Mrs. Frozen Yogurt, Dallas
Age and Occupation: 28, Special Projects Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Equity Trader
Engagement Date: March 19, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2010
Venue: Marie Gabrielle, Dallas
About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, and have lived in several of the cities across the state, but I currently reside in Austin. I went to college in Boston and have a special place in my heart for the Northeast. I love reading, shopping, wine, reuniting with college friends that are scattered across the country, reality TV, trying out new recipes, and attempting all the DIY projects that come along with wedding planning. I'm a "bleeding heart, save the world type" and thankfully my job allows me to work on legislation and policy to help out those in need. I met Mr. Frozen Yogurt in a bar, though he doesn't even drink! And now we are planning a modern yet vintage wedding in Dallas while dealing with the trials and tribulations of first time homeownership.
Hello hive! I’ve missed you guys!! I’m still waiting on my pro-pics. I definitely haven’t forgotten about my recaps, and I’m anxious to start them (and see the pictures myself!). But since I was missing the hive, I had to pop in.
So, the reason for this post is to talk about gifts, ease my guilt, and educate myself on the etiquette of gift giving.
Source
I’ve always wondered about how you’re supposed to handle shower gifts and then the subsequent wedding gift.
Read more…
Weddingbee Gallery
Feature Launched: April 10, 2009
About: A collection of inspirational wedding pictures from readers and bees.
lkswim2’s bridesmaids carried bouquets of roses, orchids and peacock feathers.
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. French Fries, Milwaukee
Age and Occupation: 27, Paralegal
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Investments Advisor
Engagement Date: September 20, 2008
Wedding Date: June 2010
Venue: Ceremony: Catholic Church, Reception: Hotel Ballroom
About Me: I'm a Midwestern girl who longs to live in a warmer climate (my feet would be happy in flip flops any day!). I love travel, impromptu napping, grilled cheese sandwiches, my iPhone, singing with reckless abandon in my car, and Mr. French Fries.
In our search for a wedding cake vendor, we took a pretty circuitous route: we thought we were going with Company A, then realized that they were too expensive. Then, we thought we were going with Company B, but they never emailed us back (still, to date, some of the worst customer service I’ve received). Then finally at our venue’s food tasting, we landed upon Company C, who we quickly booked upon tasting the cake and getting a rough per-person estimate.
Actually, “Company C” is more like “Woman C Who Does This Out Of Her Home” or “WCWDTOOHH”, if you’re into acronyms. We met with her back in the early spring and quickly decided on a two tier cake. The bottom tier will have chocolate cake with peanut butter cup frosting/filling, and the top tier will have chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip frosting/filling. Delicious. We left the appointment with strict instructions: call 2-3 weeks before the wedding to set up a date to drop off our final payment, and any cake accoutrements that we might have (flowers, topper, etc). Easy peasy.
So, I called this past week to set up our final payment date and talked WCWDTOOHH. She quickly went over our order: the tiers, the flavors, and how we wanted it decorated (in her words, “frosted smooth, with big borders”). Um, sure. I’m not exactly sure what “big borders” means, but I think she’s talking about the frosting in the little crack between the top tier and the bottom tier. Maybe. Sure, let’s go with that.
Then she asked me if I had a topper —
Read more…
Mrs. Knitting, Toronto
Age and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD Candidate
Engagement Date: October 2009
Wedding Date: December 2010
Venue: 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.
I love looking for wedding inspiration on the Internet. Unfortunately, a lot of the details I’ve fallen completely in love with (serving raspberry mint lemonade in mason jars) aren’t really suitable for a winter wedding. However, because I’m currently so in love with these summery drinks we will take a slight detour from the theme of this post to drool over these photos…
Read more…
Featured on Weddingbee
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
Mrs. Octopus, Boston, MA/Pittsburgh, PA
Age and Occupation: 25, Grad Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Graphics Operator for TV News
Engagement Date: May 6th, 2009
Wedding Date: September 2010
Venue: 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!
Yes, it’s true. Lately, our wedding has consisted of a spectacular outpouring of money.
(Source)
A few months back, I explained our wedding budget: $20-23,000, a combination of contributions by my parents, Mr. Octopus’s parents and grandmother, and ourselves. That budget is now, um, how shall I say? Highly obsolete. I can sum up the main reason for the change in two words: Guest. List.
Read more…
Contests
Feature Launched: Oct 5, 2006
About: Weddingbee contests and giveaways.
Congratulations to our winner, lee_la!
