Mrs. Pretzel, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development Specialist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing Engineer
Engagement Date: September 2, 2009
Wedding Date: July 2010
Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown Studios
About 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.
When I sat down with Papa Pretzel to review the budget for our wedding there was one line item that he was curious about. He was confused about the photo booth entry. We talked a little bit about it and why Mr P and I wanted to have a photo booth. He didn’t understand completely but was OK with it. After the wedding he told me he thought the photo booth was one of the best ideas that we had and that it was totally worth the money.
We went with a digital only photo booth by USnaps.com. All photos below are courtesy of USnaps unless otherwise noted. *Warning, photo heavy post*
Photo by Amore Studios
I wanted a bright backdrop and the options that the photo booth company had were blah, so I made the backdrop with fabric from IKEA.
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Mrs. Elephant, Dallas, TX
Age and Occupation: 27, Financial Operations Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, IT Student/Store Manager
Engagement Date: March 29, 2009
Wedding Date: April 2011
Venue: The Tribute Golf Club
About 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!
Due to the early required time of our rehearsal, we had some down time at the hotel before heading to Blue Mesa for our rehearsal dinner.
MOH Navy, BM Philly, Mr. E and I left a little early so that we could set up the room before the guests started to arrive. Thankfully we had Lynn there to capture all the action.
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Mrs. Crepe, Queens, NY/Nashville, TN
Age and Occupation: 28, Jewelry Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Animation Director
Engagement Date: September 28, 2010
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: A church in downtown Nashville
About 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!
In a previous post, I talked about swapping the embellishments on the dress I bought at David’s Bridal. I wish I took more step by steps to show you but I was so nervous doing this that there were many moments where I was just completely focused on not ruining the dress!
To begin, I looked really closely at the original applique and noticed that it actually was not attached very securely and was easy to remove—most of it was on there with some kind of light adhesive and a small amount of thread. I didn’t want to remove all of it completely though because combining the two metal tones softened the look a bit. In this close up photo, you can see where I left some of the silver appliques and layered the champagne beading on top of it.
My original plan was to add more flowers but it was tough to find fabric that matched exactly so I left the flower as is. In this next photo, you’ll see the two types of beaded trim more clearly—one of them was a flower shape to create more organic style and the other had swarovski rhinestones in it.
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Mrs. Penguin, Northern California
Age and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in Chief
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About 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!
Our weekly #advice series on Twitter continues!
Tomorrow we’ll be retweeting and Facebooking your coulda-woulda-shouldas when it came to your wedding day.
We want to hear from you! If you’re a former bride or groom, tweet @weddingbee with what you wish you’d done on your wedding day (or during wedding planning) and follow it up with the hashtag #weddingwish. All day tomorrow we’ll be retweeting/FBing our favorite advice you’ve given.
To soak it all in, follow @weddingbee on twitter and like us on Facebook!
We’d love to know what you want to hear about too! If you have a wedding related topic you’d like to get advice on, let us know in the comments. 
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Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
Mrs. High Wire, Dallas
Age and Occupation: 23, Legal Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of Communications
Engagement Date: October 9, 2010
Wedding Date: September 2011
Venue: Clark Gardens
About 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.
While I write this, we are at 99 day until our wedding! Um, folks, did you hear me right?
Only 99 more days with my current last name, 99 more days of legally being single, and 99 more days of being Mr. High Wire’s fiancée.
But since the post title is alcohol related, I thought we’d dive into the good ole imbibing section of the High Wire wedding.
Our lovely venue allows you to supply your own alcohol. I consider this a really good thing, because we can really tailor our alcohol purchase to what we and our guests enjoy and don’t have to worry about altering any drink packages or struggling to meet any consuming minimums.
I do want to put this out there: I’m not a big drinker. Like, at all. Not even when I was in college. I’ll have a glass of wine now and again or a mimosa at a rare brunch outing, but that is about the extent of my intake.
The only glass of wine I had in Venice, Italy – Personal photo
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Ms. Sloth, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 35, Account Manager and Fashion Blogger
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Design Admin
Engagement Date: December 25, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Bartram's Garden
About 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.
After rehearsing, Bridesmaids J and K went back to J’s house to make the wedding cupcakes, and the rest of us relaxed for a couple of hours. And then, it was time to head to my mother’s new place for a nice family dinner.
With the exception of our parents, none of our relatives had met. My sister and her fiance live in Europe, and Mr. S’ brothers live in Florida and Ohio, so the wedding was the first opportunity for us all to get together in Philly. It was really nice to see everyone getting along and having a good time.
Mom cooked up a yummy spread.
And we all hung out inside for a while.
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Mrs. Cannon, Toledo, OH
Age and Occupation: 27, Financial Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Assembler
Engagement Date: February 28, 2011
Wedding Date: September 2011
Venue: Epworth UMC & Ward Pavilion
About Me: I'm the curious combination of being a go-with-the-flow, laid back, obsessive planner. I try desperately to stay as busy as possible at all times (and am succeeding big time right now!) My biggest loves in life are Law & Order: SVU, Community (the show, not the concept, although I like that, too), ice cream, white cheddar popcorn, beer, hiking, knitting, decorating, writing, being outside, spending time with friends and family and musical theater. Mr. Cannon is pretty sweet, too. We've had a lot of fun traveling and having adventures all over the country, but have finally moved back near our hometown to settle down. We're planning a low-key, colorful, fun wedding and an awesome-to-the-max reception.
