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 think a lot of you will be surprised at the destination we ended up choosing for our honeymoon. Everyone else sure seemed to be! What it eventually boiled down to for us, was finding a balance of everything we wanted: ultimate relaxation, while still having the opportunity to go site-seeing and be adventurous. Oh, and getting a nice tan. Yes, a tan… I really am being that shallow right now.
Sparks and I reached our decision through the process of elimination. First up on the chopping block?
Mrs. Tartlet, Rochester, MIAge and Occupation: Age & Occupation: 27, Post-Doctoral Research FellowFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Medical StudentEngagement Date: May 2, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: The Royal Park HotelAbout Me: I'm an exuberant gal from the Midwest with a penchant for Neuroscience and anything sparkly. I'm not afraid to poke fun at myself, and I'm a believer that given the right pair of shoes, a girl can conquer the world. While an interest in the sciences threw Mr. Tartlet and me together (again, and again, until it finally stuck), we share a love for many things---food, video games, car dancing, food, bad puns, travel, did I mention food?---that ultimately led us to where we are now, less than five months from becoming Mr. and Mrs. We're planning a laid-back, romantic, garden-inspired affair with organic and quirky touches that reflect our love for the unexpected!
One of the first deadlines I set for myself when we started planning our wedding was to have everything done by the Tuesday before. And, if it wasn’t done by then—then by golly, it just wasn’t going to happen. Period. It’s been a steady pace to the finish line, but thanks to the help of our amazing friends we made it! All of the little details that we wanted to incorporate to make our guests feel even more special are complete, such as the out-of-town bags:
I purchased some medium kraft bags from our local Michaels and jazzed them up with the same stamp and ink pad that we used for our weddingprograms. We stuffed these babies with the following goodies: Read more…
Mrs. Taco, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, writer/editorFiance's Age and Occupation: 37, editorEngagement Date: May 13, 2009Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: The Green Room at the War Memorial Veterans BuildingAbout Me: I like laughing and talking with good friends over good food and good drink, be it wine, cocktail, or brew. I write and edit things for fun and profit, but I rarely "write" these days without a keyboard and high-speed internets. Favorites include Mr. Taco, my Boston terrier, San Francisco, getting out of town, and the Roaring ’20s. I was kind-of planning a wedding since roughly 2006, when I discovered "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" on the WE channel. I ran and didn't look back with a theme I called "urban vintage," and it culminated in the most magical day a taco could ask for.
There’s a lot that goes into a wedding. And then, there’s a lot that comes out of it. You know what I’m talking about: the stuff in the wedding binder and everything you fretted over, lovingly crafted, or stored awkwardly in closets and corners until go time. What do you keep, how do you decide, and where does it go?
So come play in my neurosis, as I try holding on to meaningful things, yet stay off the hoarders show.
Personal pic
So, a lot of mine is right here on the floor. I thought it would be nice to keep wedding things together, but only if it wasn’t too “Welcome to my home, THIS IS THE WEDDING STUFF.”
Speaking of hoarders, my advice is to recycle all of your contracts and receipts. I could not trash that stuff soon enough and it felt so good.
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!
Last time I talked about BM dresses, I was about 30 seconds from having a bridal meltdown. I had narrowed my choices down to three contenders, and then I went in circles comparing the three, hoping one would jump out at me. And, truthfully, one did. The only problem was that the following day, a different one would be the jumper. And then the third one would take a turn. Honestly, each of the final three dresses had a day to revel in being “the one.” Thankfully, I had scheduled a meeting with our florist (more to come on that!) who needed a fabric swatch to coordinate colors, so I had an official deadline for this dreaded decision.
Finally, when push came to shove, I went with my gut, my heart, my whatever. I don’t know what motivated me, but I decided and that’s all that matters. My seven lovely ladies will be donning the Belsoie L3009 in Bordeaux, as seen here:
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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Married bee homeowners: do you have any tips in regards to the home buying process as a couple? What were some of the unexpected things you experienced buying a home together? Now that you’re a homeowner, what are the big plusses and minuses about owning your own home?
Thank you to hive member Lincole for the question!
Check. Your. Credit!! We started the process in January, and found out that due to some poor credit choices on Mr. SD’s account, we were completely ineligible for a mortgage until we got it up. There were a fair few tears shed over this incident. But, it’s all water under the bridge, and we all have to learn from our mistakes. After uncovering the problems behind the low score, we worked with a credit repair company to do some damage control. We’re on target to buy his grandmother’s home next month, which we’ve been renting since last August. It’s definitely been a journey, and one that’s helped us grow a lot as a couple. To have a big problem looming over you, then to come together to work to solve it is one of the major components of a marriage. I love how well we’ve been able to work together to pay off his credit card/small loan debt, and prepare to take on the biggest loan of our lives. It’s scary, and exciting all at the same time. So my advice would be to talk to a lending company about six months or so before you intend to start looking, so you’ll be aware of any impending problems that may hold up the process. It’s always good to start off house-hunting as informed as you can possibly be! 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!
