Mrs. Meerkat, Kalamazoo, MI/Riviera MayaAge and Occupation: 30, Application EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, IT ConsultantEngagement Date: July 26, 2008Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: Al Cielo / La LagunaAbout Me: I’m a tech-savvy tomboy with an affinity for hot tea and good sushi. Us Meerkats are just a couple fun lovin’ geeks from Michigan. We love anything having to do with movies, books, video games or technology and we hold a special place in our hearts for our two very spoiled shih-tzus, Wicket and Bravo. We also LOVE to travel. We love it so much it only took us 12 hours after we got engaged to decide to have a destination wedding. We are working our little Meerkat tails off planning a rustic-chic, travel themed destination wedding in the Riviera Maya with a semi-formal, vintage-turned-modern, outdoor at home reception back here in Michigan.
I had no idea, and truthfully it never crossed my mind that it might not be. So, I went into superwoman (aka panicky bride) research mode. Here is what I discovered:
Basically, a wedding in Mexico would be legally recognized here in the States, but there are some nuances. Read more…
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!
Uplighting definitely creates amazing ambiance. When I mentioned adding some colored lights to the ballroom at our venue, Mama Seashell made some inquiries and found a fabulous deal: our caterer was willing to rent us 6 can lights for $15 each. SCORE! This would create the perfect amount of “glow” in our ballroom at an unbelievable price. Read more…
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
Hive, I cannot even begin to explain how much positive feedback we got about these Save the Dates! People got such a kick out of them! As you may recall, Sister Lioness helped me make them and even she was psyched to get hers! She and her BF even did a little photo shoot to show their excitement:
Mrs. Hippo, New York City/Dallas, TXAge and Occupation: 34, Event Planner for a Non-Profit Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Finance ITEngagement Date: August 8, 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Samuel Lynne Galleries and Marc EventsAbout 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).
I mentioned here that I am planning to do my own makeup for the wedding. With my engagement session coming up next month, I thought I should go ahead and get my makeup trial/lesson/consultation taken care of so that I can be fully prepared to doll myself up when the time comes. I scheduled an appointment at the MAC store near me and showed up there last weekend, fresh-faced and ready to be transformed.
BEFORE: Hippo sans makeup
I showed the MAC makeup artist, Danny, my two inspiration photos and explained what I liked about them and what I was hoping to achieve. Read more…
Mrs. Zebra, Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 24 Marketing/Costume DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26 Management/Firefighter Engagement Date: December 12, 2008Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: The Providence BiltmoreAbout Me: I'm a small town New England girl with an affinity for procrastination, crossing the proverbial line, and putting her foot in her mouth. I'm a lover of history, all seasons, sewing and Incubus. I design costumes on the side for my old high school's theatre department, which is where I met my sexy man. Our motto for our Big Fat Lebanese/Portuguese/Irish near-300 person wedding is "the more the merrier"! We are marrying in a Catholic ceremony and are hammering out the details of our Victorian-inspired reception.
I don’t know if I’m indecisive. Actually, I’m pretty decisive. I’m just not a planner, as you well know by now. However, I have been planning the centerpieces for a while and have completed a few mock ups.
A little while back I had an hour to kill in the oppressive 90 degree heat. I had this nagging little voice that was telling me to go to the Christmas Tree Shop. Read more…
Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UKAge and Occupation: 24, nonprofit communications Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shopEngagement Date: August 10, 2008Wedding Date: August, 2009Venue: Oakland ManorAbout Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
Mrs. Elephant, Dallas, TXAge and Occupation: 27, Financial Operations AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, IT Student/Store ManagerEngagement Date: March 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: The Tribute Golf ClubAbout Me: I'm a Philly native creating roots deep in the heart of Texas. I might be a little obsessed capturing those Kodak moments of anything and everything (mainly on vacations). I've become more of a gamer thanks to Mr. Elephant, who I met online and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with. We are planning a wedding based on our favorite colors, blue and green, with a travel theme for 150 of our closest friends and family. Hopefully our long (2-year) engagement won't kill me!
I’m sure you have all seen them in one wedding or another (or a wedding blog or two), most likely on the groom and groomsmen. I don’t know if our crew will wear Converse shoes at our wedding, though. We’re still thinking that through. Read more…
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.
One of the most common questions I get asked about the wedding is what our colours are. Well…the answer to that has changed a bit over the last few months.
It all started off innocently enough with purple. Not a particular purple; I love the colour so I am happy with pretty much any shade of it. The lavender flower was (and still is) a big influence, though.
Mrs. Brooch, Arlington, VAAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Front Desk ManagerEngagement Date: October 3, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Oxon Hill ManorAbout Me: I’m an indecisive girlie-girl with a motor mouth, can-do attitude, and knack for making others laugh. I dream of becoming a best selling novelist like Elizabeth Gilbert or Julie Powell (a girl can dream, right?), and love long road trips, a beautiful countryside, music, blogs, books, and all things vintage/thrift/antique/or homemade. I’m a Virgo, i.e. overly sensitive, emotional, and critical, and there’s no such thing as short and sweet in my world. I want to say and do it all. Mr. Brooch grounds me. I point where to go and he figures out the way. He’s a pragmatic fancy-pants who enjoys video games and movies. We both adore our mutt, Rocky, and spending time with our amazingly supportive family and friends. We’re planning a garden wedding with a formal reception with lots of whimsy and unique, Southern-inspired details.
I talked a little in my intro about my love for butterflies. Everyone knows me for loving butterflies and people always give me butterfly stuff: stationery, artwork, jewelry, and just about anything with butterflies on it.
