Weddingbee

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I discovered an awesome company based in Philadelphia called No Macarena. It was formed in 1997 after Kim Alexander Walsh, a WXPN dj & program director, decided to assemble an insanely large music library for music snobs such as ourselves.They have wonderful reviews and their prices are very affordable. For $850 we’ll have a dj for the entire evening. We can customize the playlist or leave the musical freedom up to the dj, which I’ve heard is recommended because they tend to have fabulous taste. I can’t wait to NOT do the macarena at the wedding! Mr. CC and I aren’t big on dancing, but we want our guests to be able to have a fun night without having to suffer through the chicken dance or hokey pokey. Although, I’m totally requesting that they play Apache by the Sugarhill Gang so I can do the dance Carlton and Will did on Fresh Prince. Yep, I’m a goober.

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Is anyone else going for a more “indie” dj that won’t be playing the usual classics?

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What travel agents or travel packages do you recommend, if any? Or should we suck it up and figure it out on our own, without an agent? I just started looking into the Costco “Best of Italy” packages and they’ve gotten mixed reviews, so I’m not sure if I should pursue it or not. I’ve also looked into STA Travel, but haven’t seen reviews from real people who have used their services so I am hesitant to look into it without some initial feedback. Frommers and TripAdvisor are great for browsing their message boards and reading reviews, but I just don’t know how to tackle the honeymoon head-on. I’ve never been on a plane, so my travelling experience is nonexistent.

I own a few highly-recommended Italian guidebooks for us tourist-folk, but I figured I’d ask you readers for your opinions since you’re always pulling through for me I’m absolutely in love with Positano and Cinque Terre, but I’m willing to bet that it would be way less exhausting and stressful to save them for another trip entirely.

Mr. CC and I are looking for an adventurous, yet relaxing vacation where we don’t have to hustle around every day and worry about constantly changing hotels and catching train rides. We’re willing to stay in cute hotel boutiques and smaller b&bs over swanky hotels if it means saving a few bucks here and there. We’re also not really huge on going to really overcrowded tourist destinations when there are so many secret backroads to explore, so the more untraditional recommendations or ideas, the better! Although, I’m the type that gets lost in my own backyard, so I’m a little nervous about trying to figure out the transportation situation. I know this is supposed to be fun to plan and figure out together, but Mr. CC will be busy working full-time and student teaching, so I sort of took this on as my “not-so-little” pet project.

Please offer your well-travelled wisdom and pray to shiny happy Buddha gods that the American dollar will stop sucking soon!

Hugs and honeymoons,
Ms. Candy Corn

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I signed a contract with them in March and hadn’t heard a single thing from them at all. I figured, it’s June, shouldn’t I have at least gotten a confirmation that they received my signed contract? I don’t know why it took me so long to realize I had never heard from them, I guess I thought one of their e-mails got lost in the sea of wedding-related e-mails I’ve been collecting for over a year now.

My initial “Oh my god, why haven’t I heard from them at all?” panic led to some innocent Googling, where I discovered a number of uber negative reviews about this company. They were all relatively recent, so I couldn’t have seen them back when I was researching earlier this year. I know it’s normal to have a handful of negative reviews because that’s just the way it is, but after searching for hours on the Internet, I couldn’t find one positive review, and the company is large enough that it should have at least one happy bride review by now.

The negative feedback I was reading was enough to make me a nervous wreck (several brides complained about how the booth didn’t take one picture during the entire time it was there, or how the photobooth assistant got photo ink on the guests’ clothes). I quickly regretted putting down the nearly $400 non-refundable deposit. My parents, the dear mom and pop candies that they are, offered to call the company to see if they would be willing to give us our deposit back, but they weren’t (which I can’t blame them, it was in our contract). They were nice to my parents on the phone, but I just wasn’t willing to dish out another $400 on a vendor that I have grown to have absolutely no faith in.

So, this left us without a photobooth. I quickly began browsing the web for another vendor and found this great local company called Festive Fotobooths. I highly recommend them - they are incredibly nice and get back to you right away and are willing to be flexible with what you want. (PLUS, they have a prop bin. Just sayin’.) There are a bajillion positive reviews online for them, so that was also comforting. For two hours of unlimited photos and other goodies (with double printouts, one for the guest and one for our scrapbook), it adds up to a little over $1,000.

I was really looking forward to having a photobooth, but I also really look forward to eating something other than ramen for the rest of my meals leading up to October. I wish we could say that we budgeted for this unexpected blip in the wedding planning, but we didn’t, so we have to cut costs where we can, which ultimately meant that we wouldn’t be having a photobooth.  I e-mailed my parents to let them know that we wouldn’t be having a booth, and I got a call within hours from them saying they would cover the costs!!!  Insert me being incredibly grateful and doing a happy dance here ________.

I also scratched calligraphy off my list of “must-haves.” As much as I love love love Besty Dunlap, it’s something I can do myself (though not nearly as well!) to save some money. I also highly recommend Betsy–she offered the best prices I could find in the style we wanted, plus she’s the cutest wedding-related e-mail correspondent ever.

