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Mr. Aardvark and I just got back from our pre-Cana, or marital prep class required by the Catholic church. For us, it was a one day workshop with about fifty other couples. We heard people speak about things from conflict resolution to commitment and everything in between. Going into this class I had no idea what to expect. As such, I was pretty nervous. However, it was a totally enjoyable day, and a nice way to spend a Saturday (aside from having to get up early to drive a few towns over). I did not look very hard, but was not able to find a breakdown of what to expect. So for your reading pleasure:
It started at nine in the morning, in the church basement. We were fed (yay food) and did a little ice breaker: line up by wedding date. I have to say, I knew April was coming fast, but it hit hard when we were clearly in the early part of the lineup. I’m talking first quarter here, people! Holy smokes, this thing is happening AND SOON (not as soon as the handful of couples getting married on 11/11/11 or 11/12/11—seriously guys, way to wait until the last second to take the class! Just kidding, but I was nervous for them when they said their dates!).
The rest of the day was split between hearing couples who had been married a while (30+ years) talk about things like commitment and communication, and working on a little work book where we would fill out questions about our relationship and marriage on our own and then share these answers with each other. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole day. Mr. Aardvark does not verbalize his feelings very often so to read some of his answers to these questions was very touching. We did not use the whole booklet during the class but I would really like to read/fill out the rest of the question individually and share them on our own time.
There were also little breakout sessions. You could pick from a few options, and these were smaller group discussions. We went to one on parenting which was interesting (a couple talking about some of their challenges and favorite parts of raising kids) but maybe not super helpful. The other break-out was on dealing with in-laws which was really not useful for us. It was all about creating distance from your parents and starting your own families. I think the guy said “cut the apron strings” about 20 times… but Mr. A and I have been on our own for years before we met, so those strings had been cut. Oh well. We did get to hear some funny stories, though.
One of the most interesting parts, for me, was the couple that spoke to us about NFP.
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Dollar Tree is probably one of my favorite places to shop. It’s like the Disneyland of dollar stores! They have so much glassware that’s totally awesome, and it got me thinking…after getting a proposal from our venue on floral centerpieces, I was way less than impressed.
For example:
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I should start off by establishing that we have decided to only serve beer and wine at our reception. We’re both big winos and Foxy seriously loves his beer. We realistically can’t afford a full open bar, and we really don’t see the need for a cash liquor bar in addition to an open beer and wine bar. I know people have varying opinions on this, but it’s the best option for us.
Now on to the good stuff. For a small extra fee per person, our venue also allows you to do a champagne toast and/or a signature cocktail to serve throughout the night. Given our budget, we can only realistically do one or the other.
On the one hand, a champagne toast would be pretty schweet, because let’s be real here: I LOVE champagne (or sparkling wine, as the case may be).
Not really a good descriptive photo, but it’s def a usual Sunday afternoon. 
Plus, I love the look and feel and vibe of a true, classic champagne toast. And some of the the pictures can be unbeatable!
Featured on Weddingbee
Spring Wedding Favors
“Embrace the season with wedding favors that are perfectly suited for spring! Adorable AND affordable.”
Happy Halloween, hive! We hope you’re getting more treats than tricks, and our own treat today is our newest bee! Say hello to Miss Elk…a soon-to-be M.D. and MRS! 
Miss Elk, City: Syracuse/Long Island
Age & Occupation: 25, Medical Student
Fiance’s Age & Occupation: 25, Computer Engineer
Engagement Date: November 22, 2010
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: The Old Field Club
About Me: I’m a Long Island girl finishing my last year of medical school in western NY, on the road to becoming a pediatrician. When I’m not studying or sleeping at the hospital, I spend my free time watching bad TV (Vampire Diaries anyone?), playing with my pooch, singing incredibly off-key (to the annoyance of Mr. Elk ), and reading Harry Potter for the zillionth time. Mr. Elk and I are planning a secular wedding infused with both Irish and cultural Jewish traditions. Only a week after I become an M.D., I will get my Mrs. degree, too!
I have explained how important it was to me to get pricing information from photographers. But pricing wasn’t the only thing I needed to know before signing a contract. In order to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything critical, I looked up some sample questions online. My mind has a tendency to go blank when I am excited, and I didn’t want to book someone just because they were friendly. Don’t get me wrong, I want our photographer to be friendly, but there are some other things I am hoping for as well.
I found many lists of recommended questions, including these from Real Simple, iVillage, and About.com. From these, I did some cutting and pasting, eliminating questions not necessarily because they weren’t important but because I knew they were not relevant for me (let’s be honest, I will read your weddingwire.com reviews, but I am not going to be calling former brides—have I mentioned my phobia of talking to strangers on the phone?). I also eliminated questions that I could determine the answers to by exploring their website.
