Weddingbee Blog

I’ve been a fan of Etsy for quite a while.  It’s a horrible great place to waste an afternoon and is chock full of inspiration for the DIY inclined.

In spite of my secret love affair with Etsy, I’d never made a purchase until last week. I just never found something I liked enough to justify the shipping charges! I’ve been trying to keep my online purchases to things that I can’t find around town in order to save money.

Bakers twine, it turned out, was one of those things that is too hard to find in Columbus. Back when I was planning a red, cream and blue-ish palette for our fourth of July weekend wedding, I loved the look of this:

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As I’ve alluded before, I’m not the craftiest of brides.

I’m pretty good with ideas, good with starting projects (especially the “buying supplies” phase), terrible with follow-through, and execution… well… let’s just say I should leave most stuff to the pros.

I’ve never been a big stamper. It always seemed like a really expensive craft — always buying new stamps and new inks. And I remember failing miserably at embossing when I was in the sixth grade. That demoralizing experience was enough to scare me away for quite a while.

Only my wedding and a deep fear of the complexities of Gocco machines could drive me to use stamps. And after using them… well, I remember why I gave them up. Eesh.

Not trusting my own handwriting, I used Martha Stewart’s Laurel Wreath acrylic stamp set to address my RSVPs (and, in the end, to decorate the outsides of the envelopes).

Clear acrylic stamps have several benefits over their old-school counterparts. First, they are generally cheaper to purchase and often come in large sheets with a variety of designs. The whole acrylic stamp set I used was about $14 (and with a Michaels 40% off coupon, significantly less).
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Since my last shoe post, I’ve spent a good long while looking for an alternative for my tootsies come wedding day.

My retro friend JDubs directed me to ModCloth, where I found these two options:

Vintage-inspired satin heels, $26.25

Adorable, but at this point, I’d rather not mess around with blue. It’s just too much of a hassle trying to match my bridesmaids’ dresses.
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I’m in a shoe slump. What to do about these shoes?

I bought these Ann Taylor Gelsi flats several months ago for about $40, but I’ve been uncertain about them ever since they arrived. There’s just something not quite right about them.

They’re not the right shade of blue, and the heel pinches me just a tad.

Being so fussy about a pair of shoes is making me feel like a bridezilla, frankly, and I don’t like it. I shouldn’t care this much about something I’ll probably only wear for a few hours before kicking them off and going barefoot. There’s just something that feels so wildly beautiful about wearing fancy dresses barefoot, don’t you think?
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Getting engaged without a ring was a good option for us.

First, I’m a pretty particular person and I can’t hide my disappointment if a gift doesn’t live up to the image I have in my head (this has led to many hurt feelings on Christmas morning. Sorry, Mom! I love you even though I return all of your gifts every year!).

Second, Mr. Bunny didn’t feel confident enough to pick out a ring on his own. He wanted me to have something I loved.

He did warn me not to expect anything lavish. We’re reporters for tiny local newspapers and can barely afford to pay our bills, so I certainly wasn’t expecting a large rock.

In addition, he’d just had to pay for his surgery — and shortly before that, his truck had been in a 4-car pile up caused by an uninsured driver, so he’d had to foot the bill for the truck’s frame repair, too.

Our family is good friends with the e-ring salesman, John, at the local Diamond Cellar, so I’d always imagined that I’d buy my ring from him. I just hoped that I would be able to convince Mr. Bunny to shop at DC.

The strange thing is that one of the other girls in the 4-car pile up happened to be John’s daughter! She and Mr. Bunny met on the side of the road while they were waiting for the police to show up. Mr. Bunny didn’t realize I knew her until he mentioned that she knew a friend of his — who, coincidentally, is the Diamond Cellar’s diamond buyer. Needless to say that it wasn’t too hard to talk Mr. Bunny into the idea that a visit to John was in order.

Initially, I was torn between a round cut and a princess cut diamond.
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Everyone has gotten their invites, so here they are!

On first impression:

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An invitation vacation — that’s what my bridesmaid Honey Bunny kept calling our spring break getaway.

An eclectic group left Columbus, Ohio a few months ago for Myrtle Beach. Included in this posse were my mother, my 18-year old brother and one of his friends from school, Honey Bunny and her mother, myself, and the pieces of all 113 wedding invitations.

Each invitation will consist of:

1. a kraft paper envelope

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“I knew what I was getting.” That’s what my high school calculus teacher Mrs. Edgar said after she told us the story of her proposal.

Apparently, she and future husband (our gym teacher) were sitting around one afternoon. He was watching basketball and she was flipping through a wedding magazine because one of her friends was getting hitched in the near future.

Spotting a particularly lovely dress, she said, “That’s the dress I’m going to wear when I get married.”

Mr. Edgar, without turning his head said, (or so the legend goes*) “Do you wanna?”

Slightly confused, Mrs. Edgar responded, “Do I wanna what?”

“Do you wanna get married?”

The answer was yes, of course. And she wore that very dress to her wedding.

*Supposedly the first thing he did upon entering the honeymoon suite post-wedding was flip on the football game. Yes, you heard me right.

