Weddingbee Blog

Hi hive. Although I’ve been a little absent lately, I am still alive and riding the newlywed wave until it crashes. Before I say “auf wiedersehen,” I wanted to contribute to a few of the ongoing series. (Because I just can’t get enough Weddingbee!)

My history with blogs:

I started my first online journal through my Deviantart account nine years ago and wrote there fairly often while sharing artwork. Mostly really emo stuff that you’d expect from a teenager. I had a few blogs off and on during university, but it wasn’t until I left for my Swiss study abroad trip that I started writing daily. (I had a lot of time on my hands.)

I enjoy expressing myself through writing and I’ve always liked the sharing nature of blogs. I may not have time to blog daily anymore, but I still want to share my perspective with the world and I appreciate all the positive interactions within the blog community.

How did I find Weddingbee?

I am one of those women who had NO idea what Weddingbee was before I was engaged. I never started pre-planning my “someday” wedding, I did not have a Pinterest account to pin wedding ideas (although I do now, post-wedding!), and because my Swiss residency status sort of threw us into the engagement, there was not a lot of time to spend mulling wedding planning before it was a reality.

I found the Weddingbee Boards through Google, and I admit that I didn’t really understand the blog portion of the site for several visits. I just thought that the main page was featured bloggers and I thought I could just add a post myself somewhere if I wanted to share about my wedding.

Nope. Tricksy. Apparently you had to apply. Weird.

My application story:

I decided that I did want to be one of these blogging bees on the main page, and so I read the application process to figure out how to accomplish my goal.

I was still a ways out, so while I waited for my application window to open I started my wedding blog and began writing about Mr. Funnel Cake and myself.

Pengy was extremely busy with work when I applied, and I didn’t hear from her about my application for over a month. I was pretty sure I would be rejected because it was taking so long, but lo and behold I was asked to be a bee!

Why Miss Funnel Cake?

OK, here I will admit that it was not all sunshine and rainbows when I became a bee.

I was so excited to blog for Weddingbee that I completely missed the fact that there are predefined bee generations. (Someone’s thick!) I was under the impression I would get to make up my own character (crazy me!), and I was heartbroken that I had to stop calling Mr. FC by the name I’d made up because it was really cute and meaningful for us. I may have cried a bit.

Mr. FC didn’t help either. I was having a difficult time choosing my moniker from the carnival generation because I didn’t like any of the monikers as much as my personal one. (I was in mourning.) Mr. FC thought the whole concept of Weddingbee was preposterous, and while he didn’t mind me blogging about us, he told me that he really didn’t give a shit which name I chose. Ouch!

So I chose Funnel Cake for all the reasons I mentioned in my intro post. And it is true, you do sort of grow into your moniker even if it’s hard to get used to at first. First world problems, I know.

On being a Weddingbee blogger:

Being a Weddingbee blogger is amazing. I didn’t have any engaged friends in Zürich and none of my few girlfriends were excited about planning a wedding, so I had no one to share with but Mr. FC.

Sharing our wedding through the blog was the perfect way for me to release all my pent-up bridal energy without driving Mr. Funnel Cake crazy. And the hive is a seriously amazing place full of so many creative ideas and support. I am so happy I know all these women now, even if we haven’t met in real life yet.

But blogging for an audience as large as Weddingbee is not always easy. There are tons of people who don’t like your dress, venue, photographer, or how you deal with problems with your fiance, and they aren’t afraid to let you know. You really have to actively try and be politically correct while still expressing your own opinion about why you chose your flowers. Haters gonna hate, but they are a small downside to sharing with all the wonderful bees in the hive.

Blogging is also pretty tiring. I work full time and I really had to make time each week to plan out three to four posts a week. It just takes a lot of time to write, re-write, edit, and then add or make images to insert into your post and credit all your sources. I was definitely ready for a break post-wedding!

My tips for potential applicants:

1. Be prepared that not everyone will love you or your wedding. You will face more negative opinions than you ever would on your small private blog, but don’t let that scare you away from all the amazing positive people out there. They make up for it. I promise.

2. Word of advice: If you’re not totally in love with the current bee generation and you are still a year out from your wedding, wait until a new generation is released. I mean, if I knew about that Manatee last year I might have put off the wedding until 2013 so I could apply now.

3. If you become a bee, you had better recap! We all know that bees are also susceptible to called-off weddings, divorces, getting pregnant shortly after the wedding, and any number of other situations, but the whole reason you sign up to do this is to share your wedding with the hive. As a reader following the planning, seeing the final result is the highlight of Weddingbee, so if you become a bee, please, please don’t leave us hanging! You know I’ll still be lurking and reading in my spare time.