~~~
Jewelry designer Kendra Scott was planning for her own destination wedding last year when she realized there was a void in the marketplace for contemporary, colorful and bold bridal jewelry. And so, the “I DO” collection was born! Kendra Scott jewelry is not only bold: it’s now completely customizable! With the COLOR BAR, you can design jewelry in color arrangements that match your wedding color palette for you and your bridesmaids using a combination of 20 colorful gemstones, 20 different styles and two metal finishes.
In honor of the COLOR BAR launch, Kendra Scott is giving away a $200 gift certificate to one lucky Weddingbee reader that can be used on anything at the Kendra Scott website.
Right now, Kendra Scott is also offering a 10% discount when you enter COLOR10 at checkout.
To enter this contest, check out Kendra’s Color Bar and let us know what style and color earrings you would design for your wedding. And for an additional chance to win, follow @weddingbee on Twitter and retweet the contest by simply clicking here. From there, comment again here and let us know you retweeted! You have until Tuesday, June 8 at 11:59 PST to enter. Good luck!
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Mrs. Thimble, NYC/Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 26, Actress & Costume Designer (+ day job)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Lawyer & Techie Wiz
Engagement Date: August 22, 2008
Wedding Date: October 2010
Venue: The Pearl S. Buck House
About 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.
In my last post after my first shopping excursion to Priscilla of Boston in search of Fern, I was newly obsessed with Melissa Sweet’s Bee. However, I was not ready to make a purchase 2 years out from our wedding day, and the price was steep.
My new plan of action? To find a second-hand Bee. It would be cost effective, eco-friendly, and it would give me something to focus on for the next year. The problem? Bee was brand-spankin’ new and second-hand Bees wouldn’t hit the used dress market until… well… spring 2010, it would seem. Nevertheless, I scoured the web and penciled in sample sales on my calendar. In March 2009, I needed another tangible dress shoppe experience. My mother came up to Manhattan on a Saturday for an appointment at The Bridal Garden in the Gramercy/Flat Iron/Chelsea-ish area, which is on the same block as the famous Kleinfeld bridal salon.
Read more…
Ms Seahorse, Boston
Age and Occupation: 25, Veterinary Jane-of-all-trades
Fiancee's Age and Occupation: 36, former non-profit fundraiser in search of something better
Engagement Date: October 17, 2009
Wedding Date: September 2010
Venue: Fort Pond Lodge
About Me: By day I'm a cat-wrangler, vet tech assistant, pet-sitter, receptionist, and pre-vet student, but the rest of the time, I'm a former-roller-derby girl turned dedicated-wedding planner. I love reading, writing, bicycles, animals, roller skating, and antique-y things of all sorts. I'm a vegetarian who likes spicy foods, while Fiancee Seahorse is a meat eater who does not like spices. We live outside Boston with our menagerie: a fifty pound dog, a one-eyed, seventeen-toed, toothless cat, and a perfectly put together cat who has a penchant for pooping near rather than in her litter box. In addition to planning our small lake-side wedding, we enjoy running around with the puppy, playing board games (Scrabble, anyone?), having little adventures, talking about how we should really clean the house more, and maintaining our little garden of vegetables and wedding flowers.
If you know me well – and perhaps if you’ve been following my posts at all – you know that I have a sort of ridiculous amount of trouble getting dressed in a very basic way. I am well known by my fiancee and college roommate for wearing my famous “I can’t figure out what to wear today” outfit: starting from the bottom and moving up, we have slippers, socks, underwear (that’s right, no pants), and my college sweatshirt. Depending on how cold it is, I might also be wearing a hat. It’s sort of like this picture, minus the sunglasses, and in just socks, slippers, and underwear. To be completely honest, it’s usually just one sock. I’m not sure why.
Also, I’m usually not in a car during this process.
Read more…
Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
Hello my wonderful Bees! Life has been so much busier than expected with little Charlie Bee in our lives, but I’ve missed you all so! I actually have a couple of wedding related posts up my sleeve including the J Crew Bridal Boutique opening party, behind the scenes at the Martha Stewart Show (MS Weddings Magazine’s 15th anniversary special), and I even attended a MS Weddings Magazine photo shoot recently!
But before I get started, here are some completely gratuitous pictures of our little Charlie Bee who already turns 6 months old this week! These pictures are all in chronological order… 
Read more…
Mrs. Perfume, DC
Age and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Consultant
Engagement Date: May 13, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia
About Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.
