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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!
On Saturday night, I had the honor of attending the wedding of my twin. My wedding twin, that is. As you may recall, Jenn and I met through our mutual friend and my bridesmaid, E, and we quickly bonded over having weddings at the same venue. Throughout the wedding planning process, Jenn and I relied on each other for ideas, inspiration, and advice. Although she wasn’t able to make it to my wedding, luckily I was able to make it to hers—with Mr. Jelly in tow!
In the same courtyard where we said “I do” almost exactly 2 months before.
Mrs. Cinnamon Bun, Calgary, AlbertaAge and Occupation: 26, Stage ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Theatre TechnicianEngagement Date: June 22, 2010Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Calgary Opera CentreAbout Me: I'm a life-long crafter and bookworm living in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Some of my loves include Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, knitting, opera, musicals, Etsy, baking, and of course, Mr. Cinnamon Buns. We're keeping our wedding close to home---the venue isn't very far from our house, and we live within walking distance of 6 bridal salons. I'm using the wedding as an excuse to try out every craft project I possibly can, with the endless help and support of my fiance.
I started making wedding favours in July. Yes, for my June 2011 wedding. We (and by “we” I mean Cinnamum and I—sorry Mr. Cinnamon Buns!) decided on little 125mL jars of homemade jam for favours. Cinnamum is actually making most of them. Mum and Dad live on the coast, where it is nice and temperate and wet, so they grow strawberries and raspberries, rhubarb, and a smattering of blueberries; blackberries are considered a weed. Mum is taking care of all the jams except for blueberry and peach—those were left to me because Mum is more comfortable with the other berries. Plus, I wanted to at least make a few of the favours! It is important to me to use in-season fruit, so I got right on the blueberry jam and waited until September to make the peach jam. I bought a 20-pound box of organic peaches at the farmers market, so Cinnamans and I ate a lot of peachy things for a while. Mum has made everything except the strawberry, which she will make with the first strawberry crop of 2011—her strawberries are best in June, so when we made our decision mid-July, it was a bit late.
I had never had store-bought jam until I moved out of my parents’ house (and I didn’t move out until I was 21 and had finished university!), and I started canning my own after a year or two of store-bought goo. I wouldn’t say Mum particularly taught me to make jam—there was no “and now we have a jam-making lesson”—but when you grow up with that much canning being done, you sort of learn by osmosis. We had abundant strawberry and raspberry patches, along with a plum tree and multiple apple trees where I grew up, so there was a lot to can.
Some of my previous canning efforts, including my favourite ever: strawberry-rhubarb jam.
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 told you pretty much everything about our save the dates, except one tiny, but very important detail: the guest list. First, let me start by explaining that I’m the type of bride that likes to think she’s organized, but is really all over the place.
I have a tendency to jump into projects and skip over the preparation and planning stages, and the save the dates were no exception. As a result, we faced a bit of stress about the guest list. I wish we would have had the list complete before starting the save the dates, but it didn’t go down like that. It was more like mid-way creating the save the dates, we’re evaluating our list…again. and again. and again. FAIL. I know.
At first it was just a collection of names. Oh, Mama Brooch has these guests and Papa Brooch has these. Mr. B wants so and so to be there, and then—holy crap—we’re about 40 people over our limit! Ahh!
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!
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it revolves around gluttony and football, but I’ve just always been a fan. This year, Mr. Lion and I are hosting Thanksgiving for the very first time. It’s not that big of a gathering…just Papa Lioness, Sister Lioness, and Sister Lioness’ boyfriend who plan to join us. Nonetheless, I wanted a little something extra to add to our home decor to make it a little more festive.
I’ve noticed that yarn wreaths are all the rage right now on Etsy. You know, like this one:
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.
I didn’t want to overwhelm you with the beauty of our fabulous invitations, so I saved the actual invites for today…lucky you.
Okay, but really, there have been some really fabulous invitations on the internet, and ours were not those. As I said before, we wanted to keep it simple. That said, I do really love how they came out. They were pretty, but still simple and got the message across. I think the hardest part was figuring out exactly how to convey the message that everyone getting the invitation was invited because they were so important to us. We didn’t do courtesy invites or friendly invites—everyone was very intentionally invited, and we wanted people to know that. We went back and forth on this for awhile, considering almost every single word, and finally settled on:
Because your love, guidance, and friendship have been important to us in our individual lives, we would like you to join us in celebrating and affirming our life as a couple. Please join us for our wedding…
The wording we used was inspired by this post on So You’re EnGayged. Since going through this whole Getting Married thing, I’m finding I have a much greater appreciation for details, like exactly what words are where on invitations. Which invitations did we end up going with, you ask? Well, here: 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.
