Mrs. Coach, DallasAge and Occupation: 21, Undergraduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Retail Sales/ManagementEngagement Date: October 14, 2011Wedding Date: October 2012Venue: Piazza in the VillageAbout Me: I was born and raised in the piney woods of East Texas, but Dallas has recently stolen my heart (along with Mr. Coach, of course!) I love classic rock, suspense novels, and my sweet Mini Aussie puppy, Memphis. My fiancé and I are planning a traditional wedding filled with romance, and we can’t wait to combine our own personal touches with a timeless affair. We’re young in years, but are also old souls that love good food and great music, and enjoy many things that are well before our time. We’re planning this wedding together, learning lots, and relying on good wine and reruns of Seinfeld to keep us sane along the way!
It’s official: we are less than a week out and I am in über bride mode. When the seven day mark hit, I was completely overwhelmed with the urge to craft, plan, and prepare. This might be the final project I get to share with you guys before the big day, but I just finished it up and I’m really excited about it so I wanted to go ahead and let y’all take a look!
With my recent burst of energy came the desire to create a cute thank you banner to hang on the table that would hold gifts from guests, favors, and (spoiler alert!) bubbles for our exit. Luckily, there is so much wedding banner inspiration online it’s almost overwhelming!
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 we got back from the rehearsal dinner, I was pretty freaked out because I felt like there was so much to do. Mr. Cannon and Cherry Bomb went to bed, and I finished up our last wedding projects. I knew I would be stapling the programs, but there was one project that completely slipped my mind until the rehearsal. Pastor Bob told my nephew he would be carrying in the rings on a pillow or something, and I was kind of like, “Uh, yes…” because I did not put together anything for the rings to be put on. Crap! So, I dug around in my cabinets to find a small white plate I knew I had. It was from an old set of dishes I had in college. The rest of the set had been given to Goodwill except for this one plate, which was kept because I had put tuna on it to bribe my cat into a cat carrier when we were moving. So, as you can imagine, I was not very attached to it and was fine with it being sacrificed to the wedding.
I used the ribbons left over from my bouquet construction to decorate the plate and then used one smaller ribbon to tie the rings. Considering how completely half-assed and last minute this construction was, I actually love the way it turned out!
Mrs. 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!
So, the past week has been a bit of a blitz. We are leaving today for Michigan for the wedding and wanted to get as many crafts as possible done. Luckily I had the help of bridesmaid OT, Mama Aardvark, and Grandma Aardvark.
First Bridesmaid OT and I made lollipop cones for the candy buffet. Her pup kip helped! Lets just say this is a little trickier than I imagined but we managed to make it work.
Mrs. 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.
Okay hive, if you’ve kept up with my posts and managed to separate me out in your head from all the other fabulous bee bloggers, you know I’ve mentioned these darn ring bearer pillows a number of times. As we approached the wedding, and I was feeling heavy levels of resentment, this is one of the only wedding projects I managed to actually do myself.
I’d given sewing the pillows a couple of tries. I don’t know why I insisted on doing it all by hand, but I did. This post will only be a step-by-step instruction manual for someone who already knows how to sew pillows by hand.
Personal photo: Gather supplies. This was several spools of ribbon to be chosen for decorating later.
Mrs. Hawk, Richmond, VAAge and Occupation: 26, FinanceFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, District SupervisorEngagement Date: March 13, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Chapel of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, 2007 Legacy HallAbout Me: I’m an Arizona-born girl who has spent the majority of my life living below the Mason-Dixon line. The South has definitely earned a special place in my heart (alongside my Virginia born and bred fiance, of course!). We are planning a traditional Christian ceremony at my alma mater in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, followed by a rocking reception filled with Southern cooking and vintage/shabby chic details. When we’re not wedding planning, we enjoy spending time with our three dogs, going for runs together, watching plenty of football (or baseball depending on the season), and sampling new wine.
My love for our monogram knows no end. (I told y’all it would keep popping up!) Since we’re going to have a mini cigar bar, I figured custom matchboxes were in order.
Mrs. Elk, City: Syracuse/Long IslandAge and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Computer EngineerEngagement Date: November 22, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Old Field Club About Me: I’m a Long Island girl finishing my last year of medical school in western NY, on the road to becoming a pediatrician. When I’m not studying or sleeping at the hospital, I spend my free time watching bad TV (Vampire Diaries anyone?), playing with my pooch, singing incredibly off-key (to the annoyance of Mr. Elk ), and reading Harry Potter for the zillionth time. Mr. Elk and I are planning a secular wedding infused with both Irish and cultural Jewish traditions. Only a week after I become an M.D., I will get my Mrs. degree, too!
