Weddingbee Blog

Okay, I’m not sure if this has been done before. I know we have a bunch of knot bios from readers, but I want to know more about the people reading about our lives and weddings. I mean, us Bees pour our hearts out on the world wide web everyday. So, now I want to know more about YOU! Here’s your chance to post and let us get to know you. Post even if you’re a lurker! Please, please, pretty please!

1. What fruit, flower, insect, jewel, etc. would you choose if you were a blogger (you can pick one that’s already been chosen if you like)?
2. How’d you find out about Weddingbee and how often do you check the site?
3. When’s your wedding/When was your wedding?
4. Where are you getting married/Where did you get married?
5. What city/state are you representing?
6. How long have you and your fiance/husband been together?
7. What would your first official post be about if you were a blogger?

My fiance thinks I’m nuts. Whenever I hear wedding vows or recite wedding vows or readings, I cry…no, more like bawl like someone just died. Here are some non-religious cereomony readings that I like.

WHY MARRIAGE?

Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person, With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body… Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me, Who wont hold them against me, Who loves me when I’m unlikable, Who sees the small child in me, and Who looks for the divine potential of me… Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night With someone who thanks God for me, With someone I feel blessed to hold… Because marriage means opportunity To grow in love in friendship… Because marriage is a discipline To be added to a list of achievements… Because marriages do not fail, people fail When they enter into marriage Expecting another to make them whole… Because, knowing this, I promise myself to take full responsibility For my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness I create me, I take half of the responsibility for my marriage Together we create our marriage… Because with this understanding The possibilities are limitless.
~Author Unknown

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I was randomly surfing photography blogs (one of my many hobbies), and came across this cute placecard idea on Apertura Photo’s blog. They assign who wants chicken, fish or meat in the most adorable way. It looks simple, cute, inexpensive and fun! What more can you ask for? haha.

Not quite the same (okay, not even remotely close but cute none-the-less) but I found some fish stickers at Sticker’s Galore and some chick stickers at Mrs. Grossman’s and Sandylion. I couldn’t find the exact ones pictures here. Sorry, I tried. Maybe someone else will have better luck. Let us know!

When we first got together six years ago, we asked each other what we loved most about each other physically. Six years later, I brought this up again and our answers haven’t changed. We both love so much about each other, but we set out rules to it narrow down to just one… (and he could not choose T&A. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, please don’t make me explain. Maybe someone will post it for you in a comment haha).

I love my guy’s eyes. He has the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re huge and they change from green to brown to hazel depending on his mood, and he has the longest thickest lashes. They’re gorgeous. I get lost in those eyes. I’m also very jealous because I was genetically jipped, and have super short lashes. Now, it’s a toss up. I love every inch of him. I’m a lucky girl. He has a nice bod, so I must say he has a nice back too. It comes in a close 2nd. Strange choice I know. But it’s so strong and defined, and has the perfect taper down to his waist. I love it. Although, it comes in 2nd, it deserved a mention.

Now, his answer was also quite strange. The man loves my cheeks (well, those too but I’m actually talking about my face). He kisses them and says how much he loves them constantly. If any of you responded to my hair post, you should know that I HATE my cheeks. They’re so chubby. I can’t believe he loves them. Go figure. I must say it’s endearing to have someone sincerely love what you’re insecure about. It’s sweet, although I am thoroughly confused.

What is the one physical trait about your significant other that you love the most? What does he love most on you (besides T&A ;))?

I love kids, don’t get me wrong. We plan on having 3. We have names picked out and I love looking at baby clothes, cribs and nursery decor. My friends who are older than me think I’m very strange. Now, I’m in graduate school and a bit of a feminist when it comes to certain issues. I’m definitely not a burn-my-bra kinda gal, but I believe in a little “girl power” every now and then.

The reason I mention this, is my fiance’s parents, aunts and cousins (heck, even people I hardly know) all lecture me when it comes to “waiting to have kids.” “Don’t wait too long.” “You don’t want to be an old mother.” “You should definitely have some kids before 30.” “You could have complications later.” I really can’t stand it anymore. I’m 25 years old people. My Mom had me (her first child) when she was 32. I turned out just fine, thanks.

The thing that upsets me is I have no intentions of waiting that long. We want to start “trying” after a year and a half of marriage. I’ll be 27. My fiance’s cousin was also 25 when she got married. The only difference is she didn’t pursue any post-graduate studies, and she was more than willing to give up her job to have kids. No one pressured her.

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Mr. Hibiscus and I have been together over 6 years, and have lived together about half that time. For the past 3.5 months we’ve been long distance, and thus I have been living alone for 3.5 months. It’s given me a lot time to think about how much I love him and also, the little pet peeves that I don’t miss haha.

