Mrs. Marmalade, Norwalk, CT/Raleigh, NCAge and Occupation: 27, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Army OfficerEngagement Date: December 31, 2009Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Old Cadet Chapel/Highlands Country ClubAbout Me: I'm a Tri-State area "lady," through and through. A big chunk of my life has been split between NYC and Connecticut, and I'm finally heading down south to live with Mr. Marmalade. Our long distance relationship has been one adventure after the next, we've spent time in Texas, Louisiana, Florida,and Georgia, thanks to his military career. Next to Mr. Marmalade, my loves include live music, useless trivia, shoes, design, and my crazy half-tiger kitty, Oliver. I have a passion for food and wine, and I've been known to travel long distances to get my hands on the best meals. I come from a tight-knit big fat Greek Ecuadorian family---we're loud, we talk with our hands, and we spend hours talking loudly with our hands over large meals. I'm going to miss them so much as I pack up and begin my life, far away from home. But with Mr. Marmalade by my side, I'm ready to take on whatever may come. Next up: our wedding!
Mrs. Marmalade, Norwalk, CT/Raleigh, NCAge and Occupation: 27, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Army OfficerEngagement Date: December 31, 2009Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Old Cadet Chapel/Highlands Country ClubAbout Me: I'm a Tri-State area "lady," through and through. A big chunk of my life has been split between NYC and Connecticut, and I'm finally heading down south to live with Mr. Marmalade. Our long distance relationship has been one adventure after the next, we've spent time in Texas, Louisiana, Florida,and Georgia, thanks to his military career. Next to Mr. Marmalade, my loves include live music, useless trivia, shoes, design, and my crazy half-tiger kitty, Oliver. I have a passion for food and wine, and I've been known to travel long distances to get my hands on the best meals. I come from a tight-knit big fat Greek Ecuadorian family---we're loud, we talk with our hands, and we spend hours talking loudly with our hands over large meals. I'm going to miss them so much as I pack up and begin my life, far away from home. But with Mr. Marmalade by my side, I'm ready to take on whatever may come. Next up: our wedding!
There are a couple (or many) words that embody what I would like our wedding to feel like: feminine, romantic, classic, effortless. When I started planning the wedding, I took the time to create an inspiration board to represent what I wanted our wedding to feel like overall.
Mrs. Cardigan, AustinAge and Occupation: 21, Student/Soon-to-be Special Education TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 20, Student/Soon-to-be Accounting Systems AnalystEngagement Date: August 16, 2009Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Vintage VillasAbout Me: I'm a native Austinite who was raised as a die-hard Aggie. Luckily, I'm a pretty persuasive girl because I managed to convince my high school boyfriend (now fiance!), Mr. Cardigan, to ditch his hardcore Longhorn ways and join me up at A&M, where we currently reside with our adorable dogs, Cullen & Ranger. We're currently planning a bright, cheery wedding with a ridiculous amount of DIY projects that I can't wait to tackle! I love crafting in any form, reading, and margaritas (I think I love them the most!). Organization is what keeps me sane and I love helping others, which is probably why I ended up as an education major. It gets a little chaotic sometimes when you're planning a wedding among all of the papers, projects, finals, and certification exams, but we're having the time of our lives and we can't wait to get started on our journey as husband and wife - and we're so excited to share our wedding with the hive!
Manybeesbeforeme have written posts about their original inspiration board versus how the wedding actually turned out. I always loved seeing those posts, so I was very excited to get to do one of my very own.
Way back when I first became a bee (which was exactly a year ago yesterday!) I wrote a post about the inspiration board I was using for our wedding.
Miss Sweet Cream, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 26, Public Relations Account ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Outside SalesEngagement Date: July 4, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church / Rosebank WineryAbout Me: Born in the ‘burbs of Philly, it took some time living in the Big Apple to realize that I’m a girl who likes her roots. That’s why the mister and I bought a 1950s house on a charming street not too far from our childhood stompin’ grounds. This could also be the reason why our hometown is the scene where we are planning our super sweet, totally charming, BBQ-for-supper wedding that I never knew I always wanted. I DIE over DIY projects and live for vintage, heartfelt inspiration. I obsess over all things mid-century (from forks to furniture). Love is… cartoons and flea markets, and I am known to whip up a mean banana cream pie. I met the Mr. in grade school and after that boy took me for a spin on the handle bars of his BMX, I knew that things would never be the same again. Besides lovin’ my Mr., I also love to plan, sew and create, and that’s just what I’m doing as I navigate through the details, creating a laid-back day that oozes charm; one that will go down in (at least our) history as the Best. Day. Of all time.
