Guest Blogger
About: Guest authors blogging on weddingbee
DIY- Aisle Runner
December 26th, 2006 @ 8:04 pm by Guest
I posted an aisle runner that I made this past weekend on my personal blog and a lot of brides asked about it, so I put together some basic instructions.
I got my actual runner from ebay because I had a hard time finding one that was long enough (125ft). It was a cotton ¢¢â€š¬…”printed lace¢¢â€š¬? pattern - very easy to paint on.
DIY - Initials Cake-topper
October 12th, 2006 @ 8:22 am by Guest
Justabride here from the featured wedding earlier this week.
Someone asked about our crystal initials caketopper that I made. I was pretty much on a low budget for a lot of things and didn’t want to spend so much on it. Our initials “KS” was one of our themes for our wedding which is why I used it for our caketopper.
Cruising Part II
September 13th, 2006 @ 5:04 pm by Guest
Paul and I went on a lovely 9 night cruise to St Thomas, St Maartean, Puerto Rico, and Labidee, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean, for our honeymoon. Since the ship we took was the sister ship of the one we went on last summer to Bermuda and are basically the same, we didnt take many ship shots. We enjoyed ourselves so much again, we booked our next cruise for Summer 2008. We are hoping to go on one last long cruise with all our friends before the babies come. 
Bye NY
Bling
My Publisher Review: Another Perspective
September 12th, 2006 @ 6:00 pm by Guest
After our engagement ceremony (an honored tradition in the Vietnamese culture), we wanted to make albums of the day for our parents to express our gratitude. Originally, we wanted to order one of their deluxe hardcover albums for us and 3 of their classic hardcovers for our families.
After making my pages using Photoshop, we uploaded the JPEGs using MyPublisher software. This process wasn’t too bad but I would recommend using some photo editing software to create your layout, as MyPublisher’s layouts are rather limited. Upon time for purchase, we learned rather quickly that you can only order one type of book at a time. Since Weddingbee had posted a buy one get one free coupon, we decided to maximize the coupon and order 2 of the Deluxe Hardcovers and submit a second order for 2 of the Classic Hardcovers. (Please note their coupons are on a per email basis… so if you want to use the coupon multiple times, use a different email when placing the order).
The first order was uploaded and we got the confirmation email. The email confirms that the order was received and does not summarize what you ordered, just how much you owe them. We went to upload the second order only changing the size of the albums and out email address and nothing else.
Well, in the middle of the uploading process, their server timed out, which can happen and was understandable. We contacted them by chat to verify that the order was not completed. They do not have a number so you can’t call — the other option is to email them. The person we chatted with was not helpful at all. She kept blaming the server disconnect on the Internet Browser we were using — which to us did not make sense as the first order went through just fine using the same exact Internet Browser.
My Publisher Review
September 12th, 2006 @ 11:52 am by Guest
I’d heard about My Publisher on the Knot message boards, and filed it away for future reference — I’m always intrigued by new DIY and/or graphic design options! So when we got our DVD of full-resolution digital pictures from our photographer, I decided to give it a try.
My husband and I had decided that we wanted a “storybook” kind of wedding album. Our photographer has a really good eye for candid shots, which was one of the main reasons why we hired him. (The other reason being that he’s really, really, ridiculously good.) So we had a wealth of pictures to choose from in designing our page layouts.
MyPublisher comes with some standard page layouts, but to my aspiring graphic designer eye (read: anal-retentive), they were all pretty boring. So I followed the lead of others on the Knot and designed my own layouts in PowerPoint.
Two things to remember if you go the PowerPoint route:
- You must triple the slide size before beginning to insert pictures. For us, since we wanted the deluxe hardcover, which gives us pages that are 14.63 inches wide and 11.3 inches tall (according to the MyPublisher specs), that meant going into “Page Setup” in PowerPoint and changing the slide size to 43.89 inches wide by 33.9 inches tall. The technical reason for this is because PowerPoint exports .jpg files at 72 dpi (dots per inch), but the standard for good resolution printing is 200 dpi. Tripling the slide size takes care of this problem.
- You must have really high-resolution digital pictures. Our photographer gave us pictures that were 4368 x 2912 pixels. These were just barely big enough to be usable for full-bleed pictures (one large picture per page).
Cruising Part I
September 11th, 2006 @ 12:15 pm by Guest
My husband Paul and I first discovered cruising about a year ago when his parents took the entire family to Bermuda on a cruise. Paul’s parents are avid cruisers and after going with them to Bermuda, we can see why! Being on a cruise ship is literally, in some ways, like being on a floating palace. You sometimes totally forget you are even at sea!
For our honeymoon, Paul and I went on a lovely 9 night cruise to St Thomas, St Maartean, Puerto Rico, and Labidee, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. We’ve only traveled on one cruise line so far, Royal Caribbean, because the general consensus from family and friends who have cruised on different lines is that Royal is the best one out there. They’ve served us well these past 2 years and we belong to their Crown and Anchor Society, which is their customer appreciation program. It’s free to join and every cruise you go on with Royal Caribbean adds to your membership benefits - the more cruises you go on, the better things you get.
