Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
I’m giving away the double happiness paper punch that I used for our wedding programs! To enter, post a comment and I’ll choose a winner randomly! Deadline is 11 PM EST, Thursday August 9.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
I have been trying to clear up all the wedding related clutter in our place since the beginning of this week. There’s still so much stuff and it’s time to clear out anything we don’t need anymore. There are some details that hold sentimental value, so I decided to design a shadowbox with everything stuffed inside. I added one of the menu cards, some stickers from our candy buffet, an antique brooch with a purple ribbon, one of our floral escort cards, and our invitation.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
I’m selling my bridal jewelry and accessories. I bought a lot from Haute Bride, Regina B and miscellaneous boutiques in the Philly area:
Haute Bride Bracelet:
The ever so popular Haute Bride Bracelet. All the guests loved the bracelet and it was perhaps one of my favorite bridal accessories. The original cost was $307 with shipping and handling, and I’m putting it for auction on ebay at a starting bid of $70.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
On our wedding day, there were some unexpected surprises that led to a pretty short portrait session with our photographer. We decided to do a final Trash the Dress session at a pretty cool location in Philadelphia, the Eastern State Penitentiary. The prison has been closed since the 1970’s and has been famous for holding some of the most notorious criminals in America, such as Al Capone and Willie Sutton. Eastern States also has an interesting “wagon wheel” circular floor plan design that has been the model of many penitentiaries in the country. Here are some photos of the penitentiary:
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
I went to Michael’s today to check out shadowboxes, and they had a lot of cute ones made by Martha Stewart. I love her designs but to get a small cardboard shadowbox for $14.99 is kind of expensive. I checked out other shadowboxes and they were marked down 50% off today. I bought a small black box for $4.99 and used materials leftover from the wedding to decorate the inside of the box. I added ort cake topper and secured it with some tape at the base, and voila~! Our cake topper is now on exhibition.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
Our photographer Nicole Polk has a new portrait website (click polk-a-dot portraits) featuring engagement photos and photos of adorable kids and hot mamas.
Check it out, the design is so fresh and brilliant. She’s also updating her wedding website, and we can’t wait to see the new design!
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
Early in the wedding planning process, I remember freaking about how many vendors we might have to book in addition to our reception site and photographer. Lighting was something that I kept pushing out of our budget, until I noticed how much it could change the ambience of the reception. We decided to book Jason from Synergetic Sounds and we added four breakup lighting designs to the dance floor, and pinspotting to each reception table, candy buffet table, and the cake table. Uplighting of all sculptures were already provided by the museum.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
I was shopping at the King of Prussia Crate and Barrel over the weekend, and I noticed a bride and groom who recently got married returning numerous boxes of registry items. I quietly drifted closer to see how much they were returning and it was about $700 worth of gifts! I have to confess, I did return a few items from our registry because I wanted to buy something more practical for our kitchen, but to return over $500 is a bit much. Why do we choose so many items on our registry that we don’t want? It’s such a hassle to return everything and what if your guest asks in the future, “so have you been using my bread machine and my measuring spoons?”
We decided to keep our registry small providing a list of gifts we will most likely keep, along with a few accessories to expand the price range. Some guests couldn’t decide on a gift off our registry so they gave us money instead. It worked out nicely and we got most of our wedding registry items along with some other essentials from Crate & Barrel and William Sonoma.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
My maid of honor was the first to get her hair done by Cali, my hair/makeup stylist. I remember her saying to me after getting her hair done, “Can I pleease take Cali with me back to Chicago?” Haha, all the girls loved Cali! She did hair and makeup for me, my mom, and the entire bridal party, and somehow without assistance she did everything just in time for our ceremony. She did everything my girls requested, including changing hairstyles at the very last minute to concealing tan lines. She has an amazing sense of style - I love her modern take on wedding updos. It seems like every style she does is so unique and different. I featured below some photos from our wedding and many photos of Philly brides who highly recommend her.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
I did quite an investigation when it came to planning our wedding in the Mid-Atlantic area, checking out banquet halls, museums, historic mansions, an aquarium, pretty much every location possible for a wedding. I missed a few hidden gems, such as the location of this beautiful wedding taken by photographeer Kenny Kim. The Pleasantdale Chateau is a beautiful historic estate located in the West Orange, NJ area. I love all the details of the estate, especially the reception area and the 40 acres of formal gardens. Here are a few photos from James and Grace’s wedding.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
Pink & Green is still one of my favorite color combinations, but what about pink & green polka dots? I love the details of this wedding, especially the flower girls’ dresses and the candy buffet.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
Our reception area was held in the rotunda above the ceremony site. Read more…
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
It was hard to find a large cup of joe in Paris. I’m a coffee nut and I love to consume large amounts of coffee, so I think I ordered 3-4 cups of cafe au lait every morning.
Mrs. Bell Pepper, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 28, Resident PhysicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Resident PhysicianEngagement Date: May 30, 2006Wedding Date: June 2007Venue: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAbout Me: I love whimsical details and design, everything that *sparkles*, sipping on hazelnut lattes, pugs, shopping for antiques and second-hand goods, scenic photography, delicate flowers, and checking out new restaurants in the city with my fianc??. We are planning our wedding at a unique city venue for about 75 close family members and friends. I have a lot of DIY ideas and I like to blog about ways to save money on your wedding.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
