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.
You’ve all heard about the importance of achieving a proper work-life balance in life, right? Where people strive to prioritize career ambitions on one hand and family, health, and other of life’s little pleasures on the other.
Well, I have been trying to achieve proper wedding-life balance as we continue along this wedding planning journey. Read more…
Mrs. Seashell, Chicago, IL / Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 28, Marriage and Family TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: September 3, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: The Glen Manor HouseAbout Me: Fonts and fashion, stationery and Sundays, photography and french toast... the beauty is in the details for this fun-loving Chicagoan who loves to plan plan plan! The soon-to-be hubs plays "Mr. Fix-It" in our new condo while I swoon over beautiful, personalized stationery and choose shades of aubergine for my bridesmaids' dresses... and thus begins my new fairy tale! Skirting to the East Coast for our September nuptials where my home state of Rhode Island awaits with fall foliage, I'm just a few dress fittings and bachelorette party away from saying "I Do" to a very happy ending!
True, our wedding is over. But I can’t say goodbye. So, I promise to write an anniversary post, announce a baby Seashell (not yet), or find another excuse (or two) to check in along the way. For now, today, I want to say Thank You.
Our wedding would not have been the same with out you. Thank you, hive, for sharing in this journey with me. You have made the process of planning a wedding infinitely more fun, more memorable, more detailed, and more rewarding. 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!
Sigh. I have ennui. What is ennui, you ask? It’s like depression but French, so it’s much cooler. See?
I feel like every commercial for anti depressants ever created. There’s the one about feeling like you need to wind it up, not like Gwen Stefani, more like this:
Ms. Gazelle, Calgary/VancouverAge and Occupation: 32, EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Technology AnalystEngagement Date: September 3, 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: Brock House Restaurant, VancouverAbout Me: I am a marathon runner, cyclist, Ironman triathlete and beautiful shoe fiend who also loves kicking back and watching Glee. I grew up a bit of a nomad as I traveled around the world with my family, living everywhere from Australia to England to South America and Indonesia. I finally settled in Calgary a few years ago and met Mr. Gazelle who loves me even though we cheer for different hockey teams. We are planning a bit of a destination wedding in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia and we can’t wait to share the day with our close family and friends.
Holy smokes, Hive…we are less than two weeks away from the Gazelle wedding! How is this happening so fast? I have to tell you, the run to the end is a strange and crazy time. Planning a wedding feels very similar emotionally to training for a marathon.
When you train for a marathon it is something that you have been working towards for months. Then in the final two weeks you ramp your activity down to let your body rest up and gain energy for race day. You have all of this energy just waiting to be released so you are buzzing around, jittery and emotional in those final two weeks before the marathon. This phenomenon is commonly known as taper madness.
Well my friends, I have taper madness for the wedding. My mind is going in a million different directions. I’ll be engrossed in work but then I’ll quickly remember that oh my gosh, I need to make sure I pack a getting ready outfit! What am I going to wear on the plane to our honeymoon? I better remind Mr. Gazelle to find his birth certificate!
I am also feeling emotional and dare I say it, perhaps slightly irritable? 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.
Last week I moved Mr. Pony to our nation’s capital to start a new job. After getting some boxes unpacked and taking an exhilarating ride on the metro, I took a flight back to central Illinois.
It was bittersweet leaving Mr. Pony in D.C. On one hand, I am so excited for the opportunities and change this move will bring to our lives, but, on the other hand, the next few months are probably going to be extremely difficult for both of us. Read more…
Mrs. Balloons, Aspen, COAge and Occupation: 24, Mass Communications graduate, Web Design student, & winery workerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, EngineerEngagement Date: July 10, 2009Wedding Date: August 2011Venue: The Sundeck at The Little NellAbout Me: I'm a small-town Midwest girl planning an intimate mountaintop destination wedding complete with a huge DIY at-home reception. As an honors graduate fallen victim to the worst job market in history in my area, we're doing everything we can to still have the wedding of our dreams on a tighter budget. I currently enjoy working at a winery, but I'm lonnng overdue for a day job! I am: a big-time daydreamer, one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, and a lover of pretty paper and awesome fonts. I'm a girly girl who loves to get dolled up, but also a country girl who loves to get muddy and go 4-wheeler riding. I also enjoy singing in the car, boating, going to concerts, the History Channel, carnival food, and going to watch St. Louis Cardinals baseball with my handsome engineer.
