Miss Petit Four, San Antonio/Isla Mujeres
Age and Occupation: 25, Technology teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Math Teacher and Football Coach
Engagement Date: Feb 13, 2010
Wedding Date: March 2012
Venue: Zama Beach Club, Isla Mujeres, Mexico
About Me: I am a polka-dot obsessed, destination wedding diva living and loving in the great state of Texas. I am an island girl at heart and I visit the beach as often as I can. I am a wannabe DIY goddess, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best shot. I love pearl earrings, the color pink, and ruffles are a part of my everyday wardrobe. My wonderful fiance and I are planning a destination wedding with our closest family and friends and we’re leaving a trail of glitter in our path!
Searching for bridesmaids’ gifts was one of the hardest tasks I have yet to come across while planning this dang wedding. I needed to find something that was small enough for me to take to Mexico and something the girls wouldn’t mind lugging back to the states.
I liked the idea of getting them jewelry and I probably still will get them each a nice necklace or something, but I wanted to do something a little different. (I promise, this is cool! Keep reading.)
Before I show you…
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Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MD
Age and Occupation: 26, Massage Therapist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support Engineer
Engagement Date: April 18, 2010
Wedding Date: June 2012
Venue: Vandiver Inn
About 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!
February 9th, 2012 @ 1:22 pm by Miss Fox
First thing’s first: Brideslady M (aka my dearest wedding twin): vamoose. This post does not concern you.
Fox image via Roseanna Piter
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Miss Turkey, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 29, Brand Management
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Consultant
Engagement Date: February 2011
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: The Rittenhouse Hotel
About Me: I'm a marketer who loves a good glass of wine, anything pumpkin-flavored, every crime drama on TV and, of course, Mr. Turkey. It's funny to say out loud, but we're former coworkers turned betrothed---now planning a wedding in the city of Brotherly Love. For three years, we've been eating our way through Philadelphia, playing tourist at home, and cheering for every sports team in the 215. Although we've hit some unplanned snags along the way, we're determined to have a rocking party this spring with our loud, fun families and friends.
Now that we’ve past the 100 day mark until our wedding, there are a number of things that have started creeping up on the “to do” list.
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| We interrupt this post to say, AHHHHHH!!!When did we get into double digits?!?!?! |
One of the things that has been coming up in conversation recently is “thank you” gifts. We’ve finished the bridal party gifts already, but there are a number of other people involved in our day that we want to thank in a special way. The question becomes…how?
Dear Turkey family and those involved in the wedding…please read no further!
Love, Mr. & Miss Turkey
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Miss Boa Constrictor, Isabela, Puerto Rico
Age and Occupation: 22, Undergraduate Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Soon-to-be Civil Engineer
Engagement Date: May 19, 2011
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: El Faro Convention Center
About Me: I’m a Caribbean gal, born and bred on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, finishing her last year as an undergrad. I describe myself as a “closet nerd” as I secretly enjoy reading research papers, playing video games, and geeking out on Lord of the Rings movie marathons. I will marry my college sweetheart, a soon-to-be civil engineer, who loves Legos and old-school Puerto Rican cooking. This is sure to be a fast-paced year with our wedding, honeymoon, college graduation, new jobs, and a cross-country move all within less than 30 days of each other!
Along with the invite design, Lil’ Boa worked on a card that would inform our guests about the dress code, the reception, the website and gifts. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know what you’re thinking. Putting registry information on the invitation is rude and just plain wrong.
It wasn’t until I entered the wedding blogosphere that I learned this was an etiquette no-no. Even more of a no-no is asking for money on the invitation, which is exactly what we will be doing. I should explain that in my 22+ years of attending weddings (more than 30 so far) I have never NOT seen a request for money on a wedding invitation. Most of them had a message stating that gifts were not necessary but if the guest insists, the couple prefers to receive money.
Imagine my surprise when I learned some people could be offended by such a statement, to the extent of not attending the wedding! Further Internet research revealed that the “Don’t ask for money” rule is mainly part of American wedding etiquette. Wedding gifts in some European and Asian countries are expected to be monetary and in those cultures it is perfectly acceptable to state it on the invite. I guess you can add Puerto Rico to that list, since as far as I know, asking for money on the invitation is the norm.
On the other hand, if a bride ask for gifts from a registry, all hell will be upon her.
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Miss Turkey, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 29, Brand Management
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Consultant
Engagement Date: February 2011
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: The Rittenhouse Hotel
About Me: I'm a marketer who loves a good glass of wine, anything pumpkin-flavored, every crime drama on TV and, of course, Mr. Turkey. It's funny to say out loud, but we're former coworkers turned betrothed---now planning a wedding in the city of Brotherly Love. For three years, we've been eating our way through Philadelphia, playing tourist at home, and cheering for every sports team in the 215. Although we've hit some unplanned snags along the way, we're determined to have a rocking party this spring with our loud, fun families and friends.
’Tis the season for engagements!
