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.
Hollywood films sure make San Francisco look like a beautiful city. After all, this is where wedding movies like The Wedding Planner and The Bachelor were filmed. But one important reality that is left out of these fantasy movies is that parking space is not always readily available when you need them. We never see the actors and actresses circling around looking for parking!
Miss Oatmeal, Fresno, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Medical Device Sales RepresentativeFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Police Officer/Captain in the US ArmyEngagement Date: February 16, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Private Residence, FresnoAbout Me: I am a toast-loving, list-making, occasionally crazy California girl getting dangerously close to marrying her crime-fighting, patient, man's man fiancé. I’ve never left our hometown of Clovis, CA, I love Anthropologie so much it almost hurts, appreciate promptness, love that our 4lb. Chihuahua, Murphy, smells like Fritos, am irritated by windshield wipers that move too fast for the amount of rain, love me some cold weather, have an unhealthy obsession with boots, and wholeheartedly think that my family is everything. Mr. Oatmeal is, oddly enough, my brother's best friend. He's also the best thing that's ever happened to me, and together we are planning a vintage chic, backyard, spring wedding with a few nontraditional touches while trying to keep up with our crazy lives.
You’re probably thinking, “That’s awesome, Miss Oatmeal. Great pictures. But I still have no idea what your wedding colors are.” Well, here they are. I can’t remember the thought process behind choosing these; I just all of a sudden had colors. I had colors! That made the wedding so official to me. Because the first thing everyone asked me at the beginning of the engagement was, “What are your colors?” Well, that and “When are you going to have babies???” Yikes.
Mrs. Lox, BaltimoreAge and Occupation: 33, Government WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 35. IT ConsultantEngagement Date: May 8, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m an East Coast gal born and bred and a suburban brat turned city rat for the last year. Now Mr. Lox and I enjoy walking all kinds of places, having the coolest things around in our backyard, and especially our garage parking. I love gadgets, toys, Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, monkeys, and our insane cats. I’m a blonde by birth and a redhead by choice. I’m that girl in the cubicle farm with all the cool toys and the file cabinet covered in magnetic poetry. I still use smiley faces in my emails, whether people like it or not. This is not the first rodeo for Mr. Lox nor me. And together, we are planning an intimate afternoon wedding on a budget we can afford by ourselves.
We all know the classic traditional wedding vows. We’ve heard them a hundred times over. In case they have slipped our minds, here’s a refresher:
I, (Name),
Take you, (Name),
To be my (wife/husband);
To have and to hold,
From this day forward,
For better, for worse,
For richer, for poorer,
In sickness and in health,
To love and to cherish,
Till death do us part.
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!
There would be no more down time. Once we were dressed, the ball was rolling and it wasn’t stopping until way past midnight, when I finished cleaning up my sleeping husband’s tux. But that’s a story for later—let’s get dressed first!
By this time I was totally getting into my bridey-ness! Finally! I was starting to feel like my normal self after the morning’s rough start and the giddiness of dressing for my wedding started to creep onto my face… Read more…
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
One of my favorite things to do is Google our venue to see pictures from other weddings that have been held there. However, one of the things that makes IslandWood such a unique wedding venue is that they don’t hold very many weddings there. (As I mentioned, it is an educational facility, and they have only been holding weddings for a little over a year, I believe.) So while that means that we have a very unique venue, it also means there aren’t a whole lot of inspiration photos to look at to see what other people have done with the place.
But I came across this teaser the other day, and I so hope that the photographer posts more from this wedding! This suspension bridge is definitely a bit of a hike from where we’ll be getting ready, but it’s so worth it to get there to get pictures like this one:
Mrs. Tartlet, Rochester, MIAge and Occupation: Age & Occupation: 27, Post-Doctoral Research FellowFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Medical StudentEngagement Date: May 2, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: The Royal Park HotelAbout Me: I'm an exuberant gal from the Midwest with a penchant for Neuroscience and anything sparkly. I'm not afraid to poke fun at myself, and I'm a believer that given the right pair of shoes, a girl can conquer the world. While an interest in the sciences threw Mr. Tartlet and me together (again, and again, until it finally stuck), we share a love for many things---food, video games, car dancing, food, bad puns, travel, did I mention food?---that ultimately led us to where we are now, less than five months from becoming Mr. and Mrs. We're planning a laid-back, romantic, garden-inspired affair with organic and quirky touches that reflect our love for the unexpected!
