Mrs. Octopus, Boston, MA/Pittsburgh, PA
Age and Occupation: 25, Grad Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Graphics Operator for TV News
Engagement Date: May 6th, 2009
Wedding Date: September 2010
Venue: Heinz Chapel Ceremony, Museum Reception
About Me: When my best friend dragged me to a toga party in our freshmen year of college, I was not expecting to meet my future husband; but seven years later, here we are. I'm a crazy-organized planner at heart, and I am a great lover of random trivia, books, chocolate, blogs, new and exciting adventures, mockumentary-style television, and anything heavily flavored with bright orange fake cheese powder. We're planning a festive and fun mini-destination wedding in the place where we met: fabulous Pittsburgh, PA! I can't wait to marry the man I love!
Hey, remember this post? All about how terribly I sleep the night before a big event and how much I was hoping to avoid that the night before our wedding? Uh, yeah. Old habits die hard, I guess. I fell asleep pretty easily around 12:30 AM, but I burst wide awake at 4:30 AM. I knew as soon as I woke up that I was awake for the day—my mind was racing with excitement and nerves, and although I lay in the bed and tried to rest and relax enough to fall back asleep, I knew it wasn’t really gonna happen. Around 6:30 or 7:00 I did manage to calm down enough to sleep for another thirty minutes or so, but that was it.
When I decided to get up for the morning, around 8:00 AM, I got my first happy thrill of the day. Pittsburgh is absolutely notorious for its unpredictable weather, which is very often gray, gloomy, windy, and rainy. I hadn’t even let myself think about what our wedding-day weather might be like (and in the planning stages, never once considered the possibility of an outdoor ceremony or reception!) because I knew the chances of a truly gorgeous day in Pittsburgh were not that high.
So when I got up that morning and tentatively drew back the blinds in my room, I actually gasped out loud. Even as early as 8:00 AM, it was obvious that we were going to have absolutely perfect weather. The skies were bright blue and cloudless, with lots of gorgeous, crisp sunshine. I was so excited about the fact that, if nothing else, we would have no weather-related stresses or headaches!
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Mrs. Meerkat, Kalamazoo, MI/Riviera Maya
Age and Occupation: 30, Application Engineer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, IT Consultant
Engagement Date: July 26, 2008
Wedding Date: December 2010
Venue: Al Cielo / La Laguna
About 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.
Let me start out by saying that Mrs. Sewing saved my butt on this one. After my custom parasol order on Etsy went bust, Sewing offered to send me a couple of the parasols she had leftover from her wedding. Not to mention that her DIY tutorial got me on the right track for doing them myself. I decided to paint our wedding date on the parasols my bridesmaids are carrying down the aisle. Let’s start with the final results:
Sorry I had to blur out our wedding date.
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Weddingbee Gallery
Feature Launched: April 10, 2009
About: A collection of inspirational wedding pictures from readers and bees.
MauibrideMD’s mother made her all red bouquet.
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.
If your photo is featured as the Gallery of the Day, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! Check out instructions on how to grab the badge here!
Mrs. Jaguar, Sydney
Age and Occupation: 27, Primary School Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, IT Consultant
Engagement Date: August 8, 2009
Wedding Date: June 2011
Venue: Curzon Hall
About 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 mentioned earlier that our reception costs were worked out on a per-head figure, but of course we still have the (zillions of) other wedding-related costs to think about in our budget.
The cost of an average Australian wedding, according to this survey, came to $39,114. Now this is in Australian dollars, which at the moment thanks to the crazy currency-conversion rates, is pretty much 1:1 (or thereabouts) with the US dollar. Excuse me while I faint. Of course, you can only rely so much on surveys for accurate results, and there are certain things to take into consideration: expensive cities, type of population surveyed, what is being included within that price cost, e.g., honeymoon, pre-wedding activities, etc., but that is a whopping great number—and it seems to be a LOT bigger than even quite a few US averages I’ve seen floating around the interwebs.
{Source}
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Featured on Weddingbee
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
Ms. Sloth, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion Blogger
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design Admin
Engagement Date: December 25, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Bartram's Garden
About 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.
Mr. S is 30 years old, but he has never owned a nice new suit in his life.
