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!
So, remember the wedding cake that I said we WILL be having? Well, I made my decision yonks ago, and I’m sticking to it. That cake will be mine. MINE. ALL MINE. (Or really, ours. But mostly mine.) Because it’s so freaking amazing, I’m going to post it here again: be prepared to drooooooool.
Well, I’ve been in talks with our venue about recreating it—one of the inclusions in our wedding package deal was a voucher towards the wedding cake. Once I showed them the image and talked about what I want, they agreed to get a quote on the cake, and came back to me with the difference in price. We managed to get the three-tiered design that you see above, with flowers, for $230. Score!
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. 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.
Time to talk a little about all the mailing that comes along with a wedding. The cost of postage stamps racks up pretty quickly, so what is a bride with far-flung family and friends to do? Really, the answer is going to be different for everyone, so here is what we worked out for ourselves.
We sent our save the dates at Christmas time, tucked into people’s Christmas cards. It meant we sent a few more Christmas cards than we would have normally, but that was still less stamps than mailing Christmas cards in one go, and save the dates in another.
Mrs. Cardigan, AustinAge and Occupation: 21, Student/Soon-to-be Special Education TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 20, Student/Soon-to-be Accounting Systems AnalystEngagement Date: August 16, 2009Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Vintage VillasAbout Me: I'm a native Austinite who was raised as a die-hard Aggie. Luckily, I'm a pretty persuasive girl because I managed to convince my high school boyfriend (now fiance!), Mr. Cardigan, to ditch his hardcore Longhorn ways and join me up at A&M, where we currently reside with our adorable dogs, Cullen & Ranger. We're currently planning a bright, cheery wedding with a ridiculous amount of DIY projects that I can't wait to tackle! I love crafting in any form, reading, and margaritas (I think I love them the most!). Organization is what keeps me sane and I love helping others, which is probably why I ended up as an education major. It gets a little chaotic sometimes when you're planning a wedding among all of the papers, projects, finals, and certification exams, but we're having the time of our lives and we can't wait to get started on our journey as husband and wife - and we're so excited to share our wedding with the hive!
My dress had been waiting on me for a long time. I bought it over a year before the wedding, hung it up in my old room at my parents’ house, and only tried it on when I visited them every few months.
It had been neglected for quite some time, but now…it was time for the dress to have its moment in the spotlight!
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.
Who doesn’t love shopping?? My FMIL’s search for a mother of the groom (MOG) gown continued, and she asked if I minded tagging along. Uhm, do I?! Our destination: King of Prussia Mall. It’s the largest mall on the East Coast—if we couldn’t find something among the high-end retailers and boutiques, we couldn’t find it anywhere. (Which turned out to be the case…)
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!
I’m not gonna lie, assigning tables was not something that I looked forward to doing. Making sure people sat with people that they knew as well as filling in all of the extra spots was a little daunting. The hardest guests were the ones that knew no one else (other than my parents). As the RSVPs came rolling in, I started to work on the escort cards and visualize how our groupings of 10 would go.
Perfect Table Plan made the task a little easier as I was able to import my Excel guest list and play around with table groups. When Mama Elephant wanted to make some changes (and there were more then a couple), it was a simple drag and drop to switch up the seating.
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
I think Mr. Magic might think I have no taste in music. Or maybe just bad taste. Either way, we don’t like the same things. I am into country and mainstream pop music (I know, God forbid, right?!?) and whatever cool alternative or rock music trickles my way. To give you an example, I recently went to three concerts in one week. (That’s not normal for me, though.)
Miss Carousel, Dusseldorf, Germany/Garda, ItalyAge and Occupation: 29, International Product ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Front End DeveloperEngagement Date: May 29, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: I’m an American-Italian girl living in Germany with my Belgian fiancé, planning a wedding in Italy. I can’t wait to show our guests the wonderful Lake Garda, Verona, and want our wedding to be a fun filled, charming, day in the life of “La dolce vita.” Mr. C and I love spending time together, and have added wedding related activities to our cooking nights, dance lessons, and road trips. We love sampling restaurants, could listen to Sinatra all day, and are just a tad geeky and into technology. As we want all of our passions to be part of our marriage, what better way to start than by incorporating them in our wedding day?
