Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
The Big Reveal
August 1st, 2008 @ 3:55 pm by Mrs. Cupcake
When we first got engaged, I daydreamed about Mr. Cupcake and I seeing each other for the first time during my walk down the aisle. So traditional, so picture perfect…
So not a good idea for two major criers like ourselves.
I have admitted before that I am a big-time crier, so I know that I am going to cry on our wedding day. If you were to bet against me shedding tears on our wedding day, you’d lose. It is a done deal. I will cry. Probably more than once.
I know that Mr. Cupcake is also in touch with his emotions, and although he doesn’t cry nearly as much as I do, he still tears up when he talks about Maggie, his golden retriever who died of cancer seven years ago, or when a good sob story is being told on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (he’ll kill me for that one, but it’s true!). And when he sees me cry, his eyes get a little glossy and he says “please don’t cry, please don’t cry” because eventually it becomes contagious.
The more I thought about seeing each other for the first time during my long walk down the aisle, the more anxious I started to feel, and the more I questioned my desire to wait to see each other.
Read more…
Bachelorette Perfection
July 30th, 2008 @ 10:57 am by Mrs. Cupcake
After my Nana passed away last Friday, I was, of course, very upset and felt like it would be wrong to go out for my bachelorette party that was scheduled for the next night. I didn’t know how much I wanted to be celebrating after such an emotional and heartbreaking event. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a night out with my girlfriends was probably just what I needed after a stressful and sad time. I had already requested something low key that wouldn’t break the bank for anyone, which ended up being dinner and drinks with 10 of my fabulous girlfriends, so we went ahead with everything as planned that Saturday night.
We headed to El Vez, a Stephen Starr restaurant in Philadelphia. Stephen Starr is known for owning some of the coolest restaurants in Philly, and El Vez is no exception. It’s a contemporary Mexican restaurant with perhaps the greatest guacamole I have ever tasted. (The pitchers of margaritas and sangria weren’t so bad, either!) I was surprised at how reasonably priced everything was, and it was the perfect atmosphere for my fun-but-not-crazy night out.
Read more…
This One’s For Birdie
July 25th, 2008 @ 1:09 pm by Mrs. Cupcake
Last Friday was filled with mixed emotions—we excitedly received our wedding invitations, my mom’s dress for our big day finally arrived…and my wonderful Nana, the last of my grandparents, passed away.
My mom’s parents died before I was born, so my dad’s parents, whom we called Nana and Pop Pop, were the only grandparents I ever knew. Pop Pop passed away 10 years ago, and since then I feel like I really got to know Nana better (and although many pronounce it “Nah-nuh,” my brother, cousins, and I have always called her “Nah-Nah”—it’s just our thing!). As a shy child I didn’t always know how to handle her loud Italian demeanor, but over the years I came to adjust to and love her outspoken nature. She was truly one of a kind.
I have so many great/funny memories of Nana. When we were kids, Nana and Pop Pop would have us all over for dinner. Nana made the most amazing chicken that she called “Spitzat”—it had “a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.” It was her specialty and it is what I remember always eating when we were there. If any of us kids ever left any food on our plates at one of our family dinners, Nana would say “eat birdie, eat!” As a picky eater, I heard this phrase from her a lot while growing up, and eventually Nana’s nickname for us turned into a nickname that we affectionately called her— “Birdie.”
Read more…
Say “Bonjour”…
July 18th, 2008 @ 3:00 pm by Mrs. Cupcake
… to these adorable vintage Parisian Bridal Gown Cards from Crate and Barrel, on sale for only $2.95 for a set of eight (down from $12.95):
Cake, Revisited
July 18th, 2008 @ 9:29 am by Mrs. Cupcake
Let’s face it: the cake is pretty much the most fun part of wedding planning. I mean, what about the wedding cake isn’t fun? It’s pretty, it’s yummy, and it has two of my favorite ingredients: sugar and butter. Mmm.
