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.
Over the course of planning, my dad brought up lots of old memories from my childhood and I could tell he really couldn’t believe his “baby” was getting married. I struggled with finding the perfect song for us.
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 know this is a little late coming since Part 1 and Part 2 of the Shiny! series were um…a long time ago. But! But! I now have all my wedding jewelry, and a couple of stories to boot.
Originally, I was going to borrow jewelry from Aunt Hyena as my “something borrowed.” Over time, that kind of fell through as she didn’t have a lot of jewelry that was silver or white gold, or I didn’t find anything that I liked, or the things I did like were broken. It’s OK, though. I have an even better “something borrowed” now, which I am not going to share here because it deserves a post of its own. (Coming soon to a theater near you: The Amazing Story of Two Women, Two Weddings, and an Unexpected Swap! It will make you laugh! It will make you cry…because you’re laughing too hard! Ebert and Roper give it two thumbs up!)
Oh, the crummy things you can throw together in Photoshop (top left and bottom pics by moi, top right pic by Bridesmaid J)
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 mentioned before that due to Mr. E’s finals we would be taking our honeymoon a month after our wedding. We both needed some time off before going back to work so we headed back to San Antonio (the destination of our first road trip together) for a little minimoon relaxation.
When I say relaxation, I do mean relaxation. It was so nice to have the time away and have nothing planned. Right before the wedding (thanks to several suggestions from other bees) Mr. E and I decided to finally make the semi big purchase of a new Cannon Rebel T2i, so I enjoyed playing around with it on our trip.
We headed by the Alamo (celebrating 175 years) and strolled the Riverwalk.
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!
I’ll admit, I’ve been panicking a little bit over my first dress fitting.
Panicking because my dress has been so snug. Panicking because despite working my butt off with diet and exercise, I’ve been staying the same size. Panicking because I wasn’t sure of the costs involved with alterations. Just plain panicking.
This afternoon, I headed to our local bridal store with my MOH-extraordinaire, with dress, shoes, veil and super-sucky-inny-undergarments in tow, ready to suck it in and pin it up. And thankfully as the title of this post suggests, IT FIT. [insert a huge sigh of relief here!]
I put it on with my wedding shoes and it’s being hemmed to match. The seamstress is also going to add a basic bustle at the back of the dress, just straight up. It’ll be done in three weeks, which will leave time for a final fitting/check two weeks before the big day—and I’m really excited to see how it fits then. Best of all? The price to get it all done was really reasonable: around $180 for everything. Huzzah!
Now… how about some pictures?
Mr. Jaguar – turn away now. Just 37 more days before you’ll see it for yourself!
Mrs. Socks, Southern NJ/Philadelphia, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Web Developer/Marketing SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Systems EngineerEngagement Date: September 7, 2009
Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: Ladder 15 RestaurantAbout Me: I am originally from the Midwest, but I love being an East Coast transplant! Mr. Socks and I are foodies and winos to the core---give us a hunk of cheese, some charcuterie and a glass of wine and we could die happy. We have two mischievous Wire Fox Terriers with completely opposite personalities but with a shared love of uprooting anything in our garden. Our backyard garden includes everything from tomatoes and peppers to a fig tree, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries! I love cooking, indie music, and spending time in our wedding city of choice---Philly!
I know I kinda dropped off the face of the blog-world, sorry! Some crazy things have been happening lately, but I do have a couple more posts to share with you guys before I say goodbye!
When I got engaged on September 7, 2009 at the top of Mont Blanc, I was ridiculously excited to start planning our wedding.
At the time of this photo, I had NO IDEA how much I would change over the next year and a half as I went from engaged to married.
The Miss Socks in that photo was a year out of college with a good job but she didn’t have a creative outlet. She didn’t know that planning a wedding would open up a world of creativity, community and deep personal satisfaction. She also didn’t know just how much her love for Mr. Socks could and would grow as they planned their wedding and lives together. In fact, the Miss Socks in that photo was probably thinking about the fact that she didn’t have her real ring yet to show off. She could be a little petty like that.
