Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
Remember when I said that we got started on the wedding band process? And that I should have my engagement ring back by early November?
Well. Helloooo late November/early December. Nice to see you. And not my ring.
Here’s the ish: way back in October, Foxy and I headed to Jared’s (yep,he we went to Jared’s) to discuss options for our wedding bands. His was incredibly easy - I think we debated over a few different choices for five minutes, then decided. Wham bam think you ma’am. Done.
Then we explored choices for my ring; I explained my vision (the crisscross band) to our consultant, Luka (coolest name ever, IMO). She had a perfect idea of what I was imagining, and just happened to be the main custom ring designer at the store. We talked, pulled similar ring examples, drew pictures.
Miss Mink, Charlottesville, VirginiaAge and Occupation: 34, College AdministratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer ConsultantEngagement Date: November 26, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & VineyardsAbout Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
Early on in my wedding planning, I started thinking that I needed an event designer. I had so many ideas in my head about the look and feel of our wedding, and I wanted someone to help me navigate through all the great inspiration out there. I wasn’t thinking about hiring a planner. I was excited about the planning and didn’t want anyone to take that off my hands. I just wanted someone to help me establish a vision.
Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/VancouverAge and Occupation: 32, EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology AnalystEngagement Date: September 3, 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Brock House Restaurant, VancouverAbout 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.
You guys…this is exciting!! We are at the part of the recaps where the professional photos start!
After the salon we rushed home to get our make up on! The girls started getting glam on the patio with our amazing make up artist, Megan from ML Makeup Artistry…
Mrs. Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
When it came to deciding if I should change my name, I pretty much didn’t think about it. I always planned on changing my name. I’m not sure why—mostly I think it’s because I can be pretty old-fashioned sometimes. There is a side of me that would love to be a little Suzy Homemaker stay-at-home mom raising the kids and taking care of the home.
I know a lot of people get emotional about losing their last name, but I’ve never had some crazy attachment to it. Yes, it’s my “family’s name,” but I don’t see changing your name as changing who your family is. Plus, most of my immediate family has a different last name so it never struck me as something HUGELY important. My first name is pretty original, so I’ve always identified more with that. Like Madonna or something (without the fame, fortune, and talent).
Miss Unicycle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 23, Editor for a Web Publishing CompanyFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, MD/PhD StudentEngagement Date: March 26, 2011Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Bridges of Poplar CreekAbout Me: I’m a writer by trade who likes analyzing pop culture, making fun of celebrities, and laughing until I cry. I’m the queen of half-assed crafts, and there’s nothing I won’t try to DIY. You can usually find me reading blogs on my laptop in front of a good Lifetime movie, wine in hand. I’m planning a polka-dotted summertime wedding to my physics geek college sweetheart, and when I’m not making stupid puns I’m freaking out about my wedding timeline.
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. Hawk, Richmond, VAAge and Occupation: 26, FinanceFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, District SupervisorEngagement Date: March 13, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Chapel of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, 2007 Legacy HallAbout Me: I’m an Arizona-born girl who has spent the majority of my life living below the Mason-Dixon line. The South has definitely earned a special place in my heart (alongside my Virginia born and bred fiance, of course!). We are planning a traditional Christian ceremony at my alma mater in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, followed by a rocking reception filled with Southern cooking and vintage/shabby chic details. When we’re not wedding planning, we enjoy spending time with our three dogs, going for runs together, watching plenty of football (or baseball depending on the season), and sampling new wine.
Pretty early on Mr. Hawk and I knew that we wanted to have a smaller wedding, surrounded by our closest family and friends. The thought of being introduced to some distant second cousin twice removed at the reception just didn’t feel right to me. We decided to keep it as small as possible for such an intimate occasion; however, not unfortunately for us but unfortunately for our guest list, our families alone could easily exceed the 120-guest max mandated by Wren Chapel. Actually, let me clarify—Mr. Hawk’s family alone could easily exceed 120 people. (FMIL has over 10 siblings, so with their children and grandbabies, well, you can do the math ’cause my head just started hurting.)
We knew we had to draw the line somewhere if we were even going to have room for friends (and maybe some of my family members). So we decided to have an adults-only ceremony and reception. Now, I know that the idea is still considered somewhat controversial, but like I said we had to draw the line somewhere…
Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las VegasAge and Occupation: 29, Test Prep InstructorFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience ArchitectEngagement Date: April 2011Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon BistroAbout Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
Picking a wedding photographer isn’t easy. We spent quite a long time looking, in contrast to how we found our photographer for our pre-engagement “engagement photos.”
B-Roll Footage / Photo by Frank Dalton and Lucian McAfee
You wade your way through dozens of websites, mostly Flash (so they don’t open on your iPad) and often with music (so you have to listen to classical love songs until you can find the mute button hidden somewhere on the page). You normally have to make wild guesses about three important things:
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!
On our first full day, we dropped anchor off the coast of Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, where Carnival has a private island. Princess has a similar setup with Princess Cay. There’s no dock, so they tie tender boats to the side of the ship and shuttle you to the coast, which takes about 10-15 minutes. We were so stoked about settling down on the beaches, only to hear a disheartening announcement that the winds may prevent us from going to Half Moon Cay, since the tender boats were rocking to and fro, making for an unsafe load. Happily, they were able to tie up the boats on the other side of the ship, but it was still rocky.
Then, it started raining.
