Weddingbee Blog

In fact, June was unseasonably cold, and much more cloudy and rainy than what we normally experience this time of year in the City of Brotherly Love. Early summer? It felt more like mid-spring!

No, I’m not fretting yet about our wedding weather (though I have been researching cute umbrella options, just in case). Right now, I’m too preoccupied with what all this moisture’s been doing to my hair.

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Unlike Sister Bruschetta — who has awesome natural curls that seem to thrive when there’s extra humidity in the air — I’m stuck with wavy(ish) hair that reacts unpredictably at best whenever there’s a greater than 10-percent chance of precipitation.

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Mr. Bruschetta and I attended our church’s Pre-Cana marriage preparation weekend six months ago. At the time, our wedding still seemed so far off. Most of the projects and tasks that are currently in the forefront of my mind (and even posted up on our wall) were merely half-formed ideas. At the time, I was blissfully ignorant (thinking only that everything will fall into place somehow) and completely content.

While I don’t want to downplay the importance of the various talks — on subjects ranging from money to sexuality to religion — married couples shared with us that weekend, I will admit that, for us, one of the most valuable exercises was the icebreaker that kicked off the weekend.

Each person was asked to select his/her future spouse’s most endearing quality. What is that one attribute of your husband- or wife-to-be that, at this exact moment, sums up what you love about him or her? We were informed that this characteristic can and will change frequently — at any given time, there are a number of aspects jockeying for the top spot — and encouraged to continue engaging in this activity after the weekend concluded.

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Augustitis [aw-guhst-eye-tis]: inflammation of the calm, rational, stress-free portion of a bride-to-be’s mind, caused by her impending August wedding.

To my knowledge, there are only two known cures for Augustitis: an elopement, or enhanced planning and organization. Fortunately, Mr. Bruschetta — another useful antidote to my particular case of Augustitis — recently stepped in with a simple, manageable way of tackling the to-be-completed items. (We were both inspired by Miss D’Orsay’s decision-making time line — it seems to have helped with her Augustitis, too!)

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It was sugar bliss. The epitome of sweetness. Dessert heaven.

A bountiful cookie buffet, giving a nod to my Italian heritage — and supplementing the traditional wedding cake Mr. Bruschetta and I had recently embraced. I imagined servers busing ice cold milk, our guests indulging in light, layered cake and dense, freshly-baked cookies.

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And then reality set in.
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Warning: The following post might cause serious cocktail cravings. Feel free to preempt this side effect by grabbing your favorite summer sipper—go ahead, I’ll wait right here!

::Humming to self patiently::

Are you back? Okay, so let’s talk about summer cocktails. When I was still a fairly newbee, I shared our plan to feature a Bruschetta favorite, Philly’s own Bluecoat, in signature gin and tonics. Soon, the mister and I had added mojitos to the list to keep the g & ts company. After some brainstorming, one more quintessential summer potable popped into my head—sangria!

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We agreed that glasses of the red stuff, while delicious, might be hazardous in close proximity to one notable white dress, and promptly set out to find a suitable white wine sangria recipe.
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Sure, we get to don gorgeous white dresses, yards of tulle (or a poof of netting) and super fab shoes. And trust me, I’m definitely excited to pull my look together on our wedding day. But my attire and accessories have a decidedly bridal feel (um, duh), and I’m feeling a bit envious of my mister — and really, all those grooms out there who are able to wear their passions on their sleeve… literally.

As far as man-cessories go, I think cuff links are the coolest. I mean, look at all the cute (uhhh, I mean really, really masculine) options for pulling together a dude’s dapper duds.

I love how so many designs are re-purposed goods; bits of old wine barrels, vinyl records, Scrabble tiles and newspaper crossword puzzles were just a few of the styles that caught my eye.
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I like to think of myself as decisive, but I gotta admit: At times, I’m really wishy-washy. As in, read-all-the-birthday-cards-in-the-section-at-Hallmark-before-making-a-choice indecisive. And now, here’s another case in point: Garter-maker extraordinaire Peterene sent along some pictures of color options for our four toss garters. I’m so torn as to which would look best — so I’d love to hear what you think!

My keepsake one will be similar to the top garter in this set:

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Should I opt for toss garters with…
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Several weeks ago, Mr. Bruschetta and I had one of the biggest fights of our relationship. The culprit? Our wedding day transportation. Let me explain a bit more…

Throughout our engagement, the mister and I have shared ideas and talked things out to determine each other’s preferences. Often, one of us feels strongly about something, while the other is more lackadaisical. But we always factor in one another’s feelings — and since our tastes and vision so frequently coincide, decision-making is a breeze, and both of us are usually quite content as we check things off the to-do list.
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“Find something borrowed.”

