Congratulations to our winners arose29 and sapphirebride!
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It’s our final giveaway in this huge series of giveaways from Picaboo! Today they’re giving away two Madison wedding albums to two lucky Weddingbee readers!
Picaboo allows brides to create their own one-of-a-kind, customized photo books using their easy-to-use bookmaking application. The Madison album is a truly special book for your wedding photos. Heavyweight, archival quality lay-flat pages are ideal for highlighting panoramic, two-page spreads, and the paper’s pearlescent sheen coating adds a luminous glow to your photos. The elegant custom cover features a photo of your choice under a protective laminate and a full-grain glove leather wrap around the spine and back cover is available in five colors.
To enter this contest, simply visit Picaboo’s wedding albums and let us know here in the comments which album style of theirs is your favorite. For a second chance to win, follow Weddingbee on Twitter and retweet this contest (if you’re already a follower, simply retweet by clicking here!). You have until Wednesday, December 8 at 11:59 PM PST to enter. Good luck!
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!
Simply put, I heart my photographer big time. I know I’ve shown y’all some of his amazing work with our engagement shoot and my boudoir shoot, but I swear, he just keeps getting better and better. I’ve been waiting to post this until I got my recaps back. Well, I’ve got them (which means recaps are a comin’), and they are fabulous!
Mrs. Cola, Mountain View, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Product Communications and PromotionsFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Managing Partner and Senior DesignerEngagement Date: March 5, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: The Mountain Terrace, Woodside, CAAbout Me: I’m a Washington State native, enjoying life in Silicon Valley California with my fiancé, our three kitties and one leopard gecko. I like reading wedding blogs, Photoshopping wedding design mock ups, making lists, and planning, planning, planning! I’m a bit of an anomaly, on one side I’m a very girlie girl, I collect shoes, I lay out my outfits 4-6 weeks in advance, and I’d never leave the house without my hair curled and makeup on. But on the other side, I’m a total tomboy, I love to go camping and hiking, play drinking games (hey, I’m Irish!) and most of my closest friends are guys. My fiancé and I are planning a DIY-focused wedding with a balance between easygoing (what he wants) and chic and stylish (what I want), and are tying it all together with elements in lavender, sage, butter cream and chocolate.
I thought I’d share some funny stories from my childhood. These aren’t that big of secrets if you knew me when I was in elementary school, but they’re not things I go around telling people these days because they’re a little embarrassing! I was scarred for life from some very distinct times in my life, but I guess we all are to some extent, right?
I Experienced Several Hair Traumas
1) When I was 4 years old I thought it would be a good idea to cut my own hair. I’m not sure my exact train of thought, but I do remember sitting at my little desk in my room, looking at my little round-tipped red scissors and then it just happened. That’s really all I remember, but apparently I either knew I shouldn’t have done it, or looked in the mirror and knew I did a bad job, because I put on my jacket with my hood on right after, and my dad and I went to go pick up my mom from her work. I had to use the bathroom, so my mom took me, and when she took off my coat and hood, she discovered my handiwork. Some of my hair was still below my shoulders and normal length and some of it…well, some of it was about a half inch long. Needless to say, my parents were not happy with my DIY look!
(Luckily my hair had grown out by kindergarten, as you can see in the above picture from my birthday party when I was 6, I’m the one the red arrow is pointing to. And yes, I totally took a picture of a picture from a scrapbook page that an old friend of mine framed for me!)
Mrs. Husky, DenverAge and Occupation: 26, Systems AdministratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Mechanical Engineer, recently laid offEngagement Date: August 14, 2009Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: Rancho San CarlosAbout Me: I am planning a quirky-crafty wedding with my recently out-of-work fiancé for a (fingers crossed!) warm October afternoon. We are two self-professed nerds with an affinity for all things outdoors---be it rain, snow or shine. Recently relocated from the drizzly Northwest, we're enjoying the many sun-soaked days in the mile high city. Our day will be filled with both of our large families and friends, a self-served Cajun feast, and a Zydeco-style jazz band rocking beneath the beams of a historic red barn.
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!
Mr. Lion and I had been engaged for about, um, two days when I got a phone call from some random company telling me that I had won a FULL SET OF COOKINGWARE AND THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATION TO BUY OMG SO EXCITING! Naturally, I was skeptical. If you have to say “no obligation to buy,” there’s usually an obligation to buy! Just sayin’. However, I do have a soft spot for kitchen toys cooking, so I decided to Google this company before writing it off completely.
The Weddingbee Boards were the first hit. According to a post on this message board, this company was part of some kind of bridal scam. I read through and found all sorts of unbiased opinions about this and other scams. I appreciated the honesty, but what really drew me in was the sass. One post on this board topic said something along the lines of, “No! They’re definitely not a scam! I went to the meeting at that hotel by the airport and I got a free set of cookware AND THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO OBLIGATION TO BUY OMG SO EXCITING!” As you can imagine, the posts following this one exposed the fraud. “Clearly, you work for them sooo take your nonsense somewhere else,” and responses like this caught my attention. These gals had moxie. They had spunk. They had…personality.
