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 decided to take a quick honeymoon right after the wedding to New York City. We got married on Sunday and took a red eye from Vancouver out east on Monday night. Here we are on our flight to New York, so excited!!! (But a little tired…)
We had arranged for a luxury car to pick us up from La Guardia from Dial 7 Car & Limousine Service. They picked us up just a few minutes after we had collected our bags and it was really nice to drive into the city in air conditioned luxury.
We checked in to our room at the Distrikt Hotel. When we booked the hotel back in December the hotel had great ratings on Trip Advisor and we were not disappointed. The room was fairly large, the bed super comfortable and it was conveniently located to the subway. Read more…
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.
Before the wedding, I posted about making paper flowers, fabric leaves, and then again about putting the paper boutonnières together. The original plan was 3 boutonnières and 3 bouquets—flowers just for the wedding party.
Between getting engaged and about March, I waffled over whether I wanted real or paper flowers. As you know, I chose to make paper flowers. I purposely didn’t tell Cinnamum about this decision until she asked me directly: “What are you doing for flowers?”And when I told her I was making them out of book paper, I got the expected silence on the other end of the line. I emailed a few photos to her after that conversation, and never received any feedback on them. A few days passed, and I got a phone call. This phone call nearly put me over the edge. It was all, “Are you doing it to save money? We can send more money! I can buy flowers and arrange them the morning of the wedding! We can go to Safeway! You need real flowers!”
I don’t think it was ever said in so many words, but the impression was that paper flowers would look cheap and childish and a real wedding needed real flowers. That time, I was the one emanating silence from the other end of the line.
After that phone call, I fell into a crafting slump. Read more…
Mrs. Knitting, TorontoAge and Occupation: 24, Student Recruitment Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Neuroscience PhD CandidateEngagement Date: October 2009Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: University of Toronto Faculty Club
About Me: I'm a pearl wearing, etiquette book reading Toronto girl who loves cooking and baking, museums, charm bracelets, and collecting books on Jackie Kennedy (a lot). I've been known to spend Sunday mornings at the antique market, Wednesday evenings at sister sushi dinners, and any bit of spare time reading. After six and a half years of many late night walks, watching DVDs together in bed, travelling to places like New York, and Tobermory, doing Sudokus together on the couch, lots of Indian food, the occasional yoga class, moving in together and so much more, Mr. Knitting and I are planning a cozy Christmasy (it's a word!), vintage wedding in Toronto complete with many DIY projects (eek!) and lots of help from our amazing group of family and friends.
I made a number of unconventional (but by no means totally unique) choices for our wedding so I thought a post on how they all worked out would be a good idea.
DIY Hair and Makeup
I was originally a bit worried about doing my own hair and makeup because I am not particularly talented at either. In fact, I’m actually pretty bad at doing my hair and almost always wear it in a ponytail so I don’t have to deal with it! However, I’m happy to report that I was really happy with this decision. I have no doubts that a pro would have done a much better job, but not to an extent that would have made it worth it financially for me.
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!
Our first night together was in January. Our first getaway was Valentine’s weekend. He said “I love you” that following Monday morning. By the end of February we decided we wanted to live together, and in the beginning of March we moved into our home. Ya, in case you aren’t counting, that’s less than three months from our first night together.
{Personal picture of our house the first time we looked at it}
tiffanyantoinette and her husband share their first kiss as husband and wife
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.
Miss Doily, Cedar Rapids, IowaAge and Occupation: 25, Autism Paraeducator/ StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Freelance Writer/ PublisherEngagement Date: August 27th, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Father’s Vineyard Church/ A Touch of Class Banquet CenterAbout Me: I’m an Iowan girl with a deep love of Harry Potter, classic movies, cardigans, and Post-Its. My type-A Virgo tendencies often cause me to drive my laid-back college sweetheart fiance batty with lists and PowerPoint presentations. I love to be crafty and do things myself, which explains why my two crazy kittens often will prance around the house covered in glitter and ribbons. When I am not bogged down with work, school, or wedding planning, I like to travel to visit my expansive family and have wild adventures with my best friends. After a rollercoaster ride of a love story, I’m ready to take that final plunge, marry the love of my life, and become a Mrs.!
As part of my crazy idea to DIY the majority of our wedding, this meant that I would be hand-designing our paper products. I’m sure a friend somewhere that could have handled it for me and would have done so gladly, but my perfectionism just would not let this happen. I knew that I would change things a million times and that I did not want to put any friend though that. That left doing it myself.
Which then meant choosing which kind of save the date to go with. Mr. D suggested that we do magnets. This is because the save the dates we have received have all been magnets. They definitely are cute, and I always see them sitting on people’s fridges, even after the wedding has come and gone. We definitely found some inspirations ones that we liked:
Willow trees have always been my favorite tree. I love the way that this one’s little leaves are hearts and the initials carved into the trunk. Mr. D didn’t like it, he didn’t think it was really us.
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.
A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Cucumber Sammie and I trekked up to Cape May for our menu tasting. It was an epic food-coma-inducing evening, whose story should best be told through the use of pictures. At Congress Hall they do a tasting “party.” They invite all the brides and grooms who are getting married during a certain time period and have kind of a mock wedding complete with DJ. There were centerpieces from various local florists and different linens on all the tables. I must have gained five pounds, but it was worth it!
It wasn’t until about halfway through the appetizers that I realized I should probably take pictures. And at that point pretty much everything that was worth eating was gone. Oops! But I think it’s just a testament to how delicious everything was.
