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!
Waffle is an animator who was trained in traditional 2-D animation, but does the computer animation stuff because it’s what all the cool kids do if they want to actually pay the rent. I really wanted to highlight his talents at the wedding, and asked if he would animate something short and sweet.
“No. I think you should use your drawings.”
“What? No babe, we should have your animation.”
“Everyone loves and knows your drawings. We should use those.”
Then, somewhere amongst us continuing to quibble over this topic we came to a great compromise. We would make little flip books of us. Like this… Read more…
Mrs. Panther, Atlanta GA/Westport CTAge and Occupation: 24, Web WriterFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Music Recording EngineerEngagement Date: March 13, 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: The Inn at LongshoreAbout Me: I'm a total goofball who goes through life at a breakneck pace, trying not to knock anything over. I tend to fall in love with everything I encounter, but more than anything, I love my two little kitties, Bela and Josie, and my big kitty, Mr. Panther! As a wannabe crafter, I'm still waiting for my artistic talents to emerge. (Any day now, really.) In the meantime, I spend my days eating anything put in front of me, buying every pair of shoes I see and absorbing wedding inspiration from every inch of my surroundings. Mr. Panther and I are hardcore New Englanders planning Connecticut nuptials from our new home in the Dirty South, and can't wait to mix our newfound love of classic Southern charm with some modern city touches.
Mr Panther and I love our photographers. One of their greatest strengths, in our opinion, is their ability to capture the emotion and story of a wedding day. Because of this, we hadn’t planned to hire a videographer. I’d seen my fair share of cheesy wedding videos and didn’t think we’d miss it.
But over time, several married friends and coworkers told me that we might regret it if we didn’t have a wedding video. After hearing it over and over, I started to worry that they were right. So, we began looking into the cheapest videographers possible.
Unfortunately, the lowest price tier of videographers were, uh…not what we had in mind. They were full of cheesy special effects, and seriously—all used background music from 1996 or earlier. Why are so many videographers stuck in the last century?! It just didn’t seem worth it.
I was almost ready to give up on the idea when I got a strange letter in the mail.
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.
We’re really close now, guys! We’re about 60 days from the wedding and I can’t even begin to explain the excitement I feel! There are so many wonderful things happening and planned for the next few weeks: two bridal showers, a bachelorette party getaway, a local event, and best of all, I move in with Mr. B! Amidst all of the excitement, I’ve realized something—this is it!
I’ve realized there will always be gorgeous weddings on Style Me Pretty and 100 Layer Cake. There will always be great ideas and advice here on Weddingbee, and there will always be other weddings. What’s important for me to focus on (especially at this point) is our wedding. We’ve passed the point where we can add or change a lot and it’s silly to put pressure on myself to do too much more anyway. We’ve got the major players: a florist, planner, and caterer and no matter how much I love love love DIY, I’ve come to realize it’s not always necessary.
I wanted to do so many projects—almost everything I saw (and believe me, I’ve seen a lot!), but who would notice if it wasn’t there? Who would notice if the Mr. & Mrs. signs weren’t as fabulous as some others out there? Who would care if our pennant banner said “Sweet End,” “Endings,” or if there was even a banner at all? Read more…
Mrs. Bacon, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 26, Digital Advertising ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, IT Client ServicesEngagement Date: June 17, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Ravenswood Billboard FactoryAbout Me: I'm a Midwestern girl that can't seem to commit to staying in one place for too long and is constantly daydreaming about my next adventure. I am an aspiring foodie with a weak spot for the unusual and I love semi-reality food television. My other loves easily include laughing as a form of exercise, a book that I can't put down, summer baseball games, espresso with whipped cream, couch potato days and nights with the ridiculous Mr. Bacon, and our two kitties, Lincoln and Sawyer. We're planning a faux-destination wedding for 150 of our closest friends and family in the city we've both adopted as home that has a modern, yet whimsical twist and as many personal touches as we can manage.
First look pictures are some of my all-time favorites. I look forward to recaps so that I can see those delightful snapshots of the couple’s private first moment when they are so full of anticipation and excitement. It’s one of those moments when the couple realizes that all the planning, all the stress, all the drama was worth it because the day that they get married has finally arrived. I just love them.
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.
A few weekends ago, my bridesmaids and sisters threw me a bridal shower at my mom’s house in San Francisco. When they first started planning the shower, they asked me if I had any specific requests.
My reply? “Games. Lots of games! And mango salsa.” They’re the two things that I loved the most (aside from Mr. French Toast). I love to organize and play games at parties and showers. And I could eat a whole gallon of mango salsa everyday if I could. (Just kidding, but I do love to eat mango anything.)
And boy did they deliver.
