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!
Can you believe it’s already Thursday? This week is fllllying by! Just in time for a long weekend.
And, this little Giraffe has big plans this weekend—it’s finally time for Bridesmaid Marie’s wedding! I’ve been counting down the days here. Since she and I spent the last couple of years planning weddings, we’ve been one down and one to go since my big day in May. I was totally wedding burnt out for a few weeks after the wedding, but that passed and now I can’t wait!
Bridesmaid Marie and I at my bachelorette party
We spent last weekend making programs and super cute place cards (I’ll ask her if I can share them), and now the big day is almost here! Poor Marie has one heck of a cold, but hopefully she can sleep it off. Read more…
Miss Petit Four, San Antonio/Isla MujeresAge and Occupation: 25, Technology teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Math Teacher and Football CoachEngagement Date: Feb 13, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Zama Beach Club, Isla Mujeres, MexicoAbout Me: I am a polka-dot obsessed, destination wedding diva living and loving in the great state of Texas. I am an island girl at heart and I visit the beach as often as I can. I am a wannabe DIY goddess, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best shot. I love pearl earrings, the color pink, and ruffles are a part of my everyday wardrobe. My wonderful fiance and I are planning a destination wedding with our closest family and friends and we’re leaving a trail of glitter in our path!
I found eco-fetti because our venue won’t allow real confetti, so we had to find some fun alternatives. So I did some Googlin’ and I found eco-fetti. I actually found some on Save on Crafts, and I ordered it up!
I got the package a couple of days later and, I have to say, I was a little disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong—it was pretty cheap for a big bag of confetti. So, if you are looking for something cheap for people to chuck at you, then this could be your answer.
Mrs. Candy Apple, Princeton Junction, NJ/ Seattle, WAAge and Occupation: 26, Project EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, AttorneyEngagement Date: May 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: St. Joseph's Parish, Seattle Tennis ClubAbout Me: I am a Pacific Northwesterner, born and bred. I have lived in many cities---Santa Clara, Durham (England); Florence; Boston; Princeton Junction---but my heart will always be nestled up near the Cascades and Olympics, which is why we are holding our wedding there. I am a bookworm and a History nerd: I love that my life consists of books, books, and more books, since I work in Publishing! Recently, all waking time not consumed by work and my daily commute has been overtaken by wedding planning. Well, that, and watching Premier-League soccer. There is nothing I love more than a good Tana French mystery, traveling to new places, Anthropologie shopping sprees, Iittala dishware, Kate Spade shoes, impeccable typefaces (think: Archer), and a nice English ale (hellooo, Old Speckled Hen!). Oh, and did I mention my obsession with wedding blogs? Yeah, there’s that too. Join Mr. Candy Apple and me as we prep for our wedding, and, more importantly, our marriage!
No idea. Seriously none. Zip. Zero memory of how I found the site!
During my early wedding planning months, I did lots of Googling. I hadn’t thought much about weddings before Mr. CA proposed and therefore had no idea what I was doing. I excessively trawled the internet, searching such inane things as “wedding coordinator vs wedding planner” “Seattle barn locations,” and “what exactly does a junior bridesmaid do?” Of course, many of my searches brought me to blog posts or board threads or vendor reviews on Weddingbee. I didn’t understand what the site really was (was it about bees? people who liked bees? people who were planning weddings and liked bees?), but I appreciated the abundance of answers to my questions and the positive energy that emanated from the Hive. I took the information I needed and didn’t give the site itself much thought. Selfish Mrs. Candy Apple!
In January 2011, another arcane search brought me to a board in the hive (no memory of which thread it was) but for some reason I spent some time just poking around the site. My interest piqued. I trawled through the boards a bit (and learned that I should never confuse the terms “trawling” and “trolling” on the boards ever, ever again). Hey, this community looks really open, friendly, and engaging! People have the same issues/ questions/ lack of wedding knowledge as I do! I am not alone! Then I found the blog. Oh, the blog! I fell in love with the idea of the bees and the concept of monikers and the darling icons, although it took me a while to catch onto the general idea of bee generations.
