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!
Why is picking out the bridesmaids’ dresses so freaking tough? Because it IS tough. Really, really hard. I’ve been searching online for months and nothing really reaches out and grabs me. I’ve looked at the Dessy Group, Alfredo Angelo, and David’s Bridal. They are all fine, some are OK, but nothing is stellar to me.
Here are some of the confounding factors:
1. I’ve been a bridesmaid before and know how it feels to shell out a lot of dough for that role. And particularly, for a dress that is just OK, or a dress that I feel like I could have found a very similar version of for a lot less on my own. Or for a dress I will never wear again. Cause, really, when will you wear it again?
You won’t. It’s (probably) statistically proven. (source)
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. 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!
After the haircut mishap of 2008 and growing my hair out for what seems like forever, I’m thrilled to once again have long locks and the versatility that comes with them! However, perhaps some of you have also found that too many choices can be a paralyzing problem. I have a hair trial next week with the ladies at Posh Studio, and I’m nowhere near zeroing in on a style that complements my overall “look.” And, as I was writing this post I realized that you’ve seen my dress, and you’ve seen the shoes, but I have yet to share my veil with you!
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.
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!
You guys have heard that I need cake flags for my wedding. I have to have them, as simple as that.
I figured cake flags have to pretty simple to make, and they are. In fact, it was the easiest DIY yet! Ten points for the Giraffes!
To start, I needed to find the perfect blue paper. Here’s a bit of advice for you guys. Scrapbook paper (at 12″x12″) was $.59, and I couldn’t find the right paper so I was going to get a big 16″x20″ blue sheet of artists’ paper for $1.60. It was giant, and cheap, but it wasn’t quite the right color, but I was going to get anyway…until I walked past the poster board aisle and saw I giant super big piece of poster board for a whopping $.89 in the perfect shade of blue.
So I bought six.
Anyway, I headed home with my giant poster board and decided to get working. (P.S. I did all that shopping at Hobby Lobby; my Michael’s only had neon colored poster board).
My poster board was so perfect, I took a photo for you all. Sorry about putting it on a laundry basket.
Oh… I also bought one other thing from Hobby Lobby. Read more…
Mrs. Zebra, Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 24 Marketing/Costume DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26 Management/Firefighter Engagement Date: December 12, 2008Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: The Providence BiltmoreAbout Me: I'm a small town New England girl with an affinity for procrastination, crossing the proverbial line, and putting her foot in her mouth. I'm a lover of history, all seasons, sewing and Incubus. I design costumes on the side for my old high school's theatre department, which is where I met my sexy man. Our motto for our Big Fat Lebanese/Portuguese/Irish near-300 person wedding is "the more the merrier"! We are marrying in a Catholic ceremony and are hammering out the details of our Victorian-inspired reception.
Oh hey, you guys wanted to see these…didn’t you? I was hoping to give you a budget breakdown but you see, I’m running a little low on time—and I lost all the receipts when my old email died a miserable death. I’m super proud of these bad Larrys. They took quite a while to conjure up but they were definitely worth it.
I ordered the paper and envelopes from either Paper and More or Paper-Papers. Again, I wish I could give you more information, but wahhhhh! I lost everything. I had good experiences with both websites.
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.
The day before the wedding started off so pleasantly. I lounged around in our hammock for a couple hours reading my Kindle followed by a long leisurely shower in our outdoor Mayan shower. It sounds weird but something about showering with a light breeze and the sun shining down on you just makes you feel like life doesn’t get any better.
After a late lunch with Mr. Meerkat, I headed off to the spa solo for a little pampering time. As I rounded the path I saw this. Read more…
Wedding BiosFeature Launched: September 12, 2008About: Wedding bios of real brides.
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 blog reading for a little celeb crushing, shall we?
these past few weeks I’ve been burning the midnight oil, combing through every single fashion magazine and blog for wedding hair inspiration….but I’ve been coming up empty. There were cute styles, but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, ya know what I mean?