I walked away from a childhood dream. We searched and searched and finally found our venue. With this decision made, we started to contemplate more specific details like our color palette.
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!
Now that our backyard wedding is done and dusted I can look back and wonder, would I do it again? Absolutely! Here are some thoughts that I hope will help you if you are considering a backyard wedding.
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.
Even if you don’t define yourself as a “budget bride,” and even if you’re not putting together the best party you can get for $1000, I’m sure you’re looking for bargains. I’ve finally hopped on to one of the latest shopping trends, and I’ve been getting some great wedding deals!
The trend is social buying. Basically, the website advertises great deals on just about anything, but a certain number of people have to sign up to buy it before the deal goes live. Once they’ve reached their tipping point, the deal is for realsies and people can keep on buying the coupon until the deal expires. All that technical stuff (how many people is the tipping point, what the deal is, how long it is available) is agreed on by the vendor and the website. There are lots of different sites, most are divided up by city, because there is no point me buying a discounted yoga membership to a place in NYC if I live in Calgary, now is there?
I imagine they’re great for the businesses involved because they get that money up front, it gets their business out to tonnes of people, and I’m sure they are hoping that some people will forget about the coupon until after the expiration date. I’m certain there is some percentage of that going on!
There’s a really great graphic here that I don’t want to steal, but think you should look at! It shows all the various social buying sites that have popped up over the years in a really cool way.
So anyway, how have these sites helped me with the wedding?
Mrs. Rainbow, TampaAge and Occupation: 22, Makeup ArtistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Electrical Engineer/ProgrammerEngagement Date: November 27, 2008Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Gamble PlantationAbout Me: I'm a quirky (and slightly Type-A) freelance makeup artist who was born in Washington State, raised in Alabama, and now living with my one and only in sunny Florida. I'm fashion and beauty obsessed, and have recently discovered my inner domestic diva extraordinaire. I'm a wannabe chef, decorating addict, and trying desperately to be as crafty as possible---albeit only with a glue gun. I'm hopelessly in love with my fiance, and all things sparkly and feathery. Despite the glittery exterior, I'm a total hippie on the inside. When I'm not making up pretty faces, I love doing what I can to help people, animals, and the environment. Someday the FI and I will change the world, but first we're tackling our modern-vintage-Marie-Antoinette-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland inspired wedding. I just can't wait to be Mrs. Rainbow!
Considering Mr. R and I decided to get married two and a half months before New Year’s Day, I didn’t even entertain the thought of commissioning anyone to do anything for us. I didn’t have time to stress and micromanage, not to mention thinking about the labor and shipping time. No thanks!
Instead I decided to craft our invitations myself. I ordered some Stardream paper and coordinating envelopes online and bought the rest of my supplies at my beloved Michaels. Working off of our new color scheme, I (surprisingly quickly) whipped these up in PowerPoint, had them printed at Kinko’s, and cut and pasted them together. Wanna see?
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.
We’ve been living together for about five years now, and we’ve never had a joint back account. And things have always been fine. We split the rent down the middle. We take turns buying groceries. We split the utilities evenly but pay our own personal bills (student loans, car insurance, individual credit cards, etc.) ourselves and have our own spending money and savings. Read more…
Mrs. Pretzel, SeattleAge and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing EngineerEngagement Date: September 2, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown StudiosAbout Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married.
Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
Once we landed in Pender Harbor it finally felt like we were on vacation. The weeks leading up to the wedding had been rush, rush, rush and with our feet on Canadian soil we were finally ready to relax! Upon our arrival at the Rockwater Secret Cove resort we confirmed our activity agenda with the front desk (kayaking, horseback riding, and a couple’s massage) and went to find our Tent House! This was five-star camping!
Miss Oatmeal, Fresno, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Medical Device Sales RepresentativeFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Police Officer/Captain in the US ArmyEngagement Date: February 16, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Private Residence, FresnoAbout Me: I am a toast-loving, list-making, occasionally crazy California girl getting dangerously close to marrying her crime-fighting, patient, man's man fiancé. I’ve never left our hometown of Clovis, CA, I love Anthropologie so much it almost hurts, appreciate promptness, love that our 4lb. Chihuahua, Murphy, smells like Fritos, am irritated by windshield wipers that move too fast for the amount of rain, love me some cold weather, have an unhealthy obsession with boots, and wholeheartedly think that my family is everything. Mr. Oatmeal is, oddly enough, my brother's best friend. He's also the best thing that's ever happened to me, and together we are planning a vintage chic, backyard, spring wedding with a few nontraditional touches while trying to keep up with our crazy lives.
I suppose I should get to the point and introduce our wedding theme. While I don’t really think I can put a name to it, I’d probably describe it like this:
This wedding is going to reflect us, and believe me when I tell you that we aren’t following any tradition just because we “have” to. I can’t promise everything will be perfect, but I can promise that I’ll be crying a lot, we’re going to have fantastic music, our wedding party’s speeches won’t disappoint, and there won’t be any boring downtime.
OK, back to the fun stuff. I started looking at wedding blogs long before I had a ring on my finger. Speaking of rings, have I told you about mine? Cause I’m in love with it. It doesn’t look like anyone else’s I know, it’s yellow gold, and it’s just wonderful. I’ll try to get a good shot of it one of these days to show you. It deserves its very own post, anyway. So I was talking about how I was frequenting blogs even before the proposal. I’m admitting it because I know I’m not the only one out there that’s done that. So I’d say I had a pretty good idea of the look I wanted pretty early on.
Here are some details that have inspired me over the last few months.
Mrs. Lox, BaltimoreAge and Occupation: 33, Government WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 35. IT ConsultantEngagement Date: May 8, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m an East Coast gal born and bred and a suburban brat turned city rat for the last year. Now Mr. Lox and I enjoy walking all kinds of places, having the coolest things around in our backyard, and especially our garage parking. I love gadgets, toys, Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, monkeys, and our insane cats. I’m a blonde by birth and a redhead by choice. I’m that girl in the cubicle farm with all the cool toys and the file cabinet covered in magnetic poetry. I still use smiley faces in my emails, whether people like it or not. This is not the first rodeo for Mr. Lox nor me. And together, we are planning an intimate afternoon wedding on a budget we can afford by ourselves.
So, let’s talk about music. When I started wedding planning, I didn’t really think about this. In the past I’ve gone traditional, and I’ve gone nonexistent. But it was never something I thought about a great deal. For some reason, this time it seems more important.
With our first venue, the owner said we could have a jazz band, and we were so excited about everything else that we accepted that without thinking. Live music! Fun! That was the extent of our consideration. But after we got home and before I started panicking about the venue, I started to have doubts. Would a jazz band be able to make people dance the night away? Would they play the ceremony too? If not, who would? And what about MC duties…would the band do that too? Or would I have to make other arrangements? And what if they didn’t know our first-dance song?
Since the first-dance song was the only thing I knew was decided, I fixated and started to panic. Mr. Lox tried to calm me down. He tried to tell me we’d figure it out. But my type-A self was not comforted. And the thing about the first-dance song is that the version was extremely important to me. It had to be one exact song, and I wasn’t letting go.
Now, my obsession with the music is too great to contain in one post. But since I know our first-dance song, I can share that here. This is what we (meaning I, from the moment I first heard it years ago) have always wanted.
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.
