Mrs. D'orsay, Baltimore/Lancaster UK
Age and Occupation: 24, Stay at home fiance (formerly in nonprofit communications)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Web site developer and designer; co-owner of men's skincare shop
Engagement Date: August 10, 2008
Wedding Date: August, 2009
Venue: Oakland Manor
About Me: I'm a Maryland raised environmental policy wonk/activist/organizer and communications aficionado. In the past year I've lived in Baltimore, MD, Tucson, AZ, Miami, FL and Lancaster, England. In my not so spare time I enjoy planning trips with Mr. D' Orsay, visiting friends and family and crafting like a mo-fo. I also enjoy modern dance classes, rugby and soccer but have been banned by my mother, MOHs, and Mr. D' Orsay from playing till after the wedding. I have an unnatural addiction to cheese and shoes, but love Mr. D' Orsay more than either and can't wait to become Mrs. D' Orsay!
Since I’m not British, I don’t know if I’m really qualified to broach this subject, but it is a fun one! As you may have seen in movies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, ladies can really rock hats and fascinators at English weddings.
(source)
The easiest way to encourage ladies to wear hats is to put in on the invite. Since we’ve kind of missed the…
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Mrs. Quiche, Chicago/Montego Bay
Age and Occupation: 28, Interior Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 42, Telecom Guru
Engagement Date: July 2, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Venue: Coyaba Resort, Montego Bay
About Me: I love Chicago and can’t imagine living anywhere else (Well, except Paris. Or anywhere in France, for that matter!). I’m a full-time worker, part-time student, soon-to-be-step-mom, indie music lovin’, architecture and design fanatic, macaroni and cheese addict, vegetarian, Francophile, Ohio State football obsessed, wedding planning girl. Mr. Quiche and I are “Partners-in-Crime” and cannot wait to celebrate our marriage surrounded by our family and closest friends. I plan on DIYing my little heart out (or as much as a suitcase to Jamaica will hold).
Snippets of lyrics from Tim McGraw’s song:
They say not to have too much fun
They say not to get too much sun
Democrat, Republican
I guess I’m screwed, I’m neither one
Don’t say ’hell’, say ’what the heck’
Do what’s politically correct
Don’t pray in school, but have safe sex
Isn’t that what they expect?…
Well I wonder if they’ve got a life
A broken car and two ex-wives
Do they drink beer on Friday…
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Mrs. Lemonade, Austin/San Antonio
Age and Occupation: 28, Bureaucrat
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Music Management
Engagement Date: December 21, 2007
Wedding Date: April, 2009
Blogging Since: August 22, 2008
Venue: Country Club ceremony, ballroom reception
About Me: I’m a total wonkette who is lucky enough to be surrounded by her favorite things on a daily basis – awesome music, the great State of Texas and of course, Mr. Lemonade! I find any excuse I can to craft something and am completely infatuated with the 1950’s, all things Kennedy, and my furbaby Vida.
As the days tick by and we get closer and closer to W day, I am feeling the need to knock items off the mile-long to do list. Luckily most of the big crafty projects are winding down and I’m left with a list of items that need to be purchased. Slowly but surely I’ve been knocking these puppies out on an almost daily basis…
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Mrs. Perfume, DC
Age and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Consultant
Engagement Date: May 13, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia
About Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.
My 1940s elbow-length gloves
My very simple dress needs a little something extra. There will be brooches and sparkly bits, but the one thing that I think will make it all that much more special is a pair of gloves. Gloves are undoubtedly old school. They add an air of dignity to the occasion… and I will likely never wear occasion gloves again. And when I…
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Mrs. Quiche, Chicago/Montego Bay
Age and Occupation: 28, Interior Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 42, Telecom Guru
Engagement Date: July 2, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Venue: Coyaba Resort, Montego Bay
About Me: I love Chicago and can’t imagine living anywhere else (Well, except Paris. Or anywhere in France, for that matter!). I’m a full-time worker, part-time student, soon-to-be-step-mom, indie music lovin’, architecture and design fanatic, macaroni and cheese addict, vegetarian, Francophile, Ohio State football obsessed, wedding planning girl. Mr. Quiche and I are “Partners-in-Crime” and cannot wait to celebrate our marriage surrounded by our family and closest friends. I plan on DIYing my little heart out (or as much as a suitcase to Jamaica will hold).
