Mrs. Penguin here! The lovely ladies at Southern Weddings Magazine have published their list of top blogs in their latest version of Southern Weddings Magazine, and Weddingbee is honored to be chosen among such a talented pool of blogs and bloggers! I just got my copy in the mail, and I’ve got one copy for a lucky Weddingbee reader as well!
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.
Now that we’ve decided to go ahead and do a trash the dress session, we have some planning to do. The biggest decision is season. It’s going to narrow down the other decisions quite a bit. This one is hard, because if I could, I would do some type of photo session in each season. As a New Englander, I love winter, spring, summer and fall.
Although I love them all, fall is definitely my favorite season and I can think of some really fun ideas off the top of my head. I can see doing creative things at an apple orchard, a pumpkin farm, including hay… I especially love the idea of doing something fun with leaves, like the couple below.
Mrs. Labrador Retriever, Athens/SavannahAge and Occupation: 24, Student/Sports ReporterFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Physical Therapy Assistant Student/Future Dr. of PT
Engagement Date: December 31, 2008Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Whitfield Square/Savannah StationAbout Me: I'm working on my second degree from UGA (Go Dawgs!). I'm a self-proclaimed attention-w****. If it involves a camera, I'm in front of it! You'll never meet a girlier tomboy than me. I can go toe to toe with any guy on the subject of college football, and lift more than any girl in my gym, all without chipping a nail. I hope to someday be the only person you want delivering your sports news. My FI and I are the loving parents of three Labrador Retrievers (one of each color) and are planning a "Southern Romantic Charm" wedding in the beautiful, historic city of Savannah. I'm not extreme in anything except moderation... and wedding planning.
After a short trolley trip, we arrived at Savannah Station for our reception. Our wedding party joined the guests in the parlour who were already getting their drink on at the full bar.
Mr. Lab and I snuck in through the side door for a chance to take in the ballroom before the guests switched rooms. My DOC bustled my dress so I could walk around the room with more ease.
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).
Hey hive! I’m taking a quick break from my Dallas event planning posts to share a HUGE deal with you. I just got this email yesterday from Cards and Pockets announcing 20% off everything through November 1, and I had to share the good news. I ordered patterned paper for our invitations from Cards and Pockets and was super pleased with their product and their customer service. If I had only waited for this sale…bummer.
Mrs. Joey, SeattleAge and Occupation: 28, Project Administrator for Public Health NGOFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, High School History TeacherEngagement Date: June 24, 2008Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: Eastside Catholic Chapel and Lake Union CafeAbout Me: I'm a Seattle girl through and through except for the fact that I don't drink coffee. I love my job most of the time because I get to travel and work with brilliant people who are trying to prevent Malaria. I love DIY projects of all sorts, cooking, and watching sports. I'd wear anything at Anthropologie and could spend all day on Etsy. I love to travel but shouldn't because I always get myself into unbelievable situations!
…to get a wedding picture printed and hung. Seriously, we’ve been married 14 months and until last night did not have one single wedding picture up. We had things from the wedding displayed, but no pictures. I don’t know why that is. It’s not that we don’t like our wedding pictures, it’s more we feel funny having pictures up of ourselves. I don’t think I’m particularly photogenic and Mr. Joey claims to have a creepy smile. Actually, come to think of it, I think there may be like one or two pictures of us in the entire house.
After seeing Anne in Zambia, I decided it was high time that we got a wedding print of some kind put up. Anne had a photography exhibit in Seattle this last summer and one of her pictures had been printed on aluminum. Yes, like the stuff they use to make cans. I loved it instantly. The glossy finish, the colors popping off the metal, the no frame look. I asked her about the print and she said that Bay Photo, a company in California, did it and considering the process, it was a pretty good deal. I had carried over a few other metal prints to her in Zambia and when I saw the finish up close, I knew I wanted a wedding print done on metal.
Last week, I sat down (after many months) and looked at our wedding pictures again. Read more…
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.
…I do. And I know this is silly because there are so many great free options and, odds are, half the guests will never even see the website.
But here’s the thing. Websites are kind of my life. I work for the digital group in a large media company, and every day I work on websites. Updating them, making them more entertaining, figuring out ways to get more people to visit them…Unfortunately, I’m not a web designer or a web developer—I’m just a web writer. That means that, even though I feel like our site needs to be something special, I don’t really have the skills to build something from scratch.
Build a free website, buy a custom domain, and have my domain redirect to my free website.
These all have their drawbacks. The free websites have some great features—online RSVP submission fields, photo albums, and more—but you’re going to have to print something a little more complicated onto your save the dates.
Ms. Cheetah, Los Angeles/Palm Springs
Age and Occupation: 31, Artist, EducatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, TV FinanceEngagement Date: April 2010Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: The ViceroyAbout Me: I’m a silly, sassy lady with a compulsion to create. I love to sing and dance, despite the fact that I lack any talent doing either. I somehow manage to be messy and organized at the same time. I like to spend my days road tripping, watching '80s movies, reading true crime books, buying things on sale, sending postcards, playing board games, dining at food trucks, snuggling, and drinking ginger ale. I have a weak spot for all things sweet, especially Mr. Cheetah! I’m a Chicago girl and he’s a Nor Cal boy but we love living in the City of Angels. After 10 years as a couple we are planning a fun-filled semi-destination wedding in Palm Springs. Hope you enjoy the ride!
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’ve been thinking lately. I know, I know—don’t hurt myself. Anywho, Zeb’s really changed his uninterested groom tune. Now, don’t get me wrong. He ain’t stuffing envelopes but there is a little change in him. I think he’s getting excited. Which of course melts my heart. He’s getting excited to marry me and that’s pretty cool. He’s taken initiative to order candles online—hey, baby steps, right? With this new interest in helping I’m feeling more comfortable assigning him tasks. His current task is to contact the tuxedo rental store that he’s interested in.
I never told you about what the men are going to wear. Actually, I haven’t even started telling you about what anyone is wearing, save for me. (ROAR! There’s that ’zilla again.) I wanted to go with a classic tuxedo look. I’ve never been a fan of the tuxedo with a tie/vest matching the Bridesmaids. For whatever reason, for me, it cheapens the classic look of the tuxedo. Zeb and I have been to a gazillion dances together so he’s tried just about every special cut of tuxedo.
I’m thinking Tailored Lautner—snort, get it? I want Zeb in a fitted tailored classic tux with a bow tie. The groomsmen may or may not be in a skinny black tie.
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!
Wingmen at work! Our wingmen got up, bed-head and all, to set up the chairs for the ceremony, wipe down the morning dew from the chairs, sweep the floors, and clean up the mess we left out from the rehearsal dinner. Read more…
Weddingbee GalleryFeature Launched: April 10, 2009About: A collection of inspirational wedding pictures from readers and bees.
Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the Weddingbee Gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.
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!
When I was little, there were a few things I associated with being a grown-up. The usual, of course—driving a car, wearing high heels and perfume, and sleeping in a big, comfy bed. Likely a less common association with adulthood is having a beautiful, framed wedding invitation prominently displayed in a master bedroom. But, for me, the framed wedding invitation always was one of those important markers. As a kid, I remember seeing my parents’ wedding invitation in their bedroom and thinking it was just magical. I’d carefully study the words, look closely at the names, the date, the time and the swirls of the letters. Something about it drew me in.
Then, when our invitations arrived in July I didn’t immediately run to the framer. I got superstitious. I convinced myself that framing our invitation before the wedding would seal our fate that something would go awry. So, in a totally out of character move, I waited.
Upon our return from our honeymoon, however, I was at the framer at the first chance I got. 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!
Do you think it’s strange to want to throw a celebratory bash after we’ve been engaged for over a year? We’re a little torn over it at the moment, and there are a lot of differing opinions on this one from within our little family.
Momma Jaguar is a definite YES and thinks that the way to go would be to hold it inside a community hall, inviting lots of guests and having a buffet dinner that’s fairly cheap and laid back.
MIL Jaguar is a definite NO because that sort of thing isn’t done within their family and people wouldn’t turn up anyway.
Papa and FIL Jaguar have no real opinions, are flexible either way, and would much rather talk about cars or golf.
Mr. Jaguar thinks that since his family doesn’t really celebrate engagements, there’s no point spending money on one.
As for Miss Jaguar? Well, she thinks that something—anything—would be good!
We’re only going to be engaged once, and that time is quickly running out—why not celebrate it? And also, I want a chance to eat more cake. Maybe even cute baby-jaguar cupcakes, like these:
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!
Okay, let’s rewind a bit. I JUST got my DVD of photos from our civil ceremony, which happened September 18th. I already showed you some teasers, but I thought I would do a more complete recap on the day since I have all of my pictures in now! I apologize if it is a bit repetitive, but I figured a refresher wouldn’t be so bad since it was over a month ago.
I look at these photos and the words that come to mind are mostly “sweet and simple.” Our civil ceremony was very low-key as we only had 12 people attending. Yes, my in-laws were there, and I didn’t say it before in the last post, but they were visibly miserable the whole time they were there, but behaved themselves for the most part.
My lovely details—they each made me so happy! Read more…
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.
My mother gave me some “advice” the other day. See, every once in a while, she comes up with something that I “have” to do or “shouldn’t” do. The other day’s something was telling the guests that they don’t have to wear a jacket.
Mrs. Taffy, Ann ArborAge and Occupation: 28, Color and Materials DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Automotive DesignerEngagement Date: May 9, 2008Wedding Date: May 2009Blogging Since: September 14, 2008Venue: University of Michigan UnionAbout Me: I’m a girl who is crazy about Mr. Taffy, sewing, dancing, almost all types of sweets, and our cute pet canaries. I dislike touching fuzzy fabric of any kind, eating somewhat squishy food, and Michigan winters. Mr. Taffy and I are having a blast planning our Ann Arbor wedding, and cannot wait to share our day with friends and family.
After out first look, we jumped right in to taking portraits with our bridal party. This was one of our favorite moments of our wedding day… it was like a happy, exciting pre party. We were so elated, standing on the steps of our venue on what turned out to be a beautiful day, surrounded by wonderful friends, counting down the minutes to our ceremony… we were on cloud nine.
Our photographer did an amazing job capturing the afternoon!
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
We were so elated, standing on the steps of our venue on what turned out to be a beautiful day, surrounded by wonderful friends, counting down the minutes to our ceremony… we were on cloud nine.