I just wanted an excuse to use this picture.
He’s just never really needed one. His office, where he has worked for six years, is super-casual, so he lives in hoodies, t-shirts, jeans and Converse All-Stars. It’s incredibly rare that we go to an event where a suit is required, but for the occasional wedding, Mr. S would wear one of his two suits: a vintage one that he inherited from his grandfather (it was actually really awesome and fit him perfectly, but it got pretty raggedy after a while) and an ill-fitting suit that he bought at (don’t laugh) Target (okay, you can laugh).
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Mrs. Knitting, Toronto
Age and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD Candidate
Engagement Date: October 2009
Wedding Date: December 2010
Venue: 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.
No, don’t go! I promise this post is filled with incredibly scrumptious-looking pictures, even if they do lack animal products.
As you might remember, instead of a wedding cake we’re having a dessert table with desserts baked by some of our friends and family. This is one project I have delegated to my baby sis, so I haven’t spent much time thinking or worrying about this. We bought some decorations for the table last night, and I’m so excited to see what she comes up with. I have also contributed to her cupcake making by purchasing these adorable cupcake wrappers:
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Mrs. Swan, New York City
Age and Occupation: 31, Legislative Representative
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Finance Guy
Engagement Date: August 9, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Battery Gardens
About Me: I am an un-crafty but resourceful, Caribbean-born but New York-raised woman who's been known to analyze "Dancing with the Stars" and “So You Think You Can Dance”, buy stinky cheese, and use way too many parentheses. I keep lists for fun, am constantly daydreaming of my next international travel adventure (four continents down, three to go), debating sports (let’s Got Mets/Giants!) and dancing around my apartment to stay sane. I am excited to share our wedding planning journey as I hope to plan a streamlined, personal, and fun wedding with the greatest life partner I could ever imagine, Mr. Swan.
When I wrote this post about being a bride in your 30s, I didn’t write it because I thought 30+ is OLD. Far from it! As a matter of fact on my birthday last month, I couldn’t help feeling settled, happy and beautiful 
in a way that I never did when I was younger. At the time I wrote this post, I was the only current/recently married bee in her 30s, so I just wanted to provide that perspective. As I said in the post, we should be happy and grateful that we have found someone to marry regardless of the time that person enters our lives.
~~~
(source)
Yesterday I celebrated another birthday as the well as my first month as a newlywed. As one of the older bride bloggers in recent memory on Weddingbee, I figured that I would talk about being a slightly older bride. I’ve definitely appreciated Miss Star’s posts about being a younger bride (here, here, here, and here). Since I’ve got a couple years on her (okay, like, a whole lot more), I thought I would also provide some perspective on the other end of the spectrum. I know that I am not the oldest bride/newlywed ever on Weddingbee, but I think being a bride marrying well after the national average of 26 years old for women in the U.S. has some specific joys and challenges as well.
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Mrs. Star, New York City
Age and Occupation: 22, Actress
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Casting Assistant
Wedding Date: October 2009
Venue: Ceremony: The Kraine Theatre, Reception: Midtown Loft & Terrace
About Me: I’m a professional actress who’s always had New York City in her blood and I'm finally getting the chance to make a home in Manhattan with my fiancé, my dog, and my big dreams! I love polka dots, craft projects, Dunkin’ Donuts’ iced coffee, and anything sparkly. I’m having a blast planning our elegant/dramatic/New York City/acting-themed/largely-DIY wedding and am thrilled to be the youngest current Miss Blogger!
This was my favorite post because I loved writing a whole series about the trials and tribulations that younger brides face and hearing from so many bees in the hive who were dealing with similar issues—it really helped me feel less alone during the tough parts of wedding planning to be a part of such a wonderful and supportive community. And re-reading this particular post reminds me of how far Mr. Star and I have come since the beginning stages of our little college romance, and it makes me excited for the many years to come.
~~~
One of the most common arguments against getting married at our age that I’ve come across is the belief that we will eventually grow apart. Is this a possibility? For sure. But isn’t it always, no matter your age?