Despite having quite a few details of the wedding out of the way, there were still many unanswered questions. A BIG issue was catering. Since we could pick essentially any caterer we could afford, it was really up to us to do the research and make the decision. I started doing my usual obsessive internet searches. I knew that food would be a pretty big deal. But let’s be honest—most wedding food is pretty forgettable (unless it’s really bad). It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just that the usual buffet-style filet o’ something with sides of veggies is so ubiquitous that it’s hard to keep which filet was from which wedding straight, and they never really seem to stand out.
That being said, our catering choice was not some attempt to overthrow the status quo and is not terribly unique itself! Remember how we want a “family barbecue” feel at our reception? We decided to take it to its logical and literal conclusion and serve barbecue. There are a ton of barbecue joints doing catering in northwest Ohio, but there was one that I kept going back to—City Barbeque. I kept drooling over the pictures of their food, and their prices looked almost too reasonable.
Drooool.
Image Via City Barbeque
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Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NC
Age and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Researcher
Engagement Date: December 1, 2009
Wedding Date: October 2011
Venue: Barn at Valhalla
About 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!
I gave you the details in my last post on how I was showered with awesomeness via a lovely kitchen themed shower. The decor was really lovely and thoughtful, and that alone made me feel super special. But, there was even more! We played several different games…some people aren’t into bridal shower games, but I think they are fun! For a group of women who haven’t all met, games are a great way to get to know each other and break the ice.
Match the Couple Game
The 3 Peas (my aunts and step mom) started everyone out with a game I had never seen before. There were two sets of photos laid out on the table. In the first set were photos of couples on their wedding day…in the second set were the same couples’ photos on their 50th anniversary. The game is to decide which couples match up. It was really tough!
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Mrs. Hippo, New York City/Dallas, TX
Age and Occupation: 34, Event Planner for a Non-Profit
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Finance IT
Engagement Date: August 8, 2009
Wedding Date: March 2011
Venue: Samuel Lynne Galleries and Marc Events
About Me: I’m a thirty-something bride living in New York City and planning a modern-ish wedding in Dallas, Texas. I love trashy reality television (Jersey Shore, anyone?), online shopping, Sunday brunch, Central Park, and random celebrity spottings on the streets of Manhattan. While I love NYC, I miss good Tex-Mex, my college friends, central A/C, and being in close proximity to a Target. I’m thrilled to finally be planning an event that’s not work-related and to be marrying my best friend in what I hope will be a unique and personal ceremony followed by a reception with plenty of good food, good drinks, and dancing (regardless if it’s good or not).
We arrived in Dallas the Wednesday before the wedding, and spent that afternoon and much of Thursday running errands and completing last minute projects. After Mama Hippo unveiled her super fantastic wedding pillows, we started assembling the out-of-town bags. Like many a bee before me, we went with gable boxes filled with goodies for our out-of-town guests.
I found these navy blue gable boxes, and then used ribbon and a sticker with our wedding logo to decorate them.
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Miss Marmalade, Norwalk, CT/Raleigh, NC
Age and Occupation: 27, Administrative Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Army Officer
Engagement Date: December 31, 2009
Wedding Date: July 2011
Venue: Old Cadet Chapel/Highlands Country Club
About Me: I'm a Tri-State area "lady," through and through. A big chunk of my life has been split between NYC and Connecticut, and I'm finally heading down south to live with Mr. Marmalade. Our long distance relationship has been one adventure after the next, we've spent time in Texas, Louisiana, Florida,and Georgia, thanks to his military career. Next to Mr. Marmalade, my loves include live music, useless trivia, shoes, design, and my crazy half-tiger kitty, Oliver. I have a passion for food and wine, and I've been known to travel long distances to get my hands on the best meals. I come from a tight-knit big fat Greek Ecuadorian family---we're loud, we talk with our hands, and we spend hours talking loudly with our hands over large meals. I'm going to miss them so much as I pack up and begin my life, far away from home. But with Mr. Marmalade by my side, I'm ready to take on whatever may come. Next up: our wedding!
I came across the most beautiful hardcover books designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith via Design Crush, and it got my (wedding) wheels turning.
Image via CB-Smith.com / Cover design by Coralie Bickford-Smith
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Weddingbee Gallery
Feature Launched: April 10, 2009
About: A collection of inspirational wedding pictures from readers and bees.
Micheleword’s veil floats in the breeze
Keep on loading your inspirational wedding pics to the Weddingbee Gallery to see them featured here on the blog! Remember, your images must be under 1MB in size, or they won’t load.
If your photo is featured as the Gallery of the Day, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! Check out instructions on how to grab the badge here!