I really miss having him around the house so I can pretend I don’t know how to fix things (when in reality now that I’m alone I can fix everything just fine). I miss going on the computer together in the same room (him on his laptop, me on my desktop) and chatting online with each other while talking to each other. I miss hearing his keys while he struggles to open the door when he comes home from work, and the loud greeting he gives to the cats like they’re little people. I miss how we’d take turns cooking dinner for each other and washing the dishes. I miss how he always moves his feet back and forth right before he falls asleep. And most of all, I miss how he would kiss me on the cheek before he left for work in the morning and when he tucked me in at night. I miss pretending I was asleep and him pretending he didn’t know I was pretending I was asleep. I think about that every morning, and I can’t wait to finish school so I can be with him again.

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My fiance and I have thought long and hard about what we want to have engraved on our wedding bands, and so far we’ve come up with zilch, zero, nada. Everything we suggest to each other is either too weird or too cliche. We want to sum up who we are as a couple, our neverending love and our silly and serious sides in 32 characters or less, all while being unique. It’s quite tough.

I figured we might not be the only ones struggling with this, so I found some sites with ideas. Some suggestions include song lyrics, bible verses, a line from a poem, wedding vows or simply a declaration of love. We’re still not exactly sure what we’ll end up engraving, but these sites sure did get the creative juices flowing.

e-Weddingbands
About.com Top 10
About.com
Forever Wed
Ulitimate Wedding

What are you engraving in each other’s bands?

Melissa Gitelman has a line of women’s products called “The Girls.” The collection is based on the premise “It’s not what you do for a living that counts, but what you do to live.” They come in everything from magnets, mugs, bags, frames, scarves, umbrellas, pajamas and pretty much anything you can think of. Her collection depicts caricatures of women engaged in their hobbies or passions. For example, if you know someone who loves yoga, then “Yoga Girl” would be perfect for her.

They have so many different “girls,” you can get something for each of your bridesmaids that shows their style, personalities, passions or hobbies. I’ll make my best attempt to list all the girls I can and post a few of my favorites below. They have birthday girl, shopping girl, cafe girl, yoga girl, cosmopolitan girl, fashion girl, gourmet girl, spa girl, tennis girl, wine girl, exercise girl, ski girl, golf girl, beach girl, bath girl, bicycle girl, gym girl, swim girl, glamour girl, cat girl, equestrian girl, chocolate girl, garden girl, dance girl, hiking girl, home girl, cozy girl, cooking girl, martini girl, reading girl, robe girl, shoe girl, telephone girl, travel girl, USA girl, bead girl, cruise girl, internet girl, style girl, champagne girl, and last but not least city girl.

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At first, the idea of wearing tulle on my head during my wedding seemed quite unattractive. Therefore, I was convinced I would not need to be buying a veil. Case closed. Money saved. Hooray! That is, until I kept seeing all the beautiful pictures of brides with their hair and veil blowing in the wind. It seemed rather, “bridal” would be the word. Now I think the right veil completes the whole look. Needless to say, I softened to the idea and I’m currently in the market for a veil.

I seriously had no idea how complicated purchasing a veil truly is. You have to choose the number of layers, the fullness, the material, the color, whether you want a blusher, the cut, the length, the trim and how you want to wear it on your head. Then you have to decide whether or not you want beading, rhinestones, crystals, embroidery or none of the above. On top of that you have to justify paying $100+ for a piece of tulle you’re only going to wear once in your life. This is honestly more stressful for me than wedding dress shopping.

So I took the liberty of compiling several places you can buy your veil for a “reasonable” price. Some have pictures and “education” on all the different choices you have to make; some even have picture galleries showing the veils at different angles and different positions on the mannequin’s head. I hope this helps someone out because I was lost. Now I have some questions for you all. Where did you get your veil/Where are you planning to get your veil? How did you narrow down all the options to make your final choice?

Tru Pink Designs
Occansey Designs
Veil Shop
WeddingVeil.com
Veils by Oleana

Some off Ebay
VeilsNMore
Ginger Wedding
Bella Bridal Veils
ValuVeil

After searching far and wide I ended up choosing VistaPrint to print my Save-the-date magnets and cards. They always have deals where they give away free stuff, and you can always find a coupon or link on google for 50% off their magnets. I ended up getting their large magnet because it’s such an awesome deal. The magnet quality is good and a decent thickness for a magnet that’s nearly postcard size. I designed the magnet and card myself in Paintshop and just uploaded it to their site.

VistaPrint had great customer service. I forgot to add one of my coupon codes so I called in, and they still honored it for me. Check out the fruit of my labor. Also, you can read the cheesy poem I wrote in my cards. Don’t laugh!

Note: The pictures came out a little blurry. Blame my camera and not VistaPrint. In person they’re much clearer and more vivid. Also the black bars on the card and the white bar on the magnet are just me blocking out my top secret info.

