Mrs. Brooch, Arlington, VAAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Front Desk ManagerEngagement Date: October 3, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Oxon Hill ManorAbout Me: I’m an indecisive girlie-girl with a motor mouth, can-do attitude, and knack for making others laugh. I dream of becoming a best selling novelist like Elizabeth Gilbert or Julie Powell (a girl can dream, right?), and love long road trips, a beautiful countryside, music, blogs, books, and all things vintage/thrift/antique/or homemade. I’m a Virgo, i.e. overly sensitive, emotional, and critical, and there’s no such thing as short and sweet in my world. I want to say and do it all. Mr. Brooch grounds me. I point where to go and he figures out the way. He’s a pragmatic fancy-pants who enjoys video games and movies. We both adore our mutt, Rocky, and spending time with our amazingly supportive family and friends. We’re planning a garden wedding with a formal reception with lots of whimsy and unique, Southern-inspired details.
Did you ever see the shoes we picked for the bridesmaids? Aren’t they darling? I was so excited to see their outfits come together! We were finally getting ready for the big day! Hair. Makeup. Outfits. All a girl’s favorite things!
We started on my hair and took a few photos with my bridesmaids, but it was time to get down to business! Despite the fact that we started around 8 in the morning, it was already 11 and I didn’t have a lick of makeup on and my hair wasn’t the way I wanted it. Mind you, the first look was scheduled for 12:30. Ah! Ladies, please make sure you give yourself ample time to get ready the morning of your wedding!
Mrs. Teacup, Santa CruzAge and Occupation: 34, Pharmaceutical SalesFiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Ditto! (For a different company)Engagement Date: October 1, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: ceremony in our family's Catholic church in Watsonville; reception at the Santa Cruz Beach BoardwalkAbout Me: I’m learning to embrace my true spirit as GIRLY GIRL after previous careers in the Navy and consulting for the government. My favorite hobby is SLEEP, with dancing HULA a close second. An INTROVERT in extrovert clothing, I’m questing to UNDO 34 years of TYPE A conditioning. Constantly processing the details of our upcoming nuptials, peek into this late blooming bride & groom's roller coaster ride to the altar. Giant Dipper required, sold separately.
If you missed part one of this story, click the back arrow to read my previous post.
This time, Mr. Hot Tea would not be deterred. After no luck searching for my business card in the office, he contacted my teammate to get my number. She called to ask what happened and if it was OK to share my info with him. I was surprised and totally not interested. I mean, I had just had my heart broken by a “younger” man and wasn’t looking for someone like this as my rebound:
Mrs. Cannon, Toledo, OHAge and Occupation: 27, Financial AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, AssemblerEngagement Date: February 28, 2011Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Epworth UMC & Ward PavilionAbout 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.
First, I would like to thank you bees for your advice on our rehearsal dinner dilemma. The majority of your advice emphasized the importance of Mr. Cannon’s opinion and that I need to reduce my stress as we get closer to the wedding. Considering that advice, I made the decision to delegate. I told Mr. Cannon that he and his mother were officially in charge of the rehearsal dinner. I have complete faith in Mr. Cannon, and his mom is a tough lady, so I knew they would come through and they did. He says his mom got everything set up at Pizzapapalis, and I’m taking his word for it and am not worried at all.
Can I tell you how good that feels? Just making the decision that something is not my problem was such a relief. I have had such a hard time delegating wedding tasks for two reasons:
If I’m doing something, the only person who can screw it up is me, so I don’t have to worry about anyone else acting responsibly
I don’t want people to think I’m some Bridezilla slave driver forcing them to work on my wedding
Both of these reasons are absolutely ridiculous. I’m not the only responsible human being alive, and no one thinks I’m a Bridezilla. All my close friends and family have volunteered to help, so I’m hardly being a slave-driver. It’s time that I relax and let people help. Easier said than done, but I’m working on it.
Mrs. Parasol, San Ramon, CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 25, Non-profit writer, editor, and bloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Law school studentEngagement Date: December 19th, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Bent Creek Winery (Livermore, California); Reception: Family Residence (San Ramon, California) About Me: I am a California girl at heart. I love the outdoors, sunny days at the beach, and hiking in the woods and mountains. I also love good books and am fresh from completing my Master's degree in English and Comparative Literature in New York City. Living in NYC was an amazing experience, and while I'm glad to be back on the West Coast, I'm also thankful that my two years back East gave me an opportunity to explore new places, make new friends, and indulge my passion for Broadway shows. Oh, and I received a pretty awesome proposal from Mr. Parasol in Central Park. Above all else, Mr. Parasol is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. But even though I'm thrilled to be marrying him, I wasn't always totally on board with this whole wedding thing and at first, I wanted to run off and elope. I've finally been convinced to throw the wedding I never thought I wanted, and so now I'm busy planning an intimate September wedding filled with DIY details. Along the way, I'm slowly learning to appreciate, perhaps even love the wedding planning process.
