Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las VegasAge and Occupation: 29, Test Prep InstructorFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience ArchitectEngagement Date: April 2011Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon BistroAbout Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
My little sister got married last month, and I was her maid of honor. It was an absolutely wonderful wedding. The weather for their outdoor ceremony was perfect, she looked stunning in her white gown, her groom got misty-eyed when he saw her for the first time. I was honored to stand up beside her, holding her bouquet and rearranging her dress, on one of the most important days of her life. I don’t think that I stopped smiling once.
Sisters
Later, I was honored to stand up and give a speech at the reception. Generally, I can keep my cool pretty well in front of large groups. I can act confident even if I am not. (It really helps that I taught speech and debate last year to a bunch of squirrely high school students.) So the most that I was nervous about was flubbing a line or two. What I should have been nervous about, however, was the waterworks. That’s right. Within 30 seconds of starting my speech, I broke down in tears. And then proceeded to cry throughout the rest of the speech. Mr. Mole told me later that I had all of the mothers in the audience in tears as well, so I should count that as a successful MOH speech.
Miss Aardvark, Beaver Dam, WIAge and Occupation: 23, Assistant Product ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Business Analyst Engagement Date: May 28th, 2011Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: St. Philip Catholic Church/Arcadia Brewing Co.About Me: I am a resourceful lady who love surprises and adventure. At the same time, I value traditions, family and friends. I like to make crafty messes, sometimes, clean them up, and do pretty much anything outdoors. The Mister and I are pretty avid cyclists---we have nine bikes in our home right now...and one motorcycle! We both enjoy eating food we can't pronounce (language doesn't really matter) and going places we've never been. We currently reside in rural Wisconsin, enjoying the cheese and beer it has to offer, and getting outside whenever we can!
Holy smokes. That is really all I can say. I am exhausted and SO happy and excited. Last weekend my ladies all came out from the far corners of the world (OK, maybe the far corners of the Midwest) and hung out in Chicago, dress shopped, took in a Second City show, and ate some Ahh-MAZING food.
I had previously imagined these ladies would all finally meet on the Friday of the rehearsal dinner and that would be that. Maybe two or three at a time they would get together and shop for bridesmaids’ dresses in Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Michigan, or Wisconsin. But, as I stated earlier, they all magically synced up their calendars and converged on Chicago this weekend. It was so much fun! All of my bestest girlfriends in one place at one time. It was like a sneak peek of the all-my-favorite-people-in-one-place awesomeness that I have heard is the case with weddings.
Here is one of the first (and for sure not last) pictures of the six of us:
Left to right: Bridesmaid OT, Bridesmaid Flossy, Bridesmaid Red, Bridesmaid Sis, me, and MOH MD. Thanks, Mama MD, for taking this picture. (She drove Sis down and took the chance to catch up with her daughter [MOH MD] and me and meet the rest of the crew.)
Mrs. Frog, Phoenix, AZ/Chelan, WA
Age and Occupation: 29, Public Relations
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Online SalesEngagement Date: February 8, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Amy's ManorAbout Me: I'm an opinionated Midwestern girl now living in the Valley of the Sun marrying a laid back Northwestern guy. I'm equal parts sass, silly and sweet. I'm fiercely loyal with a strong devotion to my family and friends. I have a not-so-secret obsession with apple juice, a new obsession with DIY projects and I love a really good cheese plate...with lots of wine. After 7 blissful years of dating, I'm having the time of my life planning the destination wedding of my dreams to my Mr. Frog-turned-Prince Charming.
So after we danced our way back down the aisle, we gathered our families and the wedding party for some quick formals.
Typically I’m not a big fan of posed shots but, looking back, I’m really glad we have them. Usually formals aren’t too exciting, but there were some moments that I just had to highlight.
Miss Aardvark, Beaver Dam, WIAge and Occupation: 23, Assistant Product ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Business Analyst Engagement Date: May 28th, 2011Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: St. Philip Catholic Church/Arcadia Brewing Co.About Me: I am a resourceful lady who love surprises and adventure. At the same time, I value traditions, family and friends. I like to make crafty messes, sometimes, clean them up, and do pretty much anything outdoors. The Mister and I are pretty avid cyclists---we have nine bikes in our home right now...and one motorcycle! We both enjoy eating food we can't pronounce (language doesn't really matter) and going places we've never been. We currently reside in rural Wisconsin, enjoying the cheese and beer it has to offer, and getting outside whenever we can!