Where we left off on the music front, we had decided to emcee our own wedding. This turned out to be a really fun idea; Mr. Hyena and I did all our recording in GarageBand on my MacBook in one night, and it didn’t take very long. Once all the serious announcements were done, we spent a good long time playing with the settings and singing ridiculous things just to see how awesome we could sound. (“I Will Survive” duet in diva voice featuring Mr. H and my kitty-boo? Yes, please!)
Anyway, we decided to overlay Mr. Hyena’s emcee’ing over the intro to the songs for each event because he doesn’t want there to be silence and then HIS BOOMING VOICE in the middle of our reception. I am SUPER PUMPED for the songs we picked. Especially for the cake cutting.
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!
The awesome friend that will be doing all the hairstyles for the bridal party (she’s a rock star!) offered to also help me with makeup, but like the new Duchess of Cambridge, I opted to try my hand at doing my own face the day of. With the exception of false eyelashes, of course. Y’all know I can’t do that for the life of me.
Mrs. Ostrich, San Francisco/HawaiiAge and Occupation: 30, Fashion Buyer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 38, CopywriterEngagement Date: October 4, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Sweet ceremony by the sea and sunset celebration on the North Shore of HawaiiAbout Me: Born in the city of angels and residing in the city by the bay, I’m a fearless fashion buyer by day, a passionate blog author by night and a dreamy bride-to-be in between. I thank my lucky stars to live in such a stunning city that gives me gifts like organic honey lavender ice cream, movie nights in the park, tucked away beaches, legendary record stores, '80s dance parties, awesome sports teams, stellar flea markets, and vintage bookshops. Oh, and I love to dance! We always find every excuse to escape to the beach, and decided a little seaside wedding in Hawaii is our idea of bliss. Full of our favorite people, music, food and sparkly lights, this is one sunset celebration we will always remember.
That’s Mr. O and yours truly in our fancy threads…loopy in love…in paradise…
…oh yeah, and we’re MARRIED!
And all that talk about one’s wedding day being the best day of your life?
It’s nothing but the truth—our wedding day was off. the. hook. Read more…
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 didn’t want to post this prior to the wedding because I know that my girls follow me on Weddingbee and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.
Shortly after I asked them to be a part of our wedding, I already had an idea of what I wanted to gift them for standing by my side. I love Coach! This is evident by my collection of bags that takes over a whole shelf in our guest room closet. I wanted to share my love with my friends, who all love a good purse! I had a budget in mind for what I wanted to spend total, and by going to the outlet in Allen and using an additional 30% off coupon I was able to get their gifts and only go over budget by $32 (we’ll just chalk that up to tax).
I picked up similar bags for BM Philly, BM Cali and BM Aggie, but selected colors that I know they really like. Here’s Mama E holding them up while we stand in line at the outlet. Black for BM Cali, Grey for BM Philly and Gold for BM Aggie.
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.
Sounds crazy, right? But I’m trying to figure out how to do just that.
You see, I have some very opinionated family members. Some people might appreciate it. Some people call it pushy. I call it awkward.
So, here’s the deal. My very kind, generous, and well-intentioned family member keeps asking me if I want to borrow certain items to use for our wedding. Specifically, she has mentioned a ring bearer’s pillow and flower-girl basket. My mother made both of these things for her to use on her wedding day, and now she is offering them to me. On the surface, this seems like a sweet gesture. But, I don’t want them and it is making me feel uncomfortable.
First, we are still undecided on whether we are having a ring bearer and/or flower girl. Mr. Pony has a nephew that is the perfect age to be a ring bearer, but he can be unpredictable (like most five-year-olds are). There is also a severe lack of age-appropriate girls in our families to fulfill the role of flower girl.
Second, these things are not my style. My aunt got married in 1997. And it shows. Plus, they are über traditional looking, which is really not my style.
Ms. Ferris Wheel, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, PsychologistFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, PsychologistEngagement Date: May 23 and 28, 2010 (one for each of us!)Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Parc55 Hotel (city lights ceremony, ballroom reception)About Me: Born in the Southeast, educated in the Northeast, and over-educated on the West Coast, I finally earned my city-girl credentials and have put down roots in gorgeous San Francisco. I’m a raging perfectionist with a lightning quick wit and a terrible sense of both time and direction. Our wedding task list is endlessly growing because of my predilection to think that DIY projects I can make = DIY projects I should make (so not true!). I always go to bed wishing there were more hours in the day to enjoy all the things I adore, whether that be hobbies, friends, my career, our two dogs, or Mr. Ferris Wheel. Ours is a story of a non-traditional couple living an oddly traditional life planning a not-so-traditional wedding in this city we adore. Together we are bustin’ out all of our best skills (and some of our worst ones) to plan a laid-back-chic DIY-craftastic love-alicious affair!
