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!
As we start winding down this long engagement, I find myself thinking of things in the sense of being my last as a single lady. My last Memorial Day, my last “fall” (because we all know that Texas doesn’t really have a fall season), my last Thanksgiving and Christmas. I recently had my last birthday!
I was so excited to go on a weekend getaway that Mr. E planned all on his own. He asked me to give him a handful of destinations that I would like to go to and that was it. He planned everything from there on out. This was one of the homework assignments that we discussed during our premarital counseling with Rev. Kristie, and I am so happy that Mr. E took it so seriously.
What makes me even happier about this weekend getaway is that it keeps our birthday road trip streak alive! Mr. E’s birthday is 12 days before mine, and every year since we began dating we have taken road trips, alternating birthday weekends.
Mrs. French Bulldog, Orange CountyAge and Occupation: 28, Administrative Assistant & Interior Design StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Purchasing AnalystEngagement Date: November 8, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Bernardo WineryAbout Me: I've lived in Atlanta, Dallas and Laguna Niguel; although I've lived in Orange County, CA most my life, I'm a Southerner at heart. I work full time for a Commercial General Contractor (aka my father) and I go to school for Interior Design at night. I love modern design, music, wine, crafting, DMailing, my family, my Westies, and of course, Mr Frenchie! Mr Frenchie and I met 3 years ago on Match.com and have been best friends ever since. I love his "old soul" and how he laughs with his whole body, among many other things. We are planning our summer wedding at the winery near his hometown, just 45 minutes south of Orange County.
Last Saturday bees from all over LA (and one from Orange County—me) swarmed C&O’s Bar & Grill. We dined on an endless supply of garlic bread knots and tasty Italian food.
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.
Menus were something I had never planned to do. I’ve never found them essential at other weddings and I figured they weren’t something we really needed. Our guests could find out what they’d be eating when it was placed in front of them (or if they read Weddingbee!). But then I realized that I love creating paper projects for the wedding and that making a menu would mean more fun for me.
Hello, hive! We’ve got a great giveaway fromAdesso Albums today! One lucky reader will receive an instant-photo guestbook package, which includes an Adesso album instant-photo guestbook, a Fuji Instax 210 instant camera and two packs of film, and an engraved nameplate. The package is valued at over $200!
You’ve got three chances to enter the contest:
Visit the Adesso website and leave a comment letting us know which is your favorite color album.
Follow @weddingbee on Twitter and retweet the contest, then come back and let us know you retweeted.
Like Adesso Albums on Facebook, then come back and let us know you liked.
To check out Adesso guestbooks in action, have a look at this video! Read more…
Mrs. Jaguar, SydneyAge and Occupation: 27, Primary School TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, IT ConsultantEngagement Date: August 8, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Curzon HallAbout Me: I'm an Australian girl who is a self-proclaimed nerd, loves all things stationery and would be lost without books, music and the internet. Mr. Jaguar and I have been together for the past eight years and he finally popped the question last August. Hurrah! We currently live in Sydney, Australia with our adorable cat who thinks he's a person. We're a couple who likes to multi-task: we've been planning a wedding abroad, a permanent move from London to Sydney, and preparing to build our own home all at the same time. Travelling makes me giddy...as does Mr. Jaguar, of course!
I have so many ideas on what I want our tables to look like, it’s not even funny! Our venue (which I’m super excited to share with you… but that deserves it’s very own blog pos!) is lovely and simple and will probably have 10 to 12 round tables depending on our final numbers, so that’s what I’m working with for decor inspiration.
In the meantime, I’m being a good little hunter and gatherer {yay, Jaguar!} for any centrepiece ideas that I could potentially put together for our wedding.
These were one of the very first purchases I ever made, and it was also my very first one off of Etsy! I had never even heard of a Lumie until I saw a picture of them online and fell in love. They’re simple, they’re paper, they have fancy writing on them {heart!} and they give off a really pretty glow, thanks to the candles they stand over. Perfect!
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 put together our lottery ticket favors about a week before the wedding. While this project is seemingly easy (just stick a lotto scratcher + penny inside a glassine envelope and seal with a sticker/seal - easy peasy, right?!), I made it much harder than it needed to be. Here was my process:
1. Bookmark photo of lottery scratcher favor 19 months before your wedding. Save until 1 week before wedding to begin project.
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!
OK, so maybe that’s an exaggeration. It wasn’t 100% bad, just maybe around 81%. I want to start with a disclaimer. I do not blame the weather on Carnival. In fact, I don’t even blame the closed ports on Carnival. What I (and apparently, 2800 guests according to their Facebook, which may be an exaggeration) am upset about, is the fact that our captain decided to stick with the original itinerary, despite evidence that five other Carnival cruise ships changed theirs to reflect the weather threats of Matthew and Nicole. In fact, some changed routes the day before Nicole hit Jamaica. So congrats to you, lucky cruisers! You missed out on all the crazy adventure.
Things started out great. We boarded the ship bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, looking forward to a week of relaxation. Buh-bye stress! (Ha, yeah right!) Read more…
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.
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.
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!
Seriously. SERIOUSLY. How did our wedding all of a sudden get here?? Mr. Socks and I have been churning out all of our DIY projects like ca-raaazy over here. Wanna see?
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.
Of all the things I had on my to-do list for the wedding, learning to wear makeup was the thing I was looking forward to the LEAST. Narrowing down the guest list; no problem. Booking vendors thousands of miles away sight unseen; bring it on. Learning to apply makeup… *whimper*.
Nonetheless, I knew it had to be done if I didn’t want dark circles and blemishes in my wedding photos. I put my big girl pants on and scheduled an appointment with our local salon’s makeup artist in hopes that she could teach me how to be a girl. The trial was going great until my face started to itch and break out in little hives. I looked like I had chicken pocks! Needless to say I was washing my face really quickly.
After a couple weeks I decided to give the whole makeup thing another chance. This time though I headed to our local Clinique counter for a trial. I learned quickly that not all hypo-allergenic makeup is created equally. Every product at Clinique is 100% fragrance free and allergy tested on 600 different test subjects. This time my face didn’t break out and it looked unbelievably natural!
Then I got the total cost for the products I would need: $194!!! Read more…
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.
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.
Once everyone had walked down the aisle (and I managed to roll my ankle in doing so), it was time to start the ceremony.
We had put together the ceremony text ourselves, which I wrote about in full here. It was short and sweet, and perfectly suited for what we wanted our ceremony to be. And it was even more special to have a good friend marry us.
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).
King Hippo and I have very different invitation lists. While my list includes three grandparents, four aunts, two uncles, ten first cousins, plus a large group of friends from various aspects of my life, King Hippo has no living grandparents, one aunt, one uncle, a handful of cousins, and a much smaller circle of friends. Needless to say, there will be no “his side” and “her side” seating at the ceremony. It just wouldn’t work for us since our list is definitely bride-side heavy.
I’ve been to weddings where one side of the guest list was larger than the other, and it’s completely not a big deal. But to me, having ushers escort guests to seats and asking them to sit on one side when they are really guests of the other side just points out the guest list disparity even more, and frankly, I’d just rather avoid that all together. So, I’ve come up with a plan.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