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!
Before we transition to our reception in earnest, I thought we’d take a wee virtual tour of our wedding to see how the various elements came together. Imagine yourself in the shoes of a guest, and let’s start at the very beginning with our beloved invitations!
I wrote about the inspiration, design, and crafting process for these preciousbundles—and we couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. They truly set the tone for our event, and every time we went to someone’s home and saw our invitation displayed on the refrigerator or carefully set aside on the counter it made our hearts swell with pride that our hard work didn’t go unnoticed. Read more…
Mrs. Cucumber Sandwich, Washington, DC/Cape May, NJAge and Occupation: 28, School CounselorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Collegiate AthleticsEngagement Date: March 27, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Congress Hall HotelAbout Me: I am a school counselor who spends my day wrangling children and my nights attempting to be creative with wedding projects. My enthusiasm for each of these activities far surpasses my skill. Thank goodness Mr. Cucumber Sandwich is there to pick up the pieces and be the voice of reason about my DIY tries. I have an obsession with terrible romantic comedies (‘From Justin to Kelly’ anyone?, anyone?!?), competitive Scrabble play, and hot dogs. I could eat astronaut ice cream for every meal and can’t seem to resist buying more shoes. Our wedding is going to be a true hodge podge of semi-destination, tradition, Yuengling, New England charm, with just a dash of ‘Jersey Shore’ thrown in. It has been six years in the making and I can’t wait to marry my best friend.
If wedding blogs are the gospel truth then I can’t possibly throw a reception without votive candles! I don’t know what I was planning on doing before I discovered these adorable little tea lights. Not having a very good wedding, that’s what. In case you have no idea what I am talking about:
Tea lights, we used to call them before I got engaged. / Image via Candles Shops Ideas
Mrs. Giraffe, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 23, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Music Student TeacherEngagement Date: October 23, 2008Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Trinity Lutheran Church & Idlewild Country ClubAbout Me: Coming from the suburbs of the Windy City, you'll often find me with my foot in my mouth while laughing for no reason or telling bad knock knock jokes. I've been crafty for as long as I can remember, and will DIY something twice over before I have someone do it for me. I'm a semi-awkward, typeface obsessed, design junkie and have been know to break out my dance moves for no reason as well as try my best to be ridiculous at all times. My love of pop culture, wordplay, and graph paper almost rivals my love of Mr. Giraffe (who is just the bee's knees). After a 2.5 year engagement, we're planning a modern-in-disguise traditional wedding, and cannot wait!
This is so strange, but it’s true. For some reason, when I made the easy decision of picking out my dress, I decided I had to have a sash. In fact, I got my heart all set on it. I’m not 100% sure why I had to have one, but I think the artist in me was drawn to the pop of color, and the opportunity to use it to coordinate our wedding colors and make them even more cohesive (… because I was a crazy bride like that).
If you look back at the image of my dress that David’s Bridal provides, you’ll see something around the waist.
Just so you guys know, the sash in that photo doesn’t come with the dress (included is a length of 2″ white ribbon, there’s even two teeny loops to hold the ribbon onto the dress), but they suggest it with the dress, as well as a thicker, fancier sash, like the purple one in the photo below.
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!
Over our months of planning, we’ve been periodically popping into to meet with the priest who will be officiating our ceremony. He’s relatively new to my hometown parish, so there’s a lot of foreign territory to cover. Everyone approaches weddings a little differently, and everyone has their own personality quirks, so I was eager to see how he would handle us and our wedding.
Pretty quickly into the exploratory process, he dropped a total bomb on us (or, at least, on me). He turned to us and simply stated, “I’m going to have you two memorize your vows, since you’re marrying each other. I’m not marrying you. The only people saying the words should be you two.”
Mrs. Prairie Dog, Cincinnati
Age and Occupation: 24, Program CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, PhD/Biomedical EngineerEngagement Date: December 18, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Glendale LyceumAbout Me: I'm a pilgrim soul of a girl with a house full of books and a coffee addiction that could slay Juan Valdez. My life is a whirl of grammar correction, good music, glue-gunning, and two pets named Hazel and Winston Churchill. I'm marrying my high school boyfriend in a formal-ish spring affair, roughly themed: "Elizabeth Bennet crashes a party co-hosted by Jay Gatsby and Cath Kidston, and loves it."
Here was my phone conversation with my mom regarding our transportation:
Mom: I called the transportation company and have booked something called [pauses to read from the notes she scribbled down] a Lincoln Stretch Navigator.