Reader Veil Tales was kind enough to send me this Washington Post article, which refreshingly argues in favor of young marriage. One of my favorite parts of the article states:
But what really matters for making marriage happen and then making it good are not matches, but mentalities: such things as persistent and honest communication, conflict-resolution skills, the ability to handle the cyclical nature of so much of marriage, and a bedrock commitment to the very unity of the thing. I’ve met 18-year-olds who can handle it and 45-year-olds who can’t.
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Watercooler
Feature Launched: July 1, 2007
About: The most discussed posts of the week.
Mrs. Champagne, DC/Vail/Colorado
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 13, 2006
Wedding Date: February 2009
Blogging Since: July 30, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin reception
About Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
It’s hard to believe that almost two years ago I married my best friend and I still have yet to finish my recaps! Looking back through my posts has been such a wonderful reminder of what a seriously supportive community Weddingbee was and has been for me. If I hadn’t met Miss (now Mrs.) Tiramisu, I may not have stumbled across Weddingbee, and the details of our wedding wouldn’t have been the same. Still, when picking my all time favorite post, it’s not a DIY or tutorial but rather two posts that remind me of the overwhelming emotion I experienced after our wedding and how lucky we were to be married in the beautiful mountains of my hometown in Colorado.
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Hi Hive!! Oh how I’ve missed you! We’re back from Mexico and happily married! The adjustment from the snowy mountains of Colorado to the hot beaches in the Riviera Maya was intense, but we’re loving EVERY MINUTE of the married life. We actually decided early on that when we returned from our honeymoon we would take a few days off before going back to work, and I can’t tell you how special these days have been. There’s something about watching movies on the couch in your pajamas with your husband that’s so much better than watching them with your fiance!
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Mrs. Elephant, Dallas, TX
Age and Occupation: 27, Financial Operations Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, IT Student/Store Manager
Engagement Date: March 29, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2011
Venue: The Tribute Golf Club
About 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!
Keepin’ this series alive! It helped me out, so hopefully I can return the favor for another reader.
How I found Weddingbee:
I actually stumbled across the ‘bee back in 2009 thanks to a bride on the Dallas Knot boards who posted about her feature in Real Weddings. I started reading and could not stop! I read all that I could: archives, current bee blogs, the boards. I was so fascinated with all the bees (although it took me a little bit to figure out exactly what those icons meant) and the community I decided to join in on the fun times.
Applying to Weddingbee:
Truth be told, I was not a huge blogger. In fact, I had never really heard of or read blogs until the ‘Bee (with the exception of one friend who kept a live journal back in college). Once I caught onto this site, I thought that it would be so amazing to blog for it. I started my own blog to keep my out of town bridesmaids up to date on the wedding plans, but secretly with the intent to apply for Weddingbee in the back of my head. Our engagement was long, so I blogged for a good 13 months before I hit that magical eight month mark—the earliest you can apply.
I was scared to apply.
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Classifieds
Feature Launched: April 30, 2008
About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
peggyh1023 is selling this birdcage veil from David’s Bridal. She’s asking $80.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee Classifieds, and you might see it featured on the blog!
Other great items for sale:
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Mrs. Cheeseburger, Baltimore, MD/State College, PA
Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student
Engagement Date: June 28, 2008
Wedding Date: March 2010
Venue: Catholic Church Ceremony & Hotel Reception
About 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!
I thought about what secrets I could spill to you all for days, and I was only able to come up with 2 things. I am seriously just that boring. They’re kind of entertaining, I guess. Enjoy these two random facts about me.
1. I wanted to be Indiana Jones, for real.
source
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Weddingbee Gallery
Feature Launched: April 10, 2009
About: A collection of inspirational wedding pictures from readers and bees.
Lilyann’s bouquet was gorgeous featuring pinks, peaches, and creams.
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.
If your photo is featured as the Gallery of the Day, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! Check out instructions on how to grab the badge here!
DIY
Feature Launched: October 8, 2008
About: The best DIY projects from Bees and brides around the web.
November 26th, 2010 @ 2:00 pm by DIY
Check out these great projects hive members have uploaded to Weddingbee’s DIY section! Click on the title of each project for tutorials.
If your project is featured in DIY Friday, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! See instructions on how to grab the badge here!
Birdseed Favors by fall in love
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