My high school self was horrified at this story, as were all my friends.
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I’m not gonna lie; Trying to plan the wedding w’d like to have for our guest list (170) on our budget (veeery small) is one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever taken on.

At first, I felt like it was impossible. Thinking about it stressed me out so much that I didn’t plan anything until three months into our 10-month engagement. I lay awake at night with my thoughts racing trying to figure out a way to make it work.

I couldn’t decide on colors, or style, or anything. I’d been reading wedding blogs and was just so overwhelmed with the beautiful possibilities and the reality of our budget. It wouldn’t work. It just wouldn’t.

I had booked one thing — our venue. Unfortunately, its size constrains us to seating 150 people for dinner, with no space for dancing or anything else. The one thing, the ONLY thing, Mr. Bunny had asked of me in planning this wedding was that we could invite everyone. Our family, our friends. Everyone. And our families are so big that they amount to 140 of our guests!

But then one night, I had a breakthrough. What if we… didn’t serve dinner? What if we offered mini hamburgers, chips, fruit… Fourth of July cookout-style finger foods?

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… by the DIY bug!

With less than a month left until the wedding and having finally nailed down a vendor or two, I can actually start to think about the projects I’ll do once I have all the major things taken care of.

I’m not exactly the most crafty girl in the world, but I did learn a thing or two from dorm life that have come in handy over the years.

I can convincingly wield a mod podge-covered sponge brush and make passable homemade cards. I can knit a scarf … kind of. I absolutely CANNOT use a sewing machine. The thought of DIYing my flowers makes me wince (hence the decision to hire a pro, in spite of the money I could save by arranging them myself).

But something along these lines, I could do:

Simple, fresh, casual and lovely. Blush pink looks great with kraft paper brown!
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That’s where we spent the afternoon, kissing between the stacks… and on the stairs … and in the hall.

But it wasn’t just for kicks. We were mugging it for the camera of Julian Allen.

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You know how all the wedding tips for budget weddings tell you to find someone who is just getting started in photography — someone amazing and affordable? Julian is that person. I found him through a posting on the Columbus Craigslist — which was a small miracle, because that board is so full of mediocrity. But Julian’s photos struck both Mr. B and me right away. It’s the texture, the light, and the love you can see in the photos of his family. He’s only shot a few weddings so far, but he’s extremely affordable (for the moment), especially if your wedding is in the winter months. He’s still building his portfolio, so he’s not charging for engagement sessions, only for photos you choose to purchase. It was a good set up for us, since we’re hoping we can pick a handful of the best shots to use for some wedding projects.

We went to the Westerville Public Library for our engagement photo shoot. I was really nervous, but Julian’s friendly British accent quickly put us both at ease.
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Being your own wedding coordinator can save you money, but I’m starting to learn that it has its drawbacks, as well.

I’ve never done this before. Not only am I a first-time bride, I’ve never even been in anyone else’s wedding. When questions arise, I turn to Weddingbee or The Knot etiquette posts to see whether I’m doing this right.

Our florist is the first vendor (or wedding elf, if you’re of A Practical Bride’s school of thought) I’ve booked. Logging into my inbox today, I was faced with the daunting task of writing to the other two florists I’d met with, but hadn’t booked, to let them know I’d decided to go a different route.

What’s the appropriate etiquette for such a situation? It’s not as though I disliked their proposals. They just weren’t the right fit for our vision and our budget.

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It’s like a wedding vendor version of The Bachelorette or something.
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One day I started doodling some monogram ideas in the little notebook I keep and stumbled across a design I really liked. Mr. Bunny and my mother responded really positively to it, so I thought I’d see what I could do about messing with it in Adobe Illustrator.

Here’s the original:

I can’t show you the (very sad) Illustrator version I ended up with after working on it for a few hours. I was so disappointed and frustrated. I knew the basics of Illustrator. I figured I could make it work, but I was VERY VERY wrong.

When I was at the end of my rope, my mom kicked in with her common sense. “Why don’t you call your Aunt Susan?”

DUH.
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I don’t know anything about flowers.

Yeah, I know what some of them look like. I can tell a peony from a poppy. I can correctly identify Queen Anne’s Lace when I’m walking along a country road. And a rose is a rose is a rose, of course.

But I’ve only gotten maybe three or four bouquets in my life — one grocery store bouquet on the occasion of my graduation, miniature yellow roses from my parents on my 18th birthday, bright pink and white lilies for an anniversary.

So I have no idea how much flowers cost or where to buy them. I know what I like: full, open blooms like peonies, which of course, I can’t afford on our teeny tiny budget. What bride doesn’t love peonies? They’re so soft and romantic. Perfect for a wedding.

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Have you guys heard the phrase “loving on” before? I hadn’t, until I met up with a group of Texans and Pennsylvanians for a missions trip to Mexico when I was a junior in high school.

Whatever its origin, the expression is interesting in its implication of action. It’s something you do TO something or someone. And that’s exactly what needs to happen in order to turn a plain old barn into a magical wedding reception venue!

Our venue needs some serious “lovin’ on”. Photo by me.

I haven’t thought too much about decorating the reception yet. I still have a few (read “SO MANY!”) details to work out.

I can’t help but notice when I come across beautiful pics of decked-out barns.
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