Every bride needs an inspiration board to help inspire her bridal brain. Or apparently the blogosphere says that we do.
While envisioning the big day, I had dreams of soothing colors—perhaps pastels or some smooth shade of pink. Gray was a definite. I don’t know what it is with me and that pigment. I didn’t even realize it until Mr. Sweet Cream and I bought our mid-century home and salvaged furniture that could make Betty Draper weak in the knees. Whatever the question that had the word “color” in it, my answer would remain the same: gray.
Gray is a hue that has a strange way of tying everything together.
Case in point:
Isn’t this peach & gray color scheme just oh so lovely? / Image via Ruffled / Photo by Kellie Kano
Mrs. Cannon, Toledo, OHAge and Occupation: 27, Financial AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, AssemblerEngagement Date: February 28, 2011Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Epworth UMC & Ward PavilionAbout Me: I'm the curious combination of being a go-with-the-flow, laid back, obsessive planner. I try desperately to stay as busy as possible at all times (and am succeeding big time right now!) My biggest loves in life are Law & Order: SVU, Community (the show, not the concept, although I like that, too), ice cream, white cheddar popcorn, beer, hiking, knitting, decorating, writing, being outside, spending time with friends and family and musical theater. Mr. Cannon is pretty sweet, too. We've had a lot of fun traveling and having adventures all over the country, but have finally moved back near our hometown to settle down. We're planning a low-key, colorful, fun wedding and an awesome-to-the-max reception.
After announcing the date, it wasn’t long before people started asking the typical wedding questions: Have you picked your colors? Do you have a theme? Have you hired a florist? Did you pick a dress?
Whoa, hypothetical folks, settle down! I obviously had a lot of thinking and planning to do in a short amount of time. The one thing we both knew we wanted was a casual atmosphere. Not in an “everybody show up in your jean shorts and baseball caps” type of way, but a laid-back “let’s have fun and not be stuffy” type of way. My quote? “I don’t care if anyone says it was tacky, but I will be pissed if anyone says they didn’t have fun!”
Unfortunately, “fun” isn’t really a theme. Thinking of our expectations and what we really wanted, we settled on the idea of a family barbecue. Outdoorsy, happy, loving—Mr. Cannon and I love hosting barbeques! Some of my happiest memories are parties we threw centered around getting friends together to eat barbecue. The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Everyone loves barbecues—except maybe vegetarians. Although, one of our good veggie friends came to nearly all of our barbecues and enjoyed a grilled cheese or portabella burger, so I stand by my assertion that everyone loves barbecues.
Mrs. Macarons, TampaAge and Occupation: 26, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Renaissance ManEngagement Date: September 12, 2009Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Lange FarmAbout Me: I'm creative at heart and a graphic designer with an unhealthy obsession with type. I love roller coasters, spicy foods, and a good glass of Crianza. We’re planning a soft and lovely vintage-meets-modern wedding in a state that’s known for its beaches, glitz and glam. I have a ton of DIY projects and lots of little details I’m dying to share and can't wait to celebrate with our closest friends and family.
As an artist and designer, I use a lot of color and play with texture and patterns when I can. My closet is the same way: a kaleidoscope of shoes, purses, clothing, and accessories. When it came time to talk wedding colors, Mr. Macarons was a bit worried I’d want something like this:
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.
When I got engaged, here was the general line of questioning people asked when they found out the happy news.
Question 1: “Oohh you’re engaged! When’s the date?”
As soon as you get engaged this will definitely be the first question you get asked. It doesn’t hurt to have possibly at least a season in mind even if you don’t have a specific date. This appeases people a great deal more than shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Dunno.”