As I explained in an earlier post, my ladies are spread out all over the Midwest. Sadly, this made asking them all in person nearly impossible.* I wanted to do something more than just a phone call. However, I am not very patient and did not want to wait for them to get something in the mail. The solution was easy: I would make cards and call them. The best of both worlds, right? Right!
I went about collecting pictures of myself with each of the bridesmaids. I also tore out the most obnoxious pictures I could find in bridal magazines. I do not have any pictures of this process because I was not blogging at the time. So sorry.
I then cut out my own and the bridesmaids’ faces and affixed them to the overly-foofy-dress-wearing bridal-magazine bodies. (As a side note, if you are into foofy dresses more power to you! They look like a lot of fun to wear!) I then stuck these wedding-ed-up versions of my friends and me to a card, wrote a nice note, wrapped the whole thing in silver rick-rack I had lying around, stuffed ’em in an envelope, and popped them in the mail. Easy. Peasy. Would you like to see?
Bridesmaid OT was kind enough to send me a picture.
Miss Petit Four, San Antonio/Isla MujeresAge and Occupation: 25, Technology teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Math Teacher and Football CoachEngagement Date: Feb 13, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Zama Beach Club, Isla Mujeres, MexicoAbout Me: I am a polka-dot obsessed, destination wedding diva living and loving in the great state of Texas. I am an island girl at heart and I visit the beach as often as I can. I am a wannabe DIY goddess, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best shot. I love pearl earrings, the color pink, and ruffles are a part of my everyday wardrobe. My wonderful fiance and I are planning a destination wedding with our closest family and friends and we’re leaving a trail of glitter in our path!
Since Mr. PF and I have been engaged for almost two years, you can bet your bottom dollar I have heard a lot of wedding talk. Needless to say, nothing surprises me anymore, so I decided to put together a silly list that I’m sure we can all relate to.
Mrs. Honey, Durango, COAge and Occupation: 28, Financial AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/PhlebotomistEngagement Date: August 1, 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Vallecito LakeAbout Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
Hi, hive! Remember me? Sorry I’ve been MIA recently…the Honeys attended BM Scoot’s wedding this past weekend and I had the special honor of being a bridesmaid, so I got to spend an incredible five full days with some of my favorite girls. BM Scoot’s wedding is the ninth wedding we have attended since we began dating in 2010…and it was the last wedding we will be attending as an engaged couple. That means the next one is OURS!
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
Miss Ticket, Riverside, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Executive AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, HVAC TechnicianEngagement Date: November 14, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Crestmore ManorAbout Me: I'm a lifelong So Cal gal, a chocoholic, a closet gamer, and a television enthusiast (love me some Vampire Diaries!) who adores playing in the kitchen and lives in flip flops. Mr. Ticket and I are best known for singing and dancing in the car, our World of Warcraft addiction, adoring food, crane game playing, and our general homebody ways. Oh, and GO STEELERS!
When choosing who would be in our bridal party, Mr. Ticket and I ultimately made the decision to have mismatched numbers. We chose those close to us who we love and wanted to stand beside us and, well, I had four girls and he had three guys. The little OCD monster inside of me struggled with this for a little while. I wanted things to be equal and balanced, but in the end I realized it was far more important for me to have my girls standing beside me than for things to be “balanced.” And we didn’t really want to find a random stand-in for Mr. Ticket just to make the sides even. Thus, UNBALANCED it is! And we like it that way. =)
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.
My best man, BM Doc, has an older brother who was engaged while we were in college. His wedding party was spread out geographically. The best way for him to keep everyone in the loop was to let them know in a very classic way: a newsletter.
I loved this idea then, and I love it still now. While we have five people in our wedding party from out of town, that’s actually only a small fraction of our hugely large wedding party. But keeping everyone on the same page has been…a task.
In order to better serve the needs of our my sanity, I came up with a great newsletter. This isn’t just for the bridesmaids, though. It will go to the bridesmaids, the junior bridesmaids and bridal attendants, the groomsmen, the parents of the flowers girls and ring bearers, and also to the ushers and hostesses. That’s a lot o’ mail to send out. But it will be worth it to keep anything from falling through the cracks.
