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.
Pinning down a baker has proved tricky. Our venue recommended Baker #1, a popular bakery with a great pedigree, but offered us the option of using a credit toward whomever we wish. Since we knew nothing about wedding cakes or the process, we started off with Baker #1. We were still a year out and hadn’t even found my dress, let alone picked colors or flowers. In our initial email, we emphasized that the flavor of the cake was more important than the appearance. And we were more than willing to pay for the privilege of a tasting; just let us know the cost and when would be a good time. And that’s where Baker #1 dropped the ball.
Mrs. Lobster, BrooklynAge and Occupation: 29, Finance GirlFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Finance BoyEngagement Date: July 25, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Stage 6 Steiner StudiosAbout Me: I'm a New York-born, Virginia-bred girl who's found her way back to the big city. Mr. Lobster and I met in grad school and have been together ever since. I'm clueless about DIY but am an avid online shopper and love all things polka dots, stripes, and ruffles! When I'm not making wedding lists, you can find me looking for snacks, watching Gilmore Girls, or hanging out with Mr. Lobster and our new puppy Buddy! We are planning a fancy-pantsy Brooklyn wedding for a hot New York summer night which is sure to be a misadventure in the making.
What are we going to do with it? Heavy D. and the Boyz certainly ask some thought-provoking questions.
Well, hive, this is the last wedding-related post. As people trickled out after saying goodbye, I honestly could not believe that was it. After a year’s worth of planning, our wedding day had come and gone.
Personal photo
We did not do a formal send-off and had to settle a few miscellaneous things with the venue before leaving (e.g., gimme those leftovers so I can eat them in the car). By the time we were ready to leave the venue, I didn’t want to go. They had to shove me into the car (and especially with my poofy dress). 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!
So, last we left off, everyone was good and warmed up with the libation of their choice and appetizers. It was time for the games to begin. Dun, dun, dun…
THE NEWLY-ENGAGED GAME!
Yep, my ladies decided to do a spin on the Newlywed Game at our shower. We had to answer personal questions about each other in order to earn the right to open our gifts. GULP! EEK! When Mr Waffle caught wind of this game he asked for a stronger drink. The next thing I knew, Captain Toes had handed him a beer and a glass of scotch…and Waffle is not much of a drinker.
Captain Toes was our MC and the questions started out easy and painless, but there were soon quite a few that made me blush in the presence of kids and Mama Waffle. It was a good thing Mr Waffle was double fisting it with some strong stuff. His answers were sooooooo funny. I laughed so hard I almost cried.
Here are some of my favorite questions and answers from the evening… 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.
OK, so my title is definitely tongue in cheek. I realize that what I am going to talk about today is frivolous, but the heck with it, I’m telling you about it anyway.
My mother and I were on the same page for a specific detail of the wedding: the chairs. More specifically, we weren’t big on the naked banquet chairs. Some people don’t notice chairs, but we both have noticed them at every wedding we’ve ever been to. I thought the pictures came out cuter with a covered chair. My mother, however, was somehow convinced that the heavens would open up and a deity with a trident would scourge the bride who allowed her guests to sit on a naked chair.
So, we agreed on something. It was important to both of us to have chairs with slip covers provided to us at the low, low price of $6.00 per chair (insert sarcasm).
Then, I found wedding blogs and started seeing different chairs. 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!
Yes, I’m continuing with my Katy Perry references. Don’t judge me.
Hive, hive, hive, I’ve got some news for you all. You see, ever since I shared my big news that Daddy G (who works for Melrose Pyrotechnics) surprised me with the fact that we’ll be having fireworks at our reception, it’s all I can think about.
Picture fireworks right now. Did you do it yet? Amazing. Now picture them at a wedding reception. Double amazing, you say?
Well, that’s what I said too, and then I realized that my imagination couldn’t do it justice. I could let you enjoy all of those pretty images in your head, but instead I just have to show you what I’m looking forward to. No, the fireworks in these photos weren’t done by my dad, but they are amazing and I can only hope for something this epic on my big day.
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!
I have a question to ask that might be a little strange, but I’m going to go ahead and put it out there anyway: have you ever or did you ever worry that your reception was going to get boring?
I’m not talking about to you as a couple, more about the enjoyment of things from the perspective of your guests. I’m still yet to finalise our time-line for the wedding yet, but I’m already starting to get a little nervous that our do will be a fairly run-of-the-mill event.
