Mrs. Pashmina, NYC/Catalina Island, CAAge and Occupation: 28, Arts EducationFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, IT AdministratorEngagement Date: April 26th, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catalina Country Club, Catalina Island, CaliforniaAbout Me: I'm a laid-back Cali girl who moved to NYC for school, and ended up staying for love. My fiance is a quick-witted Jersey boy, a self-proclaimed Foodie and the funniest man I've ever met. Together we love exploring the city streets embarking on our next misadventure---and yes, this often involves eating off food carts and trying "the next big thing". I'm the girl in the sundress, snapping photos and collecting trinkets of memorabilia along the way. As a girly girl at heart, I am excited about our romantic natural island wedding incorporating our American & Filipino traditions.
A few months before we ordered our invitations we finalized our invite list. Initially you might think this would be a quick task since we were hoping to only have 75 people. But think again! It wasn’t at all.
We really had to pare down and limit the invites. This was fine with me and my groom since we really wanted a small, intimate wedding but the parents were a little tricky. Each of the parents had different ideas about who had to be invited. My parents are divorced and have small families on each side, while Mr. P’s parents are married and come from large families. Our unequal family size complicated things because it had to be “fair” in terms of number of invites, but it also had to be fair in the degree of the relationship. My parents couldn’t be inviting their co-workers while Mr. P’s family wasn’t able to invite his aunts! Read more…
Mrs. Giraffe, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 23, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Music Student TeacherEngagement Date: October 23, 2008Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Trinity Lutheran Church & Idlewild Country ClubAbout Me: Coming from the suburbs of the Windy City, you'll often find me with my foot in my mouth while laughing for no reason or telling bad knock knock jokes. I've been crafty for as long as I can remember, and will DIY something twice over before I have someone do it for me. I'm a semi-awkward, typeface obsessed, design junkie and have been know to break out my dance moves for no reason as well as try my best to be ridiculous at all times. My love of pop culture, wordplay, and graph paper almost rivals my love of Mr. Giraffe (who is just the bee's knees). After a 2.5 year engagement, we're planning a modern-in-disguise traditional wedding, and cannot wait!
Like that title, do ya? I know, I know, alliteration makes me all warm and fuzzy too.
I think we all know that cupcakes are all the rage in weddings right know. I get it, I do, but my cake loving heart wants tiers of round goodness so we won’t be having them. It’s a tough call to make though, especially when there are options like these out there.
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.
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.
Now that I have my dress all figured out, I have to figure out what to dress our Cinnamon Girls in! I have two Cinnamaids, aka my maid and matron of honour. I’ve seen so many inspiring weddings where the ‘maids weren’t wearing the same dresses that I thought about that for a while. I think I’ve decided (and I reserve the right to change my mind!) that as there will only be two girls, mismatched dresses might end up looking like one girl lost her dress or something. If there were 3 or more, it’d be more obvious that it was a choice.
So: find one dress that flatters two ladies. One who is about 5’4″, and one who is about 6’1″. Easy peasy.
My mum told me once that Cinnamaid A and I look like these two when we’re together.
Oh, and both would be more comfortable with straps on their dresses, which is absolutely fine. We can’t all have a bust that doesn’t exist according to certain designer’s size charts.
As I’ve mentioned before, I am looking for a nice teal dress, hopefully something they can wear again. Read more…
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!
Remember when I decided that I didn’t care to “create” a blog-worthy looking stack of books and instead took meaningful books off our very own bookshelf to create our own blog-worthy stack of books?
Mrs. Oyster, DallasAge and Occupation: 30, Music TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 46, Art TeacherEngagement Date: January 9, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: The Tower ClubAbout Me: I'm a Texa-Californian with a penchant for sparkly things and a tendency to think a lot. I've been known to sing random songs or dance when there is no music on. My fiance and I love world culture, we love to travel, and we have an incredibly eclectic taste in music. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate our marriage with our family & closest friends. We're planning an “urban black-tie” wedding and hope to incorporate our personalities and some of our own interests. We look forward to a life of love, laughter, good music, beautiful art, and to creating our home together with our four (!) cats.
A while ago, someone on the boards mentioned her disappointment that some bees seem to disappear for a bit after we’re married. She wondered why it sometimes takes us a while to write about the wedding after it has happened. For some reason, her comments were stuck in my head for months.
I can’t speak for every bee, but guess what? We can’t write about the wedding unless we have pictures of it! And I have no digital pictures yet (except for a limited preview).
While we’ve had our proofs for several weeks, our photographer, like many others, doesn’t send discs until the album is completed, which brings me to this post. Read more…
Mrs. Waffle, AustinAge and Occupation: 31, Costumer/ArtistFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, AnimatorEngagement Date: July 27, 2010Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Hummingbird HouseAbout Me: My life is pretty much spent in a sea of fabric, paint, sequins and drama. When I’m not working, I play on a trivia team, take Broadway dance classes, read, buy shoes, and occasionally geek out on video games. I am an American girl who loves all things British and Mr. Waffle is a Brit who loves all things American...I guess it was meant to be!
My capability for making a cake topper exists. I have the skills, but I have fallen in love with the work of two Etsy artists which makes me want to shelve my craftiness for this particular piece of wedding decor.
