our big fat Czech/Baptist/Jewish/Italian wedding is a combination of vintage eclectic, DIY, and little spoonful of sugar from our Event Coordinator. It’s going to be a Norfolk flavored wedding with the verve of an only-daughter-blow-out bash!
Lambster and I attended our first wedding as a married couple the other week. We had been looking forward to its as we had grown with our friends from college dating, through Navy long distance relationships, and into engagement land.
Not only were we able to rejoice with them as they joined us on the married side of life, but I found my wedding joy again. I wasn’t sure if weddings would ever be the same to me as when I was a wishful singleton dreamer. Planning our own wedding exposed me to the stressful, headache inducing side of things and though I’ll never forget the experience, I’m so glad that I can enjoy weddings again since they’re not my own!
I held my husband’s hand while they repeated their vows, and I rubbed his wedding ring. I appreciated the natural beauty of the outdoor ceremony space, the fragrance of the flowers, the taste of the wine, and the laughter at the toasts. I ate Pennsylvania and Ohio shaped cookies from the cookie buffet (representing the bride and groom’s home states). All simple joys. Read more…
Mrs. Starfish, Boston/NewportAge and Occupation: 25, Operations AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SalesEngagement Date: October 8, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: The Atlantic Beach ClubAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
Every blog about a wedding I read seems to have a first look now, and they always end up with amazingly cute photos. There are some big advantages to seeing each other pre-ceremony. I started considering the advantages and came up with a few.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
