Ms Seahorse, BostonAge and Occupation: 25, Veterinary Jane-of-all-tradesFiancee's Age and Occupation: 36, former non-profit fundraiser in search of something betterEngagement Date: October 17, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Fort Pond LodgeAbout 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.
We are now within a month of our wedding, and I don’t know how to turn off my brain.
Guys, I’ve never had a problem sleeping, like, ever. If I’m at a big, loud party and it’s way past my bedtime, I am very capable of finding a corner and sleeping quite well right there. I can sleep in cars, planes, tents, and on a nice blanket tossed outside. Or at least I have been until now.
Passed out in a crowded living room, even if you can’t see the crowd.
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.
Originally when we started thinking about our wedding I imagined we would have a DJ. We weren’t really interested in a band (especially since we can’t afford one!) and I was convinced using an iPod or a laptop was a recipe for disaster. However, Mr. Knitting has always wanted to use a laptop because he likes the idea of us having complete control over the music and he also finds DJs irritating.
What Mr. Knitting thinks all DJs are like (P.S. if you haven’t seen the video of this guy yet click on the source link to watch. It’s pretty hilarious):
After a few months of him badgering me (read: mentioning it once or twice) about using a laptop, I have finally given in. Here’s (pretty much) how that conversation went: Read more…
Mrs. Barrettes, Tumon, Guam/Napa, CAAge and Occupation: 29, DancerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Licensed Building ContractorEngagement Date: November 16, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: V. Sattui WineryAbout Me: I'm an East Coast girl, living on a tiny little island in the Pacific, twirling, leaping, and shimmy-ing my way through life, and now, wedding planning! I'm equal parts nerdy and cool... okay, mostly nerdy. I love satin bows, red lipstick, black & white graphic anything, the shine of sequins and the sound of a champagne "pop". My favorite books are The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, and Tender is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can also conjure a pretty good Patronus Charm. I started my appreciation for good red wine while traveling on the high seas, and it's only fitting that my passion for wine drinking led me to my Napa-bred honey. We bonded over bottles of Cabernet on my oceanfront porch and haven't looked back since. We're sealing the deal at a winery in the Napa Valley on a 'perfect ten' of a day!
I found these hair-spiration images and immediately saved them to remind me why I’m growing my hair out. Whenever I start to have a little bit of growth past my shoulders, I suddenly have the urge to go back to my angled bob. The grass is always greener, isn’t it?
Mrs. Glasses, Tokyo/Los Angeles, CAAge and Occupation: 24, English teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, English teacherEngagement Date: September 2008Wedding Date: October 2010 Venue: Parents' backyardAbout Me: I’m an expat living in Tokyo. I’ve been in Japan for almost three years now, where I met my fantastic English fiance. It’s time to leave Japan, so we are planning a fun, intimate, backyard ceremony back home in the suburbs of L.A. in October. Our wedding will be a mix of my love for food, beer, my Japanese culture, and Mr. G’s Englishness. We are on a tiny budget and DIYing almost everything!
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.
Last month, Mr. Thimble and I had the pleasure of spending two fun-filled hours with our photographers, Lorraine and Greg of Lorraine Daley Photography, for our engagement session. As part of their wedding package, they like to spend some time with their couples for an e-sesh to build a rapport with them and most importantly to get them comfortable in front of the camera. 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!
Our newest bee has planned tons of big events and is now planning her own big bash! Please join me in welcoming Miss Hippo to the hive!
Miss Hippo, New York City/Dallas, TX Age & Occupation: 34, Event Planner for a Non-Profit Fiance’s Age & Occupation: 35, Finance IT Engagement Date: August 8, 2009 Wedding Date: March 2011 Venue: Art gallery ceremony/Modern event space reception About Me: I’m a thirty-something bride living in New York City and planning a modern-ish wedding in Dallas, Texas. I love trashy reality television (Jersey Shore, anyone?), online shopping, Sunday brunch, Central Park, and random celebrity spottings on the streets of Manhattan. While I love NYC, I miss good Tex-Mex, my college friends, central A/C, and being in close proximity to a Target. I’m thrilled to finally be planning an event that’s not work-related and to be marrying my best friend in what I hope will be a unique and personal ceremony followed by a reception with plenty of good food, good drinks, and dancing (regardless if it’s good or not).
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.
I’ve read a few posts and comments on the boards from bees a bit apprehensive about tackling DIY invites. I thought a step by step breakdown could be helpful. It won’t be the same for everyone, but here was my experience:
1. Get ideas on what goes into making your own invitations. I, of course, looked to the bees on this one. Mrs. Cupcake had a great post with 12 steps to creating DIY wedding invitations. I’ve been in love with her invitation suite and found her tips super helpful.
2. Look for inspiration. I wasn’t exactly sure what type of invitation we’d like, so I started looking for inspiration on the web. I was looking for navy, nautical, simple, but a little embellished. I looked on photographer blogs, Weddingbee, WeddingbeePRO, and did some Google searches. I fell in love with the invitation suite below by Etsy seller BrassPaperClip, but knew I’d need to do a simpler design.
