Weddingbee

For our table names, we’re using pictures of us at all the special places we’ve been to. I’m cropping the pictures into squares and typing the name of the place on the picture. As an added bonus, I’m turning the pictures into our wedding colors. A couple of people have asked me how to get your picture monochromatic using Photoshop. So here’s the 4-1-1. (Note: This isn’t actually my wedding color but it was when I made it. Another sample in my actual wedding color is at the very end of the post)

Read more…

Okay, so I blogged about my inexpensive yet very cute shoes yesterday. Today, I found two pictures of my shoes on some photographer’s blogs. I went through some stages - at first I was excited, then I was sad that they were so popular, and then lastly I accepted that if you have such cute shoes for cheap, chances are they’re going to be popular.

So here are the pics: #1 from Becker’s blog. and #2 from Amy Squires’ blog.

Read more…

My inexpensive yet really cute David’s Bridal shoes came in this week. I love them! Here are some pictures:

Read more…

I was 18 years old when I met the love of my life. It was a Friday night. All the roommates were out and I was bored out of my mind. My new friend Matt (who I had known a total of 2 weeks) called me and asked if he could bring his friend Adam over. I thought nothing of it and allowed these tall, strange men into my apartment.

When they arrived, I was dressed super sexy in an oversized superman shirt and plaid boxers (ooh la la). The three of us spent the whole night playing Crazy Taxi. Matt was so awful and was extremely upset I was better than him. Adam and I teased him and made each other laugh the entire night. We made the stupidest jokes but we couldn’t stop laughing. There was always a connection between us, but I honestly never thought at the time I was with the person who would be making me smile and laugh everyday for the rest of my life. It’s funny thinking back how we always clicked as friends. Maybe we should have a Crazy Taxi arcade game at the wedding. haha.

How did you and your significant other meet?

Like many brides, I drooled over pocketfold invitations but cringed at the price tag that came along with it. I searched far and wide and then finally decided that if I wanted them, I would have to do it myself. At first the task of cutting all the paper and putting everything together gave me a headache. I’m horrible with a scoring knife and papercutters scare me.

Then, I saw a post on the knot saying to check out Cards and Pockets. They have everything precut for you. All you have to do is put it together. All of a sudden my pocketfold dreams became reality. I ordered my pocketfold folders, invitation mat and RSVP cards from Cards and Pockets. I bought the signature folder (5×7) and it’s the perfect size. They were great to work with and I received my order in less than a week.

I ended up ordering my invitation cardstock to layer over my invitation mat at Paper and More because I wanted a specific color. They did the custom cutting for me for $5, the cuts look clean and my order came in 3 business days. These two sites were the cheapest I could find and I have a half done mock up of my invite which I’m really happy with so far. I’ll show you all when I’m finished. If you’re looking to do DIY pocketfold invitations, check these sites out!

We just got our Aria bridesmaid dresses in this past weekend. The whole process went rather smoothly, and we received them 3 weeks before the promised date. We love love love the color and the style. It’s perfect…more beautiful than we imagined! The material is gorgeous. I highly recommend them. My bridesmaids even joked that they wanted to wear it before the wedding. (Not funny by the way!) haha. The picture doesn’t do the dress justice. If you’re considering them, you won’t be sorry. The customer service was great - the designer even called me personally to confirm what I wanted. That was cool.

January was a great month for me. After fighting it for 8 years, I have finally embraced the gym. It’s amazing. Before, I would shudder at the thought of going. While I was there I would do a half-ass job, doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and rushing home to eat a big dinner.

What changed you might be asking? Well, my friends and I started a little competition on January 2nd. Who could lose the most weight? (calculated by body percentage and not actual pounds) I was already planning to cut some calories and eat more veggies and fruits, but this got my butt to get a gym membership as well.

Now, there’s a guy at the clinic where we all work at that gives us fitness advice, and he told us to do weights in addition to our cardio. I hate weights. I hate being by all the stinky men and I hate trying to learn to use all the strange torture devices they call fitness equipment. But, I went with my friend and we learned them all together. I did notice there are a lot more girls doing weights than I remembered.

Read more…

Well, not really. Sorry to get your hopes up. But if you had $5000 more to spend on your wedding, what would you do? My fiance would take the cash and pocket it, invest it in stocks or spend it on the honeymoon. I’d pass out hors d’oeuvres, have a candy buffet, have a gondola exit off the yacht (our reception is on a yacht), upgrade my flowers and photography package and… wait the 5K is gone. Hmm… I’m not very good at this. Okay, scratch the flowers.

What would you do with an “extra” 5K?

Photography has always been a big part of my life. I collect landscape photography, photography books and my dream job would be a photographer for National Geographic. I have not been without a camera in my purse since Jr. High and I document everything wherever I go. It drives my fiance nuts. I can hear his voice in my head right now saying, “Do you really need a picture of the food? Can I eat yet?”

I check about 10 different photographer’s blogs religiously, and about a dozen more when time permits. Needless to say, wedding photography was my priority and my splurge. I really had to do some convincing to get Mr. Hibiscus to accept the price tags that went along with my favorite photographers. Eventually, he caved but he’s pretty bipolar about the whole thing. One day he’s like, “I want you to have everything you want. You deserve the best. I’m glad you’re happy.” Then the next day he’s, “Why don’t we just get a Historian to document the day?” (sarcasm*sarcasm)

Now Mr. Hibiscus’s wedding priority was the DJ and an open bar. He wanted a good emcee that could keep the party moving and the alcohol free-flowing so guests are more likely to dance. Most people skimp on their DJ, which makes little sense since it’s the man (or woman) whom you are entrusting to keep your wedding going for 4+ hours. Most guests remember the DJ and how bad or good they were and not so much the color of your napkins. So, again, we splurged on the DJ.

If only we could win the lottery or get our stocks out of the gutter. What is your wedding splurge?

Thanks a bunch to everyone for commenting on the Weddingbee Readers Poll! Now that you’ve all shared, I’ll share a little more! haha. I picked up my dress yesterday, and I remember the reasons I fell in love with it the first time I tried it on.

1. The corset makes me look a little thinner
2. The fabric is gorgeous and light
3. It kinda makes me look thinner
4. The detail and the pick-ups on the skirt are amazing
5. It’s quite slimming now that I think about it
6. It’s exactly how I pictured my dress to be
7. Did I mention the corset?

Excuse my strange smile and my lack of make-up, please. So many brides say that when posting pictures of themselves during dress fittings. Weird. It’s like a curse or something. (I didn’t post pictures in the post because my fiance checks this site every now and then.)

Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4

Read more…