After this editing, these questions remained top priority for me:
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
On Sunday, October 23rd, we had our first bridal shower! My mom (MOB), MOH Sister and Bridesmaid L hosted the event at my dad’s Masonic Lodge in Michigan City.
Mr. Ball Cap and I arrived a little early and I was greeted with a huge surprise! My Aunt from South Carolina (and Uncle) had surprised everyone and drove up the day before. It was so good to see them! We were blessed enough to have guests travel from all over including Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania. I couldn’t thank these people enough for the effort they made to be there with us!
There were two games played during the shower:
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When I was growing up, I always assumed that brides had long hair. In any wedding-related fantasies, however abstract, I pictured Barbie’s hair—and not the Barbie my sister scalped; that Barbie was forever after regulated to date the “bad” Ken who was missing a leg and had a loose, wobbly head. I’m talking more about this type of Barbie.
Holy short skirt, Barbie / Image via Business Week / Courtesy of Mattel
No joke, I think I have a picture from elementary school where I am rocking the same hairstyle: long, crimped hair, and back-brushed bangs. I thought I looked pretty darn good. This is the same school picture, of course, where I am also wearing a painted denim blouse and pink rubber bands around my braces. Late ’80s, what?
The big day is here! I slept in my wedding earrings so I wouldn’t forget them. I’ve got my Spanx on under my sweats and am about to head to the store—Miss Leave it ‘Til the Last Minute needs to get a few more things!
Tomorrow, that’s MRS. Leave it ‘Til the Last Minute to you!
And now for the highly overly dramatic lessons learned. Spoiler Alert: References to Season 2 of The Walking Dead are ahead. If you are behind and don’t want to continue reading, just know I’m getting married today and love you all!
Dude, we lost our cat, Monster, on Wednesday.
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After religiously entering sweepstakes through Fodor’s and not being selected on multiple occasions, it was time to get real about our honeymoon travels. My first thought was HOOOORAYYYY! We actually get a honeymoon?! Between his busy schedule and our general lack of funds, it’s a mini-miracle. The next step was Katy Perry Decision Time—do we go some place hot or cold?
Best Face Ever image via Capital Bay
Easy peasy choice for me! I’m not a lover of swimsuits, and I get a sunburn if I look at a light bulb the wrong way. Maybe it’s different for you, but I’ve just about decided that being hot is a punishment comparable to any number of these torture devices.
For me, my bachelorette party was the most anticipated event surrounding the wedding, except for, of course, the wedding. Girl time is of uber importance to me and while Mr. Honey is my significant other, the love of my life, beyond important to me, and the man I’m about to marry…he could never fill the space of my girls. A weekend filled with girls, fun, and my upcoming marriage at the center of it all was what fueled my excitement. If you recall, I wanted a good balance of class and, well, not class. I needed some inappropriate paraphernalia…that being said, this post may not be suitable for work.
We rented a condo in Telluride through VRBO, which was awesome because we had a kitchen, multiple bathrooms (imperative for 14 girls) and a hot tub. The leaves were at the height of changing colors and it was the perfect temperature all weekend long. Here’s how it went.
Friday Night We…
Got dolled up in pretty dresses
Tonight is my last night as a single woman. As I sit on a bed surrounded by the most wonderful bridesmaids anyone could ever hope for, preparing to marry the love of my life tomorrow, I can’t help but think how incredibly blessed I am.
Hive: It has been such a pleasure and a privilege to share all the details of wedding planning with you. Thank you so much for all of your advice, stories and well wishes. I can’t wait to share the next part of our journey with you.
Bees: I can quite honestly say that you are some if the most amazing women I have ever had the honor of getting to know. You have helped shape our wedding into something special and entirely our own and I love you all for that.
Date triplets: Can you believe it’s finally here? I love that I get to share such an awesome day with such fantastic ladies. Hope your day is as MAGICal and wonderful as you dreamed of, and I can’t wait to see you on the other side.
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Hi Hive!
Yesterday many (most) of you noticed that the Weddingbee front page, and parts of the site went down. Two of our three servers went down, and we’ve finally restored full functionality about an hour ago. You should now be able to access the entire Weddingbee site. If not, tech suggests clearing your cache, and that should resolve any broken pages you’re still experiencing.
We’re so, so sorry for the outage! I hardly knew what to do with myself.
If you are still experiencing residual issues from yesterday and today’s outage, please let us know here in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter. We’re here to help in any way we can! Happy Friday, Hive, and enjoy your Halloween weekend!
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