Mrs. Ostrich, San Francisco/HawaiiAge and Occupation: 30, Fashion Buyer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 38, CopywriterEngagement Date: October 4, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Sweet ceremony by the sea and sunset celebration on the North Shore of HawaiiAbout Me: Born in the city of angels and residing in the city by the bay, I’m a fearless fashion buyer by day, a passionate blog author by night and a dreamy bride-to-be in between. I thank my lucky stars to live in such a stunning city that gives me gifts like organic honey lavender ice cream, movie nights in the park, tucked away beaches, legendary record stores, '80s dance parties, awesome sports teams, stellar flea markets, and vintage bookshops. Oh, and I love to dance! We always find every excuse to escape to the beach, and decided a little seaside wedding in Hawaii is our idea of bliss. Full of our favorite people, music, food and sparkly lights, this is one sunset celebration we will always remember.
Ever since I was a little girl, I have adored you. The sheer, airy tulle fabric. The edges of lace. Long, short and everything in between - you have always been one of my favorite things.
I fell head over heels with you in Jen Aniston’s marvelous wedding…
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!
If I thought my life in “wedding world” was dwindling down, my mailbox this week gave me a friendly reminder that there’s plenty more partying to do! I’m thrilled: two of my dearest friends from college are getting married in 2011. Mr. Seashell and I will get to bookend the year with two fabulous weddings, one in January and one in December!
So, as I’ve mentioned no less than 87 times, I looooooove wedding invitations. My week started with a fantastic one! Wanna see?
I adore the simplicity of the letterpress juxtaposed with the shimmer of the pocketfold. Read more…
Mrs. Pin Cushion, Oakland, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Nurse Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, PhD StudentEngagement Date: November 23, 2008Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Radonich Ranch, Los GatosAbout Me: I'm the 3 Cs: crafty, creative and quirky (oh, that's not a C? Close enough!). I'm also a recycling fanatic, fluent in bad accents and I have the loudest laughter this side of the Mississippi. I have not just one sweet tooth, but a whole mouth full of sweet teeth. I cry at 97.4% of all movies I see, but my fiance's always there to hand me a tissue. My geek-chic fiance and I are planning a wedding full of color, cookies and handmade goodness and I can't wait to spill the beans on all of our crazy ideas!
…but perhaps you can have your wedding at McDonald’s!
Listening to NPR on a recent commute, I heard a news story that I just had to share with the hive—McDonald’s now offers wedding packages for the Big Mac loving bride and groom!
To be honest, it seems like quite a steal. Here is what you get for the low, low price of $400:
1. Ceremony and reception space at the home of the golden arches (though they won’t close the restaurant for you [the McNugget addicts need their fix, even if it is your wedding day]).
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading real Weddingbee brides’ experiences with their vendors via the Weddingbee Vendors section! A while back, we launched Featured Reviews from the Hive, a new feature that allows you to share your favorite vendors right here on the front page! We’ve loved all of the great vendor reviews coming at us, so today we’re launching a weekly giveaway from Zazzle for those of you who create and submit vendor reviews to be featured right here on the blog.
Currently, we’re regularly featuring your favorite vendor reviews that you write and submit to us. Every Friday we’ll randomly select a featured reviewer that week to win a custom Avery binder on Zazzle.com!
After the wedding there may be a lot of little odds and ends that you’d like to retain as keepsakes (Wedding dress receipts? Bridesmaid dress color swatches? Sweet RSVP response cards?), and these binders make the perfect place to store it all. Keep the memories alive with a custom Avery binder on Zazzle.com, the world’s leading platform for quality custom products.
Mrs. Hot Wings, Chicago/San DiegoAge and Occupation: 28, ProfessorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, InstructorEngagement Date: December 20, 2008Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Ocean View Villas/Jasmine Seafood RestaurantAbout Me: I am a psychology grad student living in Chicago and planning my wedding to a fellow psych grad student. I am a Sunny So-Cal bred gal who trudged across the country to follow her love of psychology and ended up finding a partner in the process. I am overly passionate about anything I involve myself with. I am an activist, a foodie, a reality TV watching junkie, an over-analyzer, a photography obsesser, and am utterly cheesy to the core. This is a story of what happens when a boy and a girl meet, fall in love over academic dorkiness, and a shared love for life. We (mostly I) are planning our semi-destination wedding in my hometown of San Diego. We are excited to bring our families and friends together from across our lifespans to celebrate our future in a grand 400+ person culturally blended affair!