Well hive, this week has been incredibly productive on the wedding front! It started out with my apartment looking like this:
covered in the crafts I had yet to actually complete. Now, though, I am pleased to say it is tidy and clean after completing many of the tasks I’d been putting off for months!
I made 200 more of our personalized cocktail napkins: Read more…
Mrs. Opossum, TallahasseeAge and Occupation: 23, Aspiring Interior Architect
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Soon to be Firefighter
Engagement Date: October 30, 2011Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: The Retreat at Bradley's PondAbout Me: I am a recent design graduate and aspiring interior architect that is a compulsive list maker, a Christmas light fanatic, and an avid nap-taker. This freckle-faced Southern girl loves being on the back of a horse, hanging out at the gym, and watching SVU with her rugby-playing fiance. It is a dream come true to finally be planning a wedding (in five months) to my high school sweetheart (of seven years). While preparing to tie the knot we're also balancing Fire College, grad school applications, jobs, and precious time with our supportive family and friends. We're moving fast...but are excited about enjoying every moment of this time in our lives!
So all week the weather forecast for Friday (our wedding day…. eeeeeeek!) has said this dreaded word:
THUNDERSTORMS
I don’t know if anyone else has been following the Weather Channel recently (probably not… I usually don’t) but there is, and I quote, “a slow moving storm system traveling from west to east.” It’s the storm that has caused all that tornado damage in Texas (to all the bees out in Dallas-Fort Worth, I pray that you and your families are safe!!!). The front page of weather.com reads “Texas Tornado Close Up” and “Widespread Wet System Inches Into Southeast.” Southeast? That’s me!
Cue freak-out. I know that I discussed a rain plan… but when it thunderstorms in Florida it means lightning. And loud thunder. And possibly tornadoes. That’s really not ideal for the wedding day.
So to distract myself from things I can’t control, I’ve been putting together all the signage and little paper details for the wedding. I have literally been getting up, going to the gym, going to work, and coming home and distracting myself. I’ve had a surprisingly good time doing it, too.
If you had asked me my thoughts on all the “paper” items for the wedding the day after I got engaged, I would have said, “Who cares about paper? It all gets thrown away anyway.” Now, just a few days out from the wedding, the “paper” elements (invitations, escort cards, wedding day signage) has become one of my favorite elements of the event!
My mom and I started working together on the escort cards weeks ago when Mr. O was out of town. We wrote down ALL of the guests’ names (even if they weren’t coming) and put them in alphabetical order to go through later. We decided to write them on old book pages just to add a different element of paper to the mix.
Here is a little hint if you decide to do this… Read more…
Mrs. 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.
Although my cork board collage was headed in the right direction, it still had not met its final destination. I was still bummed out that I wasn’t able to add burlap over the cork. Until my post last week about my updated project, Hive member LK2511 suggested that I use a credit card to push the burlap underneath the frame. I thought I could give that a shot. Since I am at it, I might as well change up the whole thing.
It suddenly hit me that I should add words to the board with wooden letters. That way it will match the look of our table numbers. I decided to also remove the pictures of us when we are younger, because it was no longer relevant to what I was trying to achieve.
I first cut a large piece of burlap and put it over the board. I took a credit card and started pushing the burlap underneath the frame…and what do ya know, it worked! I did take an X-acto knife afterwards though to tidy it up a bit.
As for the words I wanted to add, I decided to use ’Better Together’ since that is our first dance song.
I painted these letters to match the frame of the board. I also decided to add photo corners to all of the photos to give it a finished look.
I was using tacky dots for all of this. I thought this was a great idea. That is until I came in the next morning and my project looked like this: Read more…
Mrs. Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
I have this (potentially bad) habit of feeling the need to buy something when I think it’s cute, regardless of whether or not I actually have a plan for it or know exactly how I can use it. (I’m also a pro at returning things.) So when I saw these little wooden frames for a buck or two at Michaels a few months back, I bought a whole bunch of them. They had a rustic type vibe and I figured there had to be something I could do with them for the wedding.
