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!
Inspiration boards are probably one of the coolest things about being a 21st century bride. I’ve made multiple boards, only to change them up again and again. But, like Miss Magic, I was having a difficult time piecing the entire celebration together in one board. So, thanks to her, I began creating smaller boards for different parts of the day. It was much easier on my brain.
So in an effort to wrap my own mind around my own thoughts, I need a visual list of what needs to ultimately come together before W-day. Mama Honey is off for the summer so we want to craft, craft, craft, and I need that running visual list of what needs to happen. Here is my Ceremony Inspiration Board:
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!
Once we finished our first dance, Daddy E took the microphone to welcome all of our guests.
He did a great job, and didn’t keep it too long-winded, which he can sometimes do when he’s excited. 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.
I really want to show you something I am working on, but it is a surprise for our invitations. So if you aren’t getting an invitation from us or hate surprises and Santa Claus, please continue. Otherwise…
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.
Mr. Pony’s band, however, was a tad more difficult. And, of course, we waited to shop for his band until the week before he moved. We naively thought we could just stop by any jewelry store, pick out a ring, and take it home the same day. (Feel free to laugh at our foolishness, we were preoccupied and not thinking clearly.) Read more…
Mrs. Penguin, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in ChiefFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical TherapyEngagement Date: January 29, 2007Wedding Date: June 7, 2008Blogging Since: September 14, 2007Venue: Winery in the Gold CountryAbout 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!
Last time around I shared my day with FitBit, and now I want to share a little bit more about its functionality.
As far as size, it’s small, and you can clip it anywhere on your clothing. It’s about the size of a money clip, but thicker. The reason you can clip it anywhere (unlike a pedometer, that you typically have to clip to somewhere near your leg) is that it tracks your movement in a 3D space (similar to how the technology for Nintendo Wii works). So it can tell you’re moving, not just because you’re shifting your weight (which is how a traditional pedometer functions). Read more…
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.
After Mr. Seal proposed, my aunt and I took a couple of floral design classes together and briefly entertained the idea of arranging all of the flowers for my wedding. Ha! As it turns out, though I am still deeply in love with flowers, my patience for floral arranging is nearly non-existent. So, to a local florist it was!
The Sealman attended a bridal fair with me sometime early last year (what a champ!) and as it so happened, we ended up meeting three of our vendors there. Amongst the three was our florist - I am a sucker for sparkle and was immediately drawn to the bouquets she had on display.
One was an amazingly full beauty with a supremely blingy bouquet holder, a bit similar to this one.
Anyhow, I wasn’t the only one zeroed in on the beautiful display of bouquets, so I quickly introduced myself to the florist, grabbed a business card, threw it in my swag bag with the millions of others and navigated my way out of the crowd. Finding a florist was really low on my list of priorities at the time, so I kind of forgot about it and moved on.
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. 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!
When I posted about our prelude choices earlier this week, a handful of people requested a post regarding the actual ceremony music. Given how long it took me to nail this down, I figured it was only reasonable to throw my picks into the mix, hopefully helping another bride-to-be to square away her song selections.
Processional
After talking this over with our vocalist, organist, and priest, we decided that we wanted three pieces for the processional—one for the mothers and grandmothers, one for the bridal party, and one for the bride’s entrance. We also decided to go with a more traditional, classical music route as compared to our contemporary prelude selections. After varying amounts of deliberation, we’ve finally settled on our three winners.
Seating of the Mothers and Grandmothers: Hornpipe (from Water Music) by Handel
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!
Our reception didn’t turn into a raging dance party, but our guests kept the floor pretty busy anyway. SIL Hyena called all the married couples out to the dance floor for the anniversary dance, and it was packed! She started eliminating couples based on how long each had been married. Mr. Hyena and I were the first to leave the floor, since we’d been married less than a day!
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.
OK, hive, I am officially in DIY heaven (or hell, depending on how you look at things). I have a ton of projects on the horizon, so much so that it’s a little overwhelming—maybe I’ll just order all my decorations off of Etsy and save myself the trouble. But I’m pressing on with my projects for now, and I hope that I’ll have lots of fun tutorials to post about in the future!
I’ve actually just finished a project that I’ve been anxious to try for quite some time now, so today I want to show you how to make your own rustic wedding signs.
Mrs. Penguin, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 27, Weddingbee Editor in ChiefFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Doctor of Physical TherapyEngagement Date: January 29, 2007Wedding Date: June 7, 2008Blogging Since: September 14, 2007Venue: Winery in the Gold CountryAbout 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!
You’re invited to The Wedding Salon’s premiere wedding planning event in Chicago on August 8th! Join Jenny Yoo, Blueprint Cleanse, makeup by pamela, Delish Cakes, and many more amazing wedding vendors as they help you plan your day. Walk away with a goody bag, and a slew of insider tips!
Tickets are $25 a pair, but you can attend FREE courtesy of The Wedding Salon and Weddingbee! Just head over to The Wedding Salon to sign up, and use code CWBC at check out. Have a blast, Chicago hive members!
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!
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!
Hive, I’m afraid I haven’t been entirely forthright with you. Although it’s true that for the majority of our wedding day Mr. Tartlet and I lived in that coveted world of “sunshine and rainbows,” there was a dark little cloud hovering over our marriage that I haven’t spoken of until now, mostly because I was conflicted about how to approach the topic on such a public forum. Plainly speaking, I seriously considered glossing over the whole affair. Upon reflecting on my years of reading Weddingbee, though, I realized that part of what makes this community special is the open acknowledgement of the ups and downs that accompany engagement, marriage, and life after the wedding. At any rate, I digress. The springboard for this post is the following nugget of wisdom that my sister shared during her toast, and later wrote in our guest book:
{Personal Photo}
There is someone (let’s call this person “Sue,” because no one wants to be a Sue) who became increasingly antagonistic towards our relationship over the last couple of years, especially with how we chose to execute our wedding. Sue’s first act on our wedding day was to mock my appearance, and her last was to try and drag Mr. Tartlet away as we shared our last dance. 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.
The groomsmen-suit search is turning out to be a disaster. Who knew that you can’t rent gray suits or gray tuxedos?!? All right, that might be a little dramatic, but the pickings are slim. Almost everywhere either has a tuxedo in a light gray or nothing. I thought we had a suit picked and prematurely crossed groomsmen suits off my to-do list, but now it looks like we are back at square one.
I left Mr. Cucumber Sammie (mistake number one—love you, sweetie) in charge of finding the suits since he has way more experience in this area. He searched all your typical sites like Men’s Wearhouse and JoS. A. Bank. After a night of looking, he declared the suits found. Men are so efficient. We made an appointment to see the suit in person at JoS. A. Banks this weekend.
As it turns out, even though we had an appointment to see the suit, they didn’t have it in stock. The salesperson just gave us a book of pictures of the various rental options. We were told that we would have to order it to be able to see it in person. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Pressing on, Mr. Cucumber Sammie decided he liked the suit and we would just move forward with ordering it. The suit in question:
Spring Wedding Favors