People were bailing off the boat, but not us! I was determined. And by the time we got to shore, the weather looked like this: Read more…
Mrs. Aardvark, Beaver Dam, WIAge and Occupation: 23, Assistant Product ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Business Analyst Engagement Date: May 28th, 2011Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: St. Philip Catholic Church/Arcadia Brewing Co.About Me: I am a resourceful lady who love surprises and adventure. At the same time, I value traditions, family and friends. I like to make crafty messes, sometimes, clean them up, and do pretty much anything outdoors. The Mister and I are pretty avid cyclists---we have nine bikes in our home right now...and one motorcycle! We both enjoy eating food we can't pronounce (language doesn't really matter) and going places we've never been. We currently reside in rural Wisconsin, enjoying the cheese and beer it has to offer, and getting outside whenever we can!
This is something that I am so SO excited about. It may be my favorite wedding detail to date. I am totally smitten.
I know there are TONS of cake toppers out there. I know that some people search and search and become totally overwhelmed by all of the absolutely adorable options. We (I) did not have this problem. The first time I was casually perusing Etsy for cake toppers I stumbled upon The Junk Bucket. These toppers were hands-down the cutest ones on the whole internet, and Mr. Aardvark loved (OK, maybe he just liked, but the fact that he had an opinion on a cake topper says something!) them too.
Eleanor was the sweetest lady and was always quick to answer my questions. She even gave me a HUGE discount (on top of the already super reasonable price) because there was a bit of a delay in finishing my topper! I have to say this has been one of my favorite things so far. Enough chit chat, bring on the pictures!
Pretty sure I didn’t order and uncured chicken franks…but happy to see she recycles!
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
I had one goal for our reception: I wanted it to be a full-blown dance party. I wanted the dance floor packed for the entire four hours. We had a fairly young guest list, so we asked our DJ to skip the traditional wedding reception songs and just play lots of hardcore booty shaking music! I think we were successful.
Miss Mink, Charlottesville, VirginiaAge and Occupation: 34, College AdministratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer ConsultantEngagement Date: November 26, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & VineyardsAbout Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
Did you ever buy wedding magazines before you were engaged? Once in a while, I bought them on business trips, devoured them, and then got rid of them before coming home. I don’t know why I felt like I wasn’t allowed to look at them if I didn’t have a ring on my left hand. The one time I brought a particularly wonderful issue of Martha Stewart Weddings home from a trip, I stashed it in a hiding place. I forgot about said hiding place until Mr. Mink was helping me flip my mattress. Oops. He had a good laugh about my illicit magazine.
Aside from looking at magazines, my favorite source for wedding gown inspiration when I started my dress search was an unconventional one: New York Magazine.
You see, while plenty of wedding websites have gown search engines, few group gowns by collection while also having large images of dresses from multiple angles. Read more…
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes planning a wedding can just feel so overwhelming. There’s so much to think about, to plan, to spend, to have a back up for. I’m sitting here, just over six months out, and having a mini panic attack at everything I still have to do; yet, I feel like I don’t know what to do because I have already done so much. Read more…
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!
I discovered glitter jars, and literally, that next weekend I did a trial run to see how I liked them. I used glitter I had on hand, and even with hot pink and lime green glitter, I loved how they turned out. I started collecting glass jars, and maybe even started buying things at the grocery store because I liked the jars. Okay, yeah, I totally did that.
My biggest obstacle with this project was finding the right color of glitter; it tends to come in bright, flashy colors which doesn’t jive with our wedding palette. Thankfully on my recent trip to Hobby Lobby I came across the perfect pack of glitter titled warm combo which included a dark blue and gray. I also bought a pack that had various whites and silvers, and one that was as close to peach as I could find. I have been dying to do this project and have finally knocked out a big portion of the jars and am ready to share the details with you all.
Here’s what you need:
Jars in any shape or size of your choosing (removed of all labels, hooray for Goo-B-Gone)
Miss Unicycle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 23, Editor for a Web Publishing CompanyFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, MD/PhD StudentEngagement Date: March 26, 2011Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Bridges of Poplar CreekAbout Me: I’m a writer by trade who likes analyzing pop culture, making fun of celebrities, and laughing until I cry. I’m the queen of half-assed crafts, and there’s nothing I won’t try to DIY. You can usually find me reading blogs on my laptop in front of a good Lifetime movie, wine in hand. I’m planning a polka-dotted summertime wedding to my physics geek college sweetheart, and when I’m not making stupid puns I’m freaking out about my wedding timeline.
…and I don’t mean dinner reservations. I’ve already talked a little about my insecurities about my looks. Let’s be real here, people. I’m a female living in America, which is to say, I have body issues. I can’t go a day without being subliminally reminded that my worth lies in my looks, and I also can’t go a day without looking in a mirror and seeing, well, not a supermodel.
The fact that I look young is also a constant source of embarrassment for me. Sure, I joke about it all the time. I roll my eyes and shake my head in irritation when someone tells me I look like a 12-year-old, but to be completely honest, it’s humiliating. I don’t care if you think it’s a compliment because it means I’ll look young when I’m 50. It’s hard enough trying to navigate post-college adulthood and juggling new responsibilities with pressure to still act young and carefree. I don’t know how to act around adults because I’m not quite sure if I’m one of them or not. It certainly doesn’t help that I look like I belong in junior high. And it certainly doesn’t help my self-confidence to be constantly reminded of my childish looks by every bouncer, hairdresser, and barista I meet. Disclaimer: I’m not fishing for compliments!
Unique Wedding Favors