Question 2: “What are your colors?”
Now that we’re pretty far into planning this here weddin’, folks, I’m noticing this question crop up more and more. For some, this is the question they are able to answer ASAP. However, our wedding colors took a little time to solidify.
If you aren’t one of those who’s had your colors picked out for as long as you can remember (I definitely was not one of those people), it is somewhat of a daunting task! I wanted the day to look cohesive, so I had to narrow down my color choices. Read more…
Mrs. Prairie Dog, Cincinnati
Age and Occupation: 24, Program CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, PhD/Biomedical EngineerEngagement Date: December 18, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Glendale LyceumAbout Me: I'm a pilgrim soul of a girl with a house full of books and a coffee addiction that could slay Juan Valdez. My life is a whirl of grammar correction, good music, glue-gunning, and two pets named Hazel and Winston Churchill. I'm marrying my high school boyfriend in a formal-ish spring affair, roughly themed: "Elizabeth Bennet crashes a party co-hosted by Jay Gatsby and Cath Kidston, and loves it."
Way back when I discovered Weddingbee, I would stumble across bee bloggers who were well into their planning, hammering out the weeks-before details. If I wanted to know anything about the “feel” of their wedding—their bridesmaids dresses, their colors, whatever—I had to click their icon, click “Older” posts a bunch of times and scroll. A lot.
Since I often write posts with no pictures at all, I figured I’d prove to new readers (I know you Christmas, New Year’s and Valentine’s Day engagees are out there) that we actually have concrete plans for our wedding, not just a bunch of relationship babble. Also, I’m so close to my wedding that I am writing this post to remind myself: there are things that are decided. There are things that are cohesive. Or something.
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
As you may have read, I’m worried our wedding will become a lukewarm mess, with semi-interesting aspects that come together to leave our guests feeling meh.
I fear our ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, and yes, even the details, will leave our guests almost cold. Or they’ll think it’s too busy, too crowded with a plethora of details and a spectrum of flair. Too cramped with poms and chalkboards, buttons and bunting, pumpkins and brownies. Is that possible? Read more…
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
Being engaged for a long time has its pluses and minuses. The pluses are that we I have more time to plan, more time to gather inspiration, and more time to save money. The minuses are that I have more time to plan and change my mind, more time to gather inspiration that is different (better?) than the inspiration of last week, and more time to spend money.
It’s six in one hand and a half dozen in the other. Or, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Or… well, I’m sure there is some saying that actually works well here, but really, a long engagement is both a blessing and a curse.
My original inspiration board was nixed by Mr. M for being a bit too country, and looking back I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. Hay bale furniture is cute, but not really us.
Mrs. Snow Cone, Pittsburgh/Johnstown, PAAge and Occupation: 23, Public Health Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, EngineerEngagement Date: April 9, 2010Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: OMOS Church ceremony/Sunnehanna Country Club receptionAbout Me: I’m one of the lucky ones---I met my future husband at the ripe old age of 13, started dating him as a mature woman of 15, and have been enjoying the ride ever since. Here we are, 8 years later, living in Pittsburgh, planning a "homestination" wedding in the place our school romance began---Johnstown, PA. I thrive on talking a mile a minute, eating my weight in chocolate, and internet shopping. I love a lengthy to-do list almost as much as I love a healthy amount of chaos in my life. Mr. Snow Cone and I watch countless episodes of Friends and The West Wing on repeat, root for rival college sports teams, and make each other laugh each and every day. We’re putting together a small-town wedding with a big personality and a classically modern (or modernly classic?) look for 250 of our closest family and friends. It’s been 8+ years in the making, and sometimes I still can’t believe I’m finally getting to marry my high school sweetheart!
Now that we’ve blown past the 100-day mark, I decided to take a mental inventory of the decisions we’ve made in our planning. I wanted to make sure we weren’t making haphazard choices that would result in a horribly uncoordinated affair. I guess it makes sense to first tell you about the type of wedding we’re gunning for.
