Miss Mongoose, New Haven, CTAge and Occupation: 28, Digital AdvertisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Business DevelopmentEngagement Date: November 19th, 2011Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Hotel Nelligan in Montreal, CAAbout Me:
I was born and raised in Queens, NY (though you would never know due to my lack of a "real" New York accent) but currently live in Connecticut with my fiance. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a crazy obsession for planning and organizing things, so it comes as no surprise that I'm currently obsessed with planning our wedding. I love dancing, music, traveling, reading fiction novels, cooking, the color blue, cupcakes, all things space science-related and TV shows created by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. My fiance and I have been together for seven years and are so excited to finally get married next year. We are planning a peacock-themed destination wedding in Montreal, one of our favorite cities in the world, with 100 or so of our closest family and friends. While we may look very different on the outside, we have eerily similar personalities (probably due to the fact that we share the exact same birthday) and share very similar passions. But above all else, we love each other and love to have FUN!!!
As all you brides- & grooms-to-be know, wedding planning can get extremely overwhelming at times.There are SO many things to consider, so much information to absorb, and so many forms of inspiration that it’s often really easy to lose sight of your vision and what you and your partner really want most out of your big day (besides marrying the love of your life, of course!).
So here are some tips on staying as organized and focused throughout the process as possible.
Think about what you and your partner are most passionate about or have in common and how these things can be incorporated into your big day.
Do you love to travel? Are you big foodies? Obsessed with video games? Music? The color blue? Of course not every wedding needs to be themed, but thinking of things that are meaningful to you guys and figuring out how to incorporate these ideas into the wedding will give you some focus/direction in your vision and will let your personalities shine through.
Mrs. Mouse, AustinAge and Occupation: 25, Weddingbee Editor/AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Civil EngineerEngagement Date: December 19, 2007Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: Barr MansionAbout Me: I just graduated from law school and will be taking the bar, getting married, going on a honeymoon with my guy, and then trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I was born and raised in a small East Texas town, but I'm no country girl! I'm obsessed with British accents, fantasy (including Harry Potter, of course), and classic rock. My fiance and I consider ourselves both music and beer snobs---but every once in a while we love to hear a crappy band and drink a cheap brew or two. We're planning an eco-friendly, casual, English garden affair for the end of summer, and we can't wait for it to get here!
Mrs. Treasure, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 24, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Equity AnalystEngagement Date: July 30, 2011Wedding Date: September 2012Venue: Saint James Chapel at Quigley Prep/Murphy AuditoriumAbout Me: I was born and raised in Indiana, but now live in sweet home Chicago. I'm a third-year law student and aspiring trial lawyer, which means Mr. T never wins an argument. Other than Mr. T, I love singing, exploring the Chicago restaurant scene, and Notre Dame football. We met in a musical (just like my parents!) and after 4 years together, we are excited to be planning our urban "destination" wedding.
I wrote about my pre-wedding chop, but six months later I found myself craving an even shorter style. Yesterday, I decided enough was enough and went from this:
Mrs. Armadillo, Houston, TexasAge and Occupation: 23, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Armed Security OfficerEngagement Date: September 28, 2011Wedding Date: March 2013Venue: First Presbyterian Church/Bay City Civic CenterAbout Me: I’m an oldies-loving, board game-playing, coffee addicted fine arts junkie from Southeast Texas in pursuit of her master’s degree in communication studies who met the goofy, strong, artistic, and unexpected love of her life in the beautiful piney woods of East Texas. Serendipity threw us together again and again (and again) on our college campus before we eventually stuck, but when we finally did submit to destiny, we hit the ground running and never looked back! We’re planning a religious, small town, budget-friendly, DIY-infused “winter becomes springtime” ceremony and reception to celebrate the beginning of our lives together with the people we love the most, and are pouring our hearts and souls into making sure our wedding represents us as a couple down to the nitty gritty details and balances tradition with the quirky individuality that is uniquely and unequivocally “us”!
That’s exactly what Mr. A asked when I told him about the tradition of a groom’s cake. Now I can’t get him to stop talking about what he wants his cake to look like and taste like and yadda yadda…so I told him he wasn’t getting one. (Teehee.) That’s a LIE, of course, but I want to keep him off the scent of the trail! Because, you see, Mama Dillo and I will be MAKING Mr. A’s groom’s cake ourselves!
And OK, Mr. A totally does NOT read Weddingbee, but I guess I’d better be safe than sorry…so without further ado…
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.
One of my favorite parts of the reception was the anniversary dance. Mr. Hawk and I took the dance floor and as the song progressed, Liz asked other couples to join us according to how long they had been married.
T and GM J were the first to join us, only being married three weeks. Needless to say T was quite excited.
