Weddingbee Blog

I didn’t think twice about bustles before my first dress fitting. I had no idea that it would be such a difficult decision to make! I went to my first fitting alone without a camera, and that wasn’t a very good idea… I didn’t have anyone to bounce my opinions off of, and didn’t have pictures to show anyone afterward. I ended up going back to the salon a week later so my mom could see the different bustles in person.

During the initial fitting, the first bustle that the seamstress/shop owner tried was the popular French bustle. I have seen these many times, and found them to be quite lovely. I assumed that this was the bustle I would go with—another reason that I didn’t do any research before the fitting. To my surprise, it just didn’t work with my dress style. The underpinning hid a lot of the lace, and the width of the underbustle looked weird against the silhouette of the dress.

The seamstress then tried an overbustle. It started out simple, but soon had many, many points. It was way too complicated for my taste, and I began to worry. The dress would be bustled for the majority of the time that I would wear it, and I really wanted to be happy with it.

I didn’t get any pictures during the first fitting, but I brought my camera for round two.

Mr. Taffy, do not look any further!!!
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I am very excited that we have made the decision to have a portrait booth at our wedding! Including the booth at our reception was something that we had discussed early on with our fabulous photographer, A Girl in Love, but we did not make the decision until this week. Melissa posted a cute “kissing booth” entry on her blog that reminded me to bring it up. Michigan brides, check out the entry for details on a portrait booth special!

Here is my favorite shot from the “kissing booth”

Image Source- A Girl In Love

The lipstick marks in this shot are adorable.
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Like Miss Peep Toe, I have been having quite the time finding shoes for the big day. In a perfect world, I would love to find a pair of shoes that are the exact blue that I have fallen in love with, has ankle straps, a 3 to 3 and a half inch heel, and for them to be comfortable. Since I am very sensitive to color, the obvious choice would be to find a dyeable shoe. I have searched far and wide for dyeable shoes, and was not thrilled with any of the styles. Besides the ankle strap and heel height, I really wasn’t even that picky!

When dyeables weren’t looking promising, I scoured the internet for cute blue or ivory shoes, all to no avail. I have spent way, way too much time searching, and was about to give up and buy an ivory pair that I wasn’t really into. I have already started dress fittings and have been using black heels as a surrogate. Time was not on my side!

There was one place that I didn’t look during my crazy search- Payless. They just unveiled a new line of dyeable shoes by Lela Rose called Unforgettable Moments. The styles that I viewed online were super cute, but I was a little wary of the quality, so today I went to a store to see them in person.
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It has been well over a month since I wrote about how my sweet tooth was getting in the way of my fitness goals. I am very happy to say that I have successfully swapped my sweets! You all had such good advice for healthier snacking alternatives, which has been a huge help. In the beginning, I made yogurt, honey and banana shakes to calm my sweet cravings. For the last few weeks, I have been eating strawberry & mango fruit pops from Trader Joes and Whole Foods. They are all natural, super sweet, and full of vitamin C! I have only eaten ice cream once since I vowed to swap, but I don’t feel like I am avoiding it, or even missing it.

My fitness plan is going really well, although I have missed exercising for a total of two weeks, first for a cold, and now for a nasty sinus infection and cough. I know it is not a great idea to work out while I feel like I have the plague, but it is so hard to sit so many days out. (Jessie516 is unfortunately in the same boat. I think we may have even caught the same bug, as we are both in Ann Arbor!)

When I am not suffering from the plague, I have been working out at home. Budget constraints have pushed me to cancel my YMCA membership, but I have found some good DVDs and enjoy working out at home.
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I am planning on making my veil, and intend on starting ASAP. I have more than enough inspiration after looking at these beautiful veils. Ladies, you have wonderful taste!

Mrs. Green Tea’s veil is so delicate and lovely. *swoon*

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The night before Valentine’s Day, Mr. Taffy and I started hunting for our cake topper. We love Ann Wood’s work, but we couldn’t fit those birds into our budget, even if she had cute canaries for sale. More than birds, we really wanted a vintage bride and groom, and found this one on ebay. It just came this weekend, and we are very happy with it! It’s not only cute, but a green and economical choice as well. Here is the link, as the ebay seller had more than one topper for sale, along with an inexpensive “buy it now” option, so you don’t have to go through the bidding process.