I don’t know about you all, but it feels like more than half the couples I know were engaged between Christmas and Valentine’s Day (is there a stat out there about this, Penguin?). The TV commercials and jewelry stores definitely encourage the behavior, that’s for sure.
Anyhow, with all these engagements come great opportunities to shower a new bride (and groom) with love and attention (and presents)! I thought the timing might be right now to share some of the Turkey favorites for engagement gifts. This is a combination of both gifts given and received.
1. Planning Gifts
As a new bride, you’re basically a sponge trying to absorb as many ideas as possible. Blogs, Pinterest, magazines, TLC…you name it. I found some of my most helpful gift to be in the planning realm.
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| A gift for a recently engaged friend—some bridal magazines + subscriptions for 1 year
I had 2 friends gift me magazine subscriptions when I was engaged—love the fun mail! |
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Miss Turkey, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 29, Brand Management
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Consultant
Engagement Date: February 2011
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: The Rittenhouse Hotel
About Me: I'm a marketer who loves a good glass of wine, anything pumpkin-flavored, every crime drama on TV and, of course, Mr. Turkey. It's funny to say out loud, but we're former coworkers turned betrothed---now planning a wedding in the city of Brotherly Love. For three years, we've been eating our way through Philadelphia, playing tourist at home, and cheering for every sports team in the 215. Although we've hit some unplanned snags along the way, we're determined to have a rocking party this spring with our loud, fun families and friends.
Despite it being months away, I have a bit of bachelorette brain right now.
So, since I don’t want to count down the days (because that makes the wedding closer and…scary!), I thought I’d put that energy to good use and share with you another bachelorette party idea!
For this one, all the credit goes to Mr. Turkey’s aunt. She did this for one of his cousin’s showers and I thought it was so creative and a little different from what I had done before!
The theme is signals…of the sexual kind, of course. To start, here are the supplies you will need:
- A gift tag
- 3 gift bags: one green, one yellow, one red
- A sexy lingerie outfit
- A cute pajama set
- A not-so-cute pajama set
You start with a gift tag and on there, write (something like) the following:
Marriage is all about reading each other’s signals. Your bedtime attire sends the perfect message to your future husband about the possibility of a little “somethin’ somethin’” that evening.
Then, you have the green bag. You want to put in the green bag something sexy for the bachelorette. In this case, I found a black and pink Betsy Johnson nightie.
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Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las Vegas
Age and Occupation: 29, Test Prep Instructor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience Architect
Engagement Date: April 2011
Wedding Date: January 2012
Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon Bistro
About Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
Many couples choose to give gifts to their wedding party and parents at the rehearsal dinner. These gifts are tokens of thanks: for their support, for their love, for their presence on that day. Mr. Mole and I have decided to do the same at our “rehearsal” dinner.
Despite the fact that we don’t actually have a wedding party, we are going to be giving gifts to our closest friends and our siblings, who—had we planned a different kind of wedding—would otherwise be standing up for us. These loved ones are internet-savvy enough where they could stumble upon this post and ruin the surprise, so I am going to hold off on the reveal of these gifts until after our wedding. (Soon, I promise!)
Our parents, on the other hand, are not as…let’s say, adept with the internet. My mother, bless her, spends most of her time online sending me chain e-mails with blinkies and pictures of puppies and commenting on my Facebook statuses via her own wall. As such, I have no worry about talking about their presents here in advance.
Mr. Mole and I decided to take the easy way out with our gifts to our parents.
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Miss Doe, Northern California
Age and Occupation: 24, Real Estate Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling Manager
Engagement Date: December 25, 2010
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: Monte Verde Inn
About 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.
January 6th, 2012 @ 11:46 am by Miss Doe
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.
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Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN
Age and Occupation: 32, Tax Accountant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape Foreman
Engagement Date: September 25, 2010
Wedding Date: December 2011
Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta Palace
About 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!
Last week, my wonderful mom (MOB) surprised me with a gift certificate for a facial and massage at a spa in downtown Chicago. She wanted me to take some time for myself to de-stress and relax before the wedding.
The Spa on Oak offers an Oak Street Refresher package which includes a 45 minute facial and a 30 minute massage. I have never had a facial before so I was looking forward to that experience.
I made an appointment for 3:15 on Thursday. Unfortunately it was raining like crazy, but I caught a cab and made my way to the River North area of the city. I had never spent any time in this area and I was definitely taken aback at how beautiful and high-end the neighborhood was! The spa was surrounded by boutiques such as Jimmy Choo, Hermes and Harry Winston. I couldn’t afford to even look in the windows!
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Miss Hawk, Richmond, VA
Age and Occupation: 26, Finance
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, District Supervisor
Engagement Date: March 13, 2011
Wedding Date: May 2012
Venue: The Chapel of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, 2007 Legacy Hall
About 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.
I, very similarly to Miss Honey, decided to take a break from all-things wedding, and I turned my attention to creating gifts for my coworkers. I wanted to gift them something homemade. I considered cookies among other baked goods, but quickly decided on hot cocoa mix since I already had the perfect containers: those extra mason jars from my failed DIY.
