Weddingbee Blog

Hi hive, this is kind of some bummer info to share but I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to step down from being a bee. While I’ve only been here a short time, I’ve certainly enjoyed sharing my stories and wedding ideas with you. I think I was a bit too ambitious when I applied to be a bee. I love to write, especially about wedding stuff, but with everything that’s going on right now (we all know how much work planning a wedding is) I’ve realized that it wouldn’t be fair to you guys to take up a bee spot. I don’t think I’d be able to really commit to keeping you updated on my wedding plans and I’d hate for you to think I was a bad bee who didn’t write new posts or respond to you in a timely manner.

Plus, I noticed I was spending so much time on the computer writing up my posts that I started to run out of time to do other things I wanted to do—work on my new year’s resolutions to become a better cook, help with house remodel plans, work out, etc. And probably the biggest thing I wasn’t doing was hanging out with Mr. Gingham. After work and dinner we always hang on the couch and watch our shows (whether they be CSI Miami, House, or anything on HGTV). Last week, instead of hanging with my guy I was sitting with my nose in front of my laptop writing for the ‘bee. He never would have said something to me about it, and he always supports things I want to do, but I didn’t want to spend the next 7 months missing out because I committed to being a bee.
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My favorite color is orange. It’s been many colors throughout the years - purple when I was little, pink in high school (way too much pink when I look back in pics), red in college, and then at some point it just became orange. I’m not sure what it is - if it’s that I like wearing it when I’m tan, or that orange eye shadow tends to look pretty good with my blue eyes… I couldn’t really tell you how I began to like orange. But I did. Then I met Mr. Gingham whose collection of orange and black Beaver gear is larger than my entire closet and voila - a match made in heaven.

So when it came down to picking our colors, it was a pretty easy choice since both of us liked orange. I love the color but besides that, I wanted something that would pop in pictures. With the iffy weather of the beach and the chance for rain or grey skies, I think having a bold color will help everything stand out more. And Mr. Gingham is excited that all his buddies get to wear Beaver colors (including his best man, who’s a duck).

As far as coordinating colors, I still go back and forth.
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Mr. Gingham and I had some criteria we used when picking the date:

• Had to be a time when it would not be raining so that we could get married outside
• Wouldn’t conflict with Hood To Coast or Hood To Coast training.
• Could not be on a OSU Beaver Football Saturday (home or away)

Good Weather: In Oregon, and generally anywhere in the PNW, you really can’t count on solid sunshine until after the 4th of July. And then, anytime after the 1st weekend in October you’d be pushing it. So we narrowed it down to August and September.

Hood To Coast: This is a gigantic relay every August in Oregon where teams of 12 race from Mt. Hood to Seaside. It’s crazy. And while you’re running it, you ask yourself over and over why you’re doing it, but in the end it’s all worth it. I’ve run HTC twice, Mr. Gingham has done it 6 or 7 times, and we’re both doing it again this year. HTC definitely requires training, pretty much all summer long (the race is August 28th) and we decided that we didn’t want our wedding and honeymoon to conflict with this (hmm - lounge by the pool all day or run hills for 6 miles?). So that just eliminated the entire month of August.

HTC 2009 - me handing off to Mr. Gingham

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This is the exact question my mom asked when I told her the wedding would be “country” themed. See, while Mr. Gingham and I like country music, no one else in our families really embraces it like we do (except maybe my brother - he’s always down for a little Tim McGraw). Most of our friends love it so that’s good because otherwise it would be Mr. G and I dancing by ourselves to our country band while our guests stare at us with confused looks on their faces. That would be weird. Anyway, I had to explain to my mom that while our wedding (more specifically the reception) would be “country” it would not be a “hoe-down.”

“But it’s in a barn,” was her response. Yes, good point. Our reception would be in a barn (just to clarify - as long as it doesn’t rain, we will be getting married outside right next to the barn with the food, band and dancing being inside the barn). “Maybe the guests could bring jeans that they could change into for dancing later?” she continued. “Um, no Mom, there will be no jeans, and no flannel shirts at our wedding.” This convo went on longer and eventually lead to a bit of a fight. She was just trying to understand what was going on in my head and I was frustrated because I felt like she was making fun of my ideas. Now, eventually everything got resolved and my mom in on board with the wedding plans…

Our little discussion did make me realize I should share some of the visions/inspirations I was having in my head for the post ceremony dancing. So to help you get a better idea of what I’m going for (in the way of overall atmosphere), I thought I’d share some video clips.
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This is a bit out of order as far as the relationship, engagement, and wedding planning story goes. I mean, I haven’t even told you about the theme of the wedding yet (I’ll get there, I promise). But, for now, I’ve got a bunch of random ideas stuck in my head and I want to write them down before I forget.

Today’s random idea: S’mores

I don’t really want to do favors or anything for out of town guests, but I think gift bags are cute, I’d like to try and do some sort of DIY project, and I somehow really want to find a way to incorporate s’mores into the wedding. I LOVE s’mores - I grew up making them at campfires at my grandma’s lake house, but I’ll even make them in the microwave when I’m desperate. And, you can be assured that at every camping trip Mr. Gingham and I go on, these delicious little treats make an appearance. I even have my own special s’more stick (real metal, not just some tree branch). Another thing to note: I’m a burn-that-marshmallow-’til-it’s-super-black-and-crispy kind of girl. None of that light, golden brown stuff for me. And I like them with peanut butter. If you haven’t tried them that way, you must. It is amazing. Although, don’t try PB on them when having a beach bonfire… you’ll just get a mouth full of sand.