But, I moved to Boston for my three-month clinical affiliation, Mr. Lion and I did the long-distance thing for a little bit, and wedding planning was put on the back burner. 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).
If you’ve been following along, you’ll remember that we are inviting our guests to arrive early so that they can have a glass of wine and stroll through the art gallery before the ceremony starts. I’m starting to think through the timing of everything for the wedding day, and with all the roaming guests, I was a little concerned about getting them to stop looking around (the art really is fantastic) and to sit down so the big show can begin. The gallery will be open at 5:45 p.m., and the ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m. If you want to come at 5:45 or 6:00 and have a glass of wine and walk around, great! If not, fine. But, I really want the ceremony to start just a couple of minutes after 6:30, so getting the guests to sit is pretty crucial.
But…I think I’ve figured out how to make it work. I have a two-part plan.
First, my plan is to have the ladies in the house party circulate through the gallery shortly before the ceremony begins to let guests know that it’s time to be seated. With five house-party ladies, it shouldn’t be that hard. I’ve planned many events for work where I have to transition a group from one place to another (say, going from cocktails to sitting for dinner, or a cocktail reception to sitting for a talk or lecture), and usually once you can get a couple of small groups to move in the right direction, people figure it out and start following the trend. Sheep. They’re like sheep.
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.
I always knew there would be kids at our wedding. I definitely understand and respect people who choose to go the kid-free route for their weddings, but it just never crossed our minds for kids not to be there at ours. I have so many little cousins and friends with babies that having a kid-free wedding would be too much of a logistical problem (getting babysitters, etc.). Plus, Mr. E and I also always wanted our wedding to have a real feeling of “family” about it, and, in this case, kids are a part of that family. It does help of course that our venue is the perfect place for kids to let loose and play (reminding me of my days visiting there as a child).
Eleven kids running around during our picnic reception will just add to the fun and the atmosphere, but do I want kids running around during our ceremony? Nope. Now, I know kids are unpredictable, so I can’t do everything to ensure their good behaviour, but I can make these as a way to (hopefully) keep them occupied:
Miss Vino poses with her husband and their Groomsdog!
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. Dolphin, Gainesville, FLAge and Occupation: 24, Graduate Architecture StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Interactive Interface DeveloperEngagement Date: February 14, 2008Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Plantation Bay Country ClubAbout Me: I’m currently a Graduate Student at the University of Florida studying Architecture. I enjoy playing Scrabble with my Fiance, rooting for the Florida Gators, making any drink that involves a blender, cleaning (yes... I’m crazy), design... GOOD design that is, the new Pepsi with natural sugar, taking pictures, discovering new places in the U.S., and obsessing over doing (and designing) everything myself for our upcoming wedding!
Hello sweet hive! Here is my favorite post I’ve ever written. It isn’t my favorite necessarily for the content, but for the response I’ve received from the post. When I bought white lace for my veil, I knew I would have to dye it ivory to match my wedding dress. I searched high and low for a step-by-step guide on tea dying (I was scared out of my mind and needed ridiculous specific steps to feel more confident). When the internet didn’t turn anything back, I decided to jump in, heels first, and write my own DIY.
Since writing this article I’ve received so many emails and comments from brides/mothers who used my guide and found success. I even had a cousin contact me after she found my article on Weddingbee and I got to see her perfectly ivory veil in action at her wedding last month.
You can see my finished ivory veil in action here. Enjoy!
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Okay… so I searched all over Gainesville for someone to professionally dye my beautiful white lace to ivory (so it would match my dress). Can you believe that there is no place in Gainesville where you can get this done? Unbelievable!
But, there’s a ray of hope. One seamstress I asked mentioned tea-dying my lace. I had heard of this before but was slighting skeptical as to whether I could successfully do this myself. Searching the internet, I only found a handful of ’how-tos’ and no one really went into detail. They just skimmed over what they did to show you their beautifully dyed ivory lace. But, I’m a girl who needs directions. I ain’t gonna mess up my nice lace…
For all the other brides out there like me, who need some directions, here is, step-by-step, of how I got to the perfect shade of ivory for my beautiful Alencon lace for my veil:
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!
At first, I was really excited about getting to do a Secret Life of Bees post, but then I realized, that I don’t have any good secrets. I’m pretty boring, white bread, granola… plain!
So you guys are all wondering what secret a plain Giraffe can share with you?
Well, it’s a doozie! Technically, it’s not my secret, but I kept it for 2 years so I kind of consider it mine. It’s actually Mr. Giraffe’s secret.