I started by researching recipes and read great reviews on one from Alton Brown on the Food Network. I noted the reviewers’ suggestions and ended up with my revised recipe:
- 2 cups Dutch Cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 5 cups whole powdered milk (I used Nido. [Found at Walmart in the Hispanic Foods section])
- 2 TBS salt
- 4 TBS cornstarch
- 1 bag mini marshmallows
I combined all of the ingredients (minus the marshmallows) in a large bowl and slowly stirred with a wooden spatula. (Be prepared to make a big mess!) I then spooned the mix into my jars.
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Miss Ticket, Riverside, CA
Age and Occupation: 25, Executive Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, HVAC Technician
Engagement Date: November 14, 2010
Wedding Date: October 2011
Venue: Crestmore Manor
About Me: I'm a lifelong So Cal gal, a chocoholic, a closet gamer, and a television enthusiast (love me some Vampire Diaries!) who adores playing in the kitchen and lives in flip flops. Mr. Ticket and I are best known for singing and dancing in the car, our World of Warcraft addiction, adoring food, crane game playing, and our general homebody ways. Oh, and GO STEELERS!
In one of my early posts I mentioned that Mr. Ticket and I met playing World of Warcraft. For those of you that need a refresher… I alluded to the fact that there would be at least one treasure commemorating this little detail of how our love story began and it’s finally here! Seriously, I’m just beyond stoked. I’m sure that this will seem cheesy to some of you; heck, Mr. Ticket kind of laughed at me a little when I showed it to him, but I love it!
I showed you a while back that our kids’ buckets will include VIP tags with a semi-Disneyfied drawing of Mr. Ticket and me. In keeping with the theme of drawn Tickets I sought out the assistance of friends. Well… brother-in-law of a friend… whatever…he’s awesome. So without further ado…
WOW Versions of Mr. and Miss Ticket by Michael Rodriguez
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Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NC
Age and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Researcher
Engagement Date: December 1, 2009
Wedding Date: October 2011
Venue: Barn at Valhalla
About 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!
I’m not talking about gifts from guests…obviously those are necessary (just kidding!…not really…). I’m talking about the bride and groom giving gifts to each other. I mean, of course it’s not necessary…but it’s fun!
I’m not sure Mr. Magic is getting me a gift or not. If he does, I hope he gets me something like this, but maybe a tad smaller. And less expensive. And, you know… fake.
Princess Kate’s Ring / Image via Mid-Day
Size 5, honey. OK, now get out.
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Miss Petit Four, San Antonio/Isla Mujeres
Age and Occupation: 25, Technology teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Math Teacher and Football Coach
Engagement Date: Feb 13, 2010
Wedding Date: March 2012
Venue: Zama Beach Club, Isla Mujeres, Mexico
About Me: I am a polka-dot obsessed, destination wedding diva living and loving in the great state of Texas. I am an island girl at heart and I visit the beach as often as I can. I am a wannabe DIY goddess, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best shot. I love pearl earrings, the color pink, and ruffles are a part of my everyday wardrobe. My wonderful fiance and I are planning a destination wedding with our closest family and friends and we’re leaving a trail of glitter in our path!
Mr. PF’s wedding gift is something that I have put a lot of time and effort, but not so much money into.
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Mrs. Skunk, Atlanta
Age and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical Designer
Engagement Date: February 13, 2011
Wedding Date: November 2011
Venue: Neverland Farms
About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
I’m giving Mr. Skunk two gifts. I’m fairly certain he knows what one of them is because he’s seen the box. The other is to throw him off. I’ll discuss the latter first.
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Mrs. Teaspoon, Sydney, Australia
Age and Occupation: 27, Medical Scientist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Banker
Engagement Date: June 4, 2010
Wedding Date: September 2011
Venue: St Aloysius' College, Milson's Point
About Me: I am a mad scientist who enjoys swimming at the beach in summer and skiing powder in winter. Our favourite times together are spent with the sand between our toes, cooking up a storm, re-watching and re-reading every Harry Potter ever made, and spending time with our dear friends and family! We have travelled the world together in our 6 years of dating, from Paris, to Thailand, to Las Vegas, and we are tackling the many challenges of planning our special day the best way we know how---together!
That is our bridal party, of course! We had two bridesmaids and two groomsmen to thank in anticipation of their support, friendship, and assistance with going to the bathroom (just the bridesmaids for that one!). Luckilly, I didn’t actually end up needing help with going to the bathroom that day; thanks to Mrs Cola’s lovely picture I was able to successfully navigate that issue alone!
Now, onto the point at hand: the Teaspoons had decided early on what we intended to give the boys, after we had seen it as a very handy gift at a wedding about a year before our wedding.
Image via Dark Beige
We had them engraved and the boys had fun with their scotch in them on the wedding day! So did some of our other guests—but that’s a post for another day (or not).
For the girls, we had 2 gifts.
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All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
