Mrs. Chick, HoustonAge and Occupation: 28, Rights and Reproduction ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Computer ProgrammerEngagement Date: November 15, 2008Wedding Date: April 2010Venue: A farm outside of HoustonAbout Me: Mr. Chick and I met almost ten years ago at Baker Blues, a college jazz party. He was attracted to my intensity, and I was mesmerized by his trivia pursuit skills and his dorm furniture adorned with his initials. We've grown more sophisticated through the years, with our love of wine, owning a house together, and parenthood (of a cat), but we have not lost our silliness or childish sense of humor!
Mrs. Cardigan, AustinAge and Occupation: 21, Student/Soon-to-be Special Education TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 20, Student/Soon-to-be Accounting Systems AnalystEngagement Date: August 16, 2009Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Vintage VillasAbout Me: I'm a native Austinite who was raised as a die-hard Aggie. Luckily, I'm a pretty persuasive girl because I managed to convince my high school boyfriend (now fiance!), Mr. Cardigan, to ditch his hardcore Longhorn ways and join me up at A&M, where we currently reside with our adorable dogs, Cullen & Ranger. We're currently planning a bright, cheery wedding with a ridiculous amount of DIY projects that I can't wait to tackle! I love crafting in any form, reading, and margaritas (I think I love them the most!). Organization is what keeps me sane and I love helping others, which is probably why I ended up as an education major. It gets a little chaotic sometimes when you're planning a wedding among all of the papers, projects, finals, and certification exams, but we're having the time of our lives and we can't wait to get started on our journey as husband and wife - and we're so excited to share our wedding with the hive!
Now that I’ve shared a little bit about our wedding and our inspiration, I figure it’s about time we take a little trip down memory lane and I tell you our story!
… Once upon a time… just kidding.
The first photo ever taken of Mr. Cardigan and me!
Mr. Cardigan and I met in high school. We took Geometry together (he was in the “fast track” and was taking it as a freshman), and he claims he was in love with me from the first time he saw me. He would constantly “forget” his glasses in another class and need to come sit next to me in the front of the room. He would then proceed to kick my flip flops off and draw scribbles all over my notes. So mature. 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.
I know what you’re thinking, “Cola, aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon, what are you doing blogging?” Don’t worry, I’m actually writing this post in late March, and scheduling it for after the wedding!
That’s because my next two posts are going to be about my boudoir experience, and Mr. Cola won’t be receiving the book of photos until we’re on our honeymoon. But I wanted to write about it while it was fresh in my mind.
I’d never even heard of boudoir photography until I dived into the world of wedding planning blogs, but I knew right away that I wanted to do one. After all, how many times in your life do you have an excuse to feel like a Victoria’s Secret model or a Maxim Magazine pin-up girl? So I’m going to share all the details of my experience with you, so you’ll be as prepared as possible and have an awesome shoot of your own if you decided to gift your hubby sexy pictures of yourself.
I started out by researching as many boudoir photogs in the area as I could, but quickly learned that many want to either come to your home to do the shoot, or have you rent a hotel room. Read more…
Mrs. Knitting, TorontoAge and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD CandidateEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: University of Toronto Faculty Club
About Me: I'm a pearl wearing, etiquette book reading Toronto girl who loves cooking and baking, museums, charm bracelets, and collecting books on Jackie Kennedy (a lot). I've been known to spend Sunday mornings at the antique market, Wednesday evenings at sister sushi dinners, and any bit of spare time reading. After six and a half years of many late night walks, watching DVDs together in bed, travelling to places like New York, and Tobermory, doing Sudokus together on the couch, lots of Indian food, the occasional yoga class, moving in together and so much more, Mr. Knitting and I are planning a cozy Christmasy (it's a word!), vintage wedding in Toronto complete with many DIY projects (eek!) and lots of help from our amazing group of family and friends.
So, using my tried and true method of wandering around and browsing in stores, I FOUND A VEIL!!! Sort of. Okay, it’s not actually a veil, but I guess more of a wedding headpiece or cap. I found it while wandering through Kensington Market (not actively looking for a veil) in Toronto and saw the most gorgeous and unique head piece on a mannequin in the window of the vintage store Ego.
