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!
Hey there hive! I really appreciated all of your help with Mr. E’s tie (we’re going with the green and blue stand out!) and was hoping that you would like to help with the Elephant invitations. You know you “wanta”! Hmmm, now all I can think of are those Fanta commercials… Wanta Fanta, don’t ya wanta?
Sorry for the mini sidetrack there. The pieces of our DIY invites are coming together pretty nicely, although my back is starting to kill me with all of the quality time spent with my paper cutter. I want to hold off showing you the whole product until it’s complete, but I could really use your help with our belly band…so, sneak peek ahead.
When we first started to draft the invites, we thought a simple square belly band with the names of the guests would be great. Cut out the need for an inner envelope? I’m all for it! I even picked up a 2×2 square punch to make it easier on myself, and prevent major screw ups around the border. Don’t mind the ribbon, this is a mock up that has been slipped on and off quite a bit.
As time passed (slowly) I realized there wasn’t really any travel tie in between our invites and the rest of our paper products such as our save the dates. Maybe I needed a little tie in?
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!
One of the first things I started looking for when we got engaged, was a full-fledged bridal journal. I wanted something to tell me, step by step, what I should do, how I should do it, WHEN I should do it, and look all pretty and shiny at the same time. I browsed online for weeks, searched high and low, realised I was aiming my expectations too high and decided to forgo spending crazy amounts of dollars on a ‘wedding’ book. I splurged on a super cute 2010 diary instead, and I may or may not have the 2011 one ready to go. (Thank you Paperchase, oh store of luscious stationery products.)
I did manage to find a sweet novelty present that I gifted Mr. Jaguar for Christmas, though—a Groom Survival Kit. It’s full of cute, kitschy hints, tips and phrases, and some funny games to help your man pass the time while your head is off in bridal fantasy land.
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.
We got married at 10 AM. Originally I didn’t realize this was a big dream of mine, but once Fancee agreed to it, it seemed like no other time could possibly have felt right for me. The air was crisp; we both wore sweaters right up until we walked in for the ceremony. It was perfect. Also, I couldn’t (and still can’t) imagine having to wait all day for the ceremony; I don’t understand how you’re not just nervous all day. Maybe you are. As it was, I hadn’t eaten much at all in the two days leading up to the wedding, and I was relieved to be able to jump right in.
Mrs. Mouse, AustinAge and Occupation: 25, Weddingbee Editor/AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Civil EngineerEngagement Date: December 19, 2007Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Barr MansionAbout Me: I just graduated from law school and will be taking the bar, getting married, going on a honeymoon with my guy, and then trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I was born and raised in a small East Texas town, but I'm no country girl! I'm obsessed with British accents, fantasy (including Harry Potter, of course), and classic rock. My fiance and I consider ourselves both music and beer snobs--but every once in awhile we love to hear a crappy band and drink a cheap brew or two. We're planning an eco-friendly, casual, English garden affair for the end of summer, and we can't wait for it to get here!
Hello, hive! We’re always looking to improve your Weddingbee experience, and hopefully by gathering a little information about you—our readers—and your opinions on various parts of our site, we can continue to develop and improve the site for everyone! If you could, please take a few minutes and share your thoughts in this survey. The survey is completely anonymous. We would love to know more about what you like and what features you’d like to see improved or added.
As a thank you for taking the survey, we’re giving away three Weddingbee logo t-shirts! The t-shirts will be in white with the Weddingbee logo in green across the front.
Mrs. Penguin, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in ChiefFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical TherapyEngagement Date: January 29, 2007Wedding Date: June 7, 2008Blogging Since: September 14, 2007Venue: Winery in the Gold CountryAbout Me: I love the Spice Girls, dogs with underbites, bean burritos, making messes, high fives, avoiding showers, crossword puzzles, blogs, weddings, and blogs about weddings!
Our newest bee is incredibly thrifty and planning a Midwestern shindig next summer!
Miss Jam, Chicago Age and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding Coordinator Fiance’s Age and Occupation: 25, Structural Engineer Engagement Date: December 23, 2009 Wedding Date: June 2011 Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, IL About 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.
Mrs. Glasses, Tokyo/Los Angeles, CAAge and Occupation: 24, English teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, English teacherEngagement Date: September 2008Wedding Date: October 2010 Venue: Parents' backyardAbout Me: I’m an expat living in Tokyo. I’ve been in Japan for almost three years now, where I met my fantastic English fiance. It’s time to leave Japan, so we are planning a fun, intimate, backyard ceremony back home in the suburbs of L.A. in October. Our wedding will be a mix of my love for food, beer, my Japanese culture, and Mr. G’s Englishness. We are on a tiny budget and DIYing almost everything!
Allow me to take a brief interlude from recaps to vent some rage. I have been, and always will be, keeping it real with the hive. While our wedding day was fabulous, fun, amazing, etc. there was some truly awful behavior demonstrated by our guests. I want to talk about how to be a good guest in the realest way possible so that (hopefully) future brides will be prepared for what to expect. Now when I say you, you know I don’t mean you, right? I mean the heinous people that might potentially pull these faux pas, and yes, some of our guests. Not you. You’re lovely.