This pesky three-word sentence has been staring back at me from our to-do list for several months. The line once included “old”, “new”, and “blue” as well, but I’ve edited out these adjectives as each item joined my ensemble.

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Since not all our guests are familiar with Old City — the quaint, historical, and art-gallery-rich area of Philly where our reception will be held — I thought a map might be a great way to show some of the surrounding spots. When I contacted Heather from Pantomime Papers about this idea, she quickly agreed — she was, at the time, working to build her portfolio — and sent me some inspiration maps so we could figure out what look would be the best fit. (The following images are from here.)

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For the past few weeks, I’ve been whittling down the enormous number of inspiration pictures that have found their way onto my computer over the course of our engagement. I recently touched base with our photographer — I’m still in disbelief that it’s time to reconnect with our vendors to finalize plans (we’ve had some of these pros booked since early 2008!) — and mentioned I’d love to show some of my favorites to her, so she can understand the “vision” I have for our wedding day. I also made sure to communicate that the photos I was sharing are by no means pictures I want to copy pose-for-pose; they’re just really unique, striking images that have me thinking how we can get creative on the wedding day!

Well, Cindy is awesome, and encouraged me to send along as many as I wanted — and to keep the pictures coming as our wedding approaches, so she can let these ideas “marinate”. (Her word choice, not mine — though it’s definitely appropriate for our wedding!) So when I shared my Picasa album, I included some shots to get Cindy thinking about how to feature one of the most important elements of our cocktail hour and reception — the food.

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A grand exit — following the ceremony, or at the conclusion of the reception — provides an opportunity for amazing pictures, as well as a chance to have some carefree fun with your guests (and new husband!). And, for me, it’s all about what’s tossed. So, let’s review some of the ideas bees have carried out to great effect.

Mrs. Avocado’s guests showered her (and the new hubby — oh boy, did he get it!) in ecofetti.

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The lovely and talented Mrs. Sea Breeze will be creating a dreamy netted piece that’ll be my second wedding veil, to be worn throughout our reception. But she’s given me her blessing to seek a floral accent elsewhere, if I choose.

So, naturally, I wandered over to Etsy to peruse my options. Which was, of course, the best and worst thing I could have done. I’ve since fallen in love with so many fascinators, and would love some opinions from the bee-nut gallery.

(requisite cute kitty picture to take up space before…)

…the warning for Mr. Bruschetta to not click any further!
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June 14, 2001: Mr. Bruschetta and I had met up at a local diner, and were sitting across from each other in a booth. I don’t remember what either of us ordered, but I do recall why we were there. About two weeks previous (following my uncharacteristically bold move), Mr. Bruschetta had been my prom date. And although I was graduating high school in less than a week, I liked him. A lot. I wanted to figure out if he felt similarly, and if we could start a relationship while I transitioned to college life. We were embarrassingly awkward, but sealed our evening with a kiss — and the intention to refer to one another as boyfriend and girlfriend.

It’s been 2,922 days, innumerable culinary experiences, countless (much less clumsy) kisses, and one proposal since the official start of “us”. And we’ve celebrated annually with Flag Day dates — below, we’re posing for Mama Bruschetta before heading out to celebrate the first year with dinner and a night at the theatre.

Today is our final dating anniversary before we’re married. So how did we commemorate our own elite eight?
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Remember when we peeked inside the upstairs bathroom at the F.U.E.L. House? I’d been puzzling over what type of container to use for our bathroom “baskets”. And, suddenly, when I wasn’t even looking for it, the perfect option was right in front of me.

Several weekends back, Mr. Bruschetta and I were running through a list of errands, and popped into Harry & David to use an about-to-expire coupon. I spotted some cute bowls and picked one up, thinking they’d be perfect for entertaining — just the right size to fill with snacks. And then, the bowl caught a stream of sunlight flooding into the store, and I noticed the hint of blue running along its rim. Could this cool-shaped bowl work for our bathroom baskets?

I was hesitating — is it too small? is using a bowl too bizarre? — when I noticed the clearance sign. A quick check of the return policy — no time limit, provided you have the receipt — and I snapped up four bowls for a total of $6.79.

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