As second time cruisers with Royal this year, we received two picture frames with the Royal Caribbean logo. Last year Paul’s parents received tote bags. We also each received a coupon voucher book with coupons varying from the picture studio, to Johnny Rockets, to the casinos. And we got invited to their welcome back party for members only with free alcohol, appetizers, and desserts as well as hearing about what future itineraries Royal is coming out with. As an additional note, I do believe most, if not all, cruise lines have some kind of similar rewards program.
I’m going to try to break this up now into various sections to make this easier to read. I am no expert though so some of you may know a lot more than me, but this is my take on my cruising.
Honeymoon Registry
August 30th, 2006 @ 4:15 pm by Guest
Because my husband and I already had an established home (we’d lived together more than two years), we decided to have a honeymoon (HM) registry for our wedding.
Prior to setting up the HM registry I asked my friends their opinions, knowing that it’s an untraditional option. They thought it was a great idea! They understood that we wouldn’t need much else to stock our kitchen, etc. As one friend noted, she’d rather give us money to go to China than actual china. Heh!
We used TheHoneymoon.com and they were great! The “catch” is that they charge a fee for your guests to use it, but in my opinion, it’s nominal (typically around 7%) and not unlike the tax, shipping and handling that guests have to pay when they use traditional registeries.
They sent us a check about three days before our HM and another one about a month after our wedding. You can close the account earlier, if you’d like, but they suggest keeping it open in case someone decides to give you something after the wedding.
We had this registry in addition to two traditional registries, so there were options for all of our guests. Most of the HM registry gifts came from our peers, as opposed to older family members who are more traditional.
HM registries are not for everyone, but it worked for us. I highly recommend it, if your guests seem open to it.
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Do you have an idea for a guest blog? Tell us about it at bee@weddingbee.com.
What No One Told the Newlywed…
August 16th, 2006 @ 4:00 pm by Guest
Mrs. Bee here. I’ve been reading Jessica’s blog for a long time - since before her wedding, during the planning process, and now in her newlywed days. She recently told me about an on-line diet program she was on, and when I saw a picture of her looking absolutely fantabulous, I asked her to write a guest blog about it.
So without further ado…
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I’m pretty sure we have all heard about the Freshman 15. You know, those 15 pounds you gain when you go off to college and binge on alcohol and donuts. Similar to the Freshman 15, but much less well known, is the Newlywed 15.
Yes, that’s right ladies. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but trust me. As soon as the stress of planning the ultimate party, the reality of having thousands of photos taken of you and the pressure to look the best you have ever looked in your entire life are over with, all you will want is a big bowl of ice cream. And then some pizza. Well, before you know it, those pre-wedding jeans aren’t fitting so well, and you don’t even recognize that bony girl in your wedding pictures anymore.
Yup…the Newlywed 15. It happens to the best of us. It happened to me…in fact, mine was the Newlywed 20! In only three months! (I had the added pressure of starting a stressful year of school the day I returned from my honeymoon. Not that it’s an excuse, but…well, okay. It’s an excuse.) I knew it was bad. I didn’t want to be one of those wives who let herself go after the wedding. No way! I wanted to be a hot, sexy wife with a hot, sexy body! But how to make it happen when too many post-Honeymoon candy bars had taken their toll? I knew that a fad diet wasn’t really the way to go, since I wanted it to stick.
Luckily I came across SparkPeople.com. This website is a godsend for people trying to lose weight the right way. The focus is on motivation…getting it and keeping it going. It’s not about a quick fix or a fad diet, but more about a lifestyle change.
You start out by entering all of your stats…how much do you weigh? How much do you want to lose? By when? What kind of food do you eat? What kind of workouts do you do? Once you put in all of your info, they come up with a plan for you. If you want to lose this much weight by this date you should eat this many calories per day and burn this many calories per week.
It’s that easy!
They have a great interface to track the food you eat every day. I never knew how much CRAP I put in my mouth before I started tracking every bite. If you are a bit clueless on healthy foods, they have a ton of good recipes to try, plus articles on healthy eating. Also, they put together a daily menu for you and even provide a shopping list. It’s so easy, even for the laziest dieter.
They have a workout interface, too. You can track the cardio you do daily. It gives you a strength training plan based on the equipment you let it know that you have. Plus it gives daily suggestions on workouts and weight-lifting exercises you can do.
There’s also a VERY helpful message board. There are quite a few SparkPeople experts - certified personal trainers, nutritionists, etc. - who hang out on the boards answering questions and helping to provide encouragement. There are also group boards you can join so you can get motivated by people who share the same goals. It’s so helpful to have the other people in your group there to help you stay accountable.
Oh, did I mention the best part? This is all FREE! That’s right…this website does all of this for you and has no cost.
I know I sound like a total commercial, but I really love SparkPeople. Like I said, I had gained 20 pounds in only three months after my wedding. I signed up for SP in January and I’ve lost the 20 pounds…plus an extra five. I’m now the lowest weight I’ve ever been in my life and I feel great! Thanks to the encouragement I received from my SparkFriends on the 10 Pounds or Less board I have run three 5Ks…something I would have never even considered pre-wedding. I really feel great and I’ve totally changed the way I think about food and exercise.
Plus my hubby thinks I look sexy. Who can beat that?
Get a Free Online Diet
(PS if you sign up, be sure to use me as a referral! My username is JESSRKIM)
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Would you like to write a guest blog? Tell us about it at bee@weddingbee.com
