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?
When we first defined our wedding budget, Mr. Caro and I did not even discuss the option of having a videographer as we didn’t think we’d need one.
Once I realized how common it is to have a professional wedding video, I started wondering if we should consider it as well—but I quickly changed my mind. I found all the videos I saw too cheesy, too cool/fake, or too amateurish. It just didn’t seem to be our thing, so we opted to spend more on photography instead and I was quite content with the decision.
That is, until I saw this video from Winston Tao. This video succeeded where all others had failed: it moved me to tears. Even Mr. Caro got emotional watching it! You should also check it out; I am sure it will brighten your day.
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.
Our wedding to do list is a mess. I’m pretty sure that we aren’t supposed to be investigating rehearsal dinner places until June, and engagement announcements should have been sent out last summer, but what’s a girl to do?
The Baconator and I had decided quite a few months back that the best place to do the rehearsal dinner would be at our favorite pizza place, since they have a downtown location. Of course this didn’t work out because the downtown location only holds 30-40 guests and we’ll need a space that fits 55. Yep, we’ll have as many people at our rehearsal as some people have at their whole wedding, but that’s neither here nor there. So, we are back on the search for a place for our well rehearsed friends and family to chow down. Only one other pizza chain has space for all of our people, but the space isn’t private, so we’d have to shout over all the hubbub of the restaurant on a Friday night, which is so not ideal. 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.
I am amazed how many things we ticked off our looming to-do list this weekend.
1. My dress: It fits (more or less). The bodice needs to be taken in, but the length is perfect when I have my Seychelles sandals on. Aaaaand, the blush-tone drop earrings I picked up last weekend work. They just work. Phew!
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.
All of a sudden it seems like I have a never ending list of things to do. Our STDs have made a home on my kitchen table, which means I need to start making envelope liners, getting stamps, and um… finishing our guest list.
Yeah, our guest list isn’t quite finished yet. Okay, so we have an actual list of people, but their contact info is mysteriously missing.
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.
So, I feel like we’ve talked about pretty much everything *but* our ceremony lately, and that makes me sad. I remember that our officiant was one of the very first vendors we booked. And when we met with her, I told her that my main priority was to create a meaningful and personal ceremony. And the ceremony was at the forefront of my priorities because it alone is the reason for the entire day. And I meant it. And I still do.
So I want to start a series of posts about how we’re making the ceremony portion of our day as special as we can. And the start of that is the music.
Mr. Lox and I are having a DJ for both the ceremony and the reception. We wanted a string quartet…I mean, right up until we priced out a string quartet. I have to tell you, that is too rich for this budget bride’s pocketbook. So I reasoned with myself, a DJ is the next best thing. I mean, we were largely after string arrangements of contemporary music. And DJs have access to a whole host of things fitting that description. Plus the DJ was an incredibly reasonable rate for the entire day. Reasonable you say? What’s reasonable to you Miss Lox? Fair question. Read more…
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 have no real attachment to the unity-candle tradition. I think my main problem with it is that I don’t want to use something once at the wedding and then have store it, having never used it again and feeling guilty every time I want to toss it.
So I went searching for alternatives to the unity candle.
Sand ceremony: Each family has its own color of sand, and the couple each pours their family’s sand into a new container, symbolizing the blending of their families. Doesn’t really solve my storing-it issues, though.
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!
Mr. Candy Apple and I really aren’t Valentine’s Day people. We think it’s just an excuse for the card, flower, and chocolate companies to make a killing, and for single people to feel bad about themselves. So, we don’t usually do anything out of the ordinary for the day. The first Valentine’s Day we were together, way back in the day, he took me out to a really nice dinner and then a play. But we haven’t really done anything since then.
This year, though, because of my wedding-crazed brain, I had my eye on the custom prints that Rifle Paper Co. creates. I love Rifle; their designs are fun, whimsical, and filled with lots of florals. Love love love. Their gorgeous wedding invites are a bit out of our price range, unfortunately, but I became obsessed with their customized prints. The infatuation started over their adorable customized Christmas cards and morphed into a full-blown obsession over the Valentine’s day prints.
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.
I was always the bride-to-be who didn’t want a shower for a million different reasons. Hate the games, hate the fuss, hate feeling awkward as I sit inside a circle of people and open gifts (not that it happens all that often, but still).
Keyword: WAS. I WAS that bride-to-be.
And ever since I received this ray of sunshine in my mail last week, I’ve been positively batty with excitement…
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!
OK, if you aren’t into couponing (which you really, really should be—it is not as much work or as time consuming as you might imagine!) and you already use Groupon and Living Social to get some awesome deals, here is yet another way to save some money!