Here it is (and yes, these are really awkward self portraits!):
Hi hive! Thank you for your continued suggestions for Weddingbee Spring Cleaning categories. To find out more about Spring Cleaning, click here!
Today’s featured item of the day is beach wedding decor!
Sellers: if you have beach wedding decor for sale, please post your item to the Weddingbee Classifieds by adding your item, and then return to this post and add the link to the item you’re selling in the comments, along with a quick description. Also pay attention to the comments in this ad to see if any buyers are searching for the item you’re selling by subscribing to the comments.
Buyers: if you’re looking for beach wedding decor for sale, you can do a couple things:
Identify yourself in the comments as LOOKING FOR (type of item you’re looking for, and quantity).
Subscribe to this thread, so you’re informed of beach wedding decor that are being listed for sale in the Weddingbee Classifieds. ***
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.
Have I told you the veil story? I have not. Why? Well, there isn’t much of a story. A couple months ago I decided it was time to buy a veil. I had low and simple expectations. I wanted a raw edged, waist length veil, no satin trim, no beading, no fancy comb. Just a veil to have pictures like this:
Note: When I bought my wedding dress, I totally forgot to try it on with a veil. I would highly recommend NOT doing what I did. Anyway, back to the story. Read more…
Mrs. Pencils, Washington DC/Frederick, MDAge and Occupation: 24, Program Director, Education Non ProfitFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Administrative Assistant, Ocean Conservation Non ProfitEngagement Date: July 26, 2008Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Morningside InnAbout Me: I'm a nerdy Northwestern girl who always knew she was meant to live in the East, harboring a deep love of ice cream, underwear, Diet Coke with a splash of Coca-Cola, pashminas, scrapbooking, stationery, wall calendars and books written for preteens. I think every day should include good thin crust pizza, chocolate, an obscure historical monument, lots of laughter, a dash of wedding planning and, of course, amazing Mr. Pencils! I'm loving the adventure of planning a Maryland wedding and Rocky Mountain reception, and most of all, I just love love!
My beautiful friends and Mr. P’s handsome men had made it down the aisle. After all of the prepping and our happy first look, it was time for my dearest Daddy to escort me down the aisle. I couldn’t help but wonder— would Mr. P cry? How would this all go?
The strains of Canon in D by Pachelbel filled the area, and I looked at Papa Pencils, took a deep breath, and we stepped out. We had practiced stepping out on the same foot the day before and I tried to keep us in sync as we reached the stairs.
I looked out at our guests and all I felt was utter joy—such incredibly happiness to be so surrounded by love and looking down at this guy.
Mrs. Earrings, Fresno, CA/ Nelson, New ZealandAge and Occupation: 20, Student, Wannabe Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 19, Photography StudentEngagement Date: February 14, 2010Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Gardens of the WorldAbout Me: I'm a girl from down under who grew up in Indonesia and I'm marrying a California boy. I'm addicted to all things sweet, have never met a chocolate silk pie than can get the better of me, and have dreams of one day being a fulltime novelist. I go weak in the knees for lace, tea cups, and a beautifully crafted sentence. When I get excited about something (whether it is historical linguistics or the Beatles) I tend to go overboard in research, and planning this wedding is no different. Mr. Earrings is my high school sweetheart, my best friend, and somehow we combine all our quirks into one big happy mess.
I dont particularly like the term DIY. Meg over at A Practical Wedding (one of my favourite blogs to read out there apart from Weddingbee) puts it well with the acronym DIT (Do It Together)… which I think, for brides, is an essential way to put it so you don’t just go… well, nuts. The weddings I drool over are stuffed with DIY details, from favor labels, to cute little drinking straws, right down to coat hangers. But… at the same time, when I start thinking of how our wedding can be “just like that,” then I’m losing the plot about what our wedding is really about: the start of our marriage, family… our love.
