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.
Confession: I am a 27 year old woman who enjoys watching shows about trendy high school kids, and Gossip Girl is one of my favorites. Blair is absolutely my fashion icon, and I am strangely attracted to the naughtiness that is Chuck Bass.
This week’s episode was particularly exciting for me. Why? I’ll give you two words: Polish Wedding.
That’s right, the very Polish Dorota got married this week, and I had big hopes for her wedding. Because she kept talking about how incorporating tradition into the ceremony was very important to ensure a successful union, I thought that I was in for a slight glimpse into our own wedding: a modern North American affair, with a mix of “the old country”.
Unfortunately, Dorota’s wedding was quite disappointing.
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!
Mr. Lace has a sister who is four years older than him and I have a brother who is six years older. Our older siblings watched over and took care of us while growing up and even now, keep watchful eyes over us. They’re so important to us, yet they really aren’t involved in the ceremony or reception in any way. I considered have Brother Lace walk me down the aisle, but I didn’t want to deny my parents that responsibility (although Momma Lace declined because she hates being stared at so she’ll walk in with Brother Lace and stand for the giving of the bride).
So, how are we going to involved Brother Lace and SIL Lace? We’re not sure yet. We’ve considered these options. Read more…
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!
This week, LIFE.com is featuring a beautiful historical photo gallery of Grace Kelly’s wedding to Prince Rainier. We’ve all seen the iconic pictures of Grace Kelly in her wedding dress, but it’s so fun to see the events leading up to the wedding, like Princess Grace cleaning out her cubicle in Hollywood before she embarks on her journey to Monaco and pics of her meeting her new in laws:
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.)
After the wedding, we took off for our honeymoon in Bali. Our first stop was Jimbaran Bay, a beach resort area in the southwest of Bali. The first night, we had the luxury of relaxing at the beachfront cafe/bar at our hotel in Jimbaran Bay, sipping a drink and watching the sunset.
In my post-wedding, jet-lagged state of amazement of actually being anywhere mentally and physically that didn’t require planning a wedding, I found it necessary to comment on every little thing to fully revel in the ability to just think about and be in the present.
Unfortunately the post-wedding brain had not yet caught up to normal functioning speed, and my chattiness had the unintended side consequence of demonstrating to Mr. Pug serious gaps existing in my brain. Read more…
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!
Okay, so you know that part of Toy Story where Woody is organizing all the toys for their big move and asks them if everyone has a moving buddy? He then says, “A moving buddy — if you don’t have one, GET ONE!”
Well, this post is not quite about moving buddies, but it is about wedding buddies. You see, early in the planning process, bridesmaid E told me about her law school friend Jenn, who is getting married at the same venue as Mr. Jelly and I are, only a couple months later. Jenn started reading my blog, and I started reading hers, and one day we decided to finally meet in person! We had so much fun talking about our wedding ideas and brainstorming together. Since we’re getting married at the same place, we’re interviewing a lot of the same vendors so we can share our notes on them and discuss our impressions. We discovered that we’re also doing our rehearsal dinners at the same place and we even booked the same florist! We’re also going to share containers for our candy buffets, since we’re both doing them. The best part is we have similar taste and a ton in common (hello, law school and adorable pups! And our engagement rings are almost exactly the same), so now I refer to her as my “wedding twin”. Read more…
Mrs. Cola, Mountain View, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Product Communications and PromotionsFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Managing Partner and Senior DesignerEngagement Date: March 5, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: The Mountain Terrace, Woodside, CAAbout 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.
This week I need to send our “must have” photo list to our photographers. I’m still working on it, but thought I’d share my list so far with all of you to see if I’m missing something!
While the family portraits are nice to have, after giving it some thought, I’d really like to have a lot of pictures of Mr. Cola and me together (since after dating for over 7 years, we only have a handful of pictures that aren’t self shots with the top of our heads cut off). And because I did so much DIY, I want to make sure that the photographer captures all of the DIY details I’ve worked so hard on.
So here is my list so far, with some inspiration pictures thrown in as examples:
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!
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 totally heart shopping. So when it was time to shop for wedding dresses, I was super psyched!! I spent months researching, and fantasy me started with Carrie Bradshaw in mind.