My bridal shower is Sunday and I’m super excited, but also pretty nervous.
I feel so lucky that I have an awesome Matron of Honor hosting it for me in her lovely backyard and I can’t wait to spend the day with my favorite girls. At the same time, however, my happy thoughts about the day have been mixed with nervousness over a few issues that keep floating into my mind. Read more…
Mrs. Hyena, College Station, TXAge and Occupation: 23, Marketing SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Aerospace Engineering Grad StudentEngagement Date: January 8, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Downtown 202About Me: I'm a Texas girl who met my future hubby in high school, then headed up to Oklahoma for a college education (BOOMER SOONER!) before moving back to the Lone Star State to be with him. I love reading and recycling, Photoshop and reality TV, making lame jokes and then laughing at them, quoting movies, and Mr. Hyena most of all. I'm perpetually early and I like to get things accomplished. When my cat meows at me, I meow back. We're planning a laid-back, unintentionally DIY wedding with a cocktail-party vibe, and can't wait to celebrate our nuptials with our nearest and dearest!
In the weeks before our wedding, I was a blubbering mess. I felt so stressed out, and EVERYTHING set me off. I felt like I didn’t have time to take care of myself. More than anything, I wanted to go to the gym, and veg out and watch my DVRed shows, and make dinner at home instead of picking up McDonald’s for the umpteenth time.
At the same time, I felt like those needs took a backseat to the greater need of making-this-wedding-happen-dammit. So I rushed around and didn’t allow myself downtime and I continued to sob at least once a day over the poor freaked-out guy marrying me.
Then, on the Tuesday before the wedding, I had planned to meet up with a few girls from church. I stopped by Mr. Hyena’s house to go over a few things before going to meet the girls, cried on him some more and made us both miserable, then blew my nose and headed off to the coffee shop where we were meeting.
And I still wanted to cry for the first 20 minutes or so, but then something miraculous happened. Read more…
Mrs. Giraffe, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 23, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Music Student TeacherEngagement Date: October 23, 2008Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Trinity Lutheran Church & Idlewild Country ClubAbout Me: Coming from the suburbs of the Windy City, you'll often find me with my foot in my mouth while laughing for no reason or telling bad knock knock jokes. I've been crafty for as long as I can remember, and will DIY something twice over before I have someone do it for me. I'm a semi-awkward, typeface obsessed, design junkie and have been know to break out my dance moves for no reason as well as try my best to be ridiculous at all times. My love of pop culture, wordplay, and graph paper almost rivals my love of Mr. Giraffe (who is just the bee's knees). After a 2.5 year engagement, we're planning a modern-in-disguise traditional wedding, and cannot wait!
Or at least that’s what Dr. Seuss tells you to do…or what Mr. Giraffe keeps telling me to do.
See, here’s the thing, Hive…In the interest of full disclosure, I’m going to be honest with you all. I feel conflicted about our wedding. I can look back and key into my feelings on that day and I remember how I felt: entirely blissful, glowing, sheer happiness. That’s the thing, I remember feeling that way, I remember telling Mama Giraffe that it was the best day of my life, I remember crying uncontrollably right after our ceremony (but before pictures—oops) because I was so overwhelmed with emotions and happiness.
I know that’s how I felt; I remember it, but I don’t feel that way anymore.
Mr. G and I had a long talk about this while we ate dinner our the beach during our honeymoon, but I’ll break it down for you guys.
It’s over.
The wedding is over and gone and I am so heartbroken about it. Read more…
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
Bride brain. I walk into a room and forget what I came in for. Frequently. My mind is ping-ponging from one thought to another. Five minutes later I snap to. This foreign behavior is unsettling. Must make more to-do’s. Focus. One thing at a time. Breathe.
Scrambling to get our house ready for my family who’s staying here until the hotel block starts. So much to do. My mind is racing thinking about everything that remains between now and Saturday morning…
Thank goodness Mr. PaC and I are both off from work today. We spent a few hours at the mall purchasing parent gifts, buying bulk items from Costco for the OOT bags and doing as much as we can in advance.
Tuesday:
I want to put my phone and email on Do Not Disturb, and simply chill between now and the big day. We’ve busted our butts to earn this week of nothing to do. It’s been pretty quiet since the 30 day mark. (Hel-lo Mexico trip!)
