Weddingbee

Ahh, it’s good to be back! During my hiatus, I almost forgot how much I love contributing to Weddingbee! I figured it was time for a few choice vendor reviews, some of which might be helpful to Chicago-area brides. Let’s start with one of our most important vendors, our officiant Terry Brady, and the process we went through to create a ceremony that was truly “us”.

To be honest, Mr. E and I are not particularly religious people. So in looking for an officiant, our criteria was to find someone who we “clicked” with, who would allow us to personalize our ceremony… and who did not cost an arm and a leg. I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand how someone can charge $700-$800 for performing a 30 minute (or less) ceremony! I saw a positive recommendation for Terry Brady on the local Knot message board, gave him a call, and set up a meeting. Turns out, there was no need to look any further, we booked him the very day we met! Not only did we hit it off, but when he read me a sample of his ceremony, I got chills down my spine and tears in my eyes. (On a side note, we met in a hotel lobby where there happened to be a Furry Fandom convention going on and people dressed in animal costumes wandering all around us. It was… distracting to say the least).
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What up Weddingbee! Long time no blog!

This past Saturday, I met up with Miss Peacock and Miss Jasmine for the Chicago Social Brides’ An Evening of Luxury event at the so-new-it’s-not-even-done Trump Towers (seriously, I think the building is only halfway up, but the lower half is apparently open for business). We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we forked over the hefty entrance fees ($60 for the first ticket and $25 for 2 additional tickets) and valet fees ($23/car!) to see what it was all about. We were enticed with the promise of a “luxury swag bag”, but were bummed to hear that only the holder of the $60 ticket was able to receive the goodies. Ah well, at least our admission fees benefited the Y-Me Illinois organization.

This event was quite different from the traditional bridal show. There were no vendor tables on display. They only featured one venue (Trump Towers, obviously), one floral design company, and one DJ/Media company. We walked around, sipped champagne, noshed on food, watched a Vera Wang fashion show, and met a few Weddingbee readers!

Peacock, Emerald and Jasmine (half a glass of champagne and I’m already flushed)
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Are you just itching to see 27 Dresses, a fun, fluffy, feel good, girly movie? But does your significant other *cringe* at the very thought?! Well then join the Chicago Bees instead!

WHO: YOU and Miss Jasmine, Miss Peacock, Mrs. Radish and moi, Mrs. Emerald!
WHAT: 27 Dresses
WHERE: River East 21, up the escalator by the ticket office
WHEN: Sunday 1/20, meet at 3:55 for the 4:10 show

After Thanksgiving, I caught a nasty cold and was stuck veggin’ at home. The day of doing nothing led to numerous trips to the fridge. I couldn’t help it… that frozen block of foil-wrapped buttercream goodness kept calling out, “EAT ME!” So what did I do? DUH! I’ve been trying to resist its call for the past 3 months, but finally I caved in, defrosted it, and cut myself a tasty slice.

This is what I found when I unwrapped the layers of foil.

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*sigh* It was inevitable. They’re sneaking back with a vengence… I lost a total of 15 pounds before the wedding, 10 of which were lost during the last month when I was on the South Beach Diet. Oh, it wasn’t just for the sake of vanity (partly so, of course), but it was mostly due to necessity. I was the genius that bought a sample dress two sizes too small, but I loved it SO much I couldn’t let a little issue like FIT get in the way, heh heh heh.

But yes, let me be the millionth person to say that the South Beach Diet works wonders in the short term! Both Mr.E and I lost 10 pounds before the wedding, and it wasn’t absolute torture (ok, it was sometimes). But during the honeymoon, we just said, “To heck with it, let’s chow down!” and came back 5 pounds heavier. We had planned to go back on Phase One of South Beach after the honeymoon, but couldn’t bring ourselves to do it again… we just love food too much and lack the willpower to make a complete lifestyle change. I am notorious for my sweet tooth. I bet I can out-eat all of you when it comes to sugar/dark chocolate/desserts!

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Right after college, I worked a brief stint as a salon manager for a well-known Chicagoland salon & day spa chain. It was a miserable 6 months, but I befriended a stylist named Jodi, who did absolute wonders for special occasion hair. Fast forward 4 years to my engagement, and I went straight back to the salon in hopes of finding her still working there. Lucky me! She agreed to take a vacation day on the Saturday of my wedding, and did my hair, as well as the hair for my 5 bridesmaids and 1 reader. Unfortunately, I can’t share her information since she *technically* isn’t supposed to freelance outside the salon and she did that for me as a favor. Sorry, I knew there was some interest.

BUT, I will certainly share my makeup artist! Initially, I was 100% positive that I was going to do my own makeup. After all, I am a total product junkie and I wear makeup every single day. Not to mention, I loved having an excuse to buy more makeup! But one day in June, I stopped by the Bobbi Brown counter at Macy’s to pick up some gel eyeliner. Tasha, the makeup artist on duty sat me down for makeover (it was a slow Thursday night), and I was sold! It was me… just prettier!

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You can tell that a number of us Bees just got hitched due to the number of Thank You card-related posts! And here’s my contribution to the topic.

While many brides lust over letterpressed stationary (I would have considered it had it been in the budget!), I personally have a love affair with offset printing, and more specifically, Overnight Prints. I can wax poetic about their thick paper stock, the brilliant colors, the glossy UV coating… I even love the way they smell (yea, I’m strange). I had OP print my invitation, rsvp card, website card, menu cards, and now my Thank You postcards (so it’s all cohesive of course!!).

I kept it simple and used one of my favorite black & white images of us flashing our newly graced ring fingers (despite the fact that I am slightly out of focus in the pic). Initially, I played around with adding some text, but then decided that I preferred it without text. I chose to print 5.5″ x 8.5″ postcards versus the 4″ x 6″ postcards, even though that meant paying regular $0.41 postage instead of the discounted postcard rate.

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MVP = Most Valuable Products. Let me tell you about the 3 items that were absolutely indispensible during my months of wedding planning and DIY heaven.

Cutterpede trimmer. The white attachment is the slicer, while the pink attachment scores the paper to create perfect folds and creases. Thank goodness I borrowed this from my crafty sister-in-law, because I used this on nearly every project! Available at your neighborhood craft store, or online.

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Well, you just never know!! I previously posted my friend Amy’s wedding video footage because it was insanely great. Apparently the folks at Canon thought so too! Amy and her hubby Alex are now exclusively featured in a commercial for the Canon Rebel XTi, airing in Canada during major primetime slots (primetime = during Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, House, Prison Break, etc!!)! Check out the commercial on her videographer’s blog.

Has your wedding given you (or someone you know) some unexpected exposure? My dream was always to be featured in a wedding mag, but I think this could be one of the coolest stories ever!!

At Sephora!! I don’t know about you, but I can’t walk past a Sephora without going inside. There are just too many goodies in there waiting for me, calling out my name, and rarely do I come out empty handed. And now it’s time for their annual Friends and Family 20% Off Sale!! YIPEE!!

Coupon Code: FF2007 (not sure when it expires)

Free shipping on orders over $50 is also available when you use code FIFTY (however, I have not confirmed that both codes can be used at the same time. You can try calling the 800 number and placing your order that way, perhaps they will honor both codes!)

For my bridesmaids gifts, I purchased these limited edition fragrance sets:

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