My card (without the black bars):

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Here is a sample of my ever-so-large picture collection of seashell cakes. I’m considering having my wedding cake adorned with sugar or chocolate shells instead of the usual floral decor. Yes, I’m getting married on the beach. Also, my reception is aboard a yacht. Now, I think a good rule-of-thumb with a beach wedding is to not overdo the beach theme. Too many starfish, seashells and palm trees start looking like a luau and not a wedding reception. That being said, what I need is an honest opinion of whether or not you think my seashell cake idea is cheesy or not. Also…

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Starting every Sunday from February 4th to March, 4th Crate & Barrel will be hosting their special Registry Events. If you’ve never been, you should definitely go! It’s a lot of fun and you get some wedding registry stuff done. Two hours before opening to the public, the store is open exclusively to couples creating or updating their registry. The staff personally shows you how their appliances work, they have cooking demonstrations with their products and suggest items that are popular for registries. There is free food, free champagne and best of all free heart shaped toasting flutes as a gift for coming. If you’re interested (which I know you are) call your local Crate & Barrel and RSVP.

My experience with this event was fabulous. My fiance and I had a blast! It’s awesome to have the whole store practically to yourselves. (Well, not exactly - there were roughly 20 or so other couples.) The breakfast was delicious! So many yummy treats to munch on. We got strawberry cream cheese filled french toast as one of our options. It’s a brilliant marketing ploy on their part. The only downside is you get a short registry orientation while you’re eating where they basically tell you to get 10 of everything “because you might break it down the line.” Also, they tell you to put beds, couches and other expensive items on your registry.

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Mrs. Bee posted about Interracial Marriages a little bit ago. I’m very interested in this topic for the simple reason that I’m in an interracial relationship along with about half of my friends. Coming from different cultures is fun because you get to experience new things. For example, my fiance celebrates St. Nick on December 6th. That’s when his family opens all their stockings. It’s so fun!! His Mom gives all of us a giant stocking filled with all sorts of goodies. It’s definitely something I’ve gotten used to. Haha Now, he definitely wants to keep that tradition for our future kids.

Along with the fun comes some “heavier” issues, like what kind of ceremony to have, which cultural traditions to incorporate into the wedding, what kind of “church” to get married in, what religion to raise the kids and so on. It seems like a battle of trying to please everyone. Also, worrying how your parents and his parents will get along. I mean, they never say it, but I know my parents would have preferred if I married someone Filipino. My parents always talk to each other, the relatives and their friends in Tagalog. Plus, my Mom still has a thick accent that perplexes us all since she’s been here longer than she’s lived in the Philippines. (My Dad lost his years ago. Go figure.)

I know this is a huge issue because the other half of my friends refuse to date anyone who isn’t from the same ethnic background or religion. I’m mean and I tease them. “What if you fell in love with someone who wasn’t (fill in the blank ethnicity)? How hard is it to find someone you click with, someone you can talk to, someone you’re madly in love with, someone whom you can picture spending the rest of your life with and consider helping you raise your children? And you’re going to narrow down the odds even further? You don’t choose who you fall in love with.” I know, like I said, mean. But true.

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I had my first hair trial last week with Natalie Buketov. It went rather well. She also did my make-up, knowing I was already probably going to book with my first make-up artist. I let her know up front and she still did my make-up which I think is cool of her. I just don’t know whether to do my hair half-up or all up for the wedding. My fiance doesn’t give a clear answer of which he prefers and the vote goes about 50/50 from my friends. I’m not sure which style I like more - I’m having commitment issues. Maybe you readers can help me.

Here are the facts:
1. I’m getting married on the beach, which I think leans more toward a casual half-up do. But it is always windy on the beach which would lean towards an all updo. Haha see, how I confuse myself.
2. My dress is strapless, white and pretty fancy. It’s not your typical beach wedding dress. Haha I’m so detailed aren’t I? Can’t you just picture it now? I’m sorry. I’ll post pictures later!

Half-Up:

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I had my frist make-up trial Saturday with Loann To of Let’s Get Beautified (letsgetbeautified@yahoo.com). I wasn’t sure what to expect because I don’t usually wear a lot of make-up (even though I need it). The contradiction is I actually don’t want too “natural” of a look for my wedding. I want a little “drama” for pictures’ sake. I’m definitely not a “light pink” kind of girl.

I was very happy with my trial. Loann is doing free trials until the end of the year so I got really lucky. She was really sweet, listened to what I wanted and since the trial was free she wouldn’t even accept my tip. What do you guys think? Honesty would defnitely be appreciated. My feelings won’t be hurt I promise (well….just don’t comment on my “before” picture…..that’s the way I look in the morning).

BEFORE (the horror the horror! Why am I posting this?):

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