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Weddingbee Blog
So after all that excitement…
The wedding day, as well as the weekend, was wonderful. It’s difficult to say that it met or exceeded my expectations, because truthfully it’s difficult to form expectations of the warmth, love and laughter that will surround you on your wedding day.
We can plan certain details, like who will give the second toast, and determine whether things went according to plan, like did that toast happen at 7:45 PM or 8:02 PM but as cliche as it sounds, there were more important things afoot.
While the details and logistics certainly contributed to the wedding, what stands out to me the most about our wedding weekend was the feel of it—that very loving, happy feeling intertwined with the smiling faces of our family and friends.
I was pleasantly taken off guard by how much of the happy momentum of the wedding came from our guests—not from whether I had left out enough ceremony programs or picked the right hors d’oeuvres, but rather from the sincere joy, love and good wishes that truly made the weekend what it was.
I am so thrilled that we have the lovely images below, taken by our photographer CK Hwang of 39 East Photography (talented and genuinely kind, to boot) unless otherwise noted, to help capture and remember the feel of that day.
Read more…
Ladies – let’s get serious… a lot of us want a couture gown. I don’t care if you’re punk, hippie, yuppie or nerd (I fall into that last category), almost every one of us would love to find a couture gown that fits our personality and fits in our price range. The problem is that most of us simply can’t afford it… well, unless we decide to buy the dream dress and get married at a courthouse – which could be a dream come true for some but according to statistics, not most. So, the big question is, how do you score a couture dream dress within your budget? There are a few options, some that will not come as a surprise to see here and one or two that may have you cracking open a bottle of wine to celebrate. I’ve got my glass next to me, feel free to join in.
Hi Vera, I love you.
Because there are quite a few options, I’ve broken this into two posts… I love creating suspense – even if it’s just in my imagination.
Here are some of our lovely and amazing engagement photos from Blink of an Eye Photography! When I got the email from our photographer that they were up on her blog, I forwarded the link around and then picked up the phone and yelled, “They’re up! They’re up! Check your email!” to Mr. Seashell, my parents and my future in-laws. We all simultaneously went crazy, because they exceeded our expectations. Enjoy!
s0ngbird29 is selling her flower-box escort-card displays. Included are seed paper tags, a frames sign explaining the seed paper, flower picks, and three large spring colored flower boxes. She’s asking $100.
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:
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Sometimes I get ahead of myself and leave the people I love behind. When there is a long list of things to be done and I see an opportunity to check something off the list I do it. Last fall, just a month after getting engaged I saw a great MOB suit on sale.
Knowing that my Mom was conscious about money I snatched it up for her and was proud of myself for finding a great deal. She seemed to like the suit enough, it was a great color for her and had a fun ruffle detail. It looked like something that my Mom would wear. She told me she loved it and with some alterations it would work. I checked off the box “MOB dress” and moved on.
As I’ve shared my struggle to make sure I am engaging my Mom in the wedding details many of you have suggested going shopping for the MOB dress. With the suit already purchased I dismissed this as unnecessary.
I shouldn’t have.
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Sorry for the non-creative title. I’ve been invaded by some kind of flu bug and it has debilitated my brain a bit.
A few days ago I started talking about our desire to build a local/organic menu. Here are the meals that will round out our weekend.
Cocktail Hour Saturday:
Sources: Veggies and Dip, Cheese, Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato, Pita and Hummus, Fresh Fruit, Bruschetta
Of all the meals, the cocktail hour menu was the one that departed furthest from Indian Head’s initial suggestions. We moved from a microwaved/fried meaty hot menu towards a fresh cool light menu. Given the taco lunch and potential heat of August we thought this was a good call. We want people up and dancing, not down and digesting. It also helped bring down the cost of the menu and make it more local.
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
This Sunday, some of my closest friends in town came over and very kindly helped me form a sweatshop for our wedding decorations in exchange for cheesesteak sandwiches, queso, and chips.
Here are the projects we completed (can I just say how proud I am of us completing all of the projects?!)
Project #1, a beautiful garter by Jing! HOORAY!!
A few months ago, Mr. Dolphin and I went and registered for gifts at Bed Bath and Beyond. To tell you the truth, we hadn’t planned on registering at all. When Mr. Dolphin and I moved in together, we were merging two kitchens, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, two living rooms… we had two of everything! Granted, our ’two of everything’ consisted of towels from our college dorm rooms, sheets and bedding from our high school years, and very girly (blue with polka dots) and very manly (black) dinnerware. Needless to say, Mr. Dolphin and I feel like we really don’t need anything (although a few things deserve to be upgraded).
So, one of the first things we did after booking our Hawaiian honeymoon to Maui was register our honeymoon at Honeymoon Wishes. We felt that an experience was worth more to us then material things. Our guests could find us on the Honeymoon Wishes website and (if they so choose) gift us with a snorkeling adventure, surfing lessons, gas for the road to Hana, lunch by the ocean, or even a biking adventure down the volcano (how cool is that?!).
