- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
Can you guess what happened during the week? Yes, I had my hair and makeup trial. Why else would I feel so pretty? I was armed with inspiration pictures coming out of my wazoo, and I knew what I wanted. Explaining that to my hair and makeup artists was what I thought was going to be the difficult part! It turns out they are both very professional and can interpret my vague requests, so it was all incredibly easy!
First, a before photo, after a long day at work.
Personal Photo
I was actually still on a teleconference when I arrived at my parents’ house for the trial. Not lettting that faze me, we got started with the hair, from my inspiration here.
Read more…
As the clock was nearing the end of our reception, we had two songs to end the night right. As my fellow Aggie Mrs. Cardigan already mentioned, the Aggie War Hymn is a staple of an Aggie wedding. (It was also played at the Hyenas’ wedding!)
…slam your head against the wall until you forget what you were trying to do in the first place.
Wait…that’s not how that saying goes at all. However, that is how I felt about this endeavor once I realized what was required to “succeed.” It’s all rather silly really; I’m almost embarrassed to share… ALMOST.
This was something I did at the age of 12 and again at the age of 19 (out of sheer stupidity—my own brand of ”rebellion”) and I had surely hoped would never need to do again. I mean really, who, at the ripe old age of 24, decides that despite her inability to manage this task in the past, should just dive right back in and do it again?
Okay, by now you think I’m crazy, right? You’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about?
Read more…
This Monday, 15 August 2011, my amazing, wonderful, loving, funny, caring grandfather passed away.
It wasn’t entirely a shock, as his health had gone downhill recently, but he was always larger than life in my mind; I thought he would live forever. Witty, smart, fun, warm. The perfect patriarch, he supported his children and grandchildren, pushed us when we needed pushing, helped us up when we scraped our knees, gave us countless hugs, kisses, and smiles. I am so grateful that I was able to spend time with him when I was home for my bachelorette party two weekends ago. I cherish those hours we spent together.
I keep thinking of moments I had with him each smile and phrase leads to another memory, another moment spent together. More stories, more emotions. It’s funny how thoroughly my interactions with him are woven throughout my memories of childhood, growing up, and into adulthood. He was so present in the lives of his children and grandchildren. I grasp at these fragmented thoughts and memories, writing them down so I don’t forget.
He was so excited about our wedding, and I am incredibly sad that he will not be there to witness our love and joy that day. Always social and out-going, he loved big events and relished in time spent with family and friends. With just over a week until our wedding, his passing has left me with a rip-tide of emotions that I am still trying to process.
Read more…
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
I didn’t want to make a big production of finding bridesmaids’ dresses. I had my maid of honor and Mr. K’s maid of honor look online for the last month or so. We found a couple of great options. David’s Bridal seemed to be the place to go to in order to fit into a certain price range and style selection. I made an appointment for a Wednesday when most everyone was available.
My maid of honor, MOH Indy, lives in NYC, so she wasn’t available. But Mr. K’s maid of honor, his sister, was available, as were her twin daughters who are our flower girls. Also available were all my bridesmaids, except one. Our two junior bridesmaids were also there to try on dresses. Throw in my mother, Mr. K’s mother and sister, and we had a group of 14 females—only 4 of whom weren’t trying on a single dress.
It was so much more fun than you could imagine. I was going around ooh-ing and aah-ing at all the pretty dresses and taking pictures. The flower girls didn’t want to take off their “princess dresses.”
 |
| Personal Image: Vera Wang shoes that we still drool over in memory. |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I have the slowest growing hair on the face of the planet. When I was 18 years old, I cut my hair off to a short bob:
And then, besides routine trims, I never significantly cut the length again. I am now 24. This is how much my hair has grown:
Read more…
…and I’m not talking about adult-only receptions.
Getting married digs up a lot of questions. You know what I am talking about—when’s the big day? How many guests? When are you having kids? What are your colors?
Yeah. They always sneak that kids one in there, don’t they? Sneaky sneaky.
Though I personally don’t mind the question at all, I do think it’s a bit presumptive and the ensuing answer is often complicated. Assuming we do want children, deciding when we want them is a toughie to answer. I’ve often heard that there is no “right” time to start poppin’ out (or adopting) babies, but I do think there are better times than others.
Mr. Seal and I are (very thankfully) in agreement on the wanting kids front. We both want children. Although he’d be happy waiting a decade to start trying, I’m in a pinch more of a hurry (which I’ll explain in a moment).
Read more…
It’s been a while since I’ve really talked about my wedding day look, but given that I finally had my hair and makeup trial, I guess it’s time I returned to the subject.
Remember how I originally wanted a loose, soft, curly updo for the wedding? Well the second I showed Mr. Parasol my inspiration pictures, he pointed to the one curly half-up photo I had and said, “Oh, I like that. You should do your hair exactly like that.” Boys. What do they know?
But when I listened to Mr. Parasol’s reasoning, I realized that he actually knew what he was talking about. In the first place, I wear my hair up all the time. Doing my hair requires a lot of work, and most days, I just don’t have the time or the energy to style it, so I usually throw it up into some sort of bun. When I want to dress up and look my best, though, I usually wear my hair down. So in Mr. Parasol’s mind, an updo=everyday casual hairstyle while a half-up=fancy special occasion hairstyle. Plus, he says he really likes it when I wear my hair down and curly. That was the deciding factor for me because, above all else, I want to look beautiful for Mr. Parasol.
