Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
Mrs. Hot Wings, Chicago/San DiegoAge and Occupation: 28, ProfessorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, InstructorEngagement Date: December 20, 2008Wedding Date: August 2010Venue: Ocean View Villas/Jasmine Seafood RestaurantAbout Me: I am a psychology grad student living in Chicago and planning my wedding to a fellow psych grad student. I am a Sunny So-Cal bred gal who trudged across the country to follow her love of psychology and ended up finding a partner in the process. I am overly passionate about anything I involve myself with. I am an activist, a foodie, a reality TV watching junkie, an over-analyzer, a photography obsesser, and am utterly cheesy to the core. This is a story of what happens when a boy and a girl meet, fall in love over academic dorkiness, and a shared love for life. We (mostly I) are planning our semi-destination wedding in my hometown of San Diego. We are excited to bring our families and friends together from across our lifespans to celebrate our future in a grand 400+ person culturally blended affair!
Mrs. French Toast nominates Mrs. Hot Wings’ ceremony timeline post. Mrs. French Toast says, “I loved Hot Wings’ ceremony posts (because I literally copied… er… almost everything. I esp. loved the part where they turned to face the guests and acknowledge their presence, as well as the wine box + letter ceremony).”
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*guest photo*
After the love letter and wine box ceremony, we moved onto the heart of the civil ceremony.
Recall that we had written the first draft of our vows as gifts for our last dating anniversary a couple months before our wedding. Again, here’s the script for you with my thoughts and notes in parentheses.
Now, Mr and Miss Hot Wings will exchange the vows that they have written to one another. Read more…
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
As of right now, I am still veil-less. My head is naked and I need to find the perfect veil to grace it. I know that I want a fingertip length, single-layer veil with an unfinished edge. My problem is that I am having a hard time making a decision on what type of material.
I don’t know about you, but I had never heard of silk tulle until Princess Kate. (I’m sorry, I mean Catherine… oh let’s get real, she’ll always be Princess Kate.) The way her veil flowed was just dreamy.
My only issue is that if I get a veil made of silk tulle…I am worried it will look like nylons on my head. I know, I know…ridiculous. But it is a serious concern of mine.
The other option is bridal illusion, which is what most veils are made out of.
Miss Snapdragon, Chicago/DallasAge and Occupation: 32,Associate ProducerFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Lighting DesignerBlogging Since: November 14, 2008Engagement Date: January 1, 2011Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Marie GabrielleAbout Me: Voracious reader of short stories, Russian literature, National Geographic and Cosmo. I'm a GENIUS at spicing up Weight Watchers recipes and a pathological cheater at board games. I run a slow marathon, but my feet are learning to move faster. Mornings aren't my thing, but I can night owl with the best of them. Don't tempt me with your Cherry Cokes---I'm trying to quit. Tomorrow. Or never.
Miss Coyote, Westchester, NYAge and Occupation: 26, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Computer ProgrammerEngagement Date: August 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Franklin PlazaAbout Me: I am an overly-caffeinated, sports-obsessed history nerd who loves a good book and hates bananas. Originally from a small town in Upstate NY, I made the move to Westchester County and never looked back! My loves include NBC Thursdays, red wine, fleece pajamas, and my amazing fiancé. Together we are planning a formal evening affair for 175 guests with a mix of new and old traditions and plenty of personal touches.
I went to my cake tastings and did not take a single photo.
In my defense, I was really hungry and the cake was just begging to be eaten. So I ate it. Which means that I will not be able to distract you with photos of awesome cake in this post. (But that’s OK—I am sure I will find ridiculous images to share with you.)
I pretty much already knew who we were going to use for our wedding cake, because their cakes are just deeeeeelicious and we use them for most of our parties (they did our engagement cake, which made an appearance in this post)…buuuuuut I like to play it safe so we decided to meet with two different bakeries. On a lovely Saturday afternoon, my momma, Mr. Coyote, and I stopped by our preferred bakery.
Miss Unicycle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 23, Editor for a Web Publishing CompanyFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, MD/PhD StudentEngagement Date: March 26, 2011Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Bridges of Poplar CreekAbout Me: I’m a writer by trade who likes analyzing pop culture, making fun of celebrities, and laughing until I cry. I’m the queen of half-assed crafts, and there’s nothing I won’t try to DIY. You can usually find me reading blogs on my laptop in front of a good Lifetime movie, wine in hand. I’m planning a polka-dotted summertime wedding to my physics geek college sweetheart, and when I’m not making stupid puns I’m freaking out about my wedding timeline.
Or, “How I asked my grrrls to be my bridesmaidz.” I knew I wanted to send them something crafty and cutesy in the mail because I’d filed away all sorts of ideas when I was but a girlfriend (before I was someone’s fian-SAY).
Miss Boa Constrictor, Isabela, Puerto RicoAge and Occupation: 22, Undergraduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Soon-to-be Civil EngineerEngagement Date: May 19, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: El Faro Convention CenterAbout Me: I’m a Caribbean gal, born and bred on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, finishing her last year as an undergrad. I describe myself as a “closet nerd” as I secretly enjoy reading research papers, playing video games, and geeking out on Lord of the Rings movie marathons. I will marry my college sweetheart, a soon-to-be civil engineer, who loves Legos and old-school Puerto Rican cooking. This is sure to be a fast-paced year with our wedding, honeymoon, college graduation, new jobs, and a cross-country move all within less than 30 days of each other!
Since getting engaged months ago, I haven’t actually “bought” anything for the wedding. I have paid deposits, but those deposits aren’t unnecessarily taking up space in my apartment. I need things unnecessarily taking space in my apartment! For the sake of this argument and eliminating small stuff from my to-do list, I set upon the quest for the perfect cake topper.
I knew I wanted a figurine cake topper, rather than a monogram or flowers. (When else can you have cute people on top of a cake?) And so began the great interweb search for the great cake topper.
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
Our wedding is less than a month away now. Yikes!! It’s so exciting and so nerve-wracking all at once. I’m so excited to marry Mr. Kettle and I can’t wait for our wedding day. But on the other hand, there are a million and one things left to do that I likely don’t have the man hours to complete.
There are big things that happen around the 30-day-out mark that any bride should be aware of. These things were not on any of my checklists!
1) Make final payments to vendors. Unless your vendors are magical elves who will take a credit card payment over the phone or internet, you’ll need to schedule time to make these payments. Between Momma Kettle, Daddy Kettle, and myself, we’ve been running around the Chicago/Joliet area like chickens with our heads cut off delivering certified checks to all our different vendors.
2) Confirm all details on all contracts. Again, unless your vendors are magical elves who have Ivy League or Oxford proofreading skills, check your contracts. There were errors we caught in contracts from our florist, our venue, and our photographer. They were small fixes, but they were details that were important to the vision of the wedding. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