Miss Sweet Cream, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 26, Public Relations Account Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Outside Sales
Engagement Date: July 4, 2010
Wedding Date: October 2011
Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church / Rosebank Winery
About Me: Born in the ‘burbs of Philly, it took some time living in the Big Apple to realize that I’m a girl who likes her roots. That’s why the mister and I bought a 1950s house on a charming street not too far from our childhood stompin’ grounds. This could also be the reason why our hometown is the scene where we are planning our super sweet, totally charming, BBQ-for-supper wedding that I never knew I always wanted. I DIE over DIY projects and live for vintage, heartfelt inspiration. I obsess over all things mid-century (from forks to furniture). Love is… cartoons and flea markets, and I am known to whip up a mean banana cream pie. I met the Mr. in grade school and after that boy took me for a spin on the handle bars of his BMX, I knew that things would never be the same again. Besides lovin’ my Mr., I also love to plan, sew and create, and that’s just what I’m doing as I navigate through the details, creating a laid-back day that oozes charm; one that will go down in (at least our) history as the Best. Day. Of all time.
Of course a little post-wedding vacay seems like a good idea after all the work that is done preparing for the walk down the aisle…but I was dying to know who thought of this marvelous idea of a brand new couple getting whisked away to a locale, whether local or exotic, near or far…
For bees who were even a slight bit curious, let me share.
It turns out that there are a couple different stories circulating about how the honeymoon came to be.
Some say that back in the day in Europe, for a month’s time, the newly married couple would drink a little vino, known as mead, made from fermented honey. Some even say that this would help with fertility…I guess honey used to be thought of like that. Who knew?
Later, grooms used to capture—yes, you read that right—their brides for a period of one month and take them into hiding. Even though the groom assured the family she’d be OK, sometimes her friends and fam would go out looking for her to bring home. It was the husband’s hope that within one month’s time his bride would be knocked up before the bride’s family found them.
While some girls may not worry too much about being captured by the tall drink of water on this romance read…the whole idea seems kinda scary to me!! / Image via Simon & Schuster
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Mrs. Plaid, Austin
Age and Occupation: 26, Pastry Chef
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Cabinetry Carpenter
Engagement Date: August 8, 2009
Wedding Date: October 2010
Venue: Kindred Oaks, Georgetown
About Me: I am a Jersey girl born and raised but have since migrated to Texas and embraced its twang and Tex-Mex. I could probably eat chips and queso every day but instead I eat popcorn. I use the word “awesome” way too much but I just can’t seem to stop myself. I am addicted to all things DIY and am planning what I call a Texas-Chic wedding. I love snuggling with my two adorable dogs and of course, my adorable fiance. I can’t wait 'til I can call him my husband some day! October 2010, here we come!
As y’all might recall, I decided from the very start that I would be making my own wedding cake. I’ve been dreading writing this post ever since. Unfortunately, our cake did not turn out the way I’d hoped.
I think I just over thought the design and didn’t anticipate how muggy it would be in late October in Texas outside. Don’t get me wrong, it tasted delicious. However, the actual look of the cake left a little to be desired. It started melting. I was going for simple and sparkly. Instead I got drippy and sticky. And sadly, I’ve been beating myself up over this ever since our wedding day. I kept seeing the wedding as my one opportunity to prove to my family and friends that I could succeed as a cake designer. Unfortunately, in my eyes I failed.
But since I promised y’all cake, here’s the cake!
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Mrs. Snow Cone, Pittsburgh/Johnstown, PA
Age and Occupation: 23, Public Health Graduate Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Engineer
Engagement Date: April 9, 2010
Wedding Date: August 2011
Venue: OMOS Church ceremony/Sunnehanna Country Club reception
About 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!
For as long as I can remember, I’ve oohed and aahed over big floral letters used to decorate church doors. These letters were always on my to-do list, and now that the wedding is a handful of weeks away, I figured I may as well get crackin’ on these mega monograms. I poked around the internet, looking at various options and tutorials, because I didn’t want this project to tax my weenie DIY skills or cost too much. After mixing a couple different tactical strategies, I got to work, eager to see how this whole thing would turn out.
Instead of buying pre-shaped letters made of wood, plastic, or styrofoam, I took a slightly different approach by cutting them out of cardboard. I snagged a spare shipment box from a neighborhood retailer and then kind of eyeballed how I wanted the letters to look, hoping for the best. I used a combination of scissors and a kitchen knife to slice through the cardboard, depending on the shape I was trying to cut. Here are the letters after lots and lots of cutting:
I was a bit panicked that the W looked so much skinnier than the J, but they were the same height and similar widths, so I decided to roll with it.
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Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/Vancouver
Age and Occupation: 32, Engineer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology Analyst
Engagement Date: September 3, 2010
Wedding Date: July 2011
Venue: Brock House Restaurant, Vancouver
About 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.
Saturday was a night I was eagerly anticipating—my stagette (i.e. my bachelorette party)! I had no idea what was planned, I had just asked the girls to keep it classy and they told me I was to be ready by 4:30 PM.
We started the evening off at the Laurier Lounge, a fondue restaurant in a 100-year-old heritage home in downtown Calgary.
Image via Open Table
I was excited since I’ve never had a chance to try this place before! I met my friends in a room upstairs and found this awesome sash waiting for me.
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