In the year and eight months since that photo was taken, I can say without hesitation that I have grown personally, professionally and emotionally. Read more…
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.
Guess what hive, you’ve got mail! Your invitation to the Gazelle wedding has arrived!
We went with a square invitation so we used 6-1/2” square matte linen 80 lb. brilliant white envelopes.
I love the look of wraparound address labels. I wanted to tie them to our envelope liners so I scanned our envelope liner paper into a jpg. I then used it as a border for our address labels that I set up in PowerPoint. Can you see the bikes? 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.
I’ve said it before Hive: I have the best bridesmaids on the face of the planet and there is no great evidence of this than the amazing shower that they threw in our honor this past weekend. Bridesmaid S and SD (who happens to be 7 months pregnant with her first baby!) thought of everything from a perfectly coordinated candy buffet, to yummy homemade sweets, a plethora of tasty wines and spirits to get the party going, and even went as far as having a professional photographer to document the day!
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!
I may, occasionally, enter a discussion about a wedding-planning detail with a clear vision in my head. And I may, occasionally, pledge my undying allegiance to that clear vision, poo-pooing any other option in favor of my own preconceived decision. And this fun little system of mine may have bitten me in the butt once before. You’d think I would have learned my lesson after getting taken to bridal-gown school, but no. Instead, when brainstorming wedding flowers, I did the exact same thing. I became 100% obsessed with one line of thought and judo-chopped every other idea out of my head. I may have been a bit off base in my pre-dress-shopping dress decisions, but obviously that couldn’t happen again with my pre-flower-shopping flower decisions. Duh.
Before speaking to a single florist, I had about 95% of the details all hammered out. The main flower would be hydrangeas, with touches of roses here and there just to mix it up. I wanted the bridesmaids to have very small, tightly constructed bouquets comprised entirely of green hydrangeas, and I wanted to have a bridal bouquet that was formed with white hydrangeas instead of green, and I wanted one that was a bit bigger, a bit fuller, and had some roses mixed in. The guys wouldn’t be in boutonnieres, but they would be donning pocket squares instead. The centerpieces would be a blend of high and low, made of mostly hydrangeas, to give the reception room some visual interest. Need some pictures to get the idea?
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!
I’m just a month shy of my 3-year wedding anniversary and I have a confession to make: by the close of the holiday season this year, I’d officially gained 25 pounds since our wedding.
Being a newlywed is pretty blissful—lots of great meals, lots of travel, lots of basking in the glow of finally being done with wedding planning and moving on into the next stage of your life. Mr. Peng and I ate our way through Thailand this past winter, where I looked a lot like this:
Mouth agape, willing to accept whatever happened to fall in it, like a giant pummelo, for instance.
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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If you lived together before you were married: was anything different once you were married? In hindsight, do you wish you had waited to move in together until after you were married?
If you didn’t live together before you got married: looking back do you wish you did it differently? Are you surprised by anything about your spouse that you didn’t know about until you moved in together post-wedding?
Thank you to hive member Shea_Butter for the question!
I moved into Mr. Swan’s apartment 2 years after we started dating (we were long distance the first six months), 8 months before Mr. Swan proposed and we were engaged for a year. I wouldn’t have done it differently. I was very adamant about NOT moving in together for a variety of reasons from financial to emotional, etc. I actually made Mr. Swan swear that if we broke up that he would help me fund a new apartment. NYC is expensive and with moving costs usually equal to three months of rent, that’s a major outlay of money to move. Before we moved in together, I let Mr. Swan know that if we weren’t discussing getting married (not necessarily engaged) within a year that I would be moving out. I meant it. I didn’t consider it an ultimatum, but I wanted to make sure that we were both on the same page as to what moving in together meant for our relationship. I wasn’t in a rush to be married, but I wasn’t interested in living with anyone long term without them being related to me by blood or marriage at that point in my life. I have no idea in retrospect if the timing of things was a function of age, as I was 30 and Mr. Swan was 32 at the time and had both lived alone for years. I think the timing worked out just right for us. Read more…
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.
