Miss 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!
I’ve talked before about being somewhat nontraditional in our wedding decisions, but I haven’t talked in depth about our most nontraditional decision.
We decided early on to not have bridesmaids or groomsmen. The decision was made after discussing a variety of issues that really made it difficult to have a wedding party. Instead we each picked a maid of honor and a best man, respectively, and left it at that.
Image via Teaser Trailer / Hilarious movie. Seriously. Even Mr. O was doubled over.
One of the major reasons that we went this route is because of another wedding. Mr. O’s oldest brother is getting married a month after us, and all of the brothers will be standing up with him. We thought that it might be too much to ask of the guys to do that twice in one month. When we broke the news to them, we got relieved responses. Less to buy, less to think about, and less to stress about for four guys who really don’t like the spotlight to begin with. One of Jon’s brothers said that he was excited that he would get to sit back and just enjoy the party. At the end of the day, that is what Mr. O and I really want for our guests…a chance to spend time with us and celebrate our marriage!
Miss Warbler, Long Beach/MalibuAge and Occupation: 24, Quality Assurance EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Handheld AdministratorEngagement Date: December 7, 2010Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: Calamigos Ranch MalibuAbout Me: I’m a Korean BBQ loving, cheesecake enthusiast bride living in the LBC! By day I write and edit for an online search engine marketing company. By night I am a volunteer food taster of all that is delicious. I am fortunate to be marrying an amazing man who loves me and my quirky ways. I love food, books, indie music, and Harry Potter. We are planning a small, intimate wedding up in the Malibu Hills with our closest family and friends. With the help of my wonderful fiance, our loved ones, and red velvet cheesecake, our wedding will be glorious!
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: 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.
Miss Ticket, Riverside, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Executive AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, HVAC TechnicianEngagement Date: November 14, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Crestmore ManorAbout 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!
When choosing who would be in our bridal party, Mr. Ticket and I ultimately made the decision to have mismatched numbers. We chose those close to us who we love and wanted to stand beside us and, well, I had four girls and he had three guys. The little OCD monster inside of me struggled with this for a little while. I wanted things to be equal and balanced, but in the end I realized it was far more important for me to have my girls standing beside me than for things to be “balanced.” And we didn’t really want to find a random stand-in for Mr. Ticket just to make the sides even. Thus, UNBALANCED it is! And we like it that way. =)
Miss 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.
Mrs. Parasol, San Ramon, CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 25, Non-profit writer, editor, and bloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Law school studentEngagement Date: December 19th, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Bent Creek Winery (Livermore, California); Reception: Family Residence (San Ramon, California) About Me: I am a California girl at heart. I love the outdoors, sunny days at the beach, and hiking in the woods and mountains. I also love good books and am fresh from completing my Master's degree in English and Comparative Literature in New York City. Living in NYC was an amazing experience, and while I'm glad to be back on the West Coast, I'm also thankful that my two years back East gave me an opportunity to explore new places, make new friends, and indulge my passion for Broadway shows. Oh, and I received a pretty awesome proposal from Mr. Parasol in Central Park. Above all else, Mr. Parasol is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. But even though I'm thrilled to be marrying him, I wasn't always totally on board with this whole wedding thing and at first, I wanted to run off and elope. I've finally been convinced to throw the wedding I never thought I wanted, and so now I'm busy planning an intimate September wedding filled with DIY details. Along the way, I'm slowly learning to appreciate, perhaps even love the wedding planning process.
Today it seems like big wedding parties are all the rage. It’s not uncommon to see six, seven, or even eight (or more!) people standing on each side of the bride and groom, and a lot of wedding parties spill over into double digits.
Mrs. Zebra, Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 24 Marketing/Costume DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 26 Management/Firefighter Engagement Date: December 12, 2008Wedding Date: March 2011Venue: The Providence BiltmoreAbout Me: I'm a small town New England girl with an affinity for procrastination, crossing the proverbial line, and putting her foot in her mouth. I'm a lover of history, all seasons, sewing and Incubus. I design costumes on the side for my old high school's theatre department, which is where I met my sexy man. Our motto for our Big Fat Lebanese/Portuguese/Irish near-300 person wedding is "the more the merrier"! We are marrying in a Catholic ceremony and are hammering out the details of our Victorian-inspired reception.
When I was in college, I was famous for taking any shortcut within reason to finish my work. My friend and future bridesmaid, Cakes, would painstakingly hand stitch a five-yard hem while I was dancing around her with my machine-hemmed garment, asking her when we could leave to go get some wine.