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
In my last post, I began my recaps of our amazing engagement party. I think I should be able to wrap up the rest in this post.
I already talked about our beyond-fashionably-late entrance, and the setup. Once we arrived and snapped a few photos, the party really got underway. One of our groomsmen, GM Mac, was the DJ. He had his Apple laptop and his Apple iPad.
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
We’re a mere two months out from our wedding, and I’ve yet to feel the rush of “stuff” to do. Perhaps I’m a bad bride. Or else I’ve managed to pick some great vendors. I’m going with the latter for now.
Who are we, you might ask? We are the Skunks. One part mechanical designer (him) and one part student/farmer’s-market bread slinger (me). Together plus my dog, we’ll soon be one happy family.
Mrs. Frog, Phoenix, AZ/Chelan, WA
Age and Occupation: 29, Public Relations
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Online SalesEngagement Date: February 8, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Amy's ManorAbout Me: I'm an opinionated Midwestern girl now living in the Valley of the Sun marrying a laid back Northwestern guy. I'm equal parts sass, silly and sweet. I'm fiercely loyal with a strong devotion to my family and friends. I have a not-so-secret obsession with apple juice, a new obsession with DIY projects and I love a really good cheese plate...with lots of wine. After 7 blissful years of dating, I'm having the time of my life planning the destination wedding of my dreams to my Mr. Frog-turned-Prince Charming.
Choosing to throw a rehearsal party was one of the best decisions we made. Not only was it mega-fun…it gave us an opportunity to spend as much time as possible with our guests—guests that had traveled very far to be there in support of us. Read more…
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!
It was ironic (or was it?) that BM Esquire proclaimed she would be at our latest crafternoon “with bells on” – because pretty much all we did was craft up these darn farewell bells. I’m a bad, bad bee because I didn’t take any pictures that afternoon, but all you need to know is that we devoured an entire grapefruit-sized cheeseball between three of us, ate about 6 cupcakes (including frosting out of the canister), and produced about 2.3 boxes of farewell bells. It was a success… on so many levels.
Miss Warbler, Long Beach/MalibuAge and Occupation: 24, Quality Assurance EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Handheld AdministratorEngagement Date: December 7, 2010Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: Calamigos Ranch MalibuAbout Me: I’m a Korean BBQ loving, cheesecake enthusiast bride living in the LBC! By day I write and edit for an online search engine marketing company. By night I am a volunteer food taster of all that is delicious. I am fortunate to be marrying an amazing man who loves me and my quirky ways. I love food, books, indie music, and Harry Potter. We are planning a small, intimate wedding up in the Malibu Hills with our closest family and friends. With the help of my wonderful fiance, our loved ones, and red velvet cheesecake, our wedding will be glorious!
Years ago, before I was ever serious about getting married, I thought about where I would get married. Somewhere magical. Somewhere awesome. The Cinderella castle seemed pretty cool. There would be plenty of room for my chariot, 300 guests, and my groom to ride in on his white horse.
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. Meerkat, Kalamazoo, MI/Riviera MayaAge and Occupation: 30, Application EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, IT ConsultantEngagement Date: July 26, 2008Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: Al Cielo / La LagunaAbout Me: I’m a tech-savvy tomboy with an affinity for hot tea and good sushi. Us Meerkats are just a couple fun lovin’ geeks from Michigan. We love anything having to do with movies, books, video games or technology and we hold a special place in our hearts for our two very spoiled shih-tzus, Wicket and Bravo. We also LOVE to travel. We love it so much it only took us 12 hours after we got engaged to decide to have a destination wedding. We are working our little Meerkat tails off planning a rustic-chic, travel themed destination wedding in the Riviera Maya with a semi-formal, vintage-turned-modern, outdoor at home reception back here in Michigan.
