Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
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!
Oh, I’m sorry if you don’t recognize me. I know the name Mrs. Giraffe sounds strange, but I swear I’m just the same as that Miss Giraffe from a week-and-a-half ago. Really.
I logged into Weddingbee on the second day of our honeymoon to see all the well wishes you guys left for me and the Mister. It was wonderful. Thank you.
Mr. Giraffe and I just returned home from Mexico on Sunday and I’m back at work today so we’re trying to get settled into a routine. Y’know, a routine that means packing and moving into our new townhome and how to start the process of changing my name. Man, I thought I’d be done with projects now that the wedding is over… Read more…
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.
Mrs. Bunting, Grand Rapids, MIAge and Occupation: 24, freelance illustrator & print productionFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, graduate of historyEngagement Date: December 3, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Spring Grove Park & St. George Banquet CenterAbout Me: I am a freelance illustrator and designer with a love of nature and a taste for adventure. Textures and color fuel my world, along with apple cider and noodles. I'll try anything once, especially if it involves heights or food. I've hiked the Grand Canyon, gone sky diving, cuddled a baby wolf, and now my latest venture consists of designing and planning a large wedding involving color, DIY details, love, and marrying my best friend.
…our wedding date, that is. Mr. Bunting has a lot of out-of-town and out-of-state relatives, so save the dates were a must for us. OK, I absolutely love paper and designing things to go on paper, so I would have made STDs (tee-hee, it never gets old) regardless of how many guests are from out of town.
Hive, I have a confession. I’m known to be a bit of a perfectionist. Not a “Rrrrrggh, I’ll go bridezilla on you!” perfectionist, but nevertheless someone who obsesses over the tiniest details. I am also an artist (an illustrator, to be specific). Combine those two elements and you wind up with an artist who has to create the absolute PERFECT representation of who-we-are-as-a-couple design to share with the world. That’s a lot of pressure. And requires a LOT of thought. So as you can imagine, our STDs were not created right away.
In fact, I may or may not have procrastinated a little. Or a lot. I knew I wanted to have an illustrated drawing of us, but suddenly the deadline to mail them out was looming, and I didn’t even know where to begin, and oh gawd I really need to settle on our colors, and I want to draw us but it’s been so long since I’ve drawn people and does Mr. Bunting look too Asian and why don’t I look right and yes we shall have blue hair because it’s cool and finally, WHEW-THEY’RE-DONE! As done as they’ll ever be, anyway! I wasn’t completely satisfied, but sometimes you just have to set things free (especially when they’re overdue).
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.
After we had done a few photos on the beach, Sol took us to the backside of the hotel where some beautiful mangroves were growing. We found a little path and started to walk down it.
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
People are going to ram down your throat the notion that this is the most important dress in the whole wide world. It has to be absolutely perfect and it is going to be expensive. I didn’t really care for the pressure that those kind of thoughts evoked. Instead I decided I’d find a pretty dress and hopefully one that was affordable. It’s a dress I’m only going to wear for ONE day, and since my wonderful mother offered to pay for it, I wasn’t going to take advantage of that and demand she spend a ton of money on one garment.
You know that it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies for me to dress shop. Finding one (and one at a GREAT price) freed up my mind to focus on other aspects of the wedding and freed up some funds that could be spent elsewhere—like on yummy food for our guests.
Dress Shopping Tips—What I Did
1. Make an appointment in advance.
The appointment should be free. (If they charge you run far, far away!) Having a scheduled appointment ensures that you have personalized service and a fitting room. The consultants will help you in and out of the dress as well, which makes things go LOTS faster. Read more…
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.
After our little photo shoot in the parking lot of the Church we were ready to play model for a bit. Instead of going back into the Church for formal portraits we loaded into our party bus and headed south to Seattle. Like many Catholic brides we had a couple hours’ gap between the ceremony and the reception. We used this time to take some family and wedding party portraits while we made our way to our venue in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. For formals, Mr P and I chose a modern backdrop, Olympic Sculpture Park.