I’m not sure how often I’ll have to do these newsletters, but this one was right before the six-months-to-wedding mark, so there’s no way to tell. In this newsletter, I covered: an introduction of who all was in the wedding party (in case anyone didn’t know yet); a reminder of our engagement party in two weeks; information about our changed venue; clothing FAQs, as we’re coming up on the date to order these items; other cutesy things.
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
Now that all of the bead “stems” were completed, we were ready to assemble the bouquets. We had about 600 stems of clear beads and 100 of silver, and each bridesmaid’s bouquet was to have approximately 100 stems—at least that was the original plan.
MOB and I started out by making piles of 50 of the clear beaded stems so we could confirm we had made enough. Then, for some reason, we started assembling the first several bouquets with 75 clear beaded stems and 15 silver beaded stems. This obviously does not add up to 100. We kind of spaced out about grabbing ten more stems from the extras pile. We realized our error after the third or fourth bouquet, but I was not about to unbundle them just to add ten more. We counted correctly on the remaining bouquets and added any extra leftover stems to the MOH’s bouquet.
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
Once I had all of the supplies to make the bridesmaids’ bouquets, I recruited some help in the form of my MOH, MOB, BM A, and FMIL, and we to work on cutting wire, stringing beads, and twisting the beaded strands.
Here was our inspiration picture (from this previous post):
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.
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.
Hive, I must tell you, the first two DIY projects I talked about weren’t actually my first. You’re never supposed to lie about your first, but…I was ashamed. I was proud of what I did at the time, but then…well…
You look on Weddingbee and someone points out how something you just spent hours on was probably a terribly unimaginative, wholly unimportant, overwhelmingly uncreative waste of time and money. They weren’t talking about you specifically, they were talking about your type of project. You hang your head in shame and vow never to speak of your first.
An amazing amount of creativity finds its way to the surface, and you are overwhelmingly uncreative no more. Your unimportance suddenly is less whole and your imagination is far less terrible. The clouds part and you put out good work.
Miss Ticket, Riverside, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Executive AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, HVAC TechnicianEngagement Date: November 14, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Crestmore ManorAbout Me: I'm a lifelong So Cal gal, a chocoholic, a closet gamer, and a television enthusiast (love me some Vampire Diaries!) who adores playing in the kitchen and lives in flip flops. Mr. Ticket and I are best known for singing and dancing in the car, our World of Warcraft addiction, adoring food, crane game playing, and our general homebody ways. Oh, and GO STEELERS!
Going dress shopping with Mama Ticket was quite the experience. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that it was in fact the most painful wedding task we have conquered to date. That being said, it did not start out this way. We did things a little unconventionally with the Ticket wedding. Mama Ticket insisted that FMIL Ticket could pick her dress first and then she would find one to match. (Mama Ticket wanted to wait as long as possible to find a dress while trying to lose weight, and she didn’t want FMIL to have to wait on her.) I was perfectly fine with this arrangement.
And thus FMIL Ticket went out and found (in my opinion) a very beautiful and perfect-for-the-wedding dress. She will be wearing this beauty (minus the one awkward sleeve):
Mrs. Parasol, San Ramon, CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 25, Non-profit writer, editor, and bloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Law school studentEngagement Date: December 19th, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Bent Creek Winery (Livermore, California); Reception: Family Residence (San Ramon, California) About Me: I am a California girl at heart. I love the outdoors, sunny days at the beach, and hiking in the woods and mountains. I also love good books and am fresh from completing my Master's degree in English and Comparative Literature in New York City. Living in NYC was an amazing experience, and while I'm glad to be back on the West Coast, I'm also thankful that my two years back East gave me an opportunity to explore new places, make new friends, and indulge my passion for Broadway shows. Oh, and I received a pretty awesome proposal from Mr. Parasol in Central Park. Above all else, Mr. Parasol is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. But even though I'm thrilled to be marrying him, I wasn't always totally on board with this whole wedding thing and at first, I wanted to run off and elope. I've finally been convinced to throw the wedding I never thought I wanted, and so now I'm busy planning an intimate September wedding filled with DIY details. Along the way, I'm slowly learning to appreciate, perhaps even love the wedding planning process.
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.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
Image via Bridezillas