The dress is huge and hilarious. It is so big, there’s a hole in the side that the groom fits through! Can you imagine if real wedding dresses had that feature? It’s like a groom trap!
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I mentioned earlier that I have been looking for my wedding day jewelry in antique stores. The search isn’t going so great, so for now I’ve turned to salivating over the world of wedding jewelry that I can only afford in my dreams. A girl has to get inspiration, right? I love this adorable necklace from Tiffany. *sigh*

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So simple. So cute. So ridiculously out of my budget!
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You’ve seen the vintage Valentine that I will give Mr. Taffy tomorrow. This post is about the very first (unusual) Valentine that I made for my groom to be.

During my Secret Lives of Bees post, I talked about my obsession with blood donation. I am an avid fan of the Red Cross! I also mentioned that Mr. Taffy won huge points on our first date when he brought the subject of blood types up during dinner. I decided to make Mr. Taffy a blood donation-themed Valentine… after all, it was happy hearts day!

Squeamish bees, proceed with caution. This may be a little on the graphic side!
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Today Mom Taffy and I spent the day together doing some wedding bonding (and work!). Our main goal was to find the perfect centerpiece vase. We are able to save quite a lot of money on flowers by providing vases to the florist, but he requires that you bring one into his shop for his approval before buying them in bulk. My first vase failed to be approved, so we were determined to find a winner today.

The second goal was to look through antique stores for my bridal jewelry. We struck out in the jewelry area, but hit the jackpot with this cute vintage Valentine, which will be perfect for Mr. Taffy!

The inside…
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And by brewing, I mean The Arbor Brewing Company. We have a rehearsal dinner location!

Imagine the brewing company’s historic storefront, minus the snow and cloudy sky. I can’t wait until spring!

Mr. Taffy and I went over to the brewing company with his parents today to have some lunch and meet with the manager to discuss our event. The Arbor Brewing Company has great beer and great atmosphere. The food is also good; they are committed to “ridding their kitchen of processed foods”, and use local organic ingredients. They also have great vegetarian options.

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Like many couples, Mr. Taffy and I love to text. We still text daily, but we were especially obsessed with sending messages in the beginning of our relationship! Last February, when we had been dating just over a year, my phone was finally filled to the brim with cute, sweet (and sometimes sassy) messages. I decided to make Mr. Taffy a Valentine’s Day text-book (hee!) using the messages as a theme.

I started with these basic items from Jo-Ann’s:

A package of medium and small crafting tags, a spool of black ribbon, a package of small vellum envelopes, and a glue stick. I also found some metal rings to use as a binder.

Then, like a crazy fool, I typed up EVERY message in my phone. That phone held up to 200 messages! I even typed the messages like this:
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Even though I am a lingerie junkie, I am not usually into white or ivory bridal collections. But, I saw these undies online recently at Victoria’s Secret, and fell in love! They are too cute.

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Not only are they adorable, they are a steal at the 3 for $30 price tag, which means that I will also get them in black! (Great for Valentine’s Day!)

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That’s right. I am talking about the holy grail of registry items.

Mr. Taffy and I finally began our registry this weekend. We still have a lot of work to do before we are finished, but I am happy with the selections that we have made so far. (Although I must note: a tipsy groom starting a registry online after midnight = a crazy amount of expensive electronics on the list. Do not let the groom drunk dial your registry! Eeep.)

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The KitchenAid Stand Mixer.

I am writing this post, in part, to see what all the fuss is about over this mixer, and if you ladies think it is as great as the salesperson at Bed Bath & Beyond says it is. I do not currently own a stand mixer, and am not sure if I consider this a necessity. We don’t have very much counter space in our kitchen (although we are renting and won’t be here forever), and I can’t imagine that it is easy to drag out of a cupboard. I think a good hand mixer would be just fine—I usually do any mixing myself until flour is involved, and I like that I can move a hand mixer around the bowl however I like. But maybe I am not paying enough attention, because this mixer seems to be the most coveted item for brides to be!
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I haven’t had an official dress fitting yet, but there’s a bit of an issue with the hem, so I went to try it on again last week. This time, I remembered to bring an item that, out of excitement, I forgot last time.

Mr. Taffy, No Peeking!!! Nothing to see here.
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I had never heard of a Xyron machine until Mrs. Hydrangea posted about it here. A Xyron machine creates stickers out of anything that is thin enough to pass through it. I had been interested in wrapping a ribbon around the top of the vases for our centerpieces, and this looked like the perfect way to go! I was under the impression that buying a Xyron machine would be a pretty big investment, especially since I rarely scrapbook. I thought I would have to drop at least $30 or $40, plus money for the adhesive refills. Last week I went to take the plunge, Jo-Ann’s coupon in hand. I was delighted to find this tiny model, which only cost me $6 after my 40% off coupon! The adhesive refills are also under $6.

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