Then there was dancing, dancing, dancing!!!! I danced with FIL as Mr. P danced with his mom. My mom is not a dancer and refused all invitations to do so. She had a great time watching us. I spent the entire night on the dance floor, forgetting to get pictures of me in the photobooth!! I literally had the time of my life. We were soooooo happy to be surrounded by our friends and family and it was so AMAZING and wonderful to be husband and wife! Hours-newly weds. It is such a fabulous time, ladies. Please savor your hours and minutes during your big day.
Read more…
Mrs. Jasmine, Chicago/LA
Age and Occupation: 25, Attorney
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 24, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 20, 2007
Venue: Hotel on the westside of Los Angeles
About Me: I'm a happy-go-lucky, imaginative spirit trapped in the body of a lawyer. I love reading, shopping, dining out, and exploring my beloved adopted city of Chicago with my fiance. We're planning the wedding of our dreams in my hometown of Los Angeles and we're excited to incorporate our cherished Indian/Pakistani customs and traditions.
The Jasmines then…
It’s been two years! For those of you who don’t remember me, I’m an old-timey bee from Ye Olde 2008. I realized that it has been entirely too long since I caught up with my beloved bees, so I just wanted to pop in to say hello.
Read more…
Mrs. Sewing, San Mateo, CA/Honolulu, HI
Age and Occupation: 24, Electrical Engineer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Electrical Engineer
Engagement Date: June 27, 2009
Wedding Date: July 2010
Venue: Anela Garden Chapel & Japanese Cultural Center, Honolulu
About 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!
Once upon a time, I fell in love with a little organza bag that was out of stock. Well, it miraculously repopulated, and I snatched some up! Thanks to you readers, I learned that they are of Italian origin, called cometa ribbons.
(source)
But then I needed some sort of candy to put in the bags. They were made for Jordan almonds, but due to their jaw-breaking quality, I didn’t really want to go for the hard sugar coated rocks. I tried all sorts of different candies - Mike and Ike, M&M’s, mints - pretty much anything round and small. But nothing worked.
Read more…
Mrs. Frog, Phoenix, AZ/Chelan, WA
Age and Occupation: 29, Public Relations
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Online Sales
Engagement Date: February 8, 2009
Wedding Date: July 2010
Venue: Amy's Manor
About Me: I'm an opinionated Midwestern girl now living in the Valley of the Sun marrying a laid back Northwestern guy. I'm equal parts sass, silly and sweet. I'm fiercely loyal with a strong devotion to my family and friends. I have a not-so-secret obsession with apple juice, a new obsession with DIY projects and I love a really good cheese plate...with lots of wine. After 7 blissful years of dating, I'm having the time of my life planning the destination wedding of my dreams to my Mr. Frog-turned-Prince Charming.
So, we’re at that time… the time when we should be having floods of RSVPs arriving in our cute little mailbox. Did you see how I said should? Yeah.
We’re a week away from our RSVP deadline and we are still waiting on over half of our RSVPs to come back. Nervous? No…no, I always look like this.
(source)
And here’s the kicker: our own family members are dragging their feet.
Read more…
Mrs. Pencils, Washington DC/Frederick, MD
Age and Occupation: 24, Program Director, Education Non Profit
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Administrative Assistant, Ocean Conservation Non Profit
Engagement Date: July 26, 2008
Wedding Date: May 2010
Venue: Morningside Inn
About 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!
Anyone have a secret obsession with Clue the Movie like I do? And the end, with the three possible endings? Well, this is the Pencils’ version of the Two Possible Wedding Gift Endings.
Mr. Pencils amazingly gave me a cello. Just what did I get him? Well, here’s one way it could have happened:
I could have sent PF and AT to deliver a sweet card to Mr. P.
Read more…
Mrs. Cola, Mountain View, CA
Age and Occupation: 27, Product Communications and Promotions
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Managing Partner and Senior Designer
Engagement Date: March 5, 2009
Wedding Date: June 2010
Venue: The Mountain Terrace, Woodside, CA
About 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.
….for my dress, that is!
I’m actually pretty grateful that we didn’t have to do too many alterations to my wedding dress. I’ve heard so many stories of brides stressing because their dress has to be taken apart and put back together to fit right, but luckily I didn’t have to go through that.
But we did have to shorten and bustle it!
And luckily, I have two aunts who are home ec teachers, and a mom who has been sewing her whole life, so my alterations were F-R-E-E!
First, my dress had to be shortened by about 6 1/2 inches, even with the 4 1/2 inch heels I’ll be wearing (and it still needs another inch or so off after I tried it on again a few nights ago).
Here is my aunt working on the shortening of all 8 layers of my dress:
Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