Topper choice number one comes from Etsy seller bthanari…
I love the sweetness on their faces and the small attentions to detail.
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!
There’s something I feel like I have to admit up front to you all: I may cry if I don’t get a sparkler send-off at the end of our reception. I can’t help it. I’ve been a trifle obsessed with them for years now, ever since seeing amazing pictures like this:
Mrs. Pashmina, NYC/Catalina Island, CAAge and Occupation: 28, Arts EducationFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, IT AdministratorEngagement Date: April 26th, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catalina Country Club, Catalina Island, CaliforniaAbout Me: I'm a laid-back Cali girl who moved to NYC for school, and ended up staying for love. My fiance is a quick-witted Jersey boy, a self-proclaimed Foodie and the funniest man I've ever met. Together we love exploring the city streets embarking on our next misadventure---and yes, this often involves eating off food carts and trying "the next big thing". I'm the girl in the sundress, snapping photos and collecting trinkets of memorabilia along the way. As a girly girl at heart, I am excited about our romantic natural island wedding incorporating our American & Filipino traditions.
Back when I was doing my save the dates, I used Google Docs to get addresses from the people on my guest list. I used the “Form” feature to set this up. Here is how you do it:
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!
My favorite non-DIY/budget post wasn’t a very hugely popular post originally but it was definitely very sentimental and personal to me and to my family. My “something old” from our wedding were my Grandmother’s earrings and they are still my oldest and most treasured possession.
~~~
OK, OK, I’m late. I promised to post about my next something way back in May but then never got around to it. I have no excuses. You’ve seen my something borrowed, so now, here’s my something old…
My something old is really old. It’s the oldest anything in my family and besides my engagement ring, the one thing I cherish the most (people not included).
The earrings belonged to my maternal grandma Isabel and before her, to her mother. Great Grandma Joey died when grandma Joey was about 8 years old. These earrings mean a lot because they belonged to Grandma Joey and we were really close when she was alive. I actually think that apart from when we or she was on vacation, I saw her at least once a week until she died when I was 12 years old.
So these earring are special to me not only because they are hers, but also because of the story behind them.
During WWII, my grandparents were still living in the Philippines. When the Japanese soldiers arrived in their area, the decision was made that my grandpa and his brother would leave and hide in the jungle until the soldiers left. 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. 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.
A few days ago I got to have one of those lovely “yay, we’re getting married” moments! During lunchtime the other day, Mr. Knitting and I ducked out of work and headed to the Faculty Club for our tasting and to have a look at their Christmas decorations. The Faculty Club gets all decorated every year, which means we barely have to do anything!
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!
This is the poem I wrote about being a two-dress bride. I know a lot of brides go through the experience of purchasing a dress and then having regrets, and some aren’t able to overcome that regret until they buy their 2nd (or 3rd) dress. I was a little embarrassed about my dress indecision and thought that a lighthearted poem would be the best way to address it while laughing at myself. And I gotta say, I’m pretty proud of my rhyming skillz, too.
~~~
Once upon a time, there was a newly engaged gal,
Who was so very excited, she called all her pals,
“I’m off to look at dresses!” she shrieked with glee
Her friends thought, “’wow that’s early,’ but couldn’t disagree.
So one Saturday morning, she went to the shop
Tried a handful of dresses – that’s where she should have stopped.
But she was so excited, she bought one on the spot
Her mother, aunt and bridesmaid all assured her she looked hot.
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.
A few months back, Mr. S and I were really stressing out over the wedding. Specifically, we were stressing over paying for the wedding. What I didn’t disclose at the time was that, right after we got engaged, a relative promised us a certain amount of money. After we worked out our budget and paid deposits to all of our vendors, that relative told us that they’d be giving us much, much less. It was really rough. By that point, we were kind of stuck. Our options included drastically changing the wedding we were going to have, or going into debt by taking out a loan or paying for the wedding with credit cards.
Both options were really unattractive, and it was a hard decision, but in the end, we realized that we didn’t want to have a different wedding. We wanted the wedding that we’d been planning the whole time. So we chose to save as much money as we could, and go into as little debt as possible for the balance of the wedding.
Well, this week, Mr. S and I were going over the budget, and we came to the realization that we won’t have to go into debt for the wedding! We’re going to be able to afford it!
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.
This little Zebra moment in history is brought to you by, well, Miss Zebra.
Now that Thanksgiving has passed, it is officially OK to discuss Christmas. (I’ve been listening to Christmas music for weeks…and my decorations have been up since Halloween.) The holidays, while a festive occasion, have that inherent ability to truly bring out the worst in us. People are stealing each other’s parking spots, throwing around the middle finger, pushing to get that new toy. Sounds of screaming children and car accidents fill the air. It is a stressful time of year, no doubt.
Last Christmas, Zeb and I had an embarrassingly huge fight, and in the spirit of keeping it real—I took my ring off. Now I don’t take my ring off for fights, but this was definitely a moment where I worried that we just wouldn’t be able to weather the marriage storm together. It is the only time in the seven years we have been together that I doubted the success of our relationship. In retrospect, it all seems sort of silly, but I doubt either one of us will soon forget how we felt, parked behind the spot where we had one month before taken our engagement photos on Christmas Day. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