When I started DIYing the boutonnieres, I just glued them together and then called it a day. But I started having visions of them falling apart on the big day, and that is no bueno. When I realized that I should sew these puppies up instead, I told myself that I needed to “cakes” them. So from here on out, when I say I need to “cakes” something, you should know it is going to be done real proper. I’m currently cakesin’ my invitations. I totally screwed up the invites, Round One.
Mrs. Glasses, Tokyo/Los Angeles, CAAge and Occupation: 24, English teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, English teacherEngagement Date: September 2008Wedding Date: October 2010 Venue: Parents' backyardAbout Me: I’m an expat living in Tokyo. I’ve been in Japan for almost three years now, where I met my fantastic English fiance. It’s time to leave Japan, so we are planning a fun, intimate, backyard ceremony back home in the suburbs of L.A. in October. Our wedding will be a mix of my love for food, beer, my Japanese culture, and Mr. G’s Englishness. We are on a tiny budget and DIYing almost everything!
We’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is Mr G’s best friend from England and his wifey-to-be are saving up money to attend our ceremony! I am so happy to hear this because I was really worried Mr. G would be lonely on our special day. Dave’s BFF is a great guy—so great we are thinking about making him a part of our ceremony!
When they were little, Mr. G told his aforementioned friend that he would be best man at Mr. G’s wedding. So naturally, Dave wants BFF to be his best man in October. It would be nice for him, but this leaves me with a dilemma. While Mr. G would have one super special person around to be his best man, ALL of my friends at our ceremony are super special to me. Since we’re having a small and intimate wedding of 50, half the attendees would be up there with me if I were to have a bridal party! I’ve seen wedding parties with 10 or so groomsmen and bridesmaids on each side, but wouldn’t it look a little silly to have one best man and 5+ bridesmaids up there? And no one sitting in the seats? I love my girlfriends, but I just think it’ll be special and intimate enough with all our loved ones around us in my parent’s backyard. I am blessed to have many many caring, precious friends who would stand with me on my wedding day. I hope my girlfriends won’t be too crushed if I don’t include a bridal party in our ceremony, but if any of our friends would like to do a prepared reading, we’d be very grateful.
Mr. G really wants me to have a bridal party, but I can’t picture it. Although I love, love, LOVE the look of this:
This was actually the FIRST wedding inspiration photo I saved. I would check out the source if I were you— this bride’s wedding was absolutely gorgeous and is my favorite, ever.
Mrs. Chick, HoustonAge and Occupation: 28, Rights and Reproduction ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Computer ProgrammerEngagement Date: November 15, 2008Wedding Date: April 2010Venue: A farm outside of HoustonAbout Me: Mr. Chick and I met almost ten years ago at Baker Blues, a college jazz party. He was attracted to my intensity, and I was mesmerized by his trivia pursuit skills and his dorm furniture adorned with his initials. We've grown more sophisticated through the years, with our love of wine, owning a house together, and parenthood (of a cat), but we have not lost our silliness or childish sense of humor!
You may remember my post earlier about wanting a Mad Men vibe for the groomsmen. Well, the much anticipated partnership between Banana Republic and Mad Men has finally arrived! The womenswear has some promising outfits. However, the men’s outfits are less than inspiring:
Mrs. Chick, HoustonAge and Occupation: 28, Rights and Reproduction ManagerFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Computer ProgrammerEngagement Date: November 15, 2008Wedding Date: April 2010Venue: A farm outside of HoustonAbout Me: Mr. Chick and I met almost ten years ago at Baker Blues, a college jazz party. He was attracted to my intensity, and I was mesmerized by his trivia pursuit skills and his dorm furniture adorned with his initials. We've grown more sophisticated through the years, with our love of wine, owning a house together, and parenthood (of a cat), but we have not lost our silliness or childish sense of humor!
Mad Men is a show on AMC that Mr. Chick and I both love dearly. I am just as inspired by their moving storyline as their fashion. Most TV shows focus on women’s clothing. Mad Men, however, pays equal attention to both.
The adorable Mr. Chick was very excited when I sent him the following pictures for wedding rehearsal/reception inspirations:
Mrs. Bruschetta, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 25, Communication ProfessionalFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Physical Therapy Graduate StudentEngagement Date: November 30, 2007Wedding Date: August 2009Venue: St. Thomas of Villanova Church & the F.U.E.L. HouseAbout Me: I’m a self-proclaimed grammar geek who loves singing (like, really belting it) in the car. My mister and I are planning a vibrant summer soiree celebrating our passions – including food and Philly – and when we make it official, we’ll have been together for eight years! Being super competitive is in my nature, and talking excessively is in my genes. I’ve got a terrible sense of direction, but can always easily find my way into Mr. Bruschetta’s arms.