We all shop online, right? What if I told you that for almost every purchase you make online, you can get 2% to 10%, on average, cash back in the form of a check that is mailed to you? And, it’s legal.
It’s super duper freaking easy! Join either Ebates or Upromise. Every time you want to make an online purchase, log in to one of those sites first, and then click over to the store from their site. You will automatically get a certain percentage of cash back on your order, and it is mailed to you in a check every three months or so.
Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/VancouverAge and Occupation: 32, EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology AnalystEngagement Date: September 3, 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Brock House Restaurant, VancouverAbout Me: I am a marathon runner, cyclist, Ironman triathlete and beautiful shoe fiend who also loves kicking back and watching Glee. I grew up a bit of a nomad as I traveled around the world with my family, living everywhere from Australia to England to South America and Indonesia. I finally settled in Calgary a few years ago and met Mr. Gazelle who loves me even though we cheer for different hockey teams. We are planning a bit of a destination wedding in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia and we can’t wait to share the day with our close family and friends.
Once I found myself affianced, I knew I needed to come up with a special way to pop the question. You know, to ask the girls in my life whether they would do me the honour of being in my bridal party!
I decided to get in touch with my crafty side. As a kid I used to be pretty creative. I would write monthly newsletters complete with fancy formatting and clip art and send them to my friends who had moved to other parts of the world. I would create nifty travel journals full of stories, postcards, mementos, and drawings. I loved being creative, but somehow that desire had fallen dormant while in university, as I just never had time for anything but studying. I figured that planning a wedding was the perfect excuse to reawaken that side of me.
The day after getting engaged, Mr. Gazelle and I were going to have dinner with Bro Gazelle and my sister-in-law. We planned to spill the good news in person, and I wanted to ask my sister-in-law to be my matron of honour at this time. We stopped in to Michaels to gather supplies for this question-popping project, except I had no clear idea of what it was that I wanted to do.
Have you ever wandered into Michaels with no clear plan?
With a guy who really has no interest in shopping at Michaels?
Mrs. Prairie Dog, Cincinnati
Age and Occupation: 24, Program CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, PhD/Biomedical EngineerEngagement Date: December 18, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Glendale LyceumAbout Me: I'm a pilgrim soul of a girl with a house full of books and a coffee addiction that could slay Juan Valdez. My life is a whirl of grammar correction, good music, glue-gunning, and two pets named Hazel and Winston Churchill. I'm marrying my high school boyfriend in a formal-ish spring affair, roughly themed: "Elizabeth Bennet crashes a party co-hosted by Jay Gatsby and Cath Kidston, and loves it."
I brought it on myself. I’ll own up to that. When we started putting save the dates together, we encountered a few sticky whom-to-invite situations. I should have confronted the issues when they surfaced and taken the time to ask my family/friends/you guys for advice. Instead, I thought to myself: that sounds like a problem for future me! Well, Future Me is here now, and she HATES Former Me for her negligence.
Children…?
Oh, the children issue. We thought we’d skirted it because, when we got engaged, we barely knew anyone with kids under 10. But now our invitation list has changed and currently includes several people with young kids. Our reception is really not kid friendly—a historical property for which we carry a hefty event insurance policy, there’s an open bar, probably cigars for the patio, etc. My mom assured me that most people won’t even want to bring their kids—much more fun to have a grown-up evening to eat a nice dinner, dance and utilize the open bar. I guess we’ll see what happens. If young kids show up on RSVPs, I may hire a babysitter/RN/whatever classifications are important to parents and have him/her available in the downstairs rec room of our venue. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. No biggie.
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.
… That’s the wedding train, which just keeps on coming, even though I would really like it to slow down for a minute!
Hive, I’ve been such a bad blogger, and I’m so sorry. I can’t complain about being super busy, because I’m the one who decided to move three months before the wedding, but I have to say, it’s been NUTS! This past weekend, we did the official move, and now we’re working on settling into our new place. My wedding dress and shoes were among the last items to make the trip over in my car—I just couldn’t bear to put them in the moving truck!
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!
Remember when we invited the president, the pope, and Mickey Mouse to our wedding? And we heard back from both Walt Disney World and Disneyland? Six months later, I had begun to give up hope on the president, when I found this in our mailbox the other day:
Not sure if you can tell by the photo, but the return address is printed via thermography. The text is beautiful and raised. 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.
This is the first pair of shoes I’ve seen and thought, “YES. These would work!” See, I’m being extra picky about my footwear because (*big wedding dress hint coming up!*) my gown came in under budget, thus allowing my shoe budget to grow to couture levels of awesomeness. I could pocket the extra money… or I could get shoes. Sigh. I hate having to decide between practicality and shoes. I am a very practical girl. But lately I’m feeling the urge to splurge on beauties like these: Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