You see, when Mr. Giraffe and I were juniors in college, he decided he wanted to get a tattoo. It was the beginning of our junior year, and Mr. G had just turned 21. I mean, that seems a little young doesn’t it?
Especially if you break the number one tattoo rule. Y’know, that one about never getting someone’s name tattooed on you?
Mrs. Meerkat, Kalamazoo, MI/Riviera MayaAge and Occupation: 30, Application EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, IT ConsultantEngagement Date: July 26, 2008Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: Al Cielo / La LagunaAbout 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.
From the very start I wanted cute little colorful suitcases for me and my girls to have our pictures taken with. Just some fun little props for after the ceremony. So when I found little cardboard suitcases online, I knew all they needed was a couple little vinyl decals of our wedding monogram and they would be perfect. After I applied a little Meerkat know-how, here is what I got:
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.
Most weddings use ribbon in some way, shape, or form. A lot of ribbon that you buy at craft stores for your wedding DIY is probably polyester or nylon. That might not sound as romantic as ‘silk’ or ‘linen’, but it gives us a great advantage: not having to hem it!
Now, there are substances out there like Fray Check (TM) that you can use on most fabrics. It’s a little like clear, very liquidy glue that you dab on what you’ve cut, and it seals the ends in. I find it tends to leave a bit of a mark. Granted, I generally use it on cotton t-shirts, so maybe it would work fine for polyester ribbon. But the other way of sealing man-made ribbon is way more fun. You get to play with fire!
Mrs. Octopus, Boston, MA/Pittsburgh, PAAge and Occupation: 25, Grad StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Graphics Operator for TV NewsEngagement Date: May 6th, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: 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!
When our photographer Corey arrived, Mom Octopus and MOH/Sister Lauren shuffled me off into the bedroom where my wedding dress was waiting. I opted to get dressed with just the two of them helping, and I’m glad I did. It felt nice to have a quiet moment to share with just my mom and my sister.
Mrs. Lamb, NorfolkAge and Occupation: 25, Homeland Security ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: January 2009Wedding Date: January 2010Venue: Trinity Presbyterian Church/Harrison Opera HouseAbout Me: I’m a Homeland Security Consultant with a tendency towards pulling office pranks, taking lunch breaks, and drinking Wawa shakes. I’m also an English major with a serious obsession with alliteration and rhymes. While I’m not keeping America safe, I’m training for half marathons and the Escape from Alcatraz swim. Or moving for the third time this year. Or baking. Or wedding crafting. Or crying about wedding planning. All the while, I’m getting myself into Lucille Ball-esque scrapes and making Jim Carey-esque faces. Our big fat Czech/Baptist/Jewish/Italian wedding is a combination of vintage eclectic, DIY, and little spoonful of sugar from our Event Coordinator. It’s going to be a Norfolk flavored wedding with the verve of an only-daughter-blow-out bash!
I really loved blogging on Weddingbee. I really loved some of my DIY projects. I really loved the overwhelming lovey feeling on our wedding day. But I really hated wedding planning. The reality of wedding planning was a huge disappointment to me. I think the post I’m sharing today resonated with a lot of you because even if you don’t hate the whole process, there are parts that are just plain hard. If there’s one thing I could impart to you, it’s that there is hope and joy in the end. I had a lovely wedding and started our family despite the planning headache. This too shall pass.
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I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to say to you all when I got to the “other side”. For some reason, during the planning process, I couldn’t bring myself to write it because I didn’t want to disappoint certain people or to come across as ungrateful. I talked it over with some fellow bees. I mulled it over while reliving some wedding memories as we reminisced on our belated honeymoon (we just got back and it was delightful - more later). And then I read this today as I caught up at Meg’s blog. Now is the time to let a few things hang out and to keep it real.
You’ve seen the joy on my face that is captured by photographs on my wedding day. I will always treasure that day in our lives. Not captured were the many frowns, the foot stomping and the flat out meltdowns (my Dad calls it O.B.E - overcome by events) that led up to that day. Here, I blogged about details, crafting, funnies, etc. because the blog world was my refuge from what I found to be an all together stressful and frustrating planning process. Read more…
Mrs. Buttons, Clearwater, FLAge and Occupation: 24, "Working on it"Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Financial ServicesEngagement Date: June 13, 2009Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Carlouel Yacht ClubAbout Me: I'm a self proclaimed perfectionist and a professional nomad (seriously, I've lived in TX, WI, MI, FL, NC, and now VA!). I love wine, cooking, curling up with a good book (nerd alert!), spoiling the furbaby, and of course, the wonderful Mr. Buttons! We are planning a lighthearted and whimsical wedding (with a good deal of DIY projects) in Clearwater, Florida, but from a distance of 800 miles away! We are looking forward to sharing our day with our family and friends, and most importantly, starting our lives together as husband and wife!