So you’ve sent in your RSVP (promptly, of course) and now your etiquette duties are over, right? Nope! First of all, don’t bother the bride and groom close to the wedding. I cannot tell you how many needy phone calls I got the days leading up to the wedding. Read more…
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.
I know I’ve been a little MIA, but as I was browsing Etsy the other day, I came across the absolute cutest crayons!
Can you imagine these at a kids’ table? I bet the kids would adore them! I also love that they are eco-friendly and made out of recycled crayons. 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!
We decided pretty early on that we wanted to have a DJ at our wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good band at a wedding. But in order to include something as obscure as 311, some good booty-shakin’ music, and some salsa for Mr. Lion’s family, a DJ was a more practical option for us. In addition to reception coverage, our DJ offered ceremony coverage for a very reasonable price. Literally, he made us an offer we couldn’t refuse and I had to say goodbye to my dreams of having a string quartet play as I walked down the aisle. I was briefly bummed out, but then I discovered the Vitamin String Quartet.
Maybe having a DJ play our ceremony music wouldn’t be so bad after all! 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.
“The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural.” - Calvin Klein
I can style an outfit, revamp a person’s wardrobe and pick out a fashion collection for a season in two snaps…no sweat.
But makeup??? I’m hopeless.
Lip gloss is my best friend—oh, and I love red lipstick. But eyeshadow, blush and everything in between? I’m a hot mess. Like, if you left me to my devices for too long, I end up looking like this:
When I was little I had to wear tons of makeup for my ballet performances, and nothing felt better than taking it off at the end of the night. 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.
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!
Attention Philly area bees!! We are having another bee meet up this Sunday, December 12th at 2PM at Garces Trading Company. (The time was originally scheduled for 1PM, but was changed to 2PM to accommodate our group size.)
In attendance so far will be me, Sloth, Handbag, Sushi, and a handful of wonderful hive members and we’d be thrilled to meet all of you! If you are interested in attending, please reply with a definite yes to this board thread.
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!
I don’t know about you guys, but I love, love, LOVE getting mail. It’s one of my favorite things in the world, and quite frankly, it doesn’t happen often enough. Before all of the wedding craziness, Mr. Cardigan and I were lucky to get any mail most days, and when we did it was usually just ads or credit-card offers. Lame-o.
But now? We get mail all. the. time. Whether it’s RSVPs (which, ahem, still aren’t coming in quite as steadily as I’d like them to, even though it’s past the damn due date), packages for the wedding, or even presents for other people like my bridesmaids, I feel like we’re constantly getting some new and exciting piece of mail. And I’m LOVING IT! Read more…
Mrs. Taco, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, writer/editorFiance's Age and Occupation: 37, editorEngagement Date: May 13, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: The Green Room at the War Memorial Veterans BuildingAbout Me: I like laughing and talking with good friends over good food and good drink, be it wine, cocktail, or brew. I write and edit things for fun and profit, but I rarely "write" these days without a keyboard and high-speed internets. Favorites include Mr. Taco, my Boston terrier, San Francisco, getting out of town, and the Roaring ’20s. I was kind-of planning a wedding since roughly 2006, when I discovered "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" on the WE channel. I ran and didn't look back with a theme I called "urban vintage," and it culminated in the most magical day a taco could ask for.
“Partnership and Independence” wasn’t a very commented post, but I chose it as one of my faves because it still makes me think. Just like the rest of us, I’m exposed to relationships of all kinds: married, happily-not-married, newly dating, and, unfortunately, even unhappily married, passive-aggressively together, co-dependent, and every gray area in between. Weddings always remind me of why, when, and how I got hitched on the magical-est day SF ever saw. But they also remind me that as much as I love being a Mrs., I’ll never forget (or let go of) what made me Miss T, on and off the blogosphere.
~~~
I’ve been thinking a lot about Mrs. Penguin’s recent post on life lessons reinforced at an early age: never depend on your partner to live. Always be able to pay your own way. There are exceptions, sure, including school for one, or layoffs for another.
But the post got me thinking about partnership and independence. Namely, that being married or being parents are easy scapegoats on which we blame our own shortcomings or bad decisions. I’ve done it plenty of times. You have too, I’m sure. But I’m really trying not to, because I’ve seen it go mega-wrong in some cases, in marriages ranging from zero years old to 30 years old.
For example:
“He made me be a stay-at-home mom, now I don’t have any skills to re-enter the workforce.” Read more…
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. 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.
Back in the summer I wrote about our dilemma as to who we should sit with at our wedding. Thanks to Weddingbee readers futuremominlaw and glitterashley23 (who pointed me in the direction of this post), we decided to go with a king’s table.
Can you imagine these at a kids’ table? I bet the kids would adore them! I also love that they are eco-friendly and made out of recycled crayons.
