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.
I was looking in our fridge the other day and something in there got me thinking about the little sacrifices/compromises we make for each other. I think these things are essential to any marriage—you can’t just say “well I want it this way, YOU ARE WRONG,” there needs to be some give and take in the relationship.
The reason looking in the fridge reminded me of that was the 2% milk I saw in there. Now, all my life I was a skim milk girl. I drank gallons of it! And only skim milk too, anything else felt like drinking cream to me. When I lived with roommates, I’d buy my skim, another roommate would buy 2%, and another would buy soy. That’s a lot of different types of milk to have in one fridge! When Cinnamon Buns and I moved in together, we bought skim milk for both of us to drink. We’d buy two 4-litre jugs a week, sometimes more. He hadn’t been exclusively raised on skim, like I had, but he was perfectly happy to drink it and pour it over his cereal. It was a little compromise that made our lives easier (not having to monitor levels of 2 different types of milk for grocery shopping), and showed that he was willing to compromise. Weirdly, it made me feel that we were just that little bit closer, not having ‘his milk’ and ‘her milk’. Not that I would have minded buying skim and 1%!
A few years in to our relationship, I started having upset stomach problems, and I eventually realized that they were worst after I’d downed a nice, big, cold, refreshing glass of skim milk.
Mrs. Dolphin, Gainesville, FLAge and Occupation: 24, Graduate Architecture StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Interactive Interface DeveloperEngagement Date: February 14, 2008Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Plantation Bay Country ClubAbout Me: I’m currently a Graduate Student at the University of Florida studying Architecture. I enjoy playing Scrabble with my Fiance, rooting for the Florida Gators, making any drink that involves a blender, cleaning (yes... I’m crazy), design... GOOD design that is, the new Pepsi with natural sugar, taking pictures, discovering new places in the U.S., and obsessing over doing (and designing) everything myself for our upcoming wedding!
Don’t kid yourself and think you will eat at your wedding.
If you have the chance to put any sort of food in your mouth at your wedding, you are one of the lucky few.
Mr. Dolphin and I always said that no matter what, we would eat at our wedding. Because after all, that shiz is expensive and we were getting our…I mean, my parents’…money’s worth. Leading up to our wedding we were so sure of ourselves. We were going to tell people they need to chill so we could enjoy our fabulous stuffed chicken and spring salad, along with maybe a slice of cake or two.
Mrs. Trail Mix, New YorkAge and Occupation: 26, PE TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, MBA StudentEngagement Date: March 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Tannery Pond at the Darrow SchoolAbout Me: I'm a country girl who somehow found herself living in the Big Apple and loving every minute of it. I'm planning a rustic, country-chic wedding in my hometown in upstate New York and it's going to be a Party with a capital P. White wine, flea markets and running keep me happy and my friends, family and fiance are my world. I'm a little bit crafty, a little bit crazy but mostly just crazy in love.
Ah, the budget. The budget is a tricky beast, wouldn’t you agree? Everyone who is contributing to it wants a say in how the funds are used, not to mention the fact that it has a funny way of rapidly expanding (much like my stomach after my recent purchase of six boxes of Girl Scout cookies…).
First off, I gotta put this out there: Tented weddings are not cheap, yo! I originally decided to go this route after looking at packages from a few places that were well above what I thought we could afford. For example, one place I liked would have cost right around $100/head. When I did the math, my eyes bulged out of my head and I decided (without really thinking it through) that a tented wedding would be a better option, since I had been quoted around $45/head from a caterer I had sent an inquiry to. What I didn’t think about was the fact that when you add in all the rentals, the costs per head were probably almost equal! Ooooops…D’oh! *Insert the sound of my palm hitting my forehead here…
Another major issue was location. In a book my mom received about tips for planning a wedding, the number one recommendation to save money was (wait for it…)—to get out of the Northeast. Huh. Well, seeing as how we’d already put down a deposit on our venue at this point, it was too late to do that, but I will say that I agree with the book: the Northeast is a mad expensive place to hold a wedding.
Somehow, in spite of all our penny-pinching and stressing about money, our wedding still ended up costing a sh*t-ton. Read more…
Mrs. Mouse, AustinAge and Occupation: 25, Weddingbee Editor/AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Civil EngineerEngagement Date: December 19, 2007Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Barr MansionAbout Me: I just graduated from law school and will be taking the bar, getting married, going on a honeymoon with my guy, and then trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I was born and raised in a small East Texas town, but I'm no country girl! I'm obsessed with British accents, fantasy (including Harry Potter, of course), and classic rock. My fiance and I consider ourselves both music and beer snobs--but every once in awhile we love to hear a crappy band and drink a cheap brew or two. We're planning an eco-friendly, casual, English garden affair for the end of summer, and we can't wait for it to get here!
Some married people will tell you their wedding day was the best day of their lives. And some “engageds” look forward to theirs in the same way. Others will tell you that your wedding day will be the best day of your life: magical, iconic, pivotal, the culmination of months (or a lifetime, for some) of planning. Maybe a bit too much pressure, huh?