Mrs. Jaguar, SydneyAge and Occupation: 27, Primary School TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, IT ConsultantEngagement Date: August 8, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Curzon HallAbout Me: I'm an Australian girl who is a self-proclaimed nerd, loves all things stationery and would be lost without books, music and the internet. Mr. Jaguar and I have been together for the past eight years and he finally popped the question last August. Hurrah! We currently live in Sydney, Australia with our adorable cat who thinks he's a person. We're a couple who likes to multi-task: we've been planning a wedding abroad, a permanent move from London to Sydney, and preparing to build our own home all at the same time. Travelling makes me giddy...as does Mr. Jaguar, of course!
These past few days have been some of the most stressful ones I’ve experienced in this whole wedding-planning stint. I’ve asked the experts (namely my blissfully wedded bee friends) and they tell me that it’s normal to have the cray-cray hit the fan during the home stretch.
It all started with silly little bouts of irritation. The fact that every time I opened up my wedding to-do list, it automatically opened with a version of ‘Word’ that I don’t own, have never owned, and can’t install—so a two second click turns into a minute of frantic cursing, shutting down and reloading. Sounds trivial, I know, but imagine that happening about a thousand times in a row and…well…you get my drift. The fact that after days of organising tables and who was sitting where at the reception, my in-laws decided to change everything around on me. The fact that all my millions of spreadsheets needed to be re-jigged to match the changes, and that I’m inevitably going to forget something, or heaven forbid, someone.
I’m slowly learning to let go of the obsessive compulsive need to have everything fully planned out and organised, but still…for a planner like me, change is hard.
Mrs. Sparkler, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 27, WriterFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, PublisherEngagement Date: July 21, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Chicago Illuminating CompanyAbout Me: I’m a Southern lady living in the big city of Chicago. Well, lady may be a stretch, but I’m working hard to keep some Virginia charm in our sleek, urban, wedding-palooza! I’m addicted to marathons, not-so-famous bands, Chicago restaurants, and Mark Twain. I cry during SPCA commercials, and I think LOST was the best show to ever hit television. Mr. S and I met at a classy college mixer and, 7 years later, he’s still by my side. He’s the only child, laid back, free spirit... I’m the oldest of five kids, type-A, organizer. It doesn’t work on paper, but we’ve never paid attention to that stuff anyway. Somehow it works. And like they say, sometimes when you know…you just know.
Why does it seem like whenever I cross something off our “To-Do” list, 10 other things pop up in its place? Why can’t I seem to accomplish anything during the week? Why are there so many decisions to be made? Why can’t Sparks pick a suit?* Why?
If you couldn’t tell, that was me… freaking out. And it seems to be happening a lot lately. In place of wedding nightmares, I’ve been having full on, daytime freak outs. It’s lots of fun, let me tell you.
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."
My dad is in the hospital. It’s five days before our wedding, and he’s asleep in a place that, for all of its niceties, smells like sick people. It’s not a life-threatening, but an extremely painful ailment which landed him there. He should be okay for the wedding, but that’s not really the point. My mom keeps track of his medication schedule on lined notebook paper and tries to pretend she’s not stressed, for my sake. Seeing both parents compromised at once is enough to make a lump rise high in my throat.
After leaving the hospital, I drove back to Cincinnati in the most ridiculous onslaught of rain I’ve ever seen- a ceaseless deluge, deafening against the windshield and roof. Like so many around me, I pulled over to the side of the road and turned on my hazards. And I laughed and laughed—or was I crying?—as I looked up at the dark heavens, asking, “Are you done yet?” Because I am. Read more…
Mrs. Jam, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 25, Writer/Associate Wedding CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Structural EngineerEngagement Date: December 23, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Hunter’s Ridge, Princeton, ILAbout Me: I’m a penny-pinching cat lady getting ready to marry the frugal dog lover of my dreams. Our ideal Saturday morning includes rummaging around people’s junk at garage and estate sales followed by an afternoon date to our favorite café, where we only eat sandwiches that include the word “salad.” We actually love it so much, it’s sort of our unofficial wedding theme: Look at our delicious finds, eat homemade ham salad, and celebrate our love…barndance style. When we’re not obsessing over our love-fest shindig, we’re planning themed parties for our best friends and jamming to '90s music.