For every extra event or ceremony you take on for your wedding, there will likely be a set of details to go with it. Before adding these events to your day, consider the number of items you’re adding to your list, the time commitment, the money involved, and the possibility for greatness if you can pull it off! 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!
Mrs. Panther, Atlanta GA/Westport CTAge and Occupation: 24, Web WriterFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Music Recording EngineerEngagement Date: March 13, 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: The Inn at LongshoreAbout Me: I'm a total goofball who goes through life at a breakneck pace, trying not to knock anything over. I tend to fall in love with everything I encounter, but more than anything, I love my two little kitties, Bela and Josie, and my big kitty, Mr. Panther! As a wannabe crafter, I'm still waiting for my artistic talents to emerge. (Any day now, really.) In the meantime, I spend my days eating anything put in front of me, buying every pair of shoes I see and absorbing wedding inspiration from every inch of my surroundings. Mr. Panther and I are hardcore New Englanders planning Connecticut nuptials from our new home in the Dirty South, and can't wait to mix our newfound love of classic Southern charm with some modern city touches.
A few weeks ago, I read on a message board somewhere that wraparound labels are the only type of labels that are acceptable for wedding invitations. The whole point is to include both the return address and invitee’s address on one label, but Mr. Panther and I just ordered a custom birdy stamp, so these labels won’t work out for us.
But since my mother so graciously let me make our engagement-party invitations, and since they had her return address, I got to try out the ol’ wraparounds!
Mrs. Turtle, Central CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 21, Art Student/TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, English StudentEngagement Date: August 16, 2008Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Mr. Turtle's Grandparents' backyard, Arroyo Grande, CAAbout Me: I am a California girl who loves the beach and the mountains, but is quite satisfied living right in the middle where I can enjoy the best of both worlds. I am happiest when traveling to faraway places, wandering through museums, watching old movies, or baking up a storm. Mr. Turtle and I are high school sweethearts and fellow book nerds who both drive Mini Coopers and are most likely to be found browsing in antique stores. We're having so much fun planning our European garden wedding with a vintage twist and can't wait to share more of life's adventures together!
As my wedding recaps draw to a close, have you noticed anything missing? Dancing, maybe? Well believe it or not, Mr. Turtle and I chose not to have dancing at our reception. No, we didn’t have any deep religious or philosophical reason behind this decision. Mr. Turtle specifically does not like to dance, so naturally, dancing hasn’t held any real significance in our relationship. And I figured, why make him do something he doesn’t like to do on what’s supposed to be the “best day of our lives?”
Also, the deeper I got into planning our wedding, the less I envisioned dancing fitting into the our reception vibe. I wanted the evening to feel more elegant dinner party in the garden than crazy dance party. But the closer our wedding day became, the more I started to wonder if I’d regret not having a traditional “first dance.” So Mr. Turtle and I made a sort of last minute decision to end the evening with our first dance as husband and wife.
Obviously I’m not wearing my wedding dress in that picture. Maybe I should explain! Read more…
Mrs. Giraffe, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 23, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Music Student TeacherEngagement Date: October 23, 2008Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Trinity Lutheran Church & Idlewild Country ClubAbout Me: Coming from the suburbs of the Windy City, you'll often find me with my foot in my mouth while laughing for no reason or telling bad knock knock jokes. I've been crafty for as long as I can remember, and will DIY something twice over before I have someone do it for me. I'm a semi-awkward, typeface obsessed, design junkie and have been know to break out my dance moves for no reason as well as try my best to be ridiculous at all times. My love of pop culture, wordplay, and graph paper almost rivals my love of Mr. Giraffe (who is just the bee's knees). After a 2.5 year engagement, we're planning a modern-in-disguise traditional wedding, and cannot wait!