Luckily, for those who aren’t so sure how they feel about this “best day of your life” business, there’s another camp. The (resoundingly refreshing) people who say that, while your wedding day will be wonderful no matter what goes wrong, it doesn’t have to be the best day of your life, and it’s perfectly OK if it isn’t.
If you were wondering, I fall into that second camp. In fact, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that, so far, the best day of my life has been the day after our wedding. All the drama was over. There were no more guests to house, family and friends (love you guys!) to entertain, or crafts to DIY. No more vendors to prod, money to bleed, obstacles to overcome.
Dorky photo from the day after our wedding (and the first time my engagement ring has been seen on Weddingbee!)
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!
Visiting our venue recently for our meal tasting was great, as it gave me another little sneak peek at our room and the details that we’ll be seeing for ourselves soon enough. In case you missed it, this is the beautiful building from the outside.
The room has changed slightly since we originally booked it: the dance floor that was once off to one side has been shifted into the centre of the room. Thankfully, the rest of the details are all still the same—the antique mirrors, the cozy fireplaces, the floor to ceiling windows… Read more…
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.
Finding a caterer has by far been the most difficult wedding task we’ve encountered. We knew we wanted simple comfort food, preferably of the Mexican variety. Easy peasy, right? Yeah, not so much. Many of the catering companies we reached out to either declined to work with a small party like ours or required a minimum order that we were unable to reach.I quickly became discouraged, handed the task to my mom, and proceeded to ignore it for next month.
Lucky for me, I have a resourceful mother. She managed to get me a referral for a local restaurant that specializes in food from the Yucatan region in Mexico, which just so happens to be the region that my mother’s from, and they offered special-events catering! Now before I go on, allow me to share with you the tastiness that is Yucatan food. The food is a delicious mix of Mexican, Lebanese, and Mayan cuisines. It is unlike any other Mexican food, and it’s the cuisine that I grew up enjoying. Needless to say, we were all excited at the prospect of finding a caterer that could provide authentic Yucatan food for our wedding.
Since the restaurant was local, we decided to head over for a Sunday lunch with the family to see if the food was authentic and get the seal of approval from Mom. The food was amazing; we feasted on cochinita, pibil, kibis, and panuchos, and everything was perfect.
Mrs. Seashell, Chicago, IL / Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 28, Marriage and Family TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: September 3, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: The Glen Manor HouseAbout Me: Fonts and fashion, stationery and Sundays, photography and french toast... the beauty is in the details for this fun-loving Chicagoan who loves to plan plan plan! The soon-to-be hubs plays "Mr. Fix-It" in our new condo while I swoon over beautiful, personalized stationery and choose shades of aubergine for my bridesmaids' dresses... and thus begins my new fairy tale! Skirting to the East Coast for our September nuptials where my home state of Rhode Island awaits with fall foliage, I'm just a few dress fittings and bachelorette party away from saying "I Do" to a very happy ending!
After wrapping up at the salon it was time to head back to my parents’ house and officially become a bride. Our photographer and my bridesmaids left the salon first so detail shots were taken before I arrived! It worked out wonderfully because I was starting to feel the time crunch when I made it home. My girls were already dressed so the only thing that stood between me and the wedding was putting on my dress and jewelry!
After stripping down it was time to get me corseted and zipped.
Red rosettes made kholten’s wedding shoes extra special!
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. Crepe, Queens, NY/Nashville, TNAge and Occupation: 28, Jewelry DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Animation DirectorEngagement Date: September 28, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: A church in downtown NashvilleAbout Me: I'm a native New Yorker who has always been a DIY kind of girl and loves tackling creative projects while getting the most out of a dollar. I'm marrying my college sweetheart and we love frequenting antique stores, exploring together, and playing with kittens. We're planning a fun, "us" wedding in his hometown---with as many handmade touches as we can pack into a day!
You know that DIY wedding project you couldn’t wait to tackle the second you got engaged? For most of us it’s the invitations, for others it’s favors. For me, it was most definitely boutonnieres.
I loved this project because I only really need to make a few and we have a tiny wedding party so it was an easy one to tackle. I also liked how this could be done earlier and checked off the list of to do’s. Plus, how cute are vintage millinery flowers?! I went to Tinsel Trading Co. for supplies. Commence gratuitous product shots! I just can’t get over how charming these flowers are.
I was also able to pick up a few rolls of ribbon from their clearance section. Read more…
Mrs. Sparkler, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 27, Communications AficionadoFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, PublisherEngagement Date: July 21, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Chicago Illuminating CompanyAbout Me: I’m a Southern lady living in the big city of Chicago. Well, lady may be a stretch, but I’m working hard to keep some Virginia charm in our sleek, urban, wedding-palooza! I’m addicted to marathons, not-so-famous bands, Chicago restaurants, and Mark Twain. I cry during SPCA commercials, and I think LOST was the best show to ever hit television. Mr. S and I met at a classy college mixer and, 7 years later, he’s still by my side. He’s the only child, laid back, free spirit... I’m the oldest of five kids, type-A, organizer. It doesn’t work on paper, but we’ve never paid attention to that stuff anyway. Somehow it works. And like they say, sometimes when you know…you just know.