I last left you at the moment when Mr. Caro and I had to make a very tough decision: play it safe and bite the bullet, or risk it all and do it our way.
As you probably imagined, we decided to risk it all and do it our way.
But we were feeling so anxious and nervous about it! We were in Italy at the time and had only a handful of days of our vacation left. When would we find the time to look for a new place? How many of them would already be booked? Would we need to change any of our other plans because of the reception-location change?
And then, it happened: we were driving through the town of Garda, and I noticed a sign for the Ristorante ai Beati (which could mean either Restaurant of the Blessed or of the Blissful—you choose your favorite). In the space of a second I remembered noticing the restaurant during my wedding searches but dismissing it since we already had a reception place. I excitedly told Mr. Caro that we should go check it out!
The restaurant was located on top of the hills overlooking the lake and was built in a renovated 14th century mill. As soon as I saw the topiary trees covered with string lights at the main entrance, I thought we’d found our place. (I love topiary trees.)
Catch up on the entire After “I Do” series here! And if you have a burning question you’d like to see discussed, submit it here!
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Do you and your spouse plan “date nights” now that you’re married? What’s the most fun date you’ve been on since getting married?
With our crazy work travel schedules, we’ve made a point that every Friday night is date night, as it is often the only night of the week that we are able to be together in the same city as just the two of us.
We have an ongoing Outlook “appointment” in our respective calendars that starts at 6PM (so if we’re traveling, we try to be back in the city by 6), and typically go out to dinner. About half the time we try a new place, and the other half we go to one of our favorite restaurants. I’m not sure if I have a particular favorite date night, but I love starting out the weekend with a dinner together—I’m typically stressed out from work at the start, but by the end, I’m totally relaxed and ready for the weekend.
On the instances where the Friday night isn’t going to work (like this weekend, where my in laws are in town), we reschedule it an either move it earlier in the week, or push it back to Sunday night. Read more…
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
Mrs. Hyena, College Station, TXAge and Occupation: 23, Marketing SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Aerospace Engineering Grad StudentEngagement Date: January 8, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Downtown 202About Me: I'm a Texas girl who met my future hubby in high school, then headed up to Oklahoma for a college education (BOOMER SOONER!) before moving back to the Lone Star State to be with him. I love reading and recycling, Photoshop and reality TV, making lame jokes and then laughing at them, quoting movies, and Mr. Hyena most of all. I'm perpetually early and I like to get things accomplished. When my cat meows at me, I meow back. We're planning a laid-back, unintentionally DIY wedding with a cocktail-party vibe, and can't wait to celebrate our nuptials with our nearest and dearest!
I planned to go dress shopping with Mom Hyena, Aunt Hyena, and my MOH, Hyena Sis. As luck would have it, Bridesmaid J was also in town, so she came too!
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!
By now these packages have made their way into the mailboxes of the Tartlet guests, lovingly protected with a wrapping of 40# brown kraft paper:
The vintage stamps were purchased off eBay as part of an online estate sale (check out Miss Jam’s post for more on how awesome these are), and I paid less than half of face value for these. Score! These were an homage to Mr. Tartlet’s childhood hobby of collecting postage stamps, something our guests may not be aware of–but have special meaning for us as a couple. I wrote each guest’s address on the front using a calligraphy fountain pen. On the reverse side, guests will see our return address and bit of extra flair: Read more…
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.
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.
What are your wedding colors? You have to know these things when you’re a bride, you know.
We waited to nail down our wedding colors until I started work on the invitation suite. Now that I’ve (finally) started work on that, we got our color palette!
With our crazy work travel schedules, we’ve made a point that every Friday night is date night, as it is often the only night of the week that we are able to be together in the same city as just the two of us.