Mrs. Socks, Southern NJ/Philadelphia, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Web Developer/Marketing SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Systems EngineerEngagement Date: September 7, 2009
Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: Ladder 15 RestaurantAbout 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!
Mr. Socks and I get asked that a lot. Our wedding day is in October (10/10/10) but our actual, legal marriage day is going to be in mid-September at three o’clock in the afternoon on a Saturday, performed by the mayor of Haddonfield, NJ.
Why, you ask?
Okay. Here’s the deal: I don’t want a stranger to stand up in front of us, our friends and family, and talk to us, a young random couple they don’t know from Jack & Jill, about our marriage. Our wedding day is so intensely personal to me and Mr. Socks that we just thought it would be… weird. If we were religious and there was a particular priest or minister that we loved, knew and trusted, this would have been a super easy call. But since we aren’t religious, we kind of just thought… well, we know ourselves and our wants and needs for our marriage better than anyone… why not DIY the ceremony too?
The thought of who would deliver the ceremony then became our next question. 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!
We’ve had a very long engagement—by the time we get married, we will have been engaged for 19 months. I’ve mentioned this before, but if I could do it over again, I would opt for a shorter engagement. The problem with such a long engagement is that at some point, it seems way too early to do certain things (like make escort cards, programs and menus).
Mrs. Sand Dollar, HoustonAge and Occupation: 24, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Electrical TechnicianEngagement Date: January 8, 2010Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: MacLean ParkAbout Me: I'm a domestic diva down to the core. I heart cooking, sewing, baking, decorating and making sure we have a hand-crafted home. The best part about the wedding is I get to incorporate it all! I make sure I put my art degree to good use by screen printing, craft knife cutting, and a whole lotta graphic design. We're having a big-time party on a small-time budget, and I promise to show you a boot-scootin', barbecue-eatin', finger-lickin' good time! Mr. Sand Dollar and I spend most of our time on DIY projects or traipsing around the outdoors with our two pooches Rory and Juno. I'm looking forward to sharing our journey with all of you!
You may remember my experience with fitting my reception dress. It’s not too difficult to hem a short dress yourself; you just need a dress of the desired length to use as a reference. My ceremony gown proved a little more difficult. I needed to get it at the perfect length, with my boots on. Obviously it’s impossible to do yourself, as bending over bunches it all up and you’d cut it like a first grader. That’s where these lovely ladies come in.
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!
Waaaaaay back when, I mentioned that I got a preview of our wedding invitations when I was home for my Providence bridal shower. I also mentioned that they scared me a bit. I guess that’s the thing about ordering invitations from a tiny sample color swatch: it’s just a tiny sample.
Don’t they look lovely all together?
Well, below is the actual “majestic” purple in the mock-up I received. Compare it to the samples above. Ugh.
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.
You’ve heard of PWD (post wedding depression) from the likes of Mrs. Lab, Mrs. Meatball, and Mrs. Beagle, but I am here to tell you about another terrifying post wedding condition: Wedding Day Amnesia.
Symptoms of WDA manifest themselves in a very simple way - they simply prohibit you from remembering anything of major significance from your wedding day. A sufferer might remember the timeline of the particular event, but will not be able to recall the details. For example, he/she might remember that there was dancing, and that they danced, but not who they danced with or what songs were played. Or, the patient will remember being very touched by a particular toast, but have absolutely no idea what was said during said speech.
Mrs. Barrettes, Tumon, Guam/Napa, CAAge and Occupation: 29, DancerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Licensed Building ContractorEngagement Date: November 16, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: V. Sattui WineryAbout Me: I'm an East Coast girl, living on a tiny little island in the Pacific, twirling, leaping, and shimmy-ing my way through life, and now, wedding planning! I'm equal parts nerdy and cool... okay, mostly nerdy. I love satin bows, red lipstick, black & white graphic anything, the shine of sequins and the sound of a champagne "pop". My favorite books are The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, and Tender is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can also conjure a pretty good Patronus Charm. I started my appreciation for good red wine while traveling on the high seas, and it's only fitting that my passion for wine drinking led me to my Napa-bred honey. We bonded over bottles of Cabernet on my oceanfront porch and haven't looked back since. We're sealing the deal at a winery in the Napa Valley on a 'perfect ten' of a day!
Since I’m writing to you all the way from Guam, I thought I’d take a minute to share some photos of our little island paradise! It’s a great spot to honeymoon for those of you willing to part with $1400 (from USA) for airfare. Most of Guam’s visitors are Japanese and Chinese families looking for a quick island getaway. 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!
I’ve read a lot about Post Wedding Depression, but since I usually came across PWD when I happened to be stressed about my own wedding, I thought, ‘pffft, this will not happen to me.’
We’ve been back from our honeymoon for about three weeks now, and I think it is beginning to hit me.
(All pictures courtesy of moi)
Not that I didn’t LOVE all three of our weddings (Justice of the Peace, France, and Houston), but I’ve been making a mental list of things I wish would have happened differently, and now I’m writing it down to share with you all: Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