A recent question posed to the feisty Dear Abby (sidenote: I *heart* Dear Abby. And Margo.) got me thinking about dietary lifestyles and wedding receptions.
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DEAR ABBY: My daughter and future son-in-law are being married this summer. They are both vegans, and are planning a vegan dinner for their reception. I thought it was a very cool way of showing what different types of vegan dishes…
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Mrs. Peep Toe, San Francisco
Age and Occupation: 29, Policy Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 36, Olive Oil Production Manager
Engagement Date: December 16, 2007
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: November 26, 2008
Venue: Hotel Vitale
About Me: I am a west coast lady who loves the San Francisco Bay Area. I love living with Mr. Peep and our animals: Huck the Dog and Ferris the Cat. I work to save the environment in San Francisco, while Mr. Peep makes ridiculously delicious Olive Oil. On any day you can find me reading the latest book I have gotten my hands on, eating Swedish Fish, and perusing wedding blogs! We are both champagne drinking foodies on a Bud Light budget. We are planning an eco-chic, intimate, and interfaith San Francisco City wedding.
source.
As soon as Mr. Peep and I were engaged, Sister Peep (the original and best party thrower) insisted on throwing us an engagement party. (Seriously, before they even bought their new house she called and said that it had a great deck for a party—an engagement party, hint, hint. No joke.) I, personally, was a bit hesitant. I hadn’t had a party thrown for…
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.

Mrs. Sushi, Hershey/Hawaii
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer/Photographer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Laborer/Aspiring Hip Hop Producer
Engagement Date: December 25, 2007
Wedding Date: March 2009
Blogging Since: October 9, 2006
Venue: Byodo-In Temple, Luau Reception
About Me: I’m a notorious people-watcher who loves all things paper, food, traveling, grubbin’ on food, gossip magazines, food, sock monkeys…did I mention food?! Mr. Sushi and I are both haolepinos (half Filipino, half Caucasian) and hope to be able to somehow incorporate our cultures at our destination wedding in Hawaii. All while planning from the sweetest place in earth, Hershey!
image via Martha Stewart Weddings, invitation suite by Hello!Lucky
Dear Miss Etiquette,
I am doing the unthinkable; I’m using labels to address our wedding invitations and I don’t care what you think. In my defense, we were planning on using a calligraphy type to print onto our envelopes, but the dark red color of the envelope makes it difficult to see the address, so labels it is.…
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Mrs. Powder Puff, Chicago
Age and Occupation: 25, Preschool Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Career Services
Engagement Date: May, 2008
Wedding Date: July, 2009
Blogging Since: November 12, 2008
Venue: Outdoor ceremony, banquet hall reception
About Me: I am your typical Midwestern girl attempting to plan a sane, budget-friendly, fun wedding to the man of my dreams. I love shoes, laughing at “Platinum Weddings”, crafts, inspiration boards, candy, and basically anything I can DIY. While weddings can certainly be all-consuming, I honestly can’t wait until the ceremony is over and I can finally call Mr. Powder Puff my husband!
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I just stumbled upon a fabulous book, and I instantly knew I had to share it with you all - my equally fabulous readers!
Apparently, Miss Manners is a real person (who knew!), and she penned an awesome book about wedding planning; specifically, weddings that are “painfully proper.”
Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners. Doesn’t she just exude smartness?
Here’s a little quote. A sampling to whet your palate.…
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Mrs. Green Tea, Sacramento
Age and Occupation: 30, Tea Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Coffee Critic
Engagement Date: November 17, 2006
Wedding Date: August 23, 2008
Blogging Since: June 10, 2008
Venue: Vineyard on the Delta
About 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!
Anyone else have trouble finding those responsible for mystery gifts? Since we didn’t do a registry and told guests not to feel obligated to send us presents, there were quite a few guests that gave us nothing. This renders the process of elimination useless in mystery gifter identification. We’ve also inquired close family members for leads, but there are just too many variables to nail…
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Mrs. Flamingo, Montreal, Canada
Age and Occupation: 25, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Nursing Student
Engagement Date: December 2004
Wedding Date: June 21, 2008
Venue: Imperia Hotel (modern chic hotel)
About Me: I am a passionate designer who loves anything pretty. I heart all paper products (eco-friendly of course). My passion revolves around anything considered glamour; vintage and modern. In my free time, I love reading Martha mags, designing jewelry and making a pit-stop at Starbucks for a chai latte. I'm also a chocoholic at heart and my family drools over my homemade truffles.