Me, laughing: A stretch Nav? Mom, that’s balla.
Mom: …I don’t know what you just said.
Me: Balla. Baller?
Mom: [crickets]
Me: Nevermind. It means I like it.
We piled 14 people into said stretch Nav at our reception venue, where we’d gotten ready, and we headed to the church. It looked lovely on the outside, arriving at the church:
It looked like this on the inside. Yes, that is a styrofoam cooler. Ah, class. You can’t teach it. You either have it or you don’t. Read more…
ContestsFeature Launched: Oct 5, 2006About: Weddingbee contests and giveaways.
Today we’re featuring a giveaway from Cherish Paperie, an online custom stationery shop. Cherish Paperie, an independent business started in 2000, offers all types of wedding stationery, from invitations to programs to maps to thank you cards.
Cherish Paperie is giving away two packages of ”Perfect Petals” fans (250 fans total) in either white or cream to one lucky Weddingbee reader!
The fans are 100% customizable. Just follow these simple instructions.
PERSONALIZE: Personalize the petals, using the Word document template, or create your own template in your favorite software.
PRINT: Then print on the pre-perforated fan pages.
PUNCH: Punch out the printed fan petal and secure to the rest of the petals with your own brad, eyelet, or ribbon.
Voila! Your own personalized fan program.
Cherish Paperie is also offering a discount to Weddingbee readers interested in purchasing the kits! Just use the code WEBEE0711 for 10% off anything in your shopping cart on the site. It will be good though August 31, 2011.
To enter to win the program-fan kits, please comment below! And for a second chance to win, follow Weddingbee on Twitter and retweet this contest (if you’re already a follower, simply retweet by clicking here!). Then come back here and let us know that you followed/retweeted. You have until Friday, July 22 at 11:59 PM PST to enter. Good luck!
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.
Oh yeah. It’ll take two whole posts to tell this story.
For so long I was cool as a cucumber. I had all my ducks in a row and my priorities straight. I’ve been diligently crossing things off my lists and even organized all my little table decorations into their own neatly packaged…package. Nothing can thwart me!
Ha.
We’ve been working on getting our invitations out and about into the world once our order from Vistaprint arrived on our doorstep a week ago.
As a reminder here’s what’s going into our envelops:
Invitation, RSVP Card, and RSVP return envelope (which now has a stamp!!):
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. Teacup, Santa CruzAge and Occupation: 34, Pharmaceutical SalesFiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Ditto! (For a different company)Engagement Date: October 1, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: ceremony in our family's Catholic church in Watsonville; reception at the Santa Cruz Beach BoardwalkAbout Me: I’m learning to embrace my true spirit as GIRLY GIRL after previous careers in the Navy and consulting for the government. My favorite hobby is SLEEP, with dancing HULA a close second. An INTROVERT in extrovert clothing, I’m questing to UNDO 34 years of TYPE A conditioning. Constantly processing the details of our upcoming nuptials, peek into this late blooming bride & groom's roller coaster ride to the altar. Giant Dipper required, sold separately.
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.
Mrs. Honey, Durango, COAge and Occupation: 28, Financial AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/PhlebotomistEngagement Date: August 1, 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Vallecito LakeAbout Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
I went to bed the night we got engaged and I only slept a few hours…my mind was literally running around in circles. I would close my eyes and wedding visions would fill my brain. I can’t even tell you what it was I was envisioning, the thoughts were so intertwined and vague. I mean, sure, reality had *kind of* set in that we were engaged, but it hadn’t even been 24 hours and I had wedding on the brain. You all know the feeling, right?
I got to work Monday morning, which would end up being a very unproductive day for me (sorry, boss!). I did what any newly engaged girl would do: I Googled it…and by “it” I mean wedding…and every combination of the word. Wedding planning. Wedding ideas. Wedding pictures. Winter weddings. Wedding blogs.
It was that last one that got me: Wedding blogs. I was instantly hooked…line, sinker, and all. The prettiness, the creativity, the uniqueness. I always knew I would not want a traditional wedding. No church for me. No formal dining for me. But these blogs introduced me to the loveliness of everything wedding. Ruffled. 100 Layer Cake. Style Me Pretty. Snippet & Ink. (And of course the ’Bee!) The names of the blogs alone are to die for!
In that first day I caught on to trends like the cupcake tower, Chiavari chairs, the dessert buffet, bunting, colored shoes, amazing photography, mismatched bridesmaids’ dresses…and so the list goes on. I spent so much time swooning (which is also a new vocab word, thanks to wedding blogs) over prettiness like these:
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
Image via Ruffled Blog / Photo by Aaron Shintaku