I could have stuck with the original inspiration picture that Mr. Parasol really liked:
Image via The Knot / Photography byLaura Negri Photography / Hair by Bob Salon
But I realized this isn’t quite what I want. It’s lovely, but I knew I could find something better.
Read more…
Last night on our way home from running some wedding errands Mr. FW noticed, “We’re taking turns breathing heavy sighs.” And once he said that I realized I, too, could hear the sounds of deep, controlled inhales alternating with unsatisfactory exhales. For the first time it was really starting to weigh on us just how little time is left before our wedding day and just how much needs to get finished during that limited time. We are working on wedding projects constantly at this point, and days are flying by at breakneck speed. Yet it never seems the list gets any shorter. In fact, for every one item that we start or complete, at least one other item gets tacked on. So we both get ridiculously giddy when we find a project that seems like it will be quick and easy to cross off the list.
The ring dish should’ve been one of those easy items—”should” being the operative word here. Mr. FW spent an hour or two combing Etsy to find a few good options, one of which we both agreed would be perfect for us.
image from Etsy shop Cats Paw Pottery
One dish for the wedding, one to go on my nightstand right away. Affordable, patterned but simple, our choice of colors, and the seller would create a hole in one of them so that we could tie on the rings. Perfect!
Read more…
Can you believe it? Neither can I, it’s a miracle they made it in the mail! Here’s proof of my success, happily nestled in the Fizz & Frills marketplace bag. Yay, recycling!
Ladies, I won’t lie—the past few weeks have been incredibly hectic. It doesn’t help that I’m a terrible multi-tasker. Shedding for the wedding, invitations, and my bachelorette weekend all converged last Thursday. Although I wish it were effortless, I managed to keep my peak stress levels to a minimum. A girl can fantasize, right?
Read more…
When deciding on outfits for our engagement pictures, I knew I wanted to take one set of casual pictures and another with a little bit dressier feel.
We are lucky to have a fantastic location for our pictures—my grandparents’ old farm. My parents still live next door and, although family no longer lives on the farm property, we still own the land and ramshackle barns that make for a perfect backdrop.
The casual outfit was an easy find. Because of the country/farm feel of the setting, I wanted to find a cute plaid or “country looking” shirt to pair with jeans and some boots. One lunchtime trip to Macy’s and I scored the perfect shirt—in our wedding color, no less!
Image via Macy’s (in navy—no longer available)
Uh… hey…it’s me, your favorite split shank purple shoe…
Just so I don’t give you a case of recap blue balls (again) I’ve actually finished writing them and am publishing them one at a time. Being a Weddingbee blogger has meant so much to me and I apologize for taking so long. In case anyone who was here in 2009 is still around, thanks for keeping me company! If you’re new to the hive—welcome! I’m a semi-old timey bee who is about to celebrate her two year anniversary!
Before I move ahead with the reception, I just wanted to take a moment to highlight how several projects turned out. Some I didn’t even blog about (for shame!).
Those pomanders? That everyone helped so much with? Looooooooved them and for me, they were so worth it! (Big ups to Mr.D, my cousins Megan and Rachel, my sister Regan, my best friends and MOH’s MB and Beth, and Candy Corn). It takes a big village to make 10 pomanders. They’ve since visited Mrs. Cowboy Boot in Colorado, my cousin Megan, and now one of Megan’s friends!
(image via Jenna Cole)
Food. That simple four-letter word became the center of our universe for a few weeks early in the wedding-planning process. Mr. Ticket and I knew we wanted good food and lots of it for our wedding guests. (Both our families will judge our wedding by the food we serve and we know that.) That being said, good food doesn’t come cheap (or so we thought!), and with an estimated 85 guests coming we needed to find a caterer that both worked with our budget and had something tasty to offer.
I called dozens of caterers, including a few I had worked with in the past, and the numbers we were getting scared me to my core. At $45 a head plus tax and service charge, NOT including drinks, rentals, or cake, we were looking at over 40% of our budget going just for food.
Image via Dailymail.co.uk / From the movie Psycho
It’s a funny thing, my creative spark. For months, it lies dormant, hatching half-baked ideas that go nowhere as I struggle to figure out such pressing logistical issues as the best type of adhesive to connect fabric with paper (Fabri-Tac, as long as your fabric isn’t so thin the glue will seep through) or whether to buy a 2.75″ or a 3″ hole punch for our “just married” sweetheart table banner (verdict: both). It gets me really excited and incites me to buy roughly three-quarters of the supplies needed, whereupon said supplies sit in a sad pile in my craft room/office/mudroom/catchall eyesore storage space.
This is too much mess for me 
But then, all of a sudden, the creative spark is stoked by a sudden wave of oxygen, and my mind is suddenly aflurry with idea upon idea! All of my previous questions are suddenly answered, and I understand how to complete all the half-finished projects lolling about our home.
This is both awesome and awful at the same time.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