Of course, I am not a fabulous character in Sex and the City and I do not have Vivienne Westwood connections. Regardless, I crushed on many dresses and dated many styles before finding the right one. Here are some of my favorite flings: Read more…
Ms. Stripes, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 29, Costume Designer/StylistFiancee's Age and Occupation: 29, ChefEngagement Date: June 23, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Heritage Square MuseumAbout Me: I’m a type A creative with a messy streak, a loud mouth, and an uncanny knack for combining clashing patterns. I can usually be found with my nose in a book, my feet (or at least my toes) on the ground, my head in the clouds, and my arm around the prettiest girl you ever saw- aka
Fiancee Stripes. Together we’re planning a FUN vintage/modern French carnival wedding extravaganza and rockin’ dance party on a dime. (Say that three times fast!) Good coffee, long lists, Uniball pens, and my iPhone keep me sane, and making art, making trouble, and making out keep me happy! I love urban adventures, bike rides that end with afternoon drinks, breakfast for dinner, beautiful light, photography, travel, my furry family, and of course, my beautiful fiancee! I’m super excited to be here and can’t wait to share all our adventures as we craft a joyful, budget-friendly, design-savvy and all-around AWESOME wedding!
What do you think of our ceremony set-up? That’s right peeps (especially my fellow theater majors) we’re gonna do this thing in the round. I know it sounds a little dirty, but I promise it’ll be good clean fun. And when I ran this recent bit of inspiration by F Stripes, her matter-of-fact response was, “I’ve always wanted to get married like that.” Hmm. Who knew? So, yippee! All systems are go.
Let’s get started. I know y’all are supersmartiepants, but I’ll spell it out anyways: 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!
I do believe that there are women out there who act inappropriately and unkindly to their friends, relatives, and vendors during the wedding planning process, but I don’t know any personally (and I also suspect that women who behave badly throughout their engagements probably weren’t super-pleasant to begin with). Read more…
Mrs. Labrador Retriever, Athens/SavannahAge and Occupation: 24, Student/Sports ReporterFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Physical Therapy Assistant Student/Future Dr. of PT
Engagement Date: December 31, 2008Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Whitfield Square/Savannah StationAbout Me: I'm working on my second degree from UGA (Go Dawgs!). I'm a self-proclaimed attention-w****. If it involves a camera, I'm in front of it! You'll never meet a girlier tomboy than me. I can go toe to toe with any guy on the subject of college football, and lift more than any girl in my gym, all without chipping a nail. I hope to someday be the only person you want delivering your sports news. My FI and I are the loving parents of three Labrador Retrievers (one of each color) and are planning a "Southern Romantic Charm" wedding in the beautiful, historic city of Savannah. I'm not extreme in anything except moderation... and wedding planning.
Some of the guys must have gotten lost on the way to River Street because we had to hold the riverboat to wait on them. (Like, I literally kept standing on the ramp to the boat to make sure they didn’t depart without our entire party!). They all made it and we were able to leave just a couple of minutes late.
But we were still missing four very important people. Read more…
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!
When trying to figure out what kind of music we wanted at our wedding (band, DJ, classical, etc.), Mr. Dolphin and I had very different ideas. He wanted a string quartet for the ceremony and cocktails, and I wanted a band for the reception. We compromised (more like I gave in) and we decided on a string trio (quartet was too much $$$) and a DJ for the reception.
It was incredibly hard to find a string trio in our price range (most were quoting us anywhere from $500-$800 for 2 hours). We booked The Classern Quartet out of Orlando, FL through GigMasters for $350 for 3 musicians (violin, viola, and cello). They are going to play for 2 hours, which will cover pre-ceremony, our ceremony and an hour of cocktails. One of the things we really liked about them is that they play not just classical music but also modern tunes (Coldplay anyone?).
Pre-Ceremony A mixture of classical and modern songs
Mrs. Oyster, DallasAge and Occupation: 30, Music TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 46, Art TeacherEngagement Date: January 9, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: The Tower ClubAbout Me: I'm a Texa-Californian with a penchant for sparkly things and a tendency to think a lot. I've been known to sing random songs or dance when there is no music on. My fiance and I love world culture, we love to travel, and we have an incredibly eclectic taste in music. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate our marriage with our family & closest friends. We're planning an “urban black-tie” wedding and hope to incorporate our personalities and some of our own interests. We look forward to a life of love, laughter, good music, beautiful art, and to creating our home together with our four (!) cats.
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!
Wedding timeline lists seriously make me feel ill. Yes, I know that they are created in order to give structure and organization to the wedding planning process (which I can appreciate), but whenever I deviate from the timeline I start to feel like I’m going to break out into hives!
However, I am here to tell you all that it is not impossible to make plans/schedule vendors at times that differ from the given timeline! Yes - you can do it! Case in point: our wedding cake. According to most wedding planning timelines, you should have your cake baker booked at around the 6 month mark. Oh hmm… yes… it is April now, the wedding is only a month and a half away, and we are JUST NOW booking our cake. Yeah, before you revoke my bride card, hear me out! Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
Quick photo op before boarding!