So while there definitely will be DIY projects for this wedding (sorry, I just can’t help myself… my fingers get itchy to do something crafty!), I need to keep reminding myself that they are not the “point” of the wedding, they aren’t the most important. So instead of DIY I will use the term “handmade”. Because, to me, “handmade” sums up what Mr E and I care about for our lives together: Read more…
Mrs. Scissors, LaGrange, GAAge and Occupation: 25, Photography & Graphic DesignFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Engineering Grad StudentEngagement Date: January 1, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Ceremony - First United Methodist Church; Reception - My parents' house!About Me: I’m a six-foot-three bride with a fifty-foot personality! I love great art, fabulous design, intense color, tons of music, indie photography, watching movies on repeat, and being really awesome. This super-tall, Southern, loud, quirky, neurotic artist is marrying a German, quiet, silly, super-amazing roboticist in an eclectic, funky, fun, snazzy, technicolored June wedding. Anything is game for this shindig, for it is all about us! We’re bringing giant paper cranes, six-foot-tall portraits, fortune cookies, a photo booth, a club-circuit DJ, handcuffs, and possibly a kidnapping to this small Southern town. Watch out, y’all, and try to keep up!
We’re having a fairly small, relaxed, and super yummy rehearsal dinner. As per our request, Mr. Scissors’ parents are hosting the dinner at one of the local Mexican restaurants. Of course, because I’m obsessed with designing anything that will stand still long enough for me to attack it, they let me do the invitations.
I made them without paper. Shocker, I know. Seeing as I’m pretty at awesome at waiting until the last minute, and seeing that we already had 20,000 things on our plate, I decided to go the interweb invite route.
I had read somewhere before that the rehearsal dinner should stand apart from the wedding stuff, but still have a similar feel. Read more…
Mrs. Hamster, New York CityAge and Occupation: 28, Finance GalFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Finance GuyEngagement Date: March 9, 2009Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Pierre HotelAbout Me: I'm an original Jersey girl living it up in the big NYC! I love baking for others, hosting brunches, and exploring NYC with my mans. Besides Mr. Hamster (of course), I'm attracted to shiny things, bold colors, snacks, matching and coordination, pork and duck fats, miniature versions of things, corny jokes and puns. We are planning a swanky Spring wedding in the heart of NYC, followed by a second reception in Singapore. From one city that never sleeps to another - I can't imagine a more exciting ride!
I’m high-strung person. I operate most efficiently on a baseline level of stress and anxiety—maybe it’s the New Yorker in me, I don’t know. So as our wedding day approached, I was all set for the nerves to kick in. And kick in, they… didn’t.
The week before the wedding—nothing. 2 days before—nothing. Then, it was rehearsal time, and I was *sure* I would be a mess by then. Instead, I was a cool cucumber. What gives? Take a look:
Rehearsal time: Bridesmaids listen intently to the venue coordinator. I stand back and enjoy a drink.
Not to be outdone, I started stressing about *why* I wasn’t stressing. What was wrong with me? What did it mean? What was happening? These concerns dissipated with the advice of wise Mom Hamster:
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!
Our newest bee comes to us straight from Philly! Please join me in welcoming Miss Socks to the hive!
Miss Socks, Southern NJ/Philadelphia, PA Age & Occupation: 23, Web Developer/Marketing Specialist Fiance’s Age & Occupation: 26, Systems Engineer Engagement Date: September 7, 2009 Wedding Date: October 2010 Venue: Ladder 15 Restaurant About Me: I am originally from the Midwest, but I love being an East Coast transplant! Mr. Socks and I are foodies and winos to the core—give us a hunk of cheese, some charcuterie and a glass of wine and we could die happy. We have two mischievous Wire Fox Terriers with completely opposite personalities but with a shared love of uprooting anything in our garden. Our backyard garden includes everything from tomatoes and peppers to a fig tree, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries! I love cooking, indie music, and spending time in our wedding city of choice—Philly!
Mrs. Thimble, NYC/PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 26, Actress & Costume Designer (+ day job)Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Lawyer & Techie WizEngagement Date: August 22, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: The Pearl S. Buck HouseAbout Me: I’m an easily inspired over-thinker delighted with the process of designing, building, directing and {dare I say} co-starring in the early-autumn affair I’ve been dreaming up. I’m a sucker for trendied-up comfort foods and old family anecdotes; I have an affinity for adjectives, alliteration, eyelet and earl grey; and I live for quality time with family and friends. I never guessed I’d marry my “high school sweetheart", but when it turned out to be my funny, techie, loyal Mr. Thimble I was committed for life. We’re both mid-career transition and ready to move back to small-townish TBD, PA in a pre-wedding flurry of all-good life changes.
