Mrs. Ladyfingers, Saint Petersburg, FL
Age and Occupation: 30, Marketing Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Sports Writer
Engagement Date: December 24, 2010
Wedding Date: November 2011
Venue: Palma Sola Botanical Park
About 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!
In the beginning, I was all about DIY. I was going to design and print my own invitations, make my own wooden-peg-people cake topper, tackle countless decor projects, make memorable and unique programs, and—most notoriously—do aaaall the flowers myself.
This list has graciously thinned out over the past few months, as I’ve come to my senses (Mr. Ladyfingers is doing a happy dance) and realized that there are talented people out there, way better equipped than I am to do many a thing. People who are not distracted by the many facets of wedding planning (unless they themselves are getting married or have a day job as a DOC, both of which are totally plausible) while trying to painstakingly paint my headpiece on a clothespin or make 542 little paper garland balls.
Basically, Etsy is my BFF. Here are some of the most recent adorable, awesome things I’ve found and plan to order in the months to come. Perhaps you’ll find some items for your own totally awesome semi-DIY wedding day.
Wedding topper
I perused some book about handmade weddings in the hazy days after the engagement and decided I would make my own cake topper. Um…yeah, no thanks. I’m leaning toward the adorable customized wooden-peg-people option but love the vintage-cake-topper idea as well.
Custom cake topper by peanutbutterbandit on Etsy
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Mrs. Starfish, Boston/Newport
Age and Occupation: 25, Operations Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Sales
Engagement Date: October 8, 2008
Wedding Date: October 2010
Venue: The Atlantic Beach Club
About Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
Mr. Starfish and I were going to skip favors all together. We went all out for our nautical-themed welcome bags and planned a brunch for our guests. We thought those were the best ways to thank our guests for traveling to Rhode Island and celebrating with us. Then one day BIL Starfish came home with a Shuckie and we decided we needed to have them.
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Weddingbee Gallery
Feature Launched: April 10, 2009
About: A collection of inspirational wedding pictures from readers and bees.
als87 enlisted her flower girls to carry a “here comes the bride” sign
Tony Evans Photography
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!
Mrs. Cucumber Sandwich, Washington, DC/Cape May, NJ
Age and Occupation: 28, School Counselor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Collegiate Athletics
Engagement Date: March 27, 2010
Wedding Date: October 2011
Venue: Congress Hall Hotel
About 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.
Let the evolution of our save the dates begin! It all started with a little inspiration.
Image via DC NearlyWeds
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Featured on Weddingbee
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Featured Product: Laura Ashley Delicate Damask Invitation
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!
With my tears wiped away, it was time to get started on my hair and make up. The one take away from my hair trial was to make the bun a little bigger, which we accomplished by purchasing longer extensions. We made use of the first set of extensions by clipping them in for Mama E’s hair style.
Pinning in several bobby pins
I loved the added volume of my bun! Right around this time, our planner Kathie brought up the flowers for me to look over. I mentioned before that I am not a big fan of flowers, but I loved how my bouquet turned out. My late grandmother’s brooch on the front was the perfect something old!
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Mrs. Panther, Atlanta GA/Westport CT
Age and Occupation: 24, Web Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Music Recording Engineer
Engagement Date: March 13, 2010
Wedding Date: July 2011
Venue: The Inn at Longshore
About Me: I'm a total goofball who goes through life at a breakneck pace, trying not to knock anything over. I tend to fall in love with everything I encounter, but more than anything, I love my two little kitties, Bela and Josie, and my big kitty, Mr. Panther! As a wannabe crafter, I'm still waiting for my artistic talents to emerge. (Any day now, really.) In the meantime, I spend my days eating anything put in front of me, buying every pair of shoes I see and absorbing wedding inspiration from every inch of my surroundings. Mr. Panther and I are hardcore New Englanders planning Connecticut nuptials from our new home in the Dirty South, and can't wait to mix our newfound love of classic Southern charm with some modern city touches.
Oh, hey, hive! Just wanted to check in and say hi and tell you a little about this thing Mr. Panther and I did over the weekend …
We got married!
It was amazing. It was full of warm, smushy, happy love; the weather was absolutely perfect; and our friends danced their pants off until the very end of the night. And the best part? At the end of it, Mr. Panther was my husband!
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
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.
Mr. Gazelle and I wanted to give something that really signified us for our wedding favours. The decision was really easy—tea and cookies! We both love Earl Grey tea, specifically Russian Earl Grey tea with lemongrass and orange. I ordered 1 kg of loose tea online and we packaged them up in adorable tins from Etsy seller InTheClear.
We then prettied them up with some leftover purple Baker’s twine from our invitations.
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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.
I know that some sweet bubbly and celebrations go hand and hand. I get it, I really do.