When I was budgeting for the aforementioned, Mr. CC and I were going to have to save a little over $600 per month, until October. Now we will just have to save about $330 a month, which will put a lot less stress on our relationship and a lot more food in our bellies.

Did anyone else have to make some rough decisions while finalizing their budgets?

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I have tons and tons of photos of my side of the family and friends, so it won’t be a problem finding a unique image for each guest, but for those long-distance relatives that we haven’t seen since we were toddlers, I figured I could use photos of Mr. Candy Corn and I together or cute childhood photos of us.

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On the back of the card, photographers have the option of listing their photography details, but we’ll be listing the name of the guest along with their table number. Since you can also upload your own icon for the back of each card, we’ll be uploading an image for the chicken entree and vegetarian entree, so our caterer will know who is eating what. We can even customize the font and font color on the back of the cards, which is a great way to make them even more personal. I can’t wait until we send out our invites and start to (hopefully) receive our RSVPs, so I can begin to design them.

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The MOO cards will be held in the silver wedding cake place card holders I purchased from Party City many moons ago when I was bored on my lunch break. Normally these bad boys go for $2, but I snagged them for 50 cents a piece (hooray to the discount bins!).

Is anyone else incorporating MOO products in their wedding?
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As far as wedding traditions go, Mr. Candy Corn and I have made the following decisions…

There will be:No garter or bouquet toss
No cake-smashing
No veil
No something old, something new, something borrowed (ok, maybe something blue)
No engagement party or photos (I take way too many photos of us as it is)
No typical “let’s get drunk and wear necklaces with naked bits on them!” bachelor/bachelorette parties (although I fully support those tasteless necklaces and own many a peenie bracelets)
No ringbearers or flower girls (although if someone is willing to train Betty White not to drop a deuce on the aisle runner, I may have to rethink that!)
Non-traditional ceremony music & humorous, lighthearted vows and readings (with no mention of religion, just a whole lotta love)
No receiving line
No limo
No dollar dance, for the love of all things holy!
No macarena (which just so happens to be the name of our dj)

Some of the traditions we are taking part in include:

My uber sentimental dad walking me down the aisle (but we’re skipping the whole “hey, do you give your daughter away?” bit)
Me wearing a white dress
Mr. CC not seeing my dress until I’m trying my best not to trip down the aisle
The engagement ring
Ring exchange
First dance and mother/son, father/daughter dance
Me taking Mr. CC’s last name
The cake-cutting ceremony
Spending the night before apart, mostly because we are never apart and Mr. CC wants it to be that much more special when he sees me for the first time during our ceremony

These are just some of the traditions we’ve decided we’re either “for” or “against.”

How did you and your significant other choose which traditions you would or wouldn’t be incorporating into your wedding day?

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Thus, the incredibly happy Ms. Candy Corn face:

Note: The item on my head was part of the wrapping of another special package I received in the mail today. More on that in an upcoming post (suspense!).

Even Mr. Candy Corn was excited!

 
Me making my “sigh, you’re so weird Mr. Candy Corn” face.

Poor Mr. Candy Corn didn’t have a chance at beating me. And yes, this is a game meant for groups, but I was too excited to wait for an opportune time and decided we must have at it after dinner.

 
Me illustrating “shack up.”

Mr. Candy Corn was much better at acting out his phrases than drawing them. As you can see, Betty White was not amused.

Mr. Candy Corn’s drawings lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. I failed to see how a centipede with a star on its head and a toilet bowl equalled office romance. Apparently the walrus-like drawing on the bottom right was “Rome.” Mr. CC scoffed at me when I didn’t guess this.

That being said, there were several instances where I guessed right with Mr. CC and it usually resulted in a victory dance.

Me gesturing “tassels.” Pardon the red eyes!

“Smoking after sex.” As you can probably tell, I’m inexperienced in this matter.All in all, it was a success. I must admit, I’m quite proud of acting out the phrase “pink velvet sausage wallet” within the designated amount of time. I’d like to apologize for my ridiculously bright nighttime attire. I promise I wasn’t trying to match our Slimertastic walls.