At first, I didn’t want to submit to a butterfly theme for our wedding, because it was too themey, but it kept coming up000my love for butterflies, that is—and if you remember, Mr. B proposed at the butterfly cottage.
So finally one day my co-bride (a coworker who’s engaged), suggested I go ahead and submit to my original idea of having a butterfly theme. She said, “You’re getting married in a garden, so it can be garden-chic…with butterflies!”
I love it!
We could totally pull off garden chic and I would love to see hints of butterflies everywhere.
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
I went to Texas a little over a week before the wedding to take care of last minute things, visit with family, and give my Mom a chance to work on the dress while seeing it on me.
One of those projects we worked on was our favors. I had a grand scheme of having recipes for all the homemade desserts we’d be serving, but that ended up excluding too many of Mr. Moonbeam’s family recipes. His family had to travel in, which made it harder to bring a dessert, and a lot of his (and my) family favorites were savory dishes. So, we ended up with general family recipe favors and a lot of homemade desserts. They weren’t totally coordinated, but there was some crossover.
Like other bees before me (Apple Cider, Cowboy Boot), I got my hands on some muslin bags and stamped them with our custom stamp. If you do this too, make sure to use fabric ink for the stamping (I believe it’s the kind that says ’permanent dye’).
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!
This past weekend, Mr. Socks and I, along with my parents, went to Ladder 15 for our official tasting! Seriously, the four of us could barely move afterward, we were so full of deliciousness.
And before I launch into our pictures, let me just say how incredibly happy I am with our choice to go with Ladder 15. Even though they had a party of 130 past and present Eagles cheerleaders in the night before and didn’t get home ’til an insane hour in the morning, the staff was so incredibly nice and accommodating, and went out of their way to make our tasting an amazing experience.
Anyway, let’s get on to the food!
We started out tasting the hors d’oeuvres for the cocktail hour. First up was a trio of bruschettas!
I must admit…I was too excited and forgot to take a picture of this first dish, so I apologize for being a bad blogger!
The bruschettas were: oven dried tomato and pesto, goat cheese with an olive tapenade, and a butternut squash with parmesan cheese. The toasts they were on were delicious and crisp, and the four of us loooved each one!
Mrs. Argyle, St. LouisAge and Occupation: 24, Project CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, PilotEngagement Date: February 15, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Jewel Box in Forest Park and Windows on WashingtonAbout Me: I'm a true Midwestern girl (born and raised), lover of red wine, reality TV and the entire J.Crew catalog. I love to dance regardless of who is watching, and enjoy a good laugh with my girls. I have a soft spot in my heart for planet Earth, my two dogs and my fiance. Fall is my favorite season (which is why we are marrying in September), but I love a warm summer day and the Colorado mountains in the winter. We are planning a modern soiree downtown, with lots of bold colors, and fun, eco-friendly elements.
It’s amazing how sidetracked you can get when you’re nearing the final days before your wedding. So what have I been up to? Craziness, I tell you (minus all the stress).
And, that includes getting a dress at the last-minute for Mom Argyle.
We looked. We looked and looked and looked from the day I got engaged. We looked online, and Mom ordered several dresses, but returned them. Then, we shopped some more.
Okay, you get the point. But, it wasn’t easy. My mom is literally my size, other than the fact that she’s two inches taller. She’s a younger mom, and prefers modern dresses, so a traditional Mother of the Bride gown was out. We found a few contenders, but after really looking at them, we decided they just weren’t right.
Until, we went to Nordy’s one Saturday in the hopes of finding SOMETHING. Read more…
ClassifiedsFeature Launched: April 30, 2008About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
Mrs. Pashmina, NYC/Catalina Island, CAAge and Occupation: 28, Arts EducationFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, IT AdministratorEngagement Date: April 26th, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catalina Country Club, Catalina Island, CaliforniaAbout Me: I'm a laid-back Cali girl who moved to NYC for school, and ended up staying for love. My fiance is a quick-witted Jersey boy, a self-proclaimed Foodie and the funniest man I've ever met. Together we love exploring the city streets embarking on our next misadventure---and yes, this often involves eating off food carts and trying "the next big thing". I'm the girl in the sundress, snapping photos and collecting trinkets of memorabilia along the way. As a girly girl at heart, I am excited about our romantic natural island wedding incorporating our American & Filipino traditions.
When everyone kept asking me what type of dress I had in mind for my wedding, I kept on thinking about my favorite Barbie doll when I was a child. I didn’t tell anyone at the time but, that is my little truth! It was the 1985 Peaches & Cream edition—yes, I’ve done my research for this post—you know, the one with the ruffly peach ball gown and the strapless opal bodice (well, it was only strapless because my straps wore off after too much play). She was the epitome of beauty. She was Hollywood glamour before I even realized it! Read more…
Mrs. Plaid, AustinAge and Occupation: 26, Pastry ChefFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Cabinetry CarpenterEngagement Date: August 8, 2009Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: Kindred Oaks, GeorgetownAbout Me: I am a Jersey girl born and raised but have since migrated to Texas and embraced its twang and Tex-Mex. I could probably eat chips and queso every day but instead I eat popcorn. I use the word “awesome” way too much but I just can’t seem to stop myself. I am addicted to all things DIY and am planning what I call a Texas-Chic wedding. I love snuggling with my two adorable dogs and of course, my adorable fiance. I can’t wait 'til I can call him my husband some day! October 2010, here we come!
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
