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.
My brother’s fiance notified me last week that the price of stamps is supposed to increase by 2 cents on January 2, 2011. The fact that we want to send out our invitations right around that date has me a little worried about the procedure.
I was going to buy up Ye Olde Liberty Bell forever stamps and call it a day, but then I did the math. Read more…
Mrs. Barrettes, Tumon, Guam/Napa, CAAge and Occupation: 29, DancerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Licensed Building ContractorEngagement Date: November 16, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: V. Sattui WineryAbout Me: I'm an East Coast girl, living on a tiny little island in the Pacific, twirling, leaping, and shimmy-ing my way through life, and now, wedding planning! I'm equal parts nerdy and cool... okay, mostly nerdy. I love satin bows, red lipstick, black & white graphic anything, the shine of sequins and the sound of a champagne "pop". My favorite books are The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, and Tender is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can also conjure a pretty good Patronus Charm. I started my appreciation for good red wine while traveling on the high seas, and it's only fitting that my passion for wine drinking led me to my Napa-bred honey. We bonded over bottles of Cabernet on my oceanfront porch and haven't looked back since. We're sealing the deal at a winery in the Napa Valley on a 'perfect ten' of a day!
Greetings, Hive! I’m back and I’m armed with winery wedding goodness for you, straight from the heart of Napa Valley. Our 10/10/10 wedding went off beautifully and I’m so excited to tell you our story!
Mr. Barrettes and I tied the knot at V. Sattui Winery, surrounded by 120 of our nearest and dearest. Crush season in Napa is easily one of the most beautiful times of the year to visit wine country and the energy of the region was simply buzzing. Plump grapes still hung on some vines and others were freshly harvested. The smell of crush tickled your nose—it was simply magical.
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Mrs. French Toast, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Marketing & PRFiance's Age and Occupation: IT geek by day, self-proclaimed handyman by nightEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: Palm Event CenterAbout Me: I’m a city girl at heart who moved to the suburbs a year ago. Now I’m adjusting to life with a front lawn, nosy neighbors, cooking attempts, and making sure the garbage pail is pulled out on time every week! When I’m not traveling, Mr. FT and I enjoy marathon sessions of Law & Order: SVU, snowboarding, photography, spoiling our 3-year old yorkie-poodle Mokka and disagreeing over what music to listen to in the car. We’re planning a small winery wedding while incorporating some cultural elements into the day as a nod to our Chinese backgrounds.
Mrs. Jam, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Structural EngineerEngagement Date: December 23, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, ILAbout Me: I’m a penny-pinching cat lady getting ready to marry the frugal dog lover of my dreams. Our ideal Saturday morning includes rummaging around people’s junk at garage and estate sales followed by an afternoon date to our favorite café, where we only eat sandwiches that include the word “salad.” We actually love it so much, it’s sort of our unofficial wedding theme: Look at our delicious finds, eat homemade ham salad, and celebrate our love…barndance style. When we’re not obsessing over our love-fest shindig, we’re planning themed parties for our best friends and jamming to '90s music.
So I went to Trader Joe’s today to find some egg salad, and instead left with my arms full of $1.99 bunches of flowers and not one morsel of food. You know what that means? Yes, I’m really hungry at this point…and it’s grocery-store-bouquet time, Part 2!
Our inspiration:
“OMG, those flowers are so lovely! Please tell me who your florist is so I can have this same look at my wedding.”
“Thanks, but I just picked them out of that field and tied them together with twine scraps I found out in the barn to make this totally affordable yet oh-so-chic bouquet…in less than five minutes.”
*Jaws drop, everyone thinks you are a complete DIY goddess, and they are also envious of your entire life.*
So here’s what I started with (I was going for a wildflower-ish look, but I know nothing about wildflowers, or any flowers for that matter):
The goods from left to right: Red berry-things apparently called Hypericum; green Leucadendron (which smell awful); snapdragons; and a bushel of purple fluff I don’t know the name of. Eight dollars total.