Have any of the readers out there ever played Sexy Slang?
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250. You want me to tell you everything I know about art
251. You notice me biting my lip at things that make me giddy or excited
252. You kiss things that you love, like your green mug
253. You miss the soft itchiness of footsie pajamas
254. You have a pink and white polka-dotted watch with bling
255. How you tolerate me watching Moulin Rouge, even though you can’t stand musicals
256. The crying old man on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy totally made you cry
257. You love your cuddle time with me
258. You want to decorate rooms for our house with different themes, none of which include lighthouses
259. You want a “Lethal Christ” tattoo
260. You love taking me to jazz clubs
261. You often rant about politics to my dad
262. You tap out beats on the table when you’re writing music
263. You count the timing of music, even if it’s a lame tv. show theme song
264. You appreciate cinematography
265. You always get your toothpaste splashes all over the mirror in the bathroom, right after I’ve just cleaned the counter and everything
266. You love baseball and say “The Phillies won!” over and over after they’ve won
267. You tolerate my cravings for ice at 5am
268. You’ll search for a restroom for me at a busy train station
269. You say “That sounds fun” whenever I ask you to go somewhere spontaneously with me
270. You are starting to like vegetables…finally
271. You got really bitter when they renamed the cafe at college
272. You enjoy fake arm-wrestling people
273. I pee faster than you
274. You always used to play the piano in our dorm
275. You hold my hand tight when it’s icy
276. You don’t make fun of me (much) for loving lime juice so much on my food
277. You always make popcorn for me when we watch a movie
278. You let me trim your sideburns and nose hair
279. You tell me when an outfit looks good or bad
280. You always give me more space on the sofa
281. You let me use your laptop so I can update Weddingbee (like right now)
282. You get the mail for me
283. You collected all of my roommate’s hair that was on our Elvis rug during our sophomore year and put it into a huge hairball bag and took it home with you (your mom promptly threw it out)
284. The way you look into my eyes
285. The way book stores excite you
286. You reach the spots I cant with the suntan lotion (that isn’t meant to sound dirty!)
287. You love using washable crayons in the shower
288. How you call me “darling”
289. You kill spiders and thousand legged beasts of doom for me
290. You pretend you’re tickling me to cover up the fact that I was blatantly laughing at someone else
291. You laugh at the way Betty White sighs and plops her head on the laptop when I’m typing to get attention
292. You ask “Do you love me?” all the time, in a really cute way
293. You get really excited when you order dessert at dinner
294. You have cute nicknames for your grandparents
295. Michael Ian Black always makes you smile
296. You love the soundtrack of “A Mighty Wind”
297. You let me watch terrible MTV reality shows without complaining
298. You wear my clothes
299. You get really excited about my achievements
300. Seeing a pug makes you squeal
301. You blush when I ask you to speak in French
302. You are great with directions (thank god)
303. You’re patient when I have no idea how to make sense of our GPS
304. You’re a free spirit, hippie boy at heart
305. You have a vibrating razor
306. You almost blamed the French girl who lived with your parents for stealing money that you lost
307. You’ve lost your wallet at least 6 times since we’ve met
308. You’ve lost your phone at least that many times too
309. You are the loudest sneezer on the planet and never cover your mouth (ew)
310. You think I’m the only one who thinks you’re funny
311. Your idea of closet organization is organizing your piles on the floor of the closet into two huge piles
312. You get me Advil and water when I have a headache
313. You try to convince me that you’re bootylicious
314. You wear SpongeBob boxers
315. You tell me whenever you have to “go take a poo”
316. Whenever you’re right about something you go, “Thank yewwwwwwwwwww”
317. You have the hugest headphones I’ve ever seen
318. How much an orange muffin can please you
319. How beautiful and perfect trees are to you
320. You don’t like having your belly button touched
321. You’re really fragile
322. How excited challenging card games make you
323. How your top lip always gets this little chapped piece of skin…it’s kind of weird, but I love it
324. How you and your mom have the same eyes
325. You love opera and it’s 2008.
326. You tell me when it’s time for Betty White to get her vaccines
327. You give Betty White treats to try to get her to stop barking at you
328. You write our initials in a heart in the sand when we go to the beach
329. You love collecting sea shells
330. The ocean makes you squeal like a little girl and you can’t go in past your ankles or you tense up
331. You have the hairiest legs EVAH
332. You have a metal band tattoo of a band that broke up (Fear Factory) and it’s super cheesy with flames
333. You are never on MySpace, but when you rarely are, you comment on my page
334. You squeal with me about how cute the puppies of the Weddingbee bees are
335. You don’t mind when I go on my “I LOVE WEDDINGBEE!” tangents
336. There’s never a dull moment within our relationship
337. You make the boring stuff fun
338. You do my taxes for me because I am like “Wha?” when it comes to anything math related
339. You want to pick out all of our wedding music
340. I know you’ll be there for me during the week of our wedding when I’m frazzled and need a hand or a hug
341. You make a funny “durr” face when you’re watching sports
342. You put aloe gel on my sunburns for me without me even asking
343. You write compositions for fun
344. You tell me if the part on the back of my head is straight when I do pigtails
345. You don’t mind when I decide to vacuum at midnight
346. You chose me to marry you
347. You look at style/home/wedding blogs with me
348. You go to NYC to see art shows with me
349. You shake your head at the sports channel for interrupting the game with pointless stuff
350. You make tea almost every night
351. You wake up early to go jogging
352. You love spooning
353. You buy me stuffed animals when I make the sad panda face
354. You’re obsessed with Army of Darkness
355. You love watching cheesy horror movies with me
356. You didn’t hate me for watching all of the seasons of Sex and the City back to back for days when I had the flu
357. You watch Lost with me and we discuss our love for Sawyer
358. When we went to Disney World, you insisted that I buy you a Goofy Viking hat
359. You bring me a cold washcloth when I’m feeling sick
360. You make us dinner and love doing so
361. You want to meet the local bees and readers, even though you’re horribly shy
362. You played Bon Jovi to serenade me during one of our first dates. It didn’t work
363. You make mix tapes for your cd-player-less car
364. You do a cute little kissy noise whenever you catch me looking at you
365. You are the only person I can imagine spending the rest of my life with

What are some strange reasons why you love your significant other?

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