Once we had a date secured, Mr. Snow Cone and I sat down to map out what we wanted our wedding to look and feel like. We never entertained the idea of a theme, per se. Instead, following advice my SIL gave me, we tried to decide on a two-word phrase that would guide our decisions, describing a general style for the wedding. In a perfect world, this style would be the commonality among all of our details, apparel, decor, and the like, resulting in one impressive finished product.
We ultimately decided on “updated classics.” We’re both pretty traditional people. We like things that are familiar and comfortable. They’re traditions for a reason, after all! At the same time, though, we didn’t want our wedding day to look and feel like it could have occurred 10, 20, or 30 years ago. We wanted a little flair to show off our personalities, making it a personal affair for the two of us. We’ve decided our goal is to take traditional elements and maintain their predictability for the most part, but with a dose of originality and individuality, making them our traditions instead of wedding-world traditions in general. Ideally, I don’t want people to see something and ponder, “What was that?!” Instead, I’d love for them to think, “That was so cool!” We’re using personalization to attempt to push people an inch out of their comfort zones instead of a mile.
So, without further ado, here’s our six-month checkup in inspiration-board form.
Ms. Ferris Wheel, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, PsychologistFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, PsychologistEngagement Date: May 23 and 28, 2010 (one for each of us!)Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Parc55 Hotel (city lights ceremony, ballroom reception)About Me: Born in the Southeast, educated in the Northeast, and over-educated on the West Coast, I finally earned my city-girl credentials and have put down roots in gorgeous San Francisco. I’m a raging perfectionist with a lightning quick wit and a terrible sense of both time and direction. Our wedding task list is endlessly growing because of my predilection to think that DIY projects I can make = DIY projects I should make (so not true!). I always go to bed wishing there were more hours in the day to enjoy all the things I adore, whether that be hobbies, friends, my career, our two dogs, or Mr. Ferris Wheel. Ours is a story of a non-traditional couple living an oddly traditional life planning a not-so-traditional wedding in this city we adore. Together we are bustin’ out all of our best skills (and some of our worst ones) to plan a laid-back-chic DIY-craftastic love-alicious affair!
You’ve seen hints of our color scheme in my wedding-party invites, so I thought it was high time for me to put together an honest-to-goodness palette picture because…umm…because I’ve seen other people do it? Oh, stop laughing! You know you’ve succumbed to the “all the other brides are doing it” pressure at some point, too. Kinda like when I made that inspiration board—which I’ve never really looked at again since the fateful day I spent about six hours working on it. But that’s a post for another time.
Let’s bring it on back around to the point of *this* post. I know you’re waiting with baited breath. (BTW, what does that even mean?! Sounds disgusting.) So without further ado, I give you our perfect palette.
{Black, white, dove gray, cobalt blue, gray, charcoal gray}
Mrs. Green Tea, SacramentoAge and Occupation: 30, Tea AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee CriticEngagement Date: November 17, 2006Wedding Date: August 23, 2008Blogging Since: June 10, 2008Venue: Vineyard on the DeltaAbout Me: I'm just your average obsessive compulsive, arts & crafts loving, funky-on-the-inside/boring-on-the-outside girl, who dares to say 'Hey! I can make that!' Nerdy professional by day, goofy won-ton by night. The won-ton sometimes comes out during the day when I'm fed the dollar breakfast at Ikea. Since our engagement, wedding planning has put me on high alert for bargains and I've been pushing my nimble fingers through callous building experiments!
In honor of Earth Day, I created the ’Color Hive’ to share with you:
If you can’t quite put your finger on what this reminds you of, here’s a tip: Read more…
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
What do you think of the red-green-gray-white color scheme now that you can see the colors all mashed together?
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
After I boldly declared our red and green color scheme, I began thinking about adding an accent color to the mix. Accent colors can add a pop of unexpected fun or elegance while adding depth to the colors already in the mix. In our case, I was just hoping an accent color would help our wedding look less like a Christmas party and more like a wedding.
First, I decided to add white as an accent color. This one was pretty easy. I don’t think I have been to a wedding where white/ivory wasn’t involved somewhere. It kinda goes with the territory, so to speak.
But adding white did not help alleviate the feeling that Santa is coming to town.
