Weddingbee Blog

Like many other bees before me, I knew I wanted to incorporate my adorable Weddingbee moniker into my wedding somehow. Although I had contemplated using parasols in my wedding prior to becoming a bee, I hadn’t made any final decisions on that front. But since then, I’ve found a few fun ways to weave my Weddingbee identity into my special day.

First, I bought two ridiculously cheap paper parasols for guests to use as props in our homemade photo booth. That way, they can be honorary members of the Parasol Clan.

Personal Photo

I also splurged a little and bought a much nicer lace parasol for myself.

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So my natural hair color is gone, as is that muddy brown color I ended up with after my first hair appointment (not a bad color, but definitely not what I was going for). Here’s what I came out of the salon with:

Personal Photo

It’s actually darker and richer than what it looks like in the picture (thank you bad lighting!), and I love it! It came out exactly the way I hoped it would. After months of giving my hair a break, I finally feel like myself again—my brunette-loving self.

Once again, the salon supervisor tried to talk me into getting a PM Shine, which is a demi-permanent dye and what I got last time. I get why they suggest this:

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I’ve never been one to swear in polite company, and I feel incredibly uncomfortable putting expletives in writing because of the medium’s permanency. But some occasions call for a little swearing, and this is one of them.

Hive, I have a bullsh*t hair color.

Now I don’t mean that quite literally (though I guess you could say that my hair color does, in fact, resemble actual bullsh*t). When I use the term “bullsh*t,” though, I usually use it to mean something akin to “nonsense.” So when I say that I have a bullsh*t hair color, I mean that my hair color is basically nonsense. To me, it’s more like a non-color.

Growing up, I was a towhead. I had really light blonde curly hair. And I loved being a blonde. I don’t know why, but I always really identified with having blonde hair. I swore that if it ever darkened, I would immediately start dying it blonde again.

Well, like most towheads, my hair did darken over the years, and by the time I was eighteen or so, my once lovely blonde hair looked like this:
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So, everyone around the hive seems to be talking about weight and getting healthy for the wedding, and I thought I should jump on the bandwagon before it’s too late.

**Disclaimer: This post is very personal in nature, and I discuss some difficult emotional struggles that affected my weight and overall health. I haven’t shared the details of my struggle with many people before, but I want to be honest about my journey toward healthy living, and I hope that others will find encouragement from my story. I welcome any comments, feedback, and questions; I just ask that you please be sensitive and respectful.

Also, I have no shame when it comes to photography, so get ready for some pictures of me looking ridiculous.**

Growing up, I was the skinny girl. I was the girl who ate bacon cheeseburgers, drank a ton of surgery soda, never exercised regularly, and was still skinny. I had a fast metabolism and enjoyed every sweet moment of it. Looking back, even I hate me.

Summer 2007 / Personal Photo

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There was one wedding-related decision Mr. Parasol and I thought would be incredibly easy, and that was choosing a caterer. Given that our reception is pretty laid back and casual, Mr. Parasol and I wanted the food to match, so it seemed like a no-brainer to go with our favorite Mexican restaurant. And really, who doesn’t like good Mexican food? It’s so yummy!

Image via Good Food Pictures

(Note: Because we’ve had a bad experience with this restaurant, I’m not going to publish their name and information here. I don’t want to use my blog to give them bad press. If you’re in the Bay Area, though, and would like to know more about this particular restaurant, please send me a PM.)

We thought things would be pretty straightforward and easy.
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There are so many things I didn’t know about weddings until I started to plan my own. I didn’t know that it is considered “bad etiquette” to list your registry information on your wedding invitations. I didn’t know that a wedding dress must be ordered months in advance. I didn’t know that many guests actually really don’t RSVP on time (oh boy!). And I didn’t know what the heck a card box is.

You mean, I need a box for people to put their cards? Can’t they just put them in a pile on the table?

OK, so I guess I don’t really need a card box. There really is nothing wrong with starting a card pile instead. But once I started exploring what card boxes are and all the different types out there, I got really excited. Card boxes can be pretty awesome!

Image via For the Modern Bride

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Most couples these days actually see their venue prior to the wedding. But Mr. Parasol and I are not like most couples. Nope. We decided to wait until about a month before our wedding, after the contract had already been signed and the deposit already paid, before we went to see our venue.