Mrs. Meatball, HollywoodAge and Occupation: 30, Actor/Writer/Office MavenFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Actor/WriterEngagement Date: October 7, 2007Wedding Date: May, 2009Blogging Since: September 16, 2008Venue: Private Garden/The Bungalow ClubAbout Me: I love melty cheese and diet coke almost as much as I love my man. I'm from Chicago, he's from NYC, and we both miss public transit and great pizza. We have an adorable muppet dog called Paco. I'm part hippie with a healthy dash of hip hop superstar, have excessive empathy for animals, and have not one, but two bionic eyes (long story). We're broke and it ain't no joke. It can't stop us from planning the bold and whimsical wedding of our dreams, but we've had to get pretty creative to make it work, yo!
Originally, we had 4 people on each side of the bridal party. Now, not so much.
The other night, Mr. Meatball’s best friend and “homey of honor” in our wedding, El, called to share the news that he had been cast in a very exciting and promising off-Broadway version of Neil Gaiman’s book (and now movie), Coraline. We are so proud of him and were totally thrilled to hear it. But, he said, the director wouldn’t allow him to miss a performance to be in our wedding. Not one. No. Bueno.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mr. Meatball more devastated. Young boys don’t dream much about their wedding day, but ever since he was a young boy, Mr. Meatball looked forward to the day his best friend stood next to him at his wedding. This is his duuuuude. You know what I mean. Every high school story begins with, “this one time, me and El….”
The look on my poor man’s face was enough to break a nation’s worth of hearts. Of course, it couldn’t be helped. Of course, we 100% support El in this incredible opportunity and are beyond happy for him. But of course, having a best friend miss out on standing next to Mr. Meatball - or more so, having Mr. Meatball miss out on his best friend being there, is a difficult letdown to reconcile. Read more…
Miss Cherry Pie, Seattle/Polebridge, MontanaAge and Occupation: 25, Marketing Communications SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Nurse PractitionerEngagement Date: August 26, 2006Wedding Date: September 2008Blogging Since: April 1, 2008Venue: A tiny town just outside of Glacier National ParkAbout Me: I think of life as a journey and I love the places it's taking me! I went to school to study Magazine Journalism, ended up with a second major in Japanese language, and now work at a company that makes software for libraries. I love writing, computers, photography, and the great outdoors. I spend most of my time playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band or geeking out online with Mr. Cherry Pie. I'm happiest when I'm on the road, especially traveling abroad, or just nesting quietly at home with my sweetie, who is a fabulous cook and bakes a delicious rendition of a certain cherry-filled dessert!
Mrs. Pineapple, PittsburghAge and Occupation: 24, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Student Affairs AdministrationEngagement Date: August 4, 2007Wedding Date: October, 2008Blogging Since: April 14, 2008Venue: The Rivers ClubAbout Me: Being a transplant from sunny south Florida I am learning to live with all four seasons while playing with our cat collective, line dancing, and doing a ton of DIY projects for our wedding (seriously, like a thousand)!
The ladies have already been properly introduced, so it’s time to give a little of the spotlight (I promise, you can have it back in no time, flat) to the guys that will be joining us and serving as the lead for the bridesmaid eye-candy.
Miss Candy Corn, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 27, Freelance Writer, Photographer and IllustratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Front End Web DeveloperBlogging Since: May 6, 2008Engagement Date: November 10, 2011Wedding Date: September 2012Venue: Our backyard!About Me: I’m a 27-year-old photographer, writer and illustrator who enjoys shooting weddings, catching typos in magazines, geeking out with Google Reader, watching Wonder Years marathons with my fiancé, and hanging out with our menagerie of pets. I’m an encore bride planning an intimate, offbeat backyard wedding with my fiancé (known around these parts as “The Ginger”), as we explore our adventures of homeownership.
Since Mr. CC’s half-brother/best man isn’t a fan of public speaking and was absolutely dreading having to give a toast, Mr. CC asked his stepfather to give a speech in his place. Since Mr. CC’s stepfather is French, he is not familiar with the “best man speech” or what it entails. So, I’ve been gathering some tips and advice for him, to give him an idea of what is generally expected from the best man.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
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