A while back I had posted about the fabulousness that is Sweet Jazmine’s, and our desire for a cake that looks like a hybrid of these two:
by April Reed
Handing Over the Reigns
July 17th, 2008 @ 9:30 am by Mrs. Cupcake
Yesterday was a jam-packed day of wedding appointments for Momma Cupcake and me. I took the day off of work so we could have meetings with the florist at 11 a.m., the baker at 1:30 p.m., and the catering manager at our venue at 3:00 p.m. In a matter of 6 hours, I feel like we got so much accomplished!
Although a little chaotic, I am really glad that I arranged things this way. With about two months left until the wedding, having all of these big meetings on the same day forced me to get organized with all of my final ideas a little earlier than I may have otherwise, since, aside from the catering manager at our venue, I likely won’t meet with the florist and baker again before the wedding. It was also really helpful to have vendor conversations fresh in my mind while meeting with the catering manager, so no detail goes overlooked.
I am not going to lie — I was definitely up until 1:30 in the morning the night before, making sure I printed all of the right photos and wrote down all of the questions I needed to ask. But, the feeling of having handed over the reigns to at least two of my vendors does feel somewhat blissful, albeit a little scary!
Read more…
Bridal Diseases
July 9th, 2008 @ 11:31 am by Mrs. Cupcake
I swear — the closer the wedding gets, the more mysterious ailments I have.
Saturday morning I woke up, showered, and was getting ready as usual, when I noticed that my left ear was all red and splotchy. Huh? How did that happen? It wasn’t around my earring hole, it was more at the bottom of my earlobe, and I couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on. I hadn’t slept with my earrings in, there was no sign of a bite, it wasn’t swollen, and it didn’t hurt. It was just icky-looking and red. Not very bride-like at all.
Mid-week, it’s a little better, but still red and more annoying then anything. I know I’ve mentioned that I’m klutzy so I am clearly expecting a few paper cuts and bruises to accessorize my wedding dress, but I’m really not in the mood for any more mysterious bridal ailments to make an appearance in the next 2+ months.
Have you had any strange bridal diseases appear as your wedding gets closer?
Color Palette Validation
July 8th, 2008 @ 9:26 am by Mrs. Cupcake
Some days while heavily under the influence of my wedding-planning trance, I find myself in a moment of panic when I’m second-guessing my color palette yet again. Actually, we might as well call it ninety-second-guessing because I worry about it so much. Then, on a day like today, I’m reminded of how much I love my color palette of teal and chartreuse (or lime green or bright green or whatever I decide to call it on that particular day…it seems like everyone has a different vision of what chartreuse is!) when I come across an inspiration board like this one found on Sparkliatti:
Inspiration board found on Sparkliatti (thanks Miss Tiramisu and SIL Cupcake!)
Hometown Homage
July 7th, 2008 @ 12:49 pm by Mrs. Cupcake
Most people like to brag about their hometown and its unique delicacies or traditions that make it stand out from the rest. Here in Philly (no one from here actually calls it “Philadelphia” 
), we’ve got Rocky, the Art Museum, the Iggles (that’s “Eagles” to you non-Philadelphians), soft pretzels, The Declaration of Independence, the Mummers Parade (a strange but absolutely fabulous New Year’s day tradition), the Liberty Bell, Tastykakes, da Phightin’ Phils (the baseball wielding Phillies), and, of course, the mouth-watering Philly cheese steak (I like to call it a “heart attack on a roll”).
While our wedding isn’t actually in the city of Philadelphia, I have lived in the area my entire life, and it’s just, well, home. The city is also where Mr. Cupcake and I met, it’s where we fell in love, and it’s where we got engaged…so it’s only natural that we would try to incorporate some aspects of Philly culture into our wedding, particularly with a little tasty late-night treat for our guests. Read more…
Jumping on the Bandwagon
July 5th, 2008 @ 6:30 pm by Mrs. Cupcake
….the photo booth bandwagon, that is!
Photo found here, via the ever-awesome Oh Happy Day
I stray away from a lot of wedding trends simply because they’re trends and I want to be a little bit different, but the photo booth bandwagon is one that I am quite happy to have jumped on. Not only does a photo booth go along with the vintage vibe that we hope to infuse throughout our wedding day, but, quite simply, it’s an awesome treat for our guests.