I have been trying very, very hard to stay away from anything wedding related that will take a toll on my stress level or our budget. We’ve been trying so hard to simplify, simplify, simplify, and I’ve been trying to not become bewitched with pretty wedding things that I see on blogs.
Unfortunately, I’ve decided that we absolutely have to have something to stand under during the ceremony. Some kind of arbor, or arch, or pergola, or whatever you call it. Our venue has the outdoor ceremonies out in the garden, and while it is fabulously beautiful, there is no defined area for the ceremony to take place. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; take a look at this ceremony at my venue:
Mrs. Cloud, RichmondAge and Occupation: 25, Sales RepFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Customer Service Manager/DJEngagement Date: February 14, 2008Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Cathedral of the Sacred Heart & The Jefferson HotelAbout Me: Mr. Cloud and I are Yankees planning a Southern wedding to show our families from Boston and New York our fabulous city. We are complete opposites, resulting in a wedding to include bridesmaids in pearls and groomsmen in Adidas shell toes. I’m a sorority girl at heart with strong addictions to my blackberry, cherry Chapstick, Coach purses, the Boston Red Sox and our fur baby, Bella. I can’t wait to the throw the party of our lives and of course, marry my best friend!
Considering that Sunday was our one year anniversary(!!!) and I am still not done with my recaps for you guys, I think it is fair to say I have been slacking. It is true what they say though, the first year of marriage can be a hard one. I’m not complaining though, please don’t get me wrong. I know that after everything that the Mr. and I have gone through in the last year, we can get through anything.
We moved, we bought a house, we started new jobs, and we did it all together. But all of those things kept me from a goal I had set for myself: to finish my recaps by our first year anniversary. It may seem like a silly goal, but I am a little upset I couldn’t make it happen to finish sharing with you guys! So without further ado, I am so proud to share this little treat (bribe maybe?) with you to hold you over while I finish the normal recaps up. We also debuted this our family this past weekend, and I hope you enjoy it as much as they did:
THE CLOUD WEDDING VIDEO!!
Now, before we get down to it I’m going to be very honest with you for a second. Read more…
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.
With planning in full gear and the wedding less than 6 months away, it’s pretty easy to glance at those checklists and calendars and contracts and craft supplies, get frazzled and have those moments.
So, what’s a bride to do?
Over the past few months, I’ve pieced together a little anti-stress recipe that gets me through these moments of madness. Simple but so helpful, I’ve found myself to be leaning on it a lot more as the wedding rapidly approaches. Read more…
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!
Getting an album made can be one of the most daunting tasks post-planning. Which company do I choose? What layout? Paper quality, finish, cover stock? It’s overwhelming! As quickly as I wanted to wrap up the whole wedding process (as is evident from my recap schedule, I like to wrap things up in a very neat package as soon as they’re done), I didn’t want to become overwhelmed with dedicating so much time to an album—especially after I had spent so much time editing and creating a wedding DVD. So, I decided to create a brag book, with Blurb.
In short, a brag book is a small bound book printed with most of your wedding pictures, in a single-photo-per-page layout. It’s normally also given as a gift to parents so they can easily tote it around and show the photos to all their friends, hence the name “Brag Book.” I chose the 7×7 square from Blurb, and for just under $35 (after finding a free shipping coupon) I received a 165 page book with the premium paper upgrade. I chose Blurb simply because I had used it before, and have always been really happy with the results. About a week later, I received my book.
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!
I’m a Do It Yourself type of woman.And while I can swing a hammer and handle a glue gun, I’m talking about DIY Beauty.I prefer to be in control of my own makeup, manicures, eyebrows, etc.—everything except my hair, which I gladly leave up to the professionals.Since Mr. Cheetah and I got engaged and decided to have a wedding, there has been a constant debate going on in my head: DIY makeup or Pro Makeup Artist?
Normally I do my own makeup for formal events, but I’m not sure if I want to go the DIY makeup route for our wedding. Here I am in Bridesmaid Mrs. P’s wedding earlier this year, where I had my hair done but did my make up myself:
Doesn’t the bride look gorgeous?I adore her veil and vintage dress! Her makeup was professionally done, but it still looked natural.