It’s not that we didn’t want to see our venue or that we were lazy. You see, way back in late March/early April when we decided to get married this fall and needed to book a venue, Mr. Parasol and I were still living in New York. And because we were both working and going to graduate school, we couldn’t make a trip to California to scope out potential venues. So the task fell to my parents.

The whole choosing-a-venue-without-actually-seeing-it thing was pretty complicated, but I’ll skip all the boring details. Suffice it to say that Mr. Parasol finally found a place, Mama Parasol checked it out, and thankfully, it met with everyone’s expectations.
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It’s been a while since I’ve really talked about my wedding day look, but given that I finally had my hair and makeup trial, I guess it’s time I returned to the subject.

Remember how I originally wanted a loose, soft, curly updo for the wedding? Well the second I showed Mr. Parasol my inspiration pictures, he pointed to the one curly half-up photo I had and said, “Oh, I like that. You should do your hair exactly like that.” Boys. What do they know?

But when I listened to Mr. Parasol’s reasoning, I realized that he actually knew what he was talking about. In the first place, I wear my hair up all the time. Doing my hair requires a lot of work, and most days, I just don’t have the time or the energy to style it, so I usually throw it up into some sort of bun. When I want to dress up and look my best, though, I usually wear my hair down. So in Mr. Parasol’s mind, an updo=everyday casual hairstyle while a half-up=fancy special occasion hairstyle. Plus, he says he really likes it when I wear my hair down and curly. That was the deciding factor for me because, above all else, I want to look beautiful for Mr. Parasol.

I could have stuck with the original inspiration picture that Mr. Parasol really liked:

Image via The Knot / Photography byLaura Negri Photography / Hair by Bob Salon

But I realized this isn’t quite what I want. It’s lovely, but I knew I could find something better.
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A bridal shower, that is! Several posts back, I told you what little I knew about the bridal shower Sister Parasol was planning for me. You may also remember that I said I was feeling nervous about my shower. To be perfectly honest, a lot of my fears were completely irrational. For instance, I was worried that no one would come, and I would feel like a total loser. Yeah, I have no idea where that fear came from because I have the most awesome family and friends ever. For real. They made me feel so incredibly loved, and I am immensely grateful to have each and every one of them in my life.

Here’s a peek at the day’s festivities:

Personal Photo

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Hive, I’ve been a bad bride-to-be lately. I’ve been a bit of a Debbie Downer. A Negative Nelly. A bad-attitude bride.

Image via Sweet Things Direct

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I know, I know—I’ve been a bad bee! After telling you about our wedding-invitation disaster, and then talking about how Mr. Parasol and I went back to the drawing board and finally got the invitations we wanted, I made you all wait to see what these babies actually look like. I seriously didn’t mean to make you wait so long; I guess that’s what they call life.

But today’s the day: I’m finally going to show you our DIY invitations! And I’m so excited!

This is what happens when your invitation gets crushed in your purse. / Personal photo

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Like most newlyweds, Mr. Parasol and I are excited about building a home together after we get married.

Image via Laure Larsen Photographers

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Today it seems like big wedding parties are all the rage. It’s not uncommon to see six, seven, or even eight (or more!) people standing on each side of the bride and groom, and a lot of wedding parties spill over into double digits.

Image via Jim Kennedy Photographers

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Since our guestbook is far from traditional, Mr. Parasol and I knew we should probably provide some instructions for our guests. We could do something really basic and to the point like, “Leave a note and hang it up.” It’s succinct and conveys pretty much exactly what our guests are supposed to do.

But we decided we wanted something a little more fun to greet our guests upon their arrival, something more like this:

Image via Delightfully Engaged / Photography by Morgan Trinker

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It’s official, hive: I love bunting! Seriously, I could have been Miss Bunting in another life. I don’t really know what triggered this obsession, but I started seeing it everywhere, and I just loved it! As you can tell from the glimpses I’ve given you of our wedding invitations, I’ve found some fun and creative ways to incorporate bunting into our wedding. Recently I’ve been on a bunting kick and have made what feels like miles and miles of fabric bunting, and I want to share this project with you today.

Materials:

• Fabric (I chose a variety of patterns in our wedding colors.)

Personal photo

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