The first game was a scavenger hunt—in our own purses! Everyone had to dig through their purses to find specific items on the list.
Here’s my sister Maggie diligently scouring through her purse.
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!
As dusk fell on Napa, Dr. Houtz finished his sermon and it was time to exchange our vows. I love the traditional Christian wedding vows and neither Mr. Barrettes or I felt a strong urge to write our own. I would have most certainly blubbered though mine and my groom would have simply said, “I love you, you’re beautiful.” We were much better off exchanging the following:
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.
Over half of our wedding guests were from out of town. Over HALF! In addition, many of those guests had never visited Seattle before. Even though we couldn’t welcome each of them when they arrived, we did arrange for welcome bags to greet them when they checked in to their accommodations.
Mr P and I used our Gocco to screen-print a logo that we designed on .99 bags from Cheaptote.com.
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.
Let’s take a break from our regularly scheduled wedding program for a little, colorful, sea coral decorated cocktail party….aka, the Ostrich wedding cocktail party. Read more…
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.
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.
While we spent a pretty big chunk of our honeymoon eating, we did do a few other things!
We went skating by the river:
This was really great because there was a 2km skating path right next to the lake so it was really pretty and scenic. It was also really nice to not have to go around in circles over and over. I was a bit concerned about how I would do on skates, but was pleasantly surprised with my abilities (i.e. I didn’t fall).
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
After striking out at so many venues, we started to question if we’d ever find a place to get married. Location is the all-important decision that determines so much: date, attire, food, colors…on and on. If we caved on location, would our wedding still reflect us? And what else would we have to settle for?
Bridesmaid R and I discussed the pros and cons of the many venues. Nothing was clicking. We were running out of viable options. She had seen photos of a friend’s wedding at this gorgeous venue but couldn’t remember the name of it. I’d forgotten about it in a week’s time, but she followed through (beseechingly emailing the bride) and recommended I check it out. OK, many well-intentioned friends and associates had recommended venues/vendors, and none of them had panned out. Things were about to turn around!
The mysterious venue was revealed to be…the Greenville Country Club. A country club? Really…? Country clubs weren’t even on the list because, aside from the issue of membership, they felt too stuffy and cookie-cutter or were outrageously expensive. Finding a few images online, GCC seemed to be part of the latter group. There were no expectations that we could afford it based on these pictures.
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!
After the vows, after the food, after the speeches, and dancing there will be no grand exit. We newly wedded Cheetahs will likely be the last to leave our wedding reception, either to retire to our hotel room, or to hit the bars with a number of our guests. While we won’t be leaving our wedding in any kind of grand exit, we still want that moment of walking through our cheering guests as they merrily toss or wave a little something at us. So like many before us, we are moving the “grand exit” moment to our ceremony recessional. Now we just have the choose that little something for our guests to shower (or wave or blow or wiggle, etc…) at us.
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).
With a little more than a month until the wedding, our RSVPs are coming in steadily, but I have to admit…I’m a little disappointed. Even though we are still awaiting a ton of RSVPs, we’ve gotten more of these than I would have liked:
Drat! What’s funny (OK, it’s not really funny) is that the people I had in my head as automatic yeses, haven’t necessarily been yeses. Read more…
Mrs. Biscuit, Morgantown, WVAge and Occupation: 24, Dental StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Chemist at a pharmaceutical companyEngagement Date: April 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Catholic Church, Lakeview Golf Resort and SpaAbout Me: I'm an engineer who decided to trek back to my hometown three years ago to become skilled in the arts of drilling and filling. I'm engaged to a pretty awesome guy who tests your assorted benzodiazepines by day and home brews by night. Together we have two fur children, Tsali and Tobias N. Fünkat. I'm a lazy perfectionist and eternal sorority girl who enjoys running, crafting, string cheese, good beer, and bad reality TV. We are planning a Big Fat Italian/Sicilian/Polish wedding filled with DIY details and are expecting 300 +/- 50 guests. Our whimsical summer affair is themed "Alice attends the Mad Hatter Vintage Garden Tea Party in a Ballroom. She Thinks That The Venue is Odd for a Vintage Garden Party, but is Tripping on LSD, so She Doesn't Really Care." Yes, I am the Dickens of themes.
Miss any of the exciting action? Check out Part I here!
So, Mr. Biscuit had ordered the ring. The next step? Ask my father! I know this is a kind of antiquated ritual, but Mr. B wanted to do it. He also didn’t want me to tell anybody. Riiiiiiight.
The day we had started looking for rings, I told my sister. Oops, messed that one up already, huh?
Truth be told, I was completely bursting and couldn’t wait two weeks for the ring to come in, so I told everyone the good news. Seriously, I should have started wearing a sandwich board around; it would have made it easier on my vocal chords.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