So, I turned to the always inspiring Weddingbee boards and stumbled upon some terrific threads that gushed about one of my favorite topics:
Can I tell you how fun it was to read through these threads? I mean, who doesn’t love talking about the girl celebs they heart the most? AND, as I narrowed down my top girls, I also realized all of my ladies had one thing in common (besides the fact they are drop dead gorgeous and have exquisite style): they have GORGEOUS hair. Hair that I would dream of having….on my wedding day!
Alright, enough with the gushing. It’s time for us to share. Read more…
Mrs. Starfish, Boston/NewportAge and Occupation: 25, Operations AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SalesEngagement Date: October 8, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: The Atlantic Beach ClubAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
When I had walked down the aisle with Starfish Dad during our rehearsal dinner, I pretty much ran down the aisle. I was so nervous. He warned me in the waiting area on the day of the wedding that “this is not a race.” He tried to help me relax as I waited. We talked; he and Sister Starfish were teasing me and were able to get me to smile, but I was still a big ball of nerves.
Then something unexpected happen. As I walked down, I turned the corner to the main aisle and saw Mr. Starfish waiting for me at the end. My nerves disappeared. Not only my nerves, but the entire room. This was the moment Mr. Starfish and I had our “first look.”
I saw his smile and we locked eyes. Mr. Starfish’s smile was contagious. As I saw his grin, my stress disappeared and a smile came across my face.
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?
Nowadays it is very easy to share ideas and gather wedding inspiration from all over the world. However, regardless of the style and design choices, wedding customs and conventions are still very much local. (Yes, even weddings have gone glocal.)
At our wedding there will be guests from different countries and continents. They will all have different wedding expectations and will compare our wedding to what they are used to. Here is a small overview of what kind of expectations we might be dealing with:
Northern Europe
From what I’ve seen, in Northern Europe proposals and marriages are very underrated. There is not much pressure to get married to begin with, as many couples never get married at all. Engagement rings are often simple bands and the ceremony is a private affair where only close family participates. All the friends join later on in the evening (or even the day after) for a dinner plus disco-style dancing, which often goes on till the wee hours of the morning. Read more…
BeehiveFeature Launched: Aug 31, 2006About: A forum for readers to post questions and get feedback from the hive, aka the weddingbee community.
How are we liking having to wake up an hour earlier? Juuust kidding. But, we are loving the extra hour of daylight that spring daylight savings time brings, and with that, we’re showcasing our favorite picks for spring wedding favors!
Mrs. Penguin, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in ChiefFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical TherapyEngagement Date: January 29, 2007Wedding Date: June 7, 2008Blogging Since: September 14, 2007Venue: Winery in the Gold CountryAbout Me: I love the Spice Girls, dogs with underbites, bean burritos, making messes, high fives, avoiding showers, crossword puzzles, blogs, weddings, and blogs about weddings!
Hi hive! The times are changing and so is wedding invitation wording! We’d love to know how you chose to address couples in your wedding stationery. If a woman and her husband share the same last name, how will you/did you word your wedding invitations?
As a thank you for taking our survey, one random entrant will win the BRIDES Wedding Collection invitation of their choice, with invitations up to 200 people!
You can choose from over 30 invitation styles (pending availability) from the entire current BRIDES collection, available at Michaels. Simply take the survey and then comment below that you voted on an option to be entered into the contest! You have until Wednesday, March 30 at 11:59PM to enter. Good luck!
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.
When I see wedding recaps where the bride and groom have all morning to get ready at a leisurely pace I get a wee bit jealous. Late afternoon or evening weddings can set a nice relaxed vibe for the day. Unfortunately I knew that this was never going to be the way that our wedding day went. In some Catholic churches the latest that a Saturday wedding can start is around 1:30 or so. This is because the Church needs to be clear for confession and for Saturday vigil Mass in the evening. Our wedding was scheduled for 1:30, so our day started with a 7AM wakeup.
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!
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
But, we are loving the extra hour of daylight that spring daylight savings time brings, and with that, we’re showcasing our favorite picks for spring wedding favors!