I know everyone and their mother seems to be incorporating chalkboards into their wedding in some form or another these days, and I’m totally another sucker for ’em. I would love to place one at each of our food stations, one at the bar, one for the restrooms, etc and so forth. However, seeing as the frames I bought were just frames – no backing, no stand, just plain unfinished wood – I figured I could get some plywood from Home Depot to use as the backing, get it cut to size, spray with chalkboard paint, and glue it to the frames. Easy peasy, right?
Well obviously not, if you read the title of this post. Read more…
Mrs. 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!
I have loved the idea of incorporating flags into a grand exit for a while. They are so cute and playful, and pretty in photos. On top of that, we wanted our “big exit” to be from the church instead of the reception. It’ll be daytime, so we nixed the idea of sparklers. Furthermore, our church does not allow rice, birdseed, or bio-confetti to be tossed because it would end up all over the city sidewalk (and I guess the city doesn’t like that?). Flags seemed like the perfect solution. But what would the flags say?
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 upon a time, in my early days as a Bee, I wrote this post about my plans to create a brooch bouquet. I even gave you a little sneak peek at its progress here, but that is where I stopped! Other projects became more of a priority and I never got around to sharing the final product with you before the wedding. It’s your lucky day because I’m sharing now!
This project was indeed a labor of love and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I’m still so in love with it and I now get to enjoy it every day.
So how about I just show it to you and then tell you how it came to be?
I won’t reinvent the wheel when other bees before me have posted fantastic tutorials on how to make your own, including Mrs. Sloth’s and Mrs. Stripes’, whose post was recently featured on the Helpful Series. I followed Stripes’ method with just a few modifications. Read more…
Mrs. Mink, Charlottesville, VirginiaAge and Occupation: 34, College AdministratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer ConsultantEngagement Date: November 26, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & VineyardsAbout Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
Without a die cutting machine, I went online to find paper I could run through my printer that had perforated tags on it. I found one website that had what I wanted after much searching and placed an order. About a month later, Avery came out with the same product and it’s probably at every office supply store in the country. Oh well. Next, I had to create the board. Read more…
Mrs. Mink, Charlottesville, VirginiaAge and Occupation: 34, College AdministratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer ConsultantEngagement Date: November 26, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & VineyardsAbout Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
For years, I was convinced that I wasn’t crafty despite the fact that I love painting. Liking something and actually thinking you do it well are two different things! So, while I enjoyed DIY projects around the house, I didn’t think I was doing anything all that great.
Until wedding planning started. I realized that I love wedding projects and I’m pretty happy with how they turn out. Hooray!
I first saw corn hole boards when visiting friends in Ohio back in 2004. They were wild about the lawn game. Read more…
Mrs. 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.
Lately I have been drooling over all of the beautiful wedding hangers out there. I don’t know what has come over me, why do I care so much about a hanger? I have no idea, all I know is that I wanted one…bad. At $20-$40 each though, I didn’t want one that bad. I started to toy with the idea of crafting my own. It couldn’t be that hard, could it? Well, let me show you my first few attempts:
Okay, I know that looks bad. Did I just scare you? I will tell you that it does take a few tries. I promise though, that once you get the hang of how the wire bends, it’s smooth sailing. I encourage everyone to not be scared of this project and give it a shot. You can make these beautiful hangers for less than $5. So here we go.
Mrs. Mink, Charlottesville, VirginiaAge and Occupation: 34, College AdministratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer ConsultantEngagement Date: November 26, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & VineyardsAbout Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
Did I mention that we are going to have FOUR of our little nephews in our wedding? We don’t want them to be overly scripted or get too rigid with their roles, so I envision just sending them all down the aisle as a group to do what little boys do: make noise and make people smile.
I wanted to give the boys boutonnieres, but didn’t find the idea of having anything too formal pinned to their outfits. I started to look for a cute alternative. First, I found ribbon badges all over the internet. My favorite came from the Weddingbee boards.
The button in the middle of the ribbon badge from those images was cute, but not cute enough. I wanted something that little boys would like. I also hoped that it would be in some way related to the wedding. That’s when I started looking for little golden retrievers. I was thinking of boutonnieres like these from Fritts Rosenow:
Mr. Mink, who I call eagle eye when we shopping, helped me comb the scrapbook and jewelry sections of the craft store one Sunday completely expecting to find some little golden retrievers. Read more…