Don’t get me wrong: I am going to love the celebration, no matter what. And I have oodles of sugary love for Mr. Jam, which is the whole reason for this affair. But preparing for the big day? The love has sort of…fizzled (to say the very least).
We had an 18-month engagement, which was fantastic and laid-back and enabled us to do things at our own leisurely pace. But in those 18 months, everything changed. Our visions changed. Our taste in music and food and attire and guests changed. We lost loved ones, struggled with our $10k budget, and planned a century’s worth of DIY projects to tie the whole fiesta together.
And here we are, three sure-to-fly-by weeks away from the wedding with a ton of projects calling our names, begging to be done for the sake of our latest vision. And because Mr. Jam has officially been living out of state for four months (and counting), whose plate does that fall on?
Mrs. Seal, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 25, Personal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Sales and Support SpecialistEngagement Date: December 12, 2009Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Sts Peter and Paul Church/The Bently ReserveAbout Me: I am a goofy, wannabe crafty, well-intentioned Renaissance Woman (OK, perhaps "aimless wanderer" is a more aptly suited term for me, but hopefully you get the point)—basically I dabble in just about everything and pride myself in such. Without warning, I occasionally breakout into soulful improvised songs and interpretive dances and there's just no stopping me! As so many others before me, planning our wedding has unearthed a deep, intense passion for all things bridal and I secretly fear the day it will come to an end. Mr. Seal and I are quite the pair and life with him by my side is extremely rewarding—I am so thankful to have found him. Together we are planning a black-tie San Francisco affair for 250—light on the stuffiness and with lots of extra Seal-y flair.
So, most brides have some type of wedding nightmare at one point or another, right? I mean, Miss Waffle recently let us in on her recurring “ugly cry face” dreams and I suspect she isn’t the only one to fall prey to the horrors of wedding nightmare-land. In fact, I know she’s not. While I haven’t yet had a UCF dream, I have had another form of wedding mishap continually permeate my dreams. Let me give you a bit of a background story first.
I’m not always clumsy, but let’s say this: I’ve had my fair share of missteps. Quite literally. I’ve sprained my ankle dozens of times. (Sometimes my ankle just likes to buckle, what can I say?) Much to my luck, this often happens in front of other people. I try my best to laugh it off like, “Ha! I meant to trip on my right foot and fall to my knees. Ain’t I a hoot?!” But let me tell you this, it is not so easy to play this off with grace when I get up limping (and occasionally bleeding if my knee is met with concrete).
Anyway, it doesn’t stop there. I am going to tell you all a story that, despite having happened over ten years ago, still haunts me and makes me blush to this day. Where to start? Let’s see. Back in the year 2000…
(Sorry. Doesn’t everyone think of Conan when you hear “in the year 2000″? If you don’t know what I am talking about then you clearly need to see: this.)
So, anyhow, back in the year 2000, I accompanied Daddy Seal to the 1st Annual Latin Grammys.
Mrs. Crepe, Queens, NY/Nashville, TNAge and Occupation: 28, Jewelry DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Animation DirectorEngagement Date: September 28, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: A church in downtown NashvilleAbout Me: I'm a native New Yorker who has always been a DIY kind of girl and loves tackling creative projects while getting the most out of a dollar. I'm marrying my college sweetheart and we love frequenting antique stores, exploring together, and playing with kittens. We're planning a fun, "us" wedding in his hometown---with as many handmade touches as we can pack into a day!
Pop culture has made being the 10 letter “b” word so commonplace that you forget that it’s not like a switch gets turned on the moment you have a ring on your finger. I was so sure that I wouldn’t be that horrible word because I was raised to be considerate (to a fault) of other people’s feelings. It almost pains me to make a decision that’s just about me. This causes all kinds of guilt on a normal everyday basis but when it came to planning the wedding, the guilt that sort of buzzes in my ear regularly turned crushing.
Before the guilt though, came fear—am I allowed to ask for what I want? If I do, will I be called the “b” word? And when we were making the big decisions, like location, that fear ran through me hardcore. Will people think badly of me because I’m not having it in my own hometown? Will my family members think I’m not standing up for myself and letting the future in laws have more say? Will the important people in my life be there? Read more…