For our menu we get a total of five passed hors d’oeuvres appetizers (who am I kidding—I can’t spell that). Congress Hall provided a tasting of their top six. They were: seared sesame tuna, smoked salmon pinwheels, roasted red pepper hummus on toasted pita, French onion soup boule, garlic-crusted lamb chops, and truffled potato croquettes.
Mrs. Poodle, Santiago, Chile/San Bernardino, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Industrial & Web DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Firefighter & Mountain PatrolEngagement Date: February 25, 2009Wedding Date: January 2010Venue: Mr. P's Grandparents’ RanchAbout Me: I’m a Chilean girl who's crazy about nature and swimming. I enjoy carving, drawing, reading and sewing; I drool over computers, fabric, pretty paper, purple and patterns. To me, chocolate should be one of the seven wonders, right next to lemon pie. I never thought an exchange work experience program was going to change my life forever, but while working in California, I met Mr. Poodle, and ever since my days are better and brighter. We are two goofy souls that, after finding each other, couldn’t help but want to be together forever. It has being a long and sometimes hard road, since we have to deal with such a long distance between us, but we are now facing the last stage of our Fiancé Visa, and soon we will be together. You know the best part? We will be married! So I’ll be blogging from Chile until just a few months before our “green and purple” wedding.
When we started planing our ceremony both of us thought about using a cool vintage car for our getaway, but as the planning continued we realized that we just had to stay true to the ranch. Therefore, we went with the typical ranch ride: quads!
Mrs. Ladyfingers, Saint Petersburg, FLAge and Occupation: 30, Marketing ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Sports WriterEngagement Date: December 24, 2010Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Palma Sola Botanical ParkAbout Me: I hail from Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Long Island. Fate brought us together, and now we live in a cute little rental house with our nutty dog, and our aloof cat. We both love to read, watch movies, explore our town, and laugh like hyenas. When I’m not obsessively wedding crafting, I enjoy stalking style and decorating blogs, making collages and painting, napping, thrifting, rearranging our bookshelves, and being a total weirdo with my friends. Hi!
First let me preface this post by saying that nobody has yet made us feel the way I’m about to describe. Nobody has said one thing about the way we’re planning our wedding or the choices we have made. I know that not everybody can say this and, for that, we are grateful.
But.
From time to time, we wonder whether our parents, our family, will raise an eyebrow at the type of wedding we’re having. We were both raised in very large Italian families—his in New York, mine in Chicago. When somebody got married, it was in a very large Catholic church, then a banquet hall—usually the same one every time—that held roughly 300 people. Cousins of cousins of cousins were invited. Everybody had a plus-one. Kids abounded. Sometimes, as a 12-year-old, you could even get a misanthropic bartender to slip you a real daiquiri instead of the virgin version you ordered. The favors were always the same. It wasn’t even a question: six Jordan almonds in a little net bag, tied with a ribbon. There were junior bridesmaids and multiple flower girls. There was always a ring bearer. Read more…
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.
So now that Mr. Parasol and I have a wedding date and I am very close to finishing graduate school altogether, I can actually start thinking about and working on my ever-increasing list of DIY wedding projects. Like many brides, I like the idea of creating things for our wedding myself. That way, everything will be much more personal and actually encapsulate what I envision for our wedding (which I’m still trying to work out on a daily basis). Plus, DIY projects generally have the added bonus of saving a lot of money.
My first wedding project was really only semi-DIY. Originally, I had wanted to make our save the dates from scratch, but school and work and the like were so crazy that I just didn’t have time. Thankfully, I found an awesome site, Wedding Paper Divas, that has a lot of wonderful save-the-date templates that are very easy to personalize. Our save the dates should be here any day now, and I cannot wait to see them! I can only image they look even more amazing in person.
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.
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. 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!
By now, our wedding RSVP deadline has come and gone. And then some. We only have two more pairs of guests to track down, so I feel like that’s a complete enough picture to breakdown our RSVP results. Here we go!
Number invited: 276
Number attending: 193
Decline percentage: 30%
Now that we have the numbers, let’s crunch them. Truthfully speaking, never in a million years did Mr. Snow Cone and I anticipate ending up with a wedding reception with fewer than 200 people. We spent more than a little bit of a time stressing over the guest list, making cuts to give us a morsel of breathing room. We had visions of people uncomfortably squeezed together at tables that were also uncomfortably squeezed together. Lots of tables with lots of people in a moderately-sized room on an August evening—it’s practically a request for someone to pass out! We were definitely worried about attendance, to say the least.
Once the RSVPs started rolling in, we would kind of secretly high-five when we got a “no,” since that meant that we’d have a little bit more room to work with. Read more…
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!
Our story can be told one of two ways. The sweet and condensed version is that we met through mutual friends and the rest is history. Short and simple. But who likes short and simple?!
The extended (and much more interesting) version includes Eeyore in a hookah lounge, Facebook-stalking, and a grand scheme. Intrigued?
It was late October 2009, and I headed downtown to have a couple drinks with a group of friends after a comedy show. In this group of friends was Mr. Honey’s best friend (now Best Man Honey!) who was dating one of my great friends, and we all ended up at a hookah lounge together. Our group grabbed a table outside and sat back to chat and enjoy a couple drinks. Being that it was late October, apparently people were practicing for Halloween the next weekend…because in walked a guy in an Eeyore costume with a cute little pink-bowed tail:
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
