Weddingbee Blog

Mr. Castle, seriously…

Image via Screenrant.com / From Disney’s Tangled

That same day after RK Bridal, we went to brunch and then made our way to David’s Bridal to look at bridesmaids’ dresses. I had an appointment at Wedding Atelier at 3 PM. My good friend Lady Di had bought her wedding dress there and suggested I check it out. I thought why not try, but I had doubts I would find anything in my price range there…so after David’s Bridal, Bridesmaid J, her sister, Lady Di, my other girlfriend J, and I all headed to Wedding Atelier.

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Mr. Castle should know by now, but just in case:

Image via soundonsight.org / From “Pete’s Dragon”

OK, not the scariest dragon, but Mr. Castle doesn’t need to know that…

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First things first:

Image via Rotten Tomatoes

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Since I’m talking about my dress I need to start with this:

Image via softchalkconnect.com

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A lot of family and friends have begun calling me the future Mrs. _______. (You know what I mean, Mr. Castle’s last name.) In fact, our RSVP postcards are addressed, “The future Mr. and Mrs. _______. I know there are some people out there who would hate this, a lot of women find it very annoying to be called, “Mrs. Husband’s Full Name.” For me, I find it really cute. In my mind it’s one of the things that makes it feel “real.” It gives me a giddy feeling, like a little high pitched voice in my head says, “I’m getting marrriieed!!!”

Image via thelittleblackshop on Etsy

But it also brings to mind the name-change debate. I have always assumed I would change my name. I’ve never re-thought my decision, I just really understand the reasons behind not changing your name. I love my name. I’ve had it for 26 years and I’m a little attached to it. I think my parents did a great job choosing my name. My first, middle, and last names have the same amount of letters, and they sound pleasant to the ear, if I do say so myself. I’ve also started my theatrical career out here in New York and I can’t change my name as far as the business is concerned.

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I’m getting ready to tackle my next DIY project! I’m very optimistic about this one, but also nervous that I will screw it up! I have been scouring Pinterest and Etsy looking at ideas for how to display escort cards. We know that we want to make theater “ticket” escort cards, but how shall we display them? Since they are tickets they will be flat, unlike the folded cards that can stand up on their own. I would like to find a way to prop them up somehow so it’s clear what they are. Most weddings in my family don’t have assigned seating, so some of our guests won’t be looking for them. We need something that will make sure they are seen. Of course there are a ton of ideas out there.

We could pin them on a cork board.

Image via The Wedding Chicks / Photography by She Wanders

Or we could use a holder that props them up. This one can be hidden under rose petals or fabric.

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I keep hearing how Pantone’s color for 2012 is Tangerine Tango and, I have to say, I love their decision. I feel like I am so ahead of the game having already chosen to have an orange wedding in 2012. Tangerine Tango is actually a tad more red than my ideal shade of orange, but it’s still orange! It makes me happy because the next time someone asks, “What’s your wedding color?” And I say “orange,” and then they look at me like I’m crazy I can say, “Oh, didn’t you know? It’s Pantone’s chosen color for 2012. It’s very ‘in’ right now.” Of course I would be having an orange wedding no matter what they chose as their color for 2012. But it makes me happy that orange is “in”!

Image via styleathome.com

Like I said, it’s a little more red than I like, but it seems to be a color that is up to interpretation…I’ve seen a lot of different inspiration boards in honor of the Pantone color of the year, and most of them are more in the tangerine color family. I definitely like a more burnt orange color myself. Well, either way, in honor of Tangerine Tango, here are our ideas for incorporating the color into our big day!

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Sort of continuing with my last post…I have found that with divorced parents you have to think about certain things differently. Or maybe just with super-sensitive divorced parents. We had to keep this in mind when choosing the wording of our invitations. We found our invitations from a seller on Etsy and were super excited to get the process going. We loved the style and design of the invitations, but we thought we would probably need to make some changes to the wording. The way the sample was worded was like this:

Together with their parents

Mr. and Mrs. Bride’s Parents & Mr. And Mrs. Groom’s parents

Sharon and Jeff

Invite you to join them as they unite in marriage

Date time

Location

Address

Diner, dancing, and a lifetime of happiness to follow

This wording looks really good with the overall design of the invitation. I wish I could show you…but I want to keep it a secret for now. There were a couple problems with this wording. First, it implies both sets of parents are hosting the wedding, which is not the case in our wedding celebration. Since my dad is the one hosting I asked his opinion and didn’t really get a strong feeling about it. He definitely leans toward being more traditional about things but says it’s our decision in the end. I felt that it should be clear in our invitation that he is hosting. We are so thankful to him and we want to give him all the credit he deserves!

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Most people try to avoid thinking about the big “D” while planning their wedding. It’s not really something that you want to foresee happening in your future. But in my planning process, dealing with my parents always brings it to mind. And if you haven’t guessed it yet, the “D” word that I’m talking about is divorce. No one thinks when they get married that they will someday get divorced. If you do think about it maybe there’s a problem…but sometimes it happens—people change, or don’t change, things happen, children grow, and people split up.