Then, there arose a problem.
Recently, my groom and I embarked on the element of wedding planning that I am probably more excited about than anything else: cake tastings.
This is exactly how I would go about the tastings if Mr. O didn’t rein me in. (Source)
I have a monster sweet tooth and absolutely no self-restraint when it comes to desserts. A few weeks ago, at my work-study job, we celebrated a birthday with cupcakes from an extremely addictive nearby cupcake shop. I proceeded to basically unhinge my jaw like a python and swallow my entire cupcake in two giant bites, despite the fact that everyone else was being really dainty and ladylike, eating their cupcakes with forks (!!) and taking cute little nibbles. So that was embarrassing, but it’s also an indicator of how much I REALLY REALLY LOVE DESSERT. Having a cake that reaches food-coma levels of deliciousness is important to me.
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Puddingpie and her future husband are all smiles in sunny San Francisco.
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.
I haven’t actually discussed what the men will be wearing at our wedding yet. Part of that is because I left this decision entirely up to Mr. Guinea Pig: tuxedo? Black suit? Cargo shorts? Whatever he wanted. 
My reasoning was that I get to choose my dress, shoes, veil, jewelry, and the bridesmaids dresses… why shouldn’t Mr. GP get to choose what he wants to wear and what the groomsmen will wear?
After going back and forth for a little bit, Mr. GP finally decided a black suit was best, and told the groomsmen to wear whatever black suit they already owned. We waited out buying a suit and stalked sales, then finally purchased Mr. GP a brand new suit at an amazing 70% off sale from Jos. A Banks — a normally $1100 suit was only $330! Major score.
With the groomsmen wearing their own black suits, naturally we wanted to tie it together with a common theme (ha. tie.). And what better way to be cohesive than to have ties made out of the same material as the bridesmaids’ dresses!
Back in November, when I ordered the bridesmaid dresses from Lula Kate, I also ordered a couple extra yards of fabric in both the blue and yellow colors we’re using (yellow dress for my sister/MOH, and blue dresses for the bridesmaids).
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Well, not everyone does. But I do.
Mr. A and I waited FOREVER to pick a cake vendor. With an 18 month engagement, why rush into picking your cake? Besides, what bakery was going to take your deposit that early in advance? None of them. During the last year, I spent my time trying to decide what cake shop(s) to visit. You see, I happen to be in an odd predicament. I went to high school with the daughters of one local cake shop, worked for several years with the daughter of another local cake shop owner, AND did gymnastics with the daughter of the owner of another cake shop. How is a girl to choose when all of your options are delicious? Not to mention that St. Louis has a plethora of delicious cake shops. It all definitely did not make the decision easy.
So, back in March, during our marathon wedding weekend (i.e. “meeting” my gown, registering, mailing save the dates and cake tasting), I had made an appointment for us to visit Whipt Cream.
As I shared in my last post, I was going to see my lovely hair and makeup artist, Kelly Zhang. As I reflected, I realized that my fear of going to do my bridal trial really stemmed from my fear that I wouldn’t look my best on our wedding day.
Lately, I’ve been stressing over how I look. Am I alone in this? I’ve been noticing how my makeup pretty much falls off my face after an hour or so of wearing it, how imperfect my skin is, how my hair isn’t long enough even though I’ve been growing it out since August… and our wedding day is supposed to be one of the biggest days of my life. I’m supposed to look magical. Scratch that. I WANT to look magical. But how canI with all these imperfections?! Does anyone have a magic wand handy?
Now, I know everyone one is secretly (or not-so-secretly) insecure about SOMETHING, but my insecurities were reaching an all time high. So, armed with my photos and ideas, I went to see Kelly for her to work her magic.
I pulled up to her chic salon in Pasadena and this is what beheld my eyes:
I love my bridesmaids but they are tricky little devils. Let me set the scene for you:
Maid of Honor Big Apple: Hey, so Matron of Honor Banannie and I were thinking that it would be fun to get together for lunch so you can fill us in on wedding plans and we can talk about your shower, bachelorette, etc.
Me: Oh yay, that sounds super fun! Loving that idea—when and where?
Maid of Honor Big Apple: Okay, we’ll figure it out and send you the details!
A few days later I got an email from Big Apple letting me know that it would be brunch at the resort she worked at, which sounded great to me! I woke up that morning, threw on my bathing suit under my dress (wishful thinking since it was a resort), kissed Frogger goodbye and headed out to meet my two MOHs.
I pulled up to the property and had a text letting me know they were in a poolside cabana waiting for me. Yay!
I walked into the pool area and saw Big Apple waving me over. As I walked up…
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It seems an increasing number of brides are opting to switch out of their ceremony dress and dance the night away in a reception dress. I’m doing the equivalent for my feet!
Basically, I’m generally a hot mess in heels. I’m pretty tall (5’9″) so I don’t wear them on a regular basis. On the occasion I do wear heels, I end up with bloody heels, oozy blisters, or scraped knees because I’ve taken a tumble. It’s classy.
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