There was a slight lull in the reception: right after the first dances while there was some generic dance music on, our photographer Jenn whisked us away for 15 minutes for a quick mini-session. I loved doing this because it gave Mr. D and me a few moments of just each other. It also allowed for us to get some beautiful pictures:
Did you know teeth whitening is expensive? My word! A dentist told me it could be anywhere between three and five grand for one (!).
It was going to be very difficult to do it the professional way, so I had to go with the at-home route. I must tell I am a bit skeptical when it comes to this kind of things, so I didn’t trust whitening cream, or mouth wash, or strips, but I remembered Mrs. Snapdragon’s review of Rembrandt’s 2-hour whitening kit and the great results she got. So I ordered two from the States (since it’s not sold in Mexico).
Image via Amazon
Last Thursday Mr. Toadstool tried his package, and other than leaving him with extremely sensitive gums, it didn’t do a thing for him.
Once the ceremony was complete and we were officially married (yay!) the guests headed to the barn to get cocktail hour rolling, while Mr. Dalmatian and I took a private moment in the groom’s cottage to reflect on the fact that WE JUST GOT MARRIED! After reflecting and quickly eating the plate of appetizers that was waiting for us, it was time to bustle my dress. This turned out to be a slightly more challenging task than anticipated. I guess that’s the price I pay for a full skirt of many, many layers of tulle and pick-ups.
It took Mr. Dalmatian, MOH K, MOH A, and our Cedarwood coordinator to get things organized under there! Once I was bustled, I sent my lovely MOHs to join the cocktail hour party, and my new hubby and I went to take some photos as husband and wife.
We headed to the front yard first, where we did not let the fact that the swing was merely inches off the ground stop us from using it for a photo opportunity.
I heard a lot of mixed messages about using friendors while we were planning the wedding. Lots of people like to tell horror stories about Uncle Bob and his point-and-shoot camera, who ruined the wedding photos completely.
The only “outside” help we had for our wedding was the rental company, for the tent, chairs, and tables (from Have Tents Will Travel in Brockville), the linen rentals, from a separate company, and the hair salon for me, the bridesmaids, and Mom Dragon. Everything else was done by friends and family, and I’m here to say, it was a smashing success.
Mom Dragon created the bouquets for me and the ladies and boutonnieres for the men, a flower girl bouquet for Lily (Opie didn’t want one), a few big bouquets for the buffet tables, and a lapel arrangement for Mr. D’s grandma. Most of the bridesmaids’ bouquets were repurposed as centerpieces for dinner.
[Andrea’s photo]
simplyprecious07 is selling rosette tablecloths in two different sizes: 120″ and 132″. She is asking $65-$75.
Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee Classifieds, and you might see it featured on the blog!
Other great items for sale:
I’ve been putting off writing a post about choosing a photographer, because honestly, it’s been the most stressful part of wedding planning. And I considered not telling the whole truth here, because it still makes me a little sick-feeling to think about the whole process. But life is not always perfect and beautiful, and even smart people make stupid decisions. And so…allow me to begin.
After we selected our venue (and thus, our date), I thought the next logical step was to find a photographer. I didn’t really know where to begin, so I found a copy of the most recent Knot magazine from Georgia. It lists the winners of the “Best of Weddings” ranking thingy (I don’t know what to call it…) in all of the vendor categories. In particular, there’s a list of about twenty photographers.
Image from Spring Lake Events
The first thing I’d like to do is make a request to all of you future brides: Please review your photographer! I don’t even know how The Knot decided to award some of these photographers the “Best of Weddings” award, because some only had like two reviews! Argh. So frustrating…
I had never heard of out-of-town bags before the ’bee. Since I’ve never traveled to a wedding as an adult, it didn’t occur to me that some brides provide their out-of-town guests with grown-up treat bags upon their arrival. But we do have lots of loved ones flying in from far-flung places! And I do love goodie bags of any kind. So inspired by Mrs. Turkey, Mrs. Hawk, Mrs. Elk, and many others, I set about gathering the supplies for our (hopefully!) amazeballs out-of-town bags.
The first decision was what to pack the goodies in. Mr. Wallaby and I, like good tree-huggers, tote reusable grocery bags to the store every time we stock up on groceries, and we normally decline plastic bags when we’re shopping for clothes and other things, so I thought it would be really nice to provide out-of-town guests with reusable bags. I found that a lot of reusable bags are expensive—at least when you multiply the cost times 30 couples/families. A lot of bees have scored on canvas bags from cheaptotes.com, so I drank the Kool-Aid and ordered 30 natural canvas tote bags, plus five extras just in case.
Although I’m a recent transplant from the Pacific Northwest, I am falling hard for Texas and all its quirkiness. And since Mr. Wallaby was born and raised in Houston, I’ve had my eye on this poster for a long time:
I Love Houston Wood Block Art Print by Etsy seller LuciusArt.
…and so I looked again at the canvas bags I had ordered, and realized that this was a DIY project just waiting to happen. I couldn’t find any decent, cheap stencils of the state of Texas, so I made my own. I created a cardboard stencil from the back of a cereal box (no joke!).