Mrs. Gray Wolf, Washington DCAge and Occupation: 26, Business Development ExecutiveFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Research ScientistEngagement Date: November 11, 2011Wedding Date: February 2013Venue: Whittemore HouseAbout Me: I'm an ultra-organized, pun-loving, list-making, cheese-enthusiast bride-to-be. Although my day job is in cubicle land, I'm happiest in the modern art wing of a museum, having recently earned my Masters in Museum Studies. Shortly after a chance meeting five years ago, I moved in with Wolfman and haven't looked back since. We love music, movies, TV, and all things pop culture; we have an unspoken competition to be the first to share the latest YouTube sensation or indie song. Together, we've filled quite a few pages in our passports, but also love quiet nights in with a Game of Thrones marathon and our French Bulldog, Tonks (Harry Potter, anyone?). I'm planning a small, cozy winter wedding---think mercury glass and candle light---in the heart of DC. Our venue is a historic home with a lot of political charm, but needs a bit of work to be wedding-ready.
I’m writing this post about a year late, but I realized that I neglected to cover a big vendor decision—our photographer!
Confession: photography was never super high on our list of stuff to invest in. For a while, Wolfman even suggested that we just buy a nice camera and enlist someone to snap a few shots of us. I strongly vetoed this approach, of course, but I didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for photography either (which, especially in the DC region, is really easy to do).
Unlike other vendor decisions, we picked a budget and stuck to it, because it made it far easier to sift through the dozens of photographers in the area. We also really didn’t care about engagement pictures, so we favored photographers that allowed us to exchange an engagement shoot for more wedding coverage. Surprisingly, those two parameters really left only a handful of photographers up for consideration, and we ended up booking the first one we met with, Emily Clack. Even if we had no budget, I feel like she’s a steal. Some examples of her work:
Mrs. Squirrel, Tampa, FLAge and Occupation: 25, Genetic CounselorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer/ Engineering StudentEngagement Date: March 17, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Davis Island Garden ClubAbout Me:
I am a DIY loving, science dork. I like to eat green peppers every day and I wish all clothes would be made with bows and lace. I moved to the South for grad school and stumbled across Mr. Squirrel, aka Southern Gent extraordinaire. We moved to Tampa, Florida and are starting a new life together. We are so excited to get married! Our ceremony will be in a Catholic church and the guests will then take a boat ride to the outdoor reception. We are channeling a Midsummer Night's Dream and plan to have lots of twinkling lights, moss, and whimsy in the air.
Miss Mongoose, New Haven, CTAge and Occupation: 28, Digital AdvertisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Business DevelopmentEngagement Date: November 19th, 2011Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Hotel Nelligan in Montreal, CAAbout Me:
I was born and raised in Queens, NY (though you would never know due to my lack of a "real" New York accent) but currently live in Connecticut with my fiance. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a crazy obsession for planning and organizing things, so it comes as no surprise that I'm currently obsessed with planning our wedding. I love dancing, music, traveling, reading fiction novels, cooking, the color blue, cupcakes, all things space science-related and TV shows created by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. My fiance and I have been together for seven years and are so excited to finally get married next year. We are planning a peacock-themed destination wedding in Montreal, one of our favorite cities in the world, with 100 or so of our closest family and friends. While we may look very different on the outside, we have eerily similar personalities (probably due to the fact that we share the exact same birthday) and share very similar passions. But above all else, we love each other and love to have FUN!!!
So as you guys can tell, I’m pretty comfortable doing research and planning a lot on my own. However, I am a BIG advocate of wedding planners. What’s nice is that nowadays, WPs offer all types of planning packages. From full planning,to partial planning, to day of coordination, they can help guide you through this experience regardless whether your wedding is down the block or across the globe. For our wedding we hired Rachel Cripps-Gervais, owner of the Montreal-based wedding-planning service An English Rose, to provide some vendor reccs and to handle day of coordination. Here are my quick thoughts below on the services we purchased.
Hiring a Planner for Partial Planning:
While I was able to find venue, photographer, DJ, and baker vendors through my trusty friend Google, there were other vendors where we felt we needed a local expert’s POV. These included: makeup artists and hairstylists, florists, officiants, and string quartets. And she did a great job—we are really happy with the vendors we subsequently chose from her recommendations. So figure out what areas you are comfortable researching on your own and which ones you will need help with.
Mrs. Sword, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 28, Nanny/ActressFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Software EngineerEngagement Date: February 19, 2012Wedding Date: March 2013Venue: Embassy Suites Bloomington West in Bloomington, MNAbout Me: I am a true girly-girl originally from the great state of Minnesota and my fiancé hails from the beautiful country of Scotland. We met and fell in love in our favorite city, Chicago, and are having a blast blending our cultures for "A Highland Fairy Tale" wedding! We are truly a case of opposites attract in that he’s a world traveling introvert and I’m a social butterfly who is never too far from home. We both love hanging out with family and friends, fine dining, and laughing at ourselves. He drinks a lot of beer and I talk too much. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
I have one more post regarding our invites but if you’re just tuning in you can see our fairy tale design here and all the little extra things here.
Initially, I wasn’t going to spend the time printing invitations to invite my favorite VIP’s to the wedding but then I thought, “how cool is it I’m getting married while Barack Obama is president!?!?” It makes my liberal heart happy.