Mrs. Pancakes, New York/Costa RicaAge and Occupation: 26, Law School StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Latin American Policy AnalystEngagement Date: March 12, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Casa Punto de VistaAbout Me: I’m a perfectionist with a big heart. I love a good laugh and firmly believe no one has ever regretted being prepared! My motto is “go big or go home.” I am incapable of doing anything in moderation, especially when it comes to shopping, TV, food and travel, and some would say wedding planning! The other half of this nearlywed team is a laid-back, adventure-loving, accident prone, sweetie from LA. He makes me laugh, is always down for an impromptu dance party, and totally indulges most of my hare-brained schemes. Now, in my final year of law school, we’ll be spending the spring abroad in Amsterdam and planning a DIY, whimsical, detail-filled destination wedding in Costa Rica!
Mrs. Lobster, BrooklynAge and Occupation: 29, Finance GirlFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Finance BoyEngagement Date: July 25, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Stage 6 Steiner StudiosAbout Me: I'm a New York-born, Virginia-bred girl who's found her way back to the big city. Mr. Lobster and I met in grad school and have been together ever since. I'm clueless about DIY but am an avid online shopper and love all things polka dots, stripes, and ruffles! When I'm not making wedding lists, you can find me looking for snacks, watching Gilmore Girls, or hanging out with Mr. Lobster and our new puppy Buddy! We are planning a fancy-pantsy Brooklyn wedding for a hot New York summer night which is sure to be a misadventure in the making.
It took us ladies 6 hours to beautify. Meanwhile, the men enjoyed a view of the Statue of Liberty from Mr. Lobster’s hotel room:
While the ladies took care to apply sunblock and extra lip gloss, the boys were partying it up: 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!
Well, we’re officially less than three weeks out from our wedding and we just now have a final head count for our guest list. I swear, it’s like pulling teeth trying to get people to commit whether or not they’re coming—people can be so wishy-washy!
But, it’s over and done and I lived to tell the tale (I wasn’t sure I would for a while there!). I remember that when we were first making the guest list, I was really curious about general acceptance rates for our time of the year. Typically you hear between 50-75% acceptance, but that’s a pretty wide margin and is pretty much completely useless. Plus, I figured ours might be a bit different since our wedding is so close to the holidays! So, I’m here to share what our numbers ended up being, in hopes that it might help some of you out who are planning your guest list now!
Total guests invited: 154 Guests who weren’t actually invited but managed to worm their way into the final count anyways: 3 (note: I’m not including these three guests in the percentages since they technically weren’t originally included in our guest count) Total “yes” RSVPs: 58 Total “no” RSVPs: 8 Number of guests we had to track down by phone: 88, or 57% (OMG! SERIOUSLY?!) Total guests attending: 104, or 68% Read more…
Mrs. Plaid, AustinAge and Occupation: 26, Pastry ChefFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Cabinetry CarpenterEngagement Date: August 8, 2009Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: Kindred Oaks, GeorgetownAbout Me: I am a Jersey girl born and raised but have since migrated to Texas and embraced its twang and Tex-Mex. I could probably eat chips and queso every day but instead I eat popcorn. I use the word “awesome” way too much but I just can’t seem to stop myself. I am addicted to all things DIY and am planning what I call a Texas-Chic wedding. I love snuggling with my two adorable dogs and of course, my adorable fiance. I can’t wait 'til I can call him my husband some day! October 2010, here we come!
We opted not to have a wedding planner or even a day-of coordinator from the beginning. We knew we’d be able to do it ourselves, with the help of family and friends, and didn’t want to spend the money.
Setting up was a bit of a challenge since it was still pretty windy outside and we weren’t completely sure it was done raining for the day. But everyone quickly banded together and got things done.
Mrs. Hot Cocoa, Boston/Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 31, JD/PhD StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Medical StudentEngagement Date: May 30, 2008Wedding Date: March, 2009Blogging Since: April, 2008Venue: Ritz Carlton, Marina Del ReyAbout Me:
I am a professional student by day and an amateur cupcake taster, bargain shopper, and wedding planner by night. I am obsessed with NPR, the Food Network, paper, dance shows, Anthropologie, post-structuralist theory, Weddingbee!, "The Office," and celebrity gossip. When not procrastinating from my dissertation, I spend time catering to Jellyby, our overly anxious shih tzu, and getting to know Mr. Hot Cocoa. We have only been dating for fifteen years, so it's like I'm in love with a stranger! From the East Coast, we are planning a Jewish-Chinese Extravaganza in L.A., where we both grew up.