If recent celebrity weddings are any indication, colored wedding dresses are having a real moment. And why not? The addition of subtle color is warm, flattering, and super photo-friendly.
And the dresses floating down the runway in delicately hued shades of gold, cream, pink, and even green, are absolutely stunning! Every bit as bridal as their white counterparts, these subtly colored wedding dresses add a surprisingly sophisticated twist to your bridal ensemble.
Get ready to dream in color:
1. Golden Glow:
2. Blushing Ball Gown:
Do you ever feel like wedding planning is turning you into someone unrecognizable? I look in the mirror and I hardly know myself these days. Okay, maybe it’s not quite so dramatic, but I do want to state for the record that I’ve never been a big fan of the colors pink or orange. Then one day I was browsing one of the big wedding blogs when I saw an inspiration shoot that awoke all the silly girlishness within me. Suddenly I had to incorporate the color pink into our wedding. PINK. And peach. And salmon. And a lovely cornflower blue I’m a little obsessed with at the moment. Who was this person who wanted pink and orange tones popping up on her wedding day?
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| Our color scheme! (personal photo) |
So what images inspired this about-face in color preference? Well, let me share them with you!
mrsjones2b posted this vintage inspired unique bouquet and boutonniere set to the Weddingbee Gallery!
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.
If your photo is featured as the Gallery of the Day, you’re eligible for a special Weddingbee badge for your blog or website! Check out instructions on how to grab the badge here!
I’ve decided there’s no better time to post a picture of myself eating a penis cookie than during Thanksgiving week when most of you are out spending time with your families, cooking, traveling, and overall just enjoying the holiday. Win win.
I am one classy broad
Yep, those chocolate sprinkles definitely represent what you think they represent. MOH Big Eyes left no stone un-turned. She also made rice crispy penis treats too, but they were a bit too hard. That’s what no woman said, ever. (Wow, I’m on fire.)
Hive, please excuse my crass and photo-heavy post. I’m in quite the bad mood and need a break from life.
Mr. Sword just arrived back from his Stag Do in Scotland on Monday night (updates on that to follow next week!), only to find out he has to fly BACK to the UK this coming weekend. He’s needed in England for a few workshops, and I’m stuck here moaning about it. I take that back, I’m actually attempting to be the strong one, but my definition of being the “strong one” is taking a break from whining every ten minutes or so. WOE IS ME!!! 
Poor Mr. Sword has to switch back to their six hour ahead time zone and travel all night on a plane before being expected to be awake and alert for a new job on Monday morning. Then after the week of workshops in England, his team starts their real work in Kansas City which means we begin our semi LDR relationship. You’ll remember I’ve already complained about that here.
Before I leave you with all the photos, let me say a few things: I searched EVERYWHERE for the perfect little white dress, and found one at Charlotte Russe for 15 dollars exactly one week before the big day. It was very Mr. Sword approved and very under budget!
The pictures may lead you to believe otherwise, but I only had about three drinks all night. I swear.
Since it’s a holiday week here in the US, I thought I’d take a break from the DIY posting to deviate to a new topic for a little bit. (I’d like to apologize to the non-US bees in advance, sorry that it’s holiday related!)
Thanksgiving. I would have to say that Thanksgiving is probably one of, if not my favorite, holiday. After all, it combines some of my favorite things on the whole world: good food, great people, and highly discounted shopping.
The first picture that PBear and I ever took together was during our Thanksgiving dinner five years ago. (Gosh we look so young—we had just started dating and PBear was nicely pretending to understand my orgo homework.)
Hi! Welcome to the insanity known as our second dance set! Good thing I embraced the dancing because the crazy was about to kick up a notch.
The glow sticks were a BIG hit. Planning brides take note: guests will want to wear more than one; double the amount you think you’ll need. Our guests found inventive ways to wear them…
I want my girls to look good. Like, “I feel like a rockstar” good. Seriously! I’m not the kind of bride that is secretly plotting to make my ladies look a mess so that I’ll look better by proxy. Hive, that is tacky. Also, no one wants to spend $100-$300 on a dress that they hate. I don’t even like spending that much on dresses I like.
But when I originally asked my bridesmaids what kind of dresses they were thinking about for the wedding, they were totally wonderful…but also very vague. They assured me that “they’d wear a paper sack if I wanted them to.” Well, hive, I’m here to announce the official cure for well-intentioned “I’ll wear whatever you want” bridesmaids! Spoiler alert: Terrorize them with pictures like this.
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| Img via RackedNY |
I had some ideas before, mostly Pinterest inspired, but I was torn between matching and mismatched dresses. To add even more indecision, “mismatched” also has about 10 different ways TO mismatch.
Our only confirmed wedding colors are blue and gray. It just so happened that my favorite inspirations were usually one or the other of these colors. I also knew I would really like them in soft, light fabrics—like chiffon. I wasn’t sure if I preferred that they be long or short, just that they all chose long or all chose short. I loved “matching” options like these…
