Weddingbee Blog

Hello hive. *sheepish wave* I have to start by apologizing to you for my hiatus. When they say that the last month before the wedding is crazy, THEY MEAN IT (though I don’t know who “they” are…).

The month of July was filled with last minute projects, finalizing plans, signing contracts… and family tragedies.

Two weeks before the wedding, Mr. Hottie’s grandma was life-flighted to the hospital with a massive stroke. She was in the hospital for 6 days when she suddenly passed. It came as a huge shock to the entire family. We had just seen her 2 weeks before that and she looked better than she had in years, since Mr. HD’s grandpa passed.

She was the hub of the family. The glue. The driving force in so many ways.

The funeral was 5 days before the wedding.
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OK, so now that the invites have gone out, I think it’s safe to share them with you guys!

This is what our guests see in their mailboxes! See that sweet little doggy stamp? You want to see a close-up? Of course you do.

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And just what was I doing during those 6 hours? Tracing, cutting and gluing envelope liners!!

Don’t get me wrong - I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out and I really feel like they added a lot to the invitations (post forthcoming!). Buuut it was definitely an unnecessary project.

The upside to this project is that it didn’t cost me a dime! I am a totally scrapbooking maven so I have a huge stockpile of papers. I decided that I’d like to use what I already have, and consequently, used several different types of papers for the liners. Want to see?

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No, really, we do. Or, at least we WILL. I have spent the last year collecting these…

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These are not our jars, but you get the idea. The reason I don’t have a photo of ours is that they are scattered in various corners of our garage and spare bedroom. It would be quite an undertaking to gather them all together for a photo. I realize I need to gather them up soon, anyway. But why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?

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To me, the ceremony sets the tone for the whole wedding. It’s the reason everyone is there. Knowing this, we wanted to make ours very personal. That’s why we decided to have my brother officiate. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am about this! I wanted to honor him during the ceremony and this is the best possible way, IMO! It will mean so much to have him up there with us.

Another way we’re personalizing it (other than writing it ourselves!) is by including an uncommon ceremony, a wine box ceremony. You may recall this “nontraditional tradition” from Mrs. Cowboy Boot’s and Mrs. Lab’s posts! (Mrs. Lab is saving my bridal-booty during this process, let me just tell you!!)

A wine box, or love letter box, is a small box that you put a bottle of wine and two glasses into. Then you and your lover write each other mushy gushy love letters, describing why you love him/her and why you’re marrying him/her. Then you seal them and place them inside the box. The idea is to seal up the box on your wedding day and not open it until your 5th wedding anniversary. However, if you’re experience insurmountable hardships in your marriage, you open the box, drink the wine together and read the letters.

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So there’s this really big trend in weddings where the bride and groom do a “first look” instead of waiting until she walks down the aisle. This allows more time for photos and such between the ceremony and reception.

I always thought this was a great idea.
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So, I left you all hanging after showing you two fabby fab gowns… I ultimately decided to go with this lovely.

I love my dress! No, really, LOVE it. But since it is so simple and sleek, I felt that it needed a little something extra. A sash! But not just any sash…
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So, there have been some changes on the wedding front in the Hot Dog household. MAJOR changes.

Remember that food post where I talked about how we were having our favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse, cater? Yeahhh… that’s not happening. We decided to revert to our original idea of a potluck-style dinner. Members of the family are each making different dishes. We are still providing the pies, drinks and other desserts ourselves.

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You may also recall our rad favor idea…

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Invites haven’t even gone out yet and we already received a great gift in the mail! IMO, it is the greatest first wedding gift EVER!

Hmm… I wonder what it could be…

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If you recall (which you probably don’t since it was eons ago) in my first shoe post, you know that I was in the throes of some serious buyers remorse. I loved the shoes, but they just weren’t right for me and our wedding.

Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for a great pair of shoes that would complement our venue, our style, and most importantly, be comfortable! I scoured eBay, Zappos.com, Bluefly and the like. I kept coming back to one particular style of shoe…

Then one day I was perusing the archives of Mrs. Cherry Pie (LOVES HER!) and saw this photo…

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Game over.

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And by “R” I mean religious. ANND possibly not appropriate for children under the age of 17.

With less than 100 days (EEEEP!!!) to go before the wedding, I want to take a moment to talk about

SEX.

I was watching a new episode of my favorite guilty pleasure: “True Life” on MTV. This particular episode was about newlyweds. One couple had been in a long-distance relationship for 4 years. The other was a very religious couple who had abstained from sex until marriage. They hadn’t even kissed!

This got me thinking.

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Have you found your wedding twin? That wedding you see that is everything you’re imagining for your own nuptials? I just did. Get ready to drool.

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The first bridesmaid dress is in and Bridesmaid Star and I went down to get it for her a couple weeks ago. Are you ready to see it in all its glory??

Isn’t the color just gorgey porgey?! Star may or may not kill me for posting this of her in white socks… haha After she got home she sent me a photo of herself in the boots.
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So if you’ve been following along, you know that I already made a ring bearer pillow with one of my kanzashi flower. Welp, I decided that it doesn’t really “go” with our aesthetic anymore. It feels too cutesy, not very country-chic. I changed my mind, so what’s new?

Before that project, I had been looking at some pillow inspiration here. Looking back, I realized there are two that really stick out in my mind, this one and this one. You may recognize the fluffy flower from Mrs. Cowboy Boot’s wedding!

After some thought, I realized that the knit pillow would be the perfect match. It’s quaint, charming, and a clever nod to one of my favorite pastimes. It looked simple enough. Sew a pillow, knit a square, stitch it to the top. Easy peasy.

And it was. AFTER I had a little come-to-Jesus with my sewing machine.

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When it came to the favors, I wanted to make sure we were giving our guests something that wasn’t just going to get tossed in the garbage or sit on a shelf collecting dust.

Some sort of food item seemed the perfect solution. But what? Those sugary almonds seem very common at weddings. But that’s the problem. They’re common. What about chocolate of some kind? Well that would be fine and dandy, except that Mr. HD and I wouldn’t even get to eat any of it (we’re on STRICT nutrition plans, more on that later!).

So what is a budget- and nutrition-conscious bride to use? JAM!

It’s perfect! We could make our own jam! It’s all-natural, so it’s healthy. And we’d do it ourselves, so it’d be UBERcheap! I am a genius, if I do say so myself.

And it looks like I’m not the only one with this brilliant idea! Feast your eyes, lovelies.

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