Okay, hive, stop and think for a second. You know all those super cute magnet STDs that we talked about last time and are all over the wedding world? Well, how do you send them to your guests?
I mean, surely you can’t stick a magnet to a fridge and then pop that sucker in the mailbox. Image how much postage you would need!
If we choose to go with a magnet STD (which is the way I’m currently leaning), I think I have an idea of how we’ll send them, but I think it’s a legitimate question to ask. I mean, you can’t just drop the magnet into an envelope, smack an address on top, and send it on its way. Can you?
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!
We last left off discussing how I planned to wear a personalized garter as a special surprise for Mr. Lion. But there’s a Part Two to my little surprise, so…
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!
We started wrapping up the night with the traditional garter and bouquet toss. Originally I’d wanted to attach gift cards to both so the competition would be more exciting, but in all the hustle and bustle getting things ready this idea fell through the cracks. Which was bad news bears, because nobody even tried to catch either! Mega lame. Hey, at least the bench got to make its big debut! I decided to get a little saucy with it
Mrs. Cheeseburger, Baltimore, MD/State College, PAAge and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentEngagement Date: June 28, 2008Wedding Date: March 2010Venue: Catholic Church Ceremony & Hotel ReceptionAbout Me: I'm a passionate girl from Pittsburgh, currently living in Baltimore for school, who loves Penn State, seeing movies, football, thunderstorms, black and white photos, Christmas, good beer, my amazing friends and family, and of course, my mister! We met, fell in love, got engaged, and will be married at our alma mater (go lions!) in a traditional Catholic ceremony followed by a hotel reception with lots of DIY details. It means so much to have our families and friends meet at our favorite place on earth to celebrate our love for one another - I truly couldn't ask for anything more!
Our wedding day was amazing thanks to months of planning, help from friends and family, and our amazing vendors. For any of you planning a Pittsburgh or Central PA wedding, I hope you find these vendor reviews helpful! I’ve also included approximate costs which I hope will help with your budgets!
Ms. Sloth, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion BloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design AdminEngagement Date: December 25, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Bartram's GardenAbout Me: I'm an internet junkie and music snob with a good eye for a bargain. I couldn't live without thrift store shopping, cheeseburgers, sushi, Coke Zero, websites devoted to silly photos of baby animals, Photoshop, and Mr. Sloth. Speaking of which, he and I are a pair of goofball homebody nerds who love our beagle (the most ridiculously adorable dog EVER) to an embarrassing degree. We're planning a low-key and intimate yet festive and quirky outdoor wedding with DIY details and deeply personal touches, and it's all taking place in the city where we fell in love and call home: Philadelphia.
I’ve given a ton of thought to cocktail music and reception music, but just a little bit of thought to the ceremony music. We agreed that we’d play some pretty instrumental music before the ceremony and during the processional, but we hadn’t given any thought to what we’d play for the recessional.
And the recessional is so important, you guys. You’ve just been officially married and are taking your first celebratory stroll as husband and wife, or husband and husband, or wife and wife. I think the recessional song should be jubilant and giddy and amazing.
And, a few days ago, Mr. S and I were driving around with the iPod on shuffle, and a song came on—a song we’ve both heard a zillion times before. After listening to it for a few seconds, I turned to Mr. S and said, “This should be our recessional song.” And he thought for about two seconds and said “Yeah, OK.”
I love when we come to quick, easy decisions like that!
Anyway, here is the song that we’ll be strutting up the aisle to. It is jubilant. And giddy. And amazing. It’s “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen.
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).
Even though the bridesmaids’ attire was decided a while back, the guys’ attire took a little bit longer to finalize. King Hippo was debating between going the rented tux route or the wear-your-own-black-suit route. I honestly didn’t care either way, I just wanted him to make a decision. Any decision. Well… maybe not any decision.
King Hippo was concerned about two things: looking good and making the process inexpensive and convenient for the groomsmen. There were basically four viewpoints to consider:
Spring Wedding Favors