OK, back to the actual blog topic. I’ve been thinking about putting the s’more supplies in cute little bags with maybe a candle or something? I don’t think we can have outdoor burning at the barn, but we are hoping to get down the beach with everyone at some point (maybe after the rehearsal dinner).  Anyway, here’s a cute bag idea that would work:
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I was never a girl who planned out her wedding. All I knew was that I wanted to get married in a barn. I didn’t even really care where the barn was, just that it was a barn. I’d mentioned this to Mr. Gingham a few times but was never really being serious about it. Plus, we still had yet to figure out a town to get married in. My hometown was out—it was a great place to grow up but I wasn’t all that attached to it anymore. Mr. Gingham didn’t want to get married in Portland because he didn’t want our wedding guests leaving early and heading home. He (and I) want our guests to stay and celebrate all night long, which meant it would have to be somewhere that required a hotel stay.

We thought about Bend or Sunriver. There were barns and ranches there. Plus, that’s where we said, “I love you,” for the first time, and it’s definitely country out there. But, that seemed too far for guests to travel, especially some of our family who live in Seattle. Then we started thinking about the beach… it made perfect sense. That’s where Mr. Gingham grew up, and coincidentally, my family has a beach house in his hometown. His house and mine are only about a mile apart.

So, back to the beach.
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source

Well, except, not really… I grew up in a moderate sized town. I like to claim it was small but then Mr. Gingham reminds me that it was the state capitol and it was not small and it was not very country. I lived in a average size house with a small yard. There were no tractors, no chickens, no cows. I mean, I guess you could say I’m a bit of a country “faker”.
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Oh yes, I know what you’re waiting for—the e-ring. You’re curious to know what Mr. Gingham got me, right? Of course you are, everyone always wants to know what the e-Ring looks like! I’ll end the suspense now… here you go. My lovely trellis setting, princess cut solitaire with a super-thick band (note - the band thickness was very important to me).

I picked this puppy out long before Mr. Gingham and I had ever talked about marriage. I don’t have the most dainty of fingers and I’ve always chosen rings with thick bands, and my e-ring wants were no different. I found the ring I wanted a long time ago on Tiffany’s website (who doesn’t browse there, right?). Anyway, I fell in love with the Lucida ring, but not the price tag.
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September 10, 2009 started out like any other. I got up, got ready for work with the plan to head down to Gearhart that night to hang out with Mr. Gingham’s parents. This seemed like a logical plan, as we had taken the next day off to head to Vegas, so having a free night with no real commitments the next morning seemed like a great time to go visit his family.

The plan was for me to leave work at 4, head home, grab Chance (my dog) and meet Mr. G outside the building he works in at 5. Again, all of this was a very normal plan. I pick him up at 5 there nearly every day. So, I got the dog and I sat outside waiting for him when I got a text that said, “can you park and come upstairs? I need some help with a box.” Again, this was all very normal. Mr. Gingham often has samples to take home and needs help with boxes.
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So - you want to know how we met? Here you go - I LOVE telling this story.

One August day in 2007, I saw an email come in from a director on our team announcing a new team member to the group named Mr. Gingham. It said Gingham was moving back to Oregon from Florida. He liked to surf, was from the coast, loved the Oregon State Beavers, etc. I told my roommate at the time (and now a bridesmaid) that “this guy should be my boyfriend” (and of course, made her read the email too). Even though she probably dismissed it as some far-fetched idea, she did humor me enough to “stalk” Mr. Gingham on MySpace that night (yes, I admit, I had a MySpace account but that’s back when it was cooler than Facebook).

In our digital sleuthing, I found out that Mr. G had a girlfriend but was also thoroughly impressed that his profile song was sung by Rascal Flatts, and since you already know I love country music, you know that this was a big deal to me. A few days later I met Mr. Gingham in person. I was sharing an office in one of the buildings on campus and Mr. G’s manager brought him around to meet the team. He was wearing a pink shirt (remember this when you read about our proposal) and I thought to myself, “man, he is cute” but then, knowing that he had a girlfriend, went along with my normal life.

This “normal” life stayed pretty normal until March 2008.
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OK, it’s a silly title, I know, but that’s the song that’s been going through my head all morning (it’s a new Black Eyed Peas song), ever since I checked my email and found out I’m a bee!! I still can’t believe I got picked. Yay! I’m so excited to bee here - sorry, I had to do that haha. (By the way, it’s funny that a hip hop song decided to pop into my head because this bee is all about the country music).

Ahh country music - that’s the perfect intro into my name explanation… “Why Miss Gingham,” you ask?

Well, because I love everything country, am planning a country wedding, and Gingham just cried out to me as a little piece of country symbolism (hello red checked gingham tablecloths) - plus Cowboy Boot was already taken. By the way, I loooove Mrs. Cowboy Boot’s wedding, if you haven’t checked it out, you must.

And, about us…
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