I was told that I should include an earlier reply by date on our RSVP cards to ensure that we would get all our responses a month before our wedding. I knew I would receive late replies - it’s a given. Well, we put a May 10th deadline and it has officially passed.
I knew we would have some people who wouldn’t respond on time, but I never thought so…
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Mrs. Hummingbird, Toronto
Age and Occupation: 25, Publishing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Videogame Designer/Cartoonist
Engagement Date: May 4, 2007
Wedding Date: June 28, 2008
Blogging Since: September 18, 2007
Venue: A garden wedding followed by a tented reception on Mr. Hummingbird's father's property.
About Me: I’m a pop culture loving, vintage obsessed foodie living in Canada’s biggest city with my fantastic fiancé and our lovable fluffy cat Bettie. I’m stoked to marry my best friend and to throw what I hope will be
the most fun and colourful party of our lives.
I have to admit, I am far from perfect when it comes to wedding etiquette. As a bride, I try to be good and thoughtful (I wrote my engagement party thank you notes the day after our party), but despite all my efforts, there are times that I no doubt do things that would completely infuriate the ladies Post (Emily, Elizabeth, Peggy and . .…
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Mrs. Petunia, Ft. Lauderdale
Age and Occupation: 31, College Professor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Engineering Student/Part-time Barista
Engagement Date: December 8, 2006
Wedding Date: March 2, 2008
Venue: Riverside Hotel
Blogging Since: August 6, 2007
About Me: Our original idea of running off to get married quickly turned into an event with 100+ guests once other people got involved and I, too, got swept away in the lovely madness that is wedding planning. Mr. Petunia and I are obsessed with all things World of Warcraft, Monopoly, and Nintendo, so we’re planning on including some fun “game-y” details into our wedding.
These days, with the bridal shower just behind us and less than 2 months to our wedding, gifts are finding their way to our home in all sorts of ways. They found their way to the shower in the most traditional of ways: people brought them, and since I opened them there as part of the festivities, I knew who brought what and why (no…
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Mrs. Raspberry, DC/New York
Age and Occupation in 07: 24, Owner/Chief Creative Director
Fiance's Age in 07: 24, Special Investigator for the government
Engagement Date: August 5, 2006
Wedding Date: July 2007
Venue: The Roycroft Inn, East Aurora NY
About Me: I love wedding and event planning. I am having a great time with all of my DIY projects and can't wait to share them with all of the WeddingBee Readers (some have to wait until after our wedding)! Other favorites include: cooking, running, tennis, knitting and making crafts. Mr. Raspberry and I also have two dogs - Gewurz, a 2 year old
yellow lab and Stella, a 1 year old old cock-a poo.
Here are some upcoming events for you DC brides! Anna Post is signing her new book Emily Post’s Wedding Parties on January 12th.
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Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
Over the summer, I received invitations to four weddings. Three out of the four invitations had envelopes that were fed through a home printer with guests’ addresses. Although I have seen many etiquette sources that forbid this practice, it made me wonder: should etiquette rules be revised and adjusted as the times change?
The argument is that printed envelopes are not as personal as hand-written or…
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Mrs. Tulip, DC
Age and Occupation: 36, Retired
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Counsel/DOO for Small Gov't Contractor
Engagement Date: August 8, 2007
Wedding Date: March, 2008
Venue: Still Looking!
About Me: In all my dreams of the man I'd someday marry, I never pictured anyone as perfect for me as Mr. Tulip. So now we just have to make it through the craziness of the wedding and the moving in together! I love crafts, sewing, jewelry making, and photography, so am looking forward to this chance for DIY fun. When not wedding planning, I'm playing with our dog and 4 cats, Ebay shopping, or watching too much TV (often simultaneously!).
As crusades go, I admit it’s not “feeding the starving children of the world.” But here’s the deal:
Many of my friends have gotten married in recent years, and I often have a terrible time figuring out whether or not the bride has changed her name. In theory, at the wedding you’ll find out the couple’s official names when they’re first formally introduced. But what if…
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