But wedding after wedding that I go to I see champagne go to waste since everyone doesn’t partake in the goodness of the bubbly. And to tell you the truth, I think that is blasphemy. I personally love me some sparkly wine. But then again there really there is a never any kind of wine that I turn my back on.
But Mr. Sweets isn’t exactly into champagne. He likes his wine the sweet side, just like his women I guess… 
Since we were having our wedding at a winery, we had to partake in their wine choices only, which meant that the sweet bubbly we had to get from them would cost a pretty penny. And with cost, the fear of champagne waste and Mr. Sweets’ sweet palate against us, I wanted to figure out another option.
No worries—besides champagne I actually love vintage bottles.
Such pretty bottles…
Image via My Sweet Savannah / Credit: All About You Magazine
…would not only make a great centerpiece…
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Miss Doily, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Age and Occupation: 25, Autism Paraeducator/ Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Freelance Writer/ Publisher
Engagement Date: August 27th, 2010
Wedding Date: March 2012
Venue: Father’s Vineyard Church/ A Touch of Class Banquet Center
About 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.!
Hello, hive! Hello, hello, hello!!! I cannot even begin to explain just how excited I am to be Miss Doily. Mostly this is because I am in shock, and it’s not even 100% hit me that I am a bee. I wanted to be a bee so I can share my wedding journey with others who are in a similar place and hopefully give them ideas and inspiration! I am one of the first of my friends and family to get married, so I am venturing into unknown territory, and guess what? I’m dragging all of you along with me! I hope you have your seat belts buckled—it’s going to be a pretty crazy ride!!
When I applied to be a bee, I had already resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t hear for weeks and that I probably would not get chosen the first time out of the gate. Much to my surprise, and the chagrin of Mr. D’s eardrums, I found out only five days after I applied that I would be the newest blogger bee. I went to check my text messages and noticed that I had some emails. At the top of the pile was one with “Weddingbee Application” in the subject line. I opened it, expecting a kind rejection from Pengy. After all, it had only been five days! But it was there, congratulating me. I squealed at the top of my lungs, running into the living room, sending my cats scattering in terror. Mr. D looked alarmed as well. I could barely get the words out, but he managed to get the gist of: “OHMYGOSHITHINKTHEYMADEMEABEE!” After I calmed down, I made him read the email to me out loud so I wasn’t mistaken. He read it and assured me that I wasn’t, and now here I am!
Introducting Mr. D and Miss Doily! (Personal Photo)
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Mrs. Funnel Cake, Zürich, Switzerland/Columbus, Ohio
Age and Occupation: 24, Visual Communication Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Application Engineer
Engagement Date: May 30, 2010
Wedding Date: October 2011
Venue: Catholic church followed by a botanical conservatory
About Me: I'm an American designer who moved to Switzerland for love after a fairytale beginning at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I love travel, photography, museums, learning German so I can speak with my mother-in-law, cooking (eating), cuddling, and I'm not afraid to try something new even if it terrifies me. My Swiss/Brazilian man and I are both down to earth people planning a traditional Catholic wedding in my hometown with some quirky cultural exceptions to reflect our different backgrounds. We look forward to celebrating with friends and family from all over the world in a classic, sophisticated fusion of heritage and love.
Moving onward with the frustrating engagement ring search, we finally went to Örlikon, a suburb of Zürich where Mr. Funnel Cake grew up, and visited a small jewelry store Mr FC heard about from his father.
(Fiechter, image courtesy of Google)
After we waved away the typical Meister rings everyone wanted to pawn off on us, they brought out the usual five “alternative rings” and surprisingly… they had something I liked!
I tried on a .12 carat 5-stone ring similar to the larger .5 carat version I liked with the killer 1500CHF price tag. It was “klein und fein” as I had requested and it was only 500CHF. Score.
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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!
We’re starting to get into crunch time, which means that miniscule details are starting to make their way to the top of the to-do list. One such example is the card box. I considered a few different options that are pretty standard at weddings nowadays, like the fabric- or paper-covered box and the birdcage. I wasn’t interested in buying something that screamed “wedding” and would be an antiquated relic mere hours after our vows; I also wasn’t interested in crafting something that would require a lot of time, energy, or skill. In addition to knowing what I didn’t want, I knew that I’d like to use the card box as an opportunity to infuse some fun, color, and personality.
After stalling on this decision for quite some time, I finally realized that there was one option I really wanted; I had seen a creative idea from Mrs. Lioness and couldn’t get it out of my head—the mailbox from Disney’s Up!
Image via Pixar Wiki / Credit: Disney
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Mrs. Prairie Dog, Cincinnati
Age and Occupation: 24, Program Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, PhD/Biomedical Engineer
Engagement Date: December 18, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2011
Venue: Glendale Lyceum
About 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."
For all of my already-treasured memories of our May day, the morning of my wedding eludes me. I remember waking to no appetite whatsoever, I sort of remember being at the salon, and I remember laughing on the car ride to our venue.