After numerous wedding conversations we’ve had over the past few years, there are only two wedding day elements that have consistently reigned supreme in our list of really-super-wanna-haves. In no particular order, those elements were location and photography. I don’t think those priorities are so abnormal. What’s strange, I think, is the order in which we ticked those two items off the list. Your average person would probably choose the location first - get that wedding date nailed down in the preferred venue before putting down deposits for other vendors. So sensible…
But sensible we were not. Nope, we totally signed on the dotted line with our photographer for our preferred wedding date without a *clue* what our venue would be, what time our ceremony and reception would occur, or whether any venue we toured would be available on the day we’d hired the photographers for. Why oh why would we do that, you ask? Good question, I say, and one I’m not totally sure I know the answer to. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because we were crazy overwhelmed by the number of venue choices and our eyes were swimming in the dollar signs required to make that decision.
Photographers, on the other hand, presented more limited options. Limited not because San Francisco doesn’t have its more-than-fair share of spectacular wedding photographers, no no. But limited because we like a very specific photography “look,” and we needed to find that look within our budget. The look we love? Noticeably post-processed gloriousness (a.k.a. ’artistically ehanced’).
Mrs. Seal, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 25, Personal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Sales and Support SpecialistEngagement Date: December 12, 2009Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Sts Peter and Paul Church/The Bently ReserveAbout Me: I am a goofy, wannabe crafty, well-intentioned Renaissance Woman (OK, perhaps "aimless wanderer" is a more aptly suited term for me, but hopefully you get the point)—basically I dabble in just about everything and pride myself in such. Without warning, I occasionally breakout into soulful improvised songs and interpretive dances and there's just no stopping me! As so many others before me, planning our wedding has unearthed a deep, intense passion for all things bridal and I secretly fear the day it will come to an end. Mr. Seal and I are quite the pair and life with him by my side is extremely rewarding—I am so thankful to have found him. Together we are planning a black-tie San Francisco affair for 250—light on the stuffiness and with lots of extra Seal-y flair.
So a couple of posts back I clued you all in on our empty venue situation and the relief in discovering the world of full-service caterers. As I mentioned, our reception site has a list of “preferred caterers” (aka “magical elves” whom are familiarized with the historic site’s layout and rules and capable of turning our empty reception hall into a fully-furnished and beautiful event) so, needless to say, I was pleased to have a starting point but also a bit concerned. If we chose to not sign with one of their caterers we would incur a $1000 fee. I knew about the penalty before I signed the venue’s contract but was still a bit worried that I wouldn’t click with any of their caterers (and in such case not looking forward to dishing out an extra thousand bucks).
I started at the top of the list and contacted each company for a general quote. By doing so, I was very quickly able to eliminate about half of the caterers (they were too expensive for my frugal liking). From the remaining companies, one seemed to stand out among the rest. Initially it was because I recognized their name from their starring role in a beautiful wedding at our reception site:
Recognize this photo from a certain post by our very own Miss Tartlet?
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.
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 realizing we weren’t 100% on the same page with our honeymoon ideas, we took a step back from the decision. We both kind of ruminated on what we wanted out of this vacation, and then tried to meet halfway. We agreed we wanted a warm beach locale, we wanted to have the freedom to leave our hotel/resort and explore a bit, we wanted some good eatin’, and we wanted something that was relaxing, flexible, and low-key. We didn’t want to be go-go-going all day long, but at the same time, we wanted a place that would offer us some opportunities to be active if we wanted to, whether that be watersports, sightseeing, or shopping.
We honed our search to the southern part of the Atlantic Coast, homing in on Hilton Head, Charleston, and Savannah as real contenders. Nothing was officially decided until Mr. Snow Cone’s cousin, who had recently moved to Charleston, suggested that we look into a resort called Wild Dunes.
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!
With full bellies and smiling faces, my girls and I left brunch and headed for the nail salon. I was so psyched to be able to spend the day with five of my favorite women. Then, once we arrived at the nail salon, I was greeted by a few more of my favorite women!
Oh hi cousins! I’m always thrilled to see these ladies, but I was especially excited this time. You see, my pregnant bridesmaid wasn’t the only mom-to-be at our wedding. We recently learned that the girl standing on the right in that photo was pregnant! She and her husband are my newlywed role models, They both seem so happy, but they’re good at keeping it real. I couldn’t have been happier for her, and I was so glad that I was able to celebrate with her a little bit before the wedding!
My cousins also brought another gift with them, my grandmother. Read more…
Check. Your. Credit!! We started the process in January, and found out that due to some poor credit choices on Mr. SD’s account, we were completely ineligible for a mortgage until we got it up. There were a fair few tears shed over this incident. But, it’s all water under the bridge, and we all have to learn from our mistakes. After uncovering the problems behind the low score, we worked with a credit repair company to do some damage control. We’re on target to buy his grandmother’s home next month, which we’ve been renting since last August. It’s definitely been a journey, and one that’s helped us grow a lot as a couple. To have a big problem looming over you, then to come together to work to solve it is one of the major components of a marriage. I love how well we’ve been able to work together to pay off his credit card/small loan debt, and prepare to take on the biggest loan of our lives. It’s scary, and exciting all at the same time. So my advice would be to talk to a lending company about six months or so before you intend to start looking, so you’ll be aware of any impending problems that may hold up the process. It’s always good to start off house-hunting as informed as you can possibly be!