We got married eons ago, but look at the gorgeous surprise that arrived at our door this week: our wedding album!
Our wonderful photographer, Leigh Miller, created so many beautiful images of our wedding weekend that it took Mr. ADD and Ms. Procrastinator forever to choose the photos for the album. I must say, though, that it’s actually kind of fun to have the album come so many months after the wedding. Not only were we wedding’d out for a while, we were also so saturated with media from the weekend that I don’t think we would have appreciated the album quite as much. Now that some time has passed, it’s lovely to have a chance to reminisce about the wedding itself (and to curse the pounds we’ve put on since).
Leigh uses Cypress for her albums. The company’s bookbinding and matting work is meticulous, and their album designs are timeless and beautiful. Read more…
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.
I’ve been so focused on our wedding that I kind of forgot about our honeymoon. Okay, I didn’t actually forget, I just didn’t really think about the fact that soon the wedding will be over and I will get to be on my honeymoon with my new husband.
As you might recall from this post we’re having a pretty relaxed cozy Christmasy honeymoon. I don’t really need to do much of anything to prepare for it, but one thing I did want to do is put together a reading list. While we plan on doing lots of active things like snowshoeing and skating, I suspect we’ll also have lots of cozy reading by the fire moments and I’d like to make sure I have lots of good things to read.
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!
My group of college roommates has a streak of running into celebrities at our bachelorettes.
The Streak Begins
First up was freshman roommate, L, who got married about five years ago. For her bachelorette we had a night on the town and a slumber party in Santa Barbara. After being kicked out of the bars at closing time someone was drawn to L’s peni-adorned veil. That someone was Michael Jordan.
He talked to the bride for a few minutes and I shook his hand and tried to tell him about all the Bulls games I had gone to as a kid (Yeah, I’m sure he just loved that.).
This is the totally amazing picture I tried to take of him…hey, it was dark and I’d had a few! Damn, I wish I had gotten the shot…
L’s legs. MJ is just a few feet away! He was leaving at that point because we started to freak out.
Mrs. Earrings, Fresno, CA/ Nelson, New ZealandAge and Occupation: 20, Student, Wannabe Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 19, Photography StudentEngagement Date: February 14, 2010Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Gardens of the WorldAbout Me: I'm a girl from down under who grew up in Indonesia and I'm marrying a California boy. I'm addicted to all things sweet, have never met a chocolate silk pie than can get the better of me, and have dreams of one day being a fulltime novelist. I go weak in the knees for lace, tea cups, and a beautifully crafted sentence. When I get excited about something (whether it is historical linguistics or the Beatles) I tend to go overboard in research, and planning this wedding is no different. Mr. Earrings is my high school sweetheart, my best friend, and somehow we combine all our quirks into one big happy mess.
That is the question. My sister began work on her MOH speech recently, and asked me if I was going to make a speech at the reception as well. If you had asked me that question 6 months ago the answer would have been, “of course!” But now? I’m not so sure.
With everything else going on, part of me just wants to sit back and relax on the wedding day and not worry about anything, not even giving a speech. I don’t know how common it is for the bride to give a speech at weddings overseas, but here in New Zealand it isn’t terribly common so if I didn’t give one it wouldn’t matter too much. But then there is another side of me that would love to speak up and thank the people that have helped us put the wedding together, as well as acknowledge my awesome groom. Why do weddings always have to involve a kazillion decisions?!
My dad is definitely going to give a speech, and we expect Mr E’s dad will as well. Then there is my MOH, and the best man/groomsmen’s speeches. Mr E is planning to say something as well, so it might just be overkill if I speak. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
L’s legs. MJ is just a few feet away! He was leaving at that point because we started to freak out.