Perhaps my favorite of all of our formals is this picture of my parents, SIL Tig, Niece, Nephew, and Big Bro Pretzel. The kids really make this shot for me and I love the lighting. Read more…
Mrs. Snow Cone, Pittsburgh/Johnstown, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Public Health Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, EngineerEngagement Date: April 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: OMOS Church ceremony/Sunnehanna Country Club receptionAbout Me: I’m one of the lucky ones---I met my future husband at the ripe old age of 13, started dating him as a mature woman of 15, and have been enjoying the ride ever since. Here we are, 8 years later, living in Pittsburgh, planning a "homestination" wedding in the place our school romance began---Johnstown, PA. I thrive on talking a mile a minute, eating my weight in chocolate, and internet shopping. I love a lengthy to-do list almost as much as I love a healthy amount of chaos in my life. Mr. Snow Cone and I watch countless episodes of Friends and The West Wing on repeat, root for rival college sports teams, and make each other laugh each and every day. We’re putting together a small-town wedding with a big personality and a classically modern (or modernly classic?) look for 250 of our closest family and friends. It’s been 8+ years in the making, and sometimes I still can’t believe I’m finally getting to marry my high school sweetheart!
After weighing my makeup options, I decided that, barring any huge curveball, I would be doing my own wedding-day makeup. Instead of splurging on a professional makeup artist for the wedding, I decided I’d pursue a much smaller splurge and schedule a professional makeup consultation to help guide my DIY makeup on W-Day. I researched some options and landed on a makeup artist who offered a service called a “bridal makeup lesson,” which is designed for people who are pretty comfortable with basic makeup application but are interested in adding some oomph for the big day…I’d say that describes my makeup situation pretty perfectly!
Instead of just picking up the phone and scheduling a consultation, I decided to make a little wager with myself. As so many brides before me have described, every woman wants to look and feel her best on her wedding day, which usually translates to toning up and/or dropping a few pounds. Physique-wise, I’m not shooting for anything drastic. I just want to be healthy and feel good about the way I look in my dress, period, end of discussion. So, to recap, I wanted to be healthier AND I wanted a makeup consultation. I let these two desires join forces and engaged in a little bridal-beauty bribery.
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.
This past weekend I was in Menomonie, WI celebrating a close friend’s nuptials. It was a fabulous weekend, and a great trip. When we came home, we were greeted with a Facebook status from one of Mr. Biscuit’s aunts. It turns out that the hotel where we are having our wedding is completely booked on our wedding date. How did this happen?
Well, our room block has been long gone, as my side of the family and my friends jumped the gun and booked their rooms in March (thanks friends/family!). Mr. Biscuit’s family, however, had not booked their rooms yet.
And during that period of time between March and May, participants in a motorcycle convention booked our hotel. It’s the largest motorcycle convention in the area, called Mountainfest. If you’ve never heard of Mountainfest, a few competent motorcyclists and thousands of others who need their licenses revoked flock to my town and rev their engines for a weekend. It’s harmless fun, and the patrons are very polite and bring a lot of business to Morgantown, but most of the area does try to refrain from leaving their houses for those three days. Read more…
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!
After everyone had their fill of cupcakes, the dinner portion of the night was over and it was time to dance! Our DJ asked everyone to move into the reception room, so Mr. Cardigan and I could have our first dance.
Way back when we were first engaged, I thought that we would have a choreographed first dance. I wanted it to be unique and fancy and amazing. But then we couldn’t afford the lessons, and while I was disappointed I soon realized that it was almost better this way. We wouldn’t have to stress about having a perfect first dance, and we’d be able to relax, enjoy ourselves, and just bask in the glow of being married.
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
a.) to further enhance our laid-back, rustic vibe, and
b.) to ease some of the expense of renting so many chairs.
We will be renting some tables and chairs, but I thought some wooden benches would be cute to have around the fire (AKA the s’mores station!) and scattered about for some extra seating.
First, my dad took a chainsaw to some tree stumps that were left over around the house that we burned down. He measured the length from the floor to the seat of his kitchen-table chairs and used that as a guideline for the height of the stumps.