Once there, I had no choice but to slow down. I sat on a stool, warm sunlight pouring in the windows, as my makeup artist brushed blush across my cheeks and pulled mascara across my lashes. The room was too small for more than one other person, and I felt calm and still and centered. It was exactly what I needed. Downstairs, I could hear voices—groomsmen and parents and vendors arriving—but for that moment, I was happy to sit and wait.
What awaited me was a gauzy white dress, with hard-won sleeves…
Delicate satin shoes befitting of only a bride…
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Mrs. Ladyfingers, Saint Petersburg, FL
Age and Occupation: 30, Marketing Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Sports Writer
Engagement Date: December 24, 2010
Wedding Date: November 2011
Venue: Palma Sola Botanical Park
About 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!
Ever since we started planning The Wedding, I’ve found myself concerned with things I never imagined I’d be concerned with. For instance: makeup. Up until like two years ago, seriously, I was all about department-store makeup. Only problem was, I had problem skin. So I finally made the move over to Bare Escentuals and, lord, let me tell you what a difference that made. Recently, though, I’ve found myself heading to Sephora on like a weekly basis, trolling the aisles and picking up all sorts of illuminating primers and lip stains and mascaras—mascaras! I never wear mascara! And you want to know the craziest part? I’m having my makeup done. By a professional. I don’t even need this stuff! But for some reason, it makes me feel like a bride. And this is why I hate commercialism. Well, love/hate.
Then there are the things I feel I need to line up in the months ahead. We are at just over four months and counting and, all of a sudden, I’m finding myself obsessed—I tell you, obsessed—over my appearance. This is not a very comfortable situation for me, as I typically think of myself as very un-vain.
The body
In January, I started working out. Like, for the first time ever. I started with Jillian Michaels’s 30 Day Shred and then moved to Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. I swear, I started seeing results right away! I had been eating terribly—fast food three-plus times per week and sweets and salty stuff every day, all day. And I was totally sedentary. In February, I started doing P90X, and not only have I lost some weight in the past five months, but my arms are more toned and I feel better. But still, I’m a huge slacker, and I haven’t mastered the art of actually working out six days a week. Plus, I could still eat better. Boo.
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Mrs. Cucumber Sandwich, Washington, DC/Cape May, NJ
Age and Occupation: 28, School Counselor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Collegiate Athletics
Engagement Date: March 27, 2010
Wedding Date: October 2011
Venue: Congress Hall Hotel
About 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.
Since our venue is over budget (but totally worth it), we have been trying to come up with ways to cut costs in other areas. There are a couple of DIY projects that I am working on that will hopefully save some money but not my sanity. Another way we are trying to save is by coming up with cost-saving solutions with our vendors.
One of our last vendors we booked was the florist. I have been researching my little blogger butt off, and I think our estimated budget is going to be too low. Uh oh, not good. I have been looking at ways to save money on flowers, and I think a big money-suck comes from the bridesmaids’ bouquets and boutonnieres. My first big idea was to have just one flower for the bouquets.
Image and floral design by GrandiFlora
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Miss Snapdragon, Chicago/Dallas
Age and Occupation: 32,Associate Producer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Lighting Designer
Blogging Since: November 14, 2008
Engagement Date: January 1, 2011
Wedding Date: March 2012
Venue: Marie Gabrielle
About Me: Voracious reader of short stories, Russian literature, National Geographic and Cosmo. I'm a GENIUS at spicing up Weight Watchers recipes and a pathological cheater at board games. I run a slow marathon, but my feet are learning to move faster. Mornings aren't my thing, but I can night owl with the best of them. Don't tempt me with your Cherry Cokes---I'm trying to quit. Tomorrow. Or never.
Bossyboots’ and my biggest concern when we decided to have The Big Wedding was avoiding unnecessary stress. For me—and this is coming from an A1 crazy crafter—DIY tends to be a huge source of stress. Out in the real world, plenty of events employ some sort of DIY element. Weddings are different because… it usually ends up being just the bride doing the work. And not from a lack of offers to help. Your mom offers—we refuse because we don’t want to be an imposition. Our sisters offer to help—we refuse because we want that bow tied just so. Our bridesmaids and friends want to help—we say no because we don’t want others to see The Wedding Stuff Room in our houses (you’ve got one, I know you do…). Even our grooms offer to help… well, OK, they can help. Until he spills coffee on my 110lb Crane Lettra paper. Then he has to get out!!!
My point to Bossyboots was… I did not want to take on a part-time job known as 1,000 Wedding Craft Projects. Neither did he. I bet you know what comes next, right?
We started talking about invitations. Beautiful, luscious invitations. The thing is…I draw maps for my friends in my spare time, and I have opinions.
*Identifying info removed/do not copy
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