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.
It’s time for another meet up in the City of Brotherly Love! Join hive members and Mrs. Socks, Mrs. Pain au Chocolate, Mrs. Thimble, Miss Candy Apple and me on Sunday, June 26th at noon.
We’ll be meeting at Bar Ferdinand at 1030 N. 2nd St. for a yummy tapas-style brunch and delicious wine and cocktails. Please RSVP on this thread so that I can make an accurate reservation.
Miss Sweet Cream, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 26, Public Relations Account ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Outside SalesEngagement Date: July 4, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church / Rosebank WineryAbout 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.
Since Mr. Sweet Cream and I moved into our own adorably cute mid-century house that just needs a little tender love and care, we didn’t get a computer until just recently. I can already hear jaws dropping around the bride community—but it’s true. I did have my work laptop that I took home (of course to do work but also) to browse wedding blogs, research vendors, create detailed Excel sheets, and all the other things essential in the new millennium of wedding planning. So I am not entirely living in the Stone Age.
We were thrilled to finally get our own computer, but I didn’t realize what an absolute pain it could be for a do-it-yourself-er like me. I can’t download fonts on my work computer, so it was off to Mama Sweet Cream’s house to download cursive, bold, and retro fonts from Da Font, Urban Fonts, and Kevin and Amanda.
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.
I figure, with about 5 months to go, it’s time for me to actually start doing all of the craft projects I have planned. In my last post I mentioned how my dining room table has turned into the table of temporarily abandoned projects and, while such a description is still accurate, I’ve managed to make progress.
Wanna see?!
I’ve completed about half of our table numbers and it feels goooood. The project has taken a bit longer than I anticipated (and trips to four different Michaels stores to track down all of the wooden numbers), but it’s been pretty simple and fun. I decided against naming our tables and stuck to the basics.
For some incredibly adorable and endearing reason, Mr. Seal took an interest in this project and I really enjoyed both his company and his creative input! Read more…
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.
Before I get to the good stuff, let me give a bit of back story about my quest for photographers.
I’m a picture person. I could spend hours (and often do) just looking at images online, in books, in magazines, everywhere. For this reason, I always knew that photography would be an important element to our wedding, and after getting engaged it was one of the first vendors I started searching for. I searched high and I searched low. I had specific standards for the photography, and if I was going to pay for it, then I was going to pay for it to be done in a style that I loved. Most of the local photographers I perused were nice, but didn’t jump out at me. When I discovered the online portfolios of our region’s high-end photographers, my standards shot even higher. But the price tag…they were all simply more than we could afford.
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.
This allows me to cut out many flowers at once, and I can easily re-size the cut file so I can get multiple sizes. The other shortcut that I took was to have the machine cut everything out exactly as I need it. The original tutorial uses a paper punch, then has you cut out single and double petal pieces to make the 5 different bits you need to make each flower. I had the Silhouette do this all for me, by creating a cut file that looks like this: Read more…
Mrs. Oyster, DallasAge and Occupation: 30, Music TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 46, Art TeacherEngagement Date: January 9, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: The Tower ClubAbout Me: I'm a Texa-Californian with a penchant for sparkly things and a tendency to think a lot. I've been known to sing random songs or dance when there is no music on. My fiance and I love world culture, we love to travel, and we have an incredibly eclectic taste in music. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate our marriage with our family & closest friends. We're planning an “urban black-tie” wedding and hope to incorporate our personalities and some of our own interests. We look forward to a life of love, laughter, good music, beautiful art, and to creating our home together with our four (!) cats.
After my little meltdown, I tried calling a couple of stores, which had already closed. Mr. Oyster, feeling quite helpless, offered to order me a new shaper via overnight mail. I made my own efforts to “suck it up” and got dressed to go to the rehearsal.
By now it was beginning to rain, and I remember putting on my lovely purple dress and new necklace. I also remember playfully asking Mr. Oyster to help me walk around, because I was absolutely planning to wear my cute dress heels, rain or not. He promised, and we were off.
I scheduled our rehearsal at the same time as our wedding the next day, to help with scheduling and also to get a feel for what everything would be like at that exact time. Of course, when I did that, many months prior, I was anticipating some evening sunshine and sunsets and interesting light. There was nothing of the kind. Little did I know how much the conditions at the rehearsal dinner would become familiar to us. Read more…
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.
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!
My colleagues spoiled me with two beautiful bath towels from our gift registry. I was treated to a lovely speech from my principal and lots of well wishes. There were cards from parents, messages from kids (in my class, and from around the school) and there was just a generally nice vibe floating around all day.
This afternoon I was finishing up the day with my Year 1/2 class and they were asking a whole lot of questions about the wedding—and I was explaining to them that this would be my last day teaching as “Miss Jaguar.” They were a bit thrown by that, but a few caught on and asked what I would be coming back as. So, I told them. I’ll be coming back as “Mrs. Jaguar.”
That’s when it hit me. All the dress fittings and the last minute tasks and the deadlines—they’ve just become part of our everyday lives.
But saying it out loud, saying my new name and my new identity out loud (and having 25 kids trying it on for size, too)—that was it. Read more…
Mrs. Macarons, TampaAge and Occupation: 26, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Renaissance ManEngagement Date: September 12, 2009Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Lange FarmAbout Me: I'm creative at heart and a graphic designer with an unhealthy obsession with type. I love roller coasters, spicy foods, and a good glass of Crianza. We’re planning a soft and lovely vintage-meets-modern wedding in a state that’s known for its beaches, glitz and glam. I have a ton of DIY projects and lots of little details I’m dying to share and can't wait to celebrate with our closest friends and family.
I really love Florida weather. To me, there’s nothing better than being able to wear flip flops all year round. Summers are hot and humid (just how I like ‘em) and just about when you’ve had enough, it starts to cool off. While the temperature can start to drop in September, we generally don’t hit the low 70s till November. A floor-length dress was out of the question. I want the ladies to be comfortable and feel beautiful; even if the summer sun doesn’t cut us some slack. A gray, short, and flowy chiffon number seemed to fit the bill.
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.
Mr. Biscuit and I registered very early in the planning process. Like, last June early. I know, I know, I was jumping the gun a bit, but I was bored and spending way too much time in front of my computer while I was supposed to be studying for my boards.
After that deed was done, Mr. Biscuit and I started thinking. Did we really need a registry? Mr. B has lived on his own for years and can cook (yay!) so he has pretty much everything he would need for the kitchen. I like to bake and don’t really have the supplies for it; however, Mr. B’s oven is a glorified heating coil that I can’t bake in as I’ve been sufficiently spoiled by my parents’ professional grade oven, and we also don’t really have room for a ton of stuff as Mr. Biscuit’s house is about 1000 sq. feet. Sure, after I graduate we may move into a larger house, but until then, it would be kind of close quarters. And I don’t really like the idea of having close quarters with a pastry cutter. That’s creepy.
To be perfectly honest, we could really use a little help on mortgage payments over a new pot or pan. But, uh, it would probably be considered a wee bit crude to register for cash.
So, we decided the easiest thing to do was to register for nothing. Read more…
Wedding BiosFeature Launched: September 12, 2008About: Wedding bios of real brides.
Miss Marmalade, Norwalk, CT/Raleigh, NCAge and Occupation: 27, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Army OfficerEngagement Date: December 31, 2009Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Old Cadet Chapel/Highlands Country ClubAbout 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!
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!
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.
The first part of dinner flew by. It seemed like I blinked twice and the wait staff was already bring out the orange sorbet. While we were all cleansing our palates with the sorbet, Bridesmaid K was putting a couple finishing touches on her toast.
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