And similarly how awesome is it that my life sort of mirrors Princess Kate’s life?
What, you don’t see it?
Hello! We both are going to be married to men from the UK with thinning hair!! (Note: Mr. Sword approves this comment about his hair. The best kind of people are ones who can laugh at themselves, and Mr. Sword is the best kind of people.) Back to how I’m similar to Kate…we’re both super down-to-earth (well mostly just her), we’re about the same age (29 and 30)…AND did you know William and Kate went to uni at St. Andrews which is in Scotland, which happens to be the country where Mr. Sword is from?? OK, so I’m being silly and grasping at straws…
But we DID dress up as the happy royal couple two years ago at Halloween. (This is also proof I look better as a blonde.)
CactusFlower and her bridesmaids pose with swords!
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. Wallaby, Houston
Age and Occupation: 24, Environmental EngineerEngagement Date: January 1, 2012Wedding Date: November 2012Venue: Oak Tree ManorAbout Me: I'm a free-spirited, adventurous girl who loves anything active, reading, traveling, cooking up new dishes for my fiancé, and working on my budding garden. My fiancé is an athletic, intellectual, animal-loving guy with an obsession with basketball and who treats me with the deepest compassion and respect. We are both engineers, and we met at our workplace. Together we complement one another and make a great team, and we are excitedly counting down the days until our outdoor wedding in Houston in November. We're planning a green wedding with lots of Persian cultural touches, and I can't wait to share all of the before-and-after details of our special day
It was a last-minute decision, so I didn’t have a chance to blog about it.
Mr. W has always loved wedding videos. He used to watch wedding videos for fun in his spare time, before we even got engaged. (He chalks it up to a general interest in cinematography, but we all know he’s a closet romantic.) So, Mr. W was responsible for anything video related for our wedding. He took the responsibility very seriously and interviewed a lot of different Houston-area videographers. He’s very picky about style and camera angles, so for months no one made the cut. (Also, none of them fit into our meager videography budget.) Very soon before the wedding, Mr. W came across a company called A Sweet Film. He instantly hit it off with Orlando, the business owner and main videographer. Orlando was willing to work within our budget, and he promised to hand over the raw footage to Mr. W to play around with and make his own wedding video. Sold.
Orlando and his crew turned out to be awesome. They were very flexible, kept a low profile, and made me laugh all night long. They’re still working on the 10-minute highlights video, but they sent us a little teaser.
Turn down the lights, and turn up the volume: je presente le Wallaby wedding sneak peek!
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.
*Many apologies for going missing. Once again, school has gotten the better of me and I have had to put blogging to the side to prioritize my homework. But the semester is over, so I’m going to finish up these recaps while I’ve got the chance! If you’re new to the Cannon story, you can read our relationship recap or start at the beginning of our wedding recaps or the beginning of our wedding planning. In short, we had a rainbow wedding with a backyard barbecue feel.*
After we walked around and got our couples photos done, we did our bridal party portraits. I told everyone to get there earlier than they really needed to be there so they wouldn’t be late. (Consider that a pro tip!) So, everyone was sitting around waiting for us to show up and do pictures.
I have to say I’m kind of mixed on wedding party pictures. On one hand, it’s fun to get a bunch of pictures of you and your friends. And obviously you planned the outfits and everything and want to document that. At the same time, there’s a cheesy element to doing preplanned pictures like these. Maybe I’m just awkward at posing, but it is kind of weird to do. I do love the results, though, so I can’t complain too much.
Mrs. 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!
After a slight pause in the music, stepdad JCC and stepbro CJ started up with their guitars, playing and singing their arrangement of one of mine and Foxy’s most favorite songs—All I Want Is You (originally by Barry Louis Polisar). Enter: the rest of the wedding party!
Mrs. Boa Constrictor, Isabela, Puerto RicoAge and Occupation: 22, Undergraduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Soon-to-be Civil EngineerEngagement Date: May 19, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: El Faro Convention CenterAbout Me: I’m a Caribbean gal, born and bred on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, finishing her last year as an undergrad. I describe myself as a “closet nerd” as I secretly enjoy reading research papers, playing video games, and geeking out on Lord of the Rings movie marathons. I will marry my college sweetheart, a soon-to-be civil engineer, who loves Legos and old-school Puerto Rican cooking. This is sure to be a fast-paced year with our wedding, honeymoon, college graduation, new jobs, and a cross-country move all within less than 30 days of each other!
We went into our first dance immediately after making our entrance. You might recall from here and here, that choosing a song for our first dance was a tough decision. We ended up selecting “I Belong to You” by Eros Ramazzotti and Anastacia in Spanish, but the Universe conspired against us and the DJ played the Italian version instead. No biggie—we smiled and kept dancing…
Our first dance was a blast! Instead of being a romantic and tender moment as I had always imagined, we spent the whole dance whispering inside jokes in each others ears, giggling and making silly faces. I guess we just couldn’t contain our happiness! We really aren’t serious or formal people so our laid-back fun attitude during the day was us just being ourselves.
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