Weddingbee

My original wedding timeline had me sending our save the dates back in January. Well, a month and a half late ain’t bad, right?

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on these save the dates, so our guests BEST be saving the damn date if they know what’s good for them!!!! After slaving over the design and assembly, I finally put these bad boys in the mail this week, and I couldn’t be happier. Drumroll please…..

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Lately I’ve been prone to some minor wedding freakouts. I think it’s because we recently passed the one-year mark of being engaged, and we now have 6.5 months left to get everything done. I have focused so much over the last year on seeking out great ideas, color schemes, inspiring photos, etc., but now I actually have to stop flip flopping and make some hardcore decisions. And as you may or may not remember, I am somewhat dreadful at making decisions. I’ve put some off for so long that now I’m kicking myself for not getting some of this stuff done earlier in our 19-month engagement.

Then, there are the decisions I have made that I am beginning to second-guess. For example, last week I had a little panic about the bridesmaid’s dresses. They came in a few weeks ago but I haven’t had the chance to go see them since I have been either sick, incredibly busy, or getting ready for my mom’s wedding. I had a horrible day-mare that the teal color would be way brighter than what I was hoping for and I would hate them. So today on my way home from work, I finally stopped by Lizelle’s to pick up my Matron of Honor’s dress and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief: the color is perfect!!! Phew. Okay, I feel a little better. Just a little. One detail down. Too many more to go.

Here is the dress…. picture it on a person! It is Alfred Sung style D328 in Teal.

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When I saw ads for ABC’s new reality series Here Come the Newlyweds, I wasn’t sure if I’d love it or be annoyed by it. However, Mr. Cupcake and I did always find ourselves giggling at the one commercial where a woman asks “how many times per week is the right amount of times to be having sex?” and a couple responds at the same time:

Her: “Two.”
Him: “FIFTY!”

Giggle, giggle. Snicker, snicker.

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This weekend, Mr. Cupcake and I attended a Marriage Preparation Workshop at the church where we’ll be getting married. We didn’t really know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the day’s events.

After lunch with six other couples who are getting married at the church this year, our workshop began with Betsy, a professional marriage counselor/therapist. The day focused much less on religion than it did on marriage and the issues that newlyweds face. The four main topics were:

• communication
• spending habits and financial planning
• family of origin
• sexuality and intimacy
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Some of you may recall that my fabulous, amazing, beautiful mother has been planning a wedding of her own recently. After having an icky cold that had me out of commission for a few days last week, I was glad to be feeling better for her big day this past Sunday!

To say that the day was wonderful would be an understatement. Forty-three guests gathered to celebrate the love of these two amazing people at Simon Pearce in West Chester, PA, the place they first met. My mom and George wrote their entire ceremony, and there truly was not a dry eye in the room. Every time I looked at Mr. Cupcake, he was looking up at the ceiling to keep from crying (My sensitive man!)

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Confession: I am a terrible accessorizer. I wear the same few pairs of earrings and two or three necklaces in a constant rotation, because they’re safe and I *think* they don’t look stupid together, but I usually don’t have a clue. I usually feel silly wearing bracelets. I can spot great jewelry on anyone, but when it comes to putting it on myself, I never know how much is enough or too much, or what looks best with what, or if earrings and necklaces should match each other. As an artist, you’d think I’d get into it, but this is one blank canvas I can never quite figure out.

Wedding jewelry is no exception. (Mr. Cupcake, this is where you stop reading). My dress is v-neck, so I’m assuming that unless I want to wear a choker-type of necklace (which I am pretty sure I don’t), I should go sans necklace. But then the earrings…. should I make up for the lack of necklace with dramatic earrings? Or keep it simple?

Another point of contention is that my dress has a lot of beading, but no crystals. When I tried on veils and shoes with crystals, they just didn’t go with the overall look. For jewelry, I’m sure I’ll have to stick with beads and pearls, which seem to be a lot less popular right now (which means they’ll be harder to find). I’m not even sure where to begin looking for inexpensive but well-made jewelry.

Eek. Me confused

I don’t know what it is about me and cameras; I buy a new one every few years that I research and research and research about, but after a little while of thinking it’s the latest and greatest piece of photography equipment, I start finding flaw after flaw after flaw.

My biggest issue lately is a common gripe with digital cameras: the delay. I love digital, but I am a big fan of candid shots, so there is nothing more annoying than missing a great moment because my camera needed to “think” for a few seconds first. I also yearn to be able to take decent close-ups without them being a blur-fest. Maybe it’s my newfound blogger status that has put me over the edge, but it drives me insane when I can’t get a single good shot of a project I’ve created that I want to show the world!

The honeymoon is now only about 7 months away, and although we haven’t booked a trip yet, I know that wherever we go I’m going to want some fabulous pictures to come home with! I don’t want to regret missing any great shots just because my camera didn’t have the chops. I’d love to get a new camera now so I have some time to mess around with it and get to know it a little better while being able to better document the wedding planning process.
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I love the idea of having a signature cocktail served to guests at our cocktail hour. It would be a nice way to incorporate another personalized element while adding a splash of color. Not just any color, mind you, but a color that fits into our scheme of teal and chartreuse. And really, any excuse to create more work for myself by making cute little drink flags is what I’m all about.

With a simple Google search I came upon Drinkalizer.com, where you can search for cocktails by category, spirit or — you guessed it — color! There are certainly some, ahem, interesting (read: gross-sounding) concoctions out there, but many sound yummy and look so pretty!
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No, this is not an infomercial…. this is the name of the dance class that Mr. Cupcake and I signed up for!

When I was growing up, dance was my “thing.” Some girls played sports, some girls were in band or orchestra, and I was at dance class three nights a week. I never really took it seriously enough to pursue as a career, but it was something that I felt good at and I loved doing. Mr. Cupcake, on the other hand, was involved in sports and music, and actually was pretty talented at multiple instruments. However, his knowledge and understanding of rhythm does not translate to the dance floor.
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Now that Valentine’s Day is a thing of the past, I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk about another V-Day you may or may not have heard about. (Although this is not necessarily wedding-talk, it certainly relates to our freedoms and sexuality, and I thought it would be something that many of you bees and bee-readers would be interested in!)

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

Taken from The V-Day website: www.vday.org

During my undergraduate career at the University of Delaware, I was first introduced to V-Day when a friend of mine organized a performance of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence organizations. I happily contributed to the event by photographing the performance, and in the process I was moved and intrigued by the show and its purpose. It is daring and sometimes shocking, but overall it is honest, heartfelt, and unashamed and brings to light the important issues facing women everywhere who are victims of sexual violence. That same year I went to NYC to see an amazing performance of “The Vagina Monologues” at Madison Square Garden, with stars such as Oprah, Brooke Shields, Calista Flockhart, and Queen Latifah performing the monologues. It was beyond moving.
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