My parents separated when I was about 13. Their divorce was finalized when I was a senior in high school. I remember being OK with my parents getting a divorce. I didn’t want to hear them fight anymore. And I was lucky enough to have parents that got along with each other even though they were divorced. We still went on family trips together and celebrated Christmas and birthdays as a family. My parents even did things together just the two of them. They would go to concerts, baseball games, and sometimes even trips. It was nice while it lasted.

Fast forward to now. They have been divorced about nine years and now rarely talk to each other. They can’t have a conversation without fighting about something. There have been many issues between them that I won’t get into, but a major factor in their relationship change is that my dad now has a pretty serious girlfriend. Ugh. I could go on and on, but I’m sure you know where this is going. My mom is uncomfortable with my dad’s girlfriend coming to the wedding. I can’t ask my dad not to bring his girlfriend, and I can’t stand the thought of my mom being upset on my wedding day. I’ve really been at a loss for how to handle this. With less than two months until the wedding, I really don’t want to be stressing out about this.

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With the wedding just around the corner I am trying to do everything in my power to get beautiful, even, glowing skin. I am lucky enough that I don’t have terrible skin to begin with. I do get pimples but usually only one or two a month, around that time if you know what I mean… Always on my chin or forehead between my eyebrows. A nice third eyeball, as I like to call it. Mr. Castle and I call pimples volcanoes, so I think from here on out I will to refer to them as such. I have the terrible habit of popping and messing with my volcanoes, which leaves them red and in some cases leaves a nice reminder scar.

I’ve never really had a face regimen. I honestly only washed my face if I wore makeup that day. Which I rarely ever do. Yep, I don’t usually wear makeup. I just find it takes to much time. Basically, I don’t wear makeup because I’m lazy… I guess I also never took the time to wash my face because I’m lazy about that as well. But not anymore! I do not want to worry about a volcano making an appearance on the big day so I’ve been trying out different things to get clear, beautiful skin.

Personal photo of all the skin care products I have tried. Clearly I have a problem with finding the right skin care….

My go-to face wash for the last couple years has been the Bliss fabulous foaming face wash.
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If you recall, I wanted to try my hand at a DIY project for our aisle decor. I found a lot of options that I wrote about here, and I decided to give these pomander balls a try.

Image via theidearoom.com (You can find their directions by following the link above.)

Let me start by saying that mine does not look like theirs. I followed the directions, but sometimes you have to experiment and see that works for you. I find it’s hard to explain in writing how you made something. Maybe I misinterpreted the instructions a little… Well, I’m going to try my best to explain how I made my first pomander ball.

First I gathered my supplies:

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In deciding what Mr. Castle and his groomsmen will wear, we have debated over: Suit or tux? Gray or black? Buy or rent? And on top of all that, what style?

Image via groomsadvice.com / Attire by Indochino

I actually was leaning toward a gray suit for Mr. Castle and black for his groomsmen. Mr. Castle wasn’t really feeling that option. I would rather him be happy with what he wears, so I didn’t push it. It should be his choice. He is more into a black tux for himself and the boys. Sort of like what is pictured below.

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When trying to find the perfect guestbook for our wedding, there were so many options it got a little overwhelming! I have tried to focus on what kind of guestbook we will want in our home after the wedding, rather than what will look cool and impress our guests. What do we want to look at, read, display, etc. to remind us of those who attended our big day? While I would love to do something creative and unique, I am trying to remember this is for us to have as a keepsake forever. We want something we will fondly look back on, not something that just collects dust or becomes a large storage piece.

We could always go the traditional wedding-guestbook route. A beautiful book with a matching pen.

Image via wedding-splendor.com

This option seems a little too traditional for us. And I think I want something more than just our guests’ names in a book. I would like them to be able to write us a little note as well.

Luckily there are more “modern” versions of the traditional guestbook.

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We ended up registering at three different places. We wanted to give people plenty of options. One of those options was going to be Macy’s, but we had a terrible time trying to register there. The woman who was helping us took forever signing us up, the scanner was not user friendly, the layout of the store was terrible, and we found the stuff we were looking at elsewhere for better prices. So we decided to dump Macy’s. Instead we went with:

Image via Linneyville

I really love this store. It was super easy to sign up online, and when we went into the store there was no hassle getting us a scanner. We went with Bed Bath & Beyond for guests who actually want to go into a store and buy us a gift. I still have relatives that are leery of online shopping. There are also plenty of store locations in both New York and California. My personal favorite registry item from BB&B is:

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Drum roll please…

My wedding shoes!

Personal photos / They are actually more of a teal color in person. They look kind of green in this picture.

These are SO not what I envisioned myself wearing for the wedding. In fact, I did not want to go the blue-shoe route at all. But then I saw these in the window on my way to work one day and I thought, “Oh my goodness, what cute shoes! Could they work as wedding shoes?” The store wasn’t open at the time of my early hour commute, and I figured they were probably too expensive anyway. Weeks went by and I would pass by the shoes every day, always giving them some attention. “Hey, cute shoes.” But I never went back to the store when they were open…

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