I think I do a decent job with my makeup, but I don’t know if I apply the most photogenic or longest lasting looks. 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 told you a while back that Zeb and I were planning to go to Mexico on our honeymoon. With the recent disappearance of an American citizen I began to worry. My mother was trying to convince us to go elsewhere. My brother said we were crazy. We’re a worrying kind of family and I’m slightly superstitious. I was raised to be very aware of what bad people do to people. My parents educated me immensely on crime and violence. Unfortunately, their goal was for me to be street smart, but being the worrywart I am, I was pushed into a permanent state of moderate paranoia. It took about 5 years of soul searching and testing the waters to get to where I am now—I’d describe myself as street smart with slight paranoia. Every now and again, I have a difficult time evaluating whether I’m being smart or paranoid.
When the incident happened in Mexico, all the violence seemed magnified. 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!
This past weekend, I had the privilege of grabbing some fancy hot chocolate with Hive Hostess Bellenga, and Hive members kisthatbees, Lo, and mrsorchid. We met at Cafe Intermezzo, now a favorite after the last ATL Bees’ Meet Up, and chatted about our wedding plans as we took a break from an unusual cold front. In my usual geeky fashion, I brought party favors:
Candy made from local honey!
It was really great to match faces to names that I’ve read so much from on the local boards! We had a really great mix of girls too…a couple of newlyweds and some 2011 brides-to-be. Newlyweds mrsorchid and Bellenga brought some FABULOUS pictures from their recent weddings, which we oohed and ahhed over, of course!
From my personal perspective, it was wonderful to hear from ladies who have recently crossed over to the other side. Read more…
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).
Don’t get your hopes up hive…this is not a post about shoes. It’s a nightmare about shoes!!!
I’ve read about so many bees having dreams about their weddings, but for some odd reason, I didn’t think that would happen to me. It might be because I very rarely remember any of my dreams. Or, since I plan events for a living, I figured this was just another event (just another event…really, Hippo?). Well, no. I mean, I don’t dream about my work events that are much larger and much more complex, so I figured that there would be no reason that I would dream about this much smaller, much more manageable one. Not to mention that I feel really on top of all of our wedding plans and I’m still more than 4 months out.
The other night, I had a very vivid dream about my wedding shoes. Oh, you remember them in all their glory, don’t you? Let me remind you…. Read more…
Mrs. Cardigan, AustinAge and Occupation: 21, Student/Soon-to-be Special Education TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 20, Student/Soon-to-be Accounting Systems AnalystEngagement Date: August 16, 2009Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Vintage VillasAbout Me: I'm a native Austinite who was raised as a die-hard Aggie. Luckily, I'm a pretty persuasive girl because I managed to convince my high school boyfriend (now fiance!), Mr. Cardigan, to ditch his hardcore Longhorn ways and join me up at A&M, where we currently reside with our adorable dogs, Cullen & Ranger. We're currently planning a bright, cheery wedding with a ridiculous amount of DIY projects that I can't wait to tackle! I love crafting in any form, reading, and margaritas (I think I love them the most!). Organization is what keeps me sane and I love helping others, which is probably why I ended up as an education major. It gets a little chaotic sometimes when you're planning a wedding among all of the papers, projects, finals, and certification exams, but we're having the time of our lives and we can't wait to get started on our journey as husband and wife - and we're so excited to share our wedding with the hive!
We mailed our invitations this weekend. I am so, so excited. Now that they’re finally in the mail and our guests should be getting them within the next few days, I can finally talk about them! I can’t believe it’s finally time to share them, because I’ve been in love with them for months now.
Steve Howe of She-N-He Photography & Design did them for us (he also did our save the dates!) and we couldn’t be happier with them. But before the big reveal of the actual invitations, I want to show you some of the other options he gave us. Steve is really amazing and when we asked him to do our invitations he came up with four completely different options for us to choose from. Once we chose our favorite, he began to design the rest of the suite. Today, I’m going to show you the options we didn’t choose.
As you’ll see when I share them, it was a really hard decision to make. Steve gave us some amazing options, and we really wish we could have used each and every one of them. One of my favorite things about the invitations Steve designed for us is that all of them had a front and a back design. It’s kind of a silly thing to be so excited about, but the little things mean a lot!