While our trash the dress session really didn’t “trash” my dress, I did want to show you the aftermath. Well maybe aftermath is too strong a word; perhaps a better classification would be clean up.
Initially when we thought of doing a trash the dress I knew that getting the dress wet wouldn’t cause any damage but the one thing I didn’t think about was the sand. The sand itself really didn’t do any damage either—it just got stuck EVERYWHERE.
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
Our friend Margaret from the new travel siteEnrout is back this week to share with us her ideas for Miss Doily’s dream honeymoon! Revisit Margaret’s great honeymoon series on Weddingbee here.
~~~
Gumbo. Crawfish. Jazz. New Orleans is a city bursting with culture and will make a fantastic honeymoon destination for Mr. D and Miss Doily. The weather will be perfect in March after her wedding, with temperatures in the 70s. I’m really excited to share a $2000, five day tour of New Orleans with you all!
Where to Go
New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz so one must sample the jazz scene. Preservation Hall is a venue where you can experience jazz in its original form. There are also two festivals happening around Miss Doily’s honeymoon timeframe: the French Quarter Festival (April 7 - 10) featuring local musicians and the New Orleans Jazz Festival (April 27 - May 6) featuring the best of New Orleans jazz.
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.
So, our RSVP due date was August 20. By then, 26 out of our 64 invitations had no RSVP sent in. We had a few late ones come in and a few people who called, texted, Facebooked. emailed, or whatever, to let us know. There were a few we knew would be coming without them saying anything (*cough* Mom & Dad *cough*). Now we’re tracking down the last few we aren’t certain about and should have final numbers by then end of the week.
So, I’m trying to figure out exactly how many tables we’ll have, how many linens we need to rent, how we’re going to arrange everything, and whether or not we’re really going to do escort cards. It’s weird. The closer the big day gets, the less worried about it I seem to get, despite the fact that I have a ton of stuff to do. It’s like, I’ve realized that my time is finite, and whatever isn’t done just won’t be done and somehow, I’ll still get married. It’s a real relief.
I’m going to do my best, get things done and be satisfied. I’m going to be honest—I’ve been worrying about this wedding a lot, and for all the dumbest reasons.
My number one worry has been, “What will everyone else think?”
Mrs. Macarons, TampaAge and Occupation: 26, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Renaissance ManEngagement Date: September 12, 2009Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Lange FarmAbout Me: I'm creative at heart and a graphic designer with an unhealthy obsession with type. I love roller coasters, spicy foods, and a good glass of Crianza. We’re planning a soft and lovely vintage-meets-modern wedding in a state that’s known for its beaches, glitz and glam. I have a ton of DIY projects and lots of little details I’m dying to share and can't wait to celebrate with our closest friends and family.
Like most brides I had an overly ambitious DIY list. As time went by, projects were shifted around based on importance, and some were removed all together. One of those projects (or so I thought) was making a directional sign like the ones that keep popping up across the wedding blogosphere.
Oh, how I really wanted one but I had no idea how to go about finding some old weathered wood or someone with the tools to cut them. I mentioned the idea to my mom in passing the week before my shower not thinking much of it. Bless my dad’s heart as he decided to go ahead and replace some fencing just so I could have a few signs! Read more…
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
Well, butter my buns and call me biscuit! I’m a bee, y’all!
I got a text from my fiancé saying, “Check the wedding email account when you get a chance. There’s good news for you.” I kinda squealed inside, but managed to contain it. After all, what if he was talking about something completely different? And I had a whole afternoon of stuff to do before I could sit my little tush in front of a computer. But lo and behold, I got home and saw “think you’d be a great addition to the Weddingbee team.” Hoodeehoo! I’m so excited to share with y’all a little glimpse into our big day.
Who exactly are we, you ask? Why, we’re the Skunks! We met atop a mountain in the middle of a boulder field a little over two years ago while climbing. Today, we’re still climbing and excited to start the next adventure of our lives together.
Bridesmaid Marie and I at my bachelorette party
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