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
After three attempts and no suitable garter, I turned to the internet and found this tutorial. Although it took my addled brain a few minutes to understand what was written, I figured it out and made my garter in no time. Because I changed a few things, here are is my tutorial for DIY-ing your own garter.
Materials needed: lace, ribbon, elastic, two safety pins, sewing machine, and hot glue gun.
Step 1: Measure out your materials. I just wrapped the elastic around my leg where it was comfortable and cut it, but you can be more precise and use a ruler if you are so inclined. I like to take shortcuts, which you will notice a lot during this tutorial. To measure the ribbon and lace, I just wrapped them around my leg twice and cut them. If you want more ruffles in your garter, just cut these a little longer.
Note: For this tutorial, you should make sure that your ribbon is wider than your elastic. In my case, I used 3/4″ elastic and ribbon that was about 1 1/4″. This gave me plenty of fabric to create the necessary gathering for the garter.
Step 2: Hot glue your ribbons together. You could sew them and make them look nicer if you wish, but my glue skills are marginally better than my sewing skills, so I stuck with the glue.
Step 3: Sew one edge of your ribbon to your lace. It will then look something like this:
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!
Mrs. Bunting, Grand Rapids, MIAge and Occupation: 24, freelance illustrator & print productionFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, graduate of historyEngagement Date: December 3, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Spring Grove Park & St. George Banquet CenterAbout Me: I am a freelance illustrator and designer with a love of nature and a taste for adventure. Textures and color fuel my world, along with apple cider and noodles. I'll try anything once, especially if it involves heights or food. I've hiked the Grand Canyon, gone sky diving, cuddled a baby wolf, and now my latest venture consists of designing and planning a large wedding involving color, DIY details, love, and marrying my best friend.
I won’t get into how Mr. Bunting and I met quite yet, but I will share with you how we became engaged.
The date was December 3rd, the year 2009.
Cue flashback music and foggy effects.
It was the night of my BFA Exhibit, the thesis art show I had been working toward for the past four-and-a-half years since first stepping into the art department as a freshman student. The past six months revolved around this single show: brainstorming ideas and themes, deciding on subject matter, creating the art work, refining the art work, figuring out how to display everything, designing and mailing out postcards to those invited to the reception, organizing food (this is beginning to sound like a mini-wedding, isn’t it?), putting my thoughts into words with an artist statement, and making it all come together in a professional manner. Like most thesis projects, if you didn’t do it right then you wouldn’t graduate from the program. Read more…
Ms. Sloth, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion BloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design AdminEngagement Date: December 25, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Bartram's GardenAbout Me: I'm an internet junkie and music snob with a good eye for a bargain. I couldn't live without thrift store shopping, cheeseburgers, sushi, Coke Zero, websites devoted to silly photos of baby animals, Photoshop, and Mr. Sloth. Speaking of which, he and I are a pair of goofball homebody nerds who love our beagle (the most ridiculously adorable dog EVER) to an embarrassing degree. We're planning a low-key and intimate yet festive and quirky outdoor wedding with DIY details and deeply personal touches, and it's all taking place in the city where we fell in love and call home: Philadelphia.
I’m trying to fill time between now and the time we get our pro pics back, so I figured I’d give you all our budget breakdown.
Ah, the budget.
When we first started off planning our wedding, we wanted to stick to a $10,000 budget. But we quickly discovered that that number wasn’t going to happen. We bumped it up to $15,000 but we quickly went over that as well. Weddings in Philly are expensive, period, and tented weddings are even more expensive because you have to rent everything. We could’ve saved a lot of money if we’d used a different venue, but we had the wedding we wanted. And I don’t really mind the fact that we went over budget, because I think that we spent the money fairly wisely. Sure, we could’ve had a much more affordable wedding, but we didn’t go into debt and we had no regrets.
And that’s my advice when it comes to budgeting. If it’s possible, try for no debt and no regrets. We don’t regret anything we spent money on, and we don’t regret forgoing anything we didn’t spend money on. We spent a lot of dough, but we’re okay with it. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