I have always found posts with questions to ask potential vendors to be supremely helpful (and sometimes eye-opening), so I thought I would share the questions we asked our caterer last week. Some may not apply to your catering situation because we had some specific requests, but hopefully the queries are general enough to be helpful.
Have you catered at our reception facility before?
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!
As I have mentioned several times, I am not the most calm of individuals, and panic semi-easily. And by semi-easily, I mean I startle like a rabbit when Mr. CA walks into a room. Seriously, my heart sometimes gives a massive jump, and then beats at 129803 beats per second for the next three minutes. I may need to see a doctor about this.
Anyway, this also means that I frequently make impulsive decisions. So, as soon as I discovered the Taryn dress from J. Crew, I panicked a bit because obviously we needed to get the dresses rightthissecond, and immediately emailed my ladies to let them know that I may have found something to wear on the big day. Just to jog your memory a bit, I was crushing on this dress:
And I thought my girls would love it too. 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!
We just wrapped up our pre-marriage counseling with our pastor. Even with three counseling sessions to get through—one per month in the three months before the wedding—we didn’t want to wait until three months before the wedding to think about the marriage that will be following our giant awesome party. Because of this, we decided to do a little bit more legwork, so this post is going to be about some of the ways we’ve been preparing for a successful marriage.
• Counseling - Obviously, we met with Pastor Jason, who is officiating our ceremony. This was actually quite fun; we’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the past year. (Mr. H plays basketball with him every week!) He’s pretty young and has a good sense of humor, so nothing was too awkward! As I mentioned, we had three sessions with him:
The first session was an introduction to getting to know us as a couple. We were required to put together a list of three things we love about each other and three things we hate. Pastor Jason said this would be helpful for when he planned session #2, since he could figure out right off the bat if there were any “problem” areas in our relationship.
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.
Mr. Gazelle and I perused a bunch of invitations online, but we didn’t find anything that we really loved. That meant that I would definitely try to DIY them; I just needed to get inspired.
My first source of inspiration was courtesy of the awesome Ms. Stripes. I fell in love with her bicycle-motif envelope liners:
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!
After a fun day with my favorite girls, and a brief wardrobe change, it was time to head over to the venue for rehearsal. What’s that? You want to hear about my outfit? Well, okay!
I wanted to wear something bridal, but I also wanted something that captured the style of our wedding. I decided on a white dress with shamrock green accents. I wore a Vineyard Vines silk sundress with a Limited cardigan. I accessorized with some silver strappy sandals that I had lying around, as well as a pearl necklace and earrings set that I received as a gift from a family member.
Here’s the outfit in action, complete with my ribbon-clad rehearsal bouquet. Oh, and hey! This is the first official pro-pic! Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Evan Hampton’s fine work: Read more…
I moved into Mr. Swan’s apartment 2 years after we started dating (we were long distance the first six months), 8 months before Mr. Swan proposed and we were engaged for a year. I wouldn’t have done it differently. I was very adamant about NOT moving in together for a variety of reasons from financial to emotional, etc. I actually made Mr. Swan swear that if we broke up that he would help me fund a new apartment. NYC is expensive and with moving costs usually equal to three months of rent, that’s a major outlay of money to move. 
Before we moved in together, I let Mr. Swan know that if we weren’t discussing getting married (not necessarily engaged) within a year that I would be moving out. I meant it. I didn’t consider it an ultimatum, but I wanted to make sure that we were both on the same page as to what moving in together meant for our relationship. I wasn’t in a rush to be married, but I wasn’t interested in living with anyone long term without them being related to me by blood or marriage at that point in my life. I have no idea in retrospect if the timing of things was a function of age, as I was 30 and Mr. Swan was 32 at the time and had both lived alone for years. I think the timing worked out just right for us.