Like many bees before me, there are quite a few activities we’re skipping. Miss Prairie Dog touched on the omission of the garter toss and bouquet toss just last week—something that made me breathe a huge sigh of relief, because that has never been on the cards for the Jaguar wedding. A lot of our reasons are similar, but also, our guests are mostly older family members. We don’t have a lot of young, rowdy single folks on our invite list, so they would be unnecessary and more than a little awkward traditions that just don’t fit.
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!
After our first dance and my dad’s welcome speech it was finally time to eat. By this point I was starving and our dinner smelled so good! We decided on a family-style presentation, which all the guests ended up really liking. Our dinner was catered by Tra Vigne and included the following:
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.
A bride bookworm + a groom writer = no pillow. And the title of this book aptly sums up the Ostrich love story and the stories we’ll be writing year after year. Oh, and it has a zebra print book cover. OBSESSED. 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!
Mr. Lion and I really wanted to go to the Alps for our honeymoon, but it just wasn’t in the cards this year. After graduating from grad school and law school, starting our first grown-up jobs, and paying for most of our wedding, there was no way we could afford the trip, or the time off for such a long trip. We decided to put it off, but for how long? Going to Europe during the summer can be really expensive because it’s tourist season. Munich during the fall would be really crowded due to Oktoberfest, and there was no way Mr. Lion was going anywhere colder than Atlanta during the winter. So, we decided to go next spring, for our one year anniversary.
We solved that problem, but we still didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing for our honeymoon. Then it hit us: why don’t we just do a second, smaller trip? LotsofBees have blogged about the concept of a Minimoon, and we decided to jump on that bandwagon. Read more…
ClassifiedsFeature Launched: April 30, 2008About: A roundup of the best Weddingbee Classified listings.
Mrs. Hermit Crab, New York, NYAge and Occupation: 24, Youth Director soon to be Grad StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Medical Student - soon to be Surgery ResidentEngagement Date: October 11, 2008Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: New York Botanical GardenAbout Me: I love all things food, books, our furbaby, Rashi, and adventures with my amazing fiance (oh, and saving the world!). This summer I will not only be a bride, but a bridesmaid, officiant, and attendee as well---it's all about weddings in my life right now, full of so many exciting moments and projects. We're planning a fab New York City wedding weekend full of family, love and lots of color!
We conclude the ceremony with nissuin, the reciting of the sheva brachot, literally “seven blessings.” These blessings begin by praising God for the sources of joy we find in the world and lead into a more specific request that God grant joy to this couple. The final blessing poetically lists numerous manifestations of joy, such as dance, song, unity, love and peace, all of which the Bride and Groom are certainly feeling at that moment. Read more…
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.
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!
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!
One our favorite parts of planning this whole wedding shindig? The tasting! Mr. Cheetah and I made the two hour drive to and from Palm Springs in one afternoon just to attend our tasting—and those four hours in the car were not a waste, my friends. The Viceroy knows how to feed a person!
Mrs. Cotton Candy, Riverside, CAAge and Occupation: 29, Field CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Process ServerEngagement Date: July 5, 2007Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Riverside Art MuseumAbout Me: I’m a girl in love with her best friend planning a small mid-century modern inspired wedding that’s been a long time coming. I love all things design, sewing, flea markets, and a good book. I’ve been known to swoon over a well-designed chair and often find myself craving a new addition to my chair collection regardless of the lack square footage in our home. I’m Mexican American girl who hates all things spicy but loves her rowdy Mexican family and her Latin roots. My wedding muses may not be your typical wedding superstars, but with a lot of DIY, a dash of offbeat style, and lots of love and laughs, Mr. Cotton and I plan to create a day that is unmistakably us.
When the mister and I first began searching for a venue, we both were 100% certain that we wanted to focus our search in downtown Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Unfortunately for us, the first batch of potential venues turned out to be either way out of our price range or unwilling to work with a guest count as small as ours. It was a complete bummer, which left us discouraged and a little gun shy to continue searching.
After our first attempt left us doubting our choice to have our wedding in Los Angeles, the mister and I regrouped and decided to come up with a more creative hunting strategy. We reasoned that with the overly inflated cost that typically accompanies anything even remotely related to weddings, we would avoid any and all wedding-related websites and magazines and instead choose to focus our search on city websites, Craigslist, and good old fashioned driving around.
After a couple of weeks of searching the web and making note of any spaces for rent during our time in the city, we had compiled a pretty hefty list of available locations that we whittled down to two top contenders.
The first one was the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Located at the top of Baldwin Hills in Culver City, the Overlook is an amazing location with beautiful views of the city, while still having a natural setting to plan your wedding around.