Today marks 35 years since Mom and Dad Thimble pledged their love and vowed to honor and cherish each other for the rest of their lives. They’re still going strong and have been an inspiration for me in everything I do—especially in approaching my relationship and building my life with Mr. Thimble. I thought I’d share the love with the hive today and show off some retro inspiration in my parents’ real wedding:
Mrs. Cardigan, AustinAge and Occupation: 21, Student/Soon-to-be Special Education TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 20, Student/Soon-to-be Accounting Systems AnalystEngagement Date: August 16, 2009Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Vintage VillasAbout Me: I'm a native Austinite who was raised as a die-hard Aggie. Luckily, I'm a pretty persuasive girl because I managed to convince my high school boyfriend (now fiance!), Mr. Cardigan, to ditch his hardcore Longhorn ways and join me up at A&M, where we currently reside with our adorable dogs, Cullen & Ranger. We're currently planning a bright, cheery wedding with a ridiculous amount of DIY projects that I can't wait to tackle! I love crafting in any form, reading, and margaritas (I think I love them the most!). Organization is what keeps me sane and I love helping others, which is probably why I ended up as an education major. It gets a little chaotic sometimes when you're planning a wedding among all of the papers, projects, finals, and certification exams, but we're having the time of our lives and we can't wait to get started on our journey as husband and wife - and we're so excited to share our wedding with the hive!
The very first thing that I did upon getting engaged was decide on our wedding colors. I find this kind of ironic, because I’ve spent most of my life insisting that I don’t have a favorite color, and that I think the whole concept is just silly. Why pick just one favorite color? I love ‘em all!
I’m not quite sure what happened that made me decide on a favorite color, but I did: yellow. It’s bright, it’s happy, and it just makes me smile. That’s a good enough reason for a favorite color, right? Plus, this just so happened to be right around the time that I was starting to look at wedding stuff (well before Mr. Cardigan proposed… I’m just being honest!) and I was in love with all of the yellow and gray inspiration boards I was seeing all over the place. So, that may have influenced me a bit.
Once I decided that yellow was my favorite color, I knew I had to incorporate it into our wedding. I love that it adds such a bright punch, and it really just makes me feel a little giddy. That’s the perfect mood to create on our wedding day, no? So, the day after Mr. C proposed, I announced to him that I wanted to use yellow and gray as our wedding colors. He cluelessly agreed, and it was decided! Read more…
Mrs. Chick, HoustonAge and Occupation: 28, Rights and Reproduction ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Computer ProgrammerEngagement Date: November 15, 2008Wedding Date: April 2010Venue: A farm outside of HoustonAbout Me: Mr. Chick and I met almost ten years ago at Baker Blues, a college jazz party. He was attracted to my intensity, and I was mesmerized by his trivia pursuit skills and his dorm furniture adorned with his initials. We've grown more sophisticated through the years, with our love of wine, owning a house together, and parenthood (of a cat), but we have not lost our silliness or childish sense of humor!
My amazing, amazing MOH sister Eugenia, along with BM Joey, planned an awesome bachelorette party weekend extravaganza in San Francisco for me!
All photos courtesy of BMs Lulu and Julia. I am so lucky to have friends who are such great photographers! It’s great to have life documented so beautifully.
It started off with BM Lulu and I flying from Houston to SFO:
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!
As I’ve mentioned before, Mr. Octo and I have moved around a bit in the past few years. Once we finished college in Pittsburgh, we moved to Las Vegas and lived together for the first time. After three years in Vegas, we moved to Boston, where we’ve lived for a year now. For the most part, we’ve really enjoyed this sort of semi-permanent lifestyle. He and I are both fairly adventurous people who like to see new places and try new things, and living on both coasts and making two cross-country road trips in the moving process has afforded us the opportunity to do just that. We’ve seen nearly the entire country in the past five years, and it was incredible, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
You know what else it means, though? We have an apartment full of ancient, mismatched, cheap furnishings that have been battered to hell and back. Frequent moves, as well as just prioritizing our money elsewhere, have meant that we haven’t been able to build up any kind of real “home”. We have lots of stuff with no decor scheme (at ALL) and no quality, all packed into a really small, really old Cambridge one-bedroom.
Please note that in this photo alone, we’ve got black, fake cherry, wicker, and white furniture. Unseen = the fake oak end table behind me.
This hasn’t really bothered me until recently. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