I recently mentioned that my sister and I spent some time planning the details for my engagement party. And you may have found yourself thinking, “Hmm, why is Miss Sparkler having an engagement party when she and Sparks have CLEARLY been engaged for nine months??? That seems so silly!” Good question. It does seem so silly. (And have I really been engaged for NINE months? Geeeez.) While I am beyond excited to celebrate with my friends and family, I have to be honest with you all: this is a bittersweet affair.
Our original party was supposed to happen last November, when Sparks and I were (sort of) freshly engaged. I have to admit, that month was shaping up to be pretty good for the two of us. I had two marathons to run, Sparks had so many concerts to go to that he actually made a daily schedule, and my mom was throwing us a (sure to be beautiful) engagement party. I woke up almost every day feeling overly thrilled about the fun stuff coming our way.
Then, as I was pinning on my bib the morning of my second race, we got a phone call that changed everything.
My grandfather had collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital where he was now on life support. I tried to process the information, but it was impossible. I just kept telling myself that it would be OK, that it HAD to be OK. I had never lost a grandparent. All four were strong and healthy…I was in no way mentally prepared for something like this.
Sibs the morning of the race. Shamelessly wearing my Chicago shirt.
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!
On the morning of our wedding my eyes popped open at about 7:00 and they were not interested in closing again. Sister Cardy and BM Audrey were still asleep, so I quietly grabbed my laptop and settled in to write my last post as a “Miss” bee. I tried to force myself to relax in bed, but the excitement had hit me and it wasn’t going anywhere.
I wandered around the suite for a while, trying not to wake anyone else up (I mean, just because I was freaking out doesn’t mean they needed to suffer too!) and I tried to stop myself from breaking out into a dance and screaming at the top of my lungs.
I was just a little bit excited.
Finally, after what seemed like hours (but was probably only about 20 minutes), my bridesmaids woke up and we all started to get ready for the day. We headed out and grabbed some breakfast at a local bakery, then came back to the hotel to wait for the hairstylist to arrive.
Now, you might be asking yourself ”What was Mr. Cardigan doing during this time?” (You probably aren’t asking yourself that, but you might be. Just go with it.)
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!
Mr. Magic and I live together and have lived together for um, like, almost six years now. This living together for such a long time before being engaged has, as you can imagine, caused my parents to make a wide variety of statements—some cliched, some just totally obscure.
My mom, for instance, did the whole bovine analogy. Yes, you know the one…I’m not even going to write it here because it is so freaking trite. I don’t like being referred to as a large farm animal, or as being “for sale.” I am a feminist, and a magician, too, after all.
Mrs. Jam, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Structural EngineerEngagement Date: December 23, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, ILAbout Me: I’m a penny-pinching cat lady getting ready to marry the frugal dog lover of my dreams. Our ideal Saturday morning includes rummaging around people’s junk at garage and estate sales followed by an afternoon date to our favorite café, where we only eat sandwiches that include the word “salad.” We actually love it so much, it’s sort of our unofficial wedding theme: Look at our delicious finds, eat homemade ham salad, and celebrate our love…barndance style. When we’re not obsessing over our love-fest shindig, we’re planning themed parties for our best friends and jamming to '90s music.
There are oodles of things I love about Mr. Jam. So many, in fact, that I couldn’t begin to list them all because this post would start getting a little more mushy and sweet than we would all be comfortable with.
BUT, there is one thing waaaay at the tippy-top of the “Reasons I Heart You” list: Mr. Jam loves a good deal just as much as I do. And I’m not talking about walking into Target and seeing that sundress you almost bought last week now at 75 percent off and magically in your size, calling your name even though you know you should save your money to, you know…eat.
Nah, Mr. Jam and I prefer to wake up at the crack of dawn & dig through piles of junk for our deals. Now I know that a lot of people claim to “thrift or die” and squeal over the first sight of a neon garage sale sign, but I’m telling you right here and now: there is an art to navigating these sales.
Photo: My two MUST-BUYS are retro furniture and vintage linens. That chair and footstool? ONE DOLLAR EACH at separate sales. Pretty much the best deal ever.
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.
Nope, we still haven’t picked out tuxes. Nope, we aren’t sure if the dudes are wearing ties, cravats or bow ties. Nope, the Baconator still hasn’t convinced the guys that they should all don beards in his honor. Nope, we’re not sure how the guys are spending Mr. B’s last day as a single man.
Um, Miss Bacon? What the heck do you know? We know about shoes! The Baconator always says, “I’ve been wearing Chucks since before it was cool…again.” So it was no contest that the Bacon Boys would be donning the famous sneakers on our wedding day. For a while we threw around the idea of some slick wingtips, but once we knew that I wasn’t wearing fancy